Fallout: Wild Horses (Started, Open)

[Athol]

Cheyton- Out and about

His second attempt to go to the store went much better. Last night, after the altercation and answering questions from the local law, Samuel had decided to just go home. Fortunately the West boys were not exactly popular around Cheyton, so nobody was going to get that upset that they were dead...well maybe the people they owed caps too, but that doesn't really count.

His excursion had been profitable, he'd managed to snag five more .308 rounds for his rifle, a stimpak, three bottles of irradiated water, and miracle of all things, a bottle of Nuka Cola Victory, as well as 60 caps. He was approaching the Fallen Angel, when he saw old Zeke leaving under the arms of a hooded female figure. Well that's not right. He thought. Zeke could out drink a Super Mutant...something's up. Moments later the female appeared, alone.

Quickening his pace slightly, he moved cautiously towards the hooded one, and her companion, from the rear. [small]"Med-x and hard alcohol do not go so well together..."[/small] He heard the hooded one say. A rip off job then...well Zeke's a friend, can't let that pass. Drawing two throwing knives, he closed to about 10 feet from the pair, and spoke up. "YOU! IN THE HOOD!" He barked "Drop what you took from Zeke...NOW!" Even though he was in full gear now, the distinctive 'Ghoul Growl' of his voice gave away what he was.

 

[TheDoctor455]

"YOU! IN THE HOOD! Drop what you took from Zeke... NOW!"

As soon as Vera heard her new friend being threatened, she zoomed straight back to her side chirping and beeping with the speed and fury one might normally associate with a mother yaoi gui protecting its cubs. As she flew over there, Vera prepared the appropriate audio logs for what she had in mind.

[Terrifying Presence] "Who are you, that do not know your history?" said a gruff, monotone voice in the log, which was promptly followed by a series of logs that consisted entirely of something threatening Vera or someone she cared about, and her blasting it to pieces. At this point, the list includes: 15 molerats, 10 lakelurks, 5 Legionaries, 1 Brotherhood of Steel fully armored and armed Paladin (whose buddies promptly ran away), and 3 Yaoi Gui. Every time, you could hear Vera blast them with her precision laser, and every time, you could hear her attackers' dying screams.

Vera started priming her laser.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Cheyton: OMG MOM, I'M SHOPPING WITH MY FRIENDS!

"YOU! IN THE HOOD! Drop what you took from Zeke...NOW!"

There was a reason the Rabbit name was infamous among the NCR in Freeside and revered by gangs and orphaned children alike. She was unmatched in her agility and propensity for sheer luck, but Tessa's had enough close calls in her short time to play it smart like a con always does. She could tell whoever had spotted her was a ghoul, now while ghouls weren't known for their speed, she didn't know if a gun was pointed at her back.

Fortunately, this person shouted before she could adequately pull down the hood, which she pulled straight back up again. "Fine! It's in the bag, I'm tossing it back and then I walk away!" She wasn't lying, she was going to toss the bag of caps back...just not all the caps. Opening, turning, tipping the contents, judging the weight and amount, sealing it with her nimble fingers and silently she pulled out the little bag of caps that clearly belonged to this "Zeke".

If a Deathclaw could be a robot, it would take the form of Vera as she rushed to Tessa's aid, sounding truly terrifying as the horrific mixture of pre-recorded deaths at Vera's hand laser. That's when she noticed Vera's own laser start to glow as she prepared an attack on the ghoul...running in front of the Eyebot, she hoped she would stop. "Vera! It's fine...I screwed up, but that's no reason to attack someone."

Then Tessa turned on the ghoul with fury, walking towards him, disregarding his drawn throwing knifes, noticing the familiar bulge of a knife in each boot. Utter contempt for the ghoul ran through her voice as she channeled her protection for her sister, "I have a little sister to feed! But taking a few caps off someone who was going to piss it away through booze, that's not fine?" she slammed the bag of caps against the ghouls chest, "You know what, I don't want to hear it. You got what you wanted and just leave me alone."

"Come on guys, I guess we aren't having breakfast." she retained the contemptuous anger as she motioned for Vera and Mercy to follow her. All of them storming off into the crowd before the ghoul could answer.

 

[TheDoctor455]

The Streets of Cheyton.
Friends need food. Got it. I remember food. Can even remember brhamin steak... Vera tried to shrug the strange memories.

Vera beeped and clicked several times to get Tessa's and Mercy's attention after they had put sufficient distance between themselves and the ghoul. Then, she used her laser to draw a large 'C', and under it, three smaller letters, 'T','M', and 'V'. Then she drew an arrow leading away from the giant 'C', and towards a small cluster of 'B's. Vera was looking forward to having a voice of her own... it was frustrating to know something that could help her new friends, but not be able to communicate it.

Regardless, Vera waited patiently for the Rabbit sisters to piece it together.

 

[FalloutJack]

Oh boy, the captcha said 'Small Fries'.

The plan - Yes, the Deathclaw had a plan! - was that the prey would be hardly mobile if they didn't have their mounts to mess with, so he had faked them out and gone for the Nightmares. They were running off, some of them falling to his claws. Then, it was working, right? Well, not exactly. You see, the thing about humans was that they were just so unpredictable. As the sun came up, the Khans went for their guns and then Malkos felt the pinpricks of fast-moving lead against his toughened, muscular hide. He tried to get out of their way, getting dodgey, because he knew that eventually bullets penetrated and hurt for real. Deathclaws DO die, and that was a reality that he had to face.

Another reality was that while he was distracted by the gunners along the riverbank, two exceptionally-clever humans had gone and started a brushfire ahead of him, one which spread towards him rapidly. The wind... It was against him, and the humans made the fire wider! This was more than a pitiful flamer. It was a barbecue. They were driving him back towards the guns. He could understand them too, because he heard the command to aim for the legs. He looked down for a second, and noticed...A ROCK! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEdg4glpCkg] PERFECT! He picked it up and hurled the rock at Harland, the one that shouted. The rock was about the size of a small fist.

Wait, that's not gonna do it! I need a better plan, something to handle this fire. Something...hey!

As shots continued and dirt exploded and bullets or pellets zinged, hurting his legs, Malkos ran over to a dead Nightmare - somewhere off to the side of Anna and Ollie - and hauled it up, throwing it into the flames. It went pretty far, and he followed it with a leapt. Why? Because he knew about fire. He'd made plenty himself. He knew that suddenly dropping a big 'something' on top of a fire stifled it, and Nightmares were rad-horses, tough things. The dead horse flopped down and there was a hole in the fire. Malkos jumped onto it, and then leapt off, because the rest of the flames were already trying to claim it. They would see the Deathclaw make it almost to the edge of the growing flames. He was close enough that when he caught on fire, he could roll and struggle out of it.

Very loud growls and roars followed, and then a hellish sight... They would see the gray-skinned Deathclaw rise up, its head above the flames and body smoking from the burns. They would see it glaring at them, specifically. Then, it turned its gaze to Anna and Ollie.

"Well...now what?"

It was like hearing...one of those movie Predators talk, a growl forced into human speech with visible effort from the throat. And...apart from how freakish it was to see a Deathclaw SPEAK - like...pants-wetting, maybe - there was the simple and problematic fact that the Khans were now on the wrong side of the flames, a line of fire which would eventually run out of brush to burn, but maybe not soon enough. The Deathclaw appeared to be waiting for something, like the fire and gunshots were just a 'Shit happens' moment for it. In reality, that fire HURT, but the adrenaline hadn't worn off yet, so now he wanted to see what the humans would do NOW.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Great Outdoors of Cheyton: SHOPPING THERAPY?!?!?

Mercy was glad that her sister had been able to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. The last thing that the Rabbit sisters, and yes that included Vera as well, was a puddle of burnt ash and green glowing goo. There was something that had surprised the younger of the Rabbit sisters though.

"(Tessa was stealing that man's money? That's - that's - horrible!)" The Plasma rabbit thought to herself before a more rational line of thinking overtook her jerking knee.

"(Mercy! She's your sister. She's had to survive on her own without dad. It's not like she had the luxury of picking up inventing, unlike some people here, and just look at how she's been taking care of you over the last few days.)" The girl scolded herself before looking at her sisters.

"Tessa, that was really clever to only give the man back some of his caps. It was really quick thinking perfect at getting that ghoul away from us." Mercy said with a smile on her face.

"If it wasn't for you, I think that Vera and I would be going to the market for a plasma resistant bucket." She added with a grin, her hand resting against the grip of her Plasma Pistol.

It was then that Vera started drawing in the dirt.

C ----------> b b b
t m v----------> b b b​

Mercy looked at the drawing that Vera and scorched into the ground. The "T," the "M" and the "V" obviously stood for Tessa, Mercy and Vera. The Big "C" must have stood for Cheyton. What puzzled the younger Rabbit sister was the cluster of b's that were on the outskirts of the town.

Cluster? Group? Herd? A herd of b-rahmins?

"Vera? Do you mean that we should go to where the brahmin pens are?" The younger sister asked before adding another note.

"Vera, can you record the words, Vera, Tessa, Mercy, Cheyton, Rabbit and Brahmin?"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Vera had been recording much of their previous conversations after the Rabbit sisters had agreed to let her use their voices. Not enough to synthesize her own voice, but... well... Vera hurriedly edited and reassembled different parts of their conversations up to this point.

"Brahmin? Yes. Pens... no," she replied, then thought for a moment. Then she used her laser to draw a circle around the cluster of b's, and another arrow pointing to an 'f', and 'n' and 'm'. Hoping that would help clarify things a bit.

First thing I need to do when I can synthesize my own voice... is give these two a big verbal hug.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Cheyton marketplace: Just your average day!

Pleased that the trio had made a considerable amount of distance from the uninvited guest. She couldn't help but berate herself for making such a rookie mistake, always have a lookout when working someone over. If this were Freeside, she'd have the children serving as alarms and distractions while she might hire muscle if something grew too hairy, but she always avoided killing where possible, it was messy and it wasn't worth the caps.

However she couldn't help but hug the floating ball of doom, "You are literally a lifesaver, Vera! You saved the backup plan of the con. I got..." she started rummaging through her bag, estimating the amount of caps she had separated from the bag. Huh, seems she was a little generous. "...98 caps give or take."

"Tessa, that was really clever to only give the man back some of his caps. It was really quick thinking perfect at getting that ghoul away from us."

"Thank you, but that was only the end of the The Poison Rabbit." she curtsied in the cutest manner possible with her cloak "Now usually I would have lookouts and muscle to back me up to prevent against that kind of situation ever happening. Buuuut, the backup plan for The Drunken Rabbit usually goes: get really angry, put the person who spotted you on the defensive, make them believe they got what they really want and get out of there." she frowned at the bar in the distance, "We aren't going back there for awhile though."

Looking down at Vera's scorched drawing, she wondered if Vera had a secret artistic side. Sadly, there wasn't a black-market for laser-scorched paintings created by Eyebot's as far as she knew. Perhaps Vera was inferring about breakfast? "If this is about breakfast, I was just using that to sell the I-need-to-feed-my-starving-sister and I'm right because of bullshit-moral-high-ground-crap..." She realized how terrible that sounded, especially since she had adopted such a casual tone about it all.

She was not running with a gang anymore and her sister was not an acceptable scapegoat for her less-than-legal activities. This was definitely something she still had to adjust to, boundaries, where did they exist or end with Mercy?

Looking genuinely guilty for what she had said, she quickly apologized. "I-I didn't mean it like that. In Freeside, it was common practice for everyone to rely on each other when things got messy. But...this is me and this is what I do." she sighed, "You are not a scapegoat, a tool and you are never a means to an end. Alright, Mercy?"

Looking up at the Robotic Rabbit Sister, "You too, Vera." pausing momentarily and looking down at the drawing, "So you want the three of to get breakfast? We can pay for that one. There's plenty more discounts to acquire today. Lead the way!"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Cheyton Markets. Hive of... something. Error, adjectival noun not found 404.

Vera quickly blasted her little map out of the dirt, and then slowly led the way out of town, and towards a group of wild brahmin she had found on her way into Cheyton.


Outskirts of Cheyton.
It was a small group, mostly calves, but... easily rounded up, and herded to the nearest butcher or rancher... who'd likely pay for them. If they have any sense.

Vera figured she could easily goad the small group towards wherever the Rabbit sisters wanted them to go... but better be careful about that... spook them too much, and they'd run. Hmm...

Vera turned to face the two Rabbit sisters, as if to say 'well, what do you think?'

 

[EmperorZuma]

I-25, Heading North

Under Jose's leadership, the caravan had a very awkward time schedule. If there we nomads along the planned route, and they could be reached in a days time of one another, than the group would travel during the night to get to the tent-towns in the morning to sell their goods. If there weren't any stops along the way, then the caravan would travel during the day, pulling off the major roads to find shelter for the night, or to make their own. The lynchpin for this odd plan were the Free Rangers, a group of trained mercs that Jose brought with him from a time before he founded the company, a time the Jose didn't like to talk about.

Regardless, this time around it appeared that there was at least one nomad town along the route, as the doctor took notice of a rather energetic young man, his lightly tanned face stuck in a map. "Hey, kid." Jose spoke up from the front of the group. "Get up here for a second."

The nomad immediately charged up to the captain, his hands keeping the map tight to his chest. "Whaddya need, sir?" Jacob couldn't but get a slight smirk as he watched the kid. He was eager to please, reminding the doctor of his time growing up at the Old Mormon Fort.

Jose pulled the kid aside and loosen his grip on the map, so both of them could see it. "Your town, they set up camp right about here, right? Just south of that exit?" Jose pointed to a spot on the map where a road split off to join a Loop that seemed to encircle the ruins of Cheyenne.

"Yes sir! They said they'd put a marker by the highway so we'd know where to get off. I think the elder said it would just be a simple blue flag."

"Like that one?" Jose pointed to a torn up sign not that far ahead of the caravan, with only a bold "EXIT" on it being legible. Jose gestured for a light to be put on the sign, where a short stake in the ground held up a blue flag. However, Jacob's attention was attracted away from the flag, and what was beyond it, an orange haze in the distance. The nomad saw the same glow soon after, but didn't understand its implications right away. Though, when he did, he grew stiff and was frozen in place.

"Damn it." Jose cursed under his breath, raising his arm to silently call his security forces to him. Jacob joined in as well, much to Jose's annoyance. "Squad 1, you're with me, we're going to see what happened to the town. Squad 2 and 3, stay-"

"I would like to come as well, Jose." Jacob spoke up, and could see the irritation grow on Jose's face. "You know me well enough that I won't burden you in a firefight. If you leave me here, the survivors might not get help in time."

Jose closed his eye for a moment, but the expression on his face didn't change. "Fine, you're coming too, but don't stray until we've scouted out the area. No point in losing our own just so you can feel like a hero."

 

[ImSkeletor]

The RoboBrain saw Joe motion to his gun. It twitched and its arms flailed wildly. Before becoming stock still for a few moments. "If your going to shoot you better not miss, friend. Fought far more threating than you in the French and Indian." He extended his "hand" and chuckled. "Better use that hand for something more worth while than shooting someone you just met soldier. Name's George."

Despite their human brains these creatures are programmed and the mind is forced to follow such programming whether they like it or not. This particular cyborg was meant to educate children about the presidents of Mount Rushmore in an interactive fashion. Responding dynamically to questions. The historical accuracy was rather dubious, a bullet points version of events put into its mind as if they were memories. A few more years of fine tuning and this would be a much more impressive creature, but the whole world went up in smoke so we got to take what we can get, you know?

 

[RobDaBank]

I-25, Northbound

Night had fallen as Kaiden continued to follow the human caravan. They stopped a few times out of what seemed to be confusion, but Kaiden remained patient. The last few miles however Kaiden had noticed the faint, unmistakable smell of burning. Burning corpses, burning vehicles and the musky smell of centuries old burning wood. It was all quite familiar, spending most of his mutant life burning down villages under the master's influence, or having his settlements burnt down by 'Abomination Hunters.' 

It was only when the group began pointing in the direction of an amber haze in the distance that Kaiden realised where it was coming from. It appeared to be a small settlement, one Kaiden didn't know about, but he was new to the area so why would he?

A group of armed men, and some others began to approach the town, seemingly to investigate and offer aid. This was where Kaiden felt conflicted, he could stay with the caravan to avoid being spotted and stay out of harm's way, he could go the opposite direction of the town and get back home, or he could investigate himself, following the group.

He opted for the latter, deciding that if he could assist, he would possibly gain yet more allies and that if there was a threat in the area that could endanger his people, he needed to resolve the matter before it got out of hand.

He circled around the caravan with a wide berth and began to follow the group, hoping the light from the blaze wouldn't reveal him.

 

[Souplex]

Dry Springs Bar
"If your going to shoot you better not miss, friend. Fought far more threating than you in the French and Indian." He extended his "hand" and chuckled. "Better use that hand for something more worth while than shooting someone you just met soldier. Name's George."
Joe was taken aback.
Not only had the robot noticed what he was planning, it wasn't dangerous, and was actually quite polite.
Joe shook the robot's pincer.
"I'm Ranger Joseph Medina, nice to meet you George."
While Joe was not fond of robots, this one seemed different. Maybe it was the organic brain, but the robot didn't seem to be simulating emotions. (You can tell from the inflections)
"It was nice meeting you George, now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see Elder Tempson."
[Flashback]Mojave Outpost



The rational, cowardly parts of Surly Gecko's mind were telling him to let someone else do it, but he didn't care. His friend needed help, and something about this man made Joe trust him.
They began to head back east to Nipton.



[/Flashback]

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Outskirts of Cheyton: A certain Rabbit stumbles upon an opportunity

Annoyed with her half-sister's silence, Tessa walked briskly in order to keep up with Vera. She imagined the swishing of her cloak had created a rather dramatic effect, completely intentional, since Tessa did have a flair for style in her everyday life. She couldn't believe she was apologising for her own lifestyle. Mercy was the pampered one!

Vera seemed oddly enthusiastic over the prospect of breakfast as she sped along, chirping gleefully, she wondered what value an Eyebot could gleam from food. Clearly crossing the outskirts of Cheyton, her questions were somewhat answered.

Not too far away from the trio was a relatively small pack of young brahmin. "Uhhh, Vera...they kinda have be dead first before we eat th- wait a minute!" coming to a sudden revelation, she envisioned a wonderful opportunity for the day ahead of her. "Vera, what do you have in the way in of brahmin sounds? Something that says follow me and stay together."

A mischievous grin set upon Tessa's face in that moment, the same grin she always had when devising a plan. "We're guiding them to the edge of the marketplace. Mercy and I will follow from the rear while you lead. When we reach the edge of the market, make a terrifying noise, I dunno, make it sound sound like a Deathclaw laying a thousand eggs at once. Move away from us, parade through town making every single noise you want, draw attention to yourself and not me. Once we cross the other side, we'll meet up there." she paused to address her sister, "If you want to back out, then I'll see you at home." she muttered coldly. "Otherwise, I need a shield while I work. Stay close, and use your body to shield my hands while I move, so nobody can see." her stare did not waver, while her face lost all emotion. "I hope you choose the latter. This is how a Rabbit survives."

Yep, she was channeling the old days. Old habits die hard.

The Rabbit Run: A favored technique of Tessa's. While setting up multiple distractions, in this case a bunch of stampeding brahmin and an Eyebot that looks like it's going haywire, Tessa would walk through the chaos, relying on the diverted attention of those around her as she stole multiple items with speed. Over time, she perfected the use of inconspicuous movements and her now-you-see-me now-you-don't cloak on items of interest as she swept over them. Slipping in and out of crowds, she showed no deliberation and only focused on her plotted course.

Giving all of her caps, combat knife and remaining med-x to Mercy, Tessa freed up the necessary space in her bag. She needed to be completely silent and unburdened during her movement. Looking up at Vera with the calculating look she always developed just before a job, her voice had even dropped to a cold whisper. "Let's go, Vera...remember the plan."

 

[TheDoctor455]

Outskirts of Cheyton.
Vera was initially disturbed at Tessa's sudden cold tone as she explained the plan. The plan itself took Vera completely by surprise. She'd expected to lead the small herd to a butcher or a rancher and getting a finder's fee... or a cut of the meat for her friends. But... this? It was... ingenious. Vera gave a worried beep, followed by an excited one. If she had hands, she'd be rubbing them together as she took her place at the head of the herd.

She beeped a few times to get their attention, and then searched her records for any bhramin sounds. She found a few. She tried the first one: the bhramin grunted back but didn't move. She tried the second one: a female approached Vera and presented her rump. Vera would have raised a confused eyebrow if she could. She tried a third one: a male came in and tried to hump the female in front of Vera. The little eyebot shot a laser at his feet before it went too far. She tried a fourth one: that did the trick. They were all clustering close together and following Vera around. Vera chirped happily a few times before starting to play the same record in a loop as she slowly led the herd back to the Cheyton marketplace.

 

[EmperorZuma]

Near I-25, Ruins of Fair Wanderings

As Jose's group neared, it became clear that the town had been decimated. Most of the tents were ablaze, some of them, on the outskirts, had already been reduced to piles of ash and broken metal supports. Jacob, tucked away safely in the center of the ranger formation, squinted to look past the flame, and gasped aloud. "There are crucifixes in there."

Sure enough, as they reached the town proper, Jose broke the squad down into small pairs and had them scour the ruins. He choose to stay close to Jacob, who inspected one of the crosses, a man tied to it. "He's already dead." Jacob spoke bluntly as he could see Jose taking interest. "It's the Last Legion, no other group would bother wasting time to make these and have people die and rot on them."

Jose grunted, moving down one of the central "roads" leading further into town. Jacob followed, leaving the man on the cross with the intent to bring him down later after checking for survivors. A crack of Jose's radio startled the doctor for the moment, which Jose luckily didn't see. "This is Michael, assigned perimeter is clear." The radio cracked again soon after. "This is Laura, mine's clear too." This message came from several sources before Jose nodded and sent his own message. "Jose to Caravan, the town is clear. Bring everyone in and have them start putting out the fires..." The gruff man paused, bearing a deep frown. "...give the kid a warning, things don't look good here." After a confirmation replied, Jose looked to Jacob. "Let's not waste time having you run all over the town taking people off these and treating them on the spot. Setup an infirmary, I'll have the men search for survivors and bring those strong enough to you."

Jacob sighed and nodded as he walked over to a tent, which the fire had relatively spared. "Bring the Brahmin carrying my stuff too, I don't have what these people need with me."

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Cheyton: Entering the Market. The Rabbit wins this race.

"Vera, once you're on the other end. Stay quiet, make sure you aren't followed and make your way home."

Truth be told, Tessa never heard the noise Vera had made, nor had she followed her direction either, she just knew that the panicked stampede of brahmin scattering towards the many stalls was her signal to move.

With ease, Tessa slipped into the crowds moving back and forth, moving amongst them while lifting an (1) exposed purse of caps. Small, yet it couldn't contain more than 40 caps at most.

One of the brahmin had sent a nearby owner collapsing into her own stall, extending an arm to help the woman up, she had bent down to pocket an (2) egg timer and a (3) whet stone into her backpack. She had moved on before the woman could thank her or even get a proper glance at her savior.

Approaching the weapon's modification stall which she had approached yesterday, she quickly examined the items on display from afar. She was looking for a block with a barrel and a reinforced circular thingy. Because they were of the same category apparently, they were sitting side by side. Fortunately a laser, presumably fired by Vera had forced the owner of the stall to duck behind cover. Tessa raised her cloak to sweep over the table, when it sufficiently covered the (4)(5) two targets, her hand inconspicuously swept both items into her back with one movement.

Hopefully Mercy had been deadly accurate about her descriptions in the past, because this was the information she was working off of.

Walking towards one of the many weapons stalls, she purposefully bumped into a man holding a bottle of nuka-cola, spilling the drink over the table, NCR dollar notes and guns. While the owner and unfortunate scapegoat got into a shouting match which devolved into physical intimidation. Tessa had spotted a replacement (6) switchblade, she pocketed both it and the beautiful set of (7) throwing-knives that had fallen to floor while she purposefully dropped a bottlecap.

Enveloping herself in the crowd, she deftly cut the bulging exposed (8) cap-purse on a burly suspect. Not without some force, because as she moved ahead of her previous target, the target felt the absence of his caps and punched the man directly behind him. While a brawl broke out behind her, a nearby miscellaneous stall owner rushed in to break up the commotion.

Seeing an opportunity, Tessa walked into the stall, filled her bag with (9) scrap electronics which would no doubt be useful to Mercy and Vera. Slipping her newly acquired switchblade into the cash register, she simply dislodged the money tray. This had unfortunately broken the switchblade, which was in poor condition. The cash register was filled with 200 caps and three $100 NCR, she simply emptied the (10) contents into her bag and shut her bulging bag shut.

Tessa unclipped her riding hood, folded it neatly and tucked it under her arm. She entered a nearby second-hand clothing stall. Hastily picking out a few items of clothing. Paying with the NCR dollars, she changed in the makeshift dressing room.

Tessa removed her armor and draped it over her now full bag. Putting on the blue summer dress, she found that it had fitted her quite nicely, which means Mercy should enjoy her dresses. Altering her appearance by tying her hair into ridiculous secondary pigtails and donning the white bonnet, she emerged looking like a completely different girl.

Making her final stop, she wrapped a (11) nearby toaster in her riding hood while the stall owners back was turned.

Finally making her exit, Tessa bought a few items to eat and drink in celebration as she made her way home. She had actually made it before Vera, so she climbed on the roof, helped her sister up and barely squeezed through the hole in the ceiling.

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

The Rabbit den

She got home faster than expected, although today was an eventful day and time had passed rather quickly.

"Okay, now just wait up there till I say so, alright Mercy?!"

She had unpacked Vera and Mercy's gifts for the day into separate piles.

Mercy gifts included: Plasma pistol magazine accelerator (reinforced circular thingy) & Plasma pistol hi-energy ionizer (block with a barrel)...Not that she knew the names of these things. Two fitting summer dresses, green and red. Toaster. Egg timer.

Vera: Scrap electronics for repairs. A white bonnet.

Tessa: Whet stone. A set of 3 throwing knives. 309 caps in total for today.

Finally, she set down three large juicy brahmin steaks on a plate. A bottle of Vodka and two bottles of Nuka-cola.

Two minutes later: "Alright! Have a look!"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Cheyton Marketplace
Vera played a nuclear silo warning siren from her databanks to scatter the brahmin, then she started blasting her laser in random, but carefully away from any people or brahmin, directions. After about five minutes of this, Vera decided she'd provided enough of a distraction for Tessa and started to head for home. Then she saw Tessa emerge from one of the clothing shops. If Vera could draw air, her breath would have caught in her nonexistent throat.

Wow.Vera thought, chiming a bit like like a cartoon construction worker that was 'watching' a woman in a red dress walk away from them, She's beautiful. How didn't I notice that before? Must've been all of that dirty armor. She looks... amazing without it on. If robots could blush, Vera'd be doing it right now. She zoomed away from Tessa in case she'd heard the robot catcalling her.

Vera eventually found herself back at the...

Cheyton Scrapyard.

And... YES! The bunny ears were still there! Now... to figure out how to take them with her without one of the Rabbit sisters to help her. Hmm...

Vera started trying to loop the set of bunny ears around her multitool. This worked out about as well as any heavily-rigged-against-the-player carnival-style claw game. After about 30 minutes of work though, Vera managed to get the little bugger hanging from her multitool. Satisfied that it would stay in place until she got back to her new home.

Tessa and Mercy's house

It took her until the sun was directly overhead, but Vera finally made it back home. As she approached, she just barely noticed Mercy sleeping on the roof, like a pre-war cartoon dog. How long has she been up there? Poor dear.

Vera shook the bunny ears off of her multiool, then proceeded to de-magnitize the door, and then gliding up to the roof to greet Mercy and offer her a ride back down to the ground.

Vera hovered just above the lip of the roof, and beeped a few times to Mercy, as if to say 'ahem.'

 

[Generic NPC 22]

Cheyton Slums (Before the Stampede)

The youngest of the Rabbit sisters, Vera included, wasn't trying to be rude or standoffish or nor was she being judgmental about the lifestyle that her oldest sister, Tessa, was leading. She understood, objectively speaking though morally she was still a bit questionable about the whole liberation of items deal, the need to survive and that surviving didn't always mesh along with morality. No, what was bothering Mercy was the conditions in which some of the people of Cheyton were living in.

According to what Bookish Bunny remembered of what she had read about Cheyton, it was supposed to be the second capitol of Wyoming and a trading hub. The majority of the population made its money based on trade alone. However, where there were success stories, there were people who didn't make it.

Wandering through the slums on the outskirts of Cheyton was a sobering reminder of this. Still the girl pushed forward along with her Sisters.

[hr]

The Rabbit Burrow:

Vera hovered just above the lip of the roof, and beeped a few times to Mercy, as if to say 'ahem.'

"Wh-wha?" The Small Framed Rabbit asked as she rubbed a thin film of sleep gunk from her eyes and noticed that Vera was hovering just above her.

"Vera? Is everything okay?" The Sleepy Rabbit asked as she looked at the mechanical, floating eyeball of CUUUUTE with a small smile.

"BEEP! CHIRP!" Vera said as she pointed at Mercy with her multitool and pointed down to the ground and then pointed towards herself.

"Oh! Yes! Please!" The Plasma Rabbit said to the Robo-Rabbit, as she found a couple of strong weld points and grasped them, hoping that she wouldn't break anything.

Whether it was luck, or the fact that Vera had been built very well, they made it to the ground without anything breaking off of Vera's frame.

"Thank you, Vera." The Youngest Bunny said as she spotted the bunny ears next to the front door and instantly concluded that they hadn't been there previously. Looking at the eyebot and wondering just why Vera would bring them there... unless...

"Let me help you with those." The Eyebot's adoptive sister said as she picked up the ears and mounted them to the Eyebot's dura-frame.

"Wow. That looks AWESOME!"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Tessa and Mercy's house
Vera surprised herself when she found how easy it was to take the small girl back to the ground without taking any damage. According to the schematics in her databanks, this shouldn't be possible.

I guess dad made more modifications to my hardware as well... huh.

"Thank you, Vera." said the Youngest bunny.

Vera chimed in a way that she thought approximated 'nonchalantly.'

"Let me help you with those."

Vera struggled to contain her excitement as Mercy attached the bunny ears to her frame.

"Wow. That looks AWESOME!"

Vera chirped loudly while hopping and spinning in the air. It was official, she was a Rabbit sister now. Watch out world, Vera Rabbit had her bunny ears, and now there'd be no stopping her!