The REALLY Wild Wasteland. (The Fallout RP!)

[Rip Van Rabbit]

He was smiling and coherent, that's the best Lucy could ask for at this point.

"Since we're mentioning full names, Lucy Black. I would say that I'm pleased, but I'm really more surprised at the moment, although I can't imagine how you must feel." she gave him a grim, but supportive smile.

Barry had begun to show Lucy his heavily wounded arm, she wasn't a doctor. All the stimpacks would do at this point, was heal the minor stuff and numb the pain. "We're gonna touch down by the Citadel when this is all over, the Brotherhood doctors are miracle-workers, so they should definitely help you out." she paused and grew slightly embarrassed "They kinda fixed me up the last time I was busy taking potshots at a behemoth."

"Oh and Lucy, that explosion was freaking fantastic...The best I have ever seen bar none and that's one beautiful weapon right there."

This perked Lucy up even more, although she wasn't used to direct compliments "I- well, it's nothing reall- I mean, Thank you Barry!" she took note to shake his right hand and motioned to her rifle "This is my pride and joy." she openly hugged her rifle.

She snapped out of it and focused on Barry again "Wait, you took a direct hit from a mini-nuke, the nuke exploded and you were the thing that slammed into this Vertibird...How the hell are you still alive?! How, just-...screw what I just did, you're the amazing one here!"

"Gilford, I think you have competition, our new guest Barry, knows how to compliment a woman." she said teasingly

In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one that's been keeping us alive. Besides, does he even have a snazzy Bobblehead collection?

Lucy turned to Barry, he shook his head.

"No, but he at least complimented me on the fact that I just blew up a freakin Behemoth from an unsteady Vertibird in only three shots!"

"I was getting to that! I'm used to anti-air defenses, gunfire and rocks, not humans colliding into my bird."

"Fair point! I'm only teasing you, Paladin. Should we help Frank or try get to the other Behemoth?"

"Believe me, Frank wants to do this alone, he'll be fine. I've seen him face way worse...have you ever seen his sister pissed off before? You think you can pull a shot like that off again?"

"Maybe, I can't get a good look at the other Behemoth, besides, we have other people targeting it as well. I think my friend Marlon is down there, he'll know what to do...Plus I'm a little banged up, minor stuff, but still." she contemplated leaving it all to him "Paladin, we're on a timer now, I want to get Barry to the Citadel, he's in bad shape and he did intend to help out the Brotherhood selflessly. That should get him some free healthcare at least...But let's go make the wasteland a happier place by blowing up another Behemoth!"

She spoke to the Paladin once more "Paladin Gilford, it's an honour to be fighting alongside you. The dad I used to know would have been proud. Thank you for keeping me alive." she leaned over from behind and gave him a kiss on the cheek, easier since he had removed his helmet after Barry collided with the ship, growing bright red, he hastily put his helmet back on. "And please, take your time, I need to catch my breath and get my bearings."

Lucy sat down opposite Barry, clipped herself in and sighed heavily. She gave him a perky smile "I'm fighting alongside Frank, kind-of-a-big-deal at the Bro-hood, you fought alongside me. Or at least you intended to fight in the Brotherhoods best interests. The way I figure it, they should help you out." she reloaded and primed her rifle in the meantime. "By the way, you sure you don't want to snap your fingers back in place and use another stimpack? I have two left and it should really help." she offered him another stimpack.

"So, Barry, why the hell were you running towards all this chaos in first place?? Most people would run away and hide." she asked with sheer curiosity but she had a large smile of admiration on her face.

 

[ImSkeletor]

Flash's grin never wavered for a second. "Amazing" Made him feel really good. He was used to getting beaten, stabbed, shot, or blown up for his attempted heroism. A compliment was a welcome change of pace.

"Well its an eat or be eaten world out there right now. The good people are growing more out numbered by the raiders and murderers and other psychos out in the wasteland. I have seen so many injustices and wrong doings happen to the few remaining good and...I just want to do what I can to help, you know? When I heard explosions I feared raiders or supermutants were sacking a settlement or something. I didn't think in a million years that it would be a Behemoth. But it didn't really matter, I had to atleast try though going toe to toe with a Behemoth, especially in my current condition, probably would have killed me, but thats not the worst way I can think of going out.Helping people." His smile faded somewhat and he grew serious, "As an an old friend of my buddy Bruce said, 'You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a villian and I...couldn't bare to do that. My friend Hal had to do that. He was...warped by a lust for power. Killed so many people. Friends. Well thats all in the past now."

He stared outside of the vertibird looking at the spread out pile of meat that was now the behemoth. One less monsterous creature terrorizing the populous. This hightened his spirit. He made a half smile, "and I would appreciate it if you put my fingers back in place." He took the stimpack and injected it into his leg just as Lucy had. "A pleasure to meet you too Gilford, sir" he said extending his hand. "I see that you have a strong sense of humor. This Frank guy sounds like a good man. Fighting FOR JUSTICE and to HELP the people of the Capital Wasteland! Though he should probably be more willing to except peoples help. Being a part of a good team is probably the GREATEST feeling ANYBODY can have!"

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Lucy was sitting with her head in her hands, listening intently to Barry, she felt inspired as her admiration for what he said grew. "You know what, the wasteland needs more people like you!" she said this with an inspirational edge to her tone. "We both know the wasteland can be a downright terrible place, but I know I can't stand and watch while others are brutalized. I have to act, even if I fail, I know I tried."

Lucy started to tie her hair back into pigtails, since the wind was blowing it in her face. She continued "People may think we're crazy, suicidal, plain stupid or hopelessly naive, but I think we're just the opposite." she pressed onward "Look at us! I'm just a squishy 22 year old girl with a Gauss Rifle left over from her murdered Father. A few days ago, I scared a raider away from a trader, so my biggest concern was food. I meet Frank and now I'm blowing up Behemoths in order to save the Citadel from a surprise attack."

She held Barry's hand while she was talking and got to work.

A strange expression crossed her face, a lot had changed upon meeting Frank and Vikki "Anyway, you just heard explosions and assumed people were in danger. You didn't know what was around the corner, yet you charged right in. I agree with your motivations, I even share them to a great extent. I just think you need to be a little more careful. You can't save people if you're dead." she said that last part softly, layered with heavy emotions as she uttered her direct thoughts "Dying would be too easy. I have to pay a debt that isn't even mine. But at least it helps others, I hope."

Barry's fingers weren't bad upon inspection, one was clearly broken as Lucy tried to delicately position it correctly, the others were merely dislocated, bent at odd angles and were largely cut and bruised. She could already see the stimpack returning a healthy pigmentation to them.

"Hurts less when you don't expect it."

"I'd shake your hand, but I'm a little busy flying this bird. Nonetheless, a pleasure meeting you, Mr Allen...Oh, and you're replacing the broken glass. This bird is my pride and joy. As for dear Franky, he fights for the common-folk yeah, but I would say he loves the thrill of the battle even more. The bigger, the better. The more that's at stake, the better...Frank's an honest man at heart, quite possibly insane, but a good man. Just don't mind his severely lacking social skills."

"You sound like a superhero, Barry" she laughed at his enthusiastic speech "And every good superhero needs a side-kic...partner...equal-rights partner, so what are our names?"

"By the way, do you have any weapons? Oh, and anything you wanna ask me?" she sat back and relaxed a little more.

Those tiny chunks of armor, can't be, please don't let it be what I think it is.

 

[Ruedyn]

Jackson sensed the bastard was not paying attention, and he also felt like the building wasn't paying attention to him. A thought that made him sound mentally handicapped. He sighed, and kneed the horn of his jeep, a rather loud sound. As long as the building doesn't care, Jackson was happy. Still no reaction? Jackson thought the man was slow, but jeez. And so continued the deadlock...
'My fucking arms are getting tired.'

 

[RobDaBank]

Wayne was beginning to grow impatient, Stanley was taking
longer than expected. He got up and began walking around
the plant, the man posted to watch him following behind. In
a room a little down the hall two guards stood watch over a
door.




  DANGER!




Crudely written in red paint across the door was a sign. And,
most worryingly there was a soft tapping coming from behind
it. 'So, what's behind door number 1?' Wayne asked the guard.




"Nothing we cant handle" he replied nervously.




'Well how come it ain't handled then?'




"Because we don't have the firepower, or the man power." Came
the voice of the leader of the guards. "The names Mick, head
of security. Seems we have a bit of a mirelurk problem.
Terrible things, they can take a lot of bullets before going
down. We'be taken to calling them Nukalurks, due to the blue
tint."




'500 caps says I can sort your problem'




"What makes you think you're so much more capable than my
team?"




'Because I specialise in hunting and exterminating
abominations pal, mirelurks, mole rats, even the odd
deathclaw, and trust me when I say I can handle it.'




"Well in that case be my guest" said Mick as he walked over
to the door, holding his rifle at the ready. The three other
guards in the room followed his lead and aimed at the door.
Mick opened it up and out leapt the Nukalurk that had been
standing and tapping behind it, lunging at Mick who jumped
back and opened fire along with the other three. It took
nearly every bullet of every gun before the Nukalurk finally
went down, and even then it wasnt quite dead. Clearly these
people had no concept of weak points.




' I think I can take it from here guys' said Wayne, stepping
past the slow, squirming Nukalurk on the floor. 




The sealed off area was large, containing huge pieces if
equipment, Wayne deduced that they must be where the
Nuka-Cola was mixed. There was a thud, Wayne turned and saw a
Nukalurk just stood there, looking at him as if he were some
kind of alien. 'Boom' Wayne didn't wait for it to charge, he
raised his rifle and fired a round straight into his face,
causing its face to explode. He swung around, keeping aim,
the gunshot was bound to attract more attention. 


  Another appeared from the end of a catwalk, charging
this time. Wayne fired but just missed, the bullet ricocheted
off the creatures shell and narrowly missed another Nukalurk,
this one climbing a set of stairs. He took a breath and fired
again, success! The Nukalurks body still hurtling toward him.
He stepped aside to avoid it, and also get a better vantage
point of the third one, now at the top of the stairs.
Dropping to one knee he took aim, this one was further away.
He waited until it faced him front to front for the best
shot. This one was quite fast however, and kept moving side
to side and charging untill it was on top of Wayne. He
dropped his rifle and pulled out his magnum, dodging the
Nukalurks swinging pincirs. The first opening he saw he
jabbed the barrel of his revolver into the creatures face and
fired.




'Looks like that's it' he muttered, surveying the area. He
picked up his rifle and hobbled around the catwalks, looking
for any remaining Nukalurks. Around a bend and past a pool of
the glowing blue liquid that had flooded a lot of the place
was an opening. Possibly connecting to a metro tunnel, that
would explain how these things got in here. Luckily Wayne had the perfect plan. He casually got out a stick of dynamite from his inside pocket, lit it and threw it in the opening, right by the feet of hopefully the last remaining Nukalurk. 


The explosion was enough to cave in the hole, and even sent a Nuka leg flying in Wayne's general direction. And of course it was enough to bring in the guards.


"Holy fuck mate!" Said Mick running towards him.


'I believe you mean thanks pal'

 

[wilcoblackflame]

Vertibirds huh? One of them'd be mighty useful in the future if Marlon could get his hands on one...Right now though it was time to focus on the task at hand. Putting down a king-size idiot.

He smiled grimly from his vantage point on the walls as he heard the other bandoleer buffoon suffer the explosive gutblast he was about to do his best to unleash on its fellow. "Alright ugly. I'm sick of you miserable sonsofbitches.."

Propping his gun on the edge of the wall's ledge, he fired a short burst of lasers toward the chest of the behemoth, ducking slightly after it. As much as he'd enjoy watching, it probably wouldn't be a great idea to be sticking your head over the wall when the boom went off.

THe first burst didn't catch, though it might have irritated it some. Hard to tell with those things. The second burst though...

Jackpot.

As he ducked back down behind the barrier atop the wall, he grinned as the gratifying sound of a bandoleer detonating and a roar of a creature that just had the surfce of its chest removed by multiple mini-nuke detonations. That's the good stuff.

 

[Souplex]

Frank sped down the hill towards the Behemoth on his recently purchased bike. The bike continued to creak from the weight of of his armor.

Spoiler: Frank cranked a song up to 11.

"Round 2 asshole!"
Suddenly, the man who tried to rob Frank rolled ahead of him in a tire, stumbled out, and pointed his gun at Frank.
[Perception]Even if he were in a state to aim, after that trip...
[Armor 100/30][Success!]...It's not like a revolver could stop him.
"No backsies!"
Frank rode past the dizzy lunatic.
Something was wrong with Frank's armor. Something felt off.
A brown sludge was leaking from his armor's left butt-cheek. The armor's plumbing was leaking.
The song Frank was playing devolved into a garbled mess. There go the speakers.
"Oh, now it's on!"
With the armor damaged, Frank's hallucinations could be heard again.
"I hope you have a plan."
"The best plan Grandpa."
"From what I can tell, all your plans are some variation on punching things.
"Like I said dad, the best plan."
"I believe in you Ladybug."
"Thank you master."
Frank hoped his rockets still worked, and flipped the switch...
...Success!
Frank rocketed around the slippery mess he had made with Lucy (Haha, innuendos!) which only succeeded in slowing the mutant cavalier down.
Frank rode next to the horse's right foreleg, matched speed, and jumped off the bike, grabbing one of the spikes.
The bike was crushed under the horse's right rear leg. Looks like those 202 caps were just the rental price.
"Gutsy."
[Endurance]Frank had a long climb ahead of him.

 

[ImSkeletor]

Barry replied to Gilford "Oh yes, Almost forgot these aircraft don't fly themselves. Must take a lot of skill. I certainly couldn't do it. Though I?m afraid I don't have any caps to give you to fix that window. An enterprising grave digger took them off of me as payment for the burial he planned to give me without asking. I promise you that I?ll give you every cap I get until I can get this repaired." He listened to Lucy as she finished speaking. Murdered father? Something it him like a bag of bricks. A memory.

Barry lay on a mattress within a shack that was about as nice as one could expect in the wasteland. He was bundled in various blankets as an uncomfortable cold swept through the building. He shivered as he lay there. A man, the man from the previous dream, less grayed then before sits in a worn prewar chair looking over various traveler's guides and maps he had procured. Barry pestered him constantly about his mother. Who, as many do in the wastes, past away in child birth. He listened the same stories and the very same description of her most every time, but it didn't matter. He loved this woman he never met as if she had died the day before and not ten years ago, before he could even form memories. Barry clung to people no matter how little he knew of them. Because of her untimely demise his father was forced to take care of Barry alone. He stared at these maps and books dreaming of travel and adventure. He was like a dog trapped in a cage. He was constantly restless and spent night after night looking over these now worn documents and staring up at the stars. He loved Barry with all his heart and soul, but he could never get used to this life style. But he withstood it for his son. But he always gave this detached impression to Barry because, mentally, he was never actually with him all the way. He traveled through unexplored lands or across the farthest stars. He barely ate and rarely slept. A dreamer if there ever was one. But every night he would sit next to his son on the mattress and read a comic book with him until Barry finally fell asleep on top of him. His father wouldn't dare move and wake his son. So he would hold him close and stare out the window dreaming while wide awake. Fantasizing about a life where he could have his wife laying in his arms just as Barry was now. Exploring the world together. And growing far older before having their son. When they finally felt like they had seen enough. They would raise Barry properly in a nice settled area before growing into their twilight years together. But all Barry knew at the time was the he was only truly happy when he and his father were reading together. He was sure he would hold onto these memories forever...

Barry awoke from his few second flash back. He processed what Lucy said. "Well obviously i'm..." he looked down and noticed his emblem and been damaged to the point where it appeared to be unrecognizable. "Well its funny you say that I sounded like a superhero because...I am. I?m THE FLASH! My costume has merely been severely damaged. As my EQUAL PARTNER you would be... The Black Death?...Lazer Blast?...or maybe a classic like Power Girl or WonderWoman. I think Power Girl suits you," He said grinning with excitement. A super hero team! FINALLY!

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

"Like, Flash...The Flash from the comics?" Lucy wasn't sure whether Barry was serious or if he had a light-hearted view of the world. Either way, it brought a smile to her face. "Power Girl huh? I'm flattered, she was one of my favorites...Yeah, I was a comic-book nerd when I wasn't firing a laser pistol and tinkering with junk. Why did you pick that one for me specifically?"

"The Flash and Power Girl, a dynamic and totally awesome duo, if I may so myself." she smiled widely "Although as your equal-rights-partner, I want you to be a little more considerate of your well-being next time. You can do a lot of good, but you aren't going to get far if you don't take a little bit of time to get back on your feet. Pinky promise!!"

She extended her pinky finger accordingly.

"Miss Black, we have another Behemoth down. Blown to hell and back. It seems your time to shine won't come twice."

"Must have been my friend Marlon, told you he would know what to do. Then again, he didn't snipe from an unsteady Vertibird!" Lucy teased.

You're never going to let that go, are you? Tis a shame really, I would have loved to see you work that rifle again. My, erm, Gatling gun, has an interesting firing mechanis- Woah! Turn your attention to the Behemoth and his stead, I may be seeing things here.

Lucy peered through her scope to locate the Behemoth and the Nightmare. Seems like the slick grenades impeded the Nightmare's movement. She tracked Frank climbing the hind leg of the Nightmare, she spotted brown liquid leaking from his backside. "Hey, Gilford, I don't know Frank to be the scared type...but I think he's shitting himself."

She would have commented further, but she spotted another person...a very long person, casually waving to them.

"Hiiiii...." she slowly waved back and muttered to herself, this situation was rather absurd.

Snazzy clothing, she thought, this guy has some style. Although how in the hell did he manage to keep the top-hat on. She liked top-hats. She would march into battle with a top-hat and a monocle if she had half the chance...

"Erm, Flash, is that a friend of yours down there on the Nightmare?" she offered her rifle's scope for a better look.

The Nightmare twitched for a moment, obviously aware of something climbing onto it. Both Frank and this stranger had emerged on the Nightmare's hindquarters, the stranger was too busy waving and subsequently collapsing towards the Behemoth to notice Frank. The stranger had pulled back some material that was covering a bulge, that bulge was a mini-nuke.

She motioned for the stranger to get off the Nightmare, she even pointed at the the mini-nuke and made explosion gestures and then a decapitation gesture after pointing to the Behemoth and then pointing towards her gun.

"Gilford! Please tell me you can get me on communications to Frank's armor, there's a mini-nuke on the Behemoth! I can't fire while he and some other dude is down there. Maybe he can use it to his advantage then."

"Don't worry about it too much Miss Black, if you noticed it, chances are Frank also noticed it as well. Besides, Frank hates having his big battles interrupted."

 

[Ruedyn]

Jackson had had enough. The thing was just sitting there, after 30 minutes of the SAME. FUCKING. NOISE, he felt he had right to end the fucking things existence.
"Maybe you'll learn to swallow when you get to hell!" He yelled at the thing, letting a 3 round salvo into it's mid section, hoping that was that. He didn't want to sleep any more, and prepared to leave and do... Something. Probably visit the Citadel, sell the Gauss rifle. They loved those damn things, and had enough money. Wouldn't let him join though. Even though he had better knowledge of power armor than some of their Paladins. He sighed, twas a wretched existence, that of a ghoul.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

Dan started at the bag of caps with evident greed in his eyes. That bag of caps would be easier money then whatever those raiders had to offer. After all, Enclave soldiers are a ***** to kill with a hammer. Raiders? Generally not so much.

"Niska? Niska." Dan repeated the name a few times. It was unfamiliar to him but there was a bag of caps sitting right in front of him. All he had to do was play along. "Okay. Can do. Job didn't work out. No more assassins. Easy enough message to give. So if you would be so kind as to untie me and I'll get that bag of yummy caps to Niska as fast as a molerat running away from a super mutant. Yes sir. Lickity split. Right to Niska, huh uh," Dan said, his plan, plain as day on his profile.

 

[ImSkeletor]

Barry laughed and extended his finger as he was about to answer all of Lucy's questions, But before he had the chance Gilford interrupted them. Describing a Behemoth with a soiled brotherhood member and a tall man climbing up it.
"Erm, Flash, is that a friend of yours down there on the Nightmare?"
He peered down at the long man for a moment before responding, "yeah I know him. Hes that gravedigger who took all my caps. Not exactly a friend but he seemed mostly harmless. Didn't try to kill me or anything. Which is more than what I can say for most people." He looked at the creature somewhat awestruck. To Barry the creature reached beyond the highest clouds. It's steed was as black as the night and puffed fire and smoke out of its nostrils. The mutant wore a crown of human skulls. None of this was real of course. But to Barry it was as real as himself or Lucy. The wind the was flowing by the vertibird blew through his hair as he peered outside. The stimpacks had fixed his broken nose and some of his cuts, bruises and gashes that stretched across his body from his neck to the balls of his feet. He had a rather heroic look to him when his face wasn't busted up...or on fire. He gave a smile and a thumbs up to Frank not caring whether or not Frank would actually see it. "And this is going to be a heck of a battle. Pardon my languange." He said grinning in anticipation. "Oh, and I did mean Flash from the comic books. Always made me a little bit taller and my hair a little bit lighter. But I never had a problem with creative license. I picked PowerGirl because in her first adventure she helped out The Flash. And besides that she is a smart and strong woman," he said staring out of the vertibird with his wide blue eyes.

 

[FalloutJack]

The Enclave soldiers looked at one another and then David tossed the caps down before him. Someone cut his bonds and said...

Soldier: We left your stuff about thirty feet behind you, so as to make sure you can't go for it faster than we can cut you down. Don't want any last-minute surprises. Have a nice day, citizen.

The soldiers all piled into the Vertibird and it proceeded to take off, presumably fooled by Dan's bluff. However, once up in the air...

FalloutScott: An' who exactly is this 'Mr. Niska' anyway?

FalloutDavid: Fuck if I know.

Back on the ground, however, there was a man dressed in a black leather jacket and pants...plus ALOT of bandages, a cap, and red sunglasses. He was sitting on a big rock not far from Dan's stuff.

"That was pretty slick, right there. Of course, the Heads are gonna be pissed, but then they have a great deal to be mad at. Duch as ME. So, what will you do now, hammer-man?"

There was something odd about this man. He seemed to know the Heads, but he wasn't with them and he knew they'd probably want to go after Dan now. What did he want, then?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

William, Evan, and Dudley had gone a LONG way and had found a big break: A secret entrance that was sealed off and likely not known about exactly, not by the Enclave anyway. But to a BoS Scribe? Well now... The only problem, of course, was that no matter how much of an in this might've given Will...he was still going into the heart of Enclave territory. There would be no peril greater than where he was going right now, not unless they had Exploding Brahmin as well down there. (Don't put it past 'em.) So, William - armed with Cram - set about into the tunnel. Meanwhile...Evan had cooked up a shish-kabob recipe that was not meant for combat and served it before their open fire.

Evan: Because...the combat one was based upon the REAL kabob which I found a good recipe for, though most people forget about it these days.

Dudley: I like this. Gonna have to share it with me after we've done this haul.

Evan: I can oblige.

FalloutJack: Can I have some water? It's very spicy.

Evan: Sure.

He handed off the bottle without thinking about it, and then reacted suddenly as the two of them found a black-armored agent in their midst, his suit given to have green highlights to go along with the glowing eyes.

Evan: Where did YOU come from?!

FalloutJack: Well, when a man and a woman decide they really love each other...

Dudley: I think he means how did you get to be suddenly sitting there, eatin' dinner with us?

FalloutJack: I move fast. FalloutJack of the Enclave's special Fallout Sector, checking around some reports of activity in our area. Can't be too careful with all those yahoos running around. You know, raiders and shit. We drove alot of 'em out, but they're never QUITE gone. So, about that water...

Evan really hoped that Will was having a better time of it...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The grin on Burt's face indicated that he had been considering what to do about his situation for a while now, and had prepared.

Burt: Well, it occurs to me that the local wildlife is of a violent attitude that will stamp about and try to actively go after whatever's thinning the herd, but can't always get at 'em, so they make with the stamping and running around. This leaves them in the general area for a while, leaving us free to take action. The problem is that the Graboids - call 'em that 'cause they grab ya from below - are hunting by sound, and that's ALOT of sound, so they could pop up anywhere, take a gulp, and pop back down safe and sound...

And then, he pulls out the dynamite sticks.

Burt: What do you say to maiming a few irradiated horses so the uglies can zero in on it, followed by a round of us chucking explosives at it while it goes after its prey?

If the...Graboids...went after the mmore helpless prey, they could throw dynamite at it while it's trying to take in a meal and blow it apart...in theory.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Stan went to see Emerson Estabahn over the situation in which Morgan Bloom had sent him. The businessman was not exactly pleased to see him - His eyes said that much - but his professionalism prevented him from getting too bent out of shape over it. Thus, it went like this...

Emerson: Morgan sent you to me because I asked him for help on a sensitive matter, someone who would appreciate my work enough to put things to rights quietly. Now, publically, I have revived Nuka Cola and its Quantum flavor. I am currently negotiating with West Coast distributors for the recipe to other flavors so that I may bring them to the East as well. This, however, puts my already-thinning assets to the breaking point...and now a situation arises. It's not the infestation downstairs. Those things happen. It is, however, this...

He placed a bottle of Nuka Cola on this desk.

Emerson: This bottle of cola that we produced seems normal, and many of them are. However, a number of them are NOT. They are making people sick and I need to know why. Somehow, some way, something in random bottles of our product is doing this. I'm getting blamed for this and I'm telling people that I'm looking into it, but they get unreasonable sometimes. They ask me about...Nukalurks found in the DC Ruins or other places, those 'Lurks that drink our stuff, and I don't know anything about that. I'm a man of business. Now, will you help us? If so, you will be working alongside those three inspectors I hired to make certain batches of soda were safe.

Just then, there was a muffled sounds - An explosion? - and Niko came in.

Niko: This guy's friend just handled a bunch of the Nukalurks and showed up Mick on his gunning skills. Can we keep 'im?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yeah, neither the building nor the cloaked figure had reacted to the jeep horn beeping, let alone his talking. So, he'd taken to shooting at it. Now, he hadn't been waiting there QUITE as long as he thought, but the irritation was understandable, just the same. In shooting, though, a dark green funk blew out from the figure - horrible, horrible smell of the sea - and it was gone from sight as soon as the smoke dispersed...which was quickly. It was gone! No body, no blood, no...no footprints?! Well, it WAS raining, but still...this thing was GONE without a trace. How could it do th-

[HEADING=3]"HHHOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUURRRRRRRLLLLLLLLL!!!"[/HEADING]

JESUS CHRIST, it was behind him and grasping at his neck, fingers like vice-grips and WHAT THE HELL?! Three dark-and-clammy fingers on those hands! Something was gripping his head and then- VISIONS!!

The walkers were coming.
The altar is ready and the catalyst will arrive soon.
The ancient ones will rise and take back the world that was theirs.
This land belongs to the them, as does the sea and the air.
Give in to them.​

It was not words that spoke to him, but impressions that translated themselves thus. He felt that there was something larger than what he knew and that it was around him, that he had just come in contact with a dark-eyed beast with a clammy monstrous form that could make pure water in a toxic world. He had seen, briefly, its true self. He had seen it and its kind, leaping and flying across the land, but...he had already forgotten their shape. It didn't stick. The attempt to pull him in had not taken. He was resistant. And then-

Lightning struck. Jackson was in the position he was in when he'd woken up, waking up right now. It wasn't really raining that much anymore. Had whatever happened...UNhappened? Or perhaps NEVER happened? It's hard to say, but even though he was getting up like none of that had been real...his gun had still been fired, three times. And there was still a lingering taste of the sea...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Wow, those guys really WERE stupid. Who in their right mind would arm up a bunch of super mutants like THAT? Behemoth Bombs and crazy scientists... Well, if the Doc wanted to play up the randomosity like that, we'll just have to step it up a little. Because...the problem was right now that the MGB was caught up in a logic loop. It had never been tested for long-term missions, so they didn't know that it would eliminate the area of the radio tower and then refuse to budge for lack of any further mutant activity. The super computer was in a self-imposed cycle of determining why its objectives had not been met. Because of this, it wasn't going to patrol unless something forced it to...or it got more information. That...is what HE was after.

Two Behemoths had blown up and the one on the horse was still smashing things with his BFH. At this time, there was a vertibird - Non-Friendly - flying around and two guys - one BoS and one not - climbing up two different legs on a giant Nightmare. A Nightmare Behemoth? Will wonders never cease? And so, he assessed the situation. The way he saw it, there was both an advantage and disadvantage in this. The Behemoths had damaged the Citadel with their attacks, and hardly any of them could damage the armored Sir Hammersby. He was already moving on to an area with no slippery stuff while those two were trying to play their version of Shadow of the Colossus. Good idea, but one problem. He needed to interrogate that mutant, AND take down that Vertibird. They couldn't have unfriendly skies around here.

The Enclave hovercraft came out of its hiding place and place, driven forward by plasma engines. Its forward and turret cannons fired heavy wads of plasma at the horse wildly...and here was where things went wrong. The hose had bits and chunks exploded from it, and it was already going to fall. Unfortunately for the driver, it was going to land heavily on the back-end of his ride. So, in proper Frank Rose tradition, a vehicles has exploded in the name of taking down the bad guys. Well...not quite. The first thing is...the Behemoth jumped...on top of the Citadel! It pulled out a couple of its own Mini-Nukes and tossed them inside, blowing stuff up. And then...there was the fate of the driver, who ejected. SMASH!! This time, the cockpit window did not survive. There was now a powersuited man [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMWnoJhBNF8] standing before the gaping hole...and he's holding a powered claymore!

"Hola, mi nombre es FalloutBob. Usted mató a mi gente. Prepárate a morir."

A quick swing and the control stick for the Vertibird was freed from the rest of the cockpit, Bob jumping from the vehicle with an "Ole!" to go after the Behemoth. That man was insane! More to the point, this Vertibird would now be out of control!

 

[Souplex]

Frank had successfully climbed the horse, and had begun climbing the mutants armor, when an Enclave vehicle shot up the Nightmare. The Behemoth responded by jumping onto the wall of the Citadel and throwing mini-nukes. Frank did not want to be next to one of those when it exploded.
"That schmuck stole your kill!"
"Kill him!"
"Priorities! Behemoth comes first"
"Shut up, I shouldn't hear you, I'm not crazy! Sane people don't hear voices!"
[Perception]An Enclave man had ejected from the hovercraft up to the Vertibird, sliced into the cockpit, and jumped down to the Citadel walls. Since the Vertibird wasn't crashing, Gilford was still alive. It also wasn't going anywhere though. The man had probably cut the controls.
"I've had it with these mother-fucking 'Clave in my mother-fucking wastes!"
[Energy Weapons 80/30][Success!]Frank fired a bolt at the man's feet.
"You stole my kill, I demand satisfaction! When this is over, you and me, mano y mano! Just us and our respective fists of steel! No weapons."
[Endurance]Frank resumed his climb, moving around to the backside of the Behemoth to keep the explosions from the mini-nukes from hitting him.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

The cockpit window was smashed with great force and a powered blade had sliced the controls from Gilford's hands.
Who had done this? None other than FalloutBob. He said something in a language she didn't understand, with a mocking but cheerful tone, he jumped from the ruined Vertibird and sped to the ground.

"I didn't want to say this, but, we're going down...slowly." Gilford muttered casually.

"What the hell do you mean?!" Lucy's rage started to boil the moment her mind processed that FalloutBob was nearby, let alone attacking her.

"Easy there, Lucy! We retrofitted these birds with a fail-secure mechanism. I can't control our descent, but I know we're just going down slowly, weapons are still active though. Just buckle up and -"

Paladin Gilford had stopped talking because Lucy had her hand clenched on his shoulder until her knuckles turned white "Fire on him now!"

"Frank is still down there, not to mention othe-"

[HEADING=2]"I.DON'T.CARE!!!"[/HEADING]She screamed at him with unbridled rage, she unclipped Vikki's SMG and just emptied the entire clip towards Bob's direction.

"Dammit!" she reached around to her backpack and pulled out two 10mm magazines, she held one between her teeth as she reloaded, finding conventional guns clunky. Taking the spare clip from her mouth, she proceeded to rapid fire in his direction again. Screaming with rage, she proceeded to do the same with her third magazine. Only one more left in her backpack.

This time she rushed to the other end of the Vertibird, since it had slowly spun, shoving Barry out of the way, she pulled her Gauss Rifle out and tried to aim and fire, but anger had destroyed her focus.

"You killed my father!"

She sent a magnetically-propelled slug towards him.

"You destroyed MY LIFE!"

She clumsily reloaded and took aim.

"You're making me repay a debt that didn't even belong to me!"

She fired in his direction again, clearly missing, but landing near him at least.

"You forced me to do your dirty work while I had to shoulder undeserved guilt!"

She reloaded and prepared another shot.

"I am so fucking sick and tired of your bullshit, you, the Enclave, EVERYTHING!"

She fired another shot by instinct, this one may or may not have hit since she lost her balance as the Vertibird descended faster than expected.

She looked towards the Behemoth ravaging the Citadel.

Vikki...

She pulled Vikki's SMG out once more and with the final clip, she showered anything in FalloutBob's direction with a hail of gunfire and Gauss Rifle bolts.

With her voice breaking slightly, two years worth of frustration welled up in tears and blind fury.

She was visibly shaking as she kept pulling the trigger, but the gun clicked over and over again saying that it was empty.

"Fine!" she practically growled while tears streamed down her face, her fists clenched tightly.

"I am Lucy Black and I will not be your goddamn puppet!"

And with that final scream of fury, she holstered her weapons and prepared to jump as soon as they got closer to the ground.

 

[Ruedyn]

Jackson sat, breathing heavily. He was beginning to think that that was an alien. Or drugs were taken at some point along the road. Or-
'shut the fuck brain!' Jackson rubbed his temple, and felt his throat. He was fine, alive at least. He wondered how his older brother would react to any of this? Probably with shooting things. He was always the less brainy one. This naturally brought him to thoughts of the middle brother, the one that would go down in history. The Murphys only wished it was for more pleasant reasons. Jackson sighed, pushing these thoughts out of his mind. These memories never went well, and always resulted in crying or rage fueled slaughtering. Speaking of mass murder, his short term goal of visiting the Citadel was still in act, and he realized the jeep was still on. He sighed, and began driving, through the rain. He was always good at that...

 

[ImSkeletor]

Barry watched as Lucy unwound yelling and screaming and firing wildly. He tried to console her, but as he opened his mouth she shoved him out of the way. He stumbled smacking his head on the inside of the vertibird in surprise. This appeared to be the straw that broke the camel's back. His body just gave up and went home at this point. He was out on his feet. The vertibird span more quickly than one would have expected and he fell backwards out of the vertibird. The air flowed past him as he rocketed towards the ground. He didn't know where he was or in fact who he was in this moment which felt like hours. So he didn't struggle. He didn't scream. He just silently plummeted. He hit the ground with a sickening thud landing flat on his back. His head snapped back and hit the concrete. He blacked out instantly upon impact with the sidewalk. A pool of blood began to form around his body. He needed extensive medical attention soon or this would be how he would finally go out. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Barry was laying in that chair once again with the smoking ashes of his father laying infront of him. A day had past since where the memory left off. He finally pushed himself up from the extreme hunger he was feeling. Every few steps he would look back as if his father would just be standing there unharmed petting Old Bessie just as he could usually be found doing in life. Barry could still hear the screaming of his father and the brahmin. Every time he blinked he saw them burning as if it was painted onto his eyelids. He stepped into a settlement and wandered through it like a zombie. After a few minutes a pale shakey man pressed his hand on Barry's shoulder. "You look like you just saw some terrible shiznit go down homeboy. I got something for you to take the edge off brother." He pulled out a hit of psycho. "Don't worry. First ones free buddy." He smiled with his yellow and black teeth. Barry took it into his hands and injected it into his arm. Part of him hoped it would kill him. Unfortunately for him it didn't...

 

[SamtheDeathclaw]

"This guy's friend just handled a bunch of the Nukalurks and showed up Mick on his gunning skills. Can we keep 'im?" the young man from before said, entering.
"No, he's mine. You can't have him." Stan said with a smile, then turned to Estabahn. "Yup! Works for me. We'll get to the bottom of it, make no mistake. Unless we don't." He shrugged, then stood. "Best get to work, then. I'm gonna need either an escort with the keys to the plant, or the keys themselves. Gonna take a stroll around the plant and get a feel for the place before I start looking too hard. Is that acceptable?"
Stanley was businesslike, now. It was an abrupt change. Though he kept his amiable tone of voice, he suddenly dropped the laughing familiarity, and went to work. He might be silly at the best of times, but he took his work seriously. He'd learned that lesson the hard way.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Paladin Gilford had turned around in his seat, as much as he could at least, in order to face Lucy "Lucy, I know what you're thinking, don't do this! Just sit down and brace for impact, you're being reckless and stupid!"

"You don't know what the hell I'm thinking, you have no idea what that man took from me! she spoke through gritted teeth, she was breathing raggedly and her free hand was continuously clenching and unclenching.

"Where's Mr Allen?" Gilford's tone was sincerely quizzical.

This had momentarily snapped Lucy out of the roaring tempest that was her seething rage. "What?" she rushed over to the other end of the Vertibird.

She knew she had shoved him out of the way, but did she -

Peering down, she spotted Barry, flat on his back and not even moving.

The Vertibird had veered off to the left, so they weren't going to land on Barry, although the ground was approaching uncomfortably fast. "Forgive me, Paladin." she said this just as she jumped out. She had intended to turn her landing into a roll, but only half succeeded and ended up hitting the ground rather hard and tumbling. Pain had rocketed through her left leg and shoulder. She groaned in absolute pain for a moment.

The Vertibird smashed loudly behind her, a small distance off and a stream of obscenities could be heard from the wreckage. No screams for help, more complaining than anything else.

She clawed her way up, fueled by her desire to get to Barry. Grief had actually started to overpower her anger.

Reaching his body, she saw the blood pooling around him. "This is my last one! I'm so sorry. Please don't die, please let this help you somehow." she said this as she injected her last stimpack into his body. She knew it wouldn't do much, but it was better than nothing.

"Uggghhh, stupid goddamn Enclave bastards! Pull him onto my lap. These legs are weak, but these arms are strong." a familiar voice and a creaking sound rang out from behind her.

Lucy turned to see Paladin Gilford, bruised and bleeding slightly from the head, in what looked like a reinforced wheelchair. She gave a tortured smile and wasted no time trying to drag Barry's body onto Gilford's lap, with some help, he made it.

"Lucy, that Behemoth, take it down at all costs or there won't be a Citadel to go back to! I'm going to find any field-doctors or make my way to the Citadel. The Brotherhood will hear of your brave actions today. Remember, you still gotta admire my Bobblehead's..." he started wheeling away with surprising speed and a grim laugh. Barry's unconscious body hung limply over either end of the wheelchair.

Alone, she struggled to walk easily, her less-than-graceful landing had done some damage to her leg and left shoulder. Luckily she was right-handed.

She was a small distance off from the Citadel Walls, the Behemoth in the distance and two figures. Her crash could not have been more opportune.

Priming her rifle, her aim was a lot more steady, now that she was on the ground, as she scouted the ruined and scorched battlefield before her. She spotted Frank pointing a pistol at someone. She looked over to find...FalloutBob with his powered sword of some kind, facing Frank.

Not too far from them, the Behemoth was still smashing at the Citadel and tossing the odd mini-nuke with reckless abandon.
She could still see the mini-nuke held in place on what looked like a giant utility belt covered by toughened material. That odd mini-nuke was still poking out though.

FalloutBob had ignored every shot she made on the way down. The floodgates weren't merely opened by this point, they were completely smashed off their hinges and her seething rage returned.

She only saw red at this point and aimed through her scope towards the Behemoth, she only needed the smallest hit. Crouching for stability, she sent a shot ringing towards the Behemoth's large hand in hopes of making him drop the hammer.

[HEADING=3]"LOOK.AT.ME!"[/HEADING] She screamed at FalloutBob.

She picked an easier target and nailed the back of the Behemoth's armored head.

"In case you haven't heard, I am Lucy Black and I will not be your goddamn puppet!" She shouted while she made her way closer to the Citadel walls, trying to catch her breath, her body was aching, but she did not care at this point.

Her voice cracked again as she screamed with rage and fired a bolt near his feet.

She reloaded and fired another concentrated shot towards the mini-nuke, even if she didn't hit, her message would be clear either way.

[HEADING=3]"Do I have your attention now?!"[/HEADING]

 

[ImSkeletor]

Barry stumbled back into an alleyway and laid down. His pupils dialated and he would have given a sigh of relief because the screams in his head finally stopped, but the psycho removed his higher brain functions. He laid back and attempted to finally sleep...When he awoke he was no longer in the alley. He was laying in the middle of street. The moment he awakened the screaming began to ring through his ears once again. He rolled around covering his ears unable to do anything to stop it. People passed by him taking a moment to stare at the crazy psycho addled man rolling around screaming, "MAKE IT STOP!" with tears streaming down his face. He rolled against the outer wall of a building. Slamming his head backwards into it screaming desperately. After a while he calmed down growing more used to the yelling in his brain. He went back to psycho dealer handing him a bag with all of his caps. The man looked through it quickly estimating the amount within. He reached back into his jacket and pulled out a dozen different hits of psycho. And handed them to Barry in broad daylight. No one cared. Just another Junkie getting his fix. Barry climbed back into the alley injecting two of them into his upper arm. His pupils began to take up most of his eyes. The next several hours past by as a colorful blur. When his higher brain functions returned to him he had no earthly idea of where he was. It was fairly dark and the cold of the nights in the wasteland radiated across his body. Sweat streamed down his face in spite of this. He looked down at himself and saw that he was soaked in blood. He shouted and pushed himself backwards almost as if he was trying to climb away from himself. He couldn't think clearly and he desperately looked around. He was laying in a decrepid series of buildings in an abandoned neighborhood. He backed away until he bumped his head on a dumpster. He rubbed his skull and stood up looking into the dumpster. A woman laid within with the blade of a knife stuck within her eye socket. Blood covered much of her face and chest. Where was the handle? WHERE WAS THE HANDLE??? He ran around the nearby area looking around desperately. Finally a thought entered his head. One he didn't want to entertain but he was forced to. He reached into his his pocket feeling nothing, but worry. His hand pressed against wood. He quickly pulled it out. It was the handle to a knife. He dropped to his knees sobbing holding it in his hand. "what have I done" he said in a voice barely above a whisper. A third scream joined the chorus in his head. That of a woman...
His body began to seizure.