The REALLY Wild Wasteland. (The Fallout RP!)

[Rip Van Rabbit]

"Thomas!?" she laughed softly to herself, quickly composing herself afterwards...somewhat. "I had you pegged for a Sam, maybe a Samuel." she listened to Shifty's story intently, regarding his name. "Your Mother..." following Shifty's example "Walt rest her soul, she seemed to have a very poetic view of the world, with regards to your name." she smiled as she thought about the shifting sands of the Mojave.

She took another drink and proceeded to push her hair over one shoulder, revealing most of her neck, facing Shifty.

After three drinks, she had her head cradled in her hands, listening intently. "Well, I think..." she held her glass up to the Honorable Undertaker "...that your Father's Father's Father- I'm confused. The one who started it all, the entire lineage actually, is admirable. The origin is heartbreaking admittedly, but I would consider it to be very honorable, the work that you do." she paused "Springvale could have used you, you may not see it, but if there are loved one's remaining...There is nothing they would appreciate more than a proper burial for those who have passed."

"This may be a morbid thought, although isn't morbid apart of your job description? Anyway, you wish to help someone out before they passed on, I would say that you're off to a good start with me." She smiled reassuringly "You were protecting me when I was at my most vulnerable, you know I'm in rather complicated situation, you stopped me from taking that knife and finding Bob and you're even sharing a drink with me." she tilted her head and her eyes closed slightly as if she were analysing the smallest of details on his clothing, except her eyes were directed towards his in a piercing manner. She relaxed and smiled "You could have walked away at any point, putting profession aside, as a person you could have distanced yourself. Yet here you are, comforting me, staying by my side...Thank you, from the bottom of my heart" she even laid both her hands to her chest as a sweet gesture.

"You are the most delightful person I have ever met and believe me I have met all kinds of people in my travels."

"Well, I-...erm, you're far too sweet." she had chosen to hide behind her hair since she was turning a shade of pink. "The same could be said about you my dear Undertaker. Do you know how liberating it feels to use my big-girl-words for once?"

"I think that I would do whatever was in my power to help you with your problem with your father."

This line had stunned Lucy, momentarily removing the embarrassment from before, nobody had offered to personally help her.
Her reaction was that of being caught off guard, the Undertaker would notice, this had also hit her on a deeper level.

She draped her arms around the noble Undertaker "You have no idea what that means to me, Thomas. I've honestly been alone for so long with nobody to support me. Not on a personal level anyways."

Spoiler: Lucy's reaction

"I'm personally going to bury FalloutBob before he passes on if he doesn't speak."

It took this final line in order to bring back her spirit, to cheer her up and to lift the weight off her shoulders. Sheepishly, she replied with a barely concealed smile. "I'm right there with you."

"Did anyone ever tell you that flattery will probably get you everywhere? Because you're doing an excellent job so far."

She paused as she waited for the new bottle, even though they had polished off just one bottle, it had been awhile since Lucy had done this sort of thing, she was fine yet the alcohol did have a kick. The good kind of kick.

"Sooo you want to hear about Mini-Lucy? Well, I've always been quite the bookworm, I would read anything from repair manuals to my favorite's like, Lying Congressional Style, Nikola Tesla and you. I tried reading computer...stuff...I don't get it. Also, unarmed fighting? I tried punching a radroach that got into the house once...The floor won. Ironically, I killed it with the book, I think that's a melee weapon though..."

She generously poured a glass full for both of them.

"When I wasn't killing radroaches with books, I would run around with repaired laser pistols, brought back by my Dad and we would go out hunting mole-rats. They were, like, huge when you're in your early teens. So don't judge me." she mockingly scolded him.

She took a large gulp and changed to more recent topics "For the past few years, I lived in Megaton, with Moira at the Craterside Supply. I would do odd little repair jobs around town, tend the store when Moira had a crazy experiment to carry out and I would hunt the mole-rats and radscorpions in the area. There was one condition, wear that damned black and white polka-dot dress...all the time...and I was made to eat certain foods developed by Moira. Emphasis on the word developed over there." she started to use exaggerated finger quotes. "My hair turned green at some point...apparently her solution was a couple of magnets, some brahmin milk and a couple of happy thoughts...it didn't work out."

"Which reminds me, Megaton!" she proceeded to tell the story of Frank, Vikki, Marlon and her launching an assault on a Behemoth. How reckless she was, her singing and Frank's crazy idea's revolving around stealing and breaking modes of transport for the sake of combat. "That's what happened there, Frank makes life...interesting, to say the least. He's honorable, if you look past the stunted social skills, but you can't exactly blame the guy. I'll always be loyal to him, if I can."

She was happy just to sit there and talk about anything, helped take her mind off things. "I'm still, reeeally, sorry about shooting at you. But you gotta give me credit, that's a hell of a way to make an introduction, right?"

"OH! Any weapons that you're skilled with? A Gauss Rifle, maybe?" she put her finger to her mouth, "ooooh! This one was important, we should check up or find out about Barry, later though. We aren't in the...best...condition to be dealing with serious matters."

She smiled with greater ease as she cradled her head in one hand, "So what's our plan? Frank and I have to take down this Mad Doctor guy. He did, whatever it was that you saw, to Vikki. He made her that way...Will you be coming with, or do we have to resort to sad goodbye's, last-minute regrets, a quest to find one another and then dramatically save the other one at the last moment?"

The alcohol was definitely making her feel very casual and unreserved. Yet she felt safe and happy in the Vodka's Shifty's company.

 

[Pink Gregory]

"Crawver's log."

"Another day of fruitless endeavour, seemingly no one around for miles; I know it's suspicious, but I'm not fool enough to question fortune. What am I saying? I'm a doctor, damn it, not some twopenny mystic. Curses."

"Abraham and I have decided to seek shelter for tonight, it seems a storm is coming in; well, so he seems to think, ear to the ground, fingers in the air, trick knee, trick elbow, all of his bones are trick, he is a blasted trick. Of course I can barely look up, let alone forecast the weather. It's becoming increasingly apparent that I am heavily depending on him for survival. Ugh...this...this troubles me greatly."

"Blast, the rain's coming."

 

[The Harkinator]

"Are we still going for a tour, or have we been taken hostage?" Evan whispered to Dudley. They were following Fallout Jack into the Enclave base, soldiers in resplendent power armour marched back and forth in patrols, or stood guard like fearsome statues carrying state of the art weaponry. Fallout Jack was the scariest of them all. He had just marched right up to them and in a few minutes had persuaded them to follow him into the fort. It seemed the plan had been taken out of their hands for now.

"I think we might be in for both, get me? I don't like this Jack fella, it ain't right the way he eats. Never trust a man who eats weird." Replied Dudley, aware that his massively powerful weaponry wouldn't be much use here. He might take a few down with him but this was Enclave central. Mow down five of them and a hundred would show up.

"Never trust a man who eats weird? YOU eat like a radroach! I didn't think it was possible for a human to eat like a radroach but you manage it." Shot back Evan, the situation was making him nervous, if they knew or discovered who he was the implications were not good. They were following Fallout Jack towards the fort and getting some suspicious looks from the soldiers. None of them said a word but the message was clear: 'You are strangers in this place. You don't belong here.'

They were coming up to the fort entrance. No turning back now, the doors opened for Fallout Jack and they were ushered inside. The doors slammed shut behind Evan and Dudley with a worrying clang. Trapped?

 

[Souplex]

Frank was displeased. Instead of taking up his offer to shower with him, Lucy had a mild mental break.
Frank ducked out of the room.
Nice work Casanova.
"Shut up Dad."
Frank walked off to his room, still quite naked, and drawing a few uncomfortable glances.
Frank sat down on the toilet to do his business.
It felt weird to sit down, and actively try to do something that should just happen naturally. Frank did not care for it.
It's worse when you're a ghoul. I'm not going to go into it.
Frank moved to the bed to try and take a nap.
We should be planning for taking down the person behind the Behemoths.
Sleep proved impossible in Frank's current state.
Frank was agitated. He'd shower later.
Frank grabbed a dirty Scribe robe from the wall, put it on, and headed to the lounge.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

"I walked around Megaton for about two month's before the green started to grow out. As you can see, some of it won't leave -..."

"Maybe you'll think of me when you are all alone."

"However... there are exceptions to regret rule... I might regret asking you for this dance." The Undertaker stood there with his hand extended towards her.

The palm of Lucy's hand had collided with her face automatically, she wasn't making fun of the Undertaker but she was extremely embarrassed by the whole situation. Her sudden bout of acute shyness was clearly showing on her face by the way of rosy cheeks. Whether this was actually due to the shyness, the alcohol or a combination of both, well, she was in no state to know that.

She took the Undertaker's hand and was lead out of the way of many passing patrons, "I see no reason for any sort of regret. Although, you'll have to...um...lead?" She was unfamiliar with dancing, except for what most would consider her dancing to be seizures when she thought nobody was looking.

She wondered how this looked from an outsider's perspective, she was rather short, so she only reached his chest at best, her mind was not all too clear to be looking at such details. So while she rested her head against what she thought was a lower chest, she spoke, "Apology accepted, by the way, that's why I made you repair my armour."

"Maybe you'll sit and sigh, wishing that I were near."

"We're quite similar in one aspect, despite our drastically different lifestyles, we're still rather...lonely at heart." Yet she felt that was going to change, especially considering what her life has been like lately. "I'd love nothing more than the company of the recently-met-yet-still-considered-illustrious Undertaker, Shifty Mcgee."

The song was nearing the halfway mark at this point.

She was comfortable for once and blindly happy, so she had a silly grin on her face. She looked up at the Undertaker, "You know, not too long ago, I was offering to go with you...Now, you seem to be volunteering to go with me...or is this a case of us, erm..." She grew slightly flustered at having being lost for words, "...Going together?"

She changed the subject rapidly. This was heading towards a dangerous territory where her better judgement told her to steer clear of such talk, before it subsequently passed out and fell asleep.

"Oh!" she said, patting his chest "Teach me how to use normal guns properly and I'll teach you how to use my Gauss Rifle. I'm notoriously bad with the former..." she meant that, she thought it would be fun, but her far-from-sober mind compelled her to get on her tippy-toes, don Shifty's top-hat and walk away.

She felt momentarily guilty, however, she had completed her quest in retrieving a bar-stool. Climbing up onto her knees on the chair, she was at head-height with Shifty for once and while rocking a top-hat, she promptly kissed the Undertaker of the Wasteland on the cheek. "This is the point where actions speak louder than words."

She smiled at the Undertaker, prodding his chest with a finger, she attempted a stern scolding but she ended up breaking into laughter. "Okay okay, Blamco-serious time now..." she half-composed herself, "If we're going to be around one another, we have to take care of each other. You're a little...floaty with your thoughts. Like Blamco Mac and Cheese in water...but I like Mac and Cheese...anyway, I'm stupidly reckless and emotional sometimes...so let's keep each other in check, okay?"

She attempted to stare him down to drive her point home but the amount of Vodka had made her far too joyous for anything remotely serious. So she resorted to a simple female tactic: bribery, emotional or otherwise. "If you agree, you get another kiss."

She didn't wait for an answer, she did it anyway and with that, the song had reached it's final note.

So much for impulse-control...

 

[wilcoblackflame]

After the battle, Marlon had made a few notes and plans, seen to his weapons and taken care of similar minor matters of business. Once taken care of, he'd made his way to the bar, having missed a good dose of vice in the past day or so.

It looked like Lucy was having fun, dancing away with...who was that exactly? Not Frank. At least he didn't think so. He was sure he'd find out soon enough though. For now he took the time to take a drag on his cigerette and wash it down with a mouthful of whisky.

He'd made some small talk with some of the brotherhood, but agreement with Lyons or no, most of them were keeping their distance. Couldn't blame 'em. He was pretty certain he'd have done the same in their position.

He occupied himself instead with watching Lucy and her friend. Probably the most relaxing thing he'd seen in the past little while, full of explosions and destruction of property and mutants and Frank. He grinned and cheered a little when they concluded their dance.

The Van Graff hung back for a few moments to finish his cigerette and give Lucy and her new pal a bit of time to themselves before he wandered over.

Once he did though, he grinned. "Nice to see you having a bit of fun. Who's your new buddy? And where's tall, tin and cranky anyhow. I ain't seen him since the end of that shit earlier. Not that I'm complaining though. It's much more relaxing."

 

[wilcoblackflame]

"Marlon Van Graff. Arms Dealer. Had better days." He took the undertaker's hand and gave a handshake of a similar nature. Deals were built on such handshakes. The Van Graff wouldn't dare offer anything less.

"I had planned to set up shop 'round these parts. But events have kind of gotten away from me a bit. So that's on hold right now."

He took the glass of vodka. "Cheers, buddy."

He gave Lucy a sideways glance. "I think I like Mr. McGee more than Frankenstein." And then he grinned. "But that ain't saying much."

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Bad move Undertaker.

Lucy generally shows her appreciation through affection, she would use her words, but she finds touch to be a greater indication of true emotional intent.

As her Mother taught her, anyone can lie, if you can detect it then use that to your advantage. If you aren't there to hurt the person, use your charms and wit to gain the emotional reactions you desire.

It turns out that Lucy was comfortable with affection when it was on her own terms, yet she lost control when someone else took the initiative and that was not a feeling she enjoyed. It seems the undertaker misunderstood what she meant when she said "...Going together?". It also seems that her kiss to the cheek, a gesture frequently shared by her parents was also misinterpreted by the Undertaker.

She handed the top hat and jacket back and her smile had faded into a somewhat more grim expression. The alcohol had lowered her inhibitions, especially to a point where she had become too flirtatious. "I think you have the wrong idea about me, Mr Mcgee." she had reverted to formalities, "Earlier, when I said going together, I realized how...that could carry a double-meaning, hence the hesitation."

She felt excessively silly in that moment, yet terribly guilty, she enjoyed what company she had of the Undertaker. Shifty was respected, honourable, eloquent and fun to be around. Yet he felt too much like her Father, he even dressed like Isaac, a painful reminder of someone she's still in the process of discovering.

She felt comfortable, yes. Attraction, however, would be a hurdle. Unfortunately, it was one hurdle she did not wish to approach.

"The kiss to the cheek, that's just...that's just how I was taught to show appreciation. I hug and I hold those I'm comfortable with. It..." This was difficult, yet she chose to be honest, "It...doesn't necessarily mean anything deeper than that. Combine that with Vodka...I was just happy to forget and be happy for once..." her voice trailed off.

Forget? Yes, forget the issue with her parent's, the truth behind the past, having one parent forcibly ripped from your life and another abandoning you without any sign of coming back. She just wanted peace.

The floodgates of guilt had opened and it was very much apparent on her face. "This is my fault, and I'm sorry for the way I acted. Whether it's the delirious feeling of exhaustion, the friendless after making a new friend, the emotional-numbing following a battle or the blind pleasure-seeking behaviour of too much alcohol...I didn't mean to give you wrong impression. Like I said, I'm stupidly reckless and emotional..."

At this point, God had arrived, or more appropriately, Marlon showed up. Relief was given to her in spades in that moment.

"Nice to see you having a bit of fun. Who's your new buddy? And where's tall, tin and cranky anyhow. I ain't seen him since the end of that shit earlier. Not that I'm complaining though. It's much more relaxing."

Since the "fun" part had made her cringe, she intended to rush to introductions, yet the Undertaker had beaten her to the punch. Addressing Marlon directly, "Frank? I think he's taking a dump" she said the last part with Vikki-trademarked finger quotes. "Speak of the devil and he doth appear...or something like that."

"Either way, it's good to see you made it out without a damn scratch. I should hang around you more, Frank puts me in these crazy situations, although I do volunteer for it I suppose...What did you think of, well, everything that happened out there?"

Lucy had refused the alcohol and pushed the drink towards Marlon, indicating that she had had enough. She ordered a giant glass of water, hoping to sober up, while waiting for the inevitable wave of tension from the Undertaker she did not wish to hurt.

You'll never let yourself be happy, will you? You are allowed to let go, you do know that, right?

She ignored her thoughts. In her brief experience, people who got close to her tended to get injured or die.

 

[Souplex]

Frank had not slept in some time. It was starting to wear on him.
However, he couldn't sleep in his current state.
This proved problematic.
The problem is that you're fighting us. Just embrace us, and this will go smoother.
Frank was not in a good mood. When he didn't sleep, he got quite surly.
Frank trudged into the lounge, where many a Brotherhood member was celebrating.
Frank walked up to the counter.
"Water."
Frank gulped it down in one go.
"Another. Some mirelurk cakes too if you've got them."
Frank scarfed down his mirelurk cakes. He always liked the taste of mirelurk. During his stay at Rivet City after leaving the Brotherhood, he often went to Garry's Galley to have mirelurk cakes.
Fighting mirelurks was how I developed the [Piercing Strike] technique. Mean bastards, but they sure are delicious.
Frank walked over to a pretty looking scribe.
"You got a name?"
"Back off- Wait, you're Frank? You kicked ass out there! I'm Scribe Catherine Gomez. You saved a lot of lives today. Thank you.
"If you want to show your appreciation, be in my quarters in five minutes."
"Sure thing!"
Flirting in the Brotherhood was always more direct than elsewhere. When you have such a high mortality rate, you don't have time for silly games. When Frank was young, he tried to woo many a girl in Rivet City. It was way too much work.
Frank walked over to Marlon, while sipping his water. He was quite irate."
"Brando, I just wanted to tell you; when this is all over, I'm going to make funny balloon-animal shapes out of your limbs."
[Bonecrusher]"Do you have a preference? I can do dogs, mirelurks, radscorpions, yao gauis, radroaches, and deathclaws."
Why do you hesitate? The Van Graff must die!
Frank took a sip of his water, then walked over to Shifty.
"You are an unpleasant, untrustworthy person, and even by the standards of people who work with corpses, you're ugly."
Frank finally turned his attention to Lucy.
"You're short, and you manipulate people."
Frank gulped down the rest of his water, and barged out of the lounge.

 

[ImSkeletor]

Barry began to grasp the gravity of what he had done in his drug addled trance. He ended a life. One of someone he never even knew. Someone who had never wronged him or to the best of his knowledge harmed anyone. While he appeared to be fine on the outside he was dead. As dead as a man can be. Every aspect of who he was had been taken away because he couldn't handle losing his dad. All of this because he couldn't take losing his old man. He couldn't muster a scream. He was completely numb. He knew he couldn't go back now. He knew that no matter how hard he tried he would use again. His survival would be the downfall of someone else and he just couldn't allow that. Grabbing a beyond lethal dosage of Psycho he wandered forward into the destroyed town before stumbling into the most intact building. Not a bad place to go all things considered. It was very dimly lit. His eyes adjusted. He was in a comic book shop. He couldn't help but pick one up. Soon he had fingered through dozens and dozens. While faint he did feel a fraction of what he felt when he would lay down in bed resting his head on his dad's chest having them read to him. His favorite always being The Flash. Barry realised he couldn't put it off any more. He was a monster and needed to be put down. He injected himself with every last one. But the universe couldn't let its favorite chew toy go out this easy. He awoke. But he couldn't remember a thing about himself. All he could remember was the adventures of a very particular character and decided that they had to be memories. "Where am I and why aren't I in costume?" Present Barry wasn't quite as fortunate. He didn't wake up at this point. His memories restarted going back to right before his father's death. He experienced the last few painful days of his old life again...and again...and again hundreds and hundreds of times in a mere day or so. He began to think he was in hell. Maybe he was. Then finally sleep released him. He awoke screaming in the infirmary tears streaming down his face. As he tried to reconcile all that he saw...something fractured...all the memories and emotions took over a part of him. A part of him now consumed by pain and hate. A part of him just waiting for its moment to let all hell break loose...

 

[RobDaBank]

Wayne burst through the door to the factory, with the aid of his Robobrain. 'Jesus Christ what went on out there?' Said Mick, backed up by the entire security team who had obviously been a little slow to respond to the gunfire.

"Some kind of Nukalurk, different to anythin' I ever seen" replied an aggravated Wayne. "And something tells me that ain't the last of 'em"

'How can we help?' Came a female voice, Wayne looked up. The girl from when he landed, stood with her ghoul friend and the fatso, who was nervously necking a bottle of Nuka-Cola.

"These son's of bitches are tough, we need explosives and some good marksmen, you gotta get 'em right in the joints. I suggest you get a team on the roof ASAP, and make sure you watch he ground, these bastards come outta the ground." He looked up to watch everybody begin scrambling around to positions, with Mick and some other guy barking out orders to let them remember who was in charge.

Wayne controlled his Robobrain to a nearby desk and shuffled onto a chair. He opened up its chest cavity and fished out some ammo and a gun cleaning kit. Hurriedly he began cleaning his rifle and pistol, removing and dirt or dust that may have clogged them up before fully loading them up and filling his pockets up with ammo and the last 2 sticks of dynamite that were left.

"Best get to a trader some time soon" he found himself saying to his Robobrain. Something felt off though... Shouldn't somebody else have heard that too. He took a breath and looked around... "Where the hell is Stan?" He yelled.

 

[FalloutJack]

Huh... Well, Jackson COULD probably get around these chumps without incident, but he chose to follow the Badass quality of his name and make homemade napalm in some glass containers. Lighting up and throwing them, the ghoul soldier then started to drive off after the telltale FWOOPH!! of burning gel. Naturally, all three of the big boys were first like "AAAAAAGGGHHH!!!" and then like "UUUUURRRRGGGHHH!!!" as they noticed his jeep taking off for parts unknown. Well...YOU know how mutants are. They picked up whatever weapons they could find - tree-club, a pair of rocks, and those pluckers - and took off after him! Well, go on, Mad Max. Show 'em what for, if you can.

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

The situation at the Nuka-Cola Factory had taken a bad turn. First of all, when Stan had broken from his meeting with Mr. Estabahn, the businessman naturally had to have a look at why. He did so from the roof and caught the tail-end of the fight that ensued, making him quite surprised...and then concerned. Yes, that was a Nukalurk, but it wasn't the usual evolved-version of the species. It'd been more of a mutation...much as the NukaLurks were Nuka-Cola mutations. They still had these things here, and...they were getting worse. This day wouldn't end well...

Downstairs, they had gained the attention of several employees, including Niko and Mick, and also including the three new people. Wayne explained the situation and...that worried the lot of the. More NukaLurks... Yes, some of them were getting into defensible positions, defending windows and such. Niko said he was going to the roof. He had his jaw set in a rather determined manner, so he looked pretty darn serious. Scar had also gone to set up a position to fight with her laser rifle. However, with Ben and Twig... Well, Twig suddenly felt sick.

Twig: Oh god, that's my stomach...

Ben: Can't miss it.

Twig: Where's the bathroom?

Someone directed him and he ran off. Ben sighed and decided to check up on him and heard the telltale sounds of Twig being sick.

Ben: Told ya you were having too much.

Twig: It's blue...

Ben: I didn't need to hear that.

Twig: It's moving!

Ben: I didn't need to hear that either.

Then, there was a loud couple of gunshots and a panicked cry from inside the bathroom.

Ben: ...the fuck are you doing in there, smoothskin?

The fat Vault Dweller ran out of the bathroom, gun in hand, and pointed at the toilet.

Twig: Crabs! Crabs! CRABS!!!

Ben: That's what she said?

Twig: They were in the Cola! I drink 'em in the Cola and they came up and I COULD'VE DIED IF THEY TORE ME UP FROM INSIDE!!

Ben: Ohhh... So?

Goddamit, Ben... So, Wayne wondered where Stan went, and Stan had - keeping on top of things - headed to the roof the find Mr. Estabahn once more...all while feeling a very low-level tremor as he spotted him. He...was watching the quite-disturbing scene of a few SupaLurks pulling themselves from the ground. There were only a few at first, but...well...you could tell that this was only the trickle before the storm.

Emerson: I swear, I have no idea why this is happening or what's wrong with the plant. We cleared out the Nukalurks that had been still around, salvaged much of the drink and materials that were down there, repaired machines, refurbished the plant... It wasn't suppose to be like this. And why now? We've been here months! Why NOW of all times?

Niko: 'Scuse me, guys, but we're at war now.


Niko Renzo was up on the roof now. He slammed down his sniper rifle and took aim at the crabbies, methodically shooting each one, first in the central mass to see how tough they were. The answer was that there was damage, but those shells were resisting even sniper-fire to a point. He'd managed to plug one properly after a particularly-nasty hit in around the sae place. Hmmm... He could make openings for the others to take shots at. Good. The plant had these reinforced windows to shoot out of with bars. Several guards - not to mention Mick and Scar on the second floor - were already doing this. The bars might not stand up well to the SupaLurk claws, but it was something.

Niko: Anybody know what the hell that shaking is?

Good question.

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

It wasn't a center-break, and it wasn't exactly a different base. It was a disused and sealed-off section of the same base. But hey, for William's needs, this was unimportant. What WAS important was that he wasn't where he should be at the time he wanted to, doing the job he'd been asked to do. So now, he was tellling a...reasonable amount of what his mission actually was, and Alice was neither flinching nor frowning at his details or lack of details. She would keep him guessing as to the degree of her reactions until she actually did so. Interrogation was sometimes a two-way street. Once he was done...

Alice: So, your organization wants to gauge the Enclave - an act which could be easily be the BoS, the Legion, NCR, or any other significant group - and you just happened to find our base with outdated information. Well, congratulations, Mr. Spy. I actually believe that. Because you don't have the air of a doofus, a wanderer without a clue, so unfortunately I must take that information to heart.

Unfortunately? Crap. She was deciding now how much of a threat he was and what to do with him now. Her deductions led her to the possibility that he wanted the information so that someone in power could organize a movement against the Enclave, and any group that could would be a danger to her own group. That's not good. Her eyes narrowed on William.

Alice: My problem, you see, is twofold. I have the Enclave disagreeing with myself and the others, wanting to snuff out the 'bad element'. And then, I have any group that wants to destroy the Enclave, because I want an organization to come back to if we can topple Number One. This is a delicate matter, and most of the people I can think of against us are NOT the delicate type. Even if they don't stand a chance, I can't afford to have them find US because we're a limited group here, not much to spare.

Now, she stood up and - in a fluid motion - drew her plasma pistol to aim it at William's head at point blank range, those other guards still present just in case. She looked down at him not with malice or fear or anger. She was appraising, figuring him out.

Alice: So then, Mr. Spy, my options are to shoot you and keep this place safe, or - by some miracle - trust that you will use discretion and not mention us to anyone. Do you have anything to say that might convince me that you are anything but threat to our well-being? Speak now, or there may be death.

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

This leads us to the main gate of Fort Knox, walking into the perimeter with FalloutJack escorting these two gentlemen around to the tour.

FalloutJack: You see these men here? All these guys roaming around above the ground? Well, with the exception of trainers and other exceptions, they're all Enclave recruits. We gave them extra equipment, taught them how to operate the basic stuff, and they're almost self-learning. Soon, they'll be good enough to come down under, maybe pilot, maybe even get good enough to enter the Omegas or the Fallout Sector.

No explanation given on either of those, but presumably FalloutJack belongs to the latter, which meant he was good at stuff and so was the rest of their lot. It all technically wasn't anything special. It was a bunch of armored guys that have moved into a reinforced ilitary establishent with all their equipment. It was very much like the Cidadel, except it appeared they had more vertibirds and even hovercraft on standby. There was also a heavily-armed powersuit with blue highlights heading over to a very evil-looking machine that was a deadly chopper with jet engines, ram-spikes, and a mechanical arm-tail with a vulcan at the end of it. He opened the cockpit and Jack came over to him.

FalloutJack: What's up, Johnny-boy?

FalloutJohn: They took Bob. He didn't get the coordinates for Bastion's place, so I'm going on recon.

Spoiler: FalloutJohn

NAME: FalloutJohn

REAL NAME: Johnny Bo Drago

OCCUPATION: Enclave, Fallout Sector

FAVORED WEAPONS: Anti-Armor Vindicator Prime, Missle Launcher, Fat-Boy, Plasma Grenades, Frag Grenades, Detonation Packs, and Dynamite

FAVORED EQUIPMENT: Remote Trigger

FAVORED SKILLS: Big Guns, Explosives, Strength, Endurance, Better Criticals

BACKGROUND: You see them on the battlefield all the time. This is the guy that walks around and methodically kills everything in his path. He has a huge ammo cache and lots of projectile weapons, spending the whole time shooting through things or blowing them up. No target too small, no obstacle too big. John is the level-headed gunnery master who blows things away. He's a bit of a stoic, but has a sense of humor and a bit of moxie. He once came up to an enemy scientist and went "Oh hey, Buckaroo Banzai!" before reducing the man to a pulp and moving on.

These men were the only kinds of men with names. All the rest were numbers... While Jack was distracted, Evan muttered over to Dudley.

Evan: There's a chance we can make it through this if they consider us 'good stock'. Otherwise, I don't know.

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

Yyyup, it's so raining. It happened rather quickly too, and thus Crawver and Abraham would have to find cover or get really wet. That much might not be so bad, though, considering that the water was - oddly enough - pure. However, the darkness of the clouds and the rain had made something over a shallow hill more obvious. There was a red glow out there - possibly THAT red glow - and...was that a brahmin?! Wait, what was that OTHER figure? It seemed like the red glowing thing was talking to a figure in a wet cloak that obscured its whole body... That was certainly interesting, and certainly in relevance to Dr. Crawver, yes?

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

Sara: Is it recording?

"Yes, ma'am."

Sara: Good, then let's begin. Please state your name, rank, and serial number for the record.

Bob: My name is Roberto Malcontente' The Third, but you may call me BOB.

Sara: Rank and serial number.

Bob: Fallout Sector, and Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs.

Sara: Serial number, NOT favorite cereal.

Bob: Don't have one.

Sara: Fine. What was your mission, Bob?

Bob: Isn't it obvious? Find the location of the 'Doc' and his Behemoth-ridden hideout.

Sara: Why?

Bob: To lay waste his numbers in burnination...

"Is that even a word?"

Sara: Shush. Now, why don't YOU know it, Bob? Your group'd the one with the fancy surveilance equipment.

Bob: What, the Eyebots? You think those little guys can stand up to a Behemoth?

Sara: Point. Now, why can't we get your powersuit to work?

Bob: You tried to operate my suit? How'd THAT work out for you?

"Jerry looks a bit like a ghoul now."

Bob: We're the Enclave. We built the things. Don't you think we'd put in failsafes? Even if you de-programmed it, de-bugged it, made it safe, and then put it on it STILL wouldn't do you any good. That's a custom job. It's built for men with the proper training who add up to the height and weight of one sexy Spaniard.

Sara: I'm sure we'll find someone. Don't let it concern you.

Bob: By the way, can I have some pants now? These chains are awfully cold.

Sara: We're not letting you so much as move a finger. We KNOW you can kill with your fingers, so no pants for you.

Bob: And was it really necessary to suspend me from the ceiling too?

Sara: Hey, who's running this interrogation? So far, you haven't even told me anything useful. I could've guessed that the Enclave want to destroy the Behemoths. They hate mutants. And I do not like the stonewalling either. I could just brick you up in this room and tell the Lucy girl that I decided to suffocate you.

Bob: Oh, for the love of god, Montressor... So dramatic.

Sara: Tell me about Isaac Black.

Bob: Oh no, you don't. I talk to the girl, alone and unrecorded, or you can have fun mixing cement and SEE where it gets ya.

Sara: Why bother? I'll get the information from her anyway.

Bob: Doesn't matter to ME. I just don't want to piss off Number One. His instructions were quite explicit on the matter.

Sara: Who is Number One? And I don't mean just leader. I want identity.

Bob: Hell if I know. I'm one of the only guys WITH an identity. I'm free with it 'cause I earned the right, but you won't find any pleasure talking to me.

Sara: I could pump you for information about numbers, technology, secrets - anything.

Bob: You won't get it!

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

Sara sighed irritably at the conclusion of the interrogation. He was instigating, fearless, stubborn, and taking several refuges in audacity. No, they wouldn't get any information to take down the Enclave from him, and his powersuit might never yield anything of value without killing everyone around it first. But he had specific orders regarding contact with Lucy Black, and he didn't even care if she told anyone else about it. Was it a bluff or did he think it didn't matter? Either way, Sara wanted to know at least that much... She sent a soldier to go find her, when another one came back to inform her that Frank was going around, insulting people. Sara facepalmed.

Sara: Goddammit, Frank...

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

Which just leaves us with Barry. Flash here decided to wake up screaming after a long time tending to his wounds and injuries, leaving him in a bandaged state and probably still in pain despite the Med-X in his system. No sooner had he started screaming than somebody out of his line of sight went "Oh, for the love of..." and then put duct tape over his mouth. There, he saw a doctor - white coat, gloves, mask, etc. - lean over him and say...

"Yes, I know you're in alot of pain. That's my rapid-heal concoction, Gene-Os, getting you into order. Mend you well and mend you fast, but I've noted that they do cause the patients distress. Your name is...Barry, correct? Someone mentioned."

 

[Souplex]

Frank returned to his room, and got to his shower with Scribe Gomez.
Back in my day, you took a girl to the shooting range and got her a laser pistol before you could have shower time with her.
She's pretty hot. Good work.
Frank felt incredibly uncomfortable, as anyone would if their dead father-figures were watching, and commenting on fun shower time.
"I'm sorry, this isn't going to work. You should go."
Scribe Gomez slapped Frank, put on her robe, and left.
Frank stood in the shower, motionless for a bit while the water poured down on him.
After a while, Frank got out of the shower, dried off, and re-robed.
Frank set off for his workshop in order to claim his armor so he could finally get some sleep.

 

[SamtheDeathclaw]

Stan strolled on up to the roof, keeping his feet planted as well as he could. The shaking was annoying, and he wasn't very comfortable being so high up on a building while it was shaking.

Some man Stan couldn't remember having met was talking. Christ, how many people are in this place? I'll never get them all straight.
"...We cleared out the Nukalurks that had been still around, salvaged much of the drink and materials that were down there, repaired machines, refurbished the plant... It wasn't suppose to be like this. And why now? We've been here months! Why NOW of all times?"
Stan approached, rolling his eyes. "For some strange reason, I think you didn't get all of them. And now Wayne and I are left to fix it up."
Speaking of which... Stan looked around for his newfound pal. He realized that the copycat probably hadn't seen him come up.
Stan sighed.
"Oi, fancy-pants. Something bad's going down. Keep an eye out. Just letting you know." he called to Estabahn, then turned on his heel to go look for Wayne.
God knows I'm not going to be able to fight one of those big cunts myself. I'll need every bit of the help I can get...

 

[wilcoblackflame]

"Piss off Frankenstein. Come back when you can do a Cazadore and I'll be impressed." Marlon muttered with disdain in response to Frank's latest barbs.

Frank's treatment of Shifty was somewhat expected. So far he'd only noticed Frank either approving of someone or distinctly not approving of them, so that wasn't surprising. What was interesting though was seeing him turn on Lucy.

"Bloody hell, what'd you do? I thought Grumbleguts was all for you." He shrugged. "Welcome to the club. No jackets though, cos the list of people Frank hates is probably too long to make it affordable."

He tipped back his drink and finished it off, putting down the empty glass. "Dunno about you, but since Franky kinda killed the mood in here, I think I'll go get some fresh air. If you wanna tag along you might even get to hear a story or two from out west without the walking killjoy interjecting with fresh insults every couple of seconds."

Marlon stood up and lit a cigerette, walking towards the exit at a steady pace, allowing Lucy more than enough time to catch up if she so desired.

 

[ImSkeletor]

In extreme pain, covered in bandages, and unable to speak due to a covered mouth. How the heck could this happen to the same guy twice in one week? Well this kind of thing had become a usual for Barry due to his incredible level of poor luck. But all he could think of was being held down by those eels and burning as the pain overwhelmed him. Then being abandoned by a man he trusted. This triggered other thoughts of another event that involved burning and loss. A loss Barry was absolutely incapable of comprehending. He began to shake wildly and his eyes clenched. But before the doctor was able to speak it stopped.
When his eyes reopened there was something different about them. The eyes are after all the gateway to the soul. Barry's soulfulness was gone. There was something off about his eyes now. Like a candle that had been blown out. His hand reached to the tape that covered his mouth. He tore it off. The same hand was soon wrapped around the throat of the doctor. Barry spoke in an unusually deep and monotone voice saying, "Don't you ever cover my mouth again. If I wish to speak I will speak. Now i will have you know that even in my current state no matter how much pain it would cause me, I could snap your spine like a twig. Now if you know what is good for you, you will get me a wheelchair. I want a drink. Nod if you understand." The doctor attempted to protest but Barry tightened his clutch. The doctor nodded fearfully. "Good." The doctor grabbed a wheelchair and brought it to Barry.
"I can't recommend drinking while you are on all these medications," the doctor said nervously.
"You will only speak to me when I wish you to doctor. Also for future reference, though I severely doubt I will be crossing your path any time soon, my name is Eobard Thawn. Or, if you wish, you can call me Professor Zoom." Eobard climbed into his wheel chair. An ungodly pain shot up his spine. He realised walking would be out of the question for a while. He rolled out of the infirmary and into the hall and to the bar. Seeing both a recent acquaintance and a complete stranger heading toward the exit.

 

[RobDaBank]

There wasn't much time to prepare before Wayne's prediction
of more Nukalurks came true. He stood himself up and hobbled
over to the wall, using it to prop himself up. Shuffling down
a hallway he called out 'Stan!' Before losing his balance due
to a tremor. The very thought of what could have caused it
made Wayne cold with fear, something he didn't feel too
often.


 As he neared the end if the hallway he heard a couple
if gun shots, followed by the ghoul and the fatty nearly
knocking him over as they ran passed him. 




Ben: You better move smoothskin!




There was a horrible sound of a pained scream as a guard fell
to the floor from the end of the hallway, covered in small
blue crabs. They were quick and ruthless as they began to
devour him while he squirmed on the floor writhing in pain.
Wayne turned and followed the pair as fast as he could,
ignoring the pain and instead opting to make limping look
like an Olympic event. The most callous of thoughts ran
through his mind as he thanked whatever being was watching
over him that the guard had been the one to be eaten so he
could get away.




Running by the door that had contained the original Nukalurks
he heard much louder, more aggressive knocking from the other
side. It then dawned on him. All this was his own fault, if
he hadn't thrown that dynamite, or even fired a single shot
then maybe these creatures would never have come.




Reaching a flight of stairs he threw himself up, the
screaming behind him had stopped so he didn't have much time.
Ad he reached the top there were guards and technicians
frantically throwing furniture in a heap to create some form
of barricade. 'Cover the stairs!' Shouted Wayne, knowing it
would take all the firepower available to stop the creatures
advancing. 




Mick: Oh shit how many of these things are there?


'Listen, we can do this' called Wayne as Mick ran to cover
the barricade while positioning himself near a window to
cover the outside area too. 'I've gotta find Stan, I owe him
that much' he said as he made his way toward the roof, hoping
Stan had made it there.

 

[SamtheDeathclaw]

... gotta find Stan, I owe him that much." Stan heard Wayne saying from down below, in the stairwell. Stan smiled. Things would work out with the two of them there, he decided. No worries.

With Stan running down, and Wayne coming down, Stan nearly ran straight into him, but quickly turned it into a bear hug.
"Don't wander off like that!" Stan admonished with a wink, then let go and took a step back.

"We've got a teensy problem." Stan said simply, as the building shook slightly once again. "Okay, I lied. It's a pretty big problem. Do you have a plan? I doubt they listen to reason so well."
They continued back down the stairs together, to where the building's occupants were attempting to barricade themselves.

 

[Souplex]

Frank entered his workshop.
His armor sat on the table, waiting for him.
"I missed you buddy."
Don't ignore us!
Frank began to armor up.
You can't just avoid your problems like this!
Frank finished putting on the body-piece.
We'll be waiting.
Frank put on the helmet.
"Ah, the beautiful sound of silence."
Frank went back to his room and got in bed.
Time for some much needed rest.
Frank drifted off to sleep.
His snoring was quite loud.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[HEADING=1]Scene transition![/HEADING]
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Danielle was sitting in Moriarty's, nursing a bottle of whiskey.
What's that, you don't remember who Danielle is, or need more specific details? Here you are!

Spoiler: Danielle Rose

Name: Danielle Rose
Age: 28
Race: Human, Caucasian
Height: 6 ft. (Everyone in Frank's family is on the tall side)
Appearance: Large (Amazon) build, long, curly brown hair kept in a ponytail, brown eyes.
S. 6
P. 10
E. 7
C. 6
I. 8
A. 4
L. 3
Tag Skills: Energy weapons, Tactics, Armor.
Perks: Laser Commander, Precision, (When aiming with a scope, shots ignore some DT) Inspiring Presence (Companions have improved performance when they can see or hear you) Superior Defender, Entrench (When in cover, gain a large bonus to DT.) Black Widow
Traits: Skilled, Tank (Opposite of Kamikaze)

Weapons: Ultra-modified laser rifle. (It has a special scope that is linked into the helmet's eyepiece, and has a MF breeder in addition to consuming normal cells. It consumes the entire breeder charge with each shot, so the greater the time between shots, the greater the power of the shot. It is significantly heavier than a regular laser rifle, and fires a distinctive yellow laser when fully charged.)
Items: T-45D Power armor with modified helmet, Microfusion Cells, (A whole lot of the regular kind, and two "Magazines" of max charge) Stimpacks.
Transportation: Walking.

Bio: Firstborn child of David and Sophia Rose, and older sister to Franklin, and Bernard, Danielle was always a very driven girl. When the other Brotherhood children were off playing, Danielle was at the firing range, or trying to learn unit-tactics from her grandfather.
Upon Star-Paladin Cross' retirement, Danielle was promoted to Star-Paladin.
Danielle took her role in her father's death poorly, coping by becoming something of a slut.
Danielle has absolute faith in the East Coast Brotherhood and it's mission.

Danielle had been in Megaton since coming to deal with the Van Graff situation.
Frank complicated the situation by absconding with the Van Graff's car, and the Van Graff with it.
Now she was stuck in Megaton, guarding against any Outcast attacks that might come in an attempt to take the stock of the now gone Van Graff.
It was a waiting game. All she could do was drink, wait, and listen to the radio.
Be sure to tune in next time, for another exciting adventure of me; Herbert "Daring" Dashwood, and my stalwart ghoul manservant: Argyle!
Hello children! It's me; Three Dog, coming to you taped from my fortified bunker in the middle of the D.C. hellhole!
News time children.
The Citadel, home of the Brotherhood has been attacked.
This attack wasn't some drunken raiders who were instantly vaporized though, this was a team of Behemoths, armed with mini-nukes.
The attack was thankfully repelled, thanks to a crazy plan involving a Vertibird, some sharpshooting, an airdrop, a railgun, and a years supply of Yum-yum deviled eggs.
But it doesn't end there, an Enclave big-wig also showed up, and after an intense battle, was captured, and is most likely being interrogated as we speak.

Spoiler: This is Three Dog, awooo! Signing off, but not before I leave you with some music.

They had to use the railgun? The force of firing tears it apart, and it would take them a week of crunch-time to rebuild.
The Citadel no longer had a defensive trump-card, and many Paladins were probably injured in the battle.
She had to go home.
She also would like to have a crack at interrogating the Enclave capture.
Danielle stood up, threw 12 caps on the bar for the whiskey, put her helmet on, and headed out the door.

 

[RobDaBank]

He was nearing the roof when Stan came out of nowhere and bear hugged him to hell. Wayne was very much taken aback of the show of affection in such a hostile situation.

'Yeah I missed you too buddy' he snorted, trying not to sound too invested. 'Listen, we need to find some way of calling for help, go find your boss man and find out if he has a radio or some way of contacting help, and pray he says yes... because if not, somebodies going for a run...'

Wayne turned away and headed to the window that the girl from earlier was shooting from and looked out at the number of 'lurks outside. There were probably more than they could handle, and given the ability of some of the guards they wouldn't last too long. Looking through the scope of his rifle he saw openings being fired into the shells of the Nukalurks... somebody on the roof had a powerful weapon. He followed up the latest shot with one of his own and managed to take one down. Suddenly he was filled with hope of a fighting chance. 'You, you and you!' He shouted, motioning to Mick, Ben and Scar, the ones with the more powerful weapons, 'Watch out for the openings being fired into these bastards and try to fire into them.' He ordered. As they took up positions Wayne called to the rest of the guards, technicians and the fat man, armed with random weaponry or melee weapons. 'Cover the stairs, if any of those things get through, fall back to the roof... and make sure you warn us too, we don't wanna be stuck between a wall and a set of hard crabs!'

At that he turned back to one of the windows and began to open fire on the Nukalurks, ever aware of the tremors that were shaking the building getting larger. Hopefully he had enough ammo on his person, his Robobrain was stuck to wait mode downstairs, hopefully being ignored by anything down their to keep his equipment safe. He began wishing with all his being for reinforcements to come soon.