Beryl was shaken up by the sudden verbal onslaught from Johnny. She was further shaken up by the sudden involvement of young Sylph, who sent Johnny reeling to the floor. Beryl slowly turned to Sylph, and gave a silent nod of appreciation. Once the three of them were into the cellar, she finally get a grip of herself and their current circumstances.
Johnny appeared to be having some kind of argument with himself. Beryl wanted to ask him again about his inner demons, but decided against it. Fuck him. After his previous, uncivil words, she wasn't going to give him the pleasure. She looked over at Sylph, her eyes creasing a little. So Sylph might be a help after all.
"Johnny, when you've finished wallowing in self pity and get around to taking that thumb up your ass, would you mind helping with the cellar door? The entire Eastern division of the enclave won't be stopped by a fucking 200 year old plank of pine wood."
Beryl didn't think much to the idea of hiding in a cellar whilst the enclave set up camp just outside, but it wasn't as if she had much of a choice. She clicked open her lighter and surveyed the darkened basement via the tiny fire light. Maybe there was some crates or something to barricade the cellar hatch. Unfortunately, all she could see at this time was a dead albino scorpion and a couple of entwined skeletons. Judging by the tangle of bones, the previous occupants of the cellar had waited down here a great deal, gotten hungry, and decided to eat each other's hands for sustenance.
"Either of you two carrying a shovel? Rivet City is about seven miles East of here."
The Cellar
That last question from Beryl snapped Johnny out of it for a moment.
"Uh... I can't... go to Rivet City," he told her, "I'd... rather not say why, but its just... not a good idea for me to go anywhere near there."
He finished the bottle of whiskey in one last gulp, and threw the bottle over to where the skeletons were.
"Ehh... sorry about shouting at you earlier," he said to Beryl, without much emotion behind it, "But you have to admit, attacking an army of eyebots backed up by vertibirds and troopers and who knows what else the Enclave's packing... not the hottest idea you could've had at the time."
Johnny fished around in his bag for a moment, and took out a box of mentats. He downed every last pill.
"I uh... well, only fair to warn you, but uh... the Enclave might be here because of me," he went on, "They've been on my ass for years. I don't know why. I've always tried to steer clear of power-armored idiots like them. But they keep dogging me. And now that they've seen both of you with me, well... they're probably going to be after you now as well. So... we're kind of stuck with each other. Probably."
It was then that Johnny finally realized something that had been bugging him ever since they'd gotten into that cellar. Well, a few things actually. For one thing, why weren't they hearing the sounds of a battle going on outside? Its not like they were so far away from Megaton that they shouldn't have been able to hear anything. The second peculiar thing was... no one had started a fire, turned on a flashlight, or brought so much as a flare along... so where was the flickering light coming from?
Then Johnny's eyes were drawn to the door opposite the stairs leading to the surface. Johnny jumped out of his chair, and edged away from the door that shouldn't be there.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" he said, spiraling into a panic.
It was then that Johnny thought he saw Slyph heading for the door. Despite the beating she'd just given him, he immediately stepped in to keep from the unknown dangers lurking behind that door.
Unfortunately, he tripped along the way, and his hand gripped the doorknob for support, as he used it pick himself off the ground again, the door opened and revealed...
a high-rise apartment view of pre-war New York city, being bombed into the stoneage by what looked like a massive city... floating above the clouds.
"What the fuck?" Johnny said as he slammed the door shut before a stray projectile could hit the door frame he'd opened.
He opened the door again, now it was just a broom closet.
"Tell me I'm not the only one that saw that!" he yelled to no one in particular.
After a few minutes of post-electrocution breath-catching, Marlon managed to pull himself up to his feet and retrieve his pistols. Not that he did it in a huge hurry, he'd be quite alright to rest a bit longer if not for the hunk of metal in his arm.
Rather than chase Eobard back to the lab, he made his way to the med bay, tied a tourniquet around the arm with the good arm and his teeth after a couple of attempts to do something about the bleeding and dosed himself with a med-x and a couple of stimpaks. He decided not to try doing something about the metal yet. He was no surgeon and he definately didn't want to do any extra damage to his arm ripping it out.
As for the weasel...wherever he'd gotten to, that could wait for a moment. He still didn't know whether Bob or Lucy had came out on top. Best case scenario she'd put Bob down and popped Eobard in the skull soon after. Worst case scenario Bob won, Lucy was dead and Eobard was Enclave. A still bad but potentially advantageous spin on that last one might be if Eobard wasn't Enclave, just fucking crazy. Then maybe he or Bob could kill each other.
Considering the possibilities wasn't getting him anywhere though. Maybe if the lurks were cut down enough by now he could draw in some more hunters though. With a shadow of his old smile, Marlon walked across to the control panel near the door and triggered the base alarm. Maybe that'd bring some more attention from outside in..
Not entirely sure where Eobard had gotten to, he hung around the doorway to the med bay, prepared to use it as cover if need be and decided to watch the hallway from here to see if anyone ran by, laser pistol in hand in case "anyone" was Bob or Eobard.
"Who's got the bloody radio? Come on, own up, don't keep us waiting. The Wet One demands it, come on, come on. You? Come forward. No, no, it's fine, I swear, I - it's a matter of curiosity. The Wet One gleans many wisdoms from such technology. May I? Thank you, your gesture is BLOODY THING! *thunk* BLOODY THING! *thunk* BLUH-UH-UH-UHDDY BEDAMNED CONFOUNDED THING! *fzzt*"
Lucy had little patience with FalloutBob after pitching her plan to him. This was crucial and her frustration could serve as a somewhat convincing motivator. She just hoped that it would work.
Fortunately, there would be no awkward silence, since Barry had burst into the room and subsequently sealed up the entrance to the room.
Upon closer inspection, Barry appeared to be significantly battered. If he were alive and here, where did that leave Marlon...
...She couldn't dwell on potentials. If the merchant had died, so be it. He was never a part of Lucy's plan and therefore expendable.
...At least, that's what she told herself. This cloak and dagger routine was growing all too familiar for her liking. Was this the facet of Lucy's personality that her Mother wanted to nurture and develop? Well, it was growing easier. She didn't know if that was good or bad. However, she would dwell on her actions at a later point.
"Barry." She turned her eye coldly on Barry, her tone indicated that something was significantly different about the Lucy before him. "I was explaining to my handler here, that I wish to retain my cover here at The Brotherhood."
She turned around and laid her holotape on a nearby table. She was going to leave this behind for Frank, Shifty or Marlon to hopefully find. She didn't know if she was coming back. She tried to cover up the action by checking her ammo reserves in her backpack and adjusting her gear.
"As Enclave Asset Unit-08, I'm only useful if I can continue to gather intel at a later point for the Enclave. Retain my cover by taking me hostage. I'm volunteering." Turning around, her eye blinked and narrowed at him. "Knock me out, hurt me, do whatever you must. Just make it convincing."
She paused to smirk "Think of it as reparations for the Vertibird incident. Just remember that I tried to save you afterwards, even if I wasn't entirely successful." she dropped the smirk and descended into her now default cold tone. "Please, I think it's fair."
She couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle, her eye brightened for a moment, bearing a striking resemblance to the remnants of the old Lucy for just a moment.
"I never would have thought our superhero team would end up like this."
Her last sentence made him feel deeply uncomfortable. Something in his subconscious brought up these feelings. Many thoughts and emotions perforated his mind. He began to hear something within his own mind. Suddenly a lighter voice entered into his mind, "If she hadn't knock us out of the bird we would still be a hero fighting for JUSTICE! But its not her fault. She didn't know."
Eobard: "Are you still here? I guess it may have been a little silly to believe I could beat personality to death. But hey, can't blame a guy for trying."
Barry: "You are awefully cavalier about me still existing."
Eobard: "Well, theres not a whole lot you can do about anything Barry. You step up to me and i'll put you right back down. This is my body now. You squandered it enough brother"
Barry: "You think you are doing a better job MURDERING PEOPLE?"
Eobard: "Yeah. You were too much of a puss to do what you needed to do not to get beaten or killed. That guy would have killed you in five seconds"
Barry: "I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN FIGHTING HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
Eobard: "Good point. But you would have just gotten yourself killed trying to stop Bob from escaping instead of just helping, what would have likely happened anyway, go easier."
Barry: "But I would have died a hero instead of living as a villian."
Eobard: "Barry, you forget we share the same mind. I know that came from a holotape, even in your more lucid moments you couldn't put together a thought that complex without stealing it from something else."
I didn't think it would be like this either." He slugged her knocking her out cold on the floor. He lifted her up on his shoulder. "Lets get out of here Bob"
"Merchants huh? Do you have a plan for every kind of wasteland crazy that turns up?"
FalloutJack: Sure do.
"How many assets do we have now?"
FalloutJack: I dunno. Must be around 20-something now. We had kind of a weird upsurge, though we only tried this idea out as an experiment.
"What kind of guy pukes when he hears one word?"
FalloutJack: Someone conditioned in a Pavlovian manner? He instantly made the wrong conclusion about processing.
"You planning to keep these ones around?"
FalloutJack: Not sure. The Asset Program's a bit hit-or-miss. Still, it's worth a shot. I see someone tagged you for maintenance again. Every time FalloutScott does fieldwork, you seem to always be the fill-in guy. Ah well, she happens.
DING! The doors opened and Jack excused himself to his important work, which was running alot of the shit going on at this base when Number One wasn't doing the hands-on approach. As soon as William exited, he received a hardy slap on the back from someone that made the suit lurch only slightly, which meant it wasn't a powersuit.
"Yo, 37! How's it hangin'? I hear your tests are coming along well, that we might see a FalloutGeorge in the future."
Turning, William would discover possibly the strangest thing he'd ever seen yet. There was a pink-haired young woman here, one with a pair of horns jutting from her head at 45-degree angles andd lavender eyes. She was wearing combat boots, camou-styled pants, a navy-blue shirt, and a black flak-vest as well as a single re ring earring on her right ear. She was also carrying a large plasma rifle, bigger and tougher than the ones the usual soldiers were carrying. His helmet display actually called up information on her automatically.
NAME: Natsuki Manriki
RANK: Lieutenant
CLASSIFICATION: Divergent human species (Diclonius)
There was a footnote added to the display, probably from #37, that said "Manriki is old Japanese. It can mean vise, jack, and capstan.".
It was a good thing he had this suit on, because its vision could also see the transparent sonic energy limbs coming from her back every now and again, which were listed as dangerous weapons. However, he was in isguise, so there weren't any problems.
Natsuki: Listen, I know this is out of the blue, but could you come to Bio-Lab 3 with me? Doctor-18 left some sort of plant experiment there and and it's been growing steadily while she's been out. Well, today..the fucker surprised a couple of our men, killed 'em, and eat 'em once the armor was pried off. Sounds to me like a torching's in order. Wanna go clean-up? Tell requisitions I sent ya and we'll take some Flamers to the party.
Whoa, from elevator music and irritating maintenance to the possibility of violence alongside a mysterious being all in one go! How did this happen? Meanwhile, back at the campsite, the 19th Asset of the Enclave was preparing too. He was thinking Dudley was going to get worse on him, do things violent or crazy. He was preparing for that with their medical supplies...
Well, Crawver had stopped the music, and Abe had stopped, and so had their ghoul entourage...but there were a couple problems. First, they had a bunch of mean-looking rad-creatures around who were now looking very hungry. And second, they were in view of Rivet City, where-
"ATTENTION, PUNY HOOMANS! DIS BOAT IS NOW OUR PROPERTY, AND YOU IS OUR FRIDGE-MEATS! COOPERATE AND LIVE LONGER! DISOBEY AND YOU WILL DIE QUICKER! OH, AND WE'RE HUNGRY, SO DON'T TAKE LONG TO DECIDE! HAH HAH HAH HAAAH!!"
Well, ain't that a kick in the head... However, the ghouls suddenly got on their knees to chant about the Great Wet Ones. Dark clouds were beginning to form again... This could get...a bit weird soon.
"Well, the others seem to think he's one of the Great Wet Ones, but I dunno. Looks more like just another crazed mutant animal to me."
Then, they all heard the noises and uhhh...the ghoul was thinking that maybe it wasn't safe enough to get out of here just yet. Still, they came out of there and that's when Wayne saw - in order - Nukezilla, a guy being flung from it, and Frank jetting from it as he backpeddled to get out of the fucking way. Good work! Becausse the beastie was actually going for a building that it had sprayed in blue, a building that Frank and gone through the window of. Speak of Frank, here is what HE saw now:
He saw a large-scale robot death machine sitting on its reverse-jointed legs using the building as cover, a building which it seems to hold together via numerous mechano-tendrils jutting from a series of small ports that use an addhesive agent to stick an then unstick from things, thus arranging rubble into the semblance of a wasteland building or something. The big eye of Metal Gear Box was staring right at Frank an it wasn't going to blink. It was sitting on its legs, which had tank treads, which meant that there was little to no clearance underneath unless it moved. Right now, one of the large three-fingered arms moved to punt him right back out the window! Then, regardless of whether that connected or not, priorities shifted. The enemy was near...
The building pieces were pushed aside as the machine revved to life, shoulder missles primed, secondary vulcan-arms ready, targeting scanner pinpointing every possible weakness in Nukezilla...as now everyone around could see the giant robot! Nukezilla charged even more furiously than before, and the MGB's treads propelled it forwards, vulcans blazing and missles firing at every joint the monster had, as well as the face. In the end, the giant crab still managed to reach the robot, and their clawed appendages locked in mortal combat. Machines are mae of sterner stuff than crab-claw, though, so the arms were bend back, and the vulcans were introduced to...well hey, there was another one of those Nuka Cola symbols underneath it too, in the belly area. It shot at them, and glowing juice geysered out of that as well.
No, the essence of the beast did not try to infect anyone. Though, the area might grow blue plants for a while. What followed, though, was a Brotherhood Vertibird dumping a ton of bombs on top of the beast and the robot, causing a Big McLargeHuge explosion! When the smoke cleare, however, the Box was covered in crab bits and it turned to Gilford's vertibird and blasted it with missles!
FalloutDavid: That is freakin' awesome.
Huh? Wayne, there's an Enclave dude ten feet behind you, watching the cool stuff going on while bits of his armor were smoking from a previous attack. And meanwhile, on top of an abandoned building...Gilford picked himself up, brushed off his powersuit, and sighed. They were gonna take that out of his paycheck...
The problem with trying to trap Bob between lasers and fire was...only one of those was harmful to him. Namely, the suit he was wearing was giving him huge amounts of heat protection, thus making him nigh-immune to actual fire damage. It comes from being a Pyro Soldier. Hell, his suit could actually light up and burn things with a touch. So, after ducking or not-dducking-fast-enough Marlon's initial attacks, there were problems. Lucy showed up, then someone blew up Marlon's stuff and he went chasing after that guy, and then finally...among fires...
"Your scapegoat and Enclave Asset Unit-08 has arrived. Now, I'd appreciate it if I retained my cover here at the Brotherhood. People will think you overpowered me while I tried to take you on, if anyone asks questions. So to sell the story, I'm volunteering to be kidnapped."
The orange-highlighted Enclave armor seemed to notice her for the first time, or rather something in particular...
Bob: Ah, so there you are! Looks like someone's gone and done in your eye... Well, we'll just have to fix all that. Can't have an asset being unable to see, after all. Yes, that story works out fine. Let's a'go!
"Let's just say that their princess will be in another castle."
Just then, Barry came in and locked the door he came from, declaring that it was time to get the hell out of here.
FalloutBob: Barry, buddy! I knew you'd come around! Sorry about the leaving you part, but I had this fucking mission to quell the Doc!
The exchange that Barry and Lucy went through ended with him knocking her out on purpose and picking her up. Nodding at Barry, Bob flung a grenade at another door and blew it away, heading that way and then heading...
FalloutBob: Where are we going? We're going UP!
Seems like the Bobmeister was regaining a little of the spring in his step, but not enough to want to use his claymore. He just burned everyone in sight or threw grenades. Soon, he was up on the roof.
FalloutBob: Hello, Enclave! This is Bob here. Is there an transport in the vicinity?
-This is Davenport-1, Bob. You seen D-Prime anywhere?-
FalloutBob: Nnnope! Just pulled a daring escape here. Pick up over the Citadel while they're busy!
-You got it, chief.-
Soon, the black Vertibird that David Davidson had rode in on was heading into the area with guns blazing and back opening for Bob and Barry to get into, Lucy in tow. This was going to get...interesting.
Uhhh, let's start with the Thorns, since the other guys left town. The gang of Paladins were leading most everyone who was staying in town over to the Lone Wanderer's place to hunker down and arm up. The men on the walls and the Deputies went on standby as Jake and the others entered the house. And what greeted them in there? Dogs. Quite a few of them. In this Pre-War style Megaton house, the descendants of Dogmeat were looked after like every quasi-wolf or quasi-wild dog should...by a flying robot whose voice sounded like Tim Curry.
Wadsworth: Good afternoon, everyone. How may I help you?
Jake: What the hell is going on here? Who are you?
Wadsworth: I am Wadsworth, the butler. I like to keep things tidy. The master left me in charge of this place until the good citizens of Megaton were to give it to someone else. Since that hasn't happened, I made it into the haven for his dog's offspring.
Sam: Why all the bobbleheads? No, better question. Why are you armed to the teeth?
Yes, Wadsworth currently had six arms and a more powerful hover engine. On those arms were a plasma gun, a ripper, a flamethrower, two gripping claws, and a cutting/welding torch. He explained that the master hadd spent a few nights tinkering on him and he woke up one dday like this.
Jake: Kid always was a strange one. Where's his spare weapons? We need to arm the town and arm it now. The Enclave are here and they're pissed.
Moe: A little worse than that. They're dropping Eyebots everywhere.
Sam: That's...weird. Wait, no. That's bad. They can go anywhere and shoot anyone on sight. Pop those eyes!
You heard the man. Meanwhile, the ammo stores were open and...Jesus, did this guy do nothing but colllect guns all the time?! Anyway, let's get to the other side of things, with Sylph and them. They had skipped town to get into Springvale with a load of the Eyebots around, having been dropped by the Enclave vertibirds instead of bombs. As for the battle business? They weren't hearing it before, but then they would hear the vertibirds shooting at some of the Megaton wall-defenders. Guess time was up after all... As for Johnny finding what looked like pre-war New York in the cellar...let's just hope that the figure in the dark holocaust cloak in the darkest corner of the room didn't have anything to say on that, nothing but gurgles anyway... This was the figure that the ghouls had been seeing lately. He always appeared around strangeness, it seems...
This is Number One's personal room, his quarters. It's large like the receiving hall of a castle, but it's a metal room with the lights kept low and a red carpet leading to the metal throne where the black-and-red powersuit sits, its eye-lights low unless he awakens. Number One, taller than the rest, was awake now. He was aware of things around him, not the things here...but rather the happenings off in more distant places on the surface... He knew what was to come and soon...
"I can see the tearing of the world in two."
Just then, the green-highlighted FalloutJack entered from the sliding doors.
FalloutJack: Okay, I got the two guys from the campsite paranoid as all hell now, and we've dropped a bunch of our surplus Eyebots on onto Megaton. The funny thing is that we picked up on a guy we've been looking for, Johnny Truant. I assume you remember him.
"I remember him QUITE clearly. I believe we need to have a word with him... He made a man disappear...from existence."
FalloutJack: Oh, so you saw that, did you? Figure... Yeah, we need to get him under control, especially when he doesn't even know the story.
Just then, they were interrupted by a radio transmission from Bob, already in transit.
-Hellooo, Enclave vault! Bob here, back in action, that is as soon as I get over this rakking withdrawl! I'm coming back with some things of interest. I found Barry again and he's REALLY on our side now, pluuus I have you-know-who's daughter... You interested, JACK?-
FalloutJack: You have Isaac's daughter, gun and all, and after you made her an Asset? Oh yeah, I want words with her.
-Have a doc ready for an eye job, then have your fun, boyo...-
Bob signed off.
"Going to get it on, are you Jack?"
FalloutJack: 'Scuse me? She's around my daughter's age, and you know how I think about that.
"Interesting, considering the age of the woman who made that girl possible..."
FalloutJack: That's not the same and you know it. No, I'm going to do something...clever...with her.
Frank had been flicked.
Nobody flicks Frank.
Not even a colossal robot.
In mid-flight, Frank caught himself on the window-frame. It would take more than that to kill Frank
He felt his left shoulder wrench slightly from the catch. He grabbed on with both hands, and held on for dear life as the building parts shifted to reveal a massive robot.
[Repair 100/100]Frank felt a little dirty about the feelings he felt towards this robot. He also felt it would be weird to destroy/disable it while he had such a large erection, but that's neither here nor there.
Frank knew a lot about robotics, and he came to some conclusions.
1. There were a few possibilities for how it was controlled. He doubted it was entirely autonomous since only an idiot would make their ultimate death-weapon able to turn against them. It didn't look to be designed to support a human crew. Purely radio-control is ineffective in combat scenarios, and this thing was clearly meant for combat, so no go on that possibility.
That meant it was a primitive AI basic enough that it couldn't make complex decisions like betrayal, and it received orders by radio.
2. It's hard to see if you're wearing a building. This meant some alternative form of detection. SONAR doesn't really work outside of the water. RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging if you're not familiar with what it is. This will matter) was a possibility. As was satellite images being radioed to it.
Frank had a plan. He activated his radio, and sent out a message.
"Three-Dog, this is Frank. I'm calling in my favor. Jam every frequency you can, for as long as you can. Use my guilty-pleasure tracklist if you can. (For the unfamiliar, radio-jamming works by simply sending a much more powerful radio-wave on as many frequencies as possible, thereby making those inaccessible to weaker signals.)
"Hello boys and girls, there is nothing wrong with your radio, I am just in total control of the airwaves!
...At least I am until something shorts out from forcing this on my equipment.
Who's in control you may be asking yourself? Me! Three-Dog! Because I should be on as many radios as possible.
An old friend who did a bunch of guard duty stints at the studio and fixed a few things for me has called in a favor, and asked me to jam the airwaves with as much of his awful music as possible for as long as possible.
Enjoy!"
"Tell me I'm not the only one that saw that!" Mister Johnny Shakes yelled to no one in particular.
"You're not the only one that saw that!!" The girl cloaked in red said as cheerfully and helpfully as she could as she looked about the room at the infinitely more interesting bits of stuff strewn all over the floor than an empty broom closet. Did she see New York getting bombed to shit? Who knows? But did it really matter? Not really. She was just happy that she had been so helpful to Mister Johnny Shakes.
These interesting bits that Sylphee was looking at? Well they looked like electronical doodads and widgets and thingers and stuffs made of glass and broken energy cells. Every little bit seemed broken, as if someone had been experimenting and breaking and fixing and hacking and building and breaking some more, every little bit except for something that the manic girl accidentally kicked with her foot as she walked around the dark and dusty cellar. It was cylindrical and made of metal bits with knobby doohickeys and glass bits. Looking through one end of the cylinder made Momy Meryl Barrel look very very far away while looking through the other side made her look very very close.
"Look what I found!" Slyph said as she showed the others the scope she had found before she placed it into her pack with all her worldly treasures.
Unbeknownst to all save the dead and one living person in the world, the trio had stepped into the Workshop of one Mister FalloutFancyPantsIsaac and Miss Big Sissy Lucy Blackjack from way back when. The very place where Miss Big Sissy Lucy Blackjack and her daddy dearest, Mister FalloutFancyPantsIsaac had created the now damaged Missus Gauss Rifle.
Of course, no one was really paying attention to the blue haired double ribboned pony tailed girl at the moment, they were probably paying attention to Mister Cloakity Cloak Ghoulified Man in the corner.
"Heeeeeeey! Whose zat?" Slyphee asked as she pointed at Mister Cloakity Cloak Ghoulified Man in the corner before waving at him in the friendliest way she knew how.
"Hi Mister Cloakity Cloak Ghoulified Man." She said in greeting, receiving nothing more than a gurgle in return.
"*Gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle*" Sylphee gurgled, as she tried to greet Mister Cloakity Cloak Ghoulified Man in his own language.
The dull sensation of pain was the first bodily response that had arrived. This seemingly served as an alert to her growing consciousness.
Lucy was fortunate that the earlier simultaneous use of stimpacks and med-x were still running through her system. If it had not been for that particular combination, she wondered how much pain she would be in after Barry's unexpected punch.
Barry...something about him...had she really known him at all? Had she been deceived by someone else that she was growing to care for? No matter. It was par for the course at this point in her life.
Her vision returned and she quickly discovered that she was safely strapped into a seat. The interior was familiar: It was that of a Vertibird. A more spacious and luxurious version of what she had experienced compared to her time sniping Behemoths with the Brotherhood.
This all felt relatively familiar, yet so very wrong. To elaborate, she had "Barry" at her side once again, FalloutBob sitting across from her, rifle damaged and her depth of perception was significantly reduced. All of them contained in a Vertibird.
With a pained groan, she announced the fact that she was awake. "That makes us even, Barry. Give me more of a heads-up next time though." There was not even the slightest shred of positivity in Lucy's disposition or tone. It would be unnerving to anyone that had previously interacted with her, to notice such a drastic departure from her cheery or teasing tones and expressions.
Lucy was emotionally exhausted, frustrated, angry and...disillusioned. That was the best descriptor her mind could currently process. Yet in the midst of her suppressed emotional turmoil, she desperately clung to the desire for more answers, a confrontation with her mother and retribution for Isaac.
Her eye fixed its way directly on FalloutBob and with an almost aggressive edge to her voice, she addressed him. "It was one of your men, that took my vision." An eye for an eye. For whoever that particular Enclave soldier may be.
Closing her eye, she addressed FalloutBob once more in a significantly more relaxed manner. "Nevertheless Sir, thank you for bringing me home..." Hold it together, Lucy! "...my new home."
Lucy wondered if being the daughter of Fallout-Isaac would provide some sort of elevation in her status among their ranks. Notoriety or praise, either way: Fallout-Lucy had it's charm.
[hr]
Lucy had been grappling with various methods of infiltrating the Enclave without the use of overt force for months now. At first she was motivated by finding her father's murderer. A question which the Brotherhood had surprisingly answered. Now it was confronting her Mother. She needed the full story.
The plan to rip them apart from the inside had to wait. She was in no position to carry out any sort of damage on her own. She would serve them as their Asset in the meantime. She had to discover more about the people that had shifted her life into the turmoil that it was today.
Everything was linked to the Enclave. And The Enclave unfortunately seemed to be the only constant in her life.
Stanley and Wayne hung on as the ground around them shook violently, beastly screams and mechanical moans filled the air, explosions sounded at a deafening volume. Stan tried shouting Wayne but to no avail, so he grabbed him and pulled him over to a hole that had been blown into the side of the building to watch the carnage unfold as the beast was blown apart by... A giant robot?
The noise died down as the mechanical menace seemed to be fighting the man who had flown into the building earlier, though it was hard to see the small metal man moving around the giant metal structure.
FalloutDavid: That is freakin' awesome.
Stan sighed before turning to level his sawn-off at the stranger, but as he turned Wayne grabbed the gun to stop him, giving him a hard stare to get the message Wayne's father gave him multiple times. Don't shoot at something you're not sure you can kill
Wayne turned his head to look at the man, keeping his back turned.
Wayne: Sure was. Enclave huh?
He said as he noticed the black, highlighted armour.
Wayne: I had a friend with ties to the Enclave y'know, he loved all kinds of technology, mainly stuff that could help people though.
He pulled up his 10mm pistol to his chest discretely in case his next response was one he didn't like, Stan saw this also and tightened his grip on the sawn-off. Contradicting his previous, telepathic message to Stan, Wayne knew their weapons wouldn't do a great job at putting this guy down, but if he were to attack they weren't going to stand by and let it happen. Wayne posed his question.
Wayne: Maybe you know him, his name is Arcade Gannon...
Danielle had lost her line of sight on Mr. Impotent. She knew where he was though, as there was a large amount of smoke that was steadily moving away from where he landed.
Priorities though.
[Perception]Crabs was down. This was good. There was a giant robot under the building Frank was in. This was bad. The giant robot had also shot down Gilford. This was bad. An Enclave Vertibird had landed atop the Citadel, and the Enclave capture who had un-captured himself was getting in with Frank's playmate. This was an opportunity for some catharsis.
Danielle switched to a max-charge cell, and switched to her upper rifle-barrel.
[Energy Weapons 100/75]Danielle lined up a shot on the strut connecting the left rotor to the fuselage.
Danielle had learned in the last Enclave conflict that the strut was not only the weakest part of the Vertibird, but that disabling either of the rotors would sent it crashing to the ground in a spectacular fashion. Frank had once explained to her that it had something to do with the fact that with only a single rotor in the center, the entire helicopter would spin, so a second rotor would be necessary for that type of flight. She didn't really get it all though. Leave the engineering to the knights and scribes.
The moment it was far enough away that it crashing/exploding wouldn't harm the citadel, or anyone in it, there would be a fireworks display.
Eobard clutched his wound sat back in his seat. He slowly began pulling out a match and cigar that he had swiped in his mass looting spree from his bag. He flicked the match against his chest and brought it to the end of the cigar before shaking out the fire. After a few puffs he sat back up and took it out and span it between his fingers. The words Bob told him finally sank in now that Eobard had finished arguing with himself. "No hard feelings about leaving me. It all worked out for the best anyway. I wouldn't be here right now without that decision." Lucy's words came quickly there after.
LUCY: "That makes us even, Barry. Give me more of a heads-up next time though."
EOBARD: "You didn't exactly give me a heads up when you pushed me out of a vertibird. If I had warned you, we wouldn't be even."
Lucy: "It was one of your men, that took my vision."
EOBARD: "Dang Lucy, you got to learn to roll with the punches. I wouldn't have done anything retribution wise if you hadn't asked me to. Vengeance is not a good way to live a long healthy life. As goes the old adage about digging two graves when you seek it. You appeared to be on the wrong side, you got shot. It happens. You didn't die, so theres nothing to be so aggressive about. I recommend being a little less vengeful and a little bit more pragmatic. THATS how you survive in the wastes. You can't exactly afford to burn bridges out here."
"Someone's there, Slyph?" Johnny asked, snapping to attention and leveling his lever action to where Slyph was pointing.
"All right, asshole," Johnny said, oddly calm, "Shut that toy off, we know you're there."
The ghoul didn't move, but he did shut off the stealth boy he'd been packing. He looked unarmed, but... something about him set Johnny on edge.
"What've you got there?" Johnny said, still unbelievably calm, given the circumstances and the past few minutes.(1)
The ghoul only seemed to mutter something in gibberish. Johnny crept closer to the ghoul. Johnny moved to turn the ghoul's shoulder, and that's when the ghoul jumped up and revealed that he was holding onto a detonator.
"SLYPH! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NOW!" Johnny yelled, his eyes going wide as his calm abandoned him again, already rushing to push her out of the cellar, he shot the lock that was keeping the door shut and kicked it open.
Just before the ghoul let go of the detonator and set off the bomb he'd been hiding under his cloak, he yelled, "NOTHING WILL CLAIM US ALL!"
Once out, Johnny checked to make sure Slyph was still at his side. And for once, he'd managed not to accidentally grope her, and instead, had his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he smiled weakly at her.
(1) Almost out of character for him. Wouldn't you say? Heh.
"SLYPH! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NOW!" Mister Johnny Shakes yelled, his eyes going wide as his calm abandoned him again.
"Wait. What's he got in his hands? What's going on Mister Johnny Shakes? Ow! Ow! Ow! Why are you pushing me? That's not very nice Mister Johnny Shakes." The Red Cloaked Girl yelled, her eyes glistening in the darkness as Mister Johnny Shakes seemed to be yelling at her for no reason at all. What did she do? Did she say something wrong? Was *gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle* some sort of curse word because if it was, Mister Johnny Shakes was being a *gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle* right now.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! That still hurts Mister Johnny Shakes!" The girl with sky blue hair yelled as he she was being shoved up towards the cellar door and deafened by Mister Lever Action Rifle as Mister Johnny Shakes kicked the door open and dragged her back out into Springvale where the Tiny Floatity Float Eyebots were still rampaging and now the Twirlybirds were shooting at Megaton.
"Kerpow!!!!" Said Missus Hidden Explosive Package as Mister Cloakity Cloak Ghoulified Man in the corner dropped Detonator Junior causing the Safe Spot to be exploded.
To Sylph's amazement, Mister Johnny Shakes, Mommy Meryl Barrel and Sylph seemed to be walking away from the Exploded Cellar without so much as a scratch, even though there were little bits of flaming wood falling on Sylphee's exposed skin. She didn't mind though. Mister Johnny Shakes was smiling at her and asking her something that she couldn't quite understand over the ringing.
"Are you okay?" he smiled weakly at her though to the girl's ringing ears, Mister Johnny Shakes was saying "I've got some grey!"
"No you don't Mister Johnny Shakes! Your hair looks great!" The girl screamed at Mister Johnny Shakes, making sure that she could be heard over the rude ringing noise that seemed to be following them.
So, there they were, Mister Johnny Shakes, Mommy Meryl Barrel and Sylph and a bunch of Tiny Floatity Float Eyebots that were looking at Mister Johnny Shakes, Mommy Meryl Barrel and Slyph.
"Mister Johnny Shakes, Mommy Meryl Barrel. Why are the Tiny Floatity Float Eyebots staring at us?" The girl asked as she grabbed one out of the air and stared right back at it.
BZZZZZT!!!
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" The girl cried as she was zapped by some sort of stun zapper, causing her to throw Tiny Floatity Float Eyebot at another one of the Tiny Floatity Float Eyebots, the two of them going BOOM! when they crashed into each other, which caused another one to go BOOM! and another and another and another and another and another and another. If Mister Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel were planning on leaving Springvale quietly, a bunch of Tiny Floatity Float Eyebots going BOOM! was definitely not the way to do it.
"Uh oh!" The Girl in Red said as she spooted a Twirlybird heading right for them.
"You can't exactly afford to burn bridges out here."
Those words were met with a break in eye-contact and a completely dismissive answer. "I'll burn whatever I wish, whoever-you-may-be."
This was not the Barry that she had briefly known. She couldn't explain it directly, but her intuition picked out a significant departure from his previous attitude and even the way in which he held himself. Had he simply dropped his cover identity?
Again, no matter.
Lucy formally addressed FalloutBob one more time as a reminder struck her.
"One more thing, Sir. You told me find out any information on the Brotherhood's next move? Bethesda Ruins. That's where The Brotherhood have narrowed down The Doc's location. We were going to be sent in to deal with him. They were preparing a huge assault to serve as a distraction while we made our way inside."
As a situation evolves, sometimes you have to create new alliances by offering something towards the relationship.
[hr]
Overjoyed to see her Mother, Amy Kane. Lucy had stars in her eyes when she found out that she would be staying the week while her Father was away on business.
She missed her Mother so much and Lucy had so many stories to share about her recent studies, the boy she had met in the neighborhood and the weapons that she had been practicing with.
Day 1: 09:00 AM
Lucy had been attacked in her sleep. "Evaluation: Unit failed to protect itself. Failure."
Day 1: 10:00 AM
Lucy had been restrained to a chair and begged for her life. "Evaluation: Unit failed to endure spontaneous emotional dominance and physical pressure. Failure."
Day 3: 11:12 AM
Lucy was still strapped to the chair, she was deprived of food and water. She was subsequently shocked awake with a cattle-prod every time she had succumbed to sleep. "Evaluation: Unit shows decreased weakness and heightened emotional response after basic nutrient, necessity and sleep deprivation. Failure."
Day 3: 12:56 PM
After being freed, she had raw brahmin meat and two bottles of dirty water thrown to the floor, Lucy showed no shame in eating or drinking what was given to her. The crackle of a smaller taser, motivated Lucy to eat faster. "Evaluation: Unit accepted external aid, regardless of content. Success."
Day 3: 14:00 PM
Lucy was shouted at, grabbed by the hair and dragged to the bathtub. She was told not to struggle.
She struggled.
She struggled when her head was submerged underwater. The process of allowing her to briefly catch her breath before being submerged again was repeated at 15 second intervals until the water finally filled her lungs. She had succumbed to the torture's influence. "Evaluation: Unit failed to follow orders. Failure."
Day 3: 22:00 PM
Lucy awoke, frightened and exhausted. She was told that her Father was killed. His bloodied clothing was presented as evidence. Uncontrollably, she had burst into tears, hugging her Dad's favorite coat, now stained with blood and refused to speak or move. "Evaluation: Psychological manipulation rendered the Unit catatonic. External notes: The Unit cannot differentiate human blood from that of a Molerat's. Failure."
Day 4: 5:41 AM
Lucy was dragged to her Father's workshop, which was actually just a cellar beneath the house. Still unresponsive, she was strapped to a chair and injected with Psycho and her reactions were monitored and timed. The same process was done every hour for Med-X, Jet, Turbo, Mentats and even Buffout. The last chem involved her having to to be shocked on a more continuous basis with the cattle-prod to keep her breaking the chair. "Evaluation: Unit shows a surprising resistance to chemical agents. Success."
Day 5: 7:00 AM
Lucy was told to effectively lie and present methods in which she would manipulate people in various hypothetical situations. Initially, she was unresponsive, so she was beaten and stripped of her clothing. Asked again, she opened her dried cracked lips to respond as best as she could. She was slapped and berated every time she got an answer wrong. Yet her mind quickly adjusted to the ruthless thought process expected of her. "Evaluation: Unit had mixed results on the initial verbal exam. The Unit showed drastic improvement when pressured under physical shame. Success."
Day 6: 10:00 AM
Lucy stood naked before the boy she had a crush on. This time, he was strapped to the chair and Lucy held a 10mm pistol in her hands. She was given two choices: Shoot the limbs, hands and feet, allowing him to bleed to death. If so, she would be allowed to eat, drink and bathe. Kill him swiftly and she would be denied all benefits.
Lucy chose to torture the boy she wanted to kiss. His blood splattered her naked body after each gunshot, yet her face did not show any emotional inflection. She wanted to eat.
"Evaluation: The Unit has successfully followed orders with no complaints and committed her first murder of someone that she cares for without hesitation. Success."
Day 7: 08:00 AM
The day was spent repeating failed tests. Fending off surprise attacks, enduring being restrained and deprived, allowing herself to be tortured with no struggle, answering hypothetical manipulation tactics revolving around people correctly.
This was repeated until Lucy had successfully completed every test. "Evaluation: Unit has completed all the tests successfully. The Unit has improved in efficiency, willingness to follow orders and abandon emotional commitments. Special Note: Emotional commitment to an individual was easier to break after her first murder."
"Overall report: Recommended as an acceptable candidate for recruitment into Project-A. Initial force necessary for Asset motivation. Psychological evaluation complete."
Day 7: 23:16 PM
Lucy finally broached the question while her Mother was preparing to leave, packing away the various holotapes that she had used and marked with different numbers and incomprehensible notes attached. "Why did you do this to me?"
Amy Kane looked at her daughter with a twisted sense of pride. "To prepare you, my darling."
Fearing another beating if she didn't restrain herself, she simply asked. "To prepare me for what?"
[hr]
Inside the Vertibird, Lucy opened her eye as the memory faded away.
To prepare me for this, Mother. To prepare me for the things I may have to do one day.
Even if Danielle did not understand Morse code, contextual clues would make "Stop, Don't shoot!" pretty clear.
The Enclave soldier in there had already killed too many people however, and she couldn't risk him getting away to kill again.
Danielle shook her head. She was maintaining her shot.
"Sorry."
Hopefully he would get off before things got bad for him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frank stood beneath 60 feet of robot.
[Perception]It only shot down Gilford after he dropped a bomb near it. It seemed to be acting mostly in self-preservation.
[Intelligence]Frank had already nullified any system of radio tracking. This left visual detection (one big eye that he could stay on the other side of) audio detection (On a chaotic battlefield, one person will not be noticed) and thermal detection...
Frank ran around to the other side of the robot, as it continued ignoring him.
Frank was never going to forgive himself for this.
Frank covered himself in the blue-goo all around him.
Nuka Cola Quantum. Somehow the people at the Nuka Cola corporation found a way to make Nuka even worse.
Frank was now sticky, blue, smelly, and mildly radioactive. The armor's radiation resistance meant it wouldn't really matter for a while.
Somewhere between Vault 101 and whatever's left of Megaton at this point.
Johnny couldn't think about how to word his response to anything Slyph just asked him, so he kept silent, and watched as the army of eyebots started to slowly tear Megaton down. It was like watching a legion of flying ants demolishing a rival termite mound... with lasers.
"Megaton doesn't stand a chance, poor bastards." Johnny said, letting himself fall back onto the ground, and laying down his head to rest on a nearby rock. When he spoke again, his voice was trembling, and his eyes were starting to water, "Reminds me of this one time where I got conned into joining a Karate Tournament in the ruins of Brisbane, Australia. You see, I had been trying to reach Catalina Island off the coast of California. Not for any reason in particular, just because I wanted to be somewhere else. From what I hear, its like Point Lookout out here... but minus the crazies, and plus a LOT of beautiful women. Heh... probably all bullshit, but hey, gotta hope for something in this stupid world, right?"
Johnny paused and tried to chuckle. It came out as more of a whimpering cough.
"Anyway," he cleared his throat and cracked his neck from side to side, "I was trying to get to Catalina in a rowboat when a fucking huge storm hit me out of nowhere and blew me so far off course that I couldn't tell where California was let alone where Catalina was. Also... lost my compass in the storm. It was a piece of shit, but it was sort of useful and it had set me back more caps that I'd like to admit wasting on the damn thing."
Johnny trailed off again, and hugged his knees closer to him.
"So as I was saying," he stretched his arms and legs a little before resting his crossed arms back on the top of his knees, "I spent the next four days trying to get my bearings, my limited supplies already dwindling. I'd started resorting to rationing my fresh water, and taking small sips of sea water to keep me going. Food ran out pretty fast despite my best efforts... motherfucking seagulls."
Johnny got up and started pacing in a circle around Slyph.
"That's when The Captain found me," he said, rubbing his forehead, "I was half dead when he found me, but he, being the kind of person that never misses out on an opportunity to turn someone into his slave," Johnny shot a glare back to the cellar from which he figured the Cold ***** was slowly clawing her way out of, "pulled me onto his ship and nursed me back to health. Once I was up and running, he told me, in his nearly incomprehensible Scottish-Franco accent, that I owed him big time and that if I didn't want to be thrown back overboard - after being 'relieved' of all my possessions, I was gonna have to work off the debt on his smuggling tanker."
Johnny stopped pacing and leaned against the side of a ruined house that didn't look too unstable.
"So what was I supposed to do? Say no?" Johnny continued, folding his arms together and staring at the sky, "Spent the next few months getting work done on his tanker, rigging, navigation, janitorial crap... other stuff..." Johnny shivered at that point for no apparent reason, "Eventually, we set anchor just outside Brisbane. Yeah... half of Australia wound up flooded sometime after the bombs hit. Don't know why."
He coughed, and took a few gulps of water from a hidden flask.
"Set down in Brisbane for a while. The Captain had business there, and..." Johnny paused, as if to consider how to phrase the next part of his tale, "I'd been doing a decent enough job on the tanker that the old bastard started paying me. He said I'd worked off most of the debt, and figured he could give me a little back now. Sure... sure."(1)
"Hmm... no." Johnny said after a minute's break, "That's not right... the old sonofabitch was too greedy to actually pay me. Well... he did... if you count food as a currency." Johnny let out a bitter laugh, "I'd actually been wiping the floor with the other crew members at Omaha Hold'Em. Of course, I'd been cheating my way through every game... and it was only as we hit Brisbane that they'd all figured out what I'd been up to.
Johnny chuckled nervously.
"I..." he stopped, as if struggling to remember some of the details, "I'd just managed to give the bastards the slip when I bumped into a giant musclebound idiot. He acted tough but I managed to floor him in seven seconds flat. Guess I should've been more suspicious of that on reflection..." he let out a short bitter laugh, "That's... that's when his tallish partner pops up out of nowhere. Never got his name, but he had a habit of spitting words out faster than an auctioneer and he always wore the sweetest looking hats. Still don't know where he got'em."
"Anyway," Johnny went on, "he introduces himself as Trilby and his muscled partner as Punching Bag. Apparently, I'd just passed some kind of audition, and they were offering to pay me 50 caps a fight. Figuring I could get enough money to buy my way back to the States, I agreed. For the next month, I kept winning fight after fight in the ring."
"Heh, should've seen it coming really," Johnny grins, "It was all a scam of course, but I was stupid enough to go along with it. Towards the end of their con, they told me they'd been rigging the fights in my favor, and then told me that I should bet on myself. So, naturally, being the astounding idiot that I am, I bet everything that night. Guess who was there to meet me in the ring?"
"Yep," Johnny said not really waiting for a response, "Punching Bag. This time, he knocks me out cold by the second round. While Trilby was splashing water in my face, I muttered about how it was a crying shame... how I was planning to use my money to buy some stuff that was worth 1000% on the street. Punching Bag won the match and they were originally going to leave me to be lynched to death by the mob of angry betters, but my little gambit worked. They dragged me over to a bar and grilled me on what the fuck I'd been babbling about. So I led them right back to the Captain. So, we get back to the ship, and the old bastard just stands there and laughs as the crew tries to gang-gank me. Somehow, during all of that, I managed to tell the Captain about the two I'd brought here. Buyers, I told him... that'd managed to steal all my money, most of which was, in essence his and the crew's money. That got the bastard to tell his crew to lay off. So he started filling Trilby and Punching Bag up with stories of 'birds of paradise', and 'wonders of the Big Empty'."
"Turns out, they were as big idiots as I was, and they bought several crates of the crap we'd been lugging around. And well... longer story short... I eventually made it back to the States by... other means... and that's why Australia is now known as 'Isla Cazadore."
That's when Johnny saw the Cold *****'s hand sticking out of the rubble. Johnny rolled his eys, groaned, and reached over to pull her out. Then, when he found that she wasn't breathing... he cursed to himself.
"Okay, Slyph," he said, "Don't hit me because I know CPR and can save your 'mommy', but you should know... she's a cold-hearted ***** that'll milk you for all you're worth and then leave you to die when you're no more use to her. So watch out kiddo."
With that, Johnny started pushing on Berly's chest with both hands, and occasionally stopping to push air from his lungs into hers. He kept repeating this process over and over again, and the longer it went on, the less Johnny understood why he was trying to save the Cold *****, again.
(1) That last bit was a verbal tic that Mr. Truant has had ever since he broke out of the crib.
Somewhere out there, between Springvale and Megaton:
"That's when The Captain found me," Mister Johnny Shakes said, rubbing his forehead, "I was half dead when he found me, but he, being the kind of person that never misses out on an opportunity to turn someone into his slave," Mister Johnny Shakes shot a glare back to the cellar from which he figured Mommy Meryl Barrel was slowly clawing her way out of, "pulled me onto his ship and nursed me back to health. Once I was up and running, he told me, in his nearly incomprehensible Scottish-Franco accent, that I owed him big time and that if I didn't want to be thrown back overboard - after being 'relieved' of all my possessions, I was gonna have to work off the debt on his smuggling tanker."
Just as Mister Johnny Shakes had failed to respond to any of Sylph's questions, Sylph was barely able to muster a response as she watched Mister Black Twirlybird swooped towards them with his pew pew pew guns blazing, causing the ground to explode while Mister Johnny Shakes told his story. Even as he was engrossed in telling this story, Sylph found herself unable to take her eyes of off Mister Black Twirlybird, she wasn't trying to be rude to Mister Johnny Shakes, Sylphee was sure that the story was interesting as she tugged on his shirt for a moment to get Mister Johnny Shakes' attention.
"Anyway," Mister Johny Shakes cleared his throat and cracked his neck from side to side, "I was trying to get to Catalina in a rowboat when a fucking huge storm hit me out of nowhere and blew me so far off course that I couldn't tell where California was let alone where Catalina was. Also... lost my compass in the storm. It was a piece of shit, but it was sort of useful and it had set me back more caps that I'd like to admit wasting on the damn thing."
It was at this point that the Cloaked Red Girl started waving her arms in Mister Johnny Shakes' face in order to get his attention as she screamed "HEY HEY HEY HEY MISTER JOHNNY SHAKES!!!"
"So as I was saying," Mister Johnny Shakes stretched his arms and legs a little before resting his crossed arms back on the top of his knees, "I spent the next four days trying to get my bearings, my limited supplies already dwindling. I'd started resorting to rationing my fresh water, and taking small sips of sea water to keep me going. Food ran out pretty fast despite my best efforts... motherfucking seagulls."
Mister Johnny Shakes got up and started pacing in a circle around Slyph, which was probably a good thing since the pew pew pew bullets from Mister Twirlybird started making the ground around them start 'sploding. Mister Johnny Shakes was so engrossed in his monologue, he probably didn't notice the terrible thing what happened next.
"So what was I supposed to do? Say no?" Mister Johnny Shakes continued, folding his arms together and staring at the sky, looking the opposite direction of Mister Black Twirly Bird, "Spent the next few months getting work done on his tanker, rigging, navigation, janitorial crap... other stuff..." Johnny shivered at that point for no apparent reason, "Eventually, we set anchor just outside Brisbane. Yeah... half of Australia wound up flooded sometime after the bombs hit. Don't know why."
Bloooooood. The smell of it permeated the air around Sylphee as she suddenly stopped moving and started looking rather very much embarrassed. Of all the times that Mommy Nature had to come remind the Cloaked girl that she was a woman, of all the times that Mommy Nature had to stop by and say, "Hi Sylphee!" it just had to be now? Standing there, the girl in red was frozen in terror by the red that was to come which, hopefully, Mister Johnny Shakes didn't notice.
It was at this point that Sylphee really had to stop paying attention to Mister Johnny Shakes' speak since she only had a matter of moments to react. She wasn't trying to be rude mind you. She wasn't trying to ignore the fact that she had no idea where this Australia was, she wasn't trying to even ignore the fact that Mister Johnny Shakes had been responsible for turning this Australia place into Cazadore Island. None of that at all. What Sylphee was intent on was dumping off of her prized possessions on the ground and looking for a feminine hygiene product and a change of underpanties.
"Yep," Mister Johnny Shakes said not really waiting for a response, "Punching Bag. This time, he knocks me out cold by the second round. While Trilby was splashing water in my face, I muttered about how it was a crying shame... how I was planning to use my money to buy some stuff that was worth 1000% on the street. Punching Bag won the match and they were originally going to leave me to be lynched to death by the mob of angry betters, but my little gambit worked. They dragged me over to a bar and grilled me on what the fuck I'd been babbling about. So I led them right back to the Captain. So, we get back to the ship, and the old bastard just stands there and laughs as the crew tries to gang-gank me. Somehow, during all of that, I managed to tell the Captain about the two I'd brought here. Buyers, I told him... that'd managed to steal all my money, most of which was, in essence his and the crew's money. That got the bastard to tell his crew to lay off. So he started filling Trilby and Punching Bag up with stories of 'birds of paradise', and 'wonders of the Big Empty'."
By the way, Mister Black Twirlybird was still heading right for them with its pew pew pew guns blazing.
CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER Went Sylphee's stuff as she started digging through the piles and piles and piles and piles and pile and piles of stuff until she found one of the items that she was looking for.
"Stampax! It Stamps the S*** out of Periods!" The blue haired girl remembered the box reading as she pulled the object out from the piles. With that item safe and secure, she smiled brightly as she looked for a cleanity clean pair of underpanties.
"Turns out, they were as big idiots as I was, and they bought several crates of the crap we'd been lugging around. And well... longer story short... I eventually made it back to the States by... other means... and that's why Australia is now known as 'Isla Cazadore."
"YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!" Sylphee exclaimed as she found the second item that she had been looking for as she tried to pull it out of the pile that it was stuck in while trying to remove the soiled ones that she was wearing. It was stuck stuck stuck stuck stuck! Why was it stuck?!?!? Panicking, Sylphee pulled hard on the pink polkadotted panties and freed them from the pile, as well as the object that had been holding them in place.
"Okay, Slyph," Mister Johnny Shakes said, "Don't hit me because I know CPR and can save your 'mommy', but you should know... she's a cold-hearted ***** that'll milk you for all you're worth and then leave you to die when you're no more use to her. So watch out kiddo."
Sorry Mister Johnny Shakes, Sylphee was still not paying attention as she used was in the process of yanking her ew ew ew bloody blood soiled undies off from around her ankles as she watched the object that had been holding her clean ones hostage twirl in the air and hit the ground before going THUMP!!!
The object happened to be Mister 40mm Grenade Launcher and Mister 40MMM Grenade Launcher had just hocked a metal spit ball at Mister Black Twirlybird.
KAAAAA--BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Mister Black Twirlybird Kaboomed as Sylphee pulled up her nice new pair of pink spotted undies and watching as Mister Black Twirlybird went SMASH-SMASH-SMAAASH! into the ground. Turning around, the girl in red spotted Mister Johnny Shakes kissing Mommy Meryl Barrel.
"Oh my gosh! You're my daddy now Daddy Johnny Shakes?!?!"
Johnny continued performing CPR on Beryl. Against every instinct, shred of common sense, and just plain hatred telling him not to.
"Oh my gosh! You're my daddy now Daddy Johnny Shakes?!?!"
"Sorry kiddo. I still hate this 'mommy' of yours." Johnny said in between attempts at CPR, "Not kissing her, just trying to save her life because... fuck if I know!"
After a few more minutes of this, Johnny thought he heard Beryl cough and and start breathing again. So he stopped trying CPR on her.
"Guess that does it then." Johnny got up and pointed his rifle in the general direction of the landing vertibird.
"Wouldn't worry too much about that thing, Slyph," he said, "If they wanted to blow us up, they'd have done so by now. And if they had any more troopers to deploy, they'd already be out by now. Nope... all that's left in that vertibird is an officer and a pilot. Hmm... hey... Slyph? Want to help me steal that thing?"
Just as Johnny predicted, as soon as the vertibird landed, an Enclave officer stepped out and walked towards the trio of... WTF? The officer was wearing the standard tesla armor that the Enclave was known for, but this guy was apparently arrogant enough to not wear a helmet.
"Ah, Mr. Truant," the smug blondie said, getting closer, "Good to see you're still in one piece. Our leader wants a word with you."
"Yeah well," Johnny said, "He can go fuck himself."
"Now now," he said, "Is that anyway to address someone with an army at their fingertips?"
Johnny laughed.
"Army? You fucking kidding me?" he laughed again, still keeping his rifle trained on the officer, "You've already sent what little you had into Megaton. And that worked out so well for you that you had to send in the eyebots. You might have had some decent numbers, but your strategy sucks. Which is why you got your men killed. Now... why does your 'leader' want to see me? If its a job, officer, he can really go fuck himself. I hated the Enclave even before you assholes started chasing me around."
Johnny stepped closer to the officer, still keeping his rifle fixed on the officer, who was starting to visibly sweat now.
"Here's how its going to work..." Johnny trailed off, then called out to Slyph, "Slyph! Grab this asshole! We're taking his bird!"
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