Let's Play: Fallout 3

[Aerozord]

Well atleast this lets Lucy know being in a vault isn't nessicarily a better alternative. But maybe its time to start on the main quest and get her to Megaton

[Youwantmilliondollar?!]

I second Megaton. Girl needs a place to call home.

[G.I.R.]

I vote for Megaton too! I figure she'll fit right in there. Although... she might end up killing Moira...

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

I vote you find the Enclave base and start taking names.

Then later on when you kick their asses you'll be able to apply the proper names to the Gravestones.

[Krylo]

Can you even get into Raven Rock at this point? I didn't think you could.

Also: If we're going to megaton, as that it has a clear lead at this point--blow it or save it? Need ta know, 'cause it will affect character interactions.

[Mirai Gen]

I'd think that she'd save it.

I would love to blow the fuck out of it, but I get the feeling Lucy is a good person at heart, plus or minus killing people because of a snap judgment.

[Krylo]

Reminder: Whether Lucy is a good or bad person at heart is entirely up to the users.

I'm pretty sure I can manage something believable at this point either way.

[Kepor]

Maybe she'd blow it up because she believes the people there are just waiting for an excuse to turn on her, just like Evan did in Arefu, so she'll kill them before they get the chance because it's a dog-eat-dog world out there and there are no rules and everyone does what they need to survive and if you don't like that then too bad.

I vote for going to Megaton, no vote on whether or not to blow it up. I think it will be interesting either way.

[Aerozord]

Why not have her go there, find out about the plan to nuke it, and instead of making her choice then and there, traveling to meet this "tenpenny". After that, the choice of who deserves to die should be clear.

[Marelo]

I vote Megaton and save it. I also vote kill Tenpenny.

[MasterOfMagic]

I vote megaton and to kill it~

[G.I.R.]

Save the 'Ton! it's a great town! although... Tenpenny does have that sweet pad and money and power. besides, Moira survives anyway. ;-)

[Aerozord]

other ways to get tenpenny suite

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Do I really need to express my desire to blow the fuckton out of Megaton? Oh, I do? Well then yeah, vaporise it, reduce it to ashes, wipe it from the face of the earth, destroy it utterly, nuke it, erase it from existence, blow it skyward, scatter it to atoms, ANNIHILATE THE TOWN!

Then kill everyone in the tower, claim the whole complex for yourself and crown yourself Overlord of The Wastes!

[Revising Ocelot]

Save the town, but do something bad to Moriarty. Didn't like him from the, er, 50 minutes I got to play the game on my older brother's 360. (cursed 31 year olds having all the money...)

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

If at all possible, could you have the story play out so she sets the bomb to explode, but doesn't quite realize that's what she's done?


And then as revenge we can let the Ghouls into the tower.

[Aerozord]

well she might not realize how the full gravity of what she did, but kind of hard to miss that mushroom cloud

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

well she might not realize how the full gravity of what she did, but kind of hard to miss that mushroom cloud

No, I mean, she doesn't realize what putting that little machine in the bomb does until the mushroom cloud goes up.

[Grinshanks]

I say do the homefront quest.

Have her relieved to be home after being screwed over everywhere she's been. Help them out with the problem and then get kicked out by them again.

I think it would really push her over the edge and be a great set up for a strong mistrusting of everyone when she finally makes it to megaton.

[Krylo]

Can't do that one until after getting to a certain point in the main quest. Namely after 'Waters of Life'.

[01d55]

Hey I've got an idea let's go to Megaton and then not destroy the first decent place to sleep she's found since getting kicked out of the Vault.

[Krylo]

Actually, her current 'home' is a better place to sleep than any place in Megaton, even AFTER you get the house, if we're talking about bed quality. Or decor.

Well, it was after I used the console to set ownership on all the beds to nothing. Can't get it to set ownership to player or my character's name. I think I'm fucking up the context somewhere.

Not that it matters.

[greed]

I vote save Megaton, and if/when we go to Tenpenny's I vote go for the peaceful solution and then get ripped off by that nutter Roy.

[Aerozord]

Actually, her current 'home' is a better place to sleep than any place in Megaton, even AFTER you get the house, if we're talking about bed quality. Or decor.


yes but it isn't behind a giant metal wall. True in reality no one would ever come to bother her down there. But from a RP standpoint there is nothing keeping some ferral ghouls or super mutants or raiders from walking in as she sleeps

[Kepor]

Still vote for going to Megaton.

[Krylo]

My head's pounding...

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Where am I?

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"A group of wanderers found you passed out in the wastes. You're just lucky they were the nice type. Hauled all the way to Megaton, they did."

I raise a hand to my head, trying to stop the pain. It doesn't work.

The 'Sheriff' is looking at me expectantly, like he's waiting for me to talk, but I don't say anything. Just... don't feel up to it.

"...Quiet type, eh? Well, I just hope you ain't one of those psycho quiet types..."

"Yeah... me too," I respond without thinking, memories of the vault and the people who couldn't have been there flooding through my head.

"What's that? You bein' smart?"

I shake my head, eliciting a sharp pain through my skull. I must be coming down from whatever drug was pumped through that vault. Once I stop wincing I speak, "Uh... no, sorry, Sheriff, I just... I'm still a bit groggy I guess..."


He looks at me carefully for a minute and then smiles, "Yeah, sorry about that. Lots of problems around here, but I like you, girl! Don't know why, but I do. Just don't go causing any trouble and making me rethink that initial response, alright? We're good folk here, and we don't need any more trouble than what the wastes already provide..." I just nod dumbly as he continues talking, "And for all that my gut says you're a good sort... you had quite the arsenal when they brought you in here... so I'm still a little uneasy, you understand?"

I nod again, "Yeah... I... was wandering the wastes, and a girl needs some protection is all."

He seems satisfied with that. "Alright then, Welcome to Megaton. If you're looking for anything Moira's got a shop up that way," he points, through the walls of the building, "And Moriarty's is the place to go if you're looking for information... but he's a paranoid lying dog, so watch yourself around him, alright?"

Again I nod, and Lucas Simms nods in return, waving before turning and walking away.

I gather up my things and follow him, only to be accosted by the doctor.

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"Back on yer feet, eh? Any idea what happened to you out there? We couldn't find any signs of physical trauma, but waking you up was pretty much impossible too--and you didn't seem irradiated..."

"I... well I stumbled onto an old vault... there was something in the air... I don't remember much past that." Half-truths have served me well in the past, and I don't want to explain having gone temporarily insane. At least I hope it was temporary.

The doctor nods though, "Yeah... I'll ask the wastelanders about where they found you and tell the Sheriff to warn people to stay away from there, then... well you seem to be doing fine now so you can be on your way. I've got a whole lotta other people to take care of out here and I don't have time for someone who can recover just fine on their own."

He points to the door and I nod. I was leaving, anyway.

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Jesus Christ! These people live around a goddamn atomic bomb!? What the fuck is wrong with them?

I stumble back a bit at the sight my back coming up against the door to the clinic, but quickly overcome the shock, stepping down and taking a wide berth around the destructive thing.

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This town is a shit hole, made out of rusted metal and dirt. Leaks are springing up from their water lines, around town, and I can't imagine it'd take much more than a strong wind to blow the whole thing apart.

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Well I guess I could use a drink.


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My eyes go wide as I see the... the... thing behind the counter, like something from one of the old zombie reels they'd sometimes play at the vault. I can smell the sickly sweet scent of rotting flesh from here... but everyone else just seems to ignore it and so I take a breath calming myself, but I think it already noticed my initial reaction, though it doesn't say anything.

He reaches out and smacks the radio, "Gah, goddamn thing. It's always the same thing."

The girl next to him pulls the cigarette out of her mouth long enough to respond, "I told you, Gob, it ain't the radio, the enclave station comes in just fine! There's somethin' wrong with Three-Dog's signal, that's all."


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I start making my way toward the other room when I see a man waving me over. He looks... normal, so I head in, though I keep a hand on my pistol.


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There's... something about his voice... something... off. Like it's dripping with oil, his words unnaturally lubricated. I don't like him.

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"Valuable?" I ask, a bit worried about his response. The way he's been looking at me, it reminds me of that woman from the station. The one who liked to eat people... though his eyes are slightly less predatory. He's hungry... but... not for that.

I barely repress a shudder when he begins to speak again.

"Oh yes... Valuable indeed." His eyes move over me like a butcher inspecting a piece of meat, but he seems to catch himself, and remember what he's really here for, "You're a free agent. You have no... connections to this place. Megaton means nothing to you! I represent certain... interests," the oil returns to his voice, "Who see Megaton as nothing more than a blight on a burdgeoning urban landscape..."

Urban landscape? This? It's now laughter I'm repressing.

"If this settlement were to... go away... well who would really care? Not you or I, certainly..."

Suddenly I don't find it so funny, anymore. "You're planning to do what, exactly?"

"Me? I'm not planning on doing anything. I'm merely a recruiter... it is you who would get to have all the fun. The atomic bomb after which this town is named is still very much alive... I have in my possesion a fusion pulse charge. Once rigged to the bomb, you may detonate it from a safe location, and for you there's five hundred caps."

I should probably just kill him now, but he did say he was merely working for someone else. If I kill him, it probably won't solve the real problem... so I play along.

"...Alright. Megaton will burn."


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"When you're done, meet me at Tenpenny Tower, it's far South West of here, well out of harms way. You can't miss it. Questions?"

I stop and think for a moment before responding. "These are a lot of innocent lives, Burke. Can I warn th..."

He cuts me off, angry now, at the very thought, "ABSOLUTELY NOT! The people of this town are just as much a disease as the city itself. They must all be purged. If you do not have the stomach, then it seems I have gravely mis..."

I hold up a hand silencing him, "I was just checking. Don't worry, I'll set up the bomb."

"Don't let me keep you."


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So great, now what do I do with this thing? ...All I wanted was a drink.

Fuck it. I slip the device into my pocket and head out the door. I still need supplies.

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Looks promising.

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Quiet place, no one around. I guess there aren't many people to come shopping every day.

As I walk in the proprietier greets me with a strong accent. Minnesotan or Canadian, I guess, from the old reels.

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Her voice is cheery, happy. Happier than anything I've heard since I left the vault. It sets me at ease a bit.

"Saaay, I'm working on a book about the wasteland, and if you're not from here that means you must be a wanderer. You'd be a huge help. Maybe you could start by helping with the forward? Just a quick little quote on the wasteland would be great. What do you think about it?"

I stop and think for a minute before answering, "Almost everything's dead, and most of the things that aren't want to make me dead. It's hell, but I guess it ain't so bad if you can scratch out your own little corner." I'm thinking of the station and this city when I mention my own little corner. The people here seem to have it ok... and my home's nice and peaceful, now, if a little lonely.

"That's terrible! But it's great for a forward, so in that sense, it's great! Here, why don't you take this armored suit," she bends down behind the counter and pulls out a Vault 101 jumpsuit with some steel armor pieces worked onto it. I'm a bit confused as to how she got it, but she just keeps on talking, "It'll help you stay alive out there while you're looking for food and supplies--and keep you from becoming something else's food! That'll be good for the book. In faaaact, want to help me with the research? I can pay you, and it'll be fuuun!"

The way she said it doesn't sound very fun at all. Oh sure, SHE was cheery, but in the way that Tom Sawyer must have been when he convinced all the kids to whitewash his fence. "...What kind of work?"

She puts a hand to her chin as though deep in thought, "Well... let's see... dealing with radiation..." I do that every damn day anyway, "Testing an experimental device," ...doesn't sound so bad, "And, I won't lie, it MAY include some reading. That sort of stuff, you know? But for all that, I can pay you with caps, meds, chems, and maybe even a few of those unique inventions, if you do a good job!"


"Alright, doesn't sound so bad... what do you need me to do?"

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"For that, I need an assistant to test my theories. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of a mistake! Nobody's ever happy when THAT happens... No... then they just yell a lot. At me! With mean, mean words..."

I'm beginning to doubt her sanity, and my own for agreeing to help, but I could use the meds. I don't have a whole lot left back home, and the caps to buy whatever I need from nearby towns.

"Alright. I'll help."

"All right, then! Now I think for the first chapter will be about day-to-day life and dangers in the wasteland! Things like where it is and isn't safe to find food, the dangers of radiation, and how to avoid, and even profit from, dangerous landmines! Oooh, sounds like fun, doesn't it. Let's see... let's start with the landmines!"

"Uh... ok."

"Well landmines are one of the few dangers out there that you can profit from. Disarm one before it blows, and you can sell it for plenty of caps! I've heard stories about a ghost town way up north that's just FULL of mines. Traders just call the place 'Minefield.'Sounds like the place for some fieldwork! Get in there, get back, and tell me all about it! And could you bring back a mine for my studies?"

I just stare at her for a minute before speaking, "And... what kind of pay will I be getting for risking my limbs by walking into a minefield?"

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"And if you bring me back something to study, maybe I can make some modifications for you. Nothing like tinkering with a live mine, riiight?!" She says it with a smile and an entirely too cheery attitude. She's definitely insane.

She's definitely insane, but I could definitely use a few more frag grenades.

"Alright. Wish me luck."

"Oh don't worry, no one ever goes there because they say it's a ghost town! And seeming as ghosts don't exist, you can concentrate on the landmines!"

"Yeah... that's... that's a great comfort. Hey, could I get some supplies before I leave?"

She stops for a minute blinking, "Oh! Right! Sorry! How rude of me, you came in here to shop and I just rambled on and on! Sure, help yourself! ...But, um, remember to pay!"

I grab the supplies I came in for trade some barter for them. Some stuff I apparently picked up while I was in that vault, though I didn't remember taking any of it.

She says the barter's worth more than what I wanted and gives me some bottle caps. Seems a bit strange, but I don't mention anything.

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Walking down I notice a food stand. Couple of people are trading bottle caps for dinner.

. . . Guess old bottle caps are what pass for money around here.

Well, whatever, back out into the wastes.

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[Mr.Bookworm]

Go show it to Lucas Simms. Then kill Burke before he gets the chance to kill Simms.

Just do the Moira quests.

I think it would also be neat if after you get done with all of this if you went to Tenpenny Towers.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Lure all that you know to be evil towards the city, and destroy them all in one fel swoop!

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Do nothing! Have her instead pretend like she never met the man and go about her day, so that later when we return she can go psycho over Moiras continual traumatizing "experiments" which have reduced her to a mental wreck and she decides to nuke the town out of spite and hatred!

[Aerozord]

use the device as a threat to milk more money out of Simms for disarming the bomb

[MasterOfMagic]

Do nothing! Have her instead pretend like she never met the man and go about her day, so that later when we return she can go psycho over Moiras continual traumatizing "experiments" which have reduced her to a mental wreck and she decides to nuke the town out of spite and hatred!
This is my vote. Just ignore it so she can think about it for awhile.

[TDK]

...Lucy looks like Nova.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

We should probably go see Moira, to start Lucy down the path to mental breadown and eventual town nuking. We could go fetch a landmine or something. Hilarity will ensue.

[G.I.R.]

We should probably go see Moira, to start Lucy down the path to mental breadown and eventual town nuking. We could go fetch a landmine or something. Hilarity will ensue.

Seconded!

[Sir Pinkleton]

We should probably go see Moira, to start Lucy down the path to mental breadown and eventual town nuking. We could go fetch a landmine or something. Hilarity will ensue.

Agreed! Best thing to do now, methinks.

[Wigmund]

We should probably go see Moira, to start Lucy down the path to mental breadown and eventual town nuking. We could go fetch a landmine or something. Hilarity will ensue.

Seconded, but we should stop by Paradise Falls before going mine-sweeping. Makes dealing with Arkansas the Fucking I'm-Gonna-Snipe-Landmines-As You-Disarm-Them Sniper so much more rewarding. Also, if the Kid-Killer mod has been used I wonder if you can enslave the little fuckers in Little Lamplight.

[PhoenixFlame]

I too vote that Lucy learn to embrace the undeniably wonderful power of SCIENCE.

There's nothing better than picking up hot potatoes for the betterment of mankind!

[01d55]

SCIENCE sounds like fun times. Not endorsing the whole "let's go crazy so we can kill megaton later" plan but SCIENCE sounds good.

[Aerozord]

well although I think going after daddy makes ALOT more sense from story standpoint, in all other ways I think the survival guide is better. So since that ones already got the most votes, I'm going with that.

Though if we do we will end up like I did, and skipping three dog all together

[Wigmund]

Nah, just stop the SCIENCE! missions before Ch. 3.
Go find Three Dog, and do his little task, but before heading back to Three Dog after replacing the relay dish, finish off the Chapter 3 Survival Guide missions for Moira which includes going to Rivet City, which is where Three Dog woulda sent you anyways. And Three Dog ends up giving you a key to a supply shed (not much, but better than "Yo daddy might be over there") in some place not far from Big Town and Arefu. This way you see Three Dog, get the alternate reward from him, and still advance in the Main Story after talking to the scientists in Rivet City for the 'Local History' Survival Guide mission.

And if we go find Three Dog soon, we can watch a Mutie Behemoth go all hulk smash on some Brotherhood of Steel troopas.

[Pip Boy]

The plan to get the weapons cache also adds a lot more freedom for the author to just say you have weapons rather than constantly talk about picking them up and running out of ammo. I'd say that after grabbing all of that, its implied that you have enough to last for a while.

[Krylo]

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North, she said, eh? Well alright. Looks like I'm off. A quick look at my Pipboy's navigational screen tells me that home is that way, too. Maybe I'll make a stop by there and drop off the supplies I got, travelling light through a minefield seems like a good idea.

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What's all this now? Looks like a good place for some scrounging.

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Voices and gunshots. I go low and prepare for the worst.

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Well. This is unexpected. The poor thing's injured. Whimpering at me.

A quick look behind it shows me the source of the gunshots. Raiders... mauled to death... and a trader--shot to death. Dog must have belonged to the trader.

He whimpers some more and I put away my weapon walking a bit closer. I pull a bit of food from one of my pockets--some fried iguana--and hold it out for him. The mutt pulls away at first, but after a moment sniffs the food and takes it from me gingerly. I reach out and pet him while he eats before pulling out a stim pack and injecting it into a gunshot wound on the poor dog's back leg. He yelps a bit at first, but quickly calms down as the drug's soothing effects take place.

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I tear some scraps of clothing from one of the dead raiders and make the dog a bandage for his wound, petting him as I bind it up tightly. He's still got a little bit of a limp but his tail is wagging, and when I start to leave he follows me.

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"What's the matter? You want to come with me?" I ask as I drop into a crouch. He barks and limps up to me, resting his head on my knees. I find myself scratching him behind his ear despite myself, "Well, alright. It was getting lonely out here... and I guess you can take care of yourself. Let's go."

He barks again, backing away from me, his tail giving a few weak wags, his tongue hanging limply from his mouth. I smile a genuine smile for what seems like the first time in a very long time, before I turn and start to walk away, the dog following obediently behind.

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I reach down and scratch the dog's head again. "Welp, here we are, Dogmeat," I don't know where the name came from, but he lets out a bark and seems to like it, so I decide to keep it. "It doesn't look like much, but it's home."

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He barks again and I make my way down the to the entrance to where the family used to live.

It's my... no... our home now.

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Home sweet home.

I move about the place, tucking my supplies safely away and introducing Dogmeat to our new home--and that's what it feels like now. Home. No longer an empty train station--a base of operations. The only thing that changed was the addition of a new member. I've hardly known the dog for a few hours and he already feels like family.

God I must have been lonely.

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I get everything put away, peel off my clothes, and slide into bed. Dogmeat jumps up into bed and curls up by my feet. I don't mind and soon I'm drifting off to sleep.

. . .


I wake several hours later, and rifle through my my closet for something clean to wear. I finally settle on some raider clothes, that I don't remember picking up. . . I wonder if I was really unconscious after the vault, but quickly shake it off.

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Anyway, they don't look too bad, and if I'm lucky those pricks will think I'm one of their own next time I meet them.

Reaching into my weapons cabinet next door, on the other hand, I settle for a standard 10mm pistol, a sawed off shotgun, and a combat knife. A few grenades too. That's always compulsory. I'm travelling light. Not really expecting much trouble, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go without any means of self defense. Not by a long shot.

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Welp. Back to work. I whistle for Dogmeat and head back toward the north, and, hopefully, Minefield.

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Ghost town in the middle of nowhere? check.

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Landmines? Check.

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Trail of blood leading to a door with a bloody handprint on it? Check.

There's something more than landmines here. I'd best be careful.

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I jimmy the lock, and creep inside to find the corpse of a raider laying against a couch. There's some burns on his body, probably from explosives. Maybe the mines... but it doesn't explain how he got in here.

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A search of the home reveals some prewar paraphenalia, including some clothing, books, and money I help myself to.

As well as a laspistol in a safe.

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When I head back out, I decide I'd best be careful. It's broad daylight so whatever's here has probably already seen me, but I can at least make myself a smaller target.

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I hear the the sound of something impacting steel, and I look up just in time to see a care in front of me burst into flames.

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I back up in time to avoid the worst of the explosion... but now I know there's someone trying to kill me. Either that or the ghost stories are true.

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I look around a bit frantically, but there doesn't appear to be anyone around. Turning back isn't really an option now, either. They'll most likely hunt me down. Moving forward is my only option. I make a mental note to request hazard pay for this when I get back to Moira.

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I disarm and steal the landmines as I go, moving forward slowly, constantly prepared for the next attack.

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Another house.

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I jimmy the lock and get in easily enough, again.

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More corpses.

More pre-war paraphenalia. Just like the last one. No killer yet, though.

I head back out onto the street more careful than before. I know I'm being watched. I know there's a good chance I'll end up as a corpse in one of these buildings, too.

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I see him. Shooting the car near by.

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I back up away from it before it can blow me to hell... but if I can see him and he can't hit me yet... he must not be a very good shot. Now that I know it's just a man, I think I can take him.

Shots ring out around me, as I climb closer to him to get a decent shot, but none of them close enough to be a real worry. It's quickly apparent why he chose to shoot the cars instead of me--he can't handle that rifle. One comes dangerously close to my face as I take aim slowly, exhaling as I pull the trigger...

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My bullet tears through his chest, and he jerks into the air, convulsing at the sudden shock, before falling to a lower floor.

Sweet dreams, asshole.

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I head up to his little sniper's nest, and take a look around.

Just an old man. Wonder why he was up here doing this... protecting his city... or what was left of it?

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I wonder how much of this was caused by the bombs, and how much was caused by raiders afterward... Not that it matters. He tried to kill me, and now he's dead. I search through his clothes and help myself to some ammo, as well as the rifle that fell on the ledge next to him.

Maybe I won't tell Moira about this. I don't want to share the extra loot.

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

Longer one.

So back to Moira? Or should we take some kind of sidetrip along the way?

[Kerensky287]

What I find funny is that it would probably take far better aim to hit the cars so they'd explode than to hit her.

[Aerozord]

Or when he shoots the mines, I've seen him do that. Oh and I vote Moira, and radiation next, and have her get the 600+ amount ultimately. Not a particularly useful power, but I want to see how Lucy views a mutation

[Krylo]

What I find funny is that it would probably take far better aim to hit the cars so they'd explode than to hit her.

Well, technically, you CAN'T hit a car so that it explodes. The best you could do is hit it with an incendiary/tracer round, but even that would just ignite the gas in the tank, and would probably not result in an explosion.

These, however, are nuclear cars. I'm not sure whether that would make them harder or easier to blow up.

Regardless: His aim really did suck. He hit me like twice, outside of my not being fast enough to fully clear the first explosion 'cause I was trying to get a good picture. In the meantime, I got close enough to kill him with a pistol. And then finish him off in VATS for the kill screen cap, even though VATS had like a 20-40% chance of hitting him (depending on where he was standing) and therefore going through about three full VATS charges due to some bad luck before he finally lost his last three bars of health for that cap.

[Cunny]

Hm... I say back to Moira, but maybe get blown up by some remaining mines so you can satify her severe damage mission.

[Melfice]

Hm... I say back to Moira, but maybe get blown up by some remaining mines so you can satify her severe damage mission.

That's not until the second chapter of the Survival Guide, however.
You're better off healing up first, doing radiation and then the food, where you can get hurt for the next chapter's severe damage mission.

I say you go back to Moira and do like I said. Radiation first, then food. Whatever, if any, mission or travelling you do in between, I don't really care for.
Maybe go to Grayditch, if you haven't done that before? I must admit I pretty much just jumped in.

[Pip Boy]

If you're not going for the realistic and believable approach, the severe damage mission is very easily accomplished by finding an isolated corner of Megaton and a few grenades.

But I stand by what I said before. Go get the weapons cache*

Before you go to the city that Three-Dog sends you to, you should do the siege on GNR against the super mutants. It would be an interesting part to LP, and the siege will not happen if you've already gotten too far into the main game by skipping it.

[Sir Pinkleton]

I think I like the idea of going back to Moira, but I think exploring a little bit on the way back is a good idea too, for reading and for items/experience/whatever.

[Viridis]

This has no bearing on anything at all you're currently doing, but at some point find this crazy guy. (http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/The_Preacher)

[Krylo]

One thing before I start--I downloaded a couple of mods. One of which is a hair pack. For some reasons NPCs started wearing different hair for nor apparent reason... there's a few others. Like a Sig Sauer 14mm AP pistol, like in the old fallouts, and a graphical change to plasma weapons, and some other stuff you probably won't notice.

I'm just giving a heads up so as not to confuse you too much.

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

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Well... No use thinking of all that now. Time to get going.

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Of course, there's no sense leaving empty-handed, I figure as I look at the last couple of houses I haven't rifled through, yet. Besides, it's not like the dead need their personal belongings anymore. At least that's what I tell myself as I go through another round of grave robbing.

After that, it's a, completely uneventful, trip back home

The first thing I do when I get there is load up the fridge with all the food I managed to scavenge from those houses, and the supplies I bought from Moira. Granted, it's mostly just junk food, but at least I have something to eat now.

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That done, I toss the rest of my scavenge into a couple of closets, toss on a nightie I found, and head to bed.

The morning comes to soon, and I groggily step out of bed to throw on a nice leather ensemble as well as some scavenge that I figure I can sell, and my trusty 10mm, just in case.

The travel through the wasteland back to Megaton is pretty uneventful, too. Killed one of those giant mole things again, but hardly anything worth mentioning. I think I'm getting used to the wastes now.

'Civilization' on the other hand...

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I check the clip on my 10mm, and slam it back in before heading into town.

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Well, things seem quiet, at least. I head for Craterside Supply.

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Moira puts down her broom as she notices me, and waves me over, a smile on her face.

"Oh, hey there! How were those hot little potatoes?"

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I roll my eyes a bit as she explains the joke, and pull out a landmine for her.

"Oooohh... My very own landmine! Just what I've always wanted!" she says, her eyes lit up like a kid on chrstimas, as she gingerly takes the explosive from me, "Well always since I sent you to get one, anyway!" Her laugh is a bit grating, but, to my horror, I think she's actually starting to grow on me. "So what was it like? Walking through a minefield, disarming mines?"

"Well..." I start trying to think of exactly what to say, "It's not so bad, really. You just have to watch where you step and get to them before they get to you. It's not really that hard if you keep your eyes open." I decide against mentioning the sniper.

"Well aren't you a trooper! Just heading right out there and getting straight to work, without even a complaint. Now I know you probably don't want to see any more explosives for awhile!" she jokes as she heads over to a shelf and starts collecting frag grenades, "but you sure do know your way around them, so I figured you could have a little bit of my rainy day stash! And looking at this landmine gives me an idea! It's a terrible device that does terrible things, of course, but it's easy to make your own, too!" She grabs a sheet of paper from a shelf and sets it on her desk, using the landmine as a paperweight and waves me over, explaining how to attach a sensor module to a cherry bomb and put the contraption into a lunchbox filled with bottle caps for some nice bang and shrapnel. I nod along as she explains the technicalities of how it works, though most of that goes over my head, but I understand the basic how-to and she hands me the sheet of paper when she's done.

"Now then, we've still got plenty of work to do! People need to know how to survive out there, and to survive you need to keep yourself stocked on food and supplies, so the next research I want you to do is on how to scavenge. It just so happens I've got the location for one of those big super stores that used to be all over the wastes, and I'd like you to go and check it out for me!"

I shrug, and don't even bother asking about the pay. I can just keep most of the scavenge for myself, and I could really use the food. "Alright, but before I head out, I'd like to do a little trading..."

"Oh oh, of course! I'll buy whatever you've got, and we have all kinds of things for sale and trade!" she replies with a smile as she moves behind the counter to take my order.


I offload my excess weight, and she tells me how to get to the supermarket. Super Duper Mart she calls it.

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Super Duper Mart, huh? Well, guess I'll just get going.

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When I arrive it's already dark, and I can hear gunfire. I drop into a crouch and proceed carefully, expecting trouble.

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Dead raiders... I'm not sure what to expect inside now, but I know it's probably not going to be pretty.

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As I head inside the place looks like a mess, but I can see silhouettes walking across what must have been store shelving at one point.

I decide to keep low and quiet. I don't know how many there are yet, but there's no reason to rile them all up until I've got a plan of action in place.

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I carefully weave through the empty carts, but all my careful plans are laid to waste as I hear Dogmeat growl low and turn to see a Raider advancing on us with his weapon out. Dogmeat doesn't wait for him to find us leaping out to attack.

I snap off a few rounds into his back and he falls dead, but bullets start shattering the tile around me and I spin to the right

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I dive to the side and grab the dead man's rifle, but when I come back up my assailant has gone into hiding.

I stand up and move around the shelving, and almost bump into the back of another of the psychopaths.

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Unfortunate for him.

There's another one I can see through the mist blood and grey matter holding a bat, and I gun him down before he can bring it down on Dogmeat. . .

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Who runs off after another of the crazies while I reload.

I give chase as soon as I'm able and round a corner to see her leveling a pistol at my dog.

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Nobody shoots at my dog.

I hear a sound and spin to see one more trying to run away. . .

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But there is no escape from my fury. His ilk raised weapon against my dog, and they will all die.


When it's done I go back to check on that heavy pistol, I think it might have been. . .

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Nice. A .14mm auto. AP rounds. Come to mommy.

But. . . I did come here for a reason, and I head into one of the back rooms. . .

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Bingo. Food storage.

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And weapon storage, too, it seems.

I grab some improvised explosives--look a lot like the design Moira taught me. Wonder if she's taught anyone else?

Also grab a laspistol and some energy cells.

Not a fan of laspistols, personally. They never saw heavy combat use because there were technical difficulties in getting enough power and focusing into such a small frame to give it combat effectiveness.

As a result, slug throwers tend to have better stopping power in the pistol class. Still, they're, relatively, silent, and, though bright, can make a decent weapon for covert ops when used properly.

Would rather have a lasrifle, though, if I had to use an energy weapon. . . ah well.

I pocket it, anyway.

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A little more exploring brings me to a locked door behind another counter, with a computer terminal next to it. It's pretty low grade security, though, and even I'm able to crack it and unlock the door. . .

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Storage room. Nice. Looks like it might be pharmaceuticals, too, judging by the packages on that shelf.

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And a protectron unit, as well. Luckily it's shut down, and I can help myse--

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More of them.

I glance back at the robot and a smile spreads across my face as I key in a few commands on the nearby terminal. . .

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Go, my pretty. Go and cleanse them in robotic fire.

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Still, though, I drop one of the improvised explosives at the entrance to the back room hall, and then duck around a corner. Doesn't take long for the protectron to draw attention, and for a raider to make a bad mistake. . .

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Boom.

After that I figure I'll help Robbie the Robot Reprimand the Rabble.

Yes. I am proud of that.

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It doesn't take much.

But, with the raider's gone, Robbie's usefulness is at an end.

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So I end him before he ends up lasering some innocent scavenger kid or something to death.

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. . . Ripping out his energy cells to repurpose them as laspistol ammo was hardly even a secondary concern.

Anyway, I got the scavenge Moira wanted as well as quite a few new toys of my own.

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All in all, a good day's work. Time to head home.

[Aerozord]

since i'm considering buying it, ancorage gets my vote

[Melfice]

I'm not sure right now, but I think on your way to Baileys there's a few Muties around, so I guess you could play you're driven in the tunnel to the Baileys station by the Muties and pick up the Anchorage quest.

As to how and why she's around that area... I don't know.
Can't see the girl as somebody who'd run headlong at whatever SOS broadcast get thrown about.
Maybe there's another mission nearby there?

[Aerozord]

upon reflection, maybe at this point a direction would be a better call. I vote north if thats the case, as I'd like to eventually get to oasis

Oh and for those that dont check VG cats anymore, here (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?)

[Cunny]

I'd like to see 'Them!' next. I hated the mission, but it should translate well to story.

[Sir Pinkleton]

Yeah, I was gonna say, that's the nearest quest nearby, and I guess she would feel confident enough to do it now that she has a whole lot of gear and food. I'd vote either for that, or wandering around for a little while; go North, why not.

Out of curiousity, what level are you at?

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Seeing as I haven't (and probably won't ever), play the DLC, I'd like to see both of those. Anchorage then Pitt please.:)

[tacticslion]

Man, I'd love to see you do the Oasis (http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php)* quest. Seriously, I hear the tree-thing is there, and that's a plus in my book. Although I'd personally love for the world to recover due to the tree-thing, I don't know how she'd justify not killing them all. This might not be next, but when you do get around to it, I vote that you do this. The Preacher too.

*I've no idea if this would be considered SFW or NSFW, so best be on your guard. No actual naughtiness shown, just enough to indicate the nudity Austin Powers** style.

**Never seen the whole movie, just bits toward the end on TBS.

[BitVyper]

Qq8G4tZbMmw

[Krylo]

As Altered Beast commands. . .

----

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When I get back to Megaton the sun still hasn't come up, and the whole city seems to be asleep.

'City'.

Regardless, I figure I'll see if Moira's home. Finish up this job for her, see what else she needs done, that kind of thi--


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Well, door isn't opening. Doubt she'd be happy if I broke in. Guess I'll have to find something else to pass the time. . .


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Maybe I'll have a drink.


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Saloon is still open at least.

I head over to the bar and take a seat, and quickly wonder on the wisdom of this decision as the... thing behind the counter turns to me. The scent of rotting flesh washes over me like a nauseating wave. I almost retch, and I'm sure I would have if I had smelt this a few days ago.

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Now, I REALLY need a drink.

"Whatever the strongest shit you have is."

The thing eyes me for a second before reaching behind the counter and putting a bottle of vodka in front of me.

"That'll be twenty-nine caps, Smoothskin," his gravelly voice demands the money and I reach into a pocket, producing it within seconds and sliding it over the counter trying, and failing, not to look at him.

One of his putrid eyebrows raises--or at least I think it does, it's hard to tell when there's no skin there--and he speaks once more, his breath like a rotting carcass, "So you ain't never seen a ghoul before, I take it?"

"...What makes you think that?" I ask as I swallow back a rather large gulp of the bitter liquid, letting the burn slide down my throat pleasantly. I resist the urge to shudder as the harsh liquid moves through my 'virgin' body.

"Well, yer disgusted by me, that much is clear," he says as he starts to clean out a dirty glass with a rag that doesn't seem much better and makes me glad that alcohol is a disinfectent, "But cha aren't hatin' on me like most folk would. You just seem scared..."

I take another long drink, and I can already feel the effects of the alcohol starting to set in, as I let out a couple of coughs and nod. "Y... yeah. I haven't been around much." I take another drink straight from the bottle and Gob nods a bit, chuckling.

"Don't seem like you drink much either, eh, Smoothskin?"

I shake my head, "I was too young where I came from, but I'm hoping it can solve my problems just like they claim in the old vid-re..." I catch myself too late. These people don't have vid-reels.

Gob nods, though, and keeps wiping the glass. "Yeah, I thought so. You looked familiar... an older guy kinda like you came through a few days ago from 101. Now I'm not sayin' there's a connection... but..."

'Dad?'

I look up at the creature for the first time since I've sat down, and immediately regret it, pushing back the urge to throw up once more. "...Where did he go..." I manage to choke out after a moment.

"Sorry, cutie," Gob chuckles at the shudder of revulsion that slides down my spine at the word before continuing, "but I can't tell ya much more than that. Moriarty'd have my head on a platter, and I'm sure I'd smell even worse dead." A short bout of hoarse laughter at his own bad joke later and Gob turns away from me, "He's in the back if you'd like to talk to him."

I down the rest of the vodka, elliciting a coughing fit from myself and more laughter from Gob before I stand up.

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Making my way into the back around the ghoul, I find Moriarty sitting in front of his terminal. I can see he's already logged in and glancing at a few files that he quickly closes before standing and turning toward me taking on a fake smile.

"COLIN MORIARTY, at yer service!" he says with an accent so thick I could cut it with a knife, "Welcome to Moriarty's my saloon, my home, my slice o' heaven in this backwoods little burg. Now, if ya don't mind tellin' me why yer bothering me in me office before I kick yer arse?"

"...I heard that a man passed through here recently. Where'd he go?"

Moriarty looked me over once closely before speaking, "...Little Lucy, is that you? It is, innit it!?"

"How do you know my name?" my eyes narrow and my hand moves toward my pistol.

"Aww, ye don't remember ole Moriarty? I suppose ye wouldn't though, ye was just a weeee thing back then. Barely popped from your momma... I'm truly sorry about your loss."

"What are you talking about? I wasn't born here..."

He stops for a moment looking me in the eyes once more, "They lied to ya did they? Told ya you were born in that vault? Guess I kint blame them, they just wanted what was best for their little girl, after all... and this wasteland certainly ain't what's best."

"I don't know, people try to kill me either way, at least there's more ammo to shoot back with out here."

Moriarty lets out a gut laugh, "Aye aye... that overseer ya got in there's quite the snake... didn't seem too happy about your father leaving, either, but your dad had hoped ye could avoid all this unpleasantness... guess he was jus' dreamin' again."

"Cut the shit, Moriarty. Where'd he go. He apparently has a lot of explaining to do."

"Slow down there, now, kiddo, I'd love ta help you, I really would, but what you're askin' for is information, and information is a commodity. I didn't get where I am by just giving away commodities. You need ta do a little favor for me, first."

My patience is running out and I narrow my eyes at the sleazy barman. "What is it?"

"Well thar's this girl, pretty little thing, worked for me and the local men if you know what I mean. Anyway, she cut town with my share o' her profits, and I want it back. It'd be great if you could ta..."

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I unholster my pistol and have the barrel aimed at his head in one smooth motion. "See, it's funny... you said you wanted a favor, but what I'm hearing is that you're a pimp and murderer--but you're too damn cowardly to do the killing yourself. Not only that but you're a damn lying snake who'd get the child of an old friend to do his dirty work over something as simple as telling her where her daddy is. You aren't worthy of breathing, Moriarty, just like everyone else is this godforsaken wasteland. You'd better give me a damn good reason not to pull this trigger."

"'Cause if you do, the people of this here town'll be on you li..."

He's paranoid. The Sheriff was right about the rat half, hope he's right about the other. "I don't think so, Moriarty," I cut him off in mid-sentence, "The people of this town are as sick of your bullshit as I am, and the only thing I'd be getting from them over this are accolades and caps. The only reason I haven't pulled the trigger yet is because I don't like killing. Now talk before I change my mind."

His eyes narrow, and he glances at the computer screen. "Alright, fine... he headed on to the DC ruins, tryin' ta find 'T'ree Dog' the GNR broadcaster... but don't think I'll be forgettin' this, little Lucy. Moriarty doesn't forget or forgive."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," I press the gun to his forehead and relieve him of his own firearm before backing out the back door.

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Well that was fun, but something tells me I'd best get the hell out of Megaton.

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Sun's up now, though. Maybe I can at least let Moira knowing I'm skipping town.

I head back over to the Craterside Supply, and sure enough, someone unlocked while I was drinking.

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Huh. First time I've seen her actually behind the counter.

She waves and smiles as she notices me come in. "So how's the scavving been? Got the food and medicine from that Super-Duper Mart?" she asks happily as I walk over.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I got it. . ." I reply as I start to pull some things out.

"Really?! You Did? You diiid! Well, all right! Tell me all about it! For the book, you know."

I think back to the mart for a moment, trying to clear Moriarty from my head, though I find it hard not to glance over my shoulder, as I explain. "Well, there were a bunch of psychopaths living in there. Were using the food and medicine storage as makeshift armories, too."

"Soooo you're saying they acquired a well-protected stash? I wonder how many other places are hidin--"

"Yeah, listen, Moira, I'm kinda in a hurry today. . ."

Her head droops, and she looks a bit crestfallen, "Well. . . okay, but at least let me give you your payment!" she's perked right back up, almost immediately. I really envy her enthusiasm. And it kind of pains me that I have to cut this short. And quit the job. Man she's not going to like that. . .

I'm barely listening as she hands me a bunch of food and some kind of object she claims will make food, "More, um, betterer" so long as I keep it on me.

"Thanks, uh, and Moira. . . I'm, listen I gotta go. Some stuff came up and I don't know when I'll be back to town, so I can't really help with the book, anymore."

She sags again, but this time she doesn't perk back up. "Well. . . I. . . I can't force you to work, I suppose," she says, her lip trembling a little. Honestly, if this were any other situation, she COULD force me to work with that look.

"But uh, I do need some supplies before I leave," I add, trying to change the subject. Her response is listless, almost broken.

It's painful to hear, but I'm sure she'll bounce back. Eventually. Maybe. .

Ugh.

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I head back out into the wastes, feeling like garbage.

Only thing to do now is track down my dad, I guess. I got a lead on him. . . and I don't know how long it will be good for. Would have had to take a hiatus from her jobs, anyway.

But first. . . I haven't slept over a day.

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I pass out for hours, and then, seeming as I don't know what's waiting for me between here and GNR, I grab as much ammor as I can carry, an assault rifle, the 14mm pistol, a sawed off shotgun, some grenades, and other various pieces of necessary self defense weaponry.

I tune my Pip Boy to GNR, and tell it to track back the signal's originating site.

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It pulls up a map and informs me I should be able to get there if I travel west of the Super Duper Mart.

. . .Wish I had known that before I went to Megaton and then came all the way back here.

Well, que sera sera.


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Doesn't take me long to get back there. Well. . . a couple hours, and a couple dead raiders, but you know, that's just average. Maybe I should start keeping track of time by rai--

"Help, miss, help!" I turn toward the voice. . .

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And am pretty surprised to see a kid running up to me.

"Listen, kid, calm down, would you?" I ask as he's clearly trembling.

"N-no. . . Those things will get me! I can't. Gotta keep going!"

He tries to run off, but I grab him by the back of his shirt and pull him in. "Whoa there, listen, kiddo, just calm down and tell me what's going on, it'll be okay. . ." I say in my most soothing voice, putting a hand on his head.

Dogmeat helps by nuzzling his hand, and the boy gulps back his fear.

"O-okay, but. . . you're not going to leave me like the other adults, right? You'll help find my dad?"

I let out a slow sigh. "Yeah. . . yeah I guess I will, where is he?"

The kid points back behind him. "In grayditch. The house closest to the billboard. Please, you gotta find him! He's the only one the monsters hav--"

"Slow down. . . what kind of monsters?"

"Um, well. . . they're big six legged things. . . with GIANT teeth. They're always scurrying around and taking things. . . dad called them Fucking Ants."

Ants? He's afraid of ants? That. . . well, okay. Let's not mock the mentally challenged boy. I can at least go grab his dad for him.

"He was always saying, "These are the dumbest fucking ants" and telling people to "Aim for the antenner". . . whatever that means" He's still explaining the mons--wait why would his dad be aiming for their antennas? Ants are like, an inch long.

"Uh, hey, ki--what's your name?"

"Um, Bryan. Bryan Wilks, miss."

"Right, Bryan--call me Lucy, by the way, uh, Bryan, how big are these ants?"

He looks at me for a moment then starts stretching his arms out, and then stops, looks at the distance, then down at himself. "Uh, well," he kneels down a bit and holds a hand about two feet off the ground, "'bout this tall, and um. . . little longer than I am tall."

I go pale for a second. How is that even possible? Their exoskeletons shouldn't be able to support the weight of their muscles, unless it was too thick for the muscles to move. . . but if they actually scaled up in strength as well as size.

Christ.

Bryan picks up on it. "Y-you aren't going to leave are you? I. . . I wouldn't blame you if you did, but. . . what will happen to my pa?"

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I look out toward the DC ruins and where my Pipboy says GNR is located, and think about how easy it would be to let that kid just rot here. Not like anyone would know. Not like it would matter. . . and besides who knows what could happen to my lead on dad if I waste any more time?

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. . .Sorry, dad. Guess you'll have to wait.

[Krylo]

I look down at the kid. "Alright alright, I ain't gonna leave, kid."

"R-really?" he asks coming to his feet, slowly, hope moving back into him.

Reaching up to scratch the back of my head I let out an unintentional annoyed grunt. I hate myself for this. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have a damned conscious. "Ugh. . . yes. I'm sure. Just going to risk my life for some kid I do--whatever, listen, do you have any place safe to go?"

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"Dad always said to stay outta them things, but I guess it's safe. . . ish. I hope. . ."

I nod, barely listening to him, and mumble something that's probably similar to 'sounds good' or 'yeah, go hide there'. I have no idea. Still too caught up in wondering why I'm even doing this, and the kid starts to head out, but stops after a few steps and turns back, pulling out a key and tossing it to me.

"I dunno if it'll help, but papa hid a buncha stuff in an old dumpster behind the Diner. Thanks miss!" He yells before heading off. I sigh and soldier on.

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"What is. . ."

I squint my eyes to get a closer look. . .


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Christ, it's even bigger than I thought!



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The Rattatatat of the automatic rifle comes in tune with the 'Nopenopenopes' echoing through my head, until the creature is nothing but a pile of exoskeleton and gore.

Tough bastard, took a lot of ammo, but range kills.


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. . .Excellent welcoming committee you've got.

I decide to move slow, take my time. The kid said monsters, not monster, right?

Turns out that's a good idea.



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I have no idea how many I kill before I even get to the damned dumpster the kid was talking about.

Speaking of which. . .


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Nothing but an old 10mm and a couple of rounds. Yeah, this is in the 'not going to help' category kid. Sorry.

I turn and look back out toward the town and try to find his house, when I hear Dogmeat growl and run off. A moment later, as I move to follow him, I hear something. . . else. Like a flamethr--

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Holy christ, they can breath fire!

I stumble back for a second, but my dog is in there, and I quickly regain my composure. . .


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The aim is tricky, between the fire and Dogmeat trying to bite its face off, but in the end the fire goes out as rounds shater through its insectoid skull. . . and Dogmeat comes running up to me wagging his tail, only slightly singed.

Jesus Christ, dog. I'm glad you're on my side.


After that I kill countless more. Not worth recounting the battles. I shoot from distance, and they die before they realize I'm there. One. After. Another. Pretty sure I've cleared the whole town by the time I realize I was standing right next to the kid's house when I was at the Diner.


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And it's such a nice place, too. Well let's head in. . .


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. . .At least I can tell the kid his dad put up a good fight.


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And his dad wouldn't be needing this anymore. Guns and ammo, the only true currency of the wasteland--don't let the bottlecaps throw you off.

Well, guess I better go. . . and. . . tell him. . .

Hate myself even more now.


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I take a deep breath and hold it for a moment, calming my nerves before giving the old mini-shelter a kick to get it
open.



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Kid can read it on my face before I even open my mouth. Or maybe he already knew before he asked for help. How couldn't he? If those things were tearing up his house when he left, he had to have known this wasn't going to have a happy ending--but I can't blame him for hoping.

. . .I doubt my story's going to have one either.

Sigh, lean the assault rifle on my shoulder, and tell it like it is. "Your dad's ant food, kid. Sorry."

He. . . doesn't take it well. Calls me an asshole. Probably deserve it. Probably could have worded that better. Plus, he needs something to hate. Guess it doesn't matter who it is, anyway I did my job.

I turn and start to walk away when I hear sobbing, I look back. . .


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. . .and sigh again.

"Listen, kid, I'm gonna go find where these things came from, and take care of this, alright, so you just. . ." I trail off, there's really nothing to say. What am I going to do? Tell him to buck up? That everything's going to be okay?

Ain't nothing going to be okay out here, and I know it. And he knows it.

All the same, it seems to brighten him up, "You gotta stop it so it can't happen to anyone else's family ever again!"

He stops, and his lips tremble as he stares at the ground before continuing, sounding weak. "I. . . wish I had met you a long time ago, then maybe my dad would still be alive. . ." I try not to let it get to me as he swallows back his tears and looks up, "Thanks. . . thanks for doing this. . . I'm feeling better now that you're he--"

I can't take it anymore and cut him off, "Yeah yeah right, whatever kid, just tell me if you got any idea where to start?"

He nods and points at the shack next to the house. "Was a scientist living in there. He gone disappeared when the monsters showed up. . . said he was gonna stop it. Somethin' about a miscalculation. . . maybe he knows something?"

I nod, and smack the side of the shelter, causing the door to slide closed. "You just stay in here where it's safe until I come back, alright kiddo?"

The muffled sounds from inside sound like an affirmative. . .


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and I head over to check out the shack.


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Well, definitely some kind of scientist staying here. I take a look around. . .

Hot plates, beakers, looks like a child's chemistry set. And a recording.

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"Note to self," comes a nassaly voice. "Computer Password is Solenopsis. You think I could remember THAT. . ."

Wonderful security, doctor.


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I try the first two. They both say he's out of range.

Oh well, let's see what kind of notes the good doctor has left me.


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. . .Wonderful, a mad scientist.

Seems he's got a lot of blood on his hands. Well, at least now I know where I'm going.


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Marigold Station.

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger.”


I don't know where that thought came from, and shake it from my head, before shouldering the assault rifle and heading, well, unto the breach.


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It's dark. Hard to see much, and some of the tunnels seem to have collapsed.

Reminds me of home.


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Ant infestation aside, but

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I can

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take care of that.

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Another victim of the ants?

I grab the recording and pop it in.

"If you're listening to this tape, then my brains are splattered all over a wall somewhere and you've got a job to do.

You need to retrieve the package and get it safely to Ronald Laren in Girdershade. Tell him Grady sent you.

To get the package, you'll need the key. I've stashed it inside an old fire hose case in some maintenance closet in Marigold Metro Station.

The key will unlock the safe that contains the package. Look for the room marked by a spinning light... you can't miss it.

Good luck, and hopefully they won't find you too."

. . .Huh. Nothing to do with the ants. Wrong place, wrong time, judging by the singed and flesh stripped skeleton.

Well, I'll have to keep that in mind.

I head further into the station. . .

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And the path splits. After a moment I decide to go left.

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More bugs.

But they still aren't very observant, though this one seems to have a pretty tough carapace. Takes a few shots to crack its skull.

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Huh, a working Nuka-cola machine. I rifle butt the locking mechanism and grab myself a crisp cold soda. Refreshing.

And, more importantly, as my eyes move over to the lockers, I notice a 10mm pistol with a silencer attached, that I quickly slip into my coat.

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Looks like an exit. . . I'll have to remember this place, I think, as I reload my rifle after blasting another couple of ants apart.

But for now, I'm not quite done here yet.

. . . Still haven't found that scientist.

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Red spinning light. Huh. Don't have that key, but let's take a look. . .

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Locks are for ch--wait. . .

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Seriously?

. . .Well, I don't have a whole lot in the way of pajamas, and I guess there was someone who seemed to be willing to pay for this, so guess I'll pocket it.

. . . And some ammo

. . . and that rotating saw knife sitting on the shelf.


But as I turn to leave. . .


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I just. . . stare at him for a moment, before starting to laugh. It's just, too ridiculous. Too, too ridiculous.

Of course, that makes him angry and he pulls up his rifle, and things get real serious real fast.

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Well. . . not THAT serious.

He was way too slow to be threatening me.

I shrug and glance out in the hall, and to my surprise, and relief, I don't see anything, or one, coming. Ants must be half-deaf.

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Still managed to claim a lot of victims, though.

I let out a soft sight as I check him over for salvage. Find a key, but I've got no idea what it's for, and some ammo. Nothing worth my time.

Continuing on my way I round a corner. . .

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"Shit!"

My hand moves to my new friend, and the chainblade is out and smashed directly into the thing's forehead before I know what I'm doing. Blood and viscera is thrown everywhere, but the beast crumbles before it can so much as twitch.

I breath out long and slow, resting against a wall for a moment, before starting to move forward. Gotta be more careful. Damn things can breath fire. That could have been the end for me.

Maybe I should just g--

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I barely stop myself from firing as the door slides open and a man in a labcoat appears in front of me.

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"You really mustn't creep up on people like that!" I recognize the nasally, arrogant sounding voice. It's the scientist who recorded his password.

"What are you doing down here?" I ask, not quite wanting to let on what I know.

"Well, I might ask you the same thing. You're trampling about in a delicately balanced and highly sensitive experimental area."

I glance back behind me, and then behind him. "Yeah, delicately balanced and highly sensitive." The sarcasm is obvious.

He gets defensive, crossing his arms over his chest.

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"Uh huh. So what 'experiments' are you up to down in this pit?" I ask, conversationally, shouldering the assault rifle for the time being. I already have a pretty good idea, but I'd like to hear it from him.

"My experiments are of a complex nature and would take a scientist to expl--oh wait! I'm a scientist! How marvelous!"

And then he prattles on for five minutes about how he was trying to reduce the size of the giant ants. After a moment he asks if it's clever.

I stare at him dead eyed for a moment. "You injected ant eggs and now they breath fire. No. It's not clever. You're an idiot, and you should have started in a more controlled environment."

He sighs, and his voice wavers a little bit. Guilt, maybe?

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"To correct this mistake I'll need to get to my terminal in the hatchery to modify the mutagen. It should be right next to the Queen. If I can reach it it, I can continue to work on improving the mutagen!"

"So. . . how, exactly, is that going to 'fix your mistake', assuming you mean the giant fire breathing ants murdering people."

"Well I've rigged the equipment at my portable terminal to emit what I call an 'Inhibitor Pulse.' Once I set it off, it will destroy the empathic link with the ant queen, and the workers will go mad, murdering each other in the process! Oh, quite marvelooouss."

Ugh, the way he says marvelous is just. . . "Why not just kill the queen?"

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"What I need help with is eliminating what I call her quintent of Nest Guardians. Filthy little abominations!"

He prattles on a bit more until I agree to kill them for him. In exchange for money and. . . some kind of bioenhancer that he assures me is perfectly safe. Make me strong like ant.

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Well, here we go. . .


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Makes the rest of the subway system look bright. Can't see anything ye--

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Wait, what was that?

. . .Well let's see how he likes this

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WHY DO EXPLOSIONS NOT KILL ANYTHING! It landed on his face, for god s--

Fuck it.

I whip out my assault rifle as Dogmeat runs into its firebreath to rip its throat out.

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And I swear my dog is actually a small god. He's on fire and not even bothered. All the same I run over and pat him down, and inject a stim to take care of the burns.

He just wags his tail happily. I don't even know.

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I come around another corner and one is right there. I hear Dogmeat growl as I pull out the chainblade. . .

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Christ, took forever to cut through him. I can see why the Doctor was having issues.

I shake out my arms and put the chainblade away, pulling out my rifle again. Better to shoot than to stab, after all.

It isn't long before I come to the top of a slope.

Two more down there. I start to line up a sh--

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Jesus, Dogmeat!

I line up my shot a bit more quickly, and blow off one of their antennas. The ants turn on each other as Dogmeat goes in on the attack.

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They tear each other apart, with a little help.


Well, there's the guardians. . . now the doctor said to leave the queen be, but, on the other hand, fuck the doctor.

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Jesus she's ugly. I can see the robot and work station to the right, though, so before anything else. . .

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Not sure if there were any ants even left alive for that to affect, but better safe than sorry.

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And just to make sure no one else gets any ideas after I'm gone.

Now, to take care of business. . .

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I run in and jam the chainblade against her thorax, but it merely starts to smoke and grind, so I shut it off, and slide it back into a pocket, as she turns to face me. . .


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And pull out my sawed off shotgun, slapping a few shells in place.

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The blast blows out a chunk of her face but she's still coming for me, and starts a charge, green ichor that smokes and bubbles dropping from her mouth as I pull out another shot.

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Her head explodes into chunks of ant meat, and her mass finally drops, quivering and useless, to the ground.

And just to be thorough. . .

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I put a few rounds of 14mm ammo into the protectron's head, until it explodes.

I take a few moments to reload, and check over my guns before I head back upstairs to the doctor.

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"I did your job."

"Oh, Marvelous, please tell me what happened!" he asks excited and giddy. Well, I can't exactly do that as I want my pay. . .

"Uh, I shot ants and they died?"

"Well, that's quite. . . succinct. Well, so long as you've done y--" he says turning toward the door.

"Hey hey, Doctor, I believe we had a deal?" I ask, putting a hand on his shoulder. He turns back to face me.

"Oh of course, of course, here, let me just go and get the injector ready. . ." he wanders off to the side and pulls out a small hypodermic needle and wanders back over. "Now just stand still. You shouldn't feel anything more than a little prick. . ." he trails off as he sets it against my neck and injects the mixture.

"I don't feel any different. . ." I mention.

"Well of course not, it takes time for new muscle tissue to build. You should start noticing a difference in muscle mass and strength in a couple of days. Quite quick for such a formula, now if you'll excuse me, I must go take care of this ant problem. . ."

He turns and heads for the door. I follow him a few steps, and run things through my head.

Wilks crying.

His father dead on the ground.

Even Grady and that guy in the hallway.

And who knows how many others in Grayditch. Blood on his hands, and he has no intention of stopping these experiments.

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"Doctor?" I call out, as I raise the gun to my shoulder.

"Ye--"

His answer is cut off in a hail of automatic gunfire that splatters his brains across the tunnel. I don't even bother looking at him before I turn away.

The trip back to town is quiet. No more ants. Only me and the weight of my sin, as I travel the dark corridors, and it isn't long before I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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Literally.

I stop for a few moments before leaving, however.

I just killed a man. Not that he's the first. I've killed lots of men since the vault went crazy.

Seen so much blood.

Not even my first time killing someone who couldn't defend himself. That Ian kid. . . but he was hardly human. Maybe that's what's bothering me.

The doctor did a terrible thing, but it was a mistake, and he did show remorse. He did want to fix it. But even so, he needed to be put down. I did. . . what was right?

Didn't I?

"The den of murderers is the Courthouse.”

. . .I take a deep breath and try to ignore the foreign thought and guilt echoing in my head as I push out into the wasteland. Into Greyditch.

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Looks like I've been down there most of the day.

Guess I should find the kid. . .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New88.png

Still where I left him, and talking to himself. With a kick the thing slides open, and Wilks starts talking as soon as he sees me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New89.png

"It was like they were totally crazy! It was really scary, but kinda cool at the same time, ya know what I mean?"

"Yeah, that was me," I reply, as I put the barrel of my assault rifle into the ground and lean on it, feeling a little drained.

The kid picks up on it, he seems sharp. "I wish I had something to give you for all the work you did, but I never really had much to start with. . ." He trails off, and lets out a little sigh as if he just realized exactly how fucked he still is.

"I guess now yo'll be on your way and I'll have to try living here by myself. . ." he perks up a little, though and looks up at me. "I hope you'll come back and visit someday."

"Yeah, sure. I'll stop by if I have time, and don't end up dead out there," I reply, a little non-committally.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New90.png

This time he doesn't seem to pick up on it, though. Or maybe he just forces himself to ignore it.

Whatever.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New91.png

Time to find out if I need to bury my own dad.


---------- Post added at 01:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 AM ----------

Also, comments would be nice. Preferably at least one per update to break up posts to make sure they don't get auto-merged (for the link list at the start).

Also to know if anyone even gives a shit to read this anymore.

I went through a lot of work restoring all the old screenshots (replaying up to this point), and what not. Would like to know if it's worth it.

Suggestions are also welcome, but I quit the first time 'cause I was having trouble creating a decent story while taking suggestions (and moved some events around to fix that), so I'm not going to guarantee I'll take them.

But I might.

[tacticslion]

This rocks and so do you. Sooooo happy to see this again!
I officially rescind all hatred in your direction. :)

She should totally start heading toward redemption and building up good karma!

[Aerozord]

Well I'm reading them I assure you. It reminds me of the advantages of the old style of lets plays and the creative freedom it allows

[Krylo]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New92.png

I stare out over the wasteland for a minute, and wonder why I even care about finding my father. What am I going to do when I see him? Will it make any of this better?

Can anything fix this broken world?

I close my eyes for a moment, and think back to the Vault.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New93.png

Jonas.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/ScreenShot189.png

Mr. Brotch.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New95.png

Amata.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New94.png

My father.

And I let out a slow sigh. I've lost so much. Maybe. . . I just want to find some part of it to have again. Or maybe I want to punch the old man 'cause his leaving took it all. Maybe I just want something that feels like home again.

Doesn't matter, why, anyway, I decide as I shake my head, and shove my hands deep into my pockets before setting off through the dusty winds of the wasteland, and into the jagged stone of what must have once been civilization.


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Pipboy says the signal is originating from across there, but of course. . .


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Nothing can ever be easy.


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I'm having a hard time making the shots at this distance across the water. Mostly I'm just used to close quarters skirmishes, and this old hunting rifle is held together with duct tape and prayers from what I can tell, so I sling it next to my assault rifle, and leap into the water, to swim across.

I can feel bullets whizzing through the water around me, but they can't see me clearly, and when I come up. . .

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New101.png

Well I was always pretty quick, and this gun makes quick and messy work out of them. However, I feel a spray of rocks on my cheek. . .


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. . . shit. One's got a minigun, and the other a hunting rifle, I roll behind the tires next to me.


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They don't do much to stop the bullets, but the beasts are having trouble getting a clear bead on me as I line up my own shots.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New105.png

And they've got bigger heads than humans.

That split like watermelons.

I pick myself up and climb away from the river.

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Metro entrance. I take a look down at my pipboy, and it seems like the old line should lead to where the signal's coming from. Hopefully they aren't collapsed.

Feel a little more comfortable traveling in tunnels than out in the open. Too exposed. Too easy to catch a bullet and not know where it's from.

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These seem to be in better repair than most of the other tunnels i've been through. Lights are even working. Not sure if that's good or bad yet, though.

I head to my right and into the back rooms, to see what I can see. . .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New108.png

Protectron.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New109.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New110.png

Huh, and it still works. I think I've got. . .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New111.png

Yeah, I pull out a metroticket I grabbed out of a box back in Marigold.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New112.png

Well, that's good. Was afraid I had woken up another pain in the ass, but after scanning my ticket it just stomps out and I'm left pondering for a moment as I rummage about looking for food, caps, ammo, that kind of thing. . . Until I hear the quiet zwip of laser fire.

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More of those. . . rat. . . mole. . . things. Looks like waking the thing up worked out after all. Tunnel's collapsed ahead though, but luckily. . .

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I manage to find some service tunnels.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/New115.jpg

And looks like I'm heading in the right direction, as well. GNR is where I'm heading. Don't know whose symbol that is, or why a news station is an 'outpost' but it seems pretty doubtful it's a different place with the same name in the same direction, so I figure I may as well follow the arrows.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New116.png

Huh? Is that? Looks like Gob? Maybe they can give me a hand.

"Hey!"

The dessicated corpses look up, drooling with nothing but madness and hunger in their eyes and I realize they're nothing like the bartender, except, perhaps, in body odor. The fetid stench of rotting meat washes over me as they run forward, the simple chain gate doing little to slow them down.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New117.png

Can I pose a question?

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How do you kill what is dead?

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I just shoot from the hip

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New120.png

And I aim for the head.


I find myself humming (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCx0N-_5wrQ) a little as. . .

One

Two

Three

Four rounds fire off in quick succession, each blasting apart a. . . gob called himself a ghoul? These ghouls, too?

Who knows?

I holster the gun and look down at their bodies, covering my mouth and nose with my sleeve to fight back the stench. I'm handling this far too well, and that's bothering me, but maybe it shouldn't.

Maybe it's a good thing.

Freeze up or panic and I might have been torn to shreds. Maybe this cold apathy--this detachment--is necessary to keep me alive. Still, though, I know that a few months ago, back at the vault, the thought of things like this were enough to terrify me. . . but now?

And that's frightening. More frightening than they ever were.

Well, can't waste time on philosophy now. . .

I decide to take a look around and find a small office.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New121.png

With a safe.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New122.png

Laser Pistol, and some kind of protocol for its use, along with a simple instruction manual in their use. I decide to check on the protocol just for fun.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New124.png
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New129.png

Pretty much common sense, though I'll admit that while I knew firing a laser in a room full of flammable gas would be a bad idea, it wasn't something I'd really thought about, but now I realize that down in these tunnels, I might be able to use a laspistol for some real anarchy.

Not that I any chance to. Looks like there's a leak above where those ghouls were, but I already killed all of them, and the rest of the tunnels seem pretty empty.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New130.png

Still on the right track, though. Pipboy says I'm getting close, too.

I hear a growl, though, as I look at the sign and glance to my right.

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There were two of them. Were.

Starting to run low on 14mm ammo, though.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New132.png

Looks like she must have been a fresh kill. Judging by the bite marks. Also looks like they were eating her. Starting with the stomach.

I hold my breath as I pat her down and manage to find a few clips of 5.56 for my AR. Good thing, too. I was pretty much out after those damn ants. Some microfusion cells as well.

Also find laying next to her. . .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New133.png

Damned things in AWFUL shape, though. The emitter arrays are entirely out of alignment, and I'm pretty sure the lens is actually cracked. It fires, but no where near at full capacity. Of course, if I can find the parts and get it working again. . . well the Lasrifle doesn't share any of the usage problems of the laspistol. The larger housing gave the designers room to put in a much more adequate focusing array and power supply. This thing can cut through steel given a second or two of concentrated fire.

Well, this one can't.

But you know, if it weren't beaten all to hell.

I'm pretty happy with this, as I sling it on my back and probably aren't paying as much attention as I should be when I hear a low rumble from behind me. I spin around.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New134.png

"FUCK!"

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The yell and the gunshot seems to draw attention, however, as I hear movement all around me.

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My heart is pounding in my chest as the last one finally falls and I look around. Only a few bullets left. Hope I don't run into many more of the damn things.

That was too close.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New139.png

Too much to ask for.

A few bullets blow them away, as well as one who was lurking in a side room, and soon I'm down to four bullets.

Let's hope I don't need them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New140-1.png

That's not the outline of a ghoul. That's one of those super mutants.

I'm just going to stop hoping for things, I decide as I pull out a grenade.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New141.png

The blast stuns the beast for a moment, and I follow up with my old hunting rifle, putting him down without incident. Of course, the blast drew the attention of some other denizens of the undergound.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New143.png

But they never see me before the bullets tear them apart and put them down.

. . . I'm really glad Mersetti doesn't have these things. Maybe they used to? Maybe the family chased them out? . . . Maybe they'll come back now that the family is gone?

. . .I really don't want to think about this. I'm going to have to figure out a way to secure the bedroom door when I'm sleeping. And sleep with a gun.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New144.png

Well, I don't like being out in the open, but I'm actually kind of relieved to see the exit from the tunnels here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New146.png

I move forward cautiously, but I still hear the sound of gun fire and feel the stinging in my arm before I turn to see another pair of mutants. I start to return fire, and manage to take down one when there's a flash of red and the other goes down.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New147.png

I spin toward the flash almost immediately, and I manage to get eyes on. . . is that T-51b armor? I remember some old news reels in history about Amercian GIs using it in Anchorage near the end of the war. What's it doing here?

I stand up and hop across the shifting debris, and get the attention of the armored soldiers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New148.png

"The Super Mutants have overrun our brothers at the GNR building, and we're headed there to back them up. You can tag along if you want, but keep your head down and try not to do anything. . . stupid."

She's got an attitude. I kinda like her, though. For some reason.

Besides, something about her lecture stings my pride, and we're all heading the same way. Let's see if I can contibute enough to to make her eat those words.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New149.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New150.png

Blundered? Really? Alright then, it's on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New151.png

One down. . . and that's it for the 14mm.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New152.png

I switch off for the lasrifle for the mutant in the window. I can barely see him. . . and the laser rifle is barely focusing a beam. I'm pretty sure I score some burns on him before he goes down, but it's pretty much useless, like I had figured.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New153.png

Laspistol doesn't do much better, but I do manage to burn a hole in a super mutant's skull after a few blasts.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New154.png

Manage to take out the one above with it as well. The beams aren't very high intensity, but this one was actually in pretty good condition so the focusing is good, and I can place them pretty well. Weird to be firing a pistol without any kick to it, but that really just makes the aiming a little easier.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New155.png

Even if it does take ten or more shots to put any of these things down.

Only reason I'm getting so many down is because I'm out ahead of most of the squad. And I seem to have a quicker draw.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New156.png

Eventually we reach the courtyard of the GNR building, and have the Muties pincered between the power armor wearing squad at my back, and the ones guarding the building itself.

I quickly pick out the leader and pull out my shotgun, rolling through the bullets from the mutants and red hot lances of super heated light from the men and women behind me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New157.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New158.png

He goes down and I step on the barrel of his gun, using his arm as a lever to flip it up into my hands, still loaded. I spin around to face the rest of the mutants. . .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New159.png

And find the area's clear.

One of the recruits fires a few rounds in the air, and another man tells her to calm down and stop wasting ammo.

"Aw, come on. We just kicked their asses!"

"We need to make a sweep. You head over there, and I'll check over here. We'll celebrate once we're inside."

"Damn right we will!"

She says as they split apart.

WHUMP!

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I turn in the direction of the noise. What the hell was that?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New161.png

WHUMP WHUMP!

It's coming from the direction the less experienced soldier is heading. Doesn't she hear it? Doesn't anyone else?

I reach up a hand to call her back over when . . .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New162.png

A piece of truck flies past my head.

"BEHEMOTH!" The voice is coming from behind me. Sounds like the lady leader.

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Jesus! It's huge!

Somebody shouts something about a fatman, but I'm not hearing anything but my blood pumping in my ears.

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The gun rattles in my hands as I slap in magazine after magazine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New165.png

Until I'm out, and it's charging right toward me. The assault rifle hits the ground, and the chainblade comes out.

I duck under its giant club, the air swishes past me and run and jump in, the blade finds flesh, and gore sprays out of the beast's stomach. I can hear laser fire sizzling against its body around me, as it reaches an arm down to swipe me off.

I jam my free hand into the wound I've created to keep myself from falling and spin, slicing off two fingers before jamming the blade back into its chest. It starts to fall and I tumble off backwards.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New166.png

. . .It's not moving anymore.

I can hear the woman leader speaking behind me. "It's not your fault Vargas. . ." sounds like she's comforting the man who ordered the new girl to check this side.

I don't really listen, sliding my chainblade back, but I turn around when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New167.png

Then she cracks a smile and laughs. "Though I haven't seen anyone that damn crazy in awhile!"

With a cough she returns to business, "Anyway, area's secure, so you're free to head in if you need."

I nod. "Yeah. Thanks. Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

"Sentinel Lyons, leader of Lyon's Pride," she replies with not a small amount of pride. Makes sense given the troop name.

I nod. "Good to meet you Lyons. . . and, sorry about. . ."

"Initiate Reddin," she nods at me. "She died well," her tone of voice says she's grateful for the sentiment even if she's putting on a strong face. "And in the end, that's all that matters."

I just nod and excuse myself to head inside

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New168.png

Nice place. Probably seen better days.

I hear someone tell me Three Dog is upstairs, so I head up. He's the one Dad went to see, after all.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New169.png

“With his grim, grisly dog that keeps the door, are senseless stories, idle tales, dreams, whimsies, and no more.”

Before I can ponder where that came from, or what it means, the man starts to speak.


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"I am Three Dog: Jockey of discs and teller of truths. Lord and master over the finest radio station to grace the Wastes. Galaxy News Radio. And you, well. . . I know who you are. Heard about you leavin that Vault, travelin' the unknown. Just like dear old Dad, hmm? Met him already. . ."

Well, looks like whatever part of me dredged up that old quote had this guy pegged, but how the hell does he know about me? I don't ask that, though. I'm not sure I even want to know.

". . .Couldn't have just said hi and let us get down to business?"

"Hey, when you're in the Good Fight, you gotta give it all you got and never ever hold back." I try my best not to roll my eyes. Not sure I succeeded but he doesn't seem to notice either way, continuing on with his unnecessary chatter, about dazzle, and razzle, and spreading things (words I think. . . hope).

"Yeah, listen, I'm just trying to find my dad, so if we could maybe just get down to that?"

He sombers up a bit before replying, "Listen, I'd like to share, I really really would, but if I help you, and you just leave me hangin'. . . I would have failed the Fight, and that can't happen. Dig?"

Nothing in this world is free. "Fine, what do you need?"

"Galaxy News Radio is my baby. I love it, I feed i--"

"No. No more of that. I don't care. Just. Tell. Me. What. You. Need." I'm glaring at him as I say it, and that probably came off harsher than it should have, but in my defense I'm pretty exhausted. I've been fighting giant ants, crawling through tunnels, and fighting off zombies and mutants for over an entire day, I'm running low on ammo, and supplies, and I just want to get done with this conversation so I can take a nap.

He. . . seems a little hurt, but he only takes a moment before continuing. "Fine, fine, no chatter. Here's the thing, see, Galaxy News Radio needs a dish to reach out past the DC ruins, and we had one up on the Washington Mon--" he sighs as I glare harder and purse my lips.

"Alright, then, real short version, I need you to head into the Museum of Technology and get a dish off the VirgoII lander and stick it back up on the washington Monument. Gonna be a lotta super mut--"

"Right, I'll get on it first thing tomorrow. Where can I sleep?"

His shoulders droop, defeated as he points off to a room.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New171.png

For now I sleep. Tomorrow I check around the building for bullets and supplies, and then go and get a dish.

---------- Post added at 04:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:54 AM ----------

Well if I've got readers, I've got content.

[Aerozord]

yea its nice when I'm in the mood for something to read instead of watch

[Krylo]

On Lucy's Morality@Tactics: I think I'm probably going to keep her kinda neutralish, like she has been. No being a monster, but no being a paragon of good, either.

I feel like, while being a total paragon is fun to play, the balance of self-preservation and occasional wasteland justice against classical morality (from the vault) is more interesting to read.

Also, I'll keep doing this even if just Aero and tactics are reading, but if there's more people I certainly wouldn't mind hearing feedback or chatter about it.

Motivates me a bit.

Also, fun fact, 115 unique images in this update. Doing a full quest per update is probably making them kinda large. Luckily, the links at the start link just to the update posts.

However, should I start putting them in swap tags to make side talking easier? Is there anyone who is even interested in talking off to the side between updates?


ANYWAY, on to the update:

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


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I wake up a few hours later and head back into Three Dog's offices, and down through the barracks. Manage to grab a few bullets, but really, for an 'outpost' this place is barely stocked. They've got a few bunks and some standing soldiers, but I couldn't find much ammo to steal, much less to ask for.

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Which means I'll be defending myself with the laspistol. Or, as I like to call it, 'the flashlight'.

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Well, this looks promising.

I sigh and hop down the collapsed building, Dogmeat running out ahead.

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Ah hell, that's a ghoul, I'd better get down there an--

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New176.png

Well, nevermind then. Looks like Dogmeat's got it handl--

"Grrrarr."

I recognize that sound, and turn to my right, to see two more ghouls running up for dinner.

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First is turned to ash by the lispistols beam. Don't know how that even happened with this thing's power output.

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The other, however, takes the blasts in a manner I'd more expect.

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Multiple lasers lance off his head before he finally goes down under Dogmeat.

I take a moment to listen, but there's no other movement so I assume I'm safe and head up to check out the picnic table I can see above me.

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Nice. One of those boxes has a few clips for my assault rifle, the other's got some mines, and there's the spare gun on the table. I don't take the gun, but I DO disassemble it quickly and replace a few worn pieces on my own. Still pretty low on ammo, though, so I stick to the laspistol for now.

I'm pretty sure Three Dog was saying something about Super Mutants last night and I'd rather save these for them, than waste them on ghouls.

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I hop down below and head to the end of the. . . well I guess it was a street at one point?

Either way. . .

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Old tunnels. Seem to be abandoned until I hear the sound of ghouls. Lots of cars around too, though, and I know from the old history reels that these things used to work on miniature nuclear reactors, and a strong bang could set them off.

So I figure I could fight an army of ghouls of I could back up to a wall and. . .

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BAD PLAN!

The force hurls me backwards, as I cover my torso with both arms. I can still feel something heavy smashing into it, and blackness takes me. I'm not sure how long I'm out but, when my eyes open again. . .

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Nothing but smoldering fires and the scent of charred flesh. I rifle through my coat and find a few stimpacks, injecting them while I lay there for a bit, feeling slightly nauseous. The rest and medicine does it's job, however and soon I'm back on my feet. . . and I think I see. . .

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Must be this way.

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Yup.

Ugh, feel like I'm going to vomit, though, but I don't know why. It's not. . . doesn't feel like it's from the trauma at least. Maybe I'm coming down with the flu, or something. No time to be sick, though. I'm sure it'll be fine.

The tunnels open up to an office and sitting in the corner. . .

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An old friend.

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I power him up just like before, and he reads my ticket again. Still valid, after all. And then I decide to let him go first.

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Good idea.

I can only see one mutant, but I can hear another, and see flashes of gunfire coming from the left. Red lasers lance from the protectron, however, and I add my own, weaker shots.

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We make a good team, Protectron and I.

However it doesn't seem to be interested in going anywhere else, so I head further into the tunnels, to find them collapsed but there's a door. . .

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And it looks to be leading to where I'm going. I step through, figuring this is a supply line between outposts for those power armored guys back there. Should be relatively clear. Few ferals and super mutants probably wandered in.

But of course a bullet whizzing past my face informs me that I'm wrong.

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I drop and return fire from a crouched position, lances of light bursting through a spray of bullets, and in a fraction of a second it's over.

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Still a bit too close for comfort, though, so I grab a couple spare clips off the body and decide I should use something a bit more reliable.

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Looks like he was bunkered in here pretty well. And probably not alone judging by the ammo and weapons I find.

I head forward a bit more cautiously, and with a few more clips for my 14mm, back into some service tunnels. As the door into the tunnels opens, however, I hear the sound of a chair leg scraping against the steel floor, and head in quickly, turning the corner into the noise hoping to catch whomever, or whatever it was by surprise.

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It works out pretty well.

I take a deep breath and head back down, however, it's not long before the hall ends and opens into some sort of natural cavern. . . and bullets ricochet all around me. I hit the ground and duck out taking aim at an automated turret. . .

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Damnit. Was trying to disable the targetting chip but I blasted the whole damn thing.

Bullets continue to ring around me, but I've got the high ground now, and well. . .

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They don't.

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The natural caverns truncate at a security gate, but when I open it. . .

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Well, I don't like the looks of it.

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At all.

Even though the trap was easy to disable by simply cutting the tripwire, thus releasing the tension. Still means these guys have been here for awhile.

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. . . And I'm really starting to wonder about the guys in T-51. Why would you let psychopathic bandits, ghouls, and god knows what else populate your supply routes. Either they're really thinly stretched, or they've got no idea what they're doing.

Either way, it explains why I'm doing this instead of Lyons.


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I turn into some more service tunnels and can hear shouting and gunfire. I take a deep breath and kick open the door. . .

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They were distracted and go down quickly, but I know they were distracted by something, and so I step in quick, and sliding a toe under the combat shotgun--which the idiot with the welding helmet was using--kick it up into my hands.

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It works really really well.

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With the room clear, however, I take a moment to help myself to their stores. Ammo, couple grenades. I think about taking the gun too, but I've got enough of those, and honestly I'm not sure I could take the weight feeling like I do.

I reach up and rub my nose and eyes in an attempt to dispel a creeping feeling of exhaustion, and then, when that doesn't work, stomp my feet hard enough to send pains through my legs.

That does the trick. For now, at least.

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Another one. . .

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But not for long.

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I start to lose track of the ghouls. Only thing I'm sure of is there's too damn many, and I'm glad I brought a lot of shotgun shells with me.

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After awhile I come to a three way split, but luckily. . .

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I need only follow the signs. I'm heading to the Museum of Technology, I think, for the VirgoII dish, and it looks like I was right about the Mall Outpost being in the same area. Pipboy says the Museum is right off the Mall, after all.

Even without the symbols I could probably find my way now.

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Still, no reason to settle for the foibles of instinct when I've got all these markers up, right?

I open the door and almost immediately hear gutteral grawl to my left. . .

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However, as the creature's blasted apart by close range buck shot, I hear something above me. A chair skidding, and a muffled voice.

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He, or they--not sure he's alone--doesn't seem to be sure where the noise came from yet so. . .

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I fire off a couple more rounds into the wall, just to make noise.

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Bait taken.

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. . .and so were his legs.

Well, I hope he wasn't planning to run any marathons.

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Anyway, I head upstairs, and find what appears to be some kind of murderous bandits' rec room. Complete with pool table.

What the hell? If this is a marked passage for those soldiers to come through, how are bandits LIVING down here, and for long enough to set all this up? You'd think they'd clear out as soon as someone came through. . .

Well, I guess, they ARE clearing out, but I would think they'd be gone before me.

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Ugh, bodies hanging. Haven't seen that since Germantown.

I can hear movement and reach into a pocket and pull out a grenade, before sliding out into the tunnel.

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Blast knocks him off his feet and nearly kills him.

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But nearly isn't nearly near enough, and I execute him.

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Hear something behind me. Don't see anything yet, though, so I proceed cautiously, until I can make out another couple of them.


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Grenade makes quick work of the first as it lands right as his feet, the second, is just barely in the blast radius and is only blown to the ground.

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I finish the job as she pulls herself to her feet.

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They've got their own little cubby hole back here full of ammo, which I help myself to. It's like a little bandit village down here. I don't understand, and make a point to ask someone about it next time I can.

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I continue down the lines, stumbling a bit here and there, as my feet feel heavy, and nausea washes over me in waves. I can feel cold sweat starting to prickle on my skin.

Maybe I won't be okay, but I'm too deep now to stop and go back. Only way to go is forward.

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Besides, I'm almost there.

I step out into the dusk, and. . .

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Oh fuck, the place is crawling with mutants.

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I roll back down the stairs and pull out my 14mm, and pop out to take a few shots at the closest monster.

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I catch him in the forehead and he goes down, but I'm forced back into cover by a spray of bullets.

The others are too far to aim at properly with a pistol, so I switch off to my hunting rifle.

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The whine of a minigun starting up, but I'm not going to let it happen. Can't get a clear shot on him, but that gun is big. . . and one of my bullets lodges itself inbetween the chambers. A moment later there's the sound of steel tearing and an explosion.

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He staggers back as half the fingers on his right hand are missing, giving me a clear shot, and I follow with a bullet through his chest that puts him down.

At this point I set the hunting rifle down and switch off to pistol again. Still outnumbered and they're closing in.

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Goddamnit. There's two of them out there right next to each other. . . if I can plant a grenade properly. . .

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Yes! One down.

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The other is injured and seems to have dropped his gun, but he's not letting that stop him as he charges into a hail of 14mm gunfire.

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Gunfire on the other hand? that stopped him.

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I turn to my left and run toward the mutant on the ledge, zigging further to the left and out of his line of sight, while preparing my shotgun.

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I slide up against his barricade and fire off two shots in quick succession, blowing the beast apart, before I hop over the sandbags, and look down across the battlefield.

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I have no idea how I survived that.

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Well, we're not done yet.

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Spot another ugly immediately upon opening the doors. I zip around the pillars to avoid his gunfire and get in close, firing a shot into his head, and then take a deep breath and look around.

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Looks like I can just follow the signs again.


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Orrrrr not.

I turn and head into the vault exhibit instead, being the closest door to the virgo. I'm hoping it'll open up on the other side of that trench.

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Well that was incredibly uncomfortable.

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Looks like the VirgoII is just past the Planetarium.

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Of course the damned thing turns on as soon as I enter, and I hear voices behind me. Big, dumb, mutant voices.

I spin and press the stock of my shotgun to my shoulder.

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Well, that handled that.

I head right out of the planetarium and end up in a small office.

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With a gun cabinet.

. . . With a goddamn missile launcher, and enough 5.56 to hold off a small invasion. What the christ? I try to lift the launcher, but can barely move it, and in the close confines of this building it's not worth trying to lug around. At least not with the way I'm feeling.

Probably blow myself up, anyway.

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I try the other exit, and can hear voices from the far door over the planetarium announcements.

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It opens as I reach the end of the hallway and I find myself staring down a big ugly. My shotgun's already ready, though and I fire first, but it doesn't put him down, and he returns fire. I can feel hot lead tearing through my abdomen as I smash down on my own trigger firing shell after shell.

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He finally goes down and I stumble against the wall, pressing a hand to my wounds for a second. The adrenaline is chasing off the nausea and the shakes I'd been feeling up until this point, and I hope it doesn't go away as I shoot a stimpack into myself, letting the painkillers and healing mixture rush through my system.

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And there's what I came for. I pull it off the lander and grab a few straps of leather from the mutant to strap it to my back. I also drop my assault rifle and pick up his.

Chinese models are a bit more efficient, and have a bit more killing power than the american one I've been using. I'd rather stick with the american make, really, but patriotism must fall before pragmatism. Besides, I doubt anyone outside the vault even cares, anymore.

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I head out the atrium exit, and end up overlooking the entryway. Putting a hand on the railing I toss myself over. When I hit the rubble on my shaking legs, I nearly fall, but manage to right myself when Dogmeat runs down and helps to push me up.

He's a good dog, I decide, as I head outside, the adrenaline leaving my system and making me feel like a corpse.

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Luckily it's only a short walk to the monument.

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I feel like I wanted to ask them something but. . . I can't think of it right now. Mind's foggy.

One of them opens the gate and I head up.

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So glad there's an elevator. I don't think I could have walked up stairs if I tried right now.

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When I reach the top I unstrap the dish from my back and fix it in place, before powering up the relay again. Then I turn on the radio on my pipboy to check reception.

"People of the Capital Wasteland, you can HEAR MEEEE!!!! Yeeeaa haaaa!!! You can't stop the signal, baby! That's right, from Megaton to Girdershade, Paradise Falls to the Republic of Dave, we are coming to you loud and proud, in a special live report! 'But Three Dog! You're in that cool radio studio in D.C. How do YOU know I can hear you, all the way out here in the ass end of nowhere?' Because of the kid from Vault 101, that's how! That gal actually managed to repair our antenna relay. How's that for ingenuity, folks? From here on in, it's bye-bye stupid static, hello magnificent music. So sit back, relax, and absorb these classic tunes. Kid, you get your ass back to GNR, you hear me? We've got some stuff to talk about!"

. . .Well, I guess it worked. Kinda nice to be thanked over the air like that. . .

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And the view's really p. . ur...

I feel the nausea welling up in me and put down the gun for a moment as both hands go on the edge of the window, a rain of half digested Sugar Bombs and BlamCo Mac & Cheese rain down with a sickening splatter below, that causes me to wretch a few more times.

. . .Hopefully no one was standing under there.

I wipe my mouth and stagger back into the elevator heading downstairs. . .

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Where I find Dogmeat cleaning my mess. I repress my urge to vomit again--made easier by my absolutely empty stomach, and tell the dog to get out of there and come along.

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I head back the way I came and it's not long before I make it to the GNR building. Couple hours, maybe. No fighting, though, which is good, as I can barely stand.

I realize that when I woke up in that tunnel the geiger counter on my wrist was going crazy. . . No doctors here. Need to get back to Megaton. . . Moira mentioned radiation, maybe she. . . my mind's a bit fuzzy.

First, let's find out where Dad is. . .

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Three Dog hears me come up the stairs and heads out to greet me.

"Hey, all right! The Hero of the Wasteland retu--Jesus, kiddo, you look like shit. No offense."

I lean against the wall and simply nod. "Yeah."

"You uh, sure you're okay? Need to lay down for a bit or somethin'?"

I shake my head, droplets of sweat hitting the ground. "Rad poisoining. Need a doctor, not rest. See one after this. Just, tell me. . ."

He nods and offers me a hand to help me stand. "Right, okay kiddo. Your dad and I had a chat, but I don't think I can bore you with the details looking like you do," he says, his voice taking something of a paternal tone. Weird from Screechy McShouts here. "So I'll just cut right to the chase. He said he was heading to Rivet City to talk to a Doctor Li about somethin' he called Project Purity. That's all I got, kiddo."

I nod and push myself off of him to my feet, and start to head out, one foot after the other. "You sure you okay to travel?"

I lift a hand. "Gotta. No doctor here. I don't plan on dying."

"Alright, kid. You ever need a place to stay for a few days, GNR's open to ya."

I nod.

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One foot. After. The other.

[BitVyper]

You should invest in a helmet. They'll save your life.

[Krylo]

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I stumble out of the GNR, can barely stand. . . can't remember. . .

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Few. . . people. . . a gun fight?


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Stumble past the Super Duper Mart. Heading the right way, at least.

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Morning. Megaton. Almost. . .

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Just. Keep. Walking. I can. . .

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I trip and roll down the ramp, landing on my back looking up at the door. Just need to. . . get it open.

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With a little work I manage to crawl inside.

Moira puts down the broom. I can't focus.

"Might be able to take care of that for y--" I nearly pass out, placing an arm on her shoulder to steady myself. I don't hear what comes next, only, "How do you feel?"

I choke something out. Not sure if it's a good descriptor or not.

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Then I black out.

I don't know how long its been when I open my eyes.

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Moira's over me, explaining things. Something about a mutation. "Here, take a few anti-radiation Chems, as my little way of saying, "I'm sorry I twisted your DNA like a kitten with a ball of yarn." I'm not sure if it's because I'm still groggy or not, but I'm having trouble being angry about what ever happened to me. I mean, I'm alive, at least.

She also gives me a few stimpacks, explaining that my sickness gave her what she needed for the last chapter. I nod, and pull myself to my feet. Shouldn't be here. Really shouldn't. I can remember now. I'm not afraid of Moriarty, but it was a bluff when I said I could kill him and the town wouldn't care.

Don't wanna get into a firefight, so I grab my things and head out as soon as I can.

I open the door and then feel a sharp thud on the back of my head, and the ground rushes up to greet me.

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I manage to roll myself over onto my back just before my consciousness fades.

"I warned ya, Moriarty never forgives or forgets, but don't worry, I ain't gonna kill ya. Gotta get m. . .

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Where. . .

A hand moves to my neck and I feel something strange as I pull myself to my feet.

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Head's pounding. . . barely conscious. . . what is this collar?

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And where am I?

---------- Post added at 05:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 AM ----------

Short Update. Next one will be much bigger.

[Aerozord]

Nice transition, how did you get the dizzying effect though?

[Ryong]

I'm just gonna ask for one thing
can you put posts wrapped in swap tags?
it makes browsing a ton of updates a lot easier.

[Krylo]

Nice transition, how did you get the dizzying effect though?

Just tossed a couple of filters/effects on it. Most noticeable is the zoom blur.

I'm just gonna ask for one thing
can you put posts wrapped in swap tags?
it makes browsing a ton of updates a lot easier.

THY WILL BE DONE.

[tacticslion]

On Lucy's Morality@Tactics: I think I'm probably going to keep her kinda neutralish, like she has been. No being a monster, but no being a paragon of good, either.

Fine with me! Carry on, good sir! :)

[Ryong]

THY WILL BE DONE.

Now I feel like a dick because I read the ant update then snippets of eachother because whenever I reloaded the thread there was a new update and I'd get lost on them and now I read that you talked about swap tags.

:ohdear:

[Aerozord]

I would like to request them in groups though. Its nice to have it broken up but I also dont want hitting the swap command every three sentences

[Krylo]

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Fallout 3 Elseworlds: The Red Empress


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The near infinite expanse of space. Even this one galaxy. . . too large to be comprehended by a human, or any other sapient, mind. Some will claim otherwise, but to know that you are not even a single vector in a full galaxy map? That even a mote of dust traveling through the projected image is infinitely larger than you? No, such distances were never meant to be understood.

More incomprehensible, then, to think that of all the stars in the galaxy, not one remains free. All now call me Empress. Only the dark spaces stretching without end between galaxies have been able to stop my conquest, and now. . . I am old and there is little more to do, other than to turn over my empire to Sally.

She will rule well.

BZZZZZ!

"Yes. Enter," I reply, in the imperious tone I am used to taking with my subjects, as the entrance alarm rings through my personal chambers. Toshiro and Elliot are still slumbering in the adjunct room, and with a wave of my hand I cause the door to swish close and lock. Men tire so easily.

No need to wake them, I think, as the entryway swishes open and a small green creature with large black eyes and a form fitting purple outfit enters. He natters on in the strange collection of clicks that are considered a language by his 'people,' but it is easily translated by the device I wear on my ear.

"My Lady Lucy, I have come for your Biography for the annals of our gr--"

I cut him off waving a hand, as I turn from the galaxy map, the boots of my powered armor dragging across the steel floor. "Yes. Ask your questions. No need for formality," I reply.

The creature glances about nervously, and then complies. I barely listen as he asks about the start, and instead close my eyes, and begin to recount my tale. . .

"It was. . . Two Hundred and Sixty years ago, now. I was nineteen, and had lived my life in a vast underground, Vault. . ." I begin. I take some time explaining the construct, and how it protected us from the nuclear war that had destroyed our home.

He responds in more clicks and buzzes, "You destroyed your own home planet, My lady?"

I shake my head. "No. Not I. My people. War and destruction is not particular to me. It is the birthright of humanity. We rained nuclear fire from the sky in the hopes of destroying our enemies, but in the end none of it mattered. Few remain who even remember what the war was about. . . but history's lessons were snubbed. The day the world ended, nothing was learned. We continued on as we had, and war never changed."

I chortle at myself now. I'm getting wordy and philosophical in my old age. The small green man--I've never bothered to learn any of their names--looks at me in confusion. "Nevermind," I tell him. "It turns out that my species' appetite for bloodshed was exactly what we needed, on that cold september day."

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"I didn't know what to make of what I saw. Aliens, your people, were hardly even a children's story anymore. We had better things to worry about in the wasteland. Or at least we believed we did."

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"Of course, my own view of these things altered when I felt my feet leave the ground. . ."

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"And I woke up on an operating table, three of your 'people' standing above me, their instruments prepared to dig into my flesh."

The small creature replies, with clicks and squeaks. Some day I must enforce their bastard race learning English. "Implanting a homing tag, My Lady?"

I nod. "Indeed. I never bothered to have it removed. Let my enemies know where I am, let them see me coming. Let them know that they are powerless to stop it," my reply comes with a cold stare down at the creature, and for a moment I'm back at the slaughter of Andromeda. His people burn and bleed, and I feel only contentment.

He shudders visibly, and seems to shrink back in fear--funny how similar their body language is to ours--before asking that I continue my story, eager to change the subject.

I acquiesce. "I quickly lost consciousness. Most likely dosed with a sedative."

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"When next I woke, I met Somah for the first time. . ."

"Somah, My Lady?" the creature asks, though he balks when I place my gaze upon him, immediately regretting drawing my attention. Even after all this time, it still makes me smile.

"You would not know her. She came from my time, and had a home to return to--and feared for her life in the personal war I was starting. A polar opposite to General Paulson. She was kind on the outside, but a sadistic and cold hearted woman within," I explain. The alien looks terrified at my mention of Paulson.

Of course, to them he would be even more terrifying than I am. They didn't murder my family, after all. I could explain, but let them fear humanity, instead. Let them believe that Paulson is what we consider kind.

Regardless I clear my throat, and get back to my tale.

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"We conversed shortly. It was Somah who decided to begin a fight to lure in the guards."

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"The captain sent two guards with shock batons."

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"That was the beginning of the end for your people. You were weak. Fragile. I was not a strong woman--" The small creature looks shocked by this. "At least, not physically. Amongst members of my own race I was considered slight and weak. . ."

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"And still my fists caved in the skulls of our assailants with ease. . . and then I was armed."

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"I do not recall how many guards were sent to recapture us, I merely remember, with a fondness," I continue, a small smile upon my lips, "the broken bodies littering the halls."

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"But I remember Sally."

He raises a hand unsteadily, "Princess Sally, the angel of mercy?"

I raise an eyebrow at the last epithet. Sally always was soft on these creatures, too young to understand their evil when they took away her family. Her feelings were so strong that. . .

"Yes." My reply is cold and thunderous. A warning not to bring up my daughter again.

He mumbles out a terrified apology, and I feel my hand loosening on the atomizer at my waist.

"It was she who told me how to destroy your generators. . . how did she put it? 'If you turn off the coolant, it will get really hot and explode, so be careful, okay?'" I smile. "At the time Sally was just another trapped person. A useful child who knew the ship better than I did. She is not my biological daughter. . . but she had no family, and in time. . . well, I'm not sure when, exactly, I began to see her as my child."


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"Regardless, your generators explode in the most pleasing way, and the field keeping my daughter locked away faded out."

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"We talked for a short time. As much as I could spare, given the circumstances. She told me she'd been all over the mothership. And that she had been here since before the war. At the time, I didn't understand how, but now I know it was a combination of life extension testing and cryogenic freezing, though even today I'm not sure in what degree each was used."

I sigh slightly.

"I tried to tell her it was too dangerous for a child, but she merely disagreed and ran off to lead me into the bowels of your ship. If not for your 'angel of mercy' I'd have never come as far as I have."

"Perhaps that is w--" the squeaks are quickly translated and I glare down at him, silencing the creature immediately. My own daughter leads the rebellion against me now, and I know it, but do not need to be reminded. All the same, I have no intentions of refusing her the seat of Empress. These rebellions give me reason to exercise the anger I still feel toward the creatures, both for my and her sake. . . and perhaps she is right that my ruthlessness is no longer needed in a conquered galaxy.

Perhaps I will retire to earth. See how Mayor Gannon has done with it after my father appointed him on his deathbed. It's been Seventy years now since my father passed, but perhaps time with my own people will still quiet my anger.

And besides, I think, glancing toward the door, Elliot and Toshiro have gotten old, and it is perhaps time for me to find a new husband. Or three.

I let out a long slightly defeated sigh, and for a moment my age shows. "Regardless, it was due to her knowledge of the ship, and ability to fit into access panels that allowed us to navigate to the engine core. Of course, along the way she suggested methods to hide, and asked that I not hurt the unarmed aliens."

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I straighten myself and look directly at my biographer. "I ignored every warning, and killed every little green sack of worthless flesh between me and my objective. Each and every one of you on that ship was complacent."

"This would become a pattern across many worlds. The Slaughter of Orion, the Butchering of Andromeda. . . it was five years of righteous genocide before I decided to make your empire into mine, rather than merely wiping your race from the galaxy, and it was only Sally's pleading that convinced me of it."


I turn my back on the creature again, and stare at the galaxy map, letting the memories flow.


"Our goal, at the time," I segue back into how I took over their ship, "was to get to the bridge of your ship. Or the 'top' as Sally called it."

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"Her first plan was to use a teleportation pad that led directly there, however your captain had shut it off. Sally believed that they must be 'very mad about us exploring'. I prefer to believe he had already realized that death was coming for him, and was doing all he could to slow my inexorable march."

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"Unfortunately for him, Sally had another plan."

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"She led me to four cryo-pods, and there I saw, for the first time, my future husbands and General Paulson, though her plan did not involve them. Instead she insisted that I needed the spacesuit from the 'space man' to go outside and climb to the top."

"Elliot was a combat medic. You had taken his unit as well. He was mostly worried about them, and paranoid. Understandable, but irritating. He's just lucky he's so pretty. . . as for Paulson, well, he didn't want to talk about it, and probably doesn't want me publishing it. If you want his history, you can ask him yourself."

The small creature shakes his head, and my lips twist into a sadistic grin, which quickly softens. "As for Toshiro, well. . . I couldn't understand a word Toshiro said," I added, tapping my ear piece. "I know now he was worried about his sword. Silly man. . . knowing what I do now, it was probably compensation, but he makes up f--" I clear my throat. There's no need to mention THAT in the biography.

"Regardless," I state with a finality that says I would not be continuing that line of thought. "Sally informed me that I would need to destroy three more generators if I was going to go outside. I can't remember why."

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"But, I do remember that I grabbed Elliot and headed to the Cryo-labs."

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"I found countless frozen humans and ghouls, but they were all insane when I attempted to wake them up. Occassionally they were useful--wake them up next to your people and let them murder each other--but for the most part I only revived them to put them out of their misery and ensure, that even if I failed, I'd at least set back the experiments happening on that ship--awful experiments I would encounter later."

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I let out a small sigh, and speak in slightly hushed tones. "I'm still not sure whether I regret bringing Elliot to that place. . . we found his squad. Your people had torn them apart. Vivisected."

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"They paid, however, when I activated the room freeze while they were still inside."

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". . .Though it was of little comfort to Elliot," I finish, before putting on a strong demeanor once more, speaking with the power my subjects had come to expect.

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"And that's when I discovered the first part of your plan. Awful as it was, I did not fully understand it yet, merely seeing thousands upon thousands of stasis tubes. They stretched out as far as the eye could see. But I shrugged it off."

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"It wouldn't matter, I reasoned, what your plan was, when I put an end to it."

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"We made our way back to the Engine Core after destroying the generator, but I asked Elliot to stay behind. He had seen enough, and while I hated you as much as anyone, his anger at seeing his squad. . . it was affecting his judgment. We were still outnumbered. Only five adult humans and a single child against your entire mothership."

I laugh for a moment. "At the time I thought our odds were slim. Now I realize it was four more people than we needed."

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I calm myself before continuing, "I took Paulson down to your Hangars, to find the generator down there."

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"Your men tried to stop us, I don't know how many of them. . . but that just let me play ping pong with the hangar pylons and dead aliens, while Paulson blasted holes in any that managed to get past the hangar floor--of which there were few."

"Ping pong?" the creature asks, timidly, scuttering back from me a little.

I glance back over my shoulder and nod, before turning fully around, back to face him. "A human game, you use small wooden paddles," I hold my hands apart a bit to demonstrate their size, "And knock a ball back and forth across a field. That's all you really need to know to understand the comparison."

He nods slowly, and seems a shade paler than he had been before. Good.

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"Destroying the hangar generator was child's play. Pathetically easy, really."

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"Sally informed me that the last place left to hit was Robotic Assembly, so I asked Somah to come with--she had a good technical mind, and it seemed it would be useful there."

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". . .I'm still not sure if she actually was." I shrug, the pauldrons of my power armor squealing against the plates of my breast, slightly.

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"You had turned all the teleporters off again, so I was forced to blow out an assembly line to get past."

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"And back there you made yet another mistake, when you sent some kind of commander after me with a robot controller. I blew a hole in his chest, and helped myself to an army of drones."

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"Not that they lasted long. . . your people sent their own robotic army after me, and when the smoke cleared dead aliens and destroyed bots littered the floor of the assembly area. . ."

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"And the way was clear to the generator."

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"That was all three generators down, so I slipped into my space suit, and decompressed a section of the ship."

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I chuckle a little as I recount the memory. "Someone didn't anticipate the manuever and failed to either give an evacuation order, or vacuum protection to the aliens stationed there. The floors were littered with their bodies, asphyxiated."

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"Once outside I found a beam transporter, almost exactly like the one that had originally lifted me from the surface of the planet, and soon I found myself inside."

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"It didn't take me long to find and activate a teleporter to bring Sally and the others up. . . and it was there I saw. . ."

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"Well, it was the first time I saw a planet from space. It was. . . beautiful, but clearly dead, and grey. A kind of tragic beauty that earth had. Of course, the moment was soon interrupted."

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"By a comedy show." I smirk. "The captain had decided to speak to us directly, and the ship rumbled with what was obvious a serious discharge of energy--the ship's cannon I'd learn later--and though I couldn't understand what he was saying, I could tell from inflection it was a threat."

A laugh escapes my mouth, a short one. Almost like a bark.

"He thought to threaten us? It was then, exactly then, I knew that I was going to win. He was scared. He knew he couldn't stop us. Why else attempt words NOW after so many attempts to simply kill us all. No, this was the captain admitting his defeat, he just didn't realize it yet."

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"Of course he had turned off more of the teleporters, which meant I would have to simply carve a path through the ship. At first, this was sim--no, it was simple regardless. It never got difficult. You know my reputation as a warrior, so I don't have to explain how simple I found it to cut through a single ship, with the records of what I have done to entire garrisons. . ."

The biographer merely nods, and replies, "There. . . there is no need to go into details, My Lady."

"However, it was on my way to the bridge. . ."

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"That I came across the biolab, and. . ."

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"Amongst the horrors of that place. . ."

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"Discovered why your people wanted to take so many of mine. A. . . crossbreed, between alien and human. Awful monsters, who knew only pain and violence. Complete abominations. . ."

My gaze hardens, and my hand tightens on my atomizer, plainly terrifying the alien before.

"It was then I decided that your civilization would fall."

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"And all its members would perish--though at Sally's insistence I have settled for mere enslavement."

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"When I reached the bridge it took only a single blast from my atomizer," I pat the old relic on my hip. "The very one I still wear, to put a hole in the captain's head. After that clearing out the rest the bridge crew was hardly memorable."

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"Of course, my conquest would not begin yet. No, first another Alien Commander hailed the ship, though this time the ship's computer translated for me after a moment of fiddling with its translation program to output in english. I don't remember his exact words, but it was a call for surrender and a quick death if I did, as opposed to becoming a research subject again. . ."

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"I merely closed the channel and took my seat, and within moments explosions were rocking the ship."

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"He tried beaming over more of your soldiers, but you know how that went for him. . ."

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"And eventually Toshiro made his way to the bridge. With him and Paulson watching my back I was able to concentrate on the ship to ship volleys"

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"As the burning hulk of the enemy ship drifted into Earth's gravity well, I turned back to the others, and addressed them. . ."

The speech comes almost as naturally as it did the first time I gave it, as I recount it for the history of my empire. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel this is enough. I saw the things they did to us. I know what they did to Paulson's family. To Sally's parents and Sister. To Elliot's crew. . . and I know why they did it. The horrible experiments they did to create half-human half-alien abominations. That not even the lives of their own kind are sacred to them. And I, like most of you, don't have a home to go back to. . . so instead. . . instead of going home, I say we take them apart. We show them that humanity is not a toy to be played with. We show them just who we are!"

"I turned to the console and pressed a few buttons, bringing up a map of homeworlds and research stations. In effect, a map of your entire civilization. A galaxy map sprung up and thousands of worlds lit up. I heard Toshiro behind me."

"http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/tenwo.png"

"I glanced down at the translator to see what he had said, and replied, "They aren't worthy to be my opponents!"

I stop and laugh again for a moment. "At the time. . . I thought it was bravado, but now. . . now I'm known as 'The Grey Empress' referencing the color of your blood. . . The Nightmare of Andromeda, the Final Wind, Despoiler of Orion, the Hellfire that Consumed a Thousand Worlds. . . My name is death in ten thousand languages. . ."

As I talk I move over to my chair, and finally fall into it. "And I am. . . very tired. I know you were an assassin sent by my daughter's rebellion. I realize this was a ploy to get you close."

The alien stops shock still, as I continue to speak. He thinks his life is at an end. "But I'm not going to kill you. I allowed you here for a reason, knowing all that. Tell my daughter, tell Sally, that the throne is hers. All she needs do is grant me amnesty on earth. . . and promise to visit on Christmas," I add with a wry smile.

"If she agrees to this, I will surrender all power and never leave my home planet again. Your. . . people will be safe. . . Now go."

The small man nods and scurries out of the room, as I release a long sigh and slide down in my chair letting centuries of rage slowly leak out of me. No longer useful.

No longer needed.


---------- Post added at 05:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:06 AM ----------

This is a non-canon 'elseworlds' update. It was the only way I felt I could really fit Zeta in, and I feel is better than a normal one, anyway.

Also, Aero, I have no idea what you're asking for, unless you're just asking for the updates to be bigger than the last one.

Which, well, that one was small to make room for this one.

[BitVyper]

I'm basically picturing Lucy delivering Frieza's bit from the TFS series, about keeping track of how many times she's heard various heroic speeches.

[Krylo]

I'd like to say that I haven't abandoned this again. I've just been feeling kinda shitty and dealing with massive amounts of writer's block (plus there was that whole Dies Natalis Solis Invicti thing).

I've got the next update maybe. . . half done? A quarter?

But it's like banging my head into a wall. I'll get through it eventually. Hopefully next week.

In the meantime I'd like to draw attention to the Zeta update I did which I think was probably missed by most people?

[Krylo]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New304.png

"Heey, finally awake eh, Newbie?"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New305.png

I turn my head toward the voice, and see a man holding a rifle. He laughs.

"Yeaaah, you and me, we're gonna have some good times. Ain't no one gotta know. Keep your mouth closed and it won't even ruin ruin the sale price," he says as he comes a bit closer. I narrow my eyes, and slide a foot back, stancing myself. It elicits another laugh from him as he pulls out a small metal object. "No no no, newbie, you see this?" he jams it against the gate, waving it in my face. "This here controls that collar of yours. One little press and BOOM goes your he--"

Putting it against the gate was a mistake, I reach through the gap between the gate and the fence and grab him pulling him close, putting my head next to his while I wrap my arm across his throat.

"Then press it!" I hiss in his ear, as I press down on his throat. I can feel his struggling getting weaker as I reach out for his belt, feeling for keys, ah there the--

Thwip

My arm comes away from him as I feel a sharp pain in my back and a stagger back.

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Looks like I might have killed him but wha. . .

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I feel my legs go out and I stumble backwards. I can't stand. But I can still hear, as my consciousness fades. . .

"Jesus, Jerome, are you alright!?"

"Uuugh y. . . yeah let's just get that bitch outta here. . ."

"No shit, I'll tell Eulogy to ship her off on the n--"

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Don't know how long it's been when I wake up, but the sky is different. Sun burns into my eyes. . . no buildings or statues. . .

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I pull myself to my feet and look around. . .

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Oh christ. Was I sleeping in that?

What even happened to him?

Before I can really contemplate, however, I hear a sharp short sound, and feel a sting in my side again, as I begin to get doozy, I turn toward the gate.

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"Nuh uh. You ain't gettin' up until you're in your new ho--"

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This. . . is getting really old. My head is pounding. Probably an after effect of the drugs.

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I slowly sit up. . . and it's like I'm in hell. No cage though. Maybe I can actually stand up here. . .

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I stagger about my new environs, taking it in, slowly.

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"What are you doing!? Get back to work! Don't let them see us talking!" she hisses as I stop to look for a way to get her out. . . and then I slowly walk away. I don't know what she's talking about. Where I am.

What even happened.

I wander into a building to rest and after a moment I hear someone coming up behind me and turn.

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"Actually. . . I didn't see anything on the way in. Where am I?"

The woman sighs. "The Pitt. Just like the rest of us."

"The. . . what?"

She rubs the bridge of her nose for a moment. "The ruins of Pittsburgh. It's. . . we're slaves."

I reach up and rub my neck. No metal there now. . . but. . . right. The collar. The cage. Moriarty getting back his investment. . . that son of a bitch sold me.

I pull my hand away and clench it in a fist. "How do I get out?"

"Get out? What? Are you insane? They have an army watching us, not to mention the trogs outside, and all the tr--"

I hold out a hand. "Woah, what? Trogs?"

She looks at me like I'm crazy, "Troglodytes. . . they're. . . theres a sickness here. Water. . . air. . . we're all affected by it, and there's only two ways it ends. Either we die coughing up on our blood or we. . ." she sighs and looks away. "Trogs are what we all hope we never become. Monsters that only care about devouring flesh and killing. . ."

"So like those. . . feral. . . ghoul. . . things?"

She looks back to me with a quizzical look. "Ghouls--I don't know. . . maybe?"

I shudder a little. A disease that makes people into ghouls? I wonder if that's how the bartender back in Megaton ended up that way? But at least he kept his mind. I wonder how rare that is, before I shake it off.

"That just means I need to get out of here even more."

She sighs. "But no one can get out, don't yo--"

"Listen, there's got to be something. Maybe I can get the rest of you out too, I don't know. But there must have been some kind of escape or something before?" I can feel desperation creeping into my voice.

"No, there hasn't been. . . but. . . if you want to try the first thing you're going to need are weapons. . . "

I let out a sigh of relief. If I can get a good gun in my hands. . . well at least I'll have a fighting chance. And then I nod, signalling her to continue.

She bobs her head around, "You see. . .

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. . .It's practically a death sentence, though. And they never choose anyone. They make us pick who's going to do it. Bastards." She's got a mix between despair and anger in her voice. A completely impotent anger. It infuriates her and she hates it, but she doesn't think there's anything she can do.

Can't figure out why though. . .

"That doesn't SOUND like a death sentence?"

"Yeah? Well the area is full of Trogs, and it's not like they're keen on letting you borrow one of their guns," she responds, her anger directed partially at me now, and sounding a bit less impotent.

That explains things. I nod. "So great, how does that get me a weapon?"

"Not just trogs out there, there's. . . people they call the Wildmen. Just about as bad as trogs, but we've heard stories of them. They've got guns. . . if you can get them away from them. There's the ruins of an old factory there as well, might be able to find some weapons. . ."

I nod slowly. Well that's sounding. . . possible, but. . . "But how am I suppose to survive long enough to get a gun?"

She looks slowly to the right and then to the left before leaning in, "Listen, don't tell anyone I told you this but. . . Marco in the Mill. . . he's been altering some of our tools into weapons."

"What? Why?"

She shakes her head. "I can't be sure you're really one of us yet. You come back from the yard and. . . we'll see."

". . .Right." They must be planning something with those weapons. But it's not really any of my business so long as they--

The door opens and a man walks in, looking around before glancing over his shoulder at the woman I've been speaking to, apparently Midea.

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"Uhm. . . Nothing. Nothing. . . uh . . . sir. I was just telling this new worker about the job the foreman posted."

"Oh yeah? So she's the one going out into the Steelyard, huh?"

"Yes sir. I told her what she needs to do. 10 ingots. As fast as she can."

Well son of a bitch. Thanks for that Midea. You know, not like I would have liked some time to think about walking into certain death or anything.

"Well then, I hope you said goodbye!" He cackles for a few seconds. "Alright, play time's over. Get to work, Grinders."

. . .I still don't have any idea what my job is.

Midea turns to me as he leaves. "I'm. . . uh. . . I just kind of panicked. . ."

I sigh and put my face in my hand. "Whatever. I guess I was going to, anyway," I respond before leaving.


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I don't get very far before I stop just. . . staring at the lesions on her. She notices me looking before I can break eye contact and heads over.

"Hey, have you seen Bill?"

I guess she didn't notice the stare, or the disgust. Lucky me.

"I'm uh, new here? Who's Bill?"

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Jesus Christ. I'm trying my best not to retch. I can smell her flesh rotting. This is. . . actually worse than Gob, to be honest. Gob was just. . . not human. This? This is disease.

I can barely concentrate on what she's saying. Too busy concentrating on the fact that I've got to get out of here before I end up like her. Just. . . falling apart.

A chunk of skin falls off her shoulder, and I try to ignore the sickening plop on the ground as I force myself to refocus on the words she's saying. . .

"--the Steel Yard to look for scrap. Didn't want anyone to die, but it's been a week and nobody's heard anything. . . but he's a survivor. He can't be dead!"

"Well. . . uh, I guess I was just volunteered for the job. I could take a look, I guess. . ."

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Inwardly, I kind of hope he's dead. Not out of malice, but. . . looking at her, and remembering what that other woman said about how it gets to all of them eventually. He's probably better off than living like this.

Outwardly, however, I keep it to myself, and instead just awkwardly nod. "Yeah, well, I'll be fine. Probably."

I pull myself away, past her, and head out into what looks like it was once an intersection.

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People in the street, chopping apart iron with large rotary saws and tossing the chunks into the fire. Some kind of massive salvage operation?

Is this what all the slaves are for?

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Looking up I can see smokestacks pumping smoke into the air. I wonder if it has something to do with the illnesses everyone feels, but, more than that, I wonder just what they could be doing with all this salvage. I know these places were called factories from the pre-war books and movies down in the vault, but with what I've seen of the wasteland?

Well I highly doubt there's any others running in the world.

Doesn't take long for me to find a door into the factory.

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Steel presses. Still not sure what they're pressing the steel into, though.

Don't have long to think about it either, as I hear a voice behind me.

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"Hey, Scab, what're you crazy? Just standin' around like that? Get ta work before I tear yer arms off!" She starts laughing as I glance around quickly.

"Sorry, I'm new. . . one of the. . . bosses told me Marco could give me my tools?"

She looks to the ground and spits, before yanking a thumb toward the middle of the mill. "Yeah yeah, just hurry up and get your shit, scab."

I nod and hurry off. I don't want to start a war until I've at least got a gun.

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Doesn't take me long to find him, or at least I think it's him.

"Hey, you Marco? Midea s--

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New328.png

Yup, it's him.

"Sorry," I reply, in a whisper. "Midea said you could get me a weapon. . . I'm heading out into the yard, and. . ."

"Yeah, right, I got word along the grapevine," he nods, and heads over to a table, hefting up what looks like one of the tools the slaves outside were using. "It's not the best, but it'll help some, I hope," he says as he hands it to me.

"Replaced the blade. . . ain't so good for cutting steel anymore, but it shouldn't bind on flesh. Decreased the RPMs a bit, too, so it wouldn't bind up on different materials. . . like bone, you know. . . Anyway, good luck," he says as he turns back to whatever he was doing.

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I look it over once he's done talking. Blade does look different, though I didn't get a good look at the ones the other slaves were using. Hopefully it's not too obvious. Thing's bulky, hard to manuever.

I don't want to have to fight my way out of here with this thing, and I definitely don't want to use it in a fire fight.

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Doesn't take me long to find the entrance to the Steelyard. Or I assume, anyway. What with the big sign pointing at it, and the guard, who waves me over when he sees me.

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Something about his voice. He seems like a little less of an asshole than the rest of the guards and slavers here.

"Yeah, seems I ain't got much of a choice," I reply with a shrug.

He chuckles a little. "Well this ain't no union shop. C'mon."

He waves me forward and I start to follow him.

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Thanks for the vote of confidence. . .

"Then again. . ."

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"Huh. . ?" I glance up.

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Jesus. That's not a ghoul. Don't know what the hell it is. . . Trog? That's what they were calling it?

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Right, I think Midea mentioned something about people living out there. Maybe I can get some clothes or weapons from them if they're willing to trade.

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"That way I won't have to walk so far to loot your corpse."

I just shrug. "I'll see what I can do."

He lets out a single 'heh'. More of a fast exhalation of breath than a real laugh.

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"If, by some strange twist o' fate you manage to survive long enough to turn them in to me, I'll see if I can't slip a little something your way."

I nod and head out the door.

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. . .Nice place. But at least there's probably no sl--hey wait a minute what's that?


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Well, things are looking up already. I grab the rifle, and the couple of steel ingots that are laying, literally, within 10 feet of the door.

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Feeling pretty good about this now. Not many rounds, but. . . I've got a proper gun.

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I head a little deeper in when I see another slave trying to. . . talk to one of the trogs. It's staring at him, head half cocked.

I listen closer.

"Come on Henry. It's me, your brother. You remember me don't you. . . Henry?"

The creature cocks its head the other direction and takes a few steps forward. "That's right, it's me. Your brother. . ." I can almost hear the hope in his voice.

And my heart sinks as the thing lets out a gutteral growl and leaps forward.


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I squeeze my trigger, almost without thinking. The bullets rip through its left claw and into its brain, splattering the back wall. I just saved his life. . .

But he merely breaks down crying for his brother.

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I head down closer. "Hey! Get back to the mill!" He doesn't seem to hear my voice despite the fact I'm shouting and about 10 feet away.

He just keeps sobbing over the creature repeating the name Henry over and over again.

. . . There's nothing I can do for hi--

Sound behind me.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/krylo/fallout3lp/New356.png

Shouting must have lured them out. Maybe the gunfire too. I've still got a few rounds, but. . . the other guy, he's still just crying. Can't leave him here like this.

I start looking around for something to help.


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That just might do it.


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If I can just. . .


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Let's clear that crying bastard a safe zone, shall we?

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And they're all still operational. Nice.

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Well, that should keep him safe, anyway.

. . . Back to work.

There's a door into the building next to the robots, figuring I might find more ingots in there I press it open and head inside carefully.

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I can hear movement deeper inside, and that dead robot, riddled with bullet holes, tells me to move slow and careful.

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I manage to crack into security system at the terminal there. Turn back on the defense system. And am greeted by the sound of automatic fire, running, and some shouting.

. . . Guess there were people in there. Whoops.


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I hear clanging on the metal floor of the hallway next to me and peek out thinking it might be human.

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Just another Trog.


I start to head up the tunnel when I hear an explosion. Probably the turret system being taken back 'offline'.

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Few steps in and I see a woman running across.

"Hey, sor--"

She swings up her gun and a bullet passes by my face.

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Well, guess they're not going to be friendly.

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Still, that leather is probably going to provide better protection than these rags. . . and proper boots. Look about my size even.

. . . I really don't want to take them from the dead, but. . .

I take a deep breath and start stripping her down.

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Fits pretty well.

Her gun's an awful .38 revolver, though. I'd honestly leave it behind, but I'm running low on ammo, and I don't want to have to fall back to that axe thing.

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I head a bit deeper in, and see some trogs feasting on human flesh. From my vantage point it doesn't take long to blast them apart. . .

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But I'm not exactly rolling in bullets either. I pop out the magazine to take a look.

Two. And probably one in the chamber.

That's. . . probably not good, but no real option now but to keep going.

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Manage to find some supplies. Ammo box just has more 38 ammo, though. Not particularly useful.

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Also find another robot and turn him on, but he just stomps about where he is. Ignores any orders I try to give him to head further in.

Guess he can secure this area and watch my back, anyway.

With a sigh I head further into the factory.

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. . . and there goes my last bullets.

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. . .Great. Just wonderful.

Well they haven't noticed me yet so. . . maybe I can get the drop on them, if I'm lucky.

I crouch low and sneak around to the back of the mine cart, and then sprint out around the corner.

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The repurposed cutting tool bites through his neck like butter.

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Another, standing right next to him, steps in, pushing my arms to the side, and raising a pistol to my stomach. Moving, and thinking, quickly I drop the tool, and step sideways and back while grabbing his hand. I pull it through past me and force him to fire once into the third man before stepping backing it.

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I push the gun in against his his chest, still holding it and fire off three rounds.

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. . . Metal armor.

I sigh. Survival before fashion. . . or decency.

I unstrap the flamer and get to work.

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Probably going to need this protection when all I've got is a .38 and this cutter.

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Find some more Iron behind them too. I got 10 now. That's enough to buy my survival but. . . I really need some better guns, or at least more ammo for my rifle. So I press on.

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Huh. Wonder what's up with this?

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Doesn't take me long to Jimmy the lock. Whole bunch more iron, some medical supplies, a .38 on the desk, and a dead body.

Browsing over the computer tells me this is all untouched since before the war. Looks like there was some kind of worker revolt when they replaced the men with those robots.

Incredibly ancient history now, though.

I head back out and keep on exploring the Factory, heading up some catwalks.

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Bedroom. Weird.

I secure the area, though, and help myself to a little undrugged rest, after clearing off the bed. It's nice to relax for a bit.

When I wake up I head out across the room, find a catwalk heading down. . .

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Electrical switch opens the heavy security door back at the entrance hall. Well, that's the factory, I guess.

Gonna take a look around the yard a bit before I head back, though.

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Sweet, sweet bullets.

I rummage through the containers, and his body for any ammo I can find. Not a lot, but a few magazines.

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Hm, looks like a stair case heading up. Might as well give it a look.

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Dead slave. Bandana. Also find a note on him.

I flip it open and read it.

. . .

Well, that diseased woman isn't going to be too happy. Looks like it's Wild Bill.

I sigh, and turn to look up the stairs, as I slide the note under my armor.

It's only about three steps before I hear shouting. I look up and charge in.

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Trying to conserve ammo, and he was close enough.

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Turning around I find a little storage area. Couple more magazines, some grenades. . . I'm starting to feel pretty good about this.

I figure it's probably better to head back while I'm still in one piece.

. . . honestly not sure if I'll be able to smuggle the armor and assault rifle back in, come to think of it. I might have to rely on the .38.

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Doesn't take me long to find my way back. I open the door and let out a sigh of relief, starting to relax as I hea--

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"Shit!"

Christ, those goddamn things can talk. It leaps at me teeth bared, attempting to make good on it's declaration that I'm 'food'.

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Bullets beat Trog, though, even when I'm taken by surprise.

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Must be how he got in. Not that I much care. I'm done out here now.

I roll my shoulders and walk through the door.

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"Thought ya had died out there, you took so long. Well, that and the fact everyone dies out there."

He lets out a little chuckle as I turn over the ingots I'd collected. Well over 10.

"Haha, nice haul, scab. Tell ya what, seemin' as you done so good I ain't gonna take that armor back from you. You know what, I'll even give you a little somethin' extra. . ."

He turns and rummages through a cabinet and comes back out holding what looks like a bikini made out of bomb casings.

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"Which just means they'll be inside your blast radius, huh?" he leers at me, and I take the armor off him, repressing the urge to vomit. Probably the only person whose skin isn't falling off in chunks he's seen in awhile.

. . . I really need to get out of here, I think as I turn to le--

"Hold on there, Scab. I may've said ya can keep the armor, but I let you go walking around with an Assault Rifle, well. . ."

I freeze up for a moment and then sigh, shrugging the rifle off my shoulder and handing it over to him. "There ya go. Ain't got no more fire arms do ya? It's my ass on tha line if I someone ends up shot. . . well someone other than onna you scabs."

I force myself not to look down at my ribs, where the .38 is resting comfortably beneath my armor and shake my head. "Nope."

"Alright, head on back in, and git about your business. If ya decide to head back out there, I'll toss your gun back at ya."

I nod, and head back out.

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Some kind of commotion going on.

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. . .Escaped slave. I want to do something but. . . with this peashooter and three of them. . . I. . . I just watch and head back.

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I'm just going to sl--

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I turn around to find the woman from before. Right, could have expected her to wait for me to sleep away my depression.

I'm tired though, so I just reach into my armor and pull out the note and hand it to her, saying, "Yeah."

She reads it slowly, and I can see tears welling up in her eyes. "He's dead? But he promised m--he promised us he would come back. . . I. . . I have to let the others know."

I simply nod, and repeat myself. "Yeah."

She shoves a couple of stimpaks into my hands, thanking me for my help, despite how things turned out, and then walks away, looking even more like a corpse than before.

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I turn back to the bed and collapse onto it.

---------- Post added at 07:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:15 AM ----------

Not all that happy with this one, to be honest. Had a lot of trouble writing it and it just didn't feel like it was flowing right.

Hopefully that's just me being my own worst critic, however.

Also, hopefully the next one flows a bit better.