Date: August 19, 2277, 11:06 AM
Location: VAPL-66 Power Station
They called them raiders, Takana and Neeptu. Social and demographic miscreants who nobody would touch. Nobody would accept. Not the Enclave. Not even Talon Company. Collectively, they were groups of young adults who lived each day as though it'd be their very last. Because often it was their very last.
As the Psycho they'd squeezed into their arms took brilliant effect, both of them were sizzling.
The common misfit known as Neeptu Daalu steadied himself, and squinted his eyes. "See? See her now?" he asked his partner. "Told ya there's a wastelander out there! The little b----. Look how she's dressed. In a freeking Parkstroller! Prob'ly good for a few caps." He was speaking loudly, his booming voice being echoed by a nearby overpass.
"Haah? I don't see a thing," said Takana Topov, Neeptu's partner. Takana had done well as a dancer, far away at Dukov's place. But she'd done even better as a thief.
Together, Takana and Neeptu had plotted to steal hundreds of caps from her former employer. And they had been successful at this. In fact, the job had been easy. Neeptu pretended to be a john while Takana depleted some of Dukov's stash of cash. It was over in less than a minute, their getaway boat floating just meters away. Then the good life had begun. They'd finally been able to afford Psycho, Jet, and all sorts of other goodies, which had been clouding their judgment for days.
"Ya need some glasses!" Neeptu announced. "C'mon, just follow me!"
The pair scrambled off. They readied their pieces: Takana's pistol went *clink!*, and Neeptu's went *shink!* ... but neither of them could possibly know their prey was not some gentle lamb who'd cry and run.
"Oh hell no!" The lady in the Parkstroller brandished her only weapon, a rusted old iron tool.
She went to work. Jumping, hopping, and skipping around the raiders and their clumsy efforts at gun play. ...Bam! ... Crash!... At close quarters, their Chinese pistols were next to useless. The lady in the Parkstroller might never be as good with a hand weapon as the cannibalistic fiend known as Rattler, but as a member of the 'raider' demographic herself, neither was she somebody to try messing with.
----------------------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/EQJ6rQz.png
https://i.imgur.com/Kf5WOgh.png
https://i.imgur.com/a0fwDOt.png
https://i.imgur.com/HdNTDTu.png
https://i.imgur.com/EBiTf4u.png
https://i.imgur.com/5RlwPhK.png
Nice all outs to Dukov and the Rattler *shudder*
Miss Delicious is definitely vicious!
Who let the dogs out!
Vicious is a bombshell. Or at least her armor is.
Wow, Vicious Delicious gets her own thread even!
Takana Topov!
Vicious definitely looks much better in the raider armor. Now if she can only find some better weapon.
Is she Dead-is-dead?
Very fun reading this from the ambushers' perspective!
Wow, they sure learned the hard way not judge a woman by her outfit! Speaking of outfits, looks like Takana's coconut cups fit Vicious perfectly.
SubRoea: Fortunately, Rattler will be spoken of in this tale from afar! Let's hope, anyway.
Lopov: Me and my silly names. Vicious is not DiD because I'm writing this story about her, and also making a mod idea which she'll basically be the tester for. As you know, I can't just roll a Test character like you.
Acadian: I got inspired to write from their perspective first for some reason. Raiders are similar to bandits in Elder Scrolls games. They haven't got the money or know-how for the more expensive heavy armor often worn by marauders, nor are they trying to gain knowledge as conjurers and necromancers do in their pursuit of magic. Vicious herself was a raider, and is unsure of her future.
I'm going to try to write this today, although my Inspiration is low. My Logitech keyboard is starting to get that feeling, you know? Like maybe it'll soon be time to head back to Office Depot! It's keys aren't quite so springy, lately. Maybe today's tale will be a shorty.
------------------------------
Date: August 20, 2277, 9:24 AM
Some things, you never forgot. Some things, little things, they stayed with you. In your thoughts the rest of your life.
Take the number thirteen, for instance. Thirteen, supposed to be the number of bad luck. The lady who called herself Vicious had first read about this number years before as a child, in a Grognok the Barbarian comic book episode. She herself had been the age of 13, at the time. Maybe that's why it stayed with her.
The number thirteen had been featured in that comic somehow in a bad way. As though thirteen is always akin to evil eyes, and malevolent moments, for those who encounter it. Throughout the rest of her becoming years, she'd hear about this number occasionally: from her caretaker, from some old Newsreel, from some old wastrel. So it was ironic that the impeccable structure known as Tenpenny Tower was exactly thirteen stories tall.
"My my...."
Tenpenny was the first landmark her wandering eyes were able to identify. Easy to spot, since it was so damn tall.
She first noticed the former luxury hotel as she stumbled out of a dusty dip; the armor she'd taken from that dead little b---- the day before squirming and flexing. The sight of Tenpenny Tower made her smile. Ever since she'd awoken in that shack days before, she had no idea where she was. Far to the west, for sure. But nowhere near the 'comfort zone' she was more familiar with: Megaton, Rivet City, Springvale, Big Town.
As she neared the place, she began counting its layers of windows. Thirteen. Lord have mercy. She counted again, trying to ignore the haze of hangover. Thirteen, from bottom to top. My my.
She had been to Tenpenny in the past, maybe a couple years and some odd months before. At the time, she'd been with a group of others known as Jehovah's Witnesses. Good, God-fearing Evangelist types, back when she herself was trying to figure it all out. At the age of 16, she was the youngest of the group. None of them expected any kindness from the residents of the gigantic tower (indeed, it was rare they'd manage to give out their pamphlets without somebody shooting), but Tenpenny had been much different.
She knew there'd be complications. But she could not remember exactly what these complications might be. First thing though, would be to strip away her diabolical-looking C-cup armor, and replace it with... anything else. She had left that hideous parkstroller back in that power station, glad to be rid of it, and she was not going back! Fortunately, she was able to locate a traveling brahmin merchant nearby. The merchant spoke in riddles, everything a little word game. He sold her a set of scruffy, but otherwise inoffensive, clothes. Once inside these clothes, she practically ran back to the tower, ready to deal.
"Look mate," said the guard after Vicious pressed the Tenpenny buzzer. "I thought I told you ghouls you got no place here in Tenpenny Tower. I don't care if you're feral or not. You got no place here. Now get lost."
"Well, I ain't no ghoul, fool," she raised her voice an octave or so. "It's tough out here. Hot and tough. You can't let a nice, young lady inside for a couple days?"
Well. Whatever it was, the guard behind Tenpenny's front gate relented his position, somewhat. Miss Vicious could be vicious, but she could also be delicious. She tried her tone. The guard seemed to like what he was hearing. He could let her in, if she was successful at one of two scenarios. She could either (1) pay a one-time fee of 100 caps, or (2) go on some weird ghoul-hunting rampage. Apparently there was an undergrond location full of ghouls nearby. The tower's master, a puffy-sounding fellow by the name of Lord Allistair Tenpenny, would personally make things pleasant for anyone who took care of them. Looking down at the beat-up handgun she'd acquired from one of the raiders a day ago, Vicious knew this would not be enough to take down a whole supposed platoon of underground menaces.
"Don't go nowhere. I'll be back."
Desperate to get inside, desperate for its safe walls and multitude of guarded corridors, Vicious's only option was to raid the RobCo Factory nearby. Hopefully she'd find something inside to scavenge and sell. To her credit, she already had 87 caps on her person, so it would only be a matter of pushing that cart, right over the edge.
Now I finally know, how many floors there are in Tenpenny!
That merchant can sell you a robot, if I'm not mistaken.
Not sure if MVD fits among the "nobility" of Tenpenny. They want her to dress the parkstroller outfit - again!
It's Janet "Floozie" Talia!
Looks like the girls are about to have some fun!
Unlucky 13 Tenpenny Tower! I wonder if the address was 1313 Mockingbird Lane?
Oh boy, Miss D running in Janet is not a good thing for Delicious. Good to see she got her own pad though. I am guessing in the little shop south of Tenpenny, where the Lucky Shades are?
'As she neared the place, she began counting its layers of windows. Thirteen. Lord have mercy.'
- - I wonder if when you get near the top floor, it skips from 12 to 14? Lord Haaf Mercy . . . will he be making an appearance in this story?
I have to agree that Vicious' current outfit does actually look better (and more comfortable) than either her previous parkstroller or those bandit-looted coconut cups. That pair of self-proclaimed fashion diva's at the store remind me of that dress shoppe in Solitude (Skyrim) where the pair of snooty Altmer want to dress you up like a toy doll or such.
Acadian: Yes exactly, on the snooty behavior of Tenenny residents! I didn't quote one of them exactly, but that's pretty much how several tenants speak to our character. But at least the Tenpenny residents often have a smile in their voices. To get into the spirit of Fallout games, you have to sometimes imagine the way people are in 1950s TV shows: a lot of Pollyanna types, falsely cheerful, and so on. I'm sure you've seen this in some of the billboards SubRosa has imgur'd in the past.
SubRosa: Shoot, I'm not sure where she is in that final picture. It is just to the southeast of Tenpenny Tower. Lucky Shades??? Yikes, I think we missed those, assuming we're talking about the same place.
Lopovuh: Yes, that's the merchant who can sell or repair robots! It's up for interpretation whether Tenpenny is twelve or thirteen floors. She counted 13.
Janet the Floozie gets featured again in this next chapter. Janet is partially based upon a real-life friend I had back until 2016 or so who I often referred to as my "homeless friend." My homeless friend had a lot of bad traits (drugs, wanton relationships, and so on), but one of the better traits she had was a love of word games, crosswords, and Sudoku.
.........
I've got a head full of drought
Down here
So far off of losing out
Round here
Overground, watch this space
I'm open, falling from grace.
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2277
"Oh ma gosh what the hell?!"
The blonde named Janet laughed hysterically. "What the flip?" She nearly lost balance, even though she was sitting down. She then dabbed her latest cigarette straight into her drink. And realized she hadn't finished either her drink or the cigarette. "Ah ... damn."
"Hey, you said you wanted a action verb, Vicious replied calmly. "That's all I could think of." She smiled and shrugged. Though she had also been drinking. she was being much more cautious about it, being in a strange place with one very strange person, and all.
"Did you mean to say that like I think you meant to say that, like?... you really meant it like that way?" Janet hiccupped.
"Uh... what way is that. Like?" Vicious fought a smirk, without much success. Not that Janet noticed.
The pair had become fast friends, it might seem. Janet Telia had been right about one thing: despite having a large, constantly-armed presence of guards, Tenpenny Tower was full of residents who were mostly clueless about locking their doors, and keeping watch over their own possessions. After just one hour, Janet and Vicious had managed to score a bottle of whiskey, two packs more of Lucky Strikes, some Nuka Cola, and a silver carafe to mix it all together. Then they sauntered casually back to an apartment up in Tenpenny's 'suite' area to have a little blast. Janet explained that this apartment was not really hers, but someone named Susan Lancaster was allowing Janet to crash on her couch for a few days.
But there was something about Janet which Vicious could not exactly ... trust? Was that the word she was trying for?
"I need a... a.... *HIC!* ... a verb," Janet continued.
"Hmm... how about roll?"
"Roll! ... R-- *HIC!* Roll! ... How about a adjective?"
"Mmm. Bestest!"
"Bes--*HIC!* est? That's not a word!"
Her new friend Miss Vicious cocked her head slightly. Shrugged.
"Okay, whatever. One *hic!* more. I need a ... a possessive noun."
"A what?"
"Like... a dog's bone. Or a ... *HIC*... dammit! Damn hiccups!" Janet made some sort of movement with her head, rolling it backwards. After a few moments, Vicious realized the blonde was holding her breath.
"You still tryin' to get rid of those hiccups!" Vicious chucked. "'kay, I'll say Janet's hiccups for the possessive noun."
Janet made a notation with her pencil. Sat still, apparently still holding her breath. Breathed in. Her face was red, by now. Exhaled slowly, while pointing her index finger upwards. Lit a cigarette. Waited, with her finger up in the air again. Then finally, made an OK sign.
"You okay?" Vicious chuckled again.
"I think so. Ready? On the stupid road trip to Megaton, my vicious friend and I decided to invent a game."
"Nice. I ain't never heard of this game before. What's it called again?"
"Bad Libs! It's a Pre-War game. We had tons of them back in the vault."
"I see." Vicious sipped her whiskey / cola concoction. "Continue."
"Since this would be a rather funky trip, it would need to be a game with sports bras and farriers. Using our Rad-X to snort, we tried to get the deathclaw next to us to play too, but it just sucked at us and exploded away!"
"Oh my guwd," Miss Vicious laughed. "This is so stupid!" She rolled onto her side, covering her ear mockingly.
"After a few rounds, we thought the game could use some kisses, so we turned on the bastard and started dancing to the vibrator that came on. This lasted for thirteen hours before I got red and decided to blow. I'll never roll that trip. It was the bestest trip of my Janet's hiccups."
By now, Vicious was rolling on the couch. She had her face in a pillow. "Oh ma god what the flip? That's so flipped!" She chuckled again. Sat up and finished her drink. "Hey, I needed that. You don't know what it's like out there. Well. I guess you do know, if you got here really from West Virginia. You really came all that way?"
"Sure I did!" Janet quipped. "Hey, want to try another? Maybe help me with this crossword .... oh shoot."
"What?"
Janet was looking down at her left wrist. Her Pipboy device. She clicked on a button. "It's five-thirty, and that means Anthony Ling will be expecting me!" She got up suddenly, her Bad Libs pad falling to the floor. She rushed over to a mirror, and began primping her hair. "I gotta run. Got some caps to make!"
"Huh? Caps?"
"Uh-huh. This dude Anthony. he like, has lots of them! I suck his *rooster* once in awhile. Make a little extra here and there, y'know? It's all good fun, and he is, like, all the other residents around here, squeaky-clean." She paused, and looked at Vicious. "Hope you ain't offended! It's just until I hear from my brother."
"Right, your brother. Over at Fort Bannister. The ... Talon Company merc," Vicious tried to hide the doubt in her voice. Her brother. A sergeant over at Fort Bannister. And Janet. She had rode all the way here from West Virginia until her motorcycle broke down. Yuh. And I am Queen of the Ghouls she thought. But if there were any doubt in Miss Vicious Delicious's voice, certainly none of it was noticed by the drunkened, determined-to-make-some-caps Janet Telia.
"Just stay here!" Janet scream-whispered. "You can sleep on this couch for awhile! I'll be back in a half-hour or so."
And then, gone was the blonde bombshell of a bimbo who, oddly, loved word games. Gone she was, the perfume she'd just sprayed (and probably stole) trailing behind her. Miss Vicious, left to sit awkwardly upon the couch of some woman she'd never even met. Susan Lanca-something. What would this woman say, if she turned up early from whatever posh event (cocktail party, mani-pedi appointment...) she was most-likely holding this afternoon?
One thing was for sure. Tenpenny Towers? Miss Vicious Delicious did not belong here. Let Tenpenny and all thirteen of its floors fall and crumble to pieces some day. Gone she was, back where she belonged. Back to the Capitol Wasteland. This was her sudden decision.
LoL @ the world game! Farriers even!
Anthony's rooster!
That was the sound of Janet driving away on her motorbike, right?
So after living the flipping high life for a while, Miss V goes back to her flipping roots.
Wow, Road Trip Mad Libs takes me back to long car rides on summer vacations when I was a child.
The Lucky Shades are in a little grocery store called Lucky's that is southwest of Tenpenny Tower. It is right by the southern border of the map. As the name suggests, they give you a bonus to Luck.
What a hoot! The end result for Janet's story was hilarious. But she must run off for some. . . fowl play.
I appreciate everyone's attentions. That was fun to write.
Yes, that was Janet's motorcycle. Don't tell Vicious!
========================
Date: Wednesday, August 22, 2277
As Miss Vicious quickly learned, those who'd been outcasted from raider society quickly found that news traveled fast. All it took was a handful of hams.
The ham (or amateur) radio. Although its history was vague, its invention surely happened some time during the late 1800s. With its invention came the promise: anybody who owned one could broadcast unseen electromagnetic waves into midair. As long as these waves were not impeded somehow, ham operators could hear each other from miles away. After the wars its popularity expanded. Hams became yet another tool for communication during peaceful times, for any ham operator who wanted to reach out. To someone in Manassas. To someone in Finland. Wherever a signal could reach and bounce upon the Earth's surface. Using a ham radio did not require a license. For a very long time, hams became almost as popular as telephones.
So, when she had been forcibly removed from Springvale Elementary several weeks before, Vicious had no idea how far-reaching the consequences would be. She'd been sent to the west, and left to die. Odd that they hadn't simply killed her right then and there. Maybe Dogmaster and the others saw something in her. Maybe all of this was some weird challenge. Survive the wastes, and maybe we'll accept you back...
But what Vicious did not know could now hurt her, especially when it came to Dogmaster, the man who'd originally inducted her into one of his gangs. He had inducted her, but she had failed to deliver some much-needed goods early during her 'initiation' phase. Such a simple task, somehow foiled. And for that, she had to pay.
After having her blindfolded and sent away, Dogmaster then simply got onto his ham. Powered it on. He broadcast his dopey voice to anybody using 28 megahertz. "Be on the lookout my west Potomac gangs," he'd said into his radio's mic. "Black female, young, medium height. She was one of us, but she ain't no more. I want all y'all to have some fun with her for a change. Should be coming in from the west. Oh, and she'll be easy to spot. All we left her with was a *flippin* Parkstroller outfit."
And because of this distant message, the sentry who stood on the western edge of Fairfax Ruins was the first to see Vicious as she approached. He was located above her, standing upon a rampart. He spotted her before she spotted him. And he was not fooled by the blastmaster-styled armor she was wearing. Sure, the b---- they'd all heard about was supposed to be wearing professional clothes, but that was no matter. Plenty of time to change into some new gear, somewhere along the way.
"It's go time!" he yelled, readying his weapon.
Vicious was startled. "Yo, I am one of you guys! Can't you see this *crap* I'm wearing? Come on now!"
But it was no use arguing against ignorance. As the sentry readied and steadied, aiming to hit, Miss Vicious Delicious planned her next move.
Oh noes, a cliff hanger! Darn radio waves travel faster than Miss Delicious does. Can't wait to see if/how she gets outta this.
So now we learn more of Miss VD's history, and how she became a Raider on the Run. Dogmaster was a good name choice for the boss in Springvale, as I recall he had a dog with him.
It's like in the movie The Warriors, where a hit was called out on the gang over the radio, and all the other gangs in the city went gunning for them.
"Once a raider, always a raider" - the rule obviously doesn't apply in the Capital Wasteland.
Go get them, Miss Vicious Delicious!
Yeah, a cliffie. Sorry! Last week's chapter was half-baked. I know you'll never get info Fallout, Acadian. I'd be curious to see how you'd approach it. Since you have a military past, is it partially the fact that guns are part of the game?
Vicious was a raider but her past is complicated, SubRosa and Lopov. Although I don't know all of it right now, I can tell you that she was raised somewhat religiously. Maybe I am drawing from my own teenage years, there. A lot of us were confused back then, doing some right and some wrong.
I haven't seen The Warriors. Wonder if it's on Netflix or Hulu? Not on Netflix. Nothing s on Netflix nowadays, except their own Netflix Exclusives. Hulu has WARRIOR and WARRIOR (TV show and movie), but not The Warriors. I also see Desert Warrior.
I found it on You Tube. 1979. There's some gangs called The Furies, The Boppers, and The High Hats. Does any of this sound like the movie you're speaking of?
-------------------------------------------------
"It's go time!" yelled the raider sentry, readying his weapon, a worn-out combat knife.
Vicious was startled. "Yo, I am one of you guys! Can't you see this *crap* I'm wearing? Come on now!"
But it was no use arguing against ignorance. As the sentry readied and steadied, aiming to hit, Miss Vicious Delicious planned her next move. "Dammit!" Which was to simply double back. Turn and high-tail it, back to Fort Independence.
"What are ya *flippin'* scared!?" he called after her, falling behind.
But Vicious was not scared. Only startled, and not very well armed. She knew how it would proceed from here. There would be no convincing going on, no dialog or debate. Despite the fact that she was dressed as one of them, it was obvious her pursuer did not care. A raider on the outskirts would kill for a pack of smokes, if he were desperate enough.
She was running hard now, headed back the way she'd come. "HELP!" Vicious called to the Fort Independence Defender she'd passed a half-hour before. "Help, I'm being attacked!"
"Come back here, you *birch*!" the raider with the worn-out knife called. "You know we're all lookin' for you now!"
Their footfalls echoing. A mutant cicada buzzed somewhere unseen.
Unlike Vicious, the Fort Independence Defender guy was well-armed, also ready for spontaneous combat. It seemed as though he spotted her, then spotted them both. Would he simply shoot them both?
The Defender strolled sideways from behind his short bunker of sandbags, and powered on his weapon, a bona-fide Tesla Rifle. Unlike Vicious and her pursuer, the defender's rifle would be well-maintained. Cared for and oiled, every single day. But the uncertainty! The moment! Who would he go for?
The Defender fired. Pink blasts of energy zapped the air, Vicious could feel the gun's electricity, charging unseen ions everywhere! Fortunately for her, the raider chasing her suddenly lost his arm. Miss Vicious crabbed and rolled onto the ground! ... Making sure she'd not get hit by that Tesla rifle, making sure the defender guy was definitely NOT following her with his aim. Phew! .... The Defender fired again, and just a couple meters away from Vicious herself. She scrambled and got to her feet. Did a backwards spin. By now, she was standing next to the defender. If he was planning to shoot her, she'd at least have some sandbags to hide behind!
But, there was no worry. Within the next second, her pursuer exploded. Fell to the ground! Once somebody's son and perhaps lovingly so, now nothing but a pile of ashes.
Vicious stumbled, and caught her breath.
...Right then and there, she got it.
...Somehow knew it.
...It was as obvious as the sun in the sky.
What had the raider from Fairfax Ruins said just before having his measly life ended? Her thoughts raced. Then she remembered. "Something about 'we're all," she said aloud. Finally, the thought struck. We're all lookin' for you! he had said. WE are all looking for you.
"They," she started, unbelieving. "They all lookin' for me." She felt plainly dumbstruck. "But ... how?" She did not expect this. As the full implication of the Fairfax raider's words sunk in, she righted herself. Squared her shoulders. Looked to the mutt of a pistol she was carrying. And realized. Heading back to the Megaton area would not be as easy as she formerly had assumed.
"But how?" she repeated. "How they all know I'm out here?"
"Hey you," interrupted a voice. A calm and muffled female voice.
Vicious turned, startled for the second time this morning. "Dag. You just saved my life." She smiled at the defender, the defender who was powering down her weapon. Vicious had assumed her savior was a man, not a woman. But to her credit, due to the suit the defender was wearing, it was impossible to tell male from female. All genders looked the same under the bulk of power armor, and this set was definitely not looking made for womanly forms.
"If you're trying to get yourself killed out here," continued the defender, "you mind doing it further away from our bunker?"
"Well, I ain't out here trying to get killed. It's just that--" Vicious left the sentence unfinished. It's just that I thought I was one of them? she'd been about to say. But how would that play now, before this well-armed and well-armored sentinel, who had no qualms about shooting actual raiders on sight?
"I'm Defender Anne Marie Morgan with the Outcasts," the voice under bulks of power armor replied. "Steer clear of here, and you should be able to continue with that whole 'not dying' plan, okay?"
"Okay," Vicious nodded. "But how am I supposed to...."
Again, she left the sentence unfinished. Thought for a moment.
"Uh, nice meeting you, Defender Anne. Again, I must thank you for so kindly saving my life."
The day moved from morning to noon just then. The mutant cicada, which had ceased its annoying song as the firefight commenced, began to buzz again. And suddenly, Miss Vicious had a plan...
"So...that Tesla rifle you got there..."
"Tesla cannon," corrected the defender with a bit of edge in her voice. "Huge difference."
"Uh huh. How many rounds you got in that thing anyway?"
...and this plan would involve a good many of those rounds. The defender's boring stint at guard duty could potentially be not so boring for the rest of the afternoon. In fact, the former raider hoped Defender Marie Anne Morgan would have enough to take down the rest of Fairfax Ruins, as Miss Vicious lured them out of their sorry-ass hidey-holes. One, by one.
---------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/f4At3V3.png -- (Fort Independence is the building in the far left-upper corner)
https://i.imgur.com/Gd3pXVj.png
https://i.imgur.com/IPiCNlO.png
https://i.imgur.com/KcTqpeT.png
https://i.imgur.com/MMtZ8uD.png
https://i.imgur.com/A63bTaT.png
https://i.imgur.com/oaKqZxs.png
https://i.imgur.com/2M4YIXe.png
https://i.imgur.com/Dr8Rbur.png (Gore Warning.... eww)
https://i.imgur.com/HL84tg6.png
Wow, a truly beautiful shot of Fairfax ruins.
Luring them back to Defender Morgan was clever. I bet that her weapon will need some repairs by the end of the day. Funny, I don't remember this defender at all. I remember some other guy that you can talk to at Fort Independence, and I think he's not wearing his helmet.
LoL, in the middle of all combat shots there's the family night screenie.
Lasers in the sun!
MVD looks like she's missing her right leg in the Gore pic.
Tire iron is the way to go!
A quick question - at what difficulty are you playing? Do you assume that MVD wouldn't be able to deal with those raiders on her own? Just curious.
I'm sure I could make FO work okay but my genre really is medieval fantasy games and there is no shortage of those to keep me busy for probably ever, given how long I stay with one when I like it.
Vicious was lucky to run into that helpful Imperial Legion guard Defender. And, as Lopov said, clever to lure more raiders back to her tesla cannon.
Ah, such a good feeling to know that somebody wants you except when everybody wants you. Hope the plan works out well.
That 1979 movie is what I meant. With a very young James Remar. It was kind of like cyberpunk before cyberpunk. Just the punk and the weirdness, but no cyber. The gangs are all over the top to the point of ridiculousness, with each having a theme in how they dressed and or wore face paint.
Well, that was one way to get rid of a raider. January approves of the electricity. But perhaps not of the exploding people.
I see Miss VD is thinking the same thing I am thinking. Defender Anne Marie makes for a great raider popper!
Wow she vicious on that second to last one!
Lopov: Fairfax is a rather upscale place in Virginia. Upscale shopping malls, upscale spas, upscale restaurants and probably a lot of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMansion. Last time I was down there I was college-aged, and felt way out of place! I think the Bethesda team had some fun portraying Fairfax all torn up! ... Also, I think a lot of Beth's devs at the time were able to glean plenty of inspiration from local surroundings. A lot of them probably took the Metro to work, for instance. Maybe Todd (or some other member of upper management) lived in Fairfax at the time, and so on.
Actually, MVD is doing very well with weapons & armor. Half the raiders carry handguns (as you know) so it's simply a matter of finding pieces which match, and then repairing them side-by-side. Also, raider armor can be mixed 'n' matched (something I did not know) so her C-cup armor has been repaired numerous times.
Difficulty. Um, I'm pretty sure it is Easy or whatever the default position is. I am not as good at Fallout games as you are.
Acadian: Sorry, I wasn't trying to suggest you should try Fallout. I can't help wondering what you'd come up with, though.
For me personally, I assumed a lot of things about the Fallout series, but was surprised that a lot of these things are not always the way I assumed they would be. I assumed the game would be set in the middle of a gigantic war, for instance. Constant explosions and gunfire, and so on. But, once I learned Fallout 3 is set just to the south of where I live I had to try it. If I hated it, at least I would get to see how Beth portrayed the D.C. area in ruins. Thing is, if it were set in some other location, I probably never would have tried it. Right, Lopov?
But the very first moments of the game immediately got my attention. We start Fallout 3 as a baby! That right there was a huge surprise. In fact, I remember just romping around the baby's playpen for an hour or so, back when I first started the game.
macole: Wow, you just clued into the very theme of Vicious's tale. Indeed, the theme of her story (buried underneath the surface plot seen so far) is mostly about acceptance, and being wanted.
SubRosa: Yes, The Warriors does look pretty ridiculous! I am trying to limit my online spending (had a recent charge which I'm going to have to dispute), so unfortunately I don't wanna pay to watch that one. It looks like one of those movies we'd see at the drive-in as teens.
Using Defender Anne Marie to get rid of those raiders was merely an RGM, or Renee Game Method. I like luring enemies. In Elder Scrolls games, they get lured into slicing blade traps or gas rooms, for instance.
The day's late summer warmth was coming to an end, and what a day it had been. Her nerves were frazzled, and her body ached.
Miss Vicious did one final search around the Fairfax Ruins complex, making sure there were no more enemies left. There was just one guy, located in a hidden corner behind a trash bin. This time, she spotted him first. Snuck up on the dude. But he had freaked after she'd surprised him. He had run away, not even trying to fight! ... It seemed as though this last raider was completely unaware what had happened to all his friends. Maybe he'd been passed out drunk all day. After she had gotten in his face and then whacked him one with her rusty lead pipe, he wanted no part of her. He had simply run off to the south, and Vicious decided to just let him go.
But the thing is, it was never her intention to fight any of them.
She was exhausted. Sun was going down. Time to get some sleep. The lady defender at Fort Independence had informed Vicious that no visitors were allowed inside the Independence complex; they'd be shot on sight. So getting some sleep safely behind thick walls was out of the question. And ... maybe Defender Anne Marie Morgan was just a little ticked about meeting Miss Vicious Delicious in the first place, then having to perform all her dirty work.
A wasteland crow cawed, and Vicious thought she heard a distant thunderclap as well. Perhaps a storm was coming in. Miss Vicious found a bedroll to crash upon. Exhaustion nearly wiped the former raider out, right then and there. She sat down instead. Decided to take inventory of all the contents crammed into her packs, laying all her worldly possessions on the floor before her.
-- She still had the clothes she had worn into Tenpenny.
-- She also had a set of lingerie she'd found, then stole from some posh lady's dresser. 'Sexy sleepwear', as it was commonly called.
-- Dozens of rounds of ammo. She'd keep all the 9 millimeter bullets, 10 millimeter bullets, and shotgun pellets. Everything else, she'd eventually sell.
-- Enough food and drink to last for at least two days.
-- Enough chems to knock her into the stratosphere: A tube of morphine. A couple syringes each of Jet and Psycho. A pint of scotch. And so many packs of cigarettes, she'd have to leave some behind to go stale.
-- Three guns in total: a 9mm handgun, 10mm handgun, and Chinese pistol. She'd keep the pistol. The other two guns were mutts she'd scavenged from all the raiders who'd been killed. She couldn't carry all these pieces at once, so she hid the two larger handguns in a metal box near her bedroll. She would remember where she put them, and maybe weeks from now she would need to retrieve them, assuming a new group of raiders didn't locate them first.
Miss Vicious smiled. Travelling the wastes for several days, and luckily, she had some things to show for this. Plenty to eat, plenty to drink, she could even get high if she wanted. But first thing she did was knelt down upon the bedroll. She bowed her head. Since she no longer had her King James bible to guide by, so she began to improvise her thoughts into words.
"Dear God," she muttered quietly. "I hope you out there. I hope you are ... listening,"
She paused, as emotions overcame. She did not fight it when tears began to flow.
"I did some really bad things today. I did," she paused again, to wipe her face. "I know this. I don't know if what I did, what I got that Anne Morgan lady involved with, whether it was right in your eyes, or wrong. I ... I am so confused!"
She realized she was speaking aloud just then, and lowered her voice back to a whisper. Took a moment to make sure nobody was sneaking up on her. Gazed at the shadows, now getting very long. Heard nothing. Wiped her eyes again.
"It was not my intention to kill them! Why they want to attack me, anyway? What did I do? I had no choice! But. And, as you may notice, I left one of them to ... fend for himself. To live another day. Because it ain't right, God. It ain't right, what happened today. ... But it is what it is. It is what the Capitol Wasteland demands. Right? None of us were born into..."
She stopped and listened again. Gazed around. Nothing. The sun was gone from the sky.
"That is all. I-- that is all."
She carefully gathered all the things she'd definitely need in the future back into her pack; preparing for tomorrow. Then she laid down upon the bedroll, all the adrenaline she'd expended this day, now completely diminished. She was asleep before she knew it.
Uh oh those guys are after Vicious!
I really liked the prayer part, totally unexpected.
I'd say ditch the Chinese gun and keep either the 9mm or 10mm.
’A wasteland crow cawed, and Vicious thought she heard a distant thunderclap as well. Perhaps a storm was coming in.’
- - Sounds like Stormcrow may be approaching!
Like Lopov said, Miss VD’s prayer was neat.
Uh-oh, sounds like the baddies are gonna send some more flunkies her way.
A storm is coming. Or perhaps, a Stormcrow? Evildoers had best beware!
Like Lopov said, I would ditch that Commie pea shooter, and gear up with a real 'Merican firearm. Freedom!
Uh oh, Dopey and Cheesy are sending out more goons after VD.
Lol, VD. Dopey and Cheesehead better hope they don’t catch her!
Last week's chapter: Miss Vicious spends the night in Fairfax Ruins, while Dogmaster sends a search team to find out what happened there
-----------------------------------
Date: early morning, Thursday, August 23, 2277
If Dogmaster got to the top by being demanding and ruthless, yet flexible and (at times) understanding, his left-hand man Cheese Head got to where he was by doing what he was told, but also, having that special left-hand man ability to read between his boss's words. So when Dogmaster told him 'we need to send a team to Fairfax Ruins first thing tomorrow,' Cheese Head knew what his boss really meant. Which was 'we need to send a team to Fairfax Ruins now.' Because but you said we'd send the team first thing tomorrow would not work, in the morning when the Dog was already demanding answers.
Right away, Cheese began searching the halls and corridors of their hideout. To the Cheese-man's relief, Joe Mahma was available. Better yet, he was lucid, and maybe even fully sober. Joe would make a good SS (Spontaneous Sarge). He'd be able to recruit up a team, and have them ready to go by midnight at the latest.
...Because everyone loved Joe Mahma, and Joe Mahma would kick their asses if they didn't.
It’s a good thing Ms. Vicky D. had that psycho! She needed to be especially fleet of foot to escape those raiders!
When I see that kid running towards me I try to head the other direction!
Ooo I wonder who Vicky D’s new friend is?!
Joe Mahma! Awesome.
A close, psycho-fueled escape from the next Raider team.
Don't worry Delicious, Stormcrow took care of the fire ants. Funny thing, according to the game she is Hispanic too! (That is her race).
Khajiit: I know what you mean. I cringe when I see that kid. He usually appears out of nowhere when I am raiding the Super Duper Mart. Usually I am totally unprepared to taking on all the fire ants whenever he arrives.
I looked up Realism Poses, and I don't know what they mean by "zoom out and use the code" But it also says that you can use the console and type in player.playidle GA01 - GA25. The pictures on the page also has the numbers for each pose they depict. That is pretty much how all the Fallout pose mods work. You have to use the player.playidle xxx command to turn them on or off.
Glad Vicious got away from that next batch of raiders. Don't feel badly about the kid. I suspect no amount of talking would have worked. Someone new . . . who's not shooting at her and knows how to sneak. Could be helpful.
Jacked was a good teacher when it comes to applying drugs.
I was looking forward to Taneesha's encounter with Joe Mahma and his goons, but maybe it was better that she escaped instead to face them with her low-grade weapon. Too bad that fire ants weren't closer, they'd burn down those raiders.
I like Bryan Wilks and a lot of my characters helped him, but just as the Khajiit says, sometimes I prefer not to meet him.
Was that Marge?
I love the Pursuit Pic, even the GNR Tower is seen in the background. Taneesha is a fast runner!
Regarding poses: Use tfc, then either click on the player or type player.playidle [ID of the animation/pose]. IDs for poses can usually be found on the mod's site, there are also lots of https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/17991 available, that you can download from the NEXUS and use as poses in your game. For instance player.playidle npcsmokingidle will make your PC smoke for a while. Don't forget to use tfc beforehand or it won't work!
It is supposed to be overcast all weekend, so I don't know if I'll game with Vicious tomorrow. Her next chapter is going to require I game with her as I write.
By the way, Lopov is the one who educated me more thoroughly on how to insert needles. So thanks, I am afraid of needles, just as SubRosa has a fear of spiders. So it did make me a little squeamish to write that part.
Cheshire Khajiit: Yes, some of mine try to do whatever they can to avoid Brian too! Or at least they zoom through the dialog options so they can get back to whatever they were up to before getting forcegreeted. Let us know what you're up to gaming-wise, by the way. I'm all curious about your character.
SubRosa: I had a whole Joe Mahma (yo momma) joke written as Joe gets recruited, but I wasn't sure if people might get offended. And also, it was too distracting in the early part of the last chapter, it kinda messed up the flow, so I axed it.
Whoa! That's so perfect. In my world Marge N. Overra (my first female character) took care of those ants, but January works as well.
I've only used pose mods that require a console. Maybe some came with the in-game menu, but I don't know of any.
All the pose mods for the Fallout games that I have ever used require the console. It is not hard.
First go into TFC mode.
Then type in Player.playidle <pose name>
Some of the poses will run a set course and then reset to normal. Other ones will be permanent. You can usually remove them by typing the same pose command a second time.
But it is always safest to quicksave before you use any poses. That way you always have a way out.
The main thing is to make a list of which poses you like, since you will never remember them.
Cool, thanks a lot for your help on pose mods. That's a good idea to reference pose codes I will like.
It was sunny yesterday and I wrote most of the story, but then I had some mod problems and got frustrated. I hope to resolve these probs and so the story will appear later this week.
Date: 12:37 AM 08.25.77, Thursday, August 23, 2277
Crouching and crawling, moving, unsure. The day was hot, but not sweltering. Gunfire blasts from somewhere unseen. *Bkkssh!!!* ... Something exploded across the river. Vicious side-stepped behind a mailbox, taking cover. A small battle was going on over there, and it wouldn't stop until at least one opponent was down.
She shook her head. "This never will end," she said to the mailbox, which had Made in Baltimore, 2063 stamped into its side. ... Two-hundred and fourteen years ago! ... She gripped its warm metal exterior. Another explosion across the river. "What would it'a been like, before all this?" Vicious asked the mailbox.
A Baltimore mailbox!
I kind of doubt that Miss V's life would have been a whole lot better before the war. It just would have been a different kind of horrible. The Fallout world's society froze in the 1950s. So segregation, racism, misogyny, etc... The opening for Fallout 4 directly mentions that, and the social unrest it sparked. At least in the Post War, she can drink out of any fountain, and sit anywhere she wants on a bus.
Cho is in the bar!
Megaton is probably my favorite Fallout town. I love the way it perches around the bomb crater.
VD's musing conversation with the mailbox during the firefight was superbly done - I loved it!
Haha, worshiping a bomb I guess is no dumber than worshiping Molag Bal. As Forest Gump would say, 'Stupid is as stupid does'.
Good screenies to show the folks involved and, as you say, devastation to Megaton.
Neat story!
I like her thoughts while "hiding" behind the mailbox. I guess that in life it can often be, that an individual wonders, what would be IF we were born sooner or in some other environment, with different upbringing etc.
It's Cho arguing with Burke and flirting with Lucy West.
Nice shots of Megaton, the sky looks ominous in the saloon pic.
Hey, SubRosa, happy Sunday! Yes, that is something we can ponder... not just Vicious but any of us. I myself don't think I'd have it better if I lived in the past, definitely not, if I lived in Blood Raven's days. But maybe if I lived in a world full of bombs and constant gunfire, I'd not be as content.
Wow, you really think that is Cho?
https://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.php. Not sure if that link will work, but she has Sun, Mercury, and Venus in Cancer, and Moon in Pisces. Very much water and therefore emotion, perception. She feels situations and people before she engages. She does have that Cancerian thing, where she has a somewhat cautious personality until you get to know her. She is not outward and overt, at first. She keeps her emotions in check, but is also ruled by them at times.
Ascendant in Capricorn. The rising sign is how we project, what we show. And she shows Earth. Very much so. Like when she was crying and praying to god. She's not going to show that side of her at all, around people she doesn't know well. She wants to appear more "put together" and confident. Both feet on the ground, even if
Overall, her horoscope is not a very conflictive one, full of energies pulling against each other, but I did sense she's got some sort of discordant drive. Why would she become a raider, after being raised religiously? And *bam* there it is--Mars in Leo squared by Uranus in Taurus. Mars = our outward drive to get stuff done, how our energy gets allocated, and it's squared by Uranus, the planet which does everything "wrong". The planet which does not follow those rules. It rotates sideways, for instance. This creates a desire to try new things at its most positive, but violence can definitely be a destructive side-effect of this.
Oh, Moon square Jupiter, that is interesting too. I can't go into any more great detail in this post... I'll be sitting here all day! But that is another aspect to take notice of.
She's not an overly dynamic "go-getter" type of person like Cho or some of our others. But she does have that one conflict in her chart which causes her to structure unusual moments in her life.
Very astute, Acadian, about worshipping a bomb being no better than worshiping Molag Bal. Personally I think Confessor Cromwell and his followers have had a little too many rads (slang for radiation in the Fallout world) going through their systems. There are a lot of oddballs like Cromwell in Fallout 3. I'd say 3 has some of the more odder characters, while New Vegas has the better story / quest-driven side. But the oddballs in 3 definitely set the atmospheres, make the gameworld more fun.
Yes, it's hard to say, Khajiit. Since the Fallout games are supposed to be an alternate reality, maybe all the more negative things about the immediate postwar world (WWII, that is) would have gotten brushed aside as decades rolled by. As you know, I like to think that the time from WWII to 2077 were not static, with very little progress, whether we're talking about music or civil rights or technology or whatever. Equal(er) rights seem to have taken a hold at some point, so Vicious does not really have a need to go there in her thoughts.
I do like my character's musings for sure. She prefers to picture a glorious world, with opportunity and possibility as definite options. That's Jupiter in Sagittarius squaring her Moon. Jupiter = expansion and even risk-taking, while the Moon is one's imagination, emotions, and so on.
Now Lopov, again, why do you think that is Cho? Can't he just be a guy who resembles my Lone Wanderer?
"Megaton is obsolete. The last vestige of a cobbled, desperate past. It needs to ... go away. And you're going to see that it does."
Those were the last words the wannabe gangster Mister Burke spoke to the Asian man in the next room, before everything went to hell fast in Moriarty's Saloon. A few moments' prior, Miss Vicious had taken a seat at the bar. Gulping, then nursing the beer she'd bought for 5 caps. The bar was noisy. Patrons in conversation, most of them chatting about nothing special. The bar's radio crackling with static, which caused the ghoul bartender to abandon telling Vicious the story of his life (not that she was disappointed). Eyes wandering about the semi-crowded room. The former raider had completely relaxed by now, reveling in her newfound obscurity. Happy to be viewed as just another Capitol Wasteland settler going for a buzz with her golden, refrigerated beverage. She had plenty of caps. Maybe she'd even purchase a second.
"Dammit!" Gob the bartender exclaimed, smacking the bar's stubborn radio. "I just had Galaxy News Radio an hour ago! Now, it's all gone to hell."
"Gob, will you just give it up, already?!" said the brunette gal in her husky voice. Vicious remembered this gal from two years before, but could not exactly remember her name. Nola or Nora, something like that.
"Excuse me Nova," said the ghoul in a tone which resembled pebbles grinding against each other. "If you haven't noticed, this is a bar! And all bars should have proper music playing. It sets the mood. It sets the atmosphere. Who wants to listen to static? Hello?"
Vicious took another swallow, doing her best to drown out their conversation. By now her beer was almost gone. Time for a follow-up. But to everyone's surprise, this was the moment when it all began.
"You want me to do WHAT?" said the Asian man in the next room, doubling his voice in volume. It seemed as if he was shouting purposely, so everyone in Moriarty's could hear him. "You and your associates are both douchebags, and I'm tired of this nonsense. Both of you can GO TO HELL!"
"I can assure you," said the man in the suit, his voice also rising. "I'm not one to be trifled with! Why do you knuckle-draggers always insist on doing things the hard way?!"
By now, everyone had gone silent, listening for whatever would come next. All except for the static-driven radio, which kept crackling without a word. Vicious got up from her bar stool to have a look, clutching at her near-empty bottle.
"Whatever, dude," said the Asian man. "I'm putting a stop to this right now. *Frack* going to Lucas Simms, he's had his chance to take you on, yet has done nothing. And so I say this now... NOBODY is going to destroy Megaton. Not you, and not your hidden A-hole associate."
"Oh yeah?" said the man in the suit, getting up and going for his piece. "And what are you gonna do about it?"
"Say hello to my Louisville Slugger, loser!" The Asian man grabbed the baseball bat from his back, going into a wide-footed stance, aiming to maim...
The resulting noise was sudden and VERY loud, especially in this confined, metal space. Gunfire from the man in the suit, a series of cracks and smacks from the baseball bat wielded by the Asian as he hopped, skipped, and danced from side to side, catching the suited-man's elbow here, his torso there. Everyone scattered, but nobody fled! ... Another crack! A grunt! The two men rolled on the floor, stirring some dust. A chair got knocked into miscellaneous stuff. Another blast from Mister Burke's gun, most of its ammo going straight into the nearest wall! ... And then finally, a sound similar to a hammer splitting open a large piece of mutfruit, SPLAT!!! ... Though Vicious could not see exactly (other bar-goers obscured her view), she knew exactly what it was, and did not particularly wish to gander the wannabe gangster's crushed-open head.
Blood was pooling in the next room.
With the death of Mister Burke over, most of Moriarty's customers burst with applause, happy about something which Vicious did not yet understand. Not until Gob the bartender explained what Mister Burke, the man in the suit, was all about. ... "Guy had some sort of bug up his ass about blowing up the bomb here in Megaton. Which means all of us would have been blown to smithereens, if he was serious. Of course, none of us took him all that seriously," Gob said. "But maybe he meant what he was saying, somehow. Who knows, right? Who knows."
By now, the Asian man had cleaned off his bat, and was sitting at the bar, waving away a drink which the blonde lady at a nearby table offered to him. As if nothing had happened. Mister Burke would be somebody else's mess to clean up, apparently.
Miss Vicious Delicious sat down next to him. "I'll have another," she told Gob.
Just another day in the Capitol Wasteland.
Cool little story!
A couple beers, free exciting entertainment, a creepy proposition from that dude in the restroom and what seems like a nice place to spend the night courtesy of Lucy.
I loved your description of Gob's voice.
Hammer on mutfruit... Ewwww! There goes Mr. Burke.
Just another day in the Wasteland.
Home run for Ichiro!
Hmmm I wonder what that guy really wanted? Why not just tell Simms who she is? We’ll definitely be hearing more about this!
Rush.. rush... Rush... rush. Everyone's gonna start thinking I've listened to too much Geddy Lee. Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.
Who cares about Megaton. Playing baseball with Burke was more fun.
Hello, happy Sundas.
A lot of the pauses which have been happening have been due to me trying to balance real-life stuff with my convoluted modding ideas, but I think I've finally got everything ironed enough by now. Maybe by the time the holidays are upon us, somewhere between Thanksgiving and Xmas , Vicious's story will come to a conclusion. Sort of. I don't know. I have a slew of ideas by now.
Mostly I get inspired to play Fallout games because summer begins. All that green foliage outside, with yellow/orange sunlight burning its contrast. Something about that is what causes me to get inspired to play Fallout, just as leaves falling off trees matched with the blues and grays of winter causes me to get into Skyrim.
I do know how this story is going to continue and "end," and what an ending it shall be. Do we have any questions or comments?
Acadian: Yes, there is quite a lot of action going on, with the restroom scene and Mister Burke meeting his demise. Half of that story was imagination, whereas the other half actually happened in real-time. That's been a pattern, so far. I like it.
SubRosa: Yeesh, yes, sorry! I couldn't think of any better way to explain Mister Burke's head meeting Ichiro's bat. I know January 'took care' of Moriarty, did she do the same with Mister Burke as well?
Lopov: Thanks, brother! More to come. Hope you are doing okay.
Lopov's hospital is dealing with a slew of new COVID cases, which is why he's been quiet this week.
Khajiit: Very astute, yes, I think we'll be hearing more from that creepy restroom intruder. And I also think that Vicious does not want to tell Simms about that encounter because she's had problems in the past, in Megaton. She's trying to keep a low profile, not draw attention to herself.
Limelight is a great song, I really like Jacob's Ladder most of all!
macole: Absolutely. Cho thinks so.
January did not deal with Mr. Burke at all. She never even met him. She disarmed the bomb as soon as she got to Megaton, so he was never part of the equation at all.
Don't waste your time fighting blind-minded thoughts of despair
Hold on! To your love...
Lucy West woke the next morning, feeling optimistic.
Adjusting to life in cramped and quirky Megaton had been challenging at times. The letters she’d sent to her family up in Arefu hadn’t been answered for over a week, definitely a cause for concern. But she felt more optimistic this morning. She had made herself a new friend.
Sun was shining through the tiny cracks in her tin metal bedroom, a gentle summer breeze creaked its joints. Lucy and her new friend hadn't spent long chatting the night before, when suddenly Taneesha yawned. Not a stifled-under-her-writst sort of yawn, but a real jaw-cracking, open-faced mawing. It was though her guest hadn't meant to do it. "Uh, sorry," Taneesha said, grinning. "You don't know the day I had...you only got to see the end of it."
But Lucy got it immediately, she understood. Stood right up off her couch, allowing her guest a place to rest. Talk could wait until the next morning. It had been a long day. Not to mention, Taneesha had come into town from the wasteland, where every day was a long day.
After going to bed upstairs, Lucy was surprised to hear her visitor began to mutter to herself. Taneesha was doing so quietly, but the night was also quiet, and Lucy's place fostered a slight echo. So, it was impossible not to hear. Lucy focused her ears. Curiosity. After a moment, she realized Taneesha was saying some sort of prayer. Not to Atom, but to God! “Phew,” Lucy exhaled. One thing she did not want was to have one of those nuts in her home.
So ... this next morning. It came as a surprise when Lucy woke with vigor, clamped downstairs to her living room / kitchen, but then discovered her new friend was nowhere to be seen.
"Taneesha?"
Lucy moved quickly past her home's entrance, peering into its pantry area. No Taneesha. Instead, Lucy found a note, propped upon her scrappy dining table.
Hey Miss West,
Thank you for letting me stay. Sorry I have to run.. but I don’t want to be a burden or anything.I feel like maybe IMaybe I’ll see you around town.
Taneesha
He is okay. We've been messaging today and other than working 9 days in a row, he is okay. Tired, but okay.
Let me know if there's a problem with my allusion in the second section of this week's story. I don't know if I crossed a line... maybe I should ask first? It's just that moment seemed so perfect, since they were both sitting in the same place.
Hot mac & cheese sounds much better for breakfast than a bowl of sugar bombs.
’We shall see our release from the pain and hardship of this world, as we leap into Atom's glow...!"
- - Oh, where do I sign up for that?!? NOT!
Methinks we have a Stormcrow sighting!
Is Miss V's pasta moving too?
I think I recognize that blonde lady in the black and white armor!
Ha! The noodles were moving!
Given that they like to stand in radioactive water, I would imagine that the Children of Atom have a high turnover rate from radiation poisoning...
Oh no! Stop Criminal Scum!
Uh woo woo! Somebody’s in trouble! Good thing she’s rather fleet of foot!
Yes Acadian, Sugar Bombs sound disgusting! And yes, there was a Stormcrow sighting..
I do not think I have ever had a character sleep in the Common House. Are the beds sleepable? Or are they owned by the NPCs?
Uh oh, out of chems, and nearly out of caps. I suspect that Miss V might have to hit the road with her dime store gun and do some scavenging.
Uh oh, V turned to crime, and now she's going to the slam! Well, at least she might meet the Wheet Bandit in there, and get a few pointers...
Nice to hear some details of her daily routine as Miss VD settles into Megaton. Uh-oh, looks like she ran into an Imperial Legion trained guard and earned some incarceration. Say, is she related to the Weet Bandit?
SubRosa -- Yes beds are sleepable in Common House, although as Khajiit says, they might not be this way in the vanilla game. At this point I could have installed some mod by now which made them this way, not sure. I wonder if I even SetOwneship to a bed, then forgot about this! Could be.
Acadian -- Aw, hey thanks! I spent two entire in-game days in real-time to write that last chapter. No waiting, although hours did pass more quickly as she slept a couple times.
I think she may be related to the Weet Bandit in spirit. Like a reincarnation kind of thing.
Lopov -- No Lopov.
------------------------------------------
Anyone 'lucky' enough to live and grow during the Twenty-Third century Anno Domini would have faced and witnessed plenty of situations unfamiliar to those who'd lived and grew during the Twenty-First.
Motorized transportation, for example. A necessary facet of the past, now permanently halted -- equating to hunks of scrap metal at best. The concept of real estate only existed if one had enough guns and ammo to protect it. Malls and markets and refineries and industrial firms and car dealerships which once generated piles of cash, now inhabited by monsters and outlaws. Indeed, the use of the word "outlaw" is in fact an untruth. How could somebody be an outlaw if there was no law?
The notion of law. Here was one idea from the past which Lucas Simms tried to bring into the present, for better or worse. Law and justice, retained from history books, would hopefully equate to order. In Megaton, at least.
During his tenure as "mayor" and sheriff there had been a number of thefts, a smattering of unprovoked assaults, and even one murder. These incidents were uncommon, but when they occurred everyone would throw their hands up, as if to say that's how it goes, nowadays.
Wasteland Justice, this was called. The furor which took place after each of these incidents was never pretty. Suddenly it became 'every man for himself', as the saying goes. Whoever caused one of these incidents (known as "crimes" in the history books) was suddenly surrounded, quickly beaten down by others. Gunfire would erupt from Moriarty's, perhaps. The incident-causer (known as a "criminal" or "perp" in the history books) would be chased out of town, at best. Killed on the spot, at worst. At the most extreme, occasional innocent dwellers of Megaton had gotten caught in moments of friendly fire, as everyone clamored to get a shot into the perp at once. Shots would get fired, but somebody would miss, and some guy or gal unrelated to the original crime would now have some lead in his or her gut. Technically there were now two perps, if we're to go by how law worked in those books from the past.
In the spring of 2277, Sherriff Simms decided to broaden his role to Mayor Simms. Lucas had been the one who'd been enacting whatever rules there were in Megaton, now he'd be the one writing those rules, as well. "I am your sheriff," he told his townspeople, "and now I'll also be your mayor, when the need arises."
It had indeed arisen in his opinion, and in the opinion of plenty others. Some folks preferred the way it was, while others wished to see themselves thrust out of their somewhat barbaric way of doing things. "Some of us have children, you know..." these latter folks argued most convincingly.
Wheels rolled into motion quickly. Lucas read those books, and then drafted a slew of ideas. He explained them all to other prominent members of Megaton society, many of whom had no idea how things were once done. These book-ideas became The Law of Megaton. Caps were allocated. A couple of tough-looking goons from Tenpenny Tower were hired. Both were deputized as officers, earning 30 caps a day, plus free lodging.
The final approved motion was made for what would become Megaton's jail. Over the summer, a Quonset-styled hut was built just outside of town. Here was Megaton's jail, where the perps, the criminals, would be taken, assuming they chose to be incarcerated instead of paying caps. As for those who resisted arrest? They'd face a bit of Wasteland Justice, just like in the old days.
Taneesha did not wish to face the 'old days' sort of justice, nor did she pay any caps to rid her crime. So it was into the Quonset-styled jail (off to the slammer, as they say) she'd been brought the night before.
You did a great job of making Miss VD’s stay in jail interesting to read – even if she didn’t find the time interesting. Gosh, can’t a girl get a midnight snack? Oh well, it was worth it in the morning to feast on squirrel meat, sugar bombs and nuka cola – breakfast of champions and perps. What a conversationalist that jail bot is. Funny how Taneesha takes up nail writing to pass the time.
Freedom is. . . dangerous. Fortunately more so for the dog than Miss VD as she is rescued by the mysterious Chainsaw Prince.
Interesting little bit of Wasteland Criminal Justice history at the start there.
Deputy Droid?
Uh oh, the princess was rescued, but it looks like she might have gotten out of the frying pan and fallen into the fire.
Thanks so much. You folks are encouraging.
In the last episode: Taneesha Jones got out of jail, but was attacked by a Vicious Dog. A man with a ripper saved her, so who is this man?
I like the little reminder of what happened 'in the previous episode'.
So the Chainsaw Prince is named Q-Tip. Well, either name's as odd as the other.
Gosh, he sure got off to a bad start making his first intro when Taneesha was in the ladies room! No wonder she's reluctant to trust him.
Well, she did upgrade her pistol and now has more options to consider.
Q Tip, I love your names! The Chainsaw Prince is pretty good too!
Looks like Tips wants to lure her back into Raider territory. He talks a good game. But who can trust a Raider? Though Miss V might show up later and find out that Stormcrow had already killed them all.
Miss Florens: Ha ha ha ha that is true! Those raiders have been pwned by our wicked-awesome tooins who buff their stats over and over and over!
Q Tip is a real-life rapper from my 17 year-old's generation, although my Q Tip Is supposed to actually get his name from his appearance.
Acadian: I write those reminders for ME as well as you all. It's sort of like in TV shows. Last week on Miss Vicious Delicious!!! .... But it also helps me get focused. Q Tip is going to have an interesting story all his own. I don't exactly know where his story will lead, or that of Slick Rick or anybody else except Vicious. In fact the overall story is going to be crazy. Just you wait and see!
I am going to put this story on hiatus. Two reasons: I am getting more inspired by Skyrim, and also Lopov is not around lately. Since Lopov has two children + the COVID, he hasn't been gaming at all, but he has been working in the GECK. He added a bunch of content via the GECK into Vicious' story, and so I want to wait until he comes back before the story resumes.
Thanks so much.
I am returning to MVD today. The first portion of this next chapter was originally written back in November. The second portion will be me gaming, in real-time.
Last we saw, Vicious had been staying in Megaton for a few days, after deciding to avoid the Capitol Wasteland for awhile. The Wasteland can be a dangerous place, after all! She was offered a place to stay (um... at Lucy West's house) but declined. With her funds getting low, without a way to earn extra caps, yet fighting an addiction to Psycho, Vicious got desperate. Stole some chems from Megaton's Clinic. Got arrested, and was thrown into Megaton's brand-new jail.
Upon her release she was force-greeted by Q Tip https://i.imgur.com/PB0iqbC.png who has informed Vicious that Dogmaster, the Potomac-area top raider boss, wants her back with the Raiders. Will Vicious decide to rejoin them?
-------------------
Chapter 14: Springvale Elementary
Before the bombs dropped, Springvale Elementary was located in Virginia's tenth congressional district, right on the edge of Fairfax County. Quaintly-set homes, mostly ranches and split-levels, surrounded the school. A strip mall with a small drive-in movie theatre was located to the south. Crosswalks and stoplights kept local pedestrians and traffic orderly. Conveniently, a twelve-aisle supermarket was just down the hill. The Potomac river was also blocks away, for those who wanted a scenic jog, or a walk along its slow-moving tides.
What a wonderful place to raise one's kids!
Springvale educated children ages five through eleven; basically Kindergarten through 5th Grade. It catered mostly to the town of Springvale of course (population 48,051 in the year 2077), although some students might also get bused in from Fairfax or McLean.
Like a lot of schools just outside the D.C. perimeter, Springvale housed a rather broad cross-section of young society. A Springvale student could be the child of anybody, from the most mundane members of the surrounding populace to the most prominent. The son of a ten dollar-an-hour janitor could start his education at Springvale just as possibly as the daughter of a high-powered senator, who preferred her daughter be educated in public schools, for whatever reason. This was something the school's leaders were discreetly proud of.
As Mrs. Carter, Springvale's principal, often said over the loudspeaker each morning "You're all Special at Springvale!" Back then, most students and staff believed her.
Springvale Elementary also survived the blasts, somehow. When the bombs fell and the world seemed as though it would come to an end, some of the school's ceilings and walls crumbled into rubble of course, especially on its north side. But most of them still stood. The pupils and educators who attended and instructed at Springvale in the year 2077 would be completely shocked to discover what the fate of their beloved institution would be in the year 2277.
In 2077, Springvale's roll call totaled 442, its number of honor students a remarkable record of 34. Tardiness was down to 1.9%, the school's dropout rate an outstanding zero.
In 2277, its occupants usually totaled less than forty, mostly comprised of bands of roamers who never stayed in one place for too long. In 2277, every last one of the former school's occupants was a thief, a murderer, an addict, a whore, or some combination of all these. Its cellar area was rumored to contain gigantic, fire-breathing ants, its former classrooms always a disastrous mess of dust and dirt and overturned desks. Though the school still contained its desks, its chalkboards, and even its computer monitors, most of these were broken, bashed-in, and useless hulks which got placed and kicked around at random.
And the man delegated to oversee what remained of this once proud and prosperous school? This man was a tall degenerate whose given name was Richard Dupont, also known as 'Slick Rick'.
As the feeling “do I really want to do this” sets in the pause has me sitting on the edge of my seat, eagerly awaiting the toll of the bell.
Thanks again for the 'In our previous episode' intro.
The first part of this was wonderfully done as you set the stage with what Springvale used to be - compared to its current state.
Can't wait to see if this is indeed an ambush or a pathway to a legit gig for Vicious.
Oh noes Tan, don't go down that road! The ground's gone south...
This is not what most people mean when they say they are going back to school.
Yes, macole, that bell is about to toll. Isn't it funny how the world of Fallout is sort of closer to what could happen here on Earth, sort of? Comparing Fallout to Elder Scrolls, that is. I can take several liberties because of this--using more 'modern' language, referring to the way things were, and so on. Whereas the Elder Scrolls universe is totally fictional.
Acadian: RaderOfTheLostArk influenced me with his Fallout: Florida story, so far as the background of Springvale Elementary goes. I'm still not entirely sure if there is an actual Springvale, Virginia. If so, I've never heard of the place. But I try to imagine what sort of school they'd have in their community, and what sort of students would go there. The thing about this area of the United States is it is very possible to rub elbows with a senator's daughter, or have an FBI safehouse located in my neighborhood, and not even know it. A lot of these adults have children, and a lot of these children can go to any middle-area sort of school of their choosing, as long as they fall into certain districts / zonings. So I try to imagine all of what was, and compare it to what is now.
SubRosa: now it sounds you you are yelling at your computer screen! Love your new avatar, by the way. It looks valiant.
Lopov: No Lopov. He'd better get here soon, he's going to miss his story additions!
-------------------------------------------
..,
Chapter 15: Returning to the Raiders
Taneesha Jones neared the front doors of Springvale Elementary. Pondered a moment. Weighed her options just a moment more. I've been here before, thought she. Ain't no big thing. Just walk in, girl.
But she didn't just do this. These were the doors which would define her coming future, and she knew this future would not be so brilliant, or glorious. Did she really have other options?
In the distant past, many students had also entered these doors day after day, defining their own futures, from dismal to promising. Taneesha had once wondered what these students must have been like. Did most of them show up every day with smiles on their faces? Gaily-painted posters advertising the Spring Play or latest talent show displayed in the school's front foyer? Did they cower under their desks (as she had once seen in an old bomb-safety newsreel) when the ground began to shake, as missile after missile found their nearby American targets? Perhaps so.
Taneesha had once wondered all these things. But at this moment, all she could think about? What's on the other side of that door. She readied the pistol Q Tip had given her, just in case. Then she scrambled inside, aiming, aiming, aiming left and right, high and low, like some heroine in one of the action flicks she had seen from America's past.
"Well look who it is," said a man with a smooth-talking baritone voice. "Miss Vicious Delicious. Been a long time, it seems like, since I seen you." The man walked calmly toward her, ignoring her gun and antics. Obviously, he had been waiting just inside for her.
Taneesha bit her lip, and waited a moment for the ambush. Which did not occur. "Been awhile since I seen you too, Slick." She looked down at her pistol, now unsure, now feeling a bit silly about her 'action hero' entrance. "So what's up? You want to tell me what's going on?"
"You can put that gun away, sister. Ain't nobody's gonna mess with you, nuh-uh. We already been knowin' all about you. What you done. Where you been. All-a that."
Taneesha took a moment to be sure, then holstered her piece. Took a look around. Relaxed as best she could, though it was tough with Psycho still running through her system. The school's front foyer, which she had once imagined to be gay and bright, now had a large cage in its middle. Several corpses had been strung from chains, hanging from the foyer's ceiling. Whatever that was about, she did not want to know.
Suddenly, she was angry.
"They said I didn't deliver those goods, but I DID!" she bolstered loudly, nearly yelling at Slick Rick, hoping whatever dumb-asses holed up in this dump might hear. "I DID what they told. And so there musta been some mix-up, or something. Whatever. And what the *ferk* did I get for this service? You all put me out in the middle of nowhere, that's what. Put me in that old Parkstroller suit. Got raiders out there takin' aim to kill a sister. THAT's what! As though they knew who I was, and when I'd be coming."
"Hey, easy there," said Slick with an 'ease-down' sort of gesture. "I got nothing to do with any of that. And anyway, uh, we're all good now, Vicious. You proved yourself good."
"My name ain't Vicious no more, it's --"
She stopped herself. Looked down at the floor, as if embarrassed.
"Huh?"
"Nothing," she said finally.
"Well look," Slick Rick continued, with a facial expression which any former used Chryslus dealer would try as he worked up to his pitch. "I am on your side. I know what you been through, and it wasn't right, okay?"
"Whatever," Taneesha / Vicious pouted. She shifted her weight, like a tardy schoolgirl must have once done when arriving late to this very institution.
"Hey, cheer up," he said. "And look here. I got something for you. Uh. We got something for you."
Slick Rick pointed to the floor, and she so she couldn't help but look to the box which had been placed there. Taneesha / Vicious looked inside. Picked up its contents with her own two hands, and was momentarily surprised. "This is for me?"
"Yep. That's a brand-new, perfect condition set of badlands-style armor, which I know was your favorite, yuh? And it's just for you. But it's like, a special set, okay? ... It signifies you, as a, uh, special sort of raider. Like, no one can mess with you now, yokay?"
Taneesha placed the upper part of the suit upon her chest area, as we in our own times might place a dress or a shirt upon our own upper-half in a modern department store. The armor's coloring was somewhere between tan and greyish, perfect for subterfuge amongst the Capitol Wasteland's bland and dried-out terrain. The suit also had a set of button-up gloves, and a series of fastening belts to keep everything tight and in place. Best of all was the long string of ammo, which were placed across the armor's chest padding. This ammo would be from some old bunker perhaps. Useless, and merely for show / intimidation; the powder in each round no longer potent after centuries of storage. But it was the sort of thing which would display to the world who its wearer was, and what this wearer could potentially be, if some intruder or enemy came too close.
"Go on Vicious, or uh... whatever your new name is, and take it outside. Put it on." He was now making some sort of shooing gesture.
"You want me to go outside?" she asked unsurely.
"Okay look." Slick Rick had his Used Chryslus face on again: half smiling, half something-else. It was the look of somebody who wants you to trust him, but for some reason you don't. Not entirely, anyway. "You need to go outside for awhile. Put that armor on. Wait about an hour or so, okay? While I ... uh... confer with my peoples in here, yuh? And then you can come back in here after that, okay? We should be all good then."
"I can't just walk in inside, yet, and see all the others?"
"No!" Slick Rick's voice rose abruptly. "Uh, I mean no. Not yet. I just gotta confer with my peoples in here, right? Then after that, we all good, okay?"
Though Taneesha (Miss Vicious) was anxious and unsure at Slick Rick's odd choice of words, she was also feeling a certain.... something. Gratitude? Perhaps. They were going to let her back into their family, it seemed. And though this was not the sort of family which would have once been featured in a Good Housekeeping magazine exposé, she at least knew this family was broad, and powerful. This family took care of its own, and defined its own rules. She'd always have somewhere to go, at least.
No more would she need to worry about slumming in Megaton, or anywhere else which could be termed more civilized-than-usual in the rough-and-rumble wasteland. Megaton, where no jobs were available, all the best houses were already taken, and one could get locked into the new jail just for stealing a syringeful of meds.
With the raiders she'd at least have a life, and a future, and maybe even some respect. All of this could be hers, she knew, if she chose to walk out that door, and don the armor set Rick was giving her. She'd already be dead (or nearly so) if they weren't offering her these very things.
She took a moment to decide, before walking out of Springvale Elementary.
------------------------------------------------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/HKKvFA6.png
https://i.imgur.com/DVQigR7.png
https://i.imgur.com/GzUwe9e.png
https://i.imgur.com/nqlKF9U.png -- (argh, still can't get animation mod to work)
https://i.imgur.com/SmqrNLp.png
Nice job of continuing to reference what Sunnyvale's past may have been.
Slick's request for Miss Vicious to 'put on this armor and go wait outside for an hour, then come back in' . . . . Kinda smells like a trap to me. Hope I'm wrong.
Vicious D is back!
VD is back in her old gang armor.
Slick seems pretty hard to trust. Sounds to me like some weird shit is about to go down.
Acadian: Yes, well... I hope she isn't about to walk into a trap. The whole 'put on the armor, "go outside and wait an hour" bit is actually due to a mod idea I used way back in Janet's game. Basically, I added a script to some raider armor which makes her compatible with the Raider Faction. Put it on, and they're her friends. Take it off, and now they're not. The way to get it to work is to put the armor on in another cell or worldspace, and then wait an hour.
Still though, maybe the word 'trap' can be used in a different context here.
SubRosa: Yes, some weird s--- is about to go down. Think of Slick Rick is really a pawn in this game, but he may still have some relevance in greater terms later on. We'll see. The whole thing about this story is that portions of it are malleable. Portions of this story depend on who is able to survive, and this includes some NPCs.
There have been a few characters in your own story with Stormcrow who I've also not been able to trust fully, although some of them (like that lawyer) turned out to be inconsequential, or not bad guys at all.
Lopov: Yes, you're right about Taneesha needing to be careful around her relatives! Even I don't know all that could go wrong in the future.
Love you all.
..,
New gun, new doo and new friend! Miss VD's making gains there at that Raider hideout.
I still don't trust Slick. Methinks he has a card up his sleeve, and is planning on using Miss VD to do some dirty work for him. Maybe be the fall guy for something he does.
I was just talking to one of my neighbors that the great thing about an apocalypse are the hair styles. Everyone gets a colored mohawk or spikes or something else equally outrageous. No one ever runs out of hair product when the world ends, and everyone is a hairdresser.
Yes Lopov, I'd imagine since she's already been around all those jerks in the past, she is able to handle their rude comments.
I did some gaming with Vicious here and there these past weeks, just walking her around as a raider. I gotta admit, there is something nice about being able to go to Super Duper Mart and also that bridge which overlooks Springvale, which is full of raiders, and not get attacked like Cho or one of our others would. It's like Vicious now has a range of areas she can safely walk around, and into. I sometimes tense up as she approaches one of these areas, expecting a hail of gunfire or whatever.
Chapter 17 -- The Assignment
Thursday morning, August 29, 2277
Minimum Temperature: 61
Maximum Temperature: 91
"Hey, say, what's doin' Vicious? You looking good today, and we gots something for ya, too. So, you ready for your first ... uh ... assignment?"
Outside of Springvale, temperatures were soaring; the summer sun continued to beat down. When it was cloudy, and seemed as if it would cool off, instead things got even worse, as Maryland's dreadful humidity then began to climb. Only good thing about it was the 17 year cycle of radcicadas had not occurred during 2277.
Unlike Megaton with its air-conditioned interior, Springvale Elementary's power generators had never been fully rebuilt. Because of this, everybody inside of the school was perspiring a bit, and this included Miss Vicious.
"Yeah, Slick. I am," she said, wiping her brow, not knowing what the heck to expect. "Whatcha got?"
By now, she'd been living amongst the raiders for days. Eating their food, sleeping on their natty cots and bedrolls. Though nobody would ever accuse her of being a freeloader, it was also clear she'd be expected to perform whatever tasks they had. Because she was good at what she did. That was the word everyone was saying. She had survived the Wasteland all by herself, after being cast into the boonies.
She had kicked all those asses a few weeks ago out at Fairfax Ruins! .. Dogmaster would eventually want to exploit her talent for survival. Somehow.
"Damn RIGHT!" said Slick Rick. "That's what we want to HEAR!" He did some weird twisting motion with his torso as he said this, as though he were swinging a pool cue in the air.
"So seriously, Slick. What is this? Please don't send me all the way up into another *ferking* trap."
"Oh no, this is no trap, sister," Rick lit a cigarette. "Dogmaster wants you to head up to Germantown, where those rookie idiots was sent. They got a police department up there, yuhh? Place called Germantown HQ, a'right?"
"Okay, yep. I have been hearing about these rookie idiots which went up north. Kinda hard not to, since everyone's been talking about it. You think they went to that police station?"
"A bunch of us was already livin' up there and stuff," Rick explained. "But then, a week ago, like *poof* ... all the sudden we uh... lost contact. And that ain't right. Place is all electrified," he said, making a motion now like he was having a seizure. "It's got, you know. Uh. Power. Place already had its own radio, it bein' a po-lice station and all. So we gots contact day-to-day with our brothers and sisters up there."
"Okay, and?"
"And we's ready to take over the whole region up there, spread our selves to Minefield, right?"
"But then..."
"*Poof*. Nothing. No word from anybody," Rick said, looking truly dismayed.
"And you want me to go up there. See what's up?" Vicious rolled her eyes as she said this, but inside she felt sort of delighted. Dogmaster wanted her to forge this mission.
"You got it. We want you to head up there, see what's up," the raider agent smiled. A genuine smile, it seemed. No Chryslus dealer nonsense. "And you can take any of these mongrels with you," he added, gesturing with his hands. "Any of these lowlife scumbags you want to take with you, you just say the word. And if they ... uh... refuse..."
His words trailed off. Either because he didn't want to say what would happen if they refused, or couldn't say it.
But Vicious found she had no problem trying to convince a couple others to join her. She'd already made a friend who seemed eager to follow into whatever trouble lay ahead. Pretty soon she had a second person join her. A man, who refused to tell her his name, and also seemed as if he didn't quite fit in with raider society a hundred percent.
Other than that, everyone in Springvale declined. But maybe this was a good thing. A gang of three, it would be.
------------------
https://i.imgur.com/AexH7P3.png
https://i.imgur.com/8YIGaGe.png
Taneesha's going to the police station! Quite an irony that a raider is asked to investigate the building that used to represent the law so many years ago.
I wonder what happened to those raiders.
Uh oh, Miss VD is off to Germantown. I bet what happened to those raiders was big and yellow...
Wow, do they have radcicadas?
Her reaction to Slick Rick's inquiry about taking a mission reminds me of a line by one of the Space Marines in the movie 'Aliens': "Is this gonna be a real stand up fight, or just another ferking bug hunt?"
Vicious is in command of an Away Team!
Chorrol's quite busy today. The new Stormcrow is up, Lopov posted some pictures of his ESO toon, and (holy crepe) mirocu has a fanfic? I love when the forums get busy like this. Let's see if I can add my own bombshell to the carnage today.
Chapter 18 -- The Road Trip, Part 1
Thursday, August 30, 2277
Minimum Temperature: 68.0
Maximum Temperature: 91.9
"Oh I'm just gonna tear you up..."
"Get 'im!"
Bratty, Vicious, and the man who was traveling along with Bratty and Vicous readied their current weapons. - Bratty took aim and fired into the grass with her assault rifle. - Vicious lunged forward and ran with her shot gun - and the man who refused to tell them his name strutted forth with a crappy little combat knife.
"Special delivery!" shouted Bratty, Vicious's new friend from Jersey. "It's go time!" Her cheap machine gun sounded like pieces of plywood caught in a hurricane.
... Bratty was screaming.
"No, I got this one." Miss Vicious had a calm smile in her voice as she spoke. "Y'all watch this, and learn." Not getting too excited like the others. Eventually, a molerat came crashing out of the brush. All this fuss and muss over a large, mutated, simple-minded nuisance creature. Relatively harmless, especially amongst all the firepower it faced.
*Bkksh!* Vicious blew its head off with her shotgun, with just one shot. "That's gettin' it done!" she said.
"Hell yeah!" Bratty exclaimed, skipping in her boots. "That's what we do 'round here! Take care of business! Springvale School raiders rock!"
The man with no name? He stayed silent as the two gals gloated.
"Yes, we do uh... rock, don't we?" Miss Vicious reloaded the gun Rick had given her with a new shell. "I think we'll be seein' more of this here Blamhammer, quite a lot more."
"That's a nice piece you got," admitted Bratty, her face going from ecstatic to serious, almost in reverence. Like she really meant what she was saying. "You know, like I got the range, I got the hail of rounds, but you got the power, for close-up actions, right? Together we make a great team."
"Well I prefer shotguns, stated Vicious seriously. "That was one of the weapons we had when I was growin' up. In our temple. A shotgun. I used to sit guard sometimes since I was eight years old."
The three began walking again, headed north, when Vicious abruptly turned to the man. "Is that all you got for a weapon?" her voice exasperated. "Just that lousy knife?"
The man shrugged. Said nothing.
"We'll find you something better," Vicious promised. "Got to. And soon. 'specially out here."
"Say, you ain't that guy they call Rattler, are ya?" the girl from Jersey teased their male companion. "Rattler? He goes around killin' with just a knife, they say. And so does you. You know. I bet even if you ain't that Rattler guy, you sure is creepy as hell."
"Shut the *firk* up, *birch*, okay?" He sheathed his knife, after wiping it on some grass.
"Oh now you speak," she pouted mockingly. "Quiet riot stays on his diet, until the Missus from Jersey comes along. Oh booo hoo. I wike to wuse my wittle knife to fight with! Who fights a molerat with a knife, anyway?" Hands on hips. "You know, maybe you is that Rattler guy! Maybe you is, right? Sure would make a lot of sense. Like, why youse all gettin' up close and personal with your wittle wife, eh? Come on, speak up, dumpster cup."
"That's why they call you Bratty?" he returned. "Because you won't shut up, and sure are one hell of a brat."
"Will you guys?" Vicious glared. "We can't be having none of that if we're going to survive out here, okay?" She lit a cigarette, subconsciously rewarding herself just then. "This is the Capitol Wasteland. If we is to make like we'll surivive, we's gonna have to cooperate. Like we's a part of Talon Company or the Enclave. Y'all got it?"
The three began walking again, in silence at first. Vicious passed her cigarette to Bratty, who noted silently she was smoking more than a mere cigarette. She puffed, held the smoke in a few seconds, and exhaled. Bratty did not pass their special cigarette to the man.
"Who is this guy you call Rattler, anyway?" asked Vicious.
"Oh, you ain't heard yet? He's some sort of maniac. A carnival! He like... eats people and stuff!"
"You mean cannibal..."
"Huh?"
"You said carnival," Vicious corrected. "Not cannibal. A cannibal is someone who eats people."
"Whatever! My point is this guy Rattler, like there's all these rumors about him. Like, he murdered, then ate some *birch* over at Dukov's place! He's got a lair full of dead bodies! He even tried to kill Three Dog!"
"Oh my guhd, how terrible. What kind of maniac...."
By now it was getting into early afternoon, and they were approaching the north end of the irradiated Potomac. Vicious took a Rad-X (protecting her from the rivers's extreme radiation) before wading into the water. "That feels good." After hours of oven-like heat, she did not care if she took on a few extra rads. After a moment, Bratty joined her.
"There's also this guy called .. um.... Card Killer!" Bratty continued. They began to walk again, dripping yellowish water from their skin. "And he's like, this guy who goes around killing women only." Her voice became sad now. "Only females. And wherever he kills, he leaves a special card behind. Like, a card from a playing card deck. Dude's been linked to a bunch of murders by now."
"What the hell's the world coming to?" Vicious asked, as if the wasteland was a happier place a week ago.
Miss Vicious Delicious carefully avoided getting anywhere near Big Town, as the posse of three approached from the south. Pretty soon they found an outdoor campsite, where others of their kind had already been living for awhile. Safety in numbers, at least for some hours. Here they stayed, partied, and slept for the night.
--------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/UiJlxq9.png
https://i.imgur.com/4ljEHu8.png*
https://i.imgur.com/sR32FV2.png
https://i.imgur.com/DdMadsq.png
https://i.imgur.com/xojY8RJ.png
* This is what I was talking about. Wastelanders keep showing up as random NPCs in her game, and always near raider hangouts! Maybe some dev at Bethesda was playing around with being a raider before the game was released, and put these Wastelanders into the game specifically for those who play as raiders.
Hey, this story is a homage to Lopov's ex-characters. The spirit of Rattler lives on.
Ha! Yeah, I thought you'd like this chapter. I am glad you said the SPIRIT of Rattler lives on. Not Rattler himself, thank the Nine.
I do use a weather mod, not sure if it's causing this light change you're seeing. But pretty sure Enhanced Weather does include lighting changes.
Meh, I wanted to crank out more material on this fine Saturday day, but the weather's not cooperating, and we have other things to do anyway.
Homage to Lopov indeed!
"You said carnival," Vicious corrected. "Not cannibal. A cannibal is someone who eats people."
- - This is just one example of how clever and creative this episode was in terms of wording/dialogue that fits the situation perfectly.
Wow, Bratty's name really does fit her!
Blamhammer is a great name for a shotgun.
Bratty seems really excitable.
Miss VD certainly lives in a world full of monsters, with the likes of the Rattler and Card Killer roaming the wastes.
I always love a good nickname for a weapon. "Blamhammer" is a good one.
Pretty neat how you get these screenshots to tie in with your story, Renee. Do you write the story in accordance with the screenshots you get? Or do you sometimes try to get screenshots that go along with your story? Both? Neither? Some other answer?
Hoping Card Killer meets an especially horrific death.
Chapter 19, The Road Trip, Part 2
Friday, August 31st, 2277
Min Temp:: 69 degrees
Max Temp:: 90 degrees
The next morning started off with a bang, which thankfully exploded somewhere far away. Nowhere close to the raiders' outdoor campsite. Vicious got up off the cot she had managed to fall asleep upon the night before, said a quick prayer, and got started with whatever was to come on this warming summer day. The other raiders were still asleep all around her, either by choice or because their intake of chems and alcohol had caused them to fall over, zombified.
She gazed about for a moment. Could not find her new friend amongst the small multitude of fallen arms and limbs.
As she awoke further she grabbed a package of Mutfruit from her pack. Breakfast! She was glad she hadn't 'partied hardy' the night before, as was so common within raider society. Other than a couple beers and a couple cigs, she hadn't done anything too dangerous to her health. No Jet, no Psycho, no cocaine, no opiates. Perhaps this was due to the seriousness of their mission? She asked herself this question as she moseyed about, but was unsure if she could answer positively just yet.
She decided to take a quick inventory of all the items on her person just then.
1 - Pip-Girl 2500 personal information processor
1 - lead pipe (for combat up close)
1 - specialized shotgun. Her precious Blamhammer.
1 - 10 mm pistol
2 - frag grenades
1 - package of Brahmin Steak, and 1 Salisbury Steak
2 - cigarettes (and no pack hidden anywhere. Dammit!)
1 - Chlorazopam tablet
1 - purified water bottle
1 - Rad-X tablet
1 - package of RadAway
2 - Stealth Boys
8 - Stimpaks (their trip to Super Duper Mart two days ago had been worth it)
1 - package of YumYum Deviled Eggs
19 - bobby pins (for lockpicking)
1 - used hypodermic needle
dozens of rounds of 10 mm bullets, and over a hundred shotgun shells.
Good enough, she thought. Time to get this show on the road.
"Rise and shine Vicious." It was the male of their party, come to greet her. "I've already been up for an hour or so. Hard to sleep out here. You ready to head off?"
"Uhm..."
"Starsky's my name, by the way. Starsky Nathaniel Hutch. My momma used to say I was named after some TV action stars from way when, or something."
"Uh-huh. So... have you seen Bratty?" Vicious did a quick look around on her tiptoes, looking all around the small, irradiated pond they'd camped by.
Starsky N. Hutch made a face. "Do we really need to bring her along?" he asked. "Seriously. I am going to be blunt with you now, and you know why I'm asking this. Why did you include her at all?"
Vicious said nothing. Looked to the ground, biting her inner cheek. Two cigarettes, she thought, trying not to fidget.
"Seriously," he repeated. "She's a liability. She's undisciplined. She's a loudmouth. And she pissed me off royally yesterday. We could just leave her here, okay? Just leave her here for a day or two, while we head north to Germantown. Pick her back up as we head back to the school. She got so drunk last night, probably wouldn't know the difference." Starsky was smirking.
"Yeah, but she's my friend," Vicious muttered. She lit up just then, losing her personal nicotine battle for the morning. "I know she's a handful and stuff. But she's a loyal friend. My only friend, in all this mess of a world we live in. And I would disagree somewhat with your assessment of her. Yes she's a loudmouth, but she was the only one who actually volunteered to come along. None of those others wanted the mission. Even Q Tip."
Starsky shrugged. Made another face. "Q Tip's more of an administrative sort of guy.... a pawn, really."
"Plus, she got an actual gun," Vicious ignored. "A machine gun, in relatively good condition. Even though it is a mutt, I'd rather have her firepower at my side than your cheap-ass combat knife. No offense."
"Hey, you're the boss," Starsky put his hands up, surrendering his side of the argument. "And I wouldn't discount my talents with a knife just yet, Miss Vicious."
"Well come on then. Help me find the *stitch*."
9:25 am
Vicious searched all around the campsite, not just for her friend, but also for any sort of weapon she could find, then give to Starsky. Unfortunately, there was nothing laying about. No guns, no bombs. And she was not about to try stealing anything from one of the sleeping raiders. Oh well, I tried. It's his funeral, I guess, thought she.
They eventually did locate the girl from Jersey, a-lay on an old, dusty bedroll. Bratty had passed out at some undetermined time. She still smelled of last night's booze. As Vicious attempted again and again to wake the gal up, she almost did consider Starsky N. Hutch's words more seriously. They could just leave her here. Like she'd know the difference after waking up around noon, or so.
But Vicious did not give up. Call it persistence, call it stubbornness, she simply would not leave her unprincipled chum behind.
As they began walking north, a soft rain began to fall. Blessedly cool and also rad-free. Bratty had been coughing and sputtering like an old hag up until then, trying to wake up. But also determined to wake up, so she could participate with the others. The rain was a good thing, Vicious thought. It seemed to help.
She consulted her Pip-Girl 2500. Switched on its locational map (causing a 212 year-old solar-powered satellite 17 miles above the Earth to beam information). She noted that Germantown Police Department was not too far away. Maybe a quarter mile. Great. They'd be able to get inside the place by afternoon, then. As they walked north, they encountered a centaur, and then a supermutant, both of which were disposed of easily. Up a small hill was Hallowed Moore Cemetery. Another centaur and a half-dozen mutants were there. Again, they didn't stand a chance against the three raiders from Springvale.
"Damn, we is good!" The brat, now fully awake.
"Here take this," Vicious said to Starsky. "You do know how to shoot, right?"
"I know how shoot," he said defensively. "Just 'cause I prefer my knife don't mean I don't know how to shoot."
"Well two those mutants had rifles, and looks like got a few rounds, too. You take all these, then. And maybe we'll get you some more ammo inside. Place we're goin' is a police station, after all."
"You're the boss."
The trio began to walk north again. Vicious consulted the Global Positioning Satellite in her Pip-Girl's map several times. Finally, the place they were looking for was just ahead. As they neared the place something exploded, about a thousand feet to their left. This caused the three of them to stop for a moment. In the distance they could now see what had caused the explosion. Somebody was over there, shooting up cars.
"Yo, is that dude wearin' a policeman's outfit?"
"Yeah, I can see him too!"
"Is that a ghoul? Why would a ghoul be out here, dressed like a policeman, and blowing up cars?"
"Just another day in the Capitol Wasteland," their leader muttered. Her two companions silently agreed.
-----------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/OZy3m83.png
https://i.imgur.com/V5xdXgk.png
https://i.imgur.com/ytmjtwm.png
Notes: Miss Vicious attained Level 3 today, woo hoo! I dumped a lot of points into Sneak, and chose Thief for her perk. Going for a stealthy type, once again.
Lol, I think I liked Starsky better when he kept his mouth shut.
Oh my! We know who that ghoulish police officer is!
Looks like Officer Barlow is bringing some law and order to Germantown!
I laughed at Starsky and Hutch of course. I remember that show!
Rosa: I feel honored to make you laugh! Particularly where it says Starsky N. Hutch, I was trying to make it obvious. If we could put Vicious's tale on TV, it would probably be some sort of B movie which got sandwiched between Tales of the Crypt and the SCTV late at night. There is some humor, for sure.
Acadian: Cool, glad you picked up on Starsky and the things he says. He is pretty arrogant, right? Just so you know, this entire area of the Wasteland is dotted with places to go, and places to avoid. Vicious can go wherever raiders reside, but there's an area nearby called Big Town, in which maybe she'd be okay, but her followers would go ballistic on the town's inhabitants. And I (and Vicious) do not want to see that happen, because there'd be innocent casualties. There's also a village nearby called Minefield. As its name suggests, we really need to watch where we step!
By the way Lopov, Starsky and Hutch was an action show https://gamespot1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/1557/15576725/3281599-starsky-and-hutch.jpg, in case you didn't get that reference. Edit: looks like you do get it, since you know they are two separate guys.
Yes, they did stay in that small camp just northeast of Big Town, overnight.
Rader: I imagine radcicadas are maybe a little bigger than modern ones, but unlike sirens and radtoads in your story, radcics are rather harmless. They still live underground for X number of years, come aboveground to mate, live for about 6 weeks, and then they perish. But they are nowhere near as dangerous as, let's say, that giant turtle creature which showed up during that last battle scene.
I agree that centaurs are really disgusting. I never really looked at one up close until putting that Imgur pic up last week. Yicch.
No surprise Bratty is not good at conserving ammo. I don't imagine Raiders do anything with much discipline at all. I suppose that does make a good way of comparing them to mercs, who one imagines are professional enough to not waste ammo or other resources pointlessly.
Miss VD is sneaking in alone!
A big oaf of meat is right!
Now I have a rifle, ho, ho, ho!
Wonderfully fun dialogue among Miss VD and her crew.
"Okay you two, this is good. I'm goin' in now. And I'll be back soon. Promise me you'll behave."
- - Haha, party members of opposing allignment.
Nice job taking down those two big meat loafs. Even a few bullets for Bratty.
Yes, Rosa. I think I gave Bratty 500 rounds or so in the GECK when I created her, unfortunately most of that gets wasted as NPCs fire blindly into grass and non-living items. But in a way, from my perspective, I am actually glad she ran out of bullets early. It actually fits the story quite well, as we'll see. *evil grin*
In Cho's game I use scripts to make sure his followers (his C-team) never runs out of ammo. Basically, any time he goes to sleep, and his followers are in Sandbox mode, ammo gets added into their inventories via scripts. I figure they go off on their own, and then manage to find/buy their own gear since they are supposed to be disciplined military personnel. With Bratty & other raiders though, this wouldn't really make sense.
Chapter 21 -- Germantown HQ, part II
Saturday, September 1st, 2277
Minimum Temperature: 68
Maximum Temperature: 92
Though nobody in more modern times had ever been entirely sure of any specific date, Germantown was founded some time near the year 1830. In its early days, several German immigrants located themselves in the town's main business district, and for this reason the place became known as German Town. The village got this name despite the fact that most residents of the area were English or Scottish. Eventually, the words 'German' and 'Town' were merged.
Germantown was located in Montgomery County, in the central part of Maryland, roughly 25 miles northwest of D.C. Its main claim to fame was a gigantic cider barrel which survived for over 150 years, and provided a variety of local apple drinks to locals and tourists. In 1958, the U.S. Atomic Energy commission relocated its headquarters from D.C. to Germantown, mostly because they determined the town was far enough away from Wasthington, far enough away from any potential nuclear blasts, that is.
Or so they thought at the time...
For over a century, Germantown's population hovered somewhere above 90,000. It was the sort of place which rarely generated newspaper headlines. Unless you lived there, you'd rarely know of anything going on (good or bad) in Germantown. Even its annual Oktoberfest was only modestly noticed outside of Montgomery, and this was despite the fact that the place actually had the word German in its name.
On the other hand, the place was considered generally safe from hoards of diisorder, safe from hoards of crime. Germantown's police department dealt mostly with the same sort of crime any middle American populace might encounter. Vandalisms, bar fights, and occasional car thefts were called in most often. The town was mostly middle class, so house burglaries were also occasional. Homicides were rare; this isn't D.C. or Baltimore we're talking about.
The cops of Germantown provided a steady, standard operation, keeping the citizens of Montgomery County safe right until the year 2077. Of course, nobody during the 21st century could have ever envisioned their solidly-reputed police headquarters would ever become a lair for marauding raiders, or (even worse) actual monsters. As Miss Vicious searched the station's outside area during the day's waning hours, she knew nothing of its past. The few details she knew about Germantown itself came from the history books she'd read as a child.
After a pre-packaged dinner of Salisbury Steak, Vicious scouted the entire area surrounding Germantown HQ, looking for raiders, dead or alive. But there were none to be found. Not even a set of raider armor, cast aside and bloody.
Bratty, Starsky, and Vicious spent the night sleeping in a variety of tents which had been erected outside the station. At times, one of these three raiders would stand guard. But there was nothing to report. If the place was indeed inhabited by super mutants, they kept inside the building.
"Okay, listen y'all. I'm goin' in," Vicious declared at 0848 hours. The sun (and the day's heat) were starting to rise. "Don't get mad, but I want you two to stay here again, okay? Both y'all got guns, but they's rifles, built for long-range. Not close combat. And we don't got enough rounds for the both of y'all yet."
Plus, Vicious thought, but did not say. I don't need you two rushing off deep into the place, getting yourselves killed before I have a chance to take 'em down with my Blamhammer.
"Aw, why do you get to have all the fun?" Bratty complained. "Come on, now. Can't I come along witcha! I'll hold back, I promise!"
"Let's talk sensible now, brat. I just counted over sixty rounds for my shotgun. If there's more of those things inside, mutants, that is, I can take each of 'em out with maybe five shots, max. You only got a total of seven rounds for that rifle I gave you last night. I know, because I counted. And that ain't enough. Especially at close range, which I assume any monsters in there will be."
"But..."
Vicious took her friend aside now, leading her by the hand somewhat away from Starsky. "I promise," she said, locking eyes with the brat. "If I find some more, better weapons, plus some rounds, that I'll return and invite you inside, okay? Chin up, sister."
She turned to the man of their party now. "Starsky? What do you think?"
"Hey, I'm fine with this plan," Starsky N. Hutch answered after a quick moment of thought. "And I'm a bit claustrophobic anyway. Grew up in one of those vaults. Ugh. I hate to admit this, but I've always been afraid of the dark. And a dark full of potential monsters--?" He shuddered.
"No kidding. So which vault did you come from?" Vicious asked. "Was it 101? There was a bunch of dwellers who just was forced out of 101. Some kind of mutiny went on in there. I even met one dude who left the place, who's now livin' in Megaton. Dude 101 got into one hell of a fight inside Moriarty's, killed a man right in front of me with a baseball bat. Smack! Whap! Smack! Just like that."
"No, not 101," Starsky answered. "Uh, Vault 106 is where I was from. Wretched place. I hope I never go back"
"Dag. Always wanted to know what one of those places was like," Vicious mused.
"Well, I don't know about any other vaults, but 106 always had problems with their fusion generators, lights would go out all the time, that sort of thing. I can't tell you how glad I was after I escaped last year. Saw daylight for the first time ever."
"Sissy."
"Bratty..." Vicious warned.
"Well, he is a prissy sissy! I'm sorry, but what kind of supposed man, who's all grown up with his big knife which he carries around for slicin' and dicin', still gets afraid of the dark? So you IS a sissy, miss missy!"
"BRATTY! Enough! Seriously, I need to be able to trust you. Both of you, while I head inside."
"But..."
"No buts, unless you are a butt. And you are not a butt, you are a brat. Am I right?"
Bratty could not help but blush and smile at this comment. "Well yeah, I am a brat. I can be. Always could be. Sorry Starsky and Vicious, that I am such a brat. Always will be."
"Uh, that's better," Miss Vicious looked to the sky, which was a hazy mess of late summer sunshine overhead. She absentmindedly reached for her pocket, which (for the fourth time this morning) did not contain any cigarettes. Dammit.
"I'm goin' in," she said finally. "And I have one request. Which is, will you two say a prayer with me before I go?"
The two raiders before her exchanged glances. Bratty shrugged. "Sure," said Starsky.
"Just repeat after me..."
While Miss Vicious recited the Lord's Prayer from memory, Bratty and Starsky tried to keep up, badly following the Christian bible's most famous incantation a sentence behind their leader. It was perhaps the worst rendition of the Lord's Prayer ever spoken. But it was effective. Miss Vicious felt pleased, and a little energized, that she had given her attention to whatever higher power was out there. If only for a minute.
"Give me a hour or so," Vicious said, before stalking off.
Taneesha's story continues to be interesting. I like both stories - this one and the previous, which in my eyes serves as the introduction to the second one.
We even got a history lesson about Germantown!
With such companions Taneesha is better off alone sneaking around and fighting Super Mutants!
Blamhammer sounds like a powerful weapon. If she had this shotgun at her disposal back in Fairfax, she might play hide'n'shoot with raiders that came after her.
Looks like that we find out in the next story what happened with those that went up north...
Agree with Lopov - nice history lesson on Germantown.
Managing those two companions is a challenge! Fortunately, she did score lotsa weaponry and ammo inside.
I wonder if Starsky and Bratty will kill each other by the time Miss VD returns...
I don't envy being a raider boss. Having to spend every day dealing with the people incapable of even pretending to fit in with the rest of society would age one prematurely.
It's Hammer Time! Miss V is really good with the headshots.
Man from Slovenia -- Yes, I figured I'd throw in what little I know about Germatown, and also see what comes up with wikipedia. We went to that giant cider barrel when I was a kid.
The Blamhammer is a modified shotgun. It does something like 10% extra damage, and was also given to Taneesha with full health, rather than about-to-fall-apart (as so many weapons out in the wasteland are). The thing about shotguns are, they don't have very much range. So the original idea was for Bratty to cover longer distances with her assault rifle. Starsky, on the other hand, was rolled with Leveled List Melee Weapons, so I had no idea what he's show up with.
Hope your vacation is going well.
Man from Vegas -- Yes, she has found a lot of ammo, but maybe only four guns so far: one assault rifle (semi-automatic), and three hunting rifles (single shooters). She hasn't found any ammo for the assault rifle yet though.
Germantown HQ includes a Bethesda-written quest which I think Vicious is going to smash into this morning, but I also wrote my own content.
Lady from Michigan -- Yeah, I know, right? In fact I knew Bratty's personality already when they met. But didn't know Starsky would play such a role, or that he'd even be named Starsky (his name in the game is the generic Raider). My original intention was that he'd be a guy who sort of played a background role, providing support to the team, and didn't have much to say. But just the fact that he showed up on this mission carrying such a miniscule weapon. Vicious couldn't ignore that. And as they've traveled together and I start 'hearing' each NPC's voice.... ahem.
Hammer Time it is!
..,
Chapter 22 -- Germantown HQ, part III
Saturday, September 1st, 2277
"This is bull *crap*. It's been over an hour, and she said she was only gonna be away for one hour, then she'd come back. I don't know about you, but I'm goin' in too."
"Hmm, well I don't know, Brat," Starsky replied.
"Oh, that's right," the brat taunted, "afraid of the dark, is what you said. What a load you are, ya know? Serious-like, why even come along with us if you was gonna pussy out wike a wittle wuss? Shoulda stayed back in Springvale."
Starsky stood still a moment, taking the insult quietly. Thinking and pondering. Weighing his options.
Up above, the sun was high and hot. Though Starsky and Bratty had no official way of telling what time it was, it had gone past noon for sure. To avoid the day's heat, the pair of raiders had taken cover under one of the tents outside of the police station. But both were getting restless.
"Look, if you go in there, so am I," Starsky finally said.
"Ha! I knew it! I knew you was lying! Afraid of the dark, my ass!"
"Because here's what I'm thinking," he said, ignoring. "What if something bad has happened to her? I am afraid of the dark, that part is true. Nyctophobia, it is called. But I signed up for this mission because I wanted to gain some experience. And maybe I just need to get over it. Get over my fear of the dark, that is."
Bratty rolled her eyes at him, probably for the seventh time that morning.
"Look, she may be in trouble. That's what I'm getting at. She may have gotten herself into a jam, and needs our help. So if you're going in, I'm coming along with you. And that is that."
"*Shoot*, you know, maybe you is right," Bratty said, suddenly wide-eyed. She blinked a half-dozen times at once. "Maybe she got caught up in there by who knows what?"
"That's what I'm saying."
"We gotta go in there!" Bratty said, ecstatically. "Screw this waiting around crap, we should see if she's alright!"
"Well let's go then. Come on. We can't waste any more time."
It probably won't be too long when Taneesha will realize that Red wasn't among raiders. I wonder if she'll decide to meet her in Big Town nonetheless.
Maybe those raiders ended up hanged on hooks like the one which Taneesha found.
If she killed all muties, then Starsky and Bratty should be safe...or not? Is there someone else lurking in the GHQ or maybe Starsky won't be able to cope with darkness?
Good story, it opened up quite some questions.
Lots of action here, and suspenceully written. I'm not surprised that Bratty and Starsky decided to go inside given that Bratty was chomping at the bit and Miss VD was overdue.
So now the Brat and the Starsk are on their way inside to save Capt. Doby.
Awesome! Miss V thinks that Red is a Raider, not someone from Big Town. I love how Red is puzzled over who Dogmaster is, and MVs talk of Springvale and the Super Duper Mart being safe zones.
Aww, Shorty didn't make it.
That is a weird looking energy weapon. I am guessing you added it with a mod?
And now of course, what happened to Starsky and Bratty?
I appreciate you three sticking with this tale week after week. Especially for you, Acadian. Since Fallout games are not your true love. It is fun, but also work! I must motivate myself at times. I guess it's the same way for every major story.
I anticipate Vicious will go through the rest of the summer, and partially into fall. I also still game with Cho Zen Wan quite a lot here and there. Maybe by the time this summer's over I'll be sick of Fallout 3, and finally ready to try New Vegas again. Or Fallout 4.
Lopov: You are right, pretty soon she'll realize Red is not of one them. The raider hanging from the meat hook is just coincidence. :yucky: Beth added that Otherwise, there would be no signs of raiders being in that area. Well... not by Beth, anyway.
I wanted Lopov to realize a few things.. a few inconsistencies, since he knows a lot of FO lore. And it looks like he did notice them, he heee. We message'd each other this week.
Acadian: Quite a lot of the rest of this story will have some sort of action. Whether it's actual fighting or Vicious ... figuring stuff out, and so on. Bratty and Starsky shall play stronger roles in this next coming chapter. But it would only make sense that they'd go after her, being bored, and also with the heat rising to summer temps. It's cooler in that station, I imagine.
Just so you know, the whole part with Red and Shorty is Bethesda-written content, whereas today's chapter shall be Renee-written content.
SubRosa -- Yes, the whole mistaken identity thing was fun to write! Especially because we know the difference. Shorty never makes it in my games so far. Cho also botched that part up earlier this spring when we did Trouble in Big Town for the fist time.
Yes, that energy weapon was added by a mod. All of that shall make sense in a moment....
What happened to Bratty and Starsky? Let's find out!
Chapter 23: Conclusions and Collusions
Saturday, September 1st, 2277, 6:50 pm
The police station was quieter, and the reason why raiders were not able to colonize Germantown's police station was now known. Because of this, Vicious was able to take her time, and search more thoroughly.
As she moved from room to room, she spared no gunfire. By now, she had somewhere over a hundred shells; her hunch that the place would have a lot of ammo definitely came true. So she blasted every remaining, living radroach with the Blamhammer.
There was nothing new to find in the basement, so she backtracked, and was now back in the station's ground floor. She was able to use her flashlight more thoroughly now, as she searched. Because of this, she eventually found a third prisoner.
"Whoa, whoa, who the *duck!* are you?"
The guy had ratty brown hair, and was wearing the armor of a raider, Vicious could see. "Oh ... damn," she said, "I musta missed you earlier. Sorry bout that. Good news, though. I got all the mutants. All of them is dead," she said with some pride.
"Well get me out of here!" he began dancing a little. He looked as though he was fighting off tears. "You got any lock picks? Please say yes."
Vicious looked into her bag. Found the key she had taken earlier from one of the mutants. But the key did not fit this cell's door.
"Dammit. Well yeah, I do have some picks. Hold on."
Being a black girl (whose hair required all kinds of daily upkeep), she always had plenty of lock picks. She had grown up wearing them, in fact!
"Watch this."
She reached toward her head with her left hand, and removed a couple bobby pins from her hair. "One thing convenient about being a girl," she smirked. "Always got lock-picking tools on my head."
"Easy there..." said the convict, his voice shaking.
She bent one of the pins a particular way, then inserted both pins into the lock in slow motion. First one, then the other. Concentration. Picking locks was one of her hobbies as a young teenager, back in the Jehovah's Witness temple she'd grown up in. So it took just two tries for her to feel the lock's tumblers, and roll them just right with a tiny snick, and a tiny click.
"Got it."
"Sweet!" The cell's door rolled open with a series of squeaks. "Pretty sure I was going to be somebody's next dinner..."
"Listen," Vicious grabbed him by the shoulder. "Slow down, and listen to me. You need to focus now. Stay alert. I got others with me. They's still outside. I came in alone, without them. So we's about to meet us some others, okay? All of us came up from Springvale, Dogmaster's orders. Because see? We take care about our own. But you gotta stay focused. Maybe stay back a bit as we walk."
The prisoner nodded.
"Let's go find you a gun," she added.
"Okay, you lead the way," he said eagerly. "I hope we get back to Springvale soon."
Vicious reached into her bag, and grabbed a few items. "You take this ammo, okay? I got us a couple guns upstairs, too. And here, have some food," she said, handing him a box of Junk Food. "And ta-dah, I got cigarettes." She gave him a couple packs, leaving her with five.
"Goddam, this is good. I can't thank you enough."
One thing she did not have was a Stimpak she could give him. In fact, she was out of these disposable healing kits, she had used every last one during her raid. He would just have to bear with this.
"So what's the deal with Red?" Vicious asked. She glanced across the room, where Red was still crouched.
"Oh that chick?" he asked. "The one who's wearing all red? Hey I don't know that chick." He scratched his face. "All I know is, she ain't one of us."
"Hmm."
"Not to confuse the issue, but we gots to get outta here!"
Vicious agreed. But first, she made sure to tell the raider prisoner to wait where he was standing first, while she moved Red into a different room.
Interesting and tense. Yeah, I remembered later that in Vault 106 one can encounter insane survivors but those are way too insane, not as intelligent and talkative as Starsky. So I didn't know whether Starsky actually somehow survived what happened in that vault and remained more or less sane or did he...lie. But why did he lie? Maybe he plans to do something dark. Maybe Bratty is in danger! Run, Taneesha, run!
All that ammo and bobby pins too! Fully prepared, she is. So she actually found a legitimate Raider to rescue it seems. Red is a question and now more questions arise about Starsky. . . .
she spared no gunfire
I loved this line.
A nice explanation for the use of bobby pins rather than lockpicks in this game!
There is an actual Raider in the place! Uh oh, now Red has been outed. My guess is that means she's going to be dragged back to Springvale to be tortured and murdered. Maybe they will keep her alive because she has some skill though.
I remembered Vault 106 as the crazy hallucination place too. I just figured Starsky stayed there for a while, and got himself some phobias for his trouble. But he made his Sanity Rolls, so he's not fully crazy.
I have never seen Wasterlanders running through the police station. That sounds like some weird bug.
Lopov: As you have gleaned, there's something fishy about vault 106. I was hoping you would pick up on this, you being more of a Fallout Lore Geek® than the rest of us.
Chapter 24: Starsky N. Hutch
Saturday, September 1st, 2277, 9:07 pm
That twist was far better than anything I expected, nicely done! I had some ideas in the back of my mind, what could happen, but none of them included the Talon Company or the reason why Starsky (if that was his name) was in fact after MVD!
Well at least Starsky felt the effect of the wanted gun personally.
Nice that Bratty's still alive.
Deliciously lopov-ed.
Wow! So Starsky was a bad guy / plant all along. Well, the warnings were there.
"Don't taese me, bro!"
"How about a taese and a blam then!"
Vicious lived up to her name here and can't say I blame her. Good that Trouble Bratty is okay.
I am such a ditz, and forgot to write the very last line of this story earlier. The one about Starsky's knife. Just added it in. Phew.
Starsky was a Talon company spy! I expected that he would be trouble. But not that sort of trouble. That is a really interesting turn of events.
Somehow I don't think he is going to duck off.
Ok, from that side pic I can see the gun is more like a regular taser now.
Yes Lopov, Starsky is his real name. Um.. was his real name. I guess it would be like if somebody in our times named his/her son Abraham. Nobody uses that name Abraham in America anymore, but if they did, it would be an obvious reference to one of our most famous presidents from the past.
That entire last set of episodes was not going to be like that at all, by the way. Originally it was going to be Vicious, Q Tip, Bratty, and some random raider (whose name is actually Raider, not Starsky) going up to Germantown all so Vicious can retrieve this cool mod I'd found. We couldn't bring Q Tip though; his AI package wasn't working right. And by the time everyone got to the raider campsite by that irradiated pond, I had all these new ideas for what IS actually going to happen.
Yes Acadian, there were definite warnings along the way. Subtle moments when Starsky would "think" and "ponder", especially when Vicious announced she'd be leaving them for a few hours. From my perspective, I knew he we plotting to get Vicious all his own.
In fact, his original plan was to somehow pluck her straight from Springvale. But then once he found out she'd be heading up to the police station, he decided to hitchhike along with Vicious & Bratty, hoping they'd find the stun gun, or any other such law-enforcement weapons which Talon Company was unable to locate.
The stun gun is added https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/22087, SubRosa, and the mod-author used some other gun mod for its textures and sound. I've done some random gaming with Vicious these past couple weeks, and I can confirm, the darn thing works! In fact it kind of breaks the game, since it works on huge targets such as super mutants.
But that's the idea. I wanted Vicious to become untouchable. Nobody can mess with her. Only if multiple targets show up do problems arise. Because between each taze, she must reload. Otherwise, look out Capitol Wasteland...
Chapter 25: Anticlimactic Arrival
Saturday, September 1st, 2277
Minimum Temperature: 70.9 °F
Maximum Temperature: 95.0 °F
Now that it was firmly September, everyone was looking forward to some relief from summer. But today was not the day for some cooler weather.
Vicious and Bratty spent most of September First getting lost, traveling in one very large circle. They located a street full of raiders who were even more barbaric than the ones near the Potomac. These villains had a house with an entire room devoted to torture! Though they accepted the traveling ladies with open, blood-spattered arms, Vicious and Bratty did not feel comfortable staying more than an hour with them.
Vicious did know how to use shadows, to tell which direction she was going. For instance, if it was morning and their shadows were falling to their left, they were walking north. If it was morning and their shadows fell to their right, they were walking south. Still, it was a good thing Vicious possessed her nifty handheld device (with its real-time map and GPS capabilities). It might have taken days to return home without it.
After walking and walking, and then realizing it was late afternoon, and they had merely arrived back at the police station, they decided to just spend the rest of the day camped where they'd started.
Vicious's device also had the ability to dial in radio stations. As they walked, they listened occasionally to the wasteland's latest news and music. Here's some of what they learned.
-- While Vicious, Bratty, and Starsky were busy in Germantown, the deviant monster being called the Card Killer had claimed another victim, right inside of Tenpenny Tower this time. Millicent Wellington was her name. No witnesses had drawn any conclusions, and no suspect had been developed or captured. A tarot card depicting Death had been placed aside of poor Millicent's body.
-- Somebody near the Megaton area had been seen eating the flesh of other humans. Not Rattler, said the news announcer. This cannibal was being described as a woman, wearing some sort highly-sophisticated head gear. A similar woman, a former scientist known as Loviatar, was also known to eat flesh, far to the west in the New Vegas area. Coincidence?
--From Galaxy News Radio, Vicious and Bratty also heard about 'the kid from Vault 101', and not for the first time. This 'kid's' fame seemed to be rising. He had recently been doing a bunch of missions for somebody inside Megaton. These missions included hunting mole rats, of all things! But it was also known that this 'kid', if he indeed was a kid, was also eager to hunt raiders. It was reported that the raiders who'd been camped at Friendship Metro Station had all fallen due to him.
"Shut that happy crappy off!" Bratty exclaimed when she heard that bit of info.
"How about I just change the station?"
Miss Vicious wondered if Three Dog, Galaxy News Radio's main announcer, had been talking about the same 'kid' she'd seen when she was in Megaton. The kid who'd killed that gangster-looking dude, right inside of Moriarty's.
Cool to hear the news and get an update on all our old friends and enemies!
Not the best reception back home in Springvale. Maybe Miss V ought to branch out on her own?
A Raider cleaning house? Inconceivable!
It is pretty neat how you have done this Raider faction.
Nice, how you include your own and our characters in Taneesha's story. *clap clap*
I wonder if we'll ever see or hear of Bratty again. I hope that she leaves Dukov's place before Rattler arrives there and https://imgur.com/BZg8dvm the place.
Taneesha's got her very own classroom!
Clever to use the radio for an 'around the wasteland' update. And as SubRosa and Lopov said, neat to feature some cameo mentions of their characters.
Stungun + Blamhammer + Vicious = Unstoppable.
Looks like these raiders pay well - Vicious gets her own room and 500 caps that she didn't even have to 'dance' for.
There was a member here at Chorrol who was named http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?showuser=1992. Whoever this is, he or she joined way back in 2006, and today is vicious111's birthday. What an appropriate day to post the next chapter.
Acadian: I love mentioning other gamers' characters. I try not to overdo it, of course. In Fallout games, we also have radio stations, and (in case you don't know) there is one station which constantly updates what the Lone Wanderer (similar to the Champion of Cyrodiil, or the Dovakhiin...) is up to. But Three Dog mostly just talks about our character as we do various quests with him or her. I like to imagine other news has to be mentioned as well.
SubRosa: Ah ha ha .... I've been holding on to that Loviatar mention for awhile now! Just had to wait for the right moment. I also did some reading on Lovi and a couple others (such as Hecate) from a few years ago, which was fun.
Vicious branching on her own is an interesting concept. I haven't written much about that part, but she has considered this, here and there. What always stops her is the fact that she grew up belonging to a "family" (the Jehovah's Witnesses) and so she has that mentality that she feels she must belong to some family or organization. Raiders, of course, can be quite despicable. So why is she with them at all? Especially being supposedly God-fearing?
I don't want to give too much away. You'll eventually see what happens....
Lopov: It's a Rattler pic Noooo!!!! But hmm. Now that you mention Rattler visits the place... hmm.
Bratty is a ditz. I don't think we've heard the last from her, though.
Chapter 26: The Bearer Bonds
Wednesday, September 5th, 2277
Location: Springvale Elementary School
Minimum Temperature: 66.9 °F
Maximum Temperature: 88.0 °F
"Yo Vicious," said Slick a few days later, as he caught her walking into the school from a late-summer rain storm. "Got something for you."
Miss Vicious Delicious, drenched from the rain, could not wait to hear what it was. Where would she be sent to next? Her heart rate increased just then.
"So." Slick began. "I been conferring with my associates, y'know? And we got us your first ... uh... task."
"Uh huh. Well technically, this is now my second task. But please continue."
Over the past few days, Miss Vicious had mostly been on her own. She walked to the Metro station across from Super Duper Mart, spent a day or so walking its underground tubes, clearing them of feral ghouls. She eventually ended at Friendship Station, an outdoor area where subway riders had once congregated as they traveled to or from work. Tourists also packed the station centuries ago, as they headed down to the Mall and museums. Vicious was pretty sure Friendship was the place where the 'kid from Vault 101' had killed all those raiders; this was what Three Dog had said over the radio. Fortunately, this information seemed to be wrong. A half-dozen were there, none of whom had gotten attacked in the last three days.
"So what have you got for me?" she asked Slick. Despite increased blood flow, she kept her face neutral.
Slick lit a cigarette. "So think of Megaton, a'ight?" he started. "Big place full of peoples of all types and kinds."
"Uh-huh. Megaton. What about it?" She noticed Slick seemed more lucid today. That is, he did not seem high on anything.
"So like, hundreds of years before the war, there was all kinds of things they used to do, ways to move moneys around. Y'know, like they had banks, and computers, and trading stations. Stocks and bonds. It weren't all about physical cash, right? They had, like, documents and transfers and liens and all kind of stuff."
Vicious frowned.
"There was these things called bearer bonds, y'see."
"Okay..."
"Bearer bonds were like these legal pieces of paper, a'ight? And they gave the owners of these legal pieces of papers total ownership, of like...all kinds of junk. Like, say, if the gov'ment waned to issue ownership to some corporation, of, let's say, some sort of property or transfer or whatever." He puffed his smoke, blowing out the side of his mouth. "As the market fell up and down, the stock market, that is, as moneys went up and down, you know, the market was always goin' up, or goin' down, people who had stock held within the market would either lose their money or they was gaining some. You could be poor one day, and rich the next. Or vice versa, see?"
Vicious crossed her arms. "Rick, where is this ... lecture going?"
"I'm gettin' to that!" He waved his arm impatiently. "See, these bearer bonds was like... securities, they was called. They was worth money. But as the market went up and down, the bond would make sure your money STAYED where it was at. Some dudes who owned stock would be rich one day, and poor the next. But not with bearer bonds."
"Okay..."
"Bearer bonds was always worth money," he finally stated.
Vicious said nothing. What the hell is this? thought she. I'm back in school, with a lunatic raider for my teacher, educating me on Economics?
"Well now they ain't worth *ship*. Them bonds. They ain't worth nothing. All of that got blown up with da war," he smirked. "No gover'ment, bonds ain't worth *ship*."
"So, what is this, this little sermon of yours? I thought I am here to discuss my latest assignment."
"But y'see," he ignored, "we gots words from Q Tip that a lots of peoples in Megaton still OWN some of these bonds. Got them all locked up. Stored away in their properties, y'see? When the tip was living in Megaton, he did some snooping around, right? He found they still got bonds there!"
Vicious said nothing.
The male raider smiled. "That's where you come in," Slick Rick began making his funny gestures again. "You go into town, you go on a lookout, goin' into peoples' homes and stuff, and you find as many of these bonds as you can." He was openly grinning now. Proud of himself, or something. "Probably they 'll look like they's all torn up scraps of paper, by now. You know, these bonds is old."
Vicious said nothing, so Rick continued.
"Don't know what Dogmaster wants with them, but this order comes down from him. You bring thems to me, and I bring thems to him."
"Ah, so this is Dogmaster's idea," Vicious replied. "I was gonna say. What the hell does he want with a bunch of old documents? ... even if they were worth money. Sounds to me like they were authorized by the government back then. Back then, that is. So what good are they now?"
"Hey, I don't know what the dog wants them for," Slick answered. "Don't really care, to be honestly. But that's what he wants, so that's what you got now."
"Hmm." Vicious looked to the ground, shaking her head. "I mean, it's like you guys just assume I'm going to be up for this. Like I want to go sneaking into peoples' homes to basically steal a bunch of worthless old documents. In Megaton. The town where I just got caught, and thrown into their new jail."
Now it was Slick Rick who was momentarily speechless.
"Do you know how embarrassing that was? Getting caught while stealing Psycho, and then hauled off to jail by Megaton's new officer? And you just assume I'm ready to go back in there..."
"Hey look, don't be .. uh.. talkin' like that, okay?" Rick said. "Like you's all disappointed and junk."
"Is it that obvious? I mean but seriously. How am I supposed to go back in there and actually DO this?"
"Hey, I dunno. Maybe wear a disguise!"
"A disguise?" she chuckled. "The *cluck* am I now? Bonnie and Clyde or some *ship*?"
"What'd you think, you was going to be sent off to kill some Enclave or something?" he asked. "I apologize, but this is your next job. This. Right here, is what you should of could of be doin' now, instead of arguing with me."
Vicious rolled her eyes.
"Tell you what. Pay is going to be even better on this one," he crushed his cigarette on a nearby wall. "I can guarantee this. That's one thing about the dog. When he wants something, you always get paid if you do right by him. And I know he's talking about more caps for this job. For whatever reason."
Slick Rick informed her of this, then wandered off, to whatever else he had planned for the day. Which probably wasn't much.
Miss Vicious began walking back to her classroom, biting her cheek. She'd been hoping for something a little more exciting. But maybe making a return back to Megaton wouldn't be so bad. Certainly, she would not have to face any dangerous monsters, for one thing. For another, she could work solo. With Bratty out being slutty at Dukov's for whatever length of time, certainly having a look (at least) into this Megaton business might not be so bad.
"Hmph. Guess I won't be needing my Blamhammer for this one," she said to the nearest wall, half-disenchanted, half-not. She stopped walking, just then. "'Thou shalt not steal,' the Lord says," she added. "But it sounds like these items, these bonds or whatever, can't be worth anything. Except to Dogmaster, of course. I should at least have a look, I guess," she rationalized half-heartedly. "Not like anybody would miss any of these if I grabbed a few. Not like I'd be stealing caps, or food, or weapons."
"Que pasa?" asked a raider male, walking slyly down the hall.
"And really," she said to the man without answering his question, "what the hell do I owe towards Megaton, anyway? Pshaw. They kicked me out of town! Locked me up, too. I tell ya..."
She began walking again. Wondered what Bratty and the others were up to. And if she'd made a mistake not traveling down to Dukov's with them. But her final decision? She wanted to at least see if there was any merit to this bearer bond business. Maybe lifting a few of them would be relatively harmless.
What an odd mission. I'm curious to see what happens. I should think Vicious has the right of it - what value is there to bearer bonds when the institution/government that issued them is long vaporized? Well, we shall see.
I loved it when Slick Rick referred to Q-Tip as 'the tip'.
A bearer bond heist? I hope a New York City cop named John McClain is not there to foil the job!
I like how you had a brief reference to the Lone Wanderer here. Shows how there is a bunch of other stuff happening in the wasteland well outside this story.
Surprised that a raider knows what any sort of bond is, especially 200 years after the Great War. Curious to see what this Dogmaster wants them for.
It's already August and although I'm enjoying this story, there's a lot to come and I'm feeling overwhelmed. Plus it'll be autumn pretty soon, and I'm eager to plunge into Skyrim, and continue the story of Laprima Donaugh, in the actual Fan Fiction section. So probably what I'll do is finish this next part of Vicious' story (Megaton, searching for these bearer bonds), and then continue with the rest of her story later, probably in Spring of 2022.
..,
Chapter 27: Return to Megaton
Vicious spent the rest of Wednesday September 5th pondering and preparing. How should she approach this latest mission, if it could even be called a mission?
She located Slick Rick after wandering the school's halls for an hour or so, and grilled him for more information. Such as, why was she even being given this task, especially since Q Tip is the one who supposedly found one of these bonds in the first place?
Turns out, Q Tip had been their local 'inside man' for covert operations into the Capitol Wasteland's more civilized locations. He 'cleaned up nicely' once he was out of his raider gear. He could be cute, especially with his unusual cue ball-colored hair. But he had also "done and *lucked* up" the last time he'd been in Megaton. Got into a bar fight after getting drunk at Moriarty's. Because of this, he too had gotten arrested by the town's new law force lady. He hadn't been jailed, though. At the time he had had enough caps in his pocket to simply pay for his crime. 50 caps was all it took. After this, he walked out of town a free man. But chances are, it would not be good for him to return so soon.
"Yes, but hello?" said Vicious, bulging her eyes. "You all seem to forget that I have also been arrested in Megaton recently, fool. Wasn't really that long ago. Everyone will know my face."
"Yeah, but you is, uh, you is a chick," Slick explained. "You is a lady, with plenty of ..uh... femininity to go 'round these parts. That is who you is."
"So?"
"Well, uh, see, I was thinkin' all about this. Like, you can put makeup on. Change your hair around and stuff, like you womens do. And and and.. no one will expect a lady prowlin' around their grounds, yuh? Snoopin' in their homes. Especially if you get all dolled up and pretty-like."
Before Vicious could protest further, Slick led her to a particular school locker, where one of the previous raider females had been keeping her clothes. The locker contained a lot of pre-war-styled clothing. Dresses and heels and skirts and blouses. Though Vicious rolled her eyes and pouted here and there, she did secretly admit to herself that going back into town with a totally new appearance would be rather... fun?
She grabbed a couple dress / shoe combinations, and also selected a hat she could wear. The hat was overkill. It had been made in the stormchaser style, meaning that it was designed for keeping one's face clean from dusty or rainy weather. It covered most of her face, in fact! Though this might seem odd; wearing garb like this was not totally out-of-place, here in 23rd century Capitol Wasteland.
Slick also explained to Vicious that Dogmaster wanted her to collect the bonds because of some sort of scam he was going to pull. Vicious hammered Rick with more questions, but he seemed just as clueless as she, beyond this superficial information.
Finally, Vicious needed to decide which weapons she'd bring into town, just in case. The two grenades she'd looted out of Germantown? No. Her Blamhammer shotgun? Nuh-uh. Too big, too loud, too messy. She'd likely not need any frag mines, either. Probably would not be such a good idea to lay some of those in some hidden locations, blowing to smithereens whoever was unlucky enough to walk over them.
So no guns, and no bombs. Instead she'd bring an old lead pipe, just in case she needed to get up-close and vicious with anybody. And definitely the stun gun.
Vicious smiled as she selected this second weapon. She lit a cig as she admired her new electronic piece. Such power it had; such potential. She'd done some research, reading an old armament textbook she had found in one of Springvale's classrooms. Apparently, stun guns had also been called Tasers back in the day. When she was zapping some enemy with her gun, 'tasing' was the official word for this.
Over the last few days, she'd been keeping the gun secret from the other raiders. "Bratty, please do not tell anybody in Springvale about my new gun," she had instructed as the pair of ladies walked home from Germantown. "Last thing I need is for every mother *ferker* back at school to be tryin' to play around with it."
So of course, the first thing the brat did was start bragging about their trip home from Germantown, and how Vicious now had this new, powerful toy. "She stuns it, I shoot it!" she gloated to the others. Because of this, Vicious was forced to mostly hide her stun gun. "What stun gun?" she lied several times. "Ain't no such thing as a stun gun. Bratty's high. She don't know what she the hell she be talking about."
She put her Taser on her teacher's desk, and cracked open a beer. Vicious spent the rest of the night getting plenty of rest. She got up early the next morning, ready and hopeful for the day to come.
Prim'n'proper and off to Megaton! Taneesha will definitely gain some attention in Megaton due to her looks.
Taneesha is wise to try and prepare for this curious mission - and does so. Out of her vicious outfit and into her delicious outfit.
And she makes it safely to Megaton. Without the blamhammer, she's going to have to rely on her other weaponry to stun and smack 'em down if needed.
Blamco Mac & Cheese for breakfast? That's what Sugar Bombs are for! Silly raiders. But I suppose they have to take what they can get.
Too bad Vicious doesn't have Stealth Boys handy. Then again, she'd have to work quick and it would be much more suspicious when the Stealth Boy suddenly runs out.
Do you work Fallout 3 perks into your story, Renee? I'm sure there's one that would come in handy for pilfering bearer bonds.
Am I blanking here? I'm not sure what Megaton Officer lady you are referring to. Isn't it Sheriff Simms, who is male?
@Lopov -- Yes, looks like news travels slow sometimes in the CW. Either this, or everyone is so consumed with discussing about the rookie idiots who went up north that they still talk about this.
@Acadian -- Ha ha that is true, she has become more Delicious, I suppose. I really need to have a better look at some clothing mods during this phase. Well, I already have a mod which adds some clothes; Janet wore some of these back when I was gaming with her. But this mod does not add specifically to Megaton's merchant, so maybe I can adjust this.
@Rader -- Who says we can't have mac & cheese breakfast, or Sugar Bombs for dinner? Vicious does have some Stealth Boys in fact. She was given a couple of these before the Germantown mission, but never used them. So yeah, maybe she will need to use those at some point.
Vicious does have some Fallout perks directed towards Stealth and Lockpicking. In her backstory as a child, she is supposed to have done a fair amount of sneaking around & picking locks.
Oh no, Q-Tip "Lucked" it all up by getting into a bar fight!
Miss V is going to get all dolled up and pretty-like!
I love the thought of everyone back at school wanting to play with her new gun!
Time to get all delicious
I think it is cool that you create these quests mods in order to play specific characters like this. You have way more patience than I do when it comes to that.
Rosa, me too. I loved imagining all the raiders were confused about Vicious's new gun. They see her carrying it around, but she pretends the thing is just a cheap energy weapon. Because yeah, just imagine if they knew what the thing could actually stun an enemy, rendering him, her, or it helpless. They'd all be fighting to get it!
Chapter 29: Return to Megaton, part II
"Thirsty? Pard'ner? Try ... Moriarty's. Coldest ... drinks ... in the Capital... Wasteland."
Vicious steeled herself before walking back into town. Her disguise seemed to be working, so far. On the other hand, she had only just been greeted by Deputy Weld. What would happen on the other side of Megaton's twin gates?
She walked to the gates, waited for them to open. *clank* *clank* *clank* they went as they rose. Once inside, first person she saw was Lucas Simms, Megaton's sheriff (sometimes mayor, when the need arose). "You lookin' for the mayor? Or the sheriff?" he asked.
Vicious did a little curtsey in front of him but did not reply. Just kept on walking. So nervous now. Summer day air, growing warmer by the minute. Memories from the near past, of being caught, arrested, and imprisoned. First thing she'd do when she had a moment to herself was jam one of the sedatives she had bought from Springvale's chem dealer into her arm, in an effort to calm her person.
But her nervousness didn't matter.
Lucas Simms stalked off.
Phew.
Vicious took a deep breath, before continuing down the hill. Megaton's water pipes clanked and groaned all around as she took each step. Would she be confronted? Would she be re-arrested for returning to town? She was not sure how the system worked now in Megaton.
But she needn't have worried. Nothing like that happened.
She walked down the hill, and passed the town's clinic. Here is where she had gotten caught a couple weeks ago, stealing Psycho. Maybe Megaton's doctor might see her walk by. Then he'd burst from his shop, pointing. "She's back! She's the one who stole from me!" He'd accuse her of witchcraft, he'd accuse her of all sorts of wickedness, such as not attending religious ceremonies.
But nothing like that happened.
"...people don't change, Jericho," whined Jenny Stahl, owner of The Brass Lantern. "You're bothering me. Now order something, or move on."
"Dammit Jenny!" Jericho exploded "Why do you have to embarass me like that?" Jericho was Megaton's resident Tough Guy. Rumor is, he was also a former raider. Which made sense. He had that Tough Guy Jersey accent, for one. He was also constantly pissed off about something. The one time Vicious had tried to speak to him, he told her to 'get the *cluck* out of my face!'
Vicious took a seat upon one of Brass Lantern's stools.
"So. What'll it be today?" asked Jenny. "We've got some noodles and the brahmin steak is pretty good, too."
First order of business was to get her stomach fed with proper food. Vicious had been living on pre-packaged Blamco Mac & Cheese, Junk Food, and Cram for days after her return to Springvale. Time for some real sustenance.
Second order of business? She would no longer refer to herself as Vicious. Not while she was back in Megaton, anyway. "I'll have some noodles," Taneesha said.
As she ate her second meal of the day, Taneesha silently planned. She removed the silly stormchaser hat she'd worn into town. The day was going from warm to hot, and she had determined by now that the hat would no longer be needed as a disguise.
Cho-Sen Wan. That was your Lone Wanderer's name, right? Fun fact: Chosen One is the nickname of the protagonist from Fallout 2. He/she might have something to say about your LW's name. But oh well, that's the opposite coast of the U.S. and almost 40 years prior to Fallout 3's events, so what are they going to do?
I don't remember uncovering this on my own, but when I found out about the Jericho's past with Jenny on the Fallout wiki, I wanted to kill him so badly. But even when you do it silently and in his home, everyone in town suddenly knows and tries to kill you. Hell, I think I even used the 'kill' console command one time and it STILL turned people against me! I don't think I tried it with the Sandman perk, though, so I think I'll try it sometime with my current character, Emilia. He deserves to die.
I like when Jenny says, "Have a look. Most of it is edible. Some of it even tastes good!" Such an amusingly honest admission. And I suppose that's usually the best you are going to get in the wasteland.
Ha! Burke got what was coming to him, and for everyone to see. Noice. Hopefully Moriarty gets the same treatment soon...
Interesting how you modded Lucy West's dialogue like that.
So, are these bearer bonds actually in your game as part of a mod? Or is it totally made up for this story? Or is it something I somehow missed in the vanilla game?
Phew, she got past the Sheriff with just a curtsey.
I love that she is afraid of being accused of Witchcraft! "Unclean! Unclean!"
Cho is off to Arefu! Cool!
Taneesha needs to work on her lockpicking skills I see.
Nice how events from worlds of your other characters interfere with Taneesha's, like Cho helping Lucy West and that Burke is already dead. But it can happen that she finds Major A. Holl in Burke's house, right?
Whew, looks like only her friends recognize her here. Nice cameo mention of Cho!
Hey, are those noodles moving?
https://youtu.be/fRG_cu4lS4g
Rader Yes, Cho is my Lone Wanderer, and yes his name is a play on chosen one. I am not sure if I knew this is the moniker of our Fallout 2 character back then. So his name equaling FO2's Chosen One moniker might be a coincidence.
Cho is the first character I rolled in Fallout. I'd really been wanting to roll an Asian in Oblivion, and it pleased me that FO3 allows this (and also Hispanics).
Wow (about killing Jericho, and then the entire town knowing). We know not of his past. You really tried and tried to get rid of that guy! I agree that Megaton, and also Rivet City, perhaps have the best food in the Wasteland. They can at least take the time to prepare stuff with proper kitchens.
As we last saw, Miss Vicious Delicious has been able to go back to being the girl she grew up as. She is back to being Taneesha Jones. She has searched a couple places inside of Megaton to find one of these bearer bonds, but so far has been unsuccessful. Now... she's attempting to pick the lock on Mister Burke's place. Will she be able to do so, without being noticed by any of Megaton's midnight stragglers?
Shhh....
Chapter 30: Starting the Search
Taneesha was more successful at her second attempt at picking the lock to Mister Burke's former home. She removed a second bobby pin from her hair, bent its tip just so, and inserted it into the keyhole. Positioned the pin slightly to the left this time. Inserted her small pocket screwdriver...
My my!
I can't believe that I got my hands on one of the actual bearer bonds! Two of them, actually! That adventurer had no idea these aren't ordinary pre-war books.
From what I read about life before the Great War, these bonds achieved wide popularity in some show called the Wire! Unbelievable!
I have a feeling however, that I'm not the only one in Megaton in possession of bonds. I could swear that I heard Jericho has one. Also, I heard that Moriarty was wildly angry the other day. Apparently, some prostitute escaped from him, and stole a bunch of things as well. Rumor is, he had a bond in his possession at the time.
And of course, there's the local Don. He has always been nutty, but his condition became severely worse in the past two weeks, after his mother Martha passed away from falling down some stairs. He's been more and more paranoid, always dressed like a child, playing with his rolling pin. The other day he was in my store, asking me about bonds. What is going on here?
He became very provocative with his hard-to-understand questions, so my guard ordered him to leave.
If it happens one more time, I'm going to report him to Simms. I wouldn't want for Don to know, but I now own two of these bearer bonds. He seems very unpredictable to me.
I just realized that Miss V is a supervillain. She has her Villain identity as Miss Vicious, and her secret identity as Taneesha. She goes back and forth with no one knowing that both are the same woman!
A frightful moment in the dear departed Mr. Burke's house. Thankfully it was just a false alarm.
None of my characters have ever eaten radroach. Not even Loviatar! Old feet indeed!
She found one!
Great reference to The Wire. I never watched it. I take it they had some episodes on bearer bond theft?
The local Don sounds like a lunatic. I wonder who that might be based on?
I got a chuckle out of Taneesha's conscience wrestling with those pesky property ownership customs.
Lose the shoes for sneaking, girl!
Well, looks like she found a bond - and gathered some clues for more as well.
I also wonder who this Don might be. And he walks around playing with a rolling pin? Oh my!
No bonds in the church? Odd, I'd expect that the mad priests would have had at least one.
Rosa: Good observation about being a supervillain. I hadn't thought of it that way, and I don't think she's quite to that status yet. But there is some truth that she can become a supervillian if she continues on the path she's on now.
The way I see it, she is like so many teenagers her age. Doing some things right, but getting twice as many things wrong. Trying to figure herself out, and so on. I have seen so many kids like this, even in the suburban neighborhood we live in.
Oh gosh. I wonder if any of mine have eaten radroach meat. Probably no in Fallout 3, but in New Vegas it IS possible. I use Hardcore mode in that game, and food gets scarce sometimes... blecch.
Paladin: Glad to make you chuckle. Yes again that goes back to the teenage thing. She's trying to convince herself that it's "okay" to steal, basically.
And yah, she really does need a good sneaky outfit.
Slovenia Guy: YOU are wondering who the Don might be??? But YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WROTE THE NOTE!!!
Hey, it said something about that show The Wire in Moira's Note. How do you know about this show?
Chapter 31: Sara Silver
Date: Friday, 09.07.77, 7:53 PM
Location: Springvale Elementary
"Yo Vicious. Hey, uh, you. You is back! So how's that hunt coming? You... you find any of them bonds yet?"
"I sure did, Rick. Have a look at this!"
"Hey, well hey. Look at that." Slick Rick stumbled off of his bedroll. He appeared to Vicious to be drunk. "You. You got us a bond there, sister. Ah, looky that there! Dogmaster, he gonna be proud! You's is .... you's a soldier, Vicious!"
Vicious took a moment to gloat in Springvale school's darkness before moving her agenda for the evening along to the next topic on her mind. "So. Next mission," she said. "What else you got for me?"
"What else? ... Hey, nooo .... nuh-uh," said Slick. "You ain't ready for no nother mission,. You ain't done with this here uh.. current one, yet."
"What you mean I ain't done yet? I done found you a genuine bond. Bound and typed some two-hundred years ago. Can't you use just that? ... Just copy that one. Don't Dogmaster hide himself in some old office park? If so, they should have a printing machine, or one of those copier machines. I seen a few of them still work, you know? Just make some copies."
But Slick Rick shook his head. "N-n-no, honey, t-that ain't gonna work. So you. You gonna haveta go out there, and uh... get more."
"MORE?" her voice echoed in the school's messy hallways.
Slick Rick flinched, a bit of fog getting blown from his head. "Yo, like uh. Calm down, Vicious." He put a hand to his forehead, as though fearing the onset of hangover.
"This is *bullcrap*." The raider stomped her feet. "I want a new mission! Send me into enemy territory, or something. Come on! I am ready to bust some heads, man!"
A small crowd of raiders had gathered at the far end of the hallway they were in. Layabouts, curious and listening. So Slick Rick motioned for her to move into another room, then he lowered his voice. "Oh yeah, I heard .. heard about your new gun," he smirked confidentially. "Don't worry, I ain't ... ain't gonna tell nobody," he winked.
"Good. Make sure you don't."
"So you's... you can like, stun somebody, without acturraly killing them, eh?"
Vicious said nothing at first. Then she answered. "Whatever you want to believe, Slick. Like I said, I am ready for something more dangerous, and daring."
"Well that. That comes later. Right now you, you gotta find more bonds, Vicious. There's more out there. Go find them, uh... please."
"Pfft. Whatever."
She sighed and turned, and began walking away. In her head, she knew her boss was right, and in fact she was eager to find more. She was enjoying this current mission, despite all her complaints.
"Like FIVE more, Vicious!" Slick called after her. "You find five, and then we can talk!"
"Whatever."
She had enjoyed sneaking around Megaton, and was looking forward to more. But there was no way she'd ever admit this to Slick. Just because.
Vicious walked back to her classroom, closed tthe door. Walked to her teacher's desk, and had a seat. Checked inside the desk's drawers. All 900 caps were still crammed inside. And so were a couple syringes of morphine.
"And now class," she said to the two dozen imaginary students sitting before her. "You are dismissed. Bon voyage. Have a great weekend. Tell your parents, if you still have parents, that you love them."
She had enjoyed her hunt up till now, but had also dealt with a great deal of stress because of it. Miss Vicious needed for the rest of the night to become a big blur. After inserting and plunging one of the syringes, that's sort of what she got.
That's odd. Why would I tell you about The Wire? It's a good show, in fact I am halfway through Season 4. Well, we talk about just about everything, so that's probably why.
Thanks for pointing out John Henry Eden instead of Eaton. I corrected them all just now.
Slick Rick sounds like he is tripping balls!
Miss V is now juggling her identities like every other superhero. Do I do this as Bruce Wayne? Or at Batman?
I love how you interspersed Miss V's discovery of the bond with President Eden's broadcast. That was a nice touch.
Uh oh, Miss V is feeling guilty. That is not a good sign in a Raider. She might be in the wrong line of work.
Like SubRosa said, it was a nice touch alternating between the radio and Taneesah's actions. Yeah, she was quite struggling with stealing from Silver.
Lopov: Yes, the second bond has been found. Every time I find one of these I get a little rush. They are like little confidence boosters. Like an Easter Egg hunt for adult gamers.
Chapter 32: Jericho
Date: Sunday, September 9, 2277, 2:17 PM
Minimum Temperature: 63.0 °F
Maximum Temperature: 81.0 °F
Location: Megaton's plaza
Next target for Taneesha was Jericho. One active raider, planning to prowl the place belonging to one former raider. Jericho would be of particular interest for Taneesha. Who exactly was he? Who was this dude, this bully who went around verbally abusing half of Megaton's adult population? One thing's for sure. Taneesha Jones was about to find out.
...Problem though. Where exactly did Jericho live?
Taneesha slogged out of bed when she felt like it, got her gear together, and left Springvale school. Changed out of her raider armor into an outfit of lighter clothes made of brahmin skin. Not exactly a stylin' Prewar dress like the one she'd previously worn into town. Lately she'd been rocking the clothes of a socialite, but was now dressed like a sharecropper.
Nevertheless, she was ready for the day.
Back in town, she searched for Jericho's place. Taneesha's plan was to break into his home during daylight hours. Jericho always seemed to be walking about town during the day, threatening and terrorizing its inhabitants. Often, he'd end his daily stroll with a stop next to Brass Lantern. There, he'd give poor Jenny Stahl a hard time.
So Taneesha knew his daily habits. Problem was, she couldn't find the bully's home. And today, Jericho himself was nowhere to be seen. But one is not successful at missions unless one's got the ability to think on his or her feet. Time for a new plan.
Step one. Her new idea was to wait until the *bunghole* showed up. ... Step two: she'd wait until he went home. She would wait all day if she had to. She would then follow the prick, find out where he lives. But she would not search his home then and there, right after he got home, and maybe went to bed. Why trundle through the den of a bear, when that bear has a daily habit of leaving? ... So, step three: the rest of her scheme stayed the same. She'd wait until he wasn't present before beginning her prowl. Heck, if she got there early enough, she'd have all day to perform her ... investigation.
But Jericho was not here today. Maybe because it was Sunday. Was the bully also religious?
"Anything's possible," Taneesha muttered.
After loitering around the Brass Lantern for a couple hours, eating and smoking and drinking Nuka Cola, the prospective prowler was getting seriously bored. She decided to search Church of Atom. Maybe the lowlife had become recently religious, and had recently joined. Maybe he'd be in there right now, praying to that stupid bomb.
"Let the men, women, and children come forth, to behold the power of Atom..." Confessor Cromwell lectured to his followers, almost as if on cue.
Taneesha Jones double-checked to make sure Jericho wasn't standing right there in front of her, mesmerized by Cromwell's sermon. He wasn't, so she moved into the church itself. Moved through all its rooms, especially scrutinizing its basement chapel. No Jericho.
"Hey it was worth a shot. Damn."
Speaking of shots, Taneesha decided to head over to Moriarty's and have a couple. Tomorrow was another day. Maybe Jericho would show up tomorrow.
"I mean, he always shows up. He always is just there," Taneesha said as she moseyed over to the bar. "Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day."
"See ya soon, drunkie," Gob the ghoul bartender said with a facial expression which could have been a smile, as Taneesha bought some brew.
Taneesha blushed as she took the beer to her usual spot next to Lucy West. "Say, you're becoming quite a fixture here!" Lucy quipped as her new housemate had a seat.
"Tomorrow's another day," Taneesha started, knowing Miss West would not exactly know what why and what. "A toast to tomorrow."
Good thing was, Taneesha did not need to wait until tomorrow to find the next bearer bond. After drinking for awhile and then going to Lucy West's house for a few hours of sleep, Taneesha returned to Moriarty's around midnight. She searched its back room, where Colin Moriarty had his office. In a crate (and under a holotape and a chessboard) she attained her third document.
"Two more to go," she smiled, looking forward to whatever Dogmaster had planned for her next. "Bring it on, bubs!"
Taneesha is going on her secret ID once more. She is on a stealth mission, like Batman wearing a disguise to infiltrate a criminal ring.
Uh oh, the scumbag Jericho is not cooperating! Maybe he is passed out in Moriarity's saloon?
Hah! She scored a bond from Moriarity. She should have left a bottlecap mine in its place...
It took me a long time to realize you could go into the Brass Lantern as well. Most of my characters never do.
Now she found him, and MVD is picking a fight! I guess you still get the town turned against you if you kill him. I never tried.
A long time ago I also had a character that wanted to talk to Jericho about something and couldn't find his home either.
Looks like Colin didn't hide the bearer bond good enough. The good thing is that he'll probably blame the theft on Silver.
Jericho is provocative but he won't allow to be provoked.
Now follow that bunghole, Taneesha Jones!
Bond number three! Woot!
You go, girl! Give that Jerrico bully his attitude back with interest!
Somehow, she's got to still figure out where the dude lives. . . being real low key oughta do it. . . oh, wait. . . .
Acadian -- Yes indeed, somebody has to stand up to Jericho. And that someone is my character. There are a couple others she'll maybe give the same treatment in town; Moriarty himself can be a real ass.
I am glad you seem to have enjoyed the showdown between those two!
Lopov -- First of all, happy 34th to you. I hope you had a good one, and your silence here in the forums this weekend tells me you're probably inundated within your family.
In fact, Jericho's home is really easy to find, and obvious. But I messed up something in the GECK because I duplicated his home to be Megaton's Jail. After duplicating, I somehow erased Jericho's Home, so that now his home hasn't got anybody's name on it. In RP terms of course, this worked out perfectly. Because why would he want his home's name displayed to the public? And yes, she's about to follow that *bunghole*.
SubRosa -- Oh yea, she is definitely getting the hang of subterfuge by now.
I have no idea what would happen if Taneesha became vicious, and attacked him out in the open. You have to also remember that in my Megaton, it is possible to get arrested if somebody picks a fight, and the Player is the one who instigated that fight.
That is why I was sort of *hoping* Jericho would lose his cool, and began trying to beat my toon in the process. Part of me was curious to see what would happen. But after exploring all dialog options with him, all it leads to is a bunch of fluff & tough talk. No action.
A bottlecap mine for Moriarty? We'll see what we can do.
Chapter 33: Bonds, more Bonds.
Date: Monday, September 10, 2277, 6:36 PM
Location: Megaton
It took three hours of waiting, three hours of stare-downs and casual taunts and insults between Megaton's bully and Taneesha Jones. Jenny Stahl maintained her cool as she served a few customers. Confessor Cromwell continued to preach. Lucas Simms and Megaton's law enforcement lady stayed out of the simmering feud happening right in front of them, as well they should. For a long time now, everyone had tolerated Jericho's behavior. Why couldn't somebody in town take initiative and do something about him?
Finally, Jericho seemed to have enough. Taneesha was gulping down a Nuka Cola when all a sudden, the former raider abruptly turned, and began walking up the ramp adjacent to Brass Lantern. Miss Jones waited a moment, then followed him up the ramp.
Jericho sauntered slowly --cloop, cloop, cloop-- until he came to Lucy West's outdoor patio. Here he had a choice: keep walking straight, or turn left, continuing up another ramp. Jericho turned left. Taneesha followed. The bully walked until he came to a metal hut. By now, both he and Taneesha were two stories up, directly above The Brass Lantern. He opened the hut's door, and went inside. Taneesha shook her head, wondering how she could have missed this door, which she was sure she had checked at least twice.
She walked over to his door.
"A-ha."
It's because Jericho's home was not listed as Jericho's home., Taneesha noted. The door's placard was blank, in fact.
"Nice."
As much as she despised the man, she had to admit living in an unlisted house was clever, for somebody of his reputation. Anybody coming into town looking for him would not just be able to surprise him in his own hut.
"In any event, the fool's back home. Don't know if he's sleeping or not, but all I gotta do now is wait 'til he's out, again. Out and about."
She squatted down, groaning in her uncomfortable shoes, and checked his lock with one of her hair pins. The pin was inserted the until she felt resistance. In a matter of seconds, she'd determined that his home would not be so hard to break into.
"Time to move on, I guess."
During the last couple days, Taneesha had been itching to get back out into the Wasteland again. Itching to go find some place to raid. Last time she'd checked her stash of caps back in Springvale, she was surprised to find she'd already spent more than 300 over the past few days. Some of these 300 caps were for necessary expenses, such as food and clothes. But she'd also been spending money on booze and chems, specifically sedatives. Here is where the bulk of her savings had gone.
Because of this, she would need to either curtail her spending, maybe even seek a cure from Doc Church. Or return to the Capital Wasteland, where a lot of caps could be earned, especially if she looted the right hideout. She felt herself edging toward Option Two.
"Let me just find one more of these bonds," she told herself. "After that, you can go and have whatever fun in the Wasteland you desire."
I think this is for the first time that we see Taneesha Jones actually pissed off.
She's doing a great job with those bonds.
I wonder what did Three Dog say.
Taneesha made Jericho run home! Now she knows where his lair is. Ready for some ninja action later.
Whoa, Miss V is on a drunken roll in collecting bonds. What is she going to find next Barry Bonds? James Bond?
The Dog wants what he wants. Now that is a true statement in any context...
Uh oh, what is the Wasteland's latest news? Has that Cho Zen Wan been up to more good deeds?
How do I get one of those clever unlisted houses?
Thieving while drunk and wearing a pretty green dress with heels is generally not advised but Miss VD somehow pulls it off.
Ten?!? Ohhhhh – VD’s initial fury yielded to some pretty impressive restraint. Grrrr.
The unlisted house was a mistake, Acadian! I did some 'work' in the GECK last year, duplicated Jericho's home, and somehow erased the Name part of Jericho's original home. In terms of this story of course, it worked out perfectly. But behind the scenes things got hectic on my end, as I wondered where he's supposed to live. Does he leave town to go home? That did not make sense.
In the end, I did not cheat on Fandom, but I did have to have a look back in the GECK, which is sort of still cheating. If I'd gone on Fandom though, I would have really gotten mad at myself.
Taneesha is definitely returning to Jericho's home. She (and I) really think one of those bonds are hidden in there.
Rosa: eventually Vicious will meet "the Dog" but that's going to be way in the future. In 2022, for sure. Then we'll see why it says "the dog wants what he wants..."
Thank you Lopov. From your perspective I bet you're enjoying this as we blunder & bumble around. Now let's see what the heck Three Dog had to say...
To all: I am trying something new in this chapter. I hope it's not too nauseating!
As we last saw, Taneesha "Vicious Delicious" Jones returned to Springvale Elementary School carrying five of the bonds required for her to finish her current mission. She expected to get paid, and move on to something else. But Slick Rick informed her she needs to get at least five MORE documents before she can receive a new mission. This caused Vicious to become enraged, and storm away from her immediate boss.
Now... we find her tucked away in her teacher's classroom, suddenly interrupted by something she's heard on the radio. Whatever it is, this news has caused her to jolt straight out of her chair, alarmed and outraged.
Chapter 33: The Latest News
Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2:02 PM
Minimum Temperature: 54.0 °F
Maximum Temperature: 87.1 °F
Location: Springvale Elementary School
Vicious Delicious was calm and laid-back in her teacher's chair, sipping her scotch and smoking her cig. Trying to cool off after a heated exchange with the Spingvale school raider's lame lieutenant, Slick Rick. To further help herself relax, she turned her Pip Girl's radio on, and dialed for Galaxy News Radio.
"...time to be electrified, stupefied, energized, and enormified. This is Three Dog, owwwwww!" Galaxy's disc jockey chortled. " Radio Free Wasteland, for youuuuu, no matter how bad it hurts..."
As the scotch began its swimmy effect within her head, Vicious kicked her feet up on the desk, wondering if some teacher long ago did this very same thing during lunch breaks, when all the students were off to the playground.
"And now? Some news."
As per his custom as a professional announcer, Three Dog's voice went from goofy and grabby to grim and grave. The news began with some sort of rant about the Enclave, which Vicious listened to with half-an-ear. The Enclave were building up to some sort of showdown, with John Henry Eden subtly urging them on, yar-yar-yar. Something like that. Whatever it was, these events did not much affect the lives of raiders.
Vicious coughed.
Next topical item dealt with the 'kid from Vault 101'. Lately he'd been spotted up north, making some sort of headway in the village of Arefu, where things had gone silent and serious. Vicious smiled, thinking of Lucy West, her Megaton housemate. Lucy's family had been living in Arefu, which had some of its houses located on top of a half-broken, ancient highway overpass for reasons of safety. Hopefully there'd be some resolution there. Vicious waited patiently for Three Dog to kick on some Billy Holiday or Andrews Sisters, so she could start boogeying in her seat, and forget all about this mess with upper management.
But then, everything changed with the D.J.'s next few words, and her recreationally-enhanced relaxation was abruptly interrupted.
"Also across the wasteland, an attack on Dukov's domain..."
"What?" She swished her feet off the desk, and planted them on the floor carefully, so she would not miss a word. Ears open and alert.
"...Seems that rude and redemptified rascal known as Rattler has done some damage down at Dukov's. Reports are just coming in, but sadly, seems several girls down there have danced their last dance, and maybe escorted their last Lance. Rattler, that crude, crafty cannibal, has struck again...."
"No, goddammit, NO!!!"
"Dukov himself has been noted as having survived the onslaught, but just barely. According to reports, the whorehouse's top pimp was bled and bitten, but rescued by some unknown hero. In any event, it's sounding like Dukov the dame-peddler may need to recruit some new ... aah... talent. And Rattler? Where is the man so many love to fear, and fear to hate?"
"That ... *trucker!*" Vicious was pissed. "Screw the bonds mission, I need to get down to Dukov's."
There was an instant flurry of activity as she tried to do three things at once. Caps! Gun! Ammo! Food! She'd need to head down there as soon as possible, which meant NOW. But she'd also need to go prepared, for the walk across the Potomac would be riddled with enemies. Super mutants, centaurs, mirelurks, and so on. As she rushed about her classroom, checking her locker, checking her desk, checking the trashbin, her radio continued to operate.
..."Thanks for listening chill-dren, this is Three Dog, owwwwwww!" the onair jockey howled, smile back in his voice. "You're listening to Galaxy News Radio. And now, time for some music."
The sounds of Let's Go Sunning pervaded Vicious's classroom as she scrambled and fumbled and stressed about her upcoming journey.
Miss V is kicking back with a bottle of scotch, just like any other teacher!
Uh oh, Bratty is in trouble! I was wondering if you were going to tie in Rattler's attack on Dukov's place with your fic or not. Here is my answer. I wonder who that was that rescued Dukov? Maybe Bratty? Maybe the Stormcrow?
Looks like the Tip doesn't want any part of a Rattler crime-scene. It is hard to blame him. The Rattler has the entire Wasteland scared stiff.
Uh oh, Miss V is going all Jezebel on the Tip. He doesn't stand a chance now.
Miss VD doesn't actually have very many friends, so it's not surprising when she perceives Bratty may be in trouble, it be time to go snake huntin'.
And she discovers her feminine wiles! Well-played, Taneesha. . . well, at least for now. Ought to be fun to see how this goes!
Wow, Taneesha's got a boyfriend now. She made him an offer that he couldn't refuse.
Is it really clever to go in the area where Rattler has been spotted?
Looks like I need to reload his game and finish off Dukov.
Hey, thanks you three for your attentions. I am preparing the next chapter of MVD and this shall be her last chapter of 2021. But don't get bummed. More Vicious will be on the way some time in the spring of 2022, and my gosh there will be some thrills and chills, while my skills with the GECK get pushed to their very limits.
Next chapter should go up tomorrow.
Rosa: Heh heh, that's true about the teacher sneaking bottles of liquor. I wouldn't blame some of my daughter's teachers over the years if they had to 'refresh' themselves occasionally.
And heck yeah, Vicious is heading toward Dukov's Look out Rattler, you snakey scumbag!
None of my characters has ever offed Dukov. He may be a pig, but my impression from talking to his 'girls' was that they were sex workers who chose to be there, and were being paid a better wage than they normally would get. So while it is still exploitative and gross, he's far from say, a Moriarity. Jan or even Hecate would save him from being murdered by raiders, let alone a monster like Rattler. Fighting people like Rattler is exactly what January exists.
Yeah, see, that's what I mean. I wasn't sure if any of yours (or any of Lopov's, or any of Khajiit's) could be the rescuer, so I left that blank. Turns out, I was way wrong about how Hecate or Stormcrow would handle a dying, half-bled Dukov. Makes me glad I did not interject anybody we know into that part of the last chapter.
And now that I think about it, whoever the rescuer is would have to have a high Medicine skill. Rattler likes to bleed, so blood packs would be required to save Dukov. The hero there is still open for interpretation.
Okay, this won't be the last episode of 2021, there will be one more. Next week, I promise. And now, a word from our announcer...
As we last saw, Taneesha 'Vicious Delicious' Jones has heard some disturbing news about the place where her best friend Bratty had gone to. Dukov's place was under attack! This caused Vicious to spring into action, gather up her gear, and convince a raider named Q Tip to come along with her.
Now... she's off to Dukov's with Q Tip in tow, though she's made some promises to him she's not sure she can keep.
Chapter 34: Heading to Dukov's Place
Date: Wednesday, September 12, 2277
Minimum Temperature: 66.9
Maximum Temperature: 88.0
Playtime: 49:41:25
Vicious and Q Tip spent the rest of Tuesday getting prepared for their trip. In fact, Vicious could not just leave as hastily as she'd planned. She took a few hours to return to Megaton and pick up extra supplies, before going back to the school, and calling it a day.
Truth was, whatever happened at Dukov's could not be changed, or rectified. What's done is done. Tomorrow would be just like today, Vicious reasoned. If Bratty was dead, Bratty was dead. And if she wasn't, well, chances are she could not get very far, assuming she wanted to leave the place.
Whatever had been going on down there, it'd been good enough for her to stay down there, to Miss Vicious's chagrin.
Next morning. Vicious and Q got an early start. The trip to Dukov's would take most of the day, and it was better to get out there early, before the radbird caught the worm. The sky was clear, the air typically warm. Vicious and Q Tip left Springvale around 8, and decided to stop by Super Duper Mart an hour later. At the former supermarket they looked for anything they could use. Extra ammo, mostly. A couple grenades, and so on. Oddly, Vicious needed some shells for her shotgun.
Oh yeah, the shells. Nobody had touched the hundreds of caps Vicious had stored in her Springvale classroom, but someone had taken all her shotgun shells.* Fortunately, she did manage to find a couple dozen at the market.
Finally, they were ready to go!
Q Tip brought his own gun as well; a small handgun. But he had always been more of a melee type of guy, so he also retrieved his ripper. Rippers were handheld, battery-powered mechanical devices which operated like small chainsaws. Q Tip's ripper would buzz and make all kinds of noise as it minced the flesh of Q Tip's victims to shreds.
Now that they were both prepared it was time to cross the bridge across from the market. Here they'd begin their trek down the east side of the Potomac. Centuries ago, this thoroughfare had been pretty, stocked with flowers and banners, manicured bushes and cherry trees, along with plenty of sights to see for the millions of tourists. Now it was littered with hostile creatures and hostile goons. Toxic sludge, rust and bombs. Vehicles which still contained various types of fuel, and could be shot at and blown up. Because of this, and because Q Tip had never been in this part of the Wasteland, Vicious explained that it was important to travel cautiously.
"You mostly been stayin' up in Megaton and Springvale, where maybe a rabid dog attacks, maybe a small radscorp," she said. "Up there, Deputy Weld takes care of all that. But. Out here, there ain't no Deputy Weld. No guards top of towers. No caravan guards. We all on our own. So we gotta think smart. Keep looking around, okay? Never just charge into battles. Think like that fella from Vault 101 we been hearing about on the radio, virtual killing machine, from the sound of it. Never give the advantage of surprise."
"Pfft, let them come," scoffed Vicious's new boyfriend. "I'm ready for them. So let them come."
Just after crossing the bridge they then encountered Talon Company militants, who were about a hundred feet away. The militants were just south of the metro depot, pacing back and forth. Vicious spotted them first. After assessing who they were, she then hunkered down behind a trash barrel (instructing Q Tip to do the same with a hand movement). Finally, she broke out her stun gun.
"Here comes the Taser," she said softly to her companion. "Watch this, Q." .
"Talon Company!!!" one of them shouted, as Miss Vicious stood and rushed toward them. She aimed her gun while... *brawwaww!* ... at her side was a sudden buzzing sound. Q Tip had fired up his noisy, handheld device.
One of the men drew an energy pistol, while the other grabbed his semi-automatic rifle. ...*BZZT!*... Vicious zapped the one with the pistol first, then paused to reload. -- *click clack* -- That was the main drawback of her Taser; it could only hold one energy cell at a time, necessitating a reload with every shot.
While she was loading, Q Tip had closed the gap between himself and the one with the rifle. This second soldier got a few rounds off, but once Q got to him with his ripper, blood and guts began flying! Ugh, what the hell? thought Vicious, as --*PLTTHTH!!!* -- she quickly tased the second victim, causing him to fall sideways ike a sack. With both mercs down, Q Tip could go to town slicing his opponent, while Vicious swapped to her shotgun, and blew the first man's head off.
"God damn that is good!" the Tip gloated once the battle was over. "Man, I gotta get me one of those stun guns!"
"Yep, you do, boyfriend. Because this one? It's mine."
"Aw, I see how you play that. I see how it's gonna be. Well, then..."
Over the past day and night as they'd prepared, Miss Delicious was nervous about her former 'romantic' proposal. What would Q Tip expect now that they were supposedly boyfriend and girlfriend? Would he become pushy, like so many men in the romance novels she'd read as a child? Would he want sex and lovin' right away? Would she need to tase the man at some point, in an effort to teach him some valuable lessons about females?
Fortunately for her, Q Tip seemed just as clueless as she was. He'd also never been in a relationship. Had no idea what the heck it actually meant to be in one. Sure, he'd has his fill of flings, and a couple paid romps with Nova up in Megaton. But as far as actually pairing up with somebody, he had no actual clue on how that worked.
Boyfriend and girlfriend, both of whom had grown up without guidance in these matters.
They encountered a few more enemies as they walked a few miles south. Mirelurks, a centaur, and one huge super mutant hidden in an old trailer. With each new batch of targets, Vicious and Q Tip worked out a system. She would use her Taser to stun them, while Q Tip would power up his ripper. Lord help whomever (or whatever) was at the other end of its rotating chain.
Finally they made it to Dukov's. By now it was early evening, just after six. The air was late-summer warm, with a light breeze coming off the river. Vicious contemplated what to do next.
"So what do you think's gonna happen in there?" Q Tip quizzed. "Three Dog said Rattler moved on, but what if he still in there?"
"Pfft, what are you, scared?" She wiped her brow. "If Rattler's in there now, he'd better hope there's a back door he can flee out, before Vicious and Q Tip take him down. Right?"
"Uh, right."
"Don't be nervous Q. Come on, let's go in."
"Uh yeah, sure, okay."
"Mmm, but maybe it'd be better if you actually don't come with me. Not yet, anyway."
"Why?" Q Tip said, his finger already on his killing machine's ON/OFF switch.
"Uh, because I said so, man!" Her hands went to her hips. "Because I'm your girlfriend. And because I've done this before. And I want to see for myself first, okay?"
Q Tip did what a good boyfriend should, in her opinion. He rolled his eyes, but he said nothing.
"There's a raider camp just down the road there. Why don't you go and get acquainted with them? ... Maybe I can walk there with you before I head into Dukov's. Yeah, think I'll do that. Come on, Q."
The pair began to walk south just as the sun was going down. As Vicious and Q Tip approached the raider encampment, a solitary figure gazed down at them from high above.
-------------------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/RHZLYGP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JY53G0m.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/eEsQl5R.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rsG12L2.jpg (notice the corpse hanging from the end there).
https://i.imgur.com/x9BGvGi.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/medias.photodeck.com/ed4b5fed-2bec-4565-beb7-399741cf44fe/CD_2003_1020_0326_xgaplus.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bL606LN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qbYmAaw.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MwAM2jf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/79ae6Tb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/chHpniV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/K3QwHrm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/q0z1UTe.jpg
------------------
Notes-- I seriously have no idea what happened to Vicious's ammo. She had over a hundred shells stored away somewhere, now we can't find them!
Note 2: The end when Vicious has Q Tip wait at the raider camp. that was my sudden realization that he's still part of the Raider Faction. Can't have him going in there if he's just gonna tear everybody up. Including Bratty. When I teleported her to Dukov's months ago (via script) I also removed her from the Raider Faction (via script) so she won't just go berserk in there.
Stay tuned for next week... on.... Miss Vicious Delicious!
So Miss VD and her new bf get off to an early start – afore the radbird catches the worm as it were.
Ripper and the Talon Company chainsaw massacre! Messy, but effective I guess.
What a hoot as VD and Q try to figure out what means this boyfriend/girlfriend stuff.
Uh oh, their passing has been observed. . . .
Definitely better to get out there before the radbird gets the sandworm...
Oh noes, one of the Raiders stole some of her ammo! Oh wait, they are raiders after all... (seriously though, you might have stored them in a container that was not safe, and it may have respawned.)
I love that Miss Delicious is handing out wise counsel. Here we can see why the Raiders would want her back, and why she is the one being given special missions, while the rest just loaf around getting high.
Hopefully they won't run into that killing machine from Vault 101!
Talon Company. I hate those guys.
But what Miss D knows about mutants and mirelurks, she lacks in dating advice! Sad to see that even January is even more savvy on that front!
Uh oh, that solitary figure in the red bandanna looks familiar...
Acadian, you were in the military. Has there ever been such weapon as a ripper? I think not. But I also think its intended original purpose was cutting into things, but not fleshy things. :yuck:
I am glad you and SR are okay with the boyfriend / girlfriend stuff. Was worried about that, because I actually don't know what to write! But it's okay. Over time I will get a sense for how Vicious will approach this.
Rosa, that is a mystery about the missing ammo. From what I know about Fallout, any container which we can take stuff from (rather than stealing) is supposed to be safe? She's only been putting stuff into "Take From" containers. I also gave her her own lockers in the school and in Lucy West's house. So... weird.
Yes, Vicious is wise with her choices, this is true. I imagine most raiders are layabouts who can't be trusted. They are young and dumb and don't care about tomorrow. Like extras in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi flick, they are the ones you see getting bombed and making a lot of noise. Whereas Vicious as you've noticed does have this double life thing going, and she wants to be good at it, too.
Haha, a chainsaw weapon would be disastrous regarding friendly fire when fighting as a unit and even self-injury when 1 vs 1 as it got blocked/deflected around and/or knocked back into the wielder.
A wonderful job and nice that you let us know you are wrapping up this season until next spring. Let Tanesha rest and I look forward to see her again in the spring!
I'm also looking forward to the continuation of Taneesha Jones' stories in 2022. In a one-year's time Rattler will probably already be dead, so no worries that he'll stick around.
Here's a scene from the last moments of last season's ... https://i.imgur.com/eEsQl5R.jpg.
Welcome to Miss Vicious Delicious, Season 3. Without any ado, our announcer shall tell us where we left off. Randy?
As we last saw, Taneesha "Vicious Delicious" Jones was in the midst of collecting and stealing Bearer Bonds from the dwellers of Megaton, turning these bonds over to the raiders of Springvale Elementary School. At the time, Bratty, Vicious's best friend, had headed off to Dukov's Place, a seedy establishment specializing in ... adult entertainment.
Two weeks later, Miss Vicious heard a radio report that Dukov's had been attacked by the maniacal cannibal known as Rattler, which caused her to spring into action, heading off to Dukov's in an attempt to find, perhaps even rescue, her best friend.
Now... Vicious and her new boyfriend Q Tip near Dukov's cautiously, to see what exactly has happened.
Chapter 35: Saving the Brat
Date: Wednesday, September 12, 2277, early evening
Current Temperature: 81.3 F
The sun was in its process of retiring for the day, as Miss Vicious and her new boyfriend Q Tip approached the raider camp south of Dukov's. Today's muggy heat would soon drop, as night would cull some cooler air. Most everyone looked forward to this. Summer would soon be over.
Vicious's original plan was to go into Dukov's flophouse with Q Tip, to see if their mutual friend Bratty was inside, and also still alive. The psychopath known as Rattler had recently attacked the place, with casualties definitively reported by Three Dog, one of the Capital Wasteland's top radio jocks. Had the brat been one of these casualties?
Vicious was about to find out, but at the last moment, decided maybe it'd be better if she went inside alone. She'd originally asked Q Tip to come along with her, but the truth was, she did not know who (or what) might be lurking in there. Would the Rattler still be inside of Dukov's? If so, Vicious wanted him all to herself.
Q Tip grudgingly agreed to wait at a raider camp just south of the whorehouse. He and Vicious then walked there together, keeping an eye out for trouble.
"Eh! What did I tell you about lookin' at me like that!" a raider gal with green hair yelled at the newcomers. "Are you in the mood for a busted lip or somethin'?"
Perfect. Just like home. "We'll stay here for the night," Vicious told her companion. "Go make yourself a drink or something, Q."
Raiders occupied dozens of outdoor camps around the Capital Wasteland, some better than others, some scummier than others. This camp was relatively clean (or at least, tidy), and also well-stocked: food, guns, ammo, beds, well-worn furniture. At some point, somebody had thought to decorate a dead tree in the middle of the camp with Christmas lights, even. The camp also had a couple of nice, scenic views: Potomac river to the west, the tip of Washington's Monument to the east.
Vicious tested the locals, grabbing a whiskey and a box of Dandy Boy Apples from a nearby shelf, just to see if the unspoken raider credo of If it's out in the open, it don't belong to nobody (which was the rule up north) was also true here. Nobody cared. Nobody got upset about this. The gal with green hair continued to walk around, agitated about something. But not about the food and liquor Miss Vicious had taken.
Vicious sat on a chair. "Eh you," she called to green-hair.
"What, girlie?"
"You know about that scumbag Rattler?"
"Yeah," green-hair said. "He's that loser. Goes around choppin' people up, and eats them, too. So?"
"Is it true? That Rattler was here? Heard he attacked Dukov's up the road." Vicious lit a Lucky.
"Pfft, I wish. That *bunghole* shows up around here, I'd like to cap his ass myself!" green-hair said, ratcheting her rifle. "He'd better not show up around here. His ass'll be grass, if he does."
Hmm. "So you ain't heard about no trouble up the road?" Maybe the radio report spoken by Three Dog was wrong.
Green-hair shook her head. Vicious asked a few more individuals the same question, and pretty much got the same answers. Apparently, Rattler had not been to Dukov's, and he'd certainly not been near the camp. Had anybody seen him, they would have gladly blown his head off.
"So, whatcha wanna do?" asked Q Tip. "We gonna stay here, or what?"
"No, you's gonna stay here. I think I'll have a look-see myself up the road. Maybe all this was a false alarm."
Vicious thought her new 'boyfriend' might get bent outta shape, that he might demand to come with her, but he seemed okay. "Cool. Well I'll be kickin' back here," he said, opening his flask, taking a sip. "You just holler down at us, if you need some ... assistance." He patted his ripper as he said this.
"Uh, yeah," Vicious answered nonchalantly, puffing her cig.
Truth was, she was now concerned. Because if Dukov's Place hadn't been raided, this meant Dukov's girls would still be inside. Safe? Yes. Alive? Yes, and this might pose a few problems if Q Tip were present. Because what would he do, around all those supposedly half-naked females? Would he pony up a few caps to try having a romp with one of them? Would he suddenly try to ditch his new 'girlfriend' for a fast night of fun?
"Why do I even care?" Vicious asked herself aloud, while a few raiders whooped and hollered.
This whole 'boyfriend-girlfriend' thing had been her fault; it was her way of convincing the Tip to come along, so that she herself could arrive alive. Sure, she had her new Taser, the only working example of a stun gun here in the Wasteland, and she also carried her high-powered shotgun, designed for military combat. But it also a good idea to bring someone else along, for the sake of getting here safely. And to do this, Q Tip needed convincing.
Now that both of them were here, she was suddenly unsure.
"Ah *duck* it." Miss Vicious finished her cigarette. "Time to see what's goin' on at Dukov's."
And she was off.
----------------------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/YgL567v.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/OmEnOR3.jpg
I hope that the next story about Taneesha won't be her last, if Rattler is by any chance still at Dukov's?
Anyway, nice that you continue with Taneesha, it feels like you just made a pause - time flies really fast. Maybe she can find all bearer bonds during this season.
Ms. D is back in the house. And she's going in that house alone, against the Rattler! Hopefully that scourge of the Wasteland is not inside!
So maybe the news of the Rattler's involvement was over-exaggerated? I take anything the raiders might way with a healthy grain of salt however.
Welcome back to Miss VD after her scribe's winter respite! You did a good job of letting us know to expect the delay and also of reviewing what was going on before you resumed things.
Yeah, no sense 'testing' her new boyfriend by taking him into a brothel.
Looking forward to reading what she finds at Dukov's.
Acadian -- Yes, thank you. Nice to return to my vicious raider gal after so many months! I'm going to be writing some Joan this summer / fall too, as you've seen. I like this. Going back and forth between two different styles of writing, and two different styles of dialog from two people. Living such different lives. One who always does the right thing, and one who sometimes does the right thing.
SubRosa-- I get the sense that the raiders who live nearby have their own lives which has not much to do with Dukov. Maybe they do occasional jobs for him, or something, which is why they never raid his home. However it works out, they're not going to really know everything which goes on there.
Lopov -- Yes, ThAT is the question. Will this chapter be Taneesha's last. Will this be her downfall? And will all those remaining bearer bonds which Dogmaster asked her to get lay dormant .... wherever you chose to hide them? Only one way to find out!
Chapter 36: Dropping in Dukov's
Date: Wednesday, September 12, 2277, mid-evening
In the Year 1977, Dukov's Place was known as the Reston Hotel, an establishment where politicians and Washington's elite rubbed elbows with occasional celebrities and those of lesser means, the Reston by then had nearly 50 years of history. Consistently rated 4 stars in the Washington Post's Living section, the Reston was a place where stuffy boardroom types could hold business conferences in the afternoon, while taking a bite of the supposed best Maryland crab legs in town. All class, top cuisine. Rare bottles of wine behind the counter. Illegal cigars under the counter. Scenic outdoor seating by the river. "Golf Tips" seminars held weekly. Going to the Reston was like being a member of a country club, without actually joining.
Two-hundred years later the Reston still stood, although it had been over a century since anybody referred its original name, let alone the low-key prestige it once commanded. How it survived the bombs with its walls, roof, and interior mostly intact is one of those facts which is ... shrouded in mystery. One thing's for sure, the Reston Hotel seemed somehow ready for the Great War, while others nearby half-crumbled into dust.
They don't build 'em like they used to, apparently.
The Reston's new owner was Dukov, a hedonistic womanizer whose sole purpose in his middle-aged life was to hold the longest-lasting party of the Capital Wasteland. At some point in the past, Dukov had been a mercenary. He'd gained a bit of notoriety during his days. Perhaps this was why the raiders to the south pretty much left him alone, despite the fact that his doors were always open.
On Wednesday September twelfth, 2277, Miss Vicious took advantage of this.
As the day's sky went from orange to dusk, she waited until some of the raiders had passed out, or were otherwise not paying attention. Walked down the avenue, and strolled right up to the place. But before going in, she debated whether she should change out of her Badlands-styled raider's armor, and into clothes more ... presentable. The place had purportedly been under attack by the Rattler, but chances are this cannibal had moved on by now. So, maybe Dukov's was filled with some sort of officials now, some sort of organization. Maybe the Brotherhood had taken the place over, since its original owner was supposedly no longer around.
Then again, maybe there were enemies in there. Talon Company. Super mutants. Maybe even a huge infestation of radroaches! ... She kept her armor on. She readied her Taser. And walked right into Dukov's.
"Yo, anybody in here?" she called.
In the Year 1977 the place had been classy. In the Year 2277, now it was trashy. Empty liquor bottles lay on the floor here and there. Dim (but colorful) Christmas lights hung from the ceiling. Half-robed mannequins stood here and there. Cheap plastic furniture. And a couple scents hung in the air: some sort of rancid smokey odor (Vicious guessed this was incense), and the smell of tawdry perfumes.
"Anybody in here?" she called again.
This time, she made sure to ratchet the energy cell in her gun out and in, which caused a very distinct *click!* into the room. Just to make her intentions clear. Here's a *witch* who meant business. She aimed her gun. A figure moved toward her from the dark.
"Oh baby! Let me get you something special! How about a nice Dukov surprise?"
The man was wearing silky pink pajamas. His voice was rough; the voice of a man whose life is one huge party. He spoke with an accent Vicious had never heard before. She guessed he was Russian, or from some European country. Whoever this man was, he was definitely not the Rattler. No Rattler. Which meant no vile cannibals to contend with. As he got closer, Vicious could see Dukov had a cast on his arm, and walked with a limp. He'd been through something, that's for sure. Scars on his face, the scars of a dude who'd been through a fight. But seemed to have survived the bastard, somehow.
Set your wasteland cares aside and step inside where the orgy never stops! That sounds like the concept behind Dukov’s place. Sanguine has a similar place in ESO’s swamps of Shadowfen.
No luck finding the Brat yet. I’m a little concerned. If Rattler turned Dukov’s crew into a buffet and the new crew has not heard of Bratty, was she part of that buffet? Did she escape? Did she bail out before the Rattler even got there?
Looks like Dukov is exactly the right person in the right place concerning the Reston.
Miss V is packing electric heat. But it looks like only the pajama party boy is present.
Oh boy, don't engage with Dukov, it only makes things worse!
Looks like no Bratty. Maybe she never got there, and went somewhere else? Or maybe the Rattler ate her. Or maybe she escaped and fled elsewhere, farther down the Potomac or into the city.
Acaadin-- Wow no kidding. So Elder Scrolls Online got a bit of Daggerfall in it, huh? (Daggerfall had nudity, heavily pixelated, but hey. I think it also had some sort of prostitute guild.)
It's funny how you and Rosa just said the same exact things about Bratty that's about to be posted in the next chapter. Every scenario you just mentioned. Wow.
SubRosa -- Ha ha yeah, Dukov has some particularly torrid lines. Some of those lines are vanilla, some were added by the quest I wrote, and some are no doubt added by a sex mod I've got called Animated Prostitution. Uh... I'm not linking that one. Anyway, I am almost positive "Why don't you give Dukov a *snowjob*" was added by that one. That's definitely not something I would write!
As usual, I tried to do some in-game research, to see if there could be any in-game lore, this time pertaining to Dukov's Place. Fallout 3 Fandom only tells us the place used to be a hotel. Looks to me the former hotel has a long history, definitely not recently built. But as usual, there is no indication on what this place was once called, who would stay there, and so on. As I was writing this week's chapter (last week) there was an ad for Reston, Virginia in one of the internet page's sidebars. *BAm Crash* so that's how I got Reston Hotel.
[u]Lopov[/u] -- No Lopov. Actually he's on vacation. Lucky guy.
Let's see what happens next.
Chapter 37: Bailing the Brat
Date: Wednesday, September 12, 2277, late evening
Location: Dukov's Place
"Dukie!" one of the girls called from downstairs. "You promised to take me shopping in Rivet City!"
"Maybe next week, babe. We've got a little clap for a while, that's the only thing holding us together, a-ha ha ha!"
Miss Vicious strutted down one of Dukov's upstairs causeways, and into a kitchen / dining area. Feeling dejected. Sad, because it seemed her friend was nowhere to be found. Maybe she'd never made it here in the first place. Or maybe she'd made a decent amount of caps, then moved on to Rivet City. Or maybe she moved some place else. The Capital Wasteland was a big place, after all.
"Or maybe the Rattler got her."
She said that part aloud. Didn't want to say it. But there was just no way to deny the truth. Maybe that douchebag cannibal had caught up with her friend, forced her to come with him somehow and...
"Maybe he got her, and..."
Vicious left the sentence unfinished. Didn't even want to think about that scenario. "Stupid girl. I TOLD her not to come down here."
A few minutes earlier, before speaking to Apple and Fascinatia, the raider had smelled sativex smoke. Sativex, a synthetic marijuana substitute of some sort. Now, she found the source of the odor, which was coming from the dining area. Table and chairs, pots and pans, a refrigerator, sink, and oven. Inside was yet another young female, who was dark-skinned like Vicious.
"Hello there, honey."
The female was sitting before the dining table. She had an auburn-colored wig on her head. She was dressed in P.J.s like everyone else, as though the rest of the world outside simply did not exist. And she was smoking a thin, hand-rolled cigarette, what they called a 'joint' back in earlier times. Sweet smoke, guaranteed to mess one's head up.
"Hey, can I have a hit of that?" Vicious asked sadly, having a seat.
"Sure, girlfriend."
The woman had almond-colored eyes, her face done with purple eye shadow up top, with matching lipstick down below. She passed her joint to Vicious, who took a long pull from it. "Thanks," the raider said, blowing smoke across the room, and coughing a bit. "I'm Vicious by the way. Miss Delicious, some call me up north."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Delicious. My name's Aspiration, and yes, I am transgender."
By now Vicious was so bummed, staring at the floor. At first, she didn't hear what Aspiration said. And then, "Huh? You are what?"
"Transgender, honey. Trans, for short. A man who feels he's been born in the wrong gender, and chooses to fix this best he can, mm hmm. I am, essentially a woman, just like you. Born into the wrong sex, is all, mm hmm. Because God, he don't always get it right, now does he?"
Vicious was quiet for a moment, as she felt the effect of the sativex slowly enhance the billions of synapses in her brain, blurring reality a bit. "Hey, uh, nice. I ain't never met nobody who is trans," she finally blurted, unsure what else to say. "So does that mean--"
"Um, Vicious? Don't Bogart that smoke."
"Oh sorry," the raider said, passing the joint back. "But does Dukov know?"
"Oh yes, he knows! He knows, and he don't care." Aspiration took a hit. "Because to run this place successfully and make good caps, you gots to have an open mind. It takes all types, sweety. Dukov, as loathsome as he may seems to you, is what they used to call an EOP. He is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Without him, I'd be lost, to not go into more specific details."
Vicious took the joint back. "Yeah I can see that," she said. "Like, the man just tried to make me his BSM specialist, or something. He said I could 'work his whips and chains'. All because I just slapped him in the face."
"That's BDSM, honey. Bondage, Sadism, Masochism. Slaves and masters. Some folks, they get off on that sort of thing. Gettin' slapped around and stuff. But that is all part of the fun, mmhmm. Got to have that business acumen, you see? Got to stay sharp with the money."
Despite her religious upbringing, which surely told her all of this was wrong, Vicious couldn't help being somewhat impressed by Aspiration's words. "You know, it's like you is the only one here who's got a good head on her shoulders."
"You could say that," Aspiration agreed. "Now. Do you want to find your friend?"
And again, it was a moment or two before Vicious's head, now clouded and buzzing, was fully able to comprehend.
"My what? -- Do I want to find my what? Did you just say 'my friend'?"
"Mm hmm, that's right, baby. Your friend. Bratty. The one with the cute little curls in her head and the Philly accent. She is here. Somewhere. Just saw her a few hours ago."
Vicious shrugged up from her chair. "She is HERE?"
"Girl, I am sure of it," Aspiration crushed the joint in an ashtray. "Just keep lookin' around, yeah? ... Maybe she is upstairs. Dukov reserves his upper floors for his whores, a ha ha!. You know, it's more private-like up there."
"Hey thanks!"
"Just... I need to tell you, Taneesha. Bratty is ... heavy into the opiates, if ya know what I mean. She got hooked bad on something."
"Yeah, uh. Hooked bad. Hey! But at least she is still--"
Miss Vicious left that thought unsaid. Still alive is what she'd started to say. But even just that would be too much. Too depressing a thought to comprehend. Overall, she found herself a little surprised that she, in fact, cared so much, for somebody she had only just met a few weeks ago.
"See you later, Taneesha," the trans girl called.
Vicious left the break room, then virtually skittered across the opposite causeway, looking for the stairwell. Found the door to the stairwell. But before she opened it, she stopped.
"Whoa. Did she just call me by my real name?"
Taneesha. Yes, she had her real first name. Taneesha. Aspiration had said, "See you later, Taneesha..."
"But what the --?"
Miss Vicious, adopted as a child, and at some point named Taneesha Jones, stopped her search for Bratty. She returned to Dukov's dining area. Looked inside the room for Aspiration. But Aspiration was no longer there.
Finally a break, after talking to Aspiration. The use of Taneesha’s real name jumped out at me also – glad Miss VD caught that. Perhaps Aspiration had a chat with the Brat before the latter was befuddled on drugs.
That creates quite an image as they make their escape - the dingbat Brat in a pink negligee with a sawed off shotgun
Rescue mission complete! Once Bratty gets her wits back, it’ll be interesting to hear what happened.
I love all your hooker names. They are so on the nose.
It is starting to sound like Aspiration is sort of a business manager, and Dukov's is an actual brothel, rather than just one perpetually wasted guy and his 'girlfriends'. That is a more interesting way to portray it. In any case, it looks like Asp is the one who actually keeps the place running.
I wonder how the Asp learned Taneesha's real name? Did Bratty tell her? Or is she some sort of spy?!?
"Yeah it is, fool."
Miss V sounds like Mister T!
Well, now we know that MVD isn't into BDSM. I could totally imagine Dukov's European/Slavic accent as I read your story.
What an interesting person - Aspiration. Much more deep personality-wise than other people in the former Reston Hotel. Like others, I wonder, how she knows MVD's real name, I'm assuming we'll hear more of her. I thought at first that Bratty might have told her but I don't recall MVD revealing her true name to Bratty.
In any case, Taneesha and Bratty are reunited at last!
4th of July today. Gonna go to my sister's house (I think) later on today. But for now, maybe we can catch up on the next Vicious chapter.
Chapter 38: Prowling Lucas Simms' House
Date: Thursday, September 13 through Friday, September 14
It took a day to walk north back to Springvale School, and another day to get situated. Vicious and Q Tip did not become boyfriend and girlfriend; she having no idea how to pursue the matter, and he being too apprehensive she might just decide to zap him. As they spent more time together, it was obvious Q already had a girlfriend anyway. Maybe more than one! A couple raider chicks swarmed toward him as he re-entered the school late Thursday, wondering where he'd been. He was a good-looking guy after all.
So Vicious was free to spend all of Friday with the brat, doting on her, getting her back to better health. They slept-in late in Vicious's special classroom, spent the afternoon looking at old magazines and comic books under the cool of the school's rickety air-conditioner, and by early evening they went outside to play sidewalk chalk. Bratty would be okay, Vicious decided. Bratty was tough.
Still, Vicious began to wonder. Was there some way she could bring her friend into Megaton, specifically so Doc Church could cure the Brat of her addiction? Would Bratty cooperate with this, and not be -- well -- not be such a brat while in proper society? ... Because Aspiration was right. Bratty had gotten hooked on pain-killers while she was staying at Dukov's.
To some extent, Miss Vicious could allay her friend's cravings, since she already possessed her fair share of chems. The school also had its very own dealer of pharmaceuticals, uppers, downers, you name it.
"But wouldn't it be nice to get totally clean?" Vicious asked her friend, as they both drew crazy artwork on the walkway in front of the school.
Bratty was confused about this, of course. Why did they need to go to Megaton for a shower, if the school had its own functional water supply?
One last thing. After seeing how Dukov's Place was done up, Miss Vicious felt inspired. Time for a home makeover. Her next project (outside of raider missions) was to brighten her room a bit. Make it more colorful. She wondered if Craterside Supply had any Christmas lights, especially. If so, she would buy some, and transform her place to something special.
Speaking of raider missions, it wasn't long until Slick Rick learned Vicious had returned. He then began to pester her about finding at least five more bearer bonds.
"You know, you know, like, we gots. Like, the the Dogmaster, he ain't gonna just sit by while you play around with chalk... We gots to get this done!"
Ach, those stupid bonds. What did Dogmaster want them for? Couldn't he see that the premise those documents had been based upon was now two centuries in the past? How annoying! As government-based documents, the bonds were now useless, especially since there was no government.
But to some extent, Vicious had to follow Rick's order. Her supply of caps was starting to dwindle.
A little bit of recovery time back at the school as VD tries to rehab the Brat. Hope that works out.
More of those pesky bonds to find! At least her skulking around for them is getting better. Neat discovery she made on those Mentats! And she’s getting confident enough to even eat while she robs.
It appears that the Tip has game. That probably comes as a relief to Miss V. Now she does not have to figure out that boyfriend/girlfriend mystery.
Miss V sure spends a lot of time with Bratty. It makes me wonder if the boyfriend/girlfriend mystery is such an enigma because she would rather have a girlfriend/girlfriend relationship? Or is it that for some reason apart from all the other raiders, Miss V feels responsible for the Brat?
In any case, I suspect that the Brat - being well-named - would indeed live up to her namesake in Megaton.
At least Miss V can grasp that 200 year old bearer bonds are essentially worthless in the Wasteland. But as long as someone places value on a thing, then that thing as value. At least to them.
Miss V is going to break into the Sheriff's house. Is she going to steal the Strength bobblehead? I never liked that you had to do that, so I moved it somewhere else that I did not have to steal it to get it.
Tanesha scores! One more bond for the boss.
I do have the next chapter written but it's already Monday, and I'm already back at work for the week. So this week's chapter will be up next weekend.
A few weeks ago, I asked our very own Lopov to get into Rattler's head. I wanted to hear the snake's perspective on what he saw as he skulked around Dukov's (since he was there), but especially the bandits who live south of Dukov's. Did he approach these bandits at all? Or did he avoid them, because at that point, he was not a Slaver yet, which means bandits did not like him at that point?
Anyway, now that I read the text below, it makes me feel good that Vicious, Q Tip, and Bratty didn't stick around Dukov's for long. As Stone Phillips would say: The words you about to read, are explicit. Parental consent is advised!
Ahah. So Rattler doesn't want to overhunt his terf. Practicing wise game management.
The Rattler is not a binge eater. He likes to spread it out and enjoy his meals.
It's good that they haven't met, maybe then you wouldn't be able to conclude Taneesha's story in the preferred way.
Sorry Lopov, I meant to add the Rattler text to one of the Dukov chapters, but there was a lot going on in those chapters, and it slipped my mind. Hope you're okay with the standalone text instead.
-----------------------------
Chapter 40: A Day with Lucy
Date: Saturday, September 15, 2277, 1:20 PM
Location: Moriarty's Saloon
"You're back Taneesha. Oh my gosh!"
"Hey there, Lucy. How have things been for you? Any word from your brother?"
Lucy took a sip from her drink and looked to the floor. "Yes, I do have word."
Lucy West looked sad. She sat there a few moments. Finally shook her head, before continuing. "Cho Zen Wan, you know, that guy they're calling 'Lone Wanderer' in the news? He did get back to me about Ian."
"And? ... Is he okay?"
"Taneesha, Ian did continue to live in Arefu just like he said he would, but from there the story gets... really weird. In fact, Ian is no longer with us."
"No. Oh, I'm so sorry, Lucy. That's just really--"
Taneesha left her sentence unfinished, unsure how to continue, unsure what else to say.
Death in the Capital Wasteland. It happened all the time, sometimes for the most trivial of reasons. She'd seen plenty of it herself, these past couple years. Seen people blow each others' heads off, all for a stale pack of smokes. It could come at any moment: as people needed to travel from one point to the next, as villages became vulnerable to raids, as water and other resources dwindled across the land. America in pre-war times had been much different. People could come and go as they pleased. Everyone had their share. Money was plentiful, health was as popular as daisies. A trip to Super Duper Mart was made merely for groceries, not to obtain chems, ammo, or bombs. Americans could move about and vote and spend their cash on frivolous things. They could buy houses. They could hold down boring desk jobs. Only if you were in an actual gang, or in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time, did things sometimes go south. -- And the chances of that happening? -- Pretty darn slim, in comparison to now.
She took a sip of her drink. Outside, the weather was typical American east coast summer-winding-down-into-fall. What they used to call the dog days of summer, whatever that meant. Hot weather, but not as hot as it had been in July and August. It was good to be inside.
"And I just can't believe it," Lucy continued. "I mean, my brother did have a few mental problems, especially after hitting his head on a rock a while back. But this new thing he was into. It's just way beyond."
"What new thing? It's okay. You can tell me, if you want to."
"Sure. Well apparently, Ian joined some kind of ... blood cult, or something. Cho found him in one of those underground Metro stations, you know, where the trains used to run. Said my brother was now claiming to be a..."
"What?" Taneesha asked, blinking.
"He was claiming to be a vampire. Part of a family of vampires, actually. Like, some guy met my brother after Arefu got attacked. Took him in. Took him into an underworld of others who think they are also vampires. It makes no sense, Taneesha!" Lucy West sighed. Sat motionless for a few moments. A single tear fell from her left eye.
"Dag! A vampire? Like in those old comic books and movies and junk? Well, I -- I don't get it. Are you saying he goes around -- I mean went around, drinking necks and all that?"
"Hey Taneesha, can we talk about this later?" Lucy asked, slapping her left hand quietly but firmly on the table. "You know, not here in the bar?"
"Yeah, sure. That's fine, Lucy. But my god. So sorry to hear."
"It's just that. Well, Megaton is a small place. You know how it is when rumors start..."
The two housemates sat for a while, nursing their drinks as Three Dog rambled on the radio. Taneesha's own Pip Girl® device was softly playing music. A tune from the old days, by a long-ago artist. She realized this, and abruptly turned the music off.
"So, did I hear right?" Lucy blurted. "Did you really stand up to Jericho last week at The Brass Lantern?"
Taneesha blushed. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that." So much had happened with her friend Bratty and all, she actually had forgotten. "But I mean, the guy's always pushin' people around. Always being mean. Ain't gotta be like that, you know?"
"Nice! Wow. So what happened?"
"Not much. I talked some *skit* to the guy, excuse my language. Got in his face, is all. Didn't really mean nothing. But the man, he needed to be told. You know? ... Maybe kinda stupid that a girl had to finally do it. But hey."
She sipped her drink, which was sugary-sweet and bitter at the same time, what they used to call 'hooch'. Some odd mixture of alcohol; Gob getting rather creative today.
Lucy applauded, clapping her hands slowly. "Damn straight you told him! Somebody needed to stand up to that creep. Nobody else has done it so far!"
"Exactly. Nobody stands up to the guy. All because he's a former .. uh, a former raider." Taneesha said, suddenly looking into her drink.
Lucy raised her glass. "Well, here's a toast. To standing up to the creeps."
"A toast," Taneesha echoed, clinking her drink with Lucy's. She smiled nervously.
Again, the housemates fell into silence. Nova, Moriarty's resident lady-of-the-evening, was smoking a cigarette over by the counter. The lazy haze of her Lucky hung in the air. Three Dog was blabbing about the Lone Wanderer. Something about somebody farting in Vault 101, when all the sudden..
"Dammit, that *bunghole*!" a man suddenly yelled. Taneesha looked into the next room, where the guy was mussing up his hair in frustration. An Asian guy, wearing prewar military-looking armor. He was walking toward them. "So sick of Three Dog," he said. "You know, half the time that douchebag gets it wrong when he blabs on and on about what I'm up to out there!" he complained aloud. "I'm only trying to make things right, dammit. Somebody has to! ... Maybe I should go speak to that stupid disc jockey myself."
"Hey Cho, this is Taneesha Jones, my new housemate."
"Hey, nice to meet you." Cho Zen Wan's previous ire melted, as he did a small bow before Taneesha. He flashed a quick smile.
"Sure. You too."
"Sorry for my rants. It's just, that guy just gets to me sometimes."
"Ha. Must be nice having one of the Wasteland's on-air personalities reporting everything you say," Lucy quipped.
The Lone Wanderer chuckled. "Hey, can I get you two anything?"
"Sure, I'll have a beer," Lucy said.
"I'm good," Taneesha answered. She stared ahead stonily, not wanting to hold the man's gaze too long, the man rumored to be going around killing raider camps.
Cho walked to the bar. As he did so, Lucy looked curiously at her tablemate. "So. How's it going with you?" she asked, a certain look on her face.
"Going good!"
"Say, I notice you've been away from Megaton sometimes," Lucy said, concern in her voice. "You'll go missing for many hours, then sometimes you'll be gone a few days! ... Not that it's any of my business, but the other day I looked all around town for you. Honestly, I was kinda worried. Everything okay? You aren't in any more trouble, are you?"
"Yeah. Well sometimes I just need to get out of Megaton, I guess," Taneesha blanched, lighting a cig. "I go for walks out of town. There's an abandoned bus just near Sara Silver's place. Sometimes I stay in there."
"Taneesha, no!"
"I know, I know. It's not safe out there. I don't know why I do it. Guess it's the old hobo demon in me. Wandering around. Getting restless..."
"You don't have to stay out there at all, my dear! Not at all, okay? Especially at night. I want you to continue staying with me, okay? Please?"
"Sure. I'm sorry. I'll try to suppress that urge." Miss Jones slurped her hooch, which was almost gone. She was feeling swimmy by now, because of Gob's odd mixed-drink concoction.
"So if you don't mind, as you are staying with me, and like I said, you are perfectly welcome to do, I'm also going to need to start taking some caps from you, okay?"
"Caps?" Taneesha smiled. "Sure. How much caps are we talking about?"
"Not much. Maybe twenty caps a week, somewhere around there. You know, it's what they used to call 'rent' in the history books."
"Sure, that's fine. Not a problem."
"With Ian truly gone, I'm going to need some help with upkeep. So thanks. I appreciate it, friend."
"No problemo, señorita," Taneesha said, continuing to smile. "Be glad to help out. Hey, maybe we can even get a dog!" Acceptance. It's always nice to be accepted.
Lucy finished her drink, which was some sort of wine. More expensive than the three-cap hooch Taneesha had downed. "Now, can I buy the next round?"
"Absolutely you can, roommate," Taneesha said, eyeing Cho the Lone Wanderer as he left the bar.
"And ooh! Is that a toy gun you've got there?!"
Taneesha Jones nodded. "Something like a toy, I guess." A toy which could bring down a super mutant, a Talon Company agent, or any number of Wasteland creatures. She patted her 'toy'.
Lucy bought the next set of drinks. The two ladies spent another hour in Moriarty's sipping them until Taneesha had to use the restroom. Though Moriarty's had its own toilet, it was located behind a mere sheet which hung from the ceiling, and was therefore not very private. So Taneesha walked over to the Women's Room. Had a nip, washed her hands, and began walking back to Moriarty's, her step just a little unsteady due to the booze.
On the way back, she had a hunch. She had checked the Women's room for bonds days ago, but not the Men's. So she went there now. Checked to see if anybody was inside, and nobody was, so she walked in. Searched a locker, searched the restroom's stalls, searched inside one of the commodes.
And there was bearer bond number seven.
-------------------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/Gxo1n32.jpg
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Ian_West
Notes: I used the console to setstage most of the Blood Ties quest, which Cho actually in his game. This caused Lucy West to no longer sit in her usual spot inside of Moriarty's! So I had to design some new AI for her, as well all so she'd continue to visit Moriarty's instead of whatever she does otherwise, after she learns what happened to her brother.
Nice to catch up with Lucy. And probably good to help with Lucy’s costs via some rent.
Shame about Lucy’s brother.
A cameo by Cho!
Get drunk, wander into the men’s room, find a bearer bond. . . does it get any better than that?
Taneesha is back from her adventures and taking a little vacation from Raider-life in Megaton.
It is a cameo by the Chosen One Cho Zen Wan. I wonder if "no longer with us" means that Ian is dead, or if he is living as a vampire? Okay, I guess he is still around, just as a vampire.
Taneesha has quite the rosy view of the Pre-War world. But it is common to idealize previous eras.
If Taneesha spends more time looking at the stars, she might notice Sirius on the horizon these days. Hence the dog days of summer (Seriously that is where the saying comes from. The star Sirius can be seen that time of the year.)
Wow, not just a report of Cho, but the real man in the flesh! And he sounds less than thrilled with 3 Dog's reporting skills.
Now that's something I didn't expect - an actual meeting between Cho and Taneesha. I got a feeling that Taneesha found him attractive.
Now what would happen if someone entered the men's loo and found Taneesha inside?
Thinking about death in the Capital Wasteland compared to Pre-War America grocery runs, etc. Sounds like Taneesha has a case of Old World Blues. If only she knew what the Pre-War world was really like.
Since I've been gone from the forums for some time, there's a lot I missed out on. Is Taneesha starting to feel guilty about her raider life, especially while hanging out with Lucy?
What was the deal about the bearer bonds again? Wasn't it Taneesha's raider boss that wanted it because he thinks it will make him stupidly rich?
You know, I always wanted to kill Jericho. F*** that guy. Frustratingly, however, if you sandman kill him, the whole town somehow knows. I even tried a console command to make him automatically hostile to me and it still didn't work without the whole town trying to hunt me down. Hmm...I wonder if that would work if I didn't sneak into his house. Probably not, though.
Cool, I'm really happy you all checked out that last one. For some reason, A Day with Lucy really struck me as I was writing it. Nothing really happens, just two housemates getting their buzz on and chatting, yet a lot happens.
Acadian: She actually will be paying rent to Lucy! I made a little quest for that. And yeah, wandering around drunk in Megaton.
Rosa: Seesh, I'm actually not sure what happened to Ian. Is he still alive? Did Cho wind up killing him? I don't remember. But I agree with you. "No longer with us" could also mean he's still alive as a vampire, very true. Maybe Cho doesn't want Lucy to go looking for her brother, so he told a white lie.
Ah yes, Sirius. I almost looked up what dog days means, it's been awhile.
Scoundrel: That's a good thing to wonder, if my two toons find each other attractive. And speaking of men in the Men's Restroom ...
Rader: Good to have you back. A lot has passed in the past year, but to tl;dr it for you, Miss Vicious (also known as Taneesha Jones) now has a mod-added stun gun from a Taser mod I found last year. This has become her weapon of choice. Any enemy she meets, she tases first. She's about to use her Taser now!
Her latest mission is to find 10 'bearer bonds' (Quest items added into my game by Lopov last summer) and turn these over to the raiders. And that's where the story probably picks up for you. She's about to find Bearer Bond #8.
She's not going to kill Jericho, but she will beat the crap out of him eventually...
Let's have a look at Miss Vicious's stats before the story gets posted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vicious Delicious
Level: 5
RADS: 769 (whoa...)
Addictions: Nicotine, Opiates
S: 3 (-)
P: 4 (-)
E: 2 (-)
C: 8
I: 5
A: 7 (-)
L: 6
Perks: Gun Nut, Scoundrel, Thief (2)
Quests Completed: 10
Locations Discovered: 18
People Killed: 11
Creatures Killed: 65
Locks Picked: 19
Chems Taken: 93 (holy crap..)
42185
Chapter 41: Nip to the Loo
Date: Saturday, September 15, 2277, 6:53 PM
Location: Men's Restroom
Temperature: 85 degrees F
"Is .. anybody here? ... Q Tip? ... Anyone?"
There it was: Bearer bond number seven, placed right into an empty bowl. Hmm. Couple things different about this one.
1). All the others had been found in easy-to-miss locations: under a mess of miscellaneous things, inside old containers, and so on. They had all been stored in some location, and then they'd been forgotten. Number six for instance, the bond found in Lucas Simms' house, had been placed on the very top shelf of a bookcase. Placed, and then forgotten. For this reason, bearer bond #7 seemed specifically arranged by someone.
2). Second difference, bearer bond eight had something else with it. Something square, with a dull shine to it.
ENTRY 3
ow i hide this bearer bond here
nobody finds it in there loo
for the book club nr 2
i must bring stacy here
i know she has one of those
bonds, the little b
once shegets in, i attack with a whirl of fists
unleas shell snog with me
---------------------
ENTRY 4
bam gasp rawr
ding dong the bitch is dead
now i got too bonds
i leave one bond here as a trap
anyone triest o steal from me i I SAVAGE THEM! ! !
aggro aggro lot of aggro
errol would be proud
p.s.
i hear there building up the JAIL there -
but i dont worry
its a IF and thats a big IF that jail will work atall
How bizarre! Adventures in the men's room.
Very quick-thinking of Taneesha to shoo away man #1 claiming the women's room was not working.
She was also right to be suspicious of 'bond 7' because of where and how she found it.
Attacked by a crazed space mouse! Her stun gun really helped. . . at least delay the problem.
Darn, no stimpacks back home in her stash.
What a maniac in the restroom!
It looks like that the final confrontation has only been postponed.
Uh oh, as Admiral Ackbar would say, this looks like a trap.
Only for lush Andy Stahl to come and maybe mess it all up!
Who is this blanching blanchole?
Wow, that was quite a confrontation and wild chase with Mickey the Blanching Mouse. Or almost. It looks like she fried him. All the better for the Wasteland.
Now its time to lie low. Better get some stimpacks.
Oh boy, Mousey was also hunting bearer bonds. I wonder if the same Raiders sent him, that did Taneesha?
Probably won't post a story today, as it's overcast outside (which means no Fallout) and I'm feeling a bit burnt-out from writing.
But I wanted to make a note that today here at Chorrol is http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?showuser=1992.
My own Vicious's birthday just passed as well, dangit. July 20. I missed it! I really gotta put all my characters' birthdays in my phone or something.
...As we last saw, our protagonist Taneesha "Vicious Delicious" Jones was in the midst of getting drunk with her new housemate, Lucy West. When Taneesha went for a nip to the loo, she got a hunch to search for bearer bond number seven in the Men's Rathroom, which she found, along with a holotape she could read. This caused her to be attacked by a strange, rambling dude wearing a mouse costume on his head. Taneesha buzzed the mouse man with her stun gun which caused him to fall, then she left the restroom. She did so, thinking she was about to be pursued by Mouse Man. But Mouse Man chose to stay in the restroom.
Now... armed with her stun gun, her pipe, and her 'Blamhammer' shot gun, she is ready to confront the man-sized rodent. But she must do so without attracting the attention of her housemate, Megaton's law force, or Lucas Simms, Megaton's sheriff (and sometimes mayor), who has a habit of strolling around Megaton at night.
Chapter 42: Building a Better Mousetrap
Date: Saturday, September 15, 2277, 8:01 PM
Temperature: 73 F
The dreadful summer heat dropped to temperate by now, which made Virginia's climate both tolerable, and pleasant. Why could the weather not just stay like this forever? Despite the coolness, Taneesha Jones was sweating. A man with a strange mouse costume had just tried to kill her in the Men's. Who was this freak, and why was he chasing her?
"Slicky Ricky," Taneesha murmured slowly. "Gotta be Slick, who put him up to this. When I find you, we's gonna have some words, for real."
Not that Slick was the one who'd attacked her, but it seemed he's the one responsible for this. Somehow. After all, who else knew about her current mission?
"Hmm. Bratty knows. Q Tip knows..."
But neither of them could have done this. Q Tip did not have the sort of authority to send somebody after her, and though he did have a rather annoying sense of humor, he did not seem the type who'd go this far. There was also Bratty. But again, such a prank (if this is indeed what Mouse Man was supposed to be) seemed beyond the Brat. Bratty's IQ probably hovered somewhere in the 70s, the sort of gal who had trouble remembering what she was talking about two minutes ago.
"Come here, little mousey," Taneesha muttered softy. "Come out and find me! I got some cheese here for ya."
Thing is, she did not want to attack Mouse Man here in Megaton, especially not with her Blamhammer. The last thing she needed was to hit an innocent Megatonite. Miss Jones had already been arrested once for stealing, and she was not heading back to jail, not for this bull*ship*. Instead, she was hoping for Mouse to leave the Men's, and come looking for her. And once he found her, hopefully he'd attack her right in front of Megaton's law force. Or maybe Lucas Simms would bear witness to this.
Either way, the idea was for Mousey to take the initiative, which would hopefully cause him to get taken down by somebody other than herself.
She left the home of Lucy West, making as much noise as she could, stomping and dragging her green shoes as she walked. Taneesha moved away from the house, and took the ramp down into the plaza, slowly looking up and down the scrap-metal village for any odd movements, looking for anybody who'd be running around after her. She noticed none and discerned nobody. But it was also hard to see all over the village. Some areas of Megaton were well-lit, others were shadowy.
As she walked into the lowest portion of Megaton, Confessor Cromwell was still dawdling his sermon, even at this late hour, it was like the man never shut up.
"...each of us shall give birth to a billion stars, pulled from the mass of our wretched and filthy bodies! ... Each of us, shall be mother and father to a trillion civilizations... shall know an end to pain..."
The preacher and his flock worshipped a freaking bomb! A bomb which fell to Earth two-hundred freaking years ago! The bomb never exploded, but its impact caused the crater in which Megaton had been built. How much could somebody have to say about this? Countless hours of rambling...
Still, for a moment Taneesha was drawn in. Listened to the man pontificate and prophecize from his virtual pulpit. For her it was like being thrown back to childhood, back with the Witnesses who'd raised her for much of her life; raised to believe the end of the world was coming. It would happen next week, next month, next year, no, five years from now. Always a reason for why their time on Earth was about to conclude, and always a given date for impending doom. And when that date came and passed and nothing happened--
Taneesha snapped out of it. A man with a mouse head was somewhere up there. Still after her. Or maybe he'd left the Men's while she was at Lucy's, and was now on the other side of town. Either way, she spotted Megaton's officer, the same lady who'd busted her for stealing chems at the clinic a few weeks back. The officer was here, along with a throng of folks hanging out in front of The Brass Lantern, eating noodles and shooting the *ship*. Taneesha rushed over to them, waiting to see if the idiot would show.
"MoooooOOO!" said Megaton's resident brahmin cow.
Lucas Simms shouldered up to the eatery. Smiled at her, a cute lady wearing a pretty green dress. "Hey, is that a toy gun?" he asked.
This was no good. Should she be searching mouse dude more actively?
She looked in her bag, found and turned on her flashlight. Began walking up the hill, away from the others.
"All right, Bub. You've had your chance."
Nobody was around up here, so she grabbed her Taser. Kept it one-handed, not aiming just yet. Moved slowly around the village's upper paths. Passed the home of Lucas Simms, and passed the back side of Craterside Supply. Up a small ramp, which led to Megaton's Water Processing Plant.
"And there you are, you bastard."
Taneesha saw the idiot, who was walking slowly behind her, following her. He carried a small gun with scope on it, his stupid mouse head and goggles bouncing along with his steps.
"Come after me fool...I'm right here."
She hunkered down and began moving away fast. Past the Water Processing plant, back down into the plaza. Lucas Simms was here. The security officer lady was here.... and finally, here came Mouse Man. Who walked toward the late-nighters from the other direction somehow: down the ramps from Lucy's place, and past the Church of Atom idiots. Oddly, the Mouse Man carried his gun, but was for some reason not firing it.
Taneesha apparently doesn't know the most effective way to get rid of someone...open up the console, click on the NPC, type "disable" and hit ENTER, then type "MarkForDelete" and hit ENTER.
If only Taneesha knew that Confessor Cromwell was founding a religion that would spread beyond the Capital Wasteland.
Simms' AI must've been acting up.
And that's what happens when you call somebody a "tart" ad nauseum. At least in the Capital Wasteland.
The water fountain cures everything. Even head wounds. Jokes aside, I was curious how you handled health in your story. In Fallout: Florida, I've tried to keep it mostly realistic, but I'm trying to find a balance that's both believable but not too restrictive. Can't be a bullet sponge, but don't want to make guns too lethal.
Pretty amazing the lengths you'll go to make this story happen in game. Even if I was into making mods and hardcore roleplaying and such, I wouldn't have the patience to do that.
I love how her new nemesis is wearing one of the Little Lamplighter kid's outfits, just scaled up to adult size.
So Bratty's IQ hovers somewhere around room temperature, when its cool. That sounds pretty accurate...
I do like Miss V's idea of trying to lure Mickey Mouse into attacking her right in front of Lucas Simms.
The Witnesses sound a little late on their belief that the world was going to end soon. I mean, have you looked around? Been there, done that already.
I see Fallout's police are no different from the Pre-War ones...
Down goes Disney, in a hail of gunfire. Could not have happened to a nicer mouse.
That is cool that you were able to do that in the game, so he would seek out Miss V like that. I guess you copied the script from Oblivion where that Guard Captain from the Imperial City that you put in prison, escapes later and comes to find you, wherever you are?
Good idea to lure the Mouse Man out of the town, I wonder why Lucas didn't defend Taneesha - maybe because the Mouse Man was one of the "locals".
He actually followed her all the way to the school with his kiddie costume.
Congrats for pwning him, now he'll never find the other bearer bonds.
Plan A of have Mickey attack her in front of law enforcement types was a good plan but Mickey knew the rules too and didn’t cooperate.
’Mus musculus tranquillitas, perhaps.’ - -
Miss VD was clever to quickly switch to Plan B and lure the rodent out of town. Glad she blasted him back to Disneyworld but she did get beat up quite a bit in the process it sounds like. Tough mouse it seems.
So she thinks Slick Rick was behind this? I wonder if she’s right.
@ Rader -- Yes that's true. Cromwell's religion certainly has spread way down south as well if I'm not mistaken. Post Greatwar Florida seems more of a haven for religions and cults than the DelMarVa area + D.C.
I know what you mean about trying to stay realistic. She rushes inside, drinks some water from an irradiated fountain, and voila, cured she is. She lies in her bedroll and sleeps, and (no way) her head and leg injuries are back to normal. Maybe I shouldn't have written it like that!
Chapter 43: Recuperation and Plans
Date: Sunday, September 16, 2277, 6:01 PM
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad208/xenaclone/(edited)_ViciousnBratty.png.html
Some unknown number of hours later, Miss Vicious awoke and spent an enormous amount of time just getting out of bed. She laid and rolled around on her bedroll, feeling like hell. Maybe this was what it was like to be really old. Like forty.
"Eh, you! Yeah you!"
"Oh, what's up Bratty." Finally Vicious rolled on her side, sat up. Reached into her bag for some aspirin. "Damn, you still wearing that stupid pink dress?"
"Hey, I love my stupid pink dress! Look, Vicious, watch this!" The Brat began doing some weird twisting motion. "See, look? I'm dancin'! Wooo!!!"
"Uh, very nice, Brat. Maybe I should get you some Abraxo though. It's gettin' all messed up and dirty. You know, from being in this school all the time. You sure you don't want me to get you some armor?"
"Hey, can I do your hair?"
Miss Vicious smiled, and chuckled a bit. "Yeah sure, Brat. Come on and do my hair." It was nice to have her best friend back.
"Okay, let me gets my mags!"
Vicious sat down in her teacher's chair while Bratty reached into her bag, and grabbed her ‘mags’. These were old magazines, circulars, and catalogs from two centuries ago Bratty'd found and stolen while she was living in some previous location, well-preserved in plastic cases. Glamour, Avon, Vogue, Cosmopolitan...
"Hmm, make me look like her."
“No problemo.”
Bratty set to work, heating her curling iron with an acetylene torch. She sprayed her friend's hair with some sort of conditioner. Amazingly, she did not get any of the spray (which smelled a bit toxic, seemed as though it could be flammable) mixed up with the torch.
"Yeah, make me look sort of prim 'n' proper," Vicious said with a funny accent. "Like I’m high society."
Bratty began hot-combing her friend’s hair. "So, what else do ya wanna do today?" she asked.
"Well, I gotta have some words with that two-bit *bunghole* Slick. Because the man played me, Bratty. He did something really stupid which he will pay for," she coughed. "And then after that, then I gotta head back into Megaton..."
"Again? Why you gotta go back so fast? Why don'cha hang around here a while. With me?"
"Because. We need to make some caps," the darker raider answered. She paused then, realizing she'd just used the plural pronoun we instead of the singular I. "Well, I need to make some caps. For both of us. Because it ain't like you goin' down to Dukov's paid anything..."
"Hey, I made lotsa money down there!" the Brat whined. Her hot-comb was causing a burning smell, small wisps of smoke began to drift in the air, floating across the classroom where dozens of kids, studious ones as well as brats, once gathered to learn.
"Yeah, well where is all those caps now, fool? Hmm? Where's all these supposed caps you made? Wasted on dope, that's where. Shot up your arm, and God knows where else. Which is just the same as not earning any caps at all."
Bratty moved the comb a bit too abruptly, burning Miss Vicious’s ear a bit.
"Ouch, careful!"
"Well, why can't I come with you then?” asked Bratty. She was chewing something by now, probably some gum. “I ain't never been to Megaton. Always wanted to see it, ya know?"
Miss Delicious stiffened, suddenly considering this. In fact, it was originally her idea to bring the Brat into town so they could visit Doc Church together. Go in there, get cured of rads, and maybe get cured of their various addictions as well. But for this to happen there needed to be money first. Lots of caps. Two or three-hundred caps, at least. Another factor to consider: where would Bratty stay? … With her and Lucy West? -- No way that could happen; not right away, anyway. For one thing, Lucy only had two beds...
"Look, maybe after this stupid mission is done you can come into Megaton with me, okay? It’s just… you are a raider. And I know so am I. But I can’t have you coming into town, and maybe somebody recognizing you. Like this one guy I know…" she said, thinking of Jericho, the douchebag she’d argued with a couple weeks ago.
"Oh, but that's so lame!" Bratty complained. "Why can't I go NOW? I wanna go with you. Nobody’ll know who I am. Look! Not if I be still wearin’ my cute pink dress."
"No way, girl. Not until I'm done finding a total of ten bearer bonds. After that, I’m supposed to be having a lot of caps. Which is important, Bratty. Because I'm … we … are running out of money. And for another..."
"But I wanna go wi’chu..."
"No, Bratty. NO!"
"FINE!" the Brat pouted. "Go into your stupid Megaton, then. See if I care."
Miss Delicious sighed. Grabbed a small mirror. Had a look at herself as Bratty began using her curler.
"Well, bring me back somethin' Vicious? Will ya at least do that?"
"Yes, I will do that for you," Vicious smirked, trying not to laugh. "I'll get you a present. Heck, maybe I'll get you another *fracking* dress."
It took another fifteen minutes or so before Bratty's cosmetology work was done. Miss Vicious was pleased. Now she’d be going back to Megaton in style! It was good to have her friend back.
ENTRY 1
how could oyu do this to me mother of mine ?
i thot that im your only son now i fownd out that oyu have 4 MORE CHILDRAN !!! YOUR A TART MOTHER!
next time i goest o the clinic i push her down the stares until she burys her untergrond
TAAAART!!!
ENTRY 2
motehr is dad
i didnt have caps for ufneral so i buryed her neer megaton walls close to the molerat shack
i put her gun nest too her grave and put some things in there to .
rpp . mother
TAAAAART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the idea of heating up a curling iron with an welding torch! That is so wasteland...
Is she going to get the Prim n' Proper hairstyle?
Oh boy, Bratty in Megaton. May as well bring Harley Quinn to a high society dinner. There is no telling what will happen, except that it's bound to be exciting!
If Slick didn't send the Mouse Man, I wonder who did? Dogmaster? It looks like there is quite a hunt going on for those bonds.
Taneesha is looking all respectable. She is like a supervillain. Mild-Mannered Taneesha by day, evil raider Miss Viscous Delicious by night.
Taneesha's a prim'n'proper raider.
A good job with their conversation as Taneesha's hair are getting heated up. Hopefully it lasts for a while.
Looks like that she found a proper clue in Mouse Man's ramblings...
Bratty, the industrial cosmetologist.
It does fail to make sense why Slick-o would try to undermine his own agent as she skulks about her rounds hunting for bonds. . . .
Wow, Mousey was one screwed up rodent. I bet you had fun writing – er, miswriting his journal. It almost appeared to be written in illiterati stupidis code.
And a clue to a hidden stash. Hope she finds more than mouse droppings there.
Chapter 44: The Cabinet
Date: Monday, September 17, 2277
Level: 5 (Dignitary)
Playtime: 65.20.39 (crazy, so I've been averaging just over 20 hours per season)
Taneesha had waited another hour for Lucy to come home the previous night, but her roommate never arrived. Perhaps the blonde-haired gal had gotten some inspiration from her new roomie, decided to go out on the town. After waiting for Miss West to show, finally Miss Jones couldn't help but crash. Truth is, she'd come very close to losing her life to a mouse-wearing fool. She was still very drained.
But before she fell asleep, she looked at the cabinet, made of sturdy old wood, standing between Lucy's bed and the stairwell.
Looks like Lucy’s got some nice duds in her closet!
Yay, roast squirrel for breakfast – does it get any better than that?
Tan is a great nickname for Lucy’s official roommate.
How generous of Lucy to help expand Tan’s wardrobe – good armor and some nice town clothes.
So Mouse’s mom carried a .44 magnum. Doesn’t sound very tarty to me!
Hmm, bearer bond #8 smells like a trap. . . .
Note: I’ll be off line and out of town for about the next 10 days. I look forward to catching up on what I miss after I get back.
So Lopov made this questline for you to solve as Miss V? That is neat. This way you don't know what is going to happen next.
Cool, Tan has her first real place!
And some new outfits to go with her new pad. Taneesha's moving up in the world.
Squirrels in Fallout are like apples in Oblivion, Acadian. Neither food item has a source. There lots of apples in Cyrodiil, but where are the trees? Same thing with squirrel-on-a-stick in the Capital Wasteland. Maybe all the squirrel meat gets imported down from the mountains.
Oh yes, BB 8 is a trap! However, it didn't work in the same way as Mouse Man (getting ahead of myself, here).
Yes, SubRosa. Well, I laid the groundwork for the quest (the actual part where Taneesha collects those bonds) and then I emailed the .esp to Lopov so he could hide the bearer bonds. But let's just say Lopov got a little carried away! I knew there'd be some additional "plot" laid by my co-producer...
All of the things which have been happening since Mouse Man, I am blind to all these things. Because I have no idea what's going to come.
As we last saw, Taneesha "Miss Delicious" Jones has found Bearer Bond #8 stuck to the cross, the grave, of Mouse Man's mother. The Mouse apparently killed his own mother, then (oddly) stabbed the bond there with a combat knife. Rain is coming down, while Vicious has the feeling she's being watched.
Now... she's about to pull the knife from the cross, with one hand on her Taser, the other ready to snag a Stealth Boy, in case she needs to be invisible for a while.
I thought that I lost this game, but the Lucky Old Lady smiled on me again.
When I heard rumors that my former complice from the Old Guys, the legendary raider-turned-whore Martha Arthur passed away, I immediately headed for Megaton. Although I was earning quite a fortune, while performing shirtless before the crowd in Rivet City.
I decided that it's worth leaving this career behind. As the water beggar told me, her idiotic son buried her behind the town and fortunately for me, buried the Gray Bastard pistol with her. Unfortunately for me, the revolver was taken from the grave before I arrived to Megaton!
Fortunately for me, the always thirsty water beggar is a good source for eyes and ears, and after spending some caps on the right people in Megaton, I found out that girl's name is Taneesha Jones. I also gave som dirty water to the beggar, of course.
Now all I must do is track Jones down and viciously kill her. Hopefully she didn't sell the revolver. Maybe I could ask her first if she still has it, and kill her second, once she confirms.
Anyway, I should find her soon. I bet that the Frenchman will go after the gun as well, once he finds out about Martha. The Frenchman is the meanest of us all. I still remembered how he killed Barret the Chair Climber with just one shot, when Barret tried to sell him rocks for the third time.
Gotta go.
I can relate to Miss V's anxiety. Years of playing the original Doom instilled in me a strong sense of paranoia, that any time I pressed a switch or picked up some important quest item, a wall was about to drop and twenty demons would rush out.
No demons at least. This time...
The Half_Ghost man looks really weird. My guess is that the mesh or texture for his clothing did not get copied over, so the game just did not display it. I deliberately did that with the martial arts mod I created for January. I made a new melee weapon, and deliberate left the model field blank. That way the game simply displays nothing when you equip it. So it looks like she is using her bare hands.
Damn, Invisi-man sure can take a beating. Miss V is putting more lead in him than a pencil factory.
Why are all these weirdos coming out of the woodwork? Over bearer-bonds, which are now worthless anyway? This is one weird quest.
So it was not about the bonds, but some pistol? Oi!
Wow, that dude took some serious firepower to take down. I imagine after eating eight shotgun blasts at close range, 'disposing' of what's left of him should not be hard. I can imagine clean up was indeed quite the task though.
So we learn maybe there's yet another demented fool looking to meet Tazer and Blamhammer and all this fuss seems to be about that pistol buried with Mousie's mom.
I'm falling behind on every thread...
I like it that while fighting Andrew, Taneesha's main concern was actually that Lucy's house got more and more dirty with every fired shot and that the first thing that she had done after killing Andrew, she cleaned up the house.
Too bad that his outfit didn't work properly, it worked fine in my .esp. I don't remember making him that hard to bring down. At least not compared to the Frenchman.
It's okay, Lopov. Your life is way busier than mine.
Yes, Taneesha just got her first place to live, ever in her life (first place that isn't shared by scummy raiders, that is) so she's all worried about making good impressions. 🏚
About the missing outfit: All the DLC are toggled ON. Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, and Point Lookout. I'm about to play some FO3 so I'll try the other suggestions you had.
Ha ha it's okay that Andrew and Mousey were both tough. Bullet sponges are okay once in a while.
Acadian: I'm having a lot of fun writing this part. There are three levels (tiers, I guess) to Megaton and Lucy happens to live on the second tier.
In imagination, Tan had to drag the intruder down a set of stairs, drag him across a floor which is maybe 12 or 15 feet, and then through Lucy's front door. She'd then have another 10 or 12 feet to drag him before she reaches the ramp. There's a hollow area under the ramp. I imagine since it was raining, this was a good thing for her, since the trail of blood would instantly be getting washed away.
In reality: I simply clicked on the intruder, opened the console and hit disable.
YES I have heard about DOOM SubRosa, it sounds really tough! mirocu still has nightmares about DOOM.
Okay, that helps (about the missing mesh or texture). I emailed the latest save and MissVicious.esp to Lopov and he says their clothes appear fine in his game. So there's some sort of conflict with one of the other mods, perhaps. I'm about to try to see if I can fix it. But if I can't, I'll just give the guy some generic armor or something.
They are idiots, aren't they? They're all trying to find this pistol for some reason. 🔫 Let's find out what it is.
Chapter 46: The Frenchman
Date: Monday, September 17, 2277, 9:27 PM (note: as I write this, it is also Sept. 17 in real-life)
Location: Moriarty's Saloon
Current Temperature: 59.0 °F (outdoor)
The Frenchman, noted to be the "meanest" of all, according to Andrew New's notes. Apparently, the gun buried by Mouse Man was some sort of special piece, why else would all these numbnuts be so eager to get it?
Cass A. Novah – certainly sounds like the name of a new Renee character.
"Bonjour, madam." – uh oh, sounds like our Frenchman has arrived. Gulp.
And it sure looks like a fight is about to ensue. Tan seems wise to evaluate her surroundings and move her hands to her weaponry. Let’s hope Frenchie learns why they call her Miss Vicious Delicious.
Clever of Tan to check on her surroundings to see who could possibly help her or be endangered.
Cho looks like the appropriate guy to kick some French ass.
Still, Taneesha could learn a word or two from her dueslist.
The next time I create a villain, he'll be from Germany, then I can write entire dialogues in German confidently and without dictionary. With French I needed to look every word up.
Lucy is nowhere to be found? Uh oh. Has some dastardly fiend kidnapped her to use against Miss V!
I honestly had not seen the Cass = Casanova until Taneesha spelled it out. Oi!
Uh oh, its the Frenchman, and he wants his gun back. This whole recently storyline is feeling a bit like a comic books, with all these outsized and exotic characters, like the Mouse Man, and now the Frenchman.
Cho is in town? If the Frenchman is dumb enough to make a move in Moriarity's he's not going to live very long. If he's smart, he will at least take it outside, or make some dire threat and stalk off, only to reappear later under better circumstances.
Last we saw, Taneesha Jones was just attacked by another odd man who was partially invisible, right inside her own home. The man, whose name was Andrew New, was defeated by Jones as she became vicious. Now... she was trying to have a drink at Moriarty's in an attempt at cooling down, yet has been bothered again, this time by a foreigner called Frenchman who claims to have rights to a special gun called The Gray Bastard. Will the Frenchman be able to get the prize from Taneesha? Or will Frenchman become another notch in her Enemies Defeated in-game stat?
Chapter 47: The Frenchman, Part 2
The diabolical character known simply as 'Frenchman' demanded the special gun held by Taneesha Jones, but she refused. This didn't make the Frenchman happy, of course. "Rightfully?" he asked. "If you will not, ah, give me za gun, I shall have to teach you a les-zon armour," he said, laughing darkly.
"Whatever, wig-head."
But the Frenchman did not attack right away. "You... think I wear a wig?" he asked, insulted. "No of course, not at all! -- Ce n’est pas une perruque, these are my own hairs!" Frenchman's voice was rising. "Vous me donnez ce pistolet, MAINTENANT!"
By now, the wig-headed man with the eyepatch had caught the attention of every Moriarty's patron. Colin Moriarty himself appeared from his back office. "What's with all the ruckus?!" he yelled, brandishing his 10 mil.
So Frenchman had a look around, realized he was outnumbered. "You all, you have notzing to do with this," he started. "This is between I, and la fille noire, here."
"La fill a what?" Taneesha was getting up from her seat...one hand on her stun gun, the other in her pouch...
"Bien, bien. Let me explain," Frenchman started. "You are involved in zis, and don't even know what is going on. Les plus terribles. Terrible indeed. Let's have us une leçon histoire, then. History, that is."
"Oh, is this the part when the evil enemy showboats during his last scene in the movie?" Taneesha asked. "What-ever. I was just calmly getting hit on by this dude sitting next to me. Brother was just about to buy me a drink when you busted in. But let's hear what you got to say."
"Ha ha, très drôle, chienne. We had a gang, za four of us. Les Vieux, we were known as, The Old Guys, in your nah-tive tongue. Inhabituel, since none of us were old. N'a pas d'importance. Not that it matters."
Taneesha rolled her eyes, and looked at her left wrist. Though she did not wear any sort of timepiece, she did the universal gesture we all do, when mocking somebody taking too much time with a story.
"There was our leader, called Arthur, because she had poils du visage, eh, some hair on her face. There was Barret the Chain Climber, known to you peut-être as the rock-seller, Andrew New, and me, of course."
"Seriously dude, is this going to take all night?"
"Finalement, we went separate ways. Arthur left first after she became ... enceinte .. eh, 'knocked-up' is how you would put it. Zhis was a bad choice for her. Her son Don was un stupide ... eh, he was slow. Troll de grange: a troll from the barn. Barret left the next, with some wild idea of selling rocks to the Rivet City. He tried to sell rocks to me, as well."
"C'mon man! Get to the point!" somebody yelled.
Frenchman had a look around, his eyes rolling over each bar patron, all who were staring at him. He realized he had an audience. Which only caused him to speak louder. "When he came to me for za third time, I killed him. Andrew and me went our separate ways, as well." He began gesturing with his arms, like an actor on a stage. "It wasn't until il y a quelque temps, that I heard of Arthur's death. And I wanted that gun, I wanted the Gray Bastard!"
"So, you still want to buy me that hooch?" Taneesha asked the wastelander kid, who sat transfixed. "Think we're gonna be here a while."
"But as you know by now," Frenchman continued, "it was YOU who robbed Arthur's grave! Cette pute cannot even get rest in her afterlife! And for THIS, you must PAY! ... Préparez-vous à votre MORT, stupide fille noire!!!"
From this moment on, things happened very quickly. Taneesha did a quick assessment of everyone present, making guesses at what they'd all do.
If she were a guy, especially one who was not known to the town, she'd probably be on her own. But a girl in distress, even one who was currently packing? Time for them to prove their worth as saviors and heroes. Indeed, Colin and Cho already had their weapons in hand.
The Gray Bastard is a good name for a gun. It reminds me of the villain character The Yellow Bastard from Sin City.
Taneesha has the French Bastard monloguing!
Oh oh, it is a shootout in the middle of the saloon! Miss V better be careful not to shoot any bystanders, otherwise the entire town might turn on her.
His leg had become unhinged!
What a hoot! Wighead was very entertaining but I’m surprised Miss VD didn’t just taze him halfway through his long story. With so many hands in Frenchie’s death, there shouldn’t be any heat on Taneesha for it. And she even profited nicely – more than enough to buy her own hooch.
Doh! How did I miss saying: "Don't taze me bro!"
It's been "nice" weather in Maryland this whole week, which means no clouds, only one rainy day, which was Wednesday, I think. I don't play Elder Scrolls under such sunny conditions, but I do play me some Fallout. ☢
Which means no Joan of Arkay story yet, but I do have a Vicious. I want to thank Lopov for assisting me with the silly villains who took part in these last few stories; plenty of surprises, plenty of laughs.
@SubRosa Florens-- Yes indeed, Frenchman got his own Final Evildoer Movie Monologue Scene (FEMMS) just like Higherpants in your story. In fact, the guy who attacked Tan in her & Lucy's home was also supposed to have his own FEMMS scene, but Taneesha was able to kill him first. So there should have been some dialog there. I explained to Lopov that it had to be this way. Roleplay-wise, there's no way Taneesha would allow that half-invisible asshat to take control with dialog, not in her own home.
We didn't hit any bystanders, which was a miracle. But it did take a few shots to finally zap the guy.
In fact I did two gaming sessions with Frenchdude: one for pictures, and one for the story (and a few additional pictures). In the first "pictures" one, nobody else fought the Frenchman, which I thought was unrealistic, so I changed this.
@Acadian-=- I know, right?
Fallout dialog is different from Skyrim's. We can't just back out of FO dialog, and we have to manually click on whatever Goodbye dialog there is (unless the quest automatically Goodbye-s for us). But in a way this is good. I enjoyed writing up Frenchman as he did his BIG Evildoer FINAL Speech (BEFS). We all know where it was headed, right?
@Lopov-- No Lopov.
Chapter 48: Resolutions
Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2277, 8:31 AM
Location: Lucy West's House
Current Temperature: 65.0 °F (outside)
"Tan! Finally! Been lookin' all over for you!"
"Hey Lucy. Yeah, I been looking for you too."
Taneesha stood demurely in the upstairs bedroom area they shared, unsure what else to say to Lucy. The past few days had been a series of nerve-wracking, volatile moments: being attacked, being accused, going to bed only to toss and turn at the slightest unknown sound. She had not been sleeping well. With the death of the Frenchman two days ago the saga seemed to be over. Since then, nobody had come looking for her. Nobody came barging into the home she and Lucy shared, or into Megaton's community Women's Room.
And this was eerie, this sudden silence. Taneesha "Vicious Delicious" Jones had become somewhat of a paranoid wreck. Looking over her shoulders at night, walking extra quietly, as she listened for footfalls coming up from behind.
It was both good and bad that she now had a small stockpile of cigarette packs, looted from Frenchman, Andrew, and Mousey. She could calm her nerves with these for a bit, but also had to keep herself from constantly chain-smoking.
Another issue for her? Straddling the line between rambunctious raider and respectable resident.
She'd spent the previous day in the school with Bratty, where the pair of gals decorated their personal classroom with Christmas lights before spiking themselves with morphine. Sometime during the night, Taneesha then returned to Megaton. Again, she'd slept fitfully. Frenchman's notes indicated there were no more left in his Old Guys gang. Nobody left to come looking for that stupid pistol. But should Taneesha Jones trust a bunch of scrambled, half-coherent messages in Frenchdude's Pip Garçon?
"Hey did I hear right?" Lucy asked cheerfully, as she and Taneesha walked downstairs. "I heard some guy claiming he was from France confronted you in Moriarty's the other night!"
"Oh ... gosh. Um, well yeah...um..."
And it was right then, right there, that Taneesha Jones almost spilt it all; all her secrets, that is. Her upbringing with the Jehovah's Witnesses. The trip the Witnesses had taken when she was in her mid-teens, which ended in a bloodbath, with only Taneesha surviving (as far as she knew). Being then found and inducted by a group of raiders, because joining them was safer than being alone...
... especially the raiders. Taneesha felt that if she were to continue living here, then Lucy should know about her other life in the Wasteland. It was beginning to hurt, hiding such a big secret from somebody so generous, kind, and trusting.
This was the moment, right now. The words were there, on the tip of her tongue. Taneesha almost told her housemate everything. It would be better if she revealed this herself, before Lucy somehow discovered her roommate's secret life.
But by now Lucy was in the kitchen, not facing Taneesha. She was cooking up some gruel on the stove. "Hey, didja know they found a dead body under the ramp outside our door?" Lucy called.
"Oh gosh, hey, listen Lucy, um. I just want to tell you. Well, I need to tell you..."
"Yep, one of the bums who live in the Common House found it....found him, rather." Miss West was clanging a spoon against her tin pot, making all sorts of noise. "I mean, what is the world coming to that not even Megaton is safe from ... whatever happened to that poor fellow?!" she asked, exasperated. "According to Sheriff Simms, the guy was all blasted up, probably with a shot gun."
"Yeah, um... poor fella," Taneesha said, looking at the floor.
"Wonder how such a thing could happen right here in town? You know what I mean? This poor chap gets all shot up, and nobody in Megaton hears a thing."
Taneesha began fiddling with the hem on her shirt. "Yeah, I do know what you mean."
"Another thing," Lucy called. "This place smells of Abraxo. Looks like you did some cleaning up? Tan?"
"Um, yeah. I did. And about that Lucy, I can expl--"
"What a fantastic job!" Lucy quipped, pouring her sloppy breakfast into a bowl. "I mean, I really appreciate it, Tan! I've never seen these metal walls actually shine and sparkle before! Oh, you're such a great roommate! And I... I am one lucky lady to have you."
Sounds like Tan has found some peace and quiet at last, after all the craziness of the past few days. Just living that double-life of Raider / Settler has to be nerve-wracking.
You had me smiling as Lucy told the story about "that guy" they found dead from a shotgun. Wonder who could have done that?
Prowler Jones strikes again! Only one more bond to go. And there it is! That rush of ions is sweet indeed.
Aww, she let the moment to tell Lucy about her secrets slip away. Yes, it may take her awhile to settle down after being hunted nonstop recently.
And she scores bearer bond #9. You know, for medicinal purposes.
Then Reverand ‘Rush of Ions’ Taneesha shares wisdom with parishioners. A little shuffling of her ‘sermon notes’ and bond #10!
Absolutely, Florens. Our lives when we're at that age can be pretty chaotic even without a post-apocalyptic world, guns and bombs and monsters to navigate. So all the things she's involved with are starting to get to her.
January for instance, is also dealing with a lot of stuff, every single day, and on a much tougher scale than Taneesha/Vicious. But I imagine since Jan has some mystical blood in her genetics, she's able to handle everything she does without falling apart. She's also had plenty of training, necessitated by a rough school life.
The position my character's in is also a unique one. Perhaps in the past there have been raiders who've tried to play a part as outlaws and a part as respectable residents. With Vicious, she's able to play both parts where others have no doubt failed. Because I imagine in most cases, they see somebody from that tribe trying to enter their safe / respectable town, and the immediate response will be "NO, we've got enough in Megaton, and we definitely don't need any riff-raff." But Tan is good at presenting herself, so that she doesn't appear to be riffraff to them. Nor is she really riff-raff at all, not deep inside.
Acadian: yeah, my gal's not always good at expressing herself. That's really what it is. When it comes to mouthing off to those who are threatening her, or those who are bothering her (such as Cass A. Nova) there is no prob. The words are there.
But because of her upbringing (she never knew her parents, and was raised by a religious group who was not always good at raising children) she has some problems communicating the more delicate points of life.
Chapter 49: Uh oh, Not Again!
Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2277, 4:20 PM
Location: Megaton's Church of Atom
Current Temperature: 80.0 °F
Wow, those parishioners didn't buy Reverand Taneesha's ions - at all!
The hijinks and near escape that followed was worthy of the Weet Bandit himself!
But three days don't seem so bad - 'specially if the grub's good, pardner. And Robbie the Roboguard even issues Tan a smoke!
And another bond?!? Lucky Taneesha!
Oooh, his ions are particulate. I will have to remember that for the next time Avery is trying to impress a date...
Oh, yes, I remember now. Tan was trying to distract the Atomizers so she could lift the final bearer bond from the church pulpit. Has she thought of pointing her finger dramatically in the opposite and shouting "What's That!?!" to get them to turn their heads?
That does sound like the Witnesses. Methinks they are not going to thrive in the Wasteland...
Well, there she goes. She made a grab for the bond, and now the locals are going to be in hot pursuit. Given that this is a Bethesda game, the telepathic guards will be on her in seconds.
So rich people can just pay their way out of taking responsibility for committing a crime? So glad that only happens in video games, and not real life...
Oh no, Prowler Jones is now Jailbird Jones, again. And there is another bond in the jail cell! Perfect!
The whole karma thing is simply a matter of comparing numbers. If you do one really good thing, it more than cancels out a ton of little bad things. If you disarm the Megaton bomb, that nets you a ton of good Karma. A few locks picked and terminals hacked won't make a dent in that.
Poor Tan got caught just, when finally finding all BBs. But there must be some climax at the end of the hunt.
Maybe Jericho forgot the BB the last time he was in jail.
Nicely Lopoved but looking very pissed off. Looks like she doesn't really value the metallic company.
@Acadian the Paladin-- Aww, you mention the Weet Bandit. Had so much fun with that Redguard over the years.
That scene was fun to write. Only thing I regret is not taking a picture of Tan as she jumped off the second floor balcony, and landed right on top of the pulpit!
Three days isn't really too bad, even with a timescale of 10. On the other hand, my jail mod does things in real time, unlike Elder Scrolls jails. Sleeping on the bed only passes a few hours. Being incarcerated in my Fallout 3 means everything else gets put on hold for a while. As we'll see, Taneesha is able to make the best of this.
@SubRosa Florens : I know, right? What if we could just pay a fine and walk away, America would really suck then. On the other hand, this is what some of our richer folk can do. "Pay a fine" in that case equates to hiring lawyers. Cutting plea deals, bribing witnesses, and so on.
I think I figured out why her Karma won't drop (see the post above). My fault, really.
@Master Lopov--
I wrote up a bunch of Taneesha text yesterday but then hit some button on my keyboard and the browser went backwards. Rrrgh I was so mad. I thought I'd lost all the text I'd written.
Thankfully, I was using email. I email myself back and forth as I write most stories (don't ask) because of this, I remembered Outlook's Drafts folder. Nice. There's all the text I wrote! It'll be a shortie, though. The story was supposed to be twice as long, but now I don't feel like writing.
Chapter 50: Back in the Slammer
Date: Friday, September 21, 2277, 7:23 AM
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad208/xenaclone/(edited)_(edited)_Incarcerated.png.html
Three days...that's how long her sentence was for stealing that final bearer bond. Three whole days. That's seventy-two hours. Four-thousand and twenty minutes. 259,200 seconds. Taneesha had never been so good at mathematics (other than adding or subtracting caps, most Wastelanders had little use for math). But with all these minutes and seconds to kill, she certainly had time to figure how multiplication works.
...Clonk! swoo Clong! swoo...
"Hey, you. Jail Bot. Whatcha got to eat? C'mon dude, I'm hungry."
"Mooove. Along. Please."
"Yeah, but it's morning. Come on and feed me some Sugar Bombs, you walking garbage can!"
"Protect. And. Serve."
"Stupid *ducking* goddamn mother *clucker*..."
On the other hand, three days was not so bad. Three days of no distractions, and no demands. She'd be fed, she could sleep anytime she wanted. No pressure to come up with caps to live her everyday life, no reason to hustle. And if any monsters or fools somehow broke into this place, Jail Bot would try its best to protect her. And if Jail Bot got smashed to smithereens, she could hide in her cell. Nobody was getting past those bars, she'd already tried!
Taneesha could be with her own thoughts too, for all three of these days. Turns out, she had plenty to think about.
Such as, what to do about Bratty? The Brat, her supposed bestest friend in the whole world, was still solidly stuck in raider society, while Taneesha had begun to enjoy a less stressful, less dangerous, and more respectful life in Megaton.
(Well, other than getting attacked three times in a row by the three doofuses from the Old Guys gang..)
But back to Bratty. There was no way the Brat could survive in Megaton, nuh-uh. Firstly, there was no room for Bratty in Lucy West's home. And bringing her friend into Megaton would be a horrible idea, anyway. Wouldn't be long before she'd get caught stealing some chems ... or try using her assault rifle in town against someone who pissed her off ... or sl*tting it up to somebody whom she thought she could earn some quick caps from... nope, Bratty the brat had no place in that nearby community. So what to do?
After mulling over the situation, Taneesha came up with a solution which she thought might work. Thinking it through this way and that, she began to get excited about the future, in fact.
See? Being in jail wasn't so bad.
Next: how much was she getting paid for this mission? Slick Rick hinted there was a lot coming her way. No official number had been stated, but let's say if it was enough for her to afford her own place to live, could she then ditch the raiders? Could she and Bratty move to Rivet City (where both of them would be anonymous), find some sort of jobs, and then live the rest of their young lives as cute and young adults? Dressing in actual dresses and shoes instead of despicable armors made from scraps and ammo rounds?
Thinking thoughts about the raiders, her mind began to wander further. About how it all had happened a few years' back; her being inducted with them. And how her current lifestyle with Lucy West had come about. Safe, proper, respectable. That's how she'd describe her housemate.
Ruminating on these angles, Taneesha Jones began to gain some perspective, perspective she'd possibly never glean outside these walls.
Being a part-time raider meant being a part-time outlaw, and one of the things the outlaws of the Wasteland loved to jaw about was how things were in the past. Back then there'd been actual rules, and actual laws. Back then, stealing a pack of smokes could get you a sentence possibly longer than the one she was serving now, according to what she'd heard from other raiders. Back then, getting caught killing somebody meant being sent before something called 'a jury'. And if you didn't have enough money to pay for something called a 'lawyer', chances are you yourself could get sent to jail for the rest of your life, maybe even get killed by something called 'the State'!
-- And punishments varied. Out west they used firing squads, with only one gun out of several containing a real bullet. Here in what was the Maryland/Virginia area? Something called 'lethal injections' were administered. Some states even had electric chairs. Gas chambers. And that's if you actually lived long enough to see your final day.
"Yeesh," Taneesha shuddered.
From what she'd heard, going to jail before the Great War was no picnic, oh no. Those who were naturally tough, those who could fight or were part of a gang might be okay. But there were those who'd suffer beatings every day, or worse. These weaker types were now contained in a fish tank, with plenty of sharks and piranhas about.
Taneesha mused that she'd probably be okay if she were incarcerated in such a place, 200+ years in the past. Being with the raiders, she already was part of a gang after all, a very large gang, loosely-based over the entire Capital region.
Jail Bot clonked its triangular pattern outside her cell.
It was another hour or so (sixty minutes, or three-thousand six-hundred seconds) before she finally got her breakfast: a box of Sugar Bombs, a bottle of brahmin milk, and some Potato Crisps. Yum. Not exactly health food. But after giving up the opportunity to eat for that stupid ciggie pack the evening before, she was now famished.
11:34 AM, according to her Pip Girl 2500®, which the officers allowed her to keep for some reason. This meant just one day, eight hours, some odd minutes and seconds left to go.
To kill time, Taneesha turned her device's radio on, and began dancing in her cell. Eventually had a look at the wall where she'd written her raider name 'Vicious' about a month ago. She'd scratched her name onto one of the slammer's corrugated walls with a carpenter's nail, forgotten on the floor by whoever built this wretched place.
Apparently there'd been some other convicts who'd been sent to Megaton's jail by then, because her name had been joined by a couple others.
Not only did incarceration positively affect Tan's thoughts about the future, it also encouraged her writing abilities.
Taneesha is back in the slam, again. She and the Wheet Bandit will have to compare sentences some day to see who has done the most time.
I must confess to the irony of Taneesha pondering how Bratty is unsuitable for polite society from her prison cell is rather amusing. But she is right. While Taneesha can at least play along with the rules enough to fit in most times, Bratty would be in a gunfight before the first day was over.
I love the *!B0dyb4gz!* name. Ph3R M3 N00bS!
Three days of introspection and solving the world’s problems for Taneesha.
So her plan is to get rich from Q-tip’s bond reward, move to Rivet City and turn Bratty into a respectable woman. What could possibly go wrong?
I’m glad Tan translated *!B0dyb4gz!* for me. I never would have figured it out.
Acadian: Yeah, B0dyB4gz!!!! I have a feeling she's going to meet whomever this is at some point. But yes, she's trying to put together some sort of plans for her future..
You have to realize how stark the Capital Wasteland compared to Cyrodiil or even Skyrim. In Fallout games, the world .... there's not as many safe places to go and dwell. No friendly inns, none of that. I'd say the Fallout world is more hostile overall. So between Megaton and Rivet City there's just nothing. Nowhere safe to stay. ☢ Well, there's Dukov's whore house, but she's not going back there.
I mean yeah, as a raider she can stay at raider camps. But she's thinking of elevating her status in the world.
SubRosa: Oh definitely Kahreem has done more time. A good amount of that Redguard's days (maybe a third of them) were spent in the clink.
Date: Sunday September 23, 9:02 AM
High Temp: 78 F
Low Temp: 61 F
"You have serrrrrved all your time. And. Are NOW. Free. To go."
"Damn right, Jail Bot. Open these bars."
"Please ... reMOVE your things. From. The. Evidence locker before you go."
The bot didn't need to tell her twice. From somewhere unseen there was a loud *click*, after which Taneesha could move the bars before her.
"Adios, Jail Bot. Hope we don't see each other again."
"Mooove. Along. Please."
She rushed over to the jail's Evidence Locker, eager to see if her possessions were still there. And yes, her pocketbook and the rucksack she'd been using to carry the stolen bearer bonds were present. There was also the sporty outfit Lucy had given her, five cigarettes, the Mentats Taneesha bought (in case she needed some insight to pick the next unpickable lock), a can of Pork 'n' Beans, a few shotgun rounds, and the 13 bobby pins Taneesha had in her hair at her time of arrest.
But there were also some items in there which were not hers: a shot glass, a set of sexy lingerie, and (oddest of all) a total of 116 caps. Taneesha counted these one by one before leaving the jail. She was sure she did not have this many bottle caps when she'd gotten in trouble a few days ago, which meant somebody had left the extra ones behind!
Best of all, the bonds were still in her rucksack. The officers hadn't considered them to be stolen, or maybe they figured those bunch of old documents were worthless, so they'd been included along with her other things.
Taneesha took the time to place her jail clothes in a metal box on the floor, then got herself dressed.
I love how you captured the weird vocal cadences of the protectrons.
Taneesha is back on the streets, with the final bond! She can finally wrap up this mission, quest, thing.
And she changes out of her secret identity and into her alter ego as... Miss Vicious! Dum dum dum! See, Miss VD is a superhero after all.
I am sure Lieu was exaggerating, but a plutonium-powered yacht does sound pretty dope.
Dogmaster is running for president? Well, at least a raider is an honest criminal, right?
Oh, even better, Dogmaster is reinventing Bitcoin, NFTs, a Ponzi scheme. Now that I can get behind.
From what I can gather, the world of Fallout is a harsh place. Among the few saving graces though is the absence of politics, legislation and government ponzi schemes. . . oh, wait.
Wow, Taneesha's rich! I'm glad she's already thinking about trying to make sure it doesn't get frittered away.
What a contrast between this story and her adventures from Megaton. Just like Miss Vicious Delicious or Taneesha Jones had two sides to her, so do your stories about her.
Wow, 1000 caps for 11 bonds - nice reward!
I was also perplexed as I read about what Dogmaster's plans are.
But boy, the guy's got his own plutonium yacht!
Hey, I was going to make today's story the final one of 2022, but (as usual) there were some problems with the final quest, which I hope to fix this week. So next week shall be the final episode of MVD-2022.
Chapter 52: Wasted Wastoids
Date: Sunday, September 23, 5:32 PM
"One-thousand and five-hundred, twenty-two..." *clink* "One-thousand and five-hundred, twenty-three..." *clink!* "There, that's all the caps. One-thousand and five-hundred, twenty-four in all. Now how about that, Miss Bratty?"
Bratty was (for once) speechless. At least for the moment. Savor that moment dear readers, as it's not a common one.
The Brat and Vicious were sitting in Miss Vicious's classroom. Just finished counting all the payment she'd earned from Slick Rick a couple hours before. Small piles of bottle caps littered in little piles, all across the floor. Before their count, Vicious had implemented an incredibly smart idea, which was to barricade the classroom's door with a couple desks. This was to ensure that none of Springvale's dope-fiend raiders would burst inside. If any of them discovered what was going on, hundreds of caps all over the place, would they be able to resist grabbing handfuls on the spot?
"You ain't got nothing to say, huh?"
"Let's have a party!" the Brat announced after a moment. "Yeah, let's get some chems, Vicious! Come on, we can find the--"
"Hey, whoa, whoa, Brat, stop that line of thought right there. Exactly what we need not to do. We ain't getting high, at least not now. We gotta be smart about this, okay? ... You know, because it's quite possible if we blow some of this now, next thing we know it'll be days-gone-by, we'll be poor again. Back where we was. Might be a few days before that happens; a thousand five-hundred twenty-four caps is quite a lot. But you'd be surprised how fast money can go, once you start paying attention."
She looked across the floor at her winnings. Caps which had once been stamped atop thousands of glass bottles. Removed by fellows and kids and babes all across the Capital Wasteland, so their contents could be consumed. Circulated as mock-coin (because this was the best Americans could do in the year 2277 for currency).
Vicious waited for the Brat to protest. Actually gave her the opportunity to do so. But Bratty stayed quiet, so Vicious continued.
"Let's just say we gotta stay smart about this, okay?"
"Okay," Bratty agreed. "But I wanna go into Megaton, Vicious. C'mon, when are moving there? Gettin' sick of living in this dumb old school."
"Ummmm yeah... about that, Brat..."
"Noooo! BUT YOU SAID we could go!!!"
Vicious sighed. Knowing her friend well by now after several weeks, this part might be tougher than she thought. "So listen, Brat. Turns out, I can't get you into Megaton."
"BUT!!!!"
"Listen," the darker raider felt the urge to grab for a smoke. Fought that urge. "It's the woman's place I've been living at when I am in town. Turns out, there's only two beds in there, and there'd really be no room for you to stay, and..."
"So? What's the problem with that?" Bratty started, pulling at one of her pig-tails. "Maybe we go in her house one day and make her move out."
"No, Brat, that won't work. That ain't how proper society, which is how Megaton operates, that ain't how it works at all."
"Heck, maybe we can kill her! What's this *witch's* name, anyway? *Duck* yeah, I got a bright idea, Vicious!"
"Bratty--"
"How about we go into town, you stun the *runt * with your stun gun--"
"Bratty?--"
"... and I beat the *wit* out of her with my club unti she's dea--"
"BRATTY, NO! STOP IT! No one's gonna stun my housemate, no one's gonna beat her, and certainly no one's gonna kill her. STOP this nonsense bull*scheisse* thinking, god*darnit*. Stop it NOW!"
The Brat really got angry at this, of course. Got up and stomped around the room, her cheeks blushing like mad. But she did not make any sort of retort. Maybe because more and more often, she'd been falling into the habit of considering her friend as some sort of life-counselor/guidance-mentor. Or something. Vicious had saved her from a life of whorehouse tawdriness, after all. May have saved her very life.
"Hey, sorry I yelled. Sorry about that Bratty, okay? It's just that sometimes, to get something through your thick skull--"
"HEY, I got a BETTER idea!" the Brat was jumping up and down, making her dirty pink Prewar dress swish and swash. Quite a sight to see; something Miss Vicious might find amusing, if she weren't in the middle of trying to convince her friend from committing malicious activities. "We can get Q-Tip to do it! Yeah, Q-tip'll be down!"
"Oh my gosh, really? Lawd, help me now."
It took another half-hour or so before Miss Vicious was able to begin to explain what had happened. Going into Megaton could not possibly happen now, especially after Vicious laid out what she'd just gone through, over the past week. Since the Brat did not understand what exactly it meant to 1). be arrested 2). get apprehended, and 3). get thrown in jail, her 'mentor' patiently took the time to tell her what had happened. After she was done, it still did not seem her friend entirely got it.
By now, of course, Vicious was also completely exhausted. She loved her friend Miss Bratty, but sometimes it took a lot of energy to keep up with her.
"Let's get these caps back into the duffel bag." There was a crawlspace behind one of the classroom's walls, with a large hole probably chewed out at some point by molerats. Vicious stuffed the loot in there, and then moved a desk in front of it.
"Alright, I guess it's time for a treat," she said, which caused her friend to dance around again, squealing like an irradiated pig. "Let's go find the dude."
Springvale Elementary had its very own chem-supply dealer, an older man who lived in the school full time. This dealer was always well-stocked with whatever latest shipment of stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, boozes, but also beneficial chems (Stimpaks, Buffout, Mentats, etc.) were going around lately. The dealer would get these chems through a network of suppliers which led all the way up to the Dogmaster and his cohorts, themselves.
Trick was, finding "the dude" could be take a while. Springvale had electricity, it even had air-conditioning in some rooms. But most of its hallways were still dark. Vicious had cleaned her classroom properly several weeks ago, but the rest of the school was still a disaster of rubble and trash. Which was how the raiders liked it, of course.
"What's up?" a raider with Mohawk hair asked, which came out more like a demand.
"Jack, and *ship*!"
"You tell 'im, Brat."
When they finally found the man, Vicious made an exchange of 106 caps to purchase some tranquil-pills and three beers. Now they could get their party on.
"Just this once, okay?" she said to Bratty, while really trying to convince herself. "After tonight, we gotta talk about this new set of plans I got, okay?"
"Yah, sure Vicious. Whatever you say."
"Because yeah, we're not moving into Megaton, but we sure as *ship* ain't stayin' in this school, neither."
"Sure girl, whatever!"
The two raider chicks rushed hurriedly back to Vicious's classroom. Opened their beers and downed their capsules. These were pills which had been manufactured way back when, then'd sat around in warehouses while the Great War eliminated most of society.
Haha, Bratty may not be very bright but she’s clearly got her own vicious streak as she plots how to take out Lucy. She's definitely borderline psychostupidic. Settle down, girl! Taneesha’s got her hands full with you.
Two doped-out young ladies in a classroom full of caps in a building full of raiders. What could possibly go wrong here?
Bratty is speechless? Now that is something worth celebrating!
What, don't blow all the caps on blow? Is Tanesha turning into a square? Narc! Seriously though, it seems Tan is becoming responsible. Hiding that loot from other raiders is definitely a good start.
And Bratty's got a great plan to walk into Megaton and just go full raider. Oh boy. I don't think she can acclimate to ever being an indoor kitty.
Uh oh, Miss V is partying down, not knowing the terror that awaits!
I had a feeling while reading this story, that it's a prequel to something disastrous. Can't say to what but I had a hunch from the start.
I wonder if Bratty's mood-shifting behavior might be due to the extreme drug usage in the past.
I love the last pic. Wastedly beautiful!
Okay folks, here it is: Miss Vicious Delicious FINAL CHAPTER of 2022!!! 🎂 🍷
I want to thank everyone who's read and commented and helped along, some of the people I work with, and also some customers, who inspired various characters who show up in the story (Cass A. Nova was inspired by this kid who was hitting on a co-worker for instance). And of course, my co-producer Lopov, who went way beyond what was required for the Bearer Bonds part of the quest. 👨🎓 Really appreciate it all.
Chances are there will be a Season 4 as well, and hopefully that'll be the final one. Funny thing is I already know what's going to happen, and I've known since the first summer I began writing her tale. One chapter at a time, of course.
Now, let's see what happens next.
---------------------------------------
Chapter 53: The Siege of Springvale
Monday, September 24, 2277, 12:39 AM
...Consciousness, swimming in and out...
... A kaleidoscope of colors, swirling above...
...Miss Taneesha "Vicious" Jones, clamoring out of her latest tryst with chemical experimentation...
She found herself lying on one of the bedrolls located in her raider-given classroom, dizzy and out of it. She moved her head to one side. Had a look across the room, which was seen through her eyes from vertical perspective. Saw no one. Turned her head the other way, now she was looking toward the nearest wall. There was another bedroll here, but nobody laid upon it.
Where is Bratty?
Vicious tried to get up. Alarmingly, she found she could barely move. As if she'd been partially paralyzed.
Or am I even still alive?
After taking a few deep breaths she felt the soreness in her lungs which being a smoker often causes. This made her cough, which somehow kick-started her nervous system, breaking its partial paralysis.
Okay, yes I am still alive. Because this *skit* is too real.
Her dizziness subsided eventually, so that now she could safely try to sit up without a headrush causing her to faceplant.
What was that? Some sort of sounds. Gunfire, and yelling.
Yes that was gunfire, coming from somewhere else in the school. --- ... rat-a-tat-a-ratta-tat... -- Shouting, too. Had yet another innocent Wastelander found himself wandering into school, unaware the place was packed with rambunctious raiders, and his life was about to come to a swift end?
No, this seemed not to be the case. Vicious focused, straining to hear what was going on.
The cadence of some of the gunfire was unusual. Several guns were fired, but there was one which did not sound like a typical raider armament. Vicious listened hard. Whoever the invader was, he was using an assault rifle. But even from hundreds of feet away, she could tell his weapon sounded as though it were well-made, and well-cared for.
Also, there were the sounds of the raiders themselves. When raiders attacked someone, they tended to all join into the fight at once, calling to each other like a pack of radwolves, swarming their prey. They'd fire their mutt-pieces, swing their pool cues and their sledgehammers in an unruly fashion. More like a barely-coordinated pack of animals than a gang of wannabe bad guys.
But this gun's shooter was different. He or she was disciplined. Conserving ammo. And whoever he or she was seemed to be the only one firing last. Even in her current zoned-out state, Vicious could tell the difference. There would be a quick patter of rounds being fired, literal bursts of noise instead of constant spraying. Several minutes would pass between each set of combats, as though the opponent were moving slowly through the school.
Even from her downed perspective she knew the gunner was going at this alone. By himself. Not herself. Himself. And alone. Taking siege of the entire pantheon of raiders, one by one. Because that's how this guy preferred to cause an offensive.
He'd wandered in alone, and by himself.
"No!!" Vicious scream-whispered, feeling some actual terror. Can it be him?!
...Rat-a-tat-tat!.... Pop POP!!!!...
She tried to get fully on her feet so she could run across the room where her locker was. Immediately faltered at this, nearly fell on her face. Still drugged. Not that it mattered much; both her guns were in Megaton.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" a raider cackled before blasting his shotgun. "It's killin' time!" -- But again, there was that ONE shot from his shotgun followed by a half-dozen or so by the rifle.
Two raiders ran into Vicious's classroom in a panic, crouched down/hands on heads. --It took some moments for Vicious to realize they were Slick Rick and the chem dealer she'd bought those power-pills from. Right away they hit some obstacles. Since she'd arranged the room's desks and chairs in an orderly manner (rather than the mess it was before) both of them ran shin-first into some desks!
"What are ya, scared?" a nearby raider taunted out in the hallway, before being definitely silenced.
A third raider ran into the classroom, the same guy who Vicious had rescued from being eaten alive by mutants up in Germantown Police Department. Slick Rick, the chem dealer, and the dude who was the nearly super mutant-snack. All three fellows hiding in her room, apparently oblivious to her presence. Then again, they wouldn't be able to see her immediately, since she was back to lying on the floor.
"It's go time!" Slick Rick called nervously, arming himself with a 10 mil.
The shooter was now just outside the classroom door. He fired straight at them: rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat... six measured shots. Vicious noticed that for all the taunts and threats and shouts the raiders made, Springvale's invader remained silent.
"You like that, huh? You like that?" Vicious's raider boss called, before his shoulder exploded.
"Please!" mutant-dinner called. "I'm sorry!! ARUGH!!! ... I was just playin' I swear!" He ran out into the hallway, straight into a hail of rounds. The man who'd sold Miss Vicious some ancient phenothiazine soon followed.
"Don't *duckin'* hide from me!" somebody called.
There was one final shot. And then there was silence. Vicious lay in a fetal position on the floor. Wanted to get up, but the harder she tried, the more she realized she was still nearly incapacitated by the drug. Meanwhile, it seemed the invader of Springvale had moved on. Hadn't come into her room. Maybe he saw the way her room's furniture was arranged, made a few calculated guesses, and didn't want to bother banging into any of it. Assumed nobody was inside.
More measured shots. Bangs and shouts, from far away. And then ... nothing. No sounds at all. Vicious listened hard. Nobody out there.
After another several minutes of lying still, she tried again to stand, and was able to do so, very tentatively. She spent a few seconds looking around. Slick Rick lay halfway upon one of the classroom's desks, staring up at the ceiling. Just outside the door were the convict fellow and her former chem dealer, both upended. She moved slowly out into the hallway and saw several bodies, former *bunghole* goofballs who she'd seen around the school, but never bothered to catch their names (because they'd given her a hard time instead of treating her nice).
Everywhere she looked, there were corpses.
"No..."
Vicious's eyes welled with tears, she was sobbing. It had all happened so fast! Because the raiders of Springvale Elementary were around her, but all of them had fallen. Some were friends, some were fiends, some were frenemies.
Though an attack such as this was something she'd long-ago realized could happen at any time (everyone knew raiders were hunted by certain factions of the Wasteland) it was something she did not think she'd truly ever witness. Sure, the camp she'd stayed at a couple years ago up near Evergreen Mills had gotten assailed a couple times, but always it was the raiders who'd triumphed. Some had fallen, but plenty others had remained, while whoever attacked got ran off.
"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"
The voice startled her. Vicious had wandered roughly a hundred feet outside of her room by the time she heard it. Her head was still woozy, her throat parched. She'd been just about to get a drink from the fountain.
"Yeaaah, you're the one's been living in Megaton with Lucy West!" Cho Zen Wan, the Lone Wanderer, said. "Well, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Well, I ... uh..." If only I had my stunner.
"Don't tell me you're one of them?"
"You're that Lone Wanderer fellow," Vicious said, pointing shyly.
"Taneesha, right?" Cho asked. "Taneesha Jones?" Cho was putting his gun aside. "All this time you've been living a double life, Taneesha Jones. What's up with that?"
To this, Vicious had no answer.
"Well, look. I'm not gonna kill you. My mission in the Wasteland is to purge the world of raiders because they are mostly scum, no offense. Raiders do horrific things to the otherwise innocent populace of the CW, and it's not right. Raiders piss me off!"
"Okay look," Taneesha Jones said, and by now she really was just Taneesha Jones. Not Vicious. Not Miss Vicious at all. "You can do ... whatever." She shuddered weakly, looking toward a fallen raider nearby. "I guess I'll thank you for sparing me. But please, can you spare my girlfriend? Her name's Bratty, and she's wearing a pink dress."
"Pink dress, eh? Yeah, I saw her outside the school, just before coming in here." Cho the Lone Wanderer picked up his gun, and hoisted it on his back. "Bratty, you say? What kind of a name is that? 'Bratty'?"
Taneesha again had no reply. Merely looked glumly at her crummy raider boots.
"Get yourself together, Taneesha. You deserve better than this."
"Hey, don't give me that lesson in morality," she answered slowly and sadly. "Believe me, I've been struggling with this. Was just about to get out of the game." She broke eye contact with the man before her. That is true. I was just about to get out ... wasn't I?
"Alright, so we have a deal?" the former dweller of Vault 101 gestured. "You're going to get out of this life, IF, and that's a very BIG IF, you get yourself away from these creeps."
Taneesha Jones nodded.
"Good. I'm outta here. Now, you aren't gonna shoot me in the back are you?"
The Lone Wanderer did not wait for a reply. Perhaps because he could see the young lady before him was not armed. And then he was gone.
The morning after. Ugh. Is there the part that Miss V swears to never touch the stuff again? That was a big part in me giving up on alcohol entirely. The other part of course being that once I was 21 and it was legal for me to drink, it was suddenly a lot less interesting.
Uh oh, the school is under attack!
Is it the Rattler!
Oh no, its a Player Character! It is very cool how you worked Cho Zen Wan into this.
What kind of name is Bratty? A descriptive one.
And she is her usual, Bratty self. I don't think Bratty will ever be an indoor kitty.
A neat end to this story arc. Miss V's life with the raiders definitely seems to be at an end. Unless some other group pulls her back into the game.
'Rosa, if you were able to give it up that early, you're one of the lucky ones. I still struggle with substance abuse at times, which is part of the reason it's great I have this writing hobby to keep me busy. Good thing is, I've ever had any serious probs with alcohol or cigs, at least. Those are the worst in a way since they're legal.
Hee hee, nope, not the Rattler! 🐍 That would really suck if he showed up. He wouldn't have let her go.
Like I said, I'll begin writing this again hopefully in Spring of 2023. Some crazy stuff is going to go down next season.
I wanted to show off share the main script I came up with, for anyone out there who wants to get a peek behind the scenes. Keep in mind that last week when I couldn't get the quest to move forward, the ONLY thing keeping it from doing so was a very n00bish mistake. The fourth line which starts like "If (GetStage aaaSiegeOfSpringvaleQuest == 20)" I forgot to put both GetStage and the qualifier (the twin equal signs). So it said "If (aaaSiegeOfSpringvaleQuest 20)" which won't fail the script editor, but is meaningless in the game.
---------------------------------------
scriptname aaaSiegeOfSpringvaleQuestScript
short DoOnce
Begin MenuMode
If (GetStage aaaSiegeOfSpringvaleQuest == 20) && (IsPCSleeping == 1) && (DoOnce <1)
.....aaaBrattyRef.Moveto aaaBrattyStage80SiegeOfSpringvaleXMarker
.....aaaChoZenWanRef.MoveTo aaaChoZenWanSpringvaleSiegeXMarker
.....Set aaaRaiderFollowerQuest.Status to 2
.....aaaQTipRef.disable
.....Set DoOnce to 1
EndIf
End
Begin GameMode
If (DoOnce == 1)
.....aaaChozenWanRef.AddScriptPackage aaaChoZenWanPlunderSpringvale
.....ShowMessage aaaSiegeOfSpringvaleStage20Message
.....Set DoOnce to 2
EndIf
If (aaaChoZenWanRef.GetDistance Player <= 512) && (DoOnce == 2)
.....aaaChoZenWanRef.StopCombat Player
.....aaaChoZenWanRef.AddScriptPackage aaaApproachPlayerPackage
.....Set DoOnce to 3
EndIf
If (GetStage aaaSiegeofSpringvaleQuest >= 80) && (DoOnce == 4)
.....aaaChoZenWanRef.AddScriptPackage aaaChoZenWanLeaveSpringvale
.....aaaChoZenWanRef.StopCombat Player
.....Set DoOnce to 5
EndIF
End
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What the raiders lack in brains, they make up for with lack of tactical prowess - particularly vs a seemingly competent foe.
Ahah, so it is the Chosen One doing his civic vigilante duty. Good on him. Taneesha will be wise to heed his advice.
Though she is now the Principal of Springvale she is probably better to move on. Taking Bratty with her will be an additional challenge though, for as SubRosa wisely said: 'I don't think Bratty will ever be an indoor kitty'.
Ah, I only got back into the subforum just in time for the end of this season, eh? Sorry for my absence. Well, what a way to end it.
Never ceases to amuse me how bold and taunting raiders can be when they are getting their doors blown off.
That's something I hope Bethesda improves on from Starfield onward. I don't want my enemies running away all the time as would be more "realistic," because that would just get annoying. But it would be really cool if their AI could better understand that they are getting routed, like if the confidence in their voice lines diminished. Fallout 4 did make strides in this regard (e.g. "You're gonna f---ing pay for that!" when you waste one of the raiders' buddies), but it was still inconsistent and still often followed up by lines like "it's called shooting straight, rookie" when I'm level 60 and carrying ordnance the likes of which they could only barely comprehend.
Uh oh, what a twist! Cho comes in, blazin' guns, I somehow had a feeling that Taneesha would survive it but I wasn't sure about Bratty. Glad to see that they both made it out alive. I really like the part, where Cho recognizes Taneesha and starts talking to her.
All her former frenemies (I like this word) gone in a matter of a few minutes. Cho definitely cleared the school for good.
The story ends for now, you say...I'm curious what will the next season bring. Maybe the Dogmaster will finally show up.
Awesome, I am glad you have caught up Lopov. Been waiting, in fact! Mainly I was wondering if anyone would put together the hints about Cho being a raider-hunter, whenever his name got mentioned.
This story will continue probably in May or June. Whenever it gets warm (well, it's already frickin' too warm...)
Good afternoon. ☕ Today starts Season Four of Miss Vicious Delicious. I’ve been torn between Joanie and Vicious these past few weeks. Maybe I'll write some Joan too this summer, but I'm not gonna write both at the same time.
I’m planning on writing somewhere between 8 to 10 episodes of Vicious this summer, sort of like a mini-series we’d see on Netflix nowadays. I’ve known from the beginning how her tale is supposed to conclude, so here goes. Chances are I’ll then return to Joan during autumn.
Today’s pilot episode requires a recap, so we can remember what the heck’s going on in this story, right? This includes ME!!! along with all of you. Forgotten a few things.
Now for our narrator, who sounds a lot like The First 48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mokNVSfHrb8.
Last we saw, Miss Vicious, aka Taneesha Jones, just escaped the devastating siege of Springvale Elementary School. Pseudo-military Brotherhood of Steel member Cho Zen Wan, also known throughout the Capital Wasteland as the Lone Wanderer, has killed all raiders who’d been dwelling within the school, sparing only Vicious and her best friend Bratty. Upon completing his siege, Cho then vacated the school, telling Vicious (whom he also knows as Taneesha; he’s familiar with her as a civilian in Megaton…) he hopes she’s going to choose a wiser path for her future.
Now… Miss Vicious and Bratty are headed to Rivet City, where Vicious then plans to live a hopefully quiet, raider-free life. But first, Taneesha must return to Megaton to retrieve her gear…
Pilot episode of MVD coming soon!
Episode 54: The Eviction
Date: Monday, September 24, 2277, about 1 AM
“You! You’re a raider? I can’t believe it! How long has this been going on?”
Taneesha Jones stood before her housemate, dumbfounded. Unable to respond for a moment or two. - Dag, she already knows! - She’d needed to return to Megaton and then Lucy’s place in order to get her things: her modified shotgun, her 21st-century police-issued Tazer, her clothes and ammo, and any other personal items she could scrounge. She'd decided to make the walk from Springvale School to Megaton after midnight. Once inside Lucy West's house she'd leave a note, hoping to avoid a saddened goodbye.
“Hey look Lucy, I can explain…”
“I don’t wanna hear it!” Lucy’s voice rose. “YOU. A *clucking* raider?!”
Miss Lucy West, respectable member of Megaton’s small and insular Wasteland society for several years now, crossed her arms, discreetly making sure the knife she’d been in the habit of carrying was tucked within her jacket. “Now it all makes sense. Your absences, especially at night. The chem-syringes I’ve occasionally been finding around the house. Getting caught stealing, and then going to jail!” The woman who’d taken Taneesha in smacked her own head with some force. “How could I not’ve seen the signs?!”
Taneesha nodded. “Guess news spreads fast,” she muttered, looking to the floor. She’d been hoping Cho Zen Wan, the BoS scout who’d caught her dwelling within the raider-infused Springvale School as he shot up the place, wouldn’t tell anyone about Taneesha’s double-life. That his unfortunate discovery would become a secret shared only between the two of them.
“I’m truly sorry, Lucy, really I am. But it ain’t no thing, okay? Matter of fact, was on my way out. Heading off to Rivet City, actually. Was hoping you'd be asleep; was gonna leave a note. Only reason I’m here is to get ma things. Was hoping it wouldn't turn out this way. In any case, you’ll never see my *behind* again.”
“Oh, you got that right! You’re getting the HELL out of here! Matter of fact you’ve got about… two minutes to get ALL your things out of MY house, before I report a trespasser..” To Taneesha’s astonishment, Lucy then began counting backwards “Sixty. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight…”
Hey, that ain’t two minutes!
Not that it mattered much; she’d be outta here before long. Wasn’t like she owned a whole lot of things. Taneesha Jones did her best to heed what was now her former friend’s warning. Rushed toward the locker she’d been using to store things over the past few weeks, where she grabbed her guns, her ammo, her cigs and chems, her precious flashlight,.
“Thirty-eight. Thirty-seven. Thirty-six…”
She then rushed across the upper floor of the tin-constructed home, her boots clanking and scuffling loudly over the metal causeway which joined their two open bedrooms. She opened the wardrobe Lucy had allowed her to use during her stay, which was mostly full of apparel. Grabbed as many outfits as she could, stuffing them into an ages-old duffel bag with a Feebok label on it, whatever the heck Feebok was. Some sort of athletic brand, she’d been told.
“Twenty-nine! Twenty-eight!”
Lucy’s voice rose yet another notch, scaring the *skit* out of her evictee, causing panic. Only good thing about this harried encounter between Taneesha and her now-former landlady is that Bratty wasn’t here. Taneesha (still dressed in raider gear, therefore Miss Vicious) had convinced the brat to stay behind in Springvale. Her Lady’s Intuition had told Vicious that somehow, keeping Bratty out of Megaton would be one heck of a good idea, and boy-o, what a good decision that’d been.
“Fourteen! Thirteen!!” Lucy growled, baring actual teeth.
“Here,” Taneesha said calmly, with just twelve seconds to go. “You never did charge me for staying in your home, but take these anyway,” she said, tossing a handful of caps on a nearby counter. “Sorry, again,” she said, her voice cracking. “Wish things turned out different, Miss West.”
And with that, Taneesha Jones was out the door.
The silence which followed was about as absolute as silence can be, in a home and town made mostly of solder-welds, metal planks, rebar, and whatever else Megatonians were able to scavenge. Therefore, the usual cacophony of sounds fill the air; creaks and groans which over time, most folks in Megaton would typically ignore. But to Lucy, the din within her home seemed suddenly, enormously loud.
“I love you, Taneesha Jones,” Lucy West finally said inside her vacated house. “But I also never want to see you again.”
—----------------------------
Taneesha's troubles weren't over yet, however.
"STOP!" Megaton's enforcement officer shouted. "You're under arrest!"
Uh oh. "I am?"
The officer explained that Taneesha had accrued a few offences, but did not explain what these offences were. Lucy West was still inside her home, and couldn't possibly have reported Taneesha for trespassing. Not yet.
"Cho. The Lone Wanderer," Taneesha mumbled. He's the one. Bastard told on me, for being a raider!
"You have but three choices," the officer explained. "Pay some caps, go to our illustrious jail, or you can resist. I suggest you choose one of the first two."
Taneesha thought for a moment. She'd already been to jail, with the stupid Jail Bot annoying her to no end, day and night. She ain't gettin' my caps. Which only left one choice.
"Oh hail no, *witch*. Guess you'll have to catch me then!"
"I'm about to send my goon after you," officer-*witch* said. "You'd better get out of Megaton NOW!"
Welcome back, Renee, as you start a new season of Miss Vicious Delicious.
Aww, too bad about Lucy being so mad. Taneesha got away with no casualties though. And with her stuff. Really think Cho ratted her out?
Feebok. Oh yeah, not as kewl as Niekey but good nonetheless.
Good luck trying to clean Bratty up for Rivet City.
Miss V is back!
Uh oh, Lucy found out that Taneesha is also Miss Vicious. This won't go well.
I love that Lucy thinks two minutes is made up of sixty seconds!
Somebody sold Taneesha out. If not the Cho Zen Wan, then I can't imagine who else. Unless someone from Megaton saw her sneaking back and forth to Springvale.
That was a close escape from Megaton, with the cops trying to close in on her.
So now it is off to Rivet City to start a new life. I don't think Bratty is up for life on the straight and narrow though. But we will see. At least she seems to like wearing the pink dress, as opposed to raider gear. *That* would not fly in Rivet City.
Miss V might be able to go back to Megaton. Just wait for 3 days and try. Several of my characters killed Moriarty, usually with a bottlecap mine in his office. The whole town usually turned hostile afterward. But after the cells reset in 3 days, they all went back to normal and I was able to come and go like normal.
Cool, glad y'all agree. I've been really, really psyched about writing again. Gonna post the next episode earlier than usual since I got the day off. And also, today is beginning of summer; the longest day of the year. 🌞
Thanks SubRosa, indeed Miss V is back. I think Lucy was trying to freak Vicious out. She says there will be two minutes of countdown but then only gives a minute. Sort of like when somebody says they're gonna punch someone else in 3 seconds if they don't do X, but when the countdown begins WHAM!
So now it is off to Rivet City to start a new life. I don't think Bratty is up for life on the straight and narrow though
Oh yeah. There's some of the plot! Anyone who's played FO3 and also has been to Rivet City can guess some of what could possibly happen. Gonna be hella fun to write.
Mm hmm i know about the 3 day crime thing but Vicious will never return to Megaton, not unless I make a Season Five. Pretty sure porr Taneesha is banned for life though. Like, pretty sure that's how I wrote the Crime mod stuff 3 summers ago. The player gets 3 chances, and if all three get used up, both those officers will try to hunt the PC down if they return to Megaton. It is possible to pwn both those officers too, but this isn't easy.
In any event, Taneesha Jones simply wants to move on.
Thanks Acadian, and how are you today?
Really think Cho ratted her out?
Wow. Picked up a subtlety, maybe without even realizing. Hmm. Should I spoil? Probably I should a little, just to explain Cho's side.
So I'll partially spoil. Cho did rat Taneesha out, because in his mind, he's worried for Lucy's safety. Raiders in Fallout can do some horrendous, disgusting things, such as hanging corpses in their lairs, corpses which were obviously tortured alive. This doesn't mean ALL of them behave this way though. I like to imagine that a lot of raiders are raiders for the endless partying. Drinking, chems, sleeping whenever they want, etc. But from Cho's point of view, that's the side of raiderhood he sees: the ugly side.
However... the question is: did Cho also tell Megaton's officers?
This next chapter is a lot of backstory. Some of you may find it tedious, not as entertaining as usual. But it's only for this one chapter. And only to explain some of my gal's past. 2,275 words according to WordCounter.net. A little long, but necessary to explain all at once, I feel.
Tenpenny Tower was mentioned in that last chapter as the initial dwelling where this story began. Yet that stopover was not her first-ever visit. Two years and some odd months in the past was her earliest experience with the residents of the highbrow high-rise hotel.
Let us take a glance into Taneesha’s past, to better understand what happened…
Episode 55: The Kingdom Hall of Ellicott City
Date: Sometime in the Year 2275
Location: mid-central to mid-south Maryland
Taneesha Jones had been traveling with a group of Bible-thumpers collectively known as Jehovah's Witnesses: good, God-fearing Evangelist types who'd been destined to spread The Word.
At the age of 16, she was the youngest of the group. She’d only been allowed to go with them after begging the Elders, arguing that her proficiency with armaments would be valuable as they traveled. Really, she'd only wanted to walk with them so she could get out and see the world, no matter how torn-up it was. Her whole life, she'd been mostly stuck in the temple.
"Young Taneesha professes her intent concerns protection," Elder Stave lectured after learning the teen's intent, speaking at her in the Third Person, as though she were not standing right before him. "That she shalt not aim her musket unless the intent is to blast, and only for the intention of protection... Of this she makes promise?"
Taneesha professed, and promised. Guns and bombs were not the usual methods priests and prophets would resort to while spreading the Word of God to other humans of course, but the realities of America had changed. Taneesha’s shotgun (and the weapons of a couple others who were allowed to carry) would only see use when the group encountered mutated creatures and monsters.
Or so went their thinking, at first….
Days passed as the group travelled roughly south. Then a week, and another week. It’d been a long journey by that point; knocking on the doors of various homes and settlements in the middle of nowhere, only to have that same door slammed a few moments later by irritated inhabitants, who had no desire to be ‘saved’. So far, only two of the fifty-three establishments they'd stopped by had welcomed them inside. Apparently, Witnesses from the 19th Century into the 21st had encountered plenty of refusals, as well. Yet here in the 23rd, a slammed door was one of the better reactions the group encountered! — At worst, they’d been shot at! ... Once, they'd even had a grenade tossed their way!
By the time they'd reached the gigantic tower reality had slapped them all, dozens of times. Three of the original fifteen parishioners who'd been journeying had perished; discussion of returning back north had begun. Even so, Tenpenny Tower beckoned to the group from miles away, place was so tall. Such an obvious destination to reach. Such an obvious destination to preach!
Let us forge ahead! cried Elder John, the absolute leader of the group, after they'd decided to count ayes and nays. The others reluctantly agreed. If Taneesha could've placed her own "nay" the vote would've been decisively hung, but at sixteen she was too young for their impromptu poll.
According to Jehovah, The End was always coming; always, The End was near. Better prepare for Paradise was the constant reminder Young Taneesha had heard. Those who were selected and faithful would enter the Kingdom of Zion, she’d been told over and over, after The End befell. The Earth would perish in fire and hailstones and groundquakes, and so on. This ‘End’ was often given an actual date as well, whether it’d be weeks, or months, or years ahead. This is how she’d been raised.
But let us go back even further in time…
Well done, Renee! This historical background was presented in such a way as to be both easy to read and enjoyable.
Too bad that Taneesha’s group threatened their potential hosts at Tenpenny Tower with Divine punishment instead of being wise enough to try being gracious when offered hospitality.
Those Witnesses never were a good fit for Taneesha. They’re good at pissing people off and can’t fight – a bad combination. Ironic that it was with the Raiders she found a home.
I love the touch of how the Elder deliberately speaks in the Third Person, to deliberately elevate themself above others who speak normally.
And Taneesha gets a lot of doors slammed in her face. As I understand it, this is the actual purpose of it all. To send young members out into the world, knowing that their preaching will irritate and annoy people, and cause them to react negatively. They are not supposed to convert people. The real goal is to reinforce the division between the acolytes and the rest of the world. To make them feel that they are not welcome out in the outside world, and that the only place they will find real friendship and companionship is within the Witnesses. It makes it very, very hard to ever leave.
At least that is the case now, IRL. The stakes are obviously a lot higher in Taneesha's world!
Is Second Armageddon anything like https://youtu.be/6x8A9WvQV_w?si=r6TI5MVqF7Dbr8gx Just asking for the hobbits.
Nice background on the many looked for Armageddons that never came. It seems Armageddon is like a wizard. It is never late, or early, but arrives precisely when it means to. And the people who make these predictions just keep on predicting, and no one bats an eye.
Well, one can certainly get behind the idea of no more lawyers... And honestly, having skill in more practical matters would definitely be useful when it comes to having to fend for oneself in the wasteland.
I don't think they are even going to get in the front door of Tenpenny Tower. They are probably going to be as welcome as ghouls.
Wow, that was a bad night in the RobCo factory, and worse outside. I figured something like that must have taken place to turn Taneesha into Miss Viscous. It is still sad to read though.
That was some nice (and by nice I mean horrific) background on how Miss V became who she is.
I really appreciated how you worked Ellicott City into the story. As I recall you live there don't you? Or at least lived there at one time? I like when people write about the places they know so intimately like that, because you can really breathe a landscape into life when it is so ingrained into your life.
You did a lot of really good research into the Jehovah's Witnesses. Are or were you a former member? In any case, your knowledge of them really shines through here. I liked how you took the real history and blended it into the Fallout future.
Okay, Computer probs. Yeah. Gotta take my gaming spaceship to the Geeks.
I'm glad you two liked that last chapter, was worried I'd gone "too far" with the religious stuff. But that's her story, how she's become who she's become.
I have a personal thing with the JW myself. Jenny, my best friend in high school, joined the Witnesses some time during our first year of college. We went to different colleges, see. Anyway, she was a very upbeat person, always easy to talk to, really we kept each other entertained all during senior year. -- Kept me out of trouble, too.
That first summer after college, she called and wanted to come over, so I say "Of course! Can't wait to see you!" And she shows up with this guy. Guy's got a little tie on, both of them were very properly dressed. Jen was wearing a dress which was sort of gussy. Not really "Jen" clothes, if that makes any sense. She looked as though she was headed off to a job interview or something. And this was in summer!
"Come on in!" I say.
We sit on the back deck, probably poured some sodas or whatever. Have a seat, etc. See normally, if folks came to the door and start talking about the end of the world or whatever, passing over their little pamphlets, maybe I'd take the pamphlet (out of curiosity) but other than that, I'm doing whatever I can to make them skedaddle. But in this case I couldn't do this: JEN was my FRIEND!!! So I had no other choice but to just sit there and listen to the spiel she and this guy began preaching, right in my family's house!
...looking back I think this was a bit of sly-thinking on their part. Because they didn't start preaching until they were safely inside, see? Because on some level, Jenny and that guy would've already known what might happen if they started with the religious stuff on the doorstep. Here was finally a chance to avoid that awkward doorstep encounter, see?
Anyway, our friendship just sort of dwindled. I mean, I tried, really I did! But Jenny was really into her new way of life, which is what that cult religion demands, of course.
You know how we were talking about Gary Gygax a little while ago? I just found out (for probably the fourth or fifth time, since I keep forgetting it) that he was a Jehovah's Witness. As well as a Libertarian. The Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff podcast just put out a two parter on the history of Dungeons and Dragons, and brought it up.
Right! I read about Gygax a few years ago during COVID. Also forgot he was a Witness. Maybe this was a reaction to all the doofs accusing DnD of satanism, eh?
Anyway, cool. I should listen to that podcast. Got my new graphics card yesterday, just waiting on a Display Port to VGA cable to show up in the mail (Best Buy didn't have one of these). Next Vicious might be this weekend, or it might be sometime next week.
Vicious coming soon. As a reminder (since it's been over a month!) Taneesha got evicted from Lucy West's place. And now she's headed to Rivet City with Bratty and Q-tip. When the story begins below, all three of them get as far as the raider camp just south of Dukov's Place.
Episode 56: Pipe Dreams
Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2277, early evening
Location: Festive Raider Camp (just south of Dukov’s Place).
As the following chapter begins, we find Miss Vicious laying upon one of Festive raider camp’s bunkbeds. Vicious, Bratty, and Q-tip made the trip from Springvale Elementary to Festive camp with just two incidents: they encountered a pair of Talon Company soldiers, and also fought a super mutant. And Vicious? Now she is resting, her mind altered on a combo of whiskey and medicinal chems. Perhaps for the last time, thinks she. Because things, they gonna change. Gotta change.
Rain drizzles lightly from the sky. Up until now, it's been one of those ‘perfect’ east coast autumn sort of days. Vicious, lying on the top bunk, floats into the world of brain-synapse fantasy...
Well, I thought it was a hoot! Dreaming of a gropefest at the drive-in, then being rudely wakened to play grammar cop to the grammarless, thereby distracting the easily distracted.
Acadian: if you look at the Talon Company pic, far in the distance you can see Washington Monument! Also notice, it's missing huge chunks of whatever it was made of, presumably it got hit by bombs.
Part of the humor of Fallout 3 is how some buildings survived the war totally intact, or nearly intact. Others are just rubble! Funny how the actual famous sites we're familiar with survived, more or less!
Miss Pre-War V tooling along in her Pink Bladillac! And her nice dream was of course cut short by Bratty being herself, and starting a fight with the other Raiders.
What looked like a potentially fatal encounter seems to have taken a rather humorous turn, as Q-Tip tries to diffuse the situation with grammar.
OTOH, I do not think Bratty is going to manage where they are going. Miss V can clearly transition back and forth between Raider life and Settler society. Q-Tip seems clever enough to be able to do the same as well. But not the Brat. At best I foresee a lot of time spent in the Rivet City slammer in her future.
I forgot to add the Love Shack "it's as big as a whale" line when referring to the Bladdilac. "Gonna set sail for the Overlook..."
Rivet City slammer, ha ha! Actually, I found myself entirely surprised while going for a walk a few days ago. Because the story took an entirely different turn in my mind, which meant I had to rewrite a bunch of material.
Powered by Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (http://www.invisionpower.com)