Fallout: Florida , The Sunshine State's Post-Apocalyptic Wastes Options

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

Well, I never thought I'd be posting in this particular subforum before now. But with all these ideas bouncing in my head of what post-Great War Florida would look like in the Fallout universe, I have taken to jotting them down and (hopefully) making a cohesive guide to it. I don't really write fiction, so I don't think I'll be writing actual stories like you all do, but I suppose we'll see. For the time being, it's really going to be a guide of sorts, somewhat like a wiki or what textbooks would say.

This will obviously attempt to adhere to Fallout canon as much as possible. I chose Florida as the setting not only because it is my home state (though that is definitely the biggest reason) but because, from what I can tell, so little about the Southeastern United States is talked about in Fallout lore, giving me a lot more room to operate in. And, of course, it's the state I know best and would love to see the most as a setting for a Fallout game.

So here's the plan for all this:
[*] I'm going to break up each section of the guide into its own post to separate it sufficiently. This one will be the introduction to the setting.
[*] I may include some incomplete information on here for several reasons. For one, it'll be an easy repository to refer to just in case the Word doc I am using has something go screwy or that my computer messes up or whatever. Two, it can be a little taste of what's to come. Three, I just want to get down as much content as comes to me.
[*] The tentative list of sections to have here include, but are not limited to (and not necessarily in this order):

[*] General overview of the setting and how I am breaking up the parts of Florida
[*] The Bestiary
[*] The Timeline
[*] The Factions
[*] Profiles of each of the regions I am making

Some of the stuff you see will definitely be subject to change if needed to make it cohesive. I'll try to document what I change to make it clear.

And most of all, I hope you all like it and I'd like to hear whatever feedback you have. Presenting and communicating information is one of the things I enjoy most, although I'm more used to doing so for real-life content (particularly political science).

First section of the guide coming up!

The Setting - Basic Overview

While not experiencing the same level of nuclear barrage as places such as Southern California, New York, and D.C., Florida was plunged into nuclear fire just like virtually everywhere else in the world. This was especially true of the Tampa Bay Area, Orlando and its surrounding areas, and South Florida, centers of great economic and political importance in Pre-War America. Being the 3rd-most populous state in the country, the Great War extinguished far more lives than average here and left plenty more to pick up the pieces in the post-apocalyptic, anarchic wastes. The exceptional biological, geographical, and human diversity of Florida led to a far more varied impact on the former Sunshine State when the bombs fell.

Nevertheless, many settlements started to crop up in the decades just after the Great War, even in those once-densely populated cities and metropolitan areas. In time, former towns and cities were beginning to be resurrected and reclaiming their old names, and brand-new ones started to form. But post-War Florida--and the rest of what used to be the country's Gulf Commonwealth, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi--was still highly fractured. In the 22nd century, the first of many ambitious attempts was made to reunite this once-thriving landscape. While extraordinarily difficult at first, a string of successes in reunification gave birth to the Gulf Coast Union, a nation similar in concept to the future New California Republic (NCR). The so-called Great Reunification--a somewhat hyperbolic title, at least currently--started extending through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and even some of southwestern Georgia, though it has yet to reclaim the whole of any of these former states.

The process is far from completed, however, and many other factions both big and small struggle with the Gulf Coast Union for dominance in the former Southeastern United States. Many of the conflicts take place in what used to be the Sunshine State. The Gulf Coast Union was successful in claiming virtually all of Northern Florida and has made inroads into the Central Florida wastes. Major and minor powers violently feuding with each other and with the Gulf Coast Union have made the GCU's grip on these lands somewhat tenuous, preventing any attempts at expanding into South Florida.

As of this guide, it is currently the year 2130, over a half-century since the world was irrevocably changed. To most easily understand the lands that were once called Florida, it is best to divide the area into ten distinct regions--even if the divisions are a bit crude, arbitrary, or too convenient. Each have their own set of conflicts being waged, major and minor players vying for power, and civilizations trying to carve out a life in these harsh wastes. Welcome to the Sunshine State's post-apocalyptic wastes.

The Ten Regions and Their Counties

County Map
Here's how some coasts in Florida got their nicknames, though not all are explicitly mentioned here

Though these broken-up zones are somewhat crude and arbitrary, it'll be easiest to understand post-apocalyptic Florida this way. However, major conflicts in one region can definitely spill over into another.

1) Panhandle (13): Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, Liberty, Franklin, Gadsden
2) Big Bend (8): Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Lafayette, Dixie, Levy
3) North Central Florida (8): Hamilton, Suwannee, Columbia, Baker, Union, Bradford, Alachua, Gilchrist
4) The First Coast (6): Nassau, Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler
5) The Space and Treasure Coasts (7): Volusia, Seminole, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Okeechobee
6) Central Florida (8): Marion, Sumter, Lake, Orange, Polk, Osceola, Hardee, Highlands
7) The Tampa Bay Area (6): Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee
8) The Gold Coast (3): Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade
9) Southwest Florida (7.5): Sarasota, De Soto, Charlotte, Glades, Lee, Hendry, Collier, Monroe (mainland only)
10) The Keys (0.5): Monroe (Keys only)


Just a quick side-note: The Panhandle West/East dichotomy is one I totally made up for my own purposes. They are, as far as I know, not referred to as such in real life. It is just the Panhandle, and the real-world Panhandle doesn't necessarily include all of the counties in Big Bend.

This post has been edited by RaderOfTheLostArk: Jun 9 2020, 01:30 AM

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

And we're finally back! We're coming close to the end of Part 1, but the overall story has only just begun. Here's Chapter 9 up at bat.

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

Chapter 9: Burying Grudges

[Fallout Soundtrack – City of the Dead]

“I thought you didn’t trust outsiders, Chief.” Obadiah said with a faint half-smirk, extending his arms out to his sides. Seeing him up close made his physical features more visible. Obadiah had jet black, short hair and a trimmed beard of the same color that followed his jaw line. He was of a stocky frame, a bit above average height but not exceptionally tall. “And yet, who is this lovely lady here?” He gestured toward Mariah. “She doesn’t look Apalachee to me.”

“I actually gave him a reason to put his faith in me, Obadiah,” Mariah retorted.

Obadiah furrowed his eyebrows quizzically when Mariah said his name. “Do we know each other? I’m quite good with names, but I don’t know yours.”

“I recognize her, sir,” one of the Brotherhood knights piped up. Obadiah looked in his direction. “I saw her escaping from the Fusion! plant where we fought those yahoos from Alabama.”

“Oh, I see,” Obadiah said, chuckling and turning back to Mariah. “You were the one who escaped from the Dissidents. What is your name?”

Mariah debated whether to spite him and not answer his question. She decided against doing so. Defiance wasn’t a viable nor wise option in this circumstance. “Mariah.”

“Mariah? Hmm. I think I have heard of you. Killed a bunch of Dissidents that attacked a caravan of yours, right? You must have been in that battle at Holt that we heard about, too. Otherwise, how would you be in the Dissidents’ clutches?” Mariah gave Obadiah a puzzled look. How did he know this much about her? “Yes, I know who you are. You’d be amazed at how quickly news travels. Not to mention my men and women here are quite proficient at deducing and finding out information. Well, if you were wondering, we sadly didn’t wipe out the Dissidents. Couldn’t even kill Russell, slippery old b------ he is. But that’s okay. We’ll be dealing with them in the near future.”

“How did you find us?” White-Feather demanded to know. “Why did you even come find us?”

“Like I said, we’re quite good at detective work. Found out you were doing a bit of trading in these parts and scouts were able to track down your location.” Obadiah wouldn’t explain that point further. “And given that neither the Dissidents nor the GCU had the F.A.C.T. in their possession, I realized that there was only one group that could’ve possibly had it: Yours. Yes, I know about it, so don’t feign ignorance. You’re the only other group who could have known about it and you would have been in the Birmingham area at the time it went missing. You must have snuck in the facility it was staying at before anyone else could take it.”

“Were you the ones who hired the Bullsharks to steal the F.A.C.T. from them?” Mariah asked accusatorily.

Obadiah seemed legitimately offended by her allegation. “Do you think that we would stoop to that level? To work with such filth like raiders? No, we did no such thing. But speaking of bargains . . .” Obadiah turned his attention back to White-Feather, “you made a big mistake not accepting my offer, White-Feather. Could’ve had your lands you so desperately seek if you just helped us out. I mean really, how did you think you were going to achieve that goal without us?”

“I saw the darkness inside you,” White-Feather said. “You would’ve betrayed us when you had the opportunity. This is far from the first time we have had trouble with you, you know.”

Obadiah did not directly respond to the accusation. “I don’t give a damn about your lands, White-Feather. We may have our history with your people, but I was willing to cast that aside. Your lands mean nothing to me as long as they don’t have Pre-War tech that we need to protect. And as long as you aren’t holding Pre-War tech that you shouldn’t have, I won’t seek trouble. But you have something that is rightfully ours, and we’re here to take it. Shows exactly why we can’t even think about working with outsiders. I clearly made a mistake even offering you an opportunity, because I’m guessing it led you to the F.A.C.T. You can be rest assured that mistake won’t happen again.”

“What do you even want the F.A.C.T. for so badly?” Mariah said. “Why is it so important that you are slaughtering people for it and that you came out all this way east for it?”

“Come on now, Mariah, even many civilians have a basic understanding of what we are about. The Brotherhood’s mission is to retrieve and reclaim—others would erroneously say ‘hoard’ or ‘steal’ or something along those lines—Pre-War tech so that fools like you don’t abuse them. We keep them safe from outsiders. And I suppose you could also say in that sense that we’re protecting outsiders from it, too. It’s a favor we are doing.”

“A favor? You’re ruthlessly killing people over it!” Mariah said indignantly. “You’re a monster!”

“No, I’m not. You are missing the big picture,” Obadiah said, shaking his head. “What we’re doing is for the greater good of civilization. While others seek to misuse technology and knowledge, the Brotherhood does what it has to do to save it. These people we ‘murder’ are not some sort of innocents like you portray them as. If we must put down those who would exploit it for their own gain, then it is our duty to do so. Especially for something as powerful as this tech is supposed to be.”

“But you’re the one who is looking to abuse it!” Mariah exclaimed incredulously. “You’ve deluded yourself! You’re just like the Dissidents!”

Obadiah bristled at her comparison. “You’d do well to not equate us to that glorified backwater gang. Look, I don’t expect an outsider to understand. The Founder of our organization, Roger Maxson, has laid out the mission for the Brotherhood and it is my responsibility to make his visions a reality. It might not be quite in the way that he envisioned—he believed in outsiders too much. But I do what is necessary. You might see us as barbarians, but what we are doing is what will resurrect civilization and make it thrive in the long run. That means that tech and knowledge like the F.A.C.T. cannot be in the hands of the Dissidents, GCU, Apalachee, whoever this other shadowy cabal is that wants it, or anyone else. It’s the Brotherhood’s destiny to claim it. If I ever do get to see High Elder Maxson again, he will be proud of what we are doing. If he is still alive, anyway.” Obadiah didn’t mention the fact that there were multiple chapters of the Brotherhood of Steel throughout the former United States, something that Mariah and White-Feather were not aware of.

“There is a price that will be paid for this bloodshed, Obadiah.” White-Feather vowed. “My people’s deaths will be avenged one day.”

Obadiah angrily jabbed an index finger right at White-Feather’s chest. “It’s your fault that more of your people are dead, Chief. You had them conceal something that is highly dangerous and belongs in our hands. And you could’ve avoided all of this if you just assisted us.” Obadiah cleared his throat. “Speaking of which, we’ll be taking the F.A.C.T. now. No need to tell us where exactly since a couple of your tribe’s members pointed it out. And to demonstrate how we are not cruel, I’m not going to have you all gunned down. You have learned your lesson, I hope. Just don’t even think about trying to impede us again. Not that you really could anyway. Oh, and Mariah?” Obadiah looked Mariah straight in the eyes. “The same goes for you. Don’t attempt to bring your precious GCU into this. Or deceive yourself into doing what you think are heroics.” Now he addressed his fellow Knights and Paladins. “Ad victoriam, brothers and sisters! Return to base. Don’t shoot any more of them, but make sure they don’t try anything slick either.” His soldiers responded affirmatively. A couple of them grabbed the F.A.C.T., which had been hiding in a dense thicket right next to the camp, while others kept their weapons trained on Mariah and the Apalachee until they left.

All was quiet. No one moved. None of them knew what to do. After a few minutes of silence, with the Brotherhood long gone, White-Feather dropped to his knees. “I’ve failed my people,” he said, anguished.

“What?” Mariah said.

“Many of my fellow Apalachee are dead because of me. Because of my hubris. It is my obligation to lead my people to safety and prosperity. Perhaps Obadiah was right. I should’ve just taken a deal with them. People under my watch would still be alive if I had. We would have been that much closer to our goals.”

“Absolutely not!” Mariah said indignantly, not toward White-Feather but toward Obadiah’s propaganda. “You could not have known this was going to happen. Obadiah showed you exactly why you couldn’t trust him. You did the right thing.”

“It is kind of you to say that, Mariah, but it does not change the fact that I couldn’t save our dead. Their losses are indicative of my failure.”

“Chief, look at me.” Mariah said, but White-Feather still looked at the ground. “Chief,” she said more forcefully. This time he turned to her. “Your job is inherently dangerous. Conditions for your whole tribe are inherently dangerous. There is no way you could have saved them all. The wastes are incredibly hostile to all of us. But the men, women, and children of your tribe look to you as their leader for a reason. You are the one best equipped to lead them, to bring them to their ancestral lands. I’ve seen it firsthand. You’ve come all this way and you can’t give up now. And it’s not just your tribe that needs you. The GCU needs you and I need your help, too. We can still stop the Brotherhood from fully utilizing the F.A.C.T. for whatever it is they are trying to do. Please.” She held her hand out to White-Feather. He grabbed it as she pulled him up.

“You are right,” White-Feather said with a renewed resolve. “I am the Chief of the Apalachee. It is my duty to lead, and by the Great Spirit, I shall. We shall defeat the Brotherhood, and the Dissidents the next time they come around.” He called the rest of the tribe that was present over to him. “Men and women of the Apalachee, let us bury our dead and honor them. We will rest tonight, and with the rekindled spirit of battle we will move out in the morning. We shall ally with the GCU to defeat our mutual enemies, and they will give us the land we seek.”

As the Apalachee moved about to lay their fallen to rest, Mariah talked to White-Feather again. “So where is the closest city? Are we close to Niceville?”

“There is a large settlement called Panama City that is closer to us but still too far to reach quickly. But I do know there is a GCU outpost fairly close to where we are. We’ll need you to be our emissary. There is still mutual distrust between our societies. Can you do this for us, Mariah? They will have to listen to you after what you have done for them.”

Mariah was reluctant to give explicit promises to people. She was anxious about failing to live up to a promise, no matter how hard she tried. But she was determined to see this through. She told White-Feather as much. “It is not often I promise things, Chief. I can’t stand the thought of not coming through. But damn that, you have my word that I will make this happen.” She held out her hand for a handshake. White-Feather obliged, shaking her hand in return.

“When this is all over, Mariah, I will see to it that your deeds are passed down in the annals of our oral traditions. But first thing’s first. Let us rest tonight and begin our plan tomorrow.”

////////////////

Mariah had been exhausted for much of the past week, but a restful night’s sleep, resolve, and adrenaline amped her up in the morning. She and the Apalachee headed for a GCU outpost—Outpost Theta, to be exact—along one of the old Pre-War state roads. Going out ahead of them, Mariah walked up to the outpost and pleaded with the soldiers there to use their communication equipment. With an extra bit of charisma, and her knowledge of some of the GCU leadership, the soldiers couldn’t resist a pretty face. Mariah did not like having to use her attractiveness to help her achieve goals, but it certainly had come in handy for her in the past.

She first contacted Darius, the commander from Niceville, who again reprimanded her for her recklessness. Nonetheless, he was appreciative of Mariah’s efforts and receiving updates on the situation with the F.A.C.T. “I’ll inform Commander Bertrand and Lieutenant Carmichael immediately. He oversees the GCU for all of the Panhandle and will more than likely be leading the charge. I’m not sure how well GCU leadership will take working with the Apalachee though. A lot of wariness there, but I will vouch for you. I have no doubt that Commander Bertrand and Jacob will do the same for you.” Mariah wondered if Valentina would be joining an assault on wherever the Brotherhood were taking the F.A.C.T. But since she was not in a leadership position, Darius would not have any idea, so Mariah didn’t ask him about her. “Do you know where the Brotherhood took off to?”

“No,” Mariah said with a heavy sigh. “From what the Apalachee told me, it was southeast of where we were. But I’m still not too familiar with the lay of the land, and I’m not entirely sure where we were camped at. They’ll have to give you more of the details.”

“Alright, we’ll figure it out when GCU leadership convenes. Thanks, Mariah. Be careful out there.” Darius ended the transmission. Even though time was precious, it was going to take a day or two for GCU personnel to convene.

////////////

Another day passed. GCU leadership wasn’t able to fully meet in person yet so some were relegated to radio communications again, like Commander Bertrand. But Commander Darius was in town, along with the Commander for Panama City, a woman of Japanese descent named Masako. She wasn’t tall or bulky like her contemporaries, but she could give off a tough demeanor when needed.

The convention was held in a meeting room at the GCU headquarters in Panama City. White-Feather and some of his best warriors were also in the room. The tension between the GCU and the Apalachee was palpable, and it was going to be up to Mariah to ease it. Ironic, she thought, considering how she often found herself willingly participating in conflict and far from a mediating position.

There, Mariah met face-to-face with Lieutenant Carmichael, the overseer of the Panhandle that Darius had mentioned. He already knew who she was and some of her exploits. “So you’re that spitfire I’ve heard so much about. I’m Lieutenant Carmichael.” The two of them shook hands. “You’ve been making quite a name for yourself, Mariah. While your behavior has sometimes been . . . questionable, at best, I know you are also responsible for helping us in many ways. But before we begin, I need to know how you became aware of the Brotherhood’s possession of the F.A.C.T.”

“Well, they came to . . .” Mariah froze. How would they react if she told them the Apalachee grabbed it right from under the noses of the GCU, Brotherhood, and the Dissidents? What if that tanked any chance of a truce between the GCU and the Apalachee? She tried to think quickly about some other answer, one that wouldn’t be a lie but wouldn’t give the full story, but nothing came to her.

“Ah. Would it be because these tribals here took it first?” Carmichael asked with a thinly veiled animosity toward the tribe. “Tribal” wasn’t always used in an offensive manner, but it was often a derogatory term used toward uncivilized groups, regardless of who they were or where they came from. Tribal groups could be just about any ethnicity. It wasn’t clear if Carmichael asked this question because of his general suspicion of the Apalachee or if he logically deduced that it must have been them that took it. She could see even see it on many of the GCU personnel’s faces that, despite their cynicism toward the Apalachee, they were uncomfortable at the Lieutenant’s offense.

White-Feather spoke up. “It’s alright, Mariah. I’ll answer this mouth-breather. Yes, we had it. We kept it safe, and the enmity of buffoons like you is exactly why we had to keep it safe in our hands.” The meeting was already threatening to break apart when it had barely begun.

“You bite your tongue, Chief,” Carmichael growled, stepping towards White-Feather, who stood up in response, ready to fight. Tension was rising quickly. Apalachee and GCU officer alike were all ready to draw weapons.

This time, it was Mariah’s turn to be the voice of reason. She stepped in between White-Feather and Carmichael. “Stop it, both of you!” Everyone in the room turned their attention to her. “F---‘s sake, we are all on the same team here! We’re wasting time when the Brotherhood has this tech, and who knows what exactly they’re going to do with it? Now come on, we need to figure out how to band together to stop them. Let’s sit down and figure this out.” Lieutenant Carmichael’s face expressed indignation at her attempt to take authority of the situation but obliged. Mariah continued. “Look, the Apalachee may not have done everything the way they should have. But their intention was to keep the tech from the Brotherhood and the Dissidents. And when they met the antagonism of the GCU toward them, they decided it was best for them to continue holding onto it. I think that’s understandable.”

Carmichael scoffed. “If they just gave us the device, we would have been much nicer to them. Could have avoided all this trouble.”

“Oh, really, Lieutenant?” Mariah asked pointedly. “With the way you treated them? How would they know? I wouldn’t be giving to people who were nothing but hostile to me either, especially some tech that can create weapons seemingly at the snap of fingers. But here’s the thing: We all need each other now. The GCU has a lot of firepower but they can’t do it on their own. The Apalachee are very familiar with the Brotherhood, more so and for far longer than us, and we need as many people as we can get to take them on. I’ve seen firsthand what the Apalachee are capable of. We wiped out the entire Bullsharks raider gang near Niceville.”

“It’s true,” Darius spoke up. “Absolutely no reports of them showing up near the town. Some travelers even found their camp, laid waste to and strewn with Bullshark bodies. They might even turn it into a small settlement of their own with the threat over.”

Carmichael grudgingly admitted that that was an impressive feat. “Those a--hats have been a lot of trouble lately, so that does free us up now that they’re dead. But those are just some dumb raiders. I don’t see how these Apalachee can help us against such a technologically-advanced foe.”

Commander Bertrand chimed in on the radio. “Lieutenant, if I may, I have something to add.” Carmichael gave him the go-ahead. “For all the trouble she can get into, Mariah has been dedicated to our mutual cause. She fended off a Dissident attack on her caravan when she first got to Florida. She figured out that we were sending a force to Holt to stamp out the Dissidents on her own. She got a lot of information on the F.A.C.T. and more insight into the Dissidents and the Brotherhood which we might not otherwise have. And personally, she is directly responsible for my reinstatement as a Commander, as she discovered there is a traitor in our department leaking information to the Dissidents. We’re still working on rooting out who our Dissident mole is. I think we need to give her a chance here to make her case.”

It was somewhat astounding to Mariah that Bertrand gave such commendation to her after his frustrations with her when they last saw each other. She blushed a bit at his praise. “Thank you, Commander. That means a lot.”

“Fine, fine,” Carmichael relented. “So, what do you propose here then, Mariah? What is it that the Apalachee want?”

“All they want is the land that their ancestors had from centuries ago. They left Oklahoma because of some trouble there—which also had something to do with the Brotherhood—but that was where their people lived when the Great War happened. I don’t know where exactly the land is but . . .”

“It is what used to be the Apalachicola National Forest,” White-Feather said. “That’s all we are seeking.”

Commander Masako spoke for the first time. “That’s not far from here. But it hasn’t been truly settled by anyone yet, despite being within GCU borders. Irradiated creatures reportedly infest the place. I suggest great caution if you are looking to settle there.”

“Okay, so what do we get in return?” Carmichael asked, this time earnestly. “It’s one thing if we agree to a deal, but the GCU government’s Florida delegation still has to approve of it. And they’ll need a reason to.”

Mariah looked to White-Feather to see what they were willing to do. He answered. “You can have the F.A.C.T., but we must have a guarantee that our residence in our ancestral lands is permanent. Mutually beneficial trade can also be established, and together we can make strides in killing the dangerous wildlife there, so they don’t threaten any of us. My people have become adept at dealing with many such creatures.”

“And then, of course, we’ll take down the Brotherhood together,” Carmichael added. “Alright, we’ve got a deal, as far as I’m concerned. We’ll work out the details more later, but we’ll get our tentative agreement written down so we hold each other to it. Fantastic.” He clapped his hands once, but he kept a stoic expression. “None of that is going to matter, however, if we don’t deal with the task at hand. We need to figure out where the Brotherhood ran off to. We know that they need a particularly powerful supercomputer to use this tech, and Masako’s team has been trying to research whatever info they can find on one. Did you or your officers find anything, Masako?”

“We’ve pinpointed some candidates nearby and, based on what we know of the direction the Brotherhood went, we’ve narrowed it down some more,” Masako replied. “But we can’t verify there is working technology in any of these places. There have been rumors of a bunker somewhere in Laguna Beach that was used by the United States military, but no one has confirmed a sighting. The only other place that we think any sort of supercomputer could be is at Tyndall Air Force Base.”

“So one place we do know the location of, right outside of town, and another that we have only a general idea of,” Carmichael shook his head. “Not to mention all the other dangers along the coast in this area.”

“What dangers? Like radfrogs or radtoads? Sirens?” Mariah asked.

Carmichael chuckled but not in an amused way. “Oh no, those are child’s play compared to what’s out there. I mean, there’s probably some of those, yeah. We had some settlements along the coast in Laguna Beach a long time ago, but they had to be abandoned. Giant fricking aquatic abominations that we’ve taken to called ‘dreadnoughts.’ Then you’ve got Mirelurks, basically mutated crabs. They might be near Tyndall as well, but we definitely know the base is absolutely infested with feral ghouls. Some of the robots on base are active as well. Defense protocol because of the War, I suppose. We’ve tried clearing the place out a couple times before, but it seems that they just keep repopulating.”

“Do you think the Brotherhood knows about these monsters?” White-Feather questioned.

“Doubtful,” Carmichael replied. The hostility between the two leaders had mostly dissolved and they started treating each other with more respect. “They come from near where your tribe does, right? There’s no way they are familiar with this territory. They may be good at finding out info or scouting or whatever, but no way are they prepared for the horrors along the gulf there. Quite frankly, I’m not sure we are either. But we will likely have to deal with monsters and the Brotherhood at the same time.”

“So . . . what exactly are these dreadnoughts?” Mariah inquired. The name certainly sounded menacing. Mariah wasn’t taking them lightly, but she was somewhat skeptical of them being considerably worse than Radfrogs or any of the other irradiated animals she had already crossed paths with.

“They sort of look like giant turtles. Yeah, those same little guys that usually hide inside their shells when threatened. Don’t laugh, because dreadnoughts don’t act anything like them. To be honest . . . I don’t think they’re just turtles. They seem like they got something else going on in them biologically because they have features that aren’t turtle-like, but I can’t say for certain. Anyway, whatever they are or their origins, they are often as big as a house and are extremely, and I mean extremely, aggressive. I’d advise everyone in this operation to be prepared for at least one of them. The Brotherhood better watch out too unless they want to become food.”

“Noted. So, where do we go now? Tyndall or Laguna Beach? We can’t just split up our forces but what if we send everyone to one place and we’re wrong? We—”

Carmichael raised his hand, signaling Mariah to stop. “Easy there, spitfire. You’re going to play a big role in this operation, believe me. But we’ll handle the strategy. Time is of the essence, but we can’t just run somewhere without a plan. Now that we have the Apalachee here, we can better formulate one. Listen closely, everyone. Here’s what we’re going to do . . .”