Miss Vicious Delicious, Her saga and story... Options

[Lopov]

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.

[Renee]

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.

[Renee]

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?

Taneesha had a seat in Moriarty's. Her usual chair was currently occupied by a wastelander, a young man, who was half-asleep. So she sat in Lucy's favorite instead. Lit a Lucky, and cracked open the cap on her whiskey. Cheap stuff, but at the moment, that didn't matter....she'd had a tough day. She deserved a reward.

Moriarty's wasn't too crowded tonight, Taneesha counted nine people. Radio Free Wasteland was on the box, Three Dog playing some old jazz tune. So... nine people, but no Lucy. Lucy West was not here. Not at home. So where could Lucy be?

"She must got a squeeze, someone she's been seeing," Taneesha muttered.

And this caused the guy sitting next to her to wake up. "Damn girl, who are you? Like, what's your name?" asked he.

"Um... Taneesha." Uh oh.

"Taneesha, you are one... fine... specimen!" He made some kind of gesture with his hands, but Taneesha refused to look. "Yo, my name's Cass. And can Cass like, buy you is a drink or sumthin-sumthin?"

"No man, already got one. But thanks. I'm just here waiting for my friend, okay?"

"Ba-cause I'm just sayin'... can I get you a hooch?"

"A hooch?"

"I just wanna buy you one drink, lady. You know like, that!"

"You want to buy me a drink that costs three caps, and tastes all nasty?"

"Yeah, 'cause you know, I wanna like, get to know you and all that a little better, you know? Ba-cause dayum!"

"Oh my gosh."

Taneesha sighed, she rolled her eyes. Being hit on by some Casanova kid named Cass was not what she needed right now. She'd just spent her day firstly fighting molerats, then fighting some douchebag who'd burst into her and Lucy's home, and this didn't even include the other douchebag who'd attacked her in the Men's a couple days ago! Her nerves were still rattled.

All she needed right now was some time to herself, yet not by herself. She did not want to be home right now, sitting and listening and noticing every little sound the house made. Not after what just happened. That would drive her crazy.

But the kid sitting next to her did not know all that she'd been through, not that it would make much difference. And he was not about to give up.

"Ba-cause I'm just say-in', I just wanna buy you a drink, that's all. And maybe if you wanna see my pad later on...ba-cause, you know..."

"Oh please."

He wasn't getting a clue. Should she get up and move somewhere else?

"Bonjour, madam."

All the sudden he was here. Him, the Frenchman, standing here right next to her. Taneesha flinched; she actually flinched. She hadn't seen him walk in the door. Her adrenaline perked up a notch. The Frenchman was wearing a trenchcoat, partially blocking Cass the Casanova Kid. No formal introduction had been made; Taneesha had no idea what a French person actually sounded like. But somehow, she just knew who he was right away.

She looked up at him, and could see he was wearing a wig, a gray and curly and poofy one, which looked like a hairpiece one of America's original presidents would've worn: George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or one of them. The Frenchman had a patch over his left eye. And he was scented. Lordy what an overpowering smell coming from him. Made Taneesha gag a bit.

"Uh, let me guess," she started. "You... are the Frenchman."

"Oui!" he clapped. "I am ... the Franch-man. Indeed, eh not many wastelanders would eh re-cog-nize my ac-cent."

"Pfft, I don't need to know your accent, fool. It's obvious you are not from around here. Look like a damn puff-cake too, with your creepy-ass wig. You know what year it is? People don't wear wigs from the Founding Fathers anymore in America, dope."

The wigged man ignored her. "Now, ah let's get down to buz-nuss, fille," he said, his voice and accent quite nasal.

"Here it comes..." Taneesha said sarcastically to Cass, who was still sitting next to her, speechless and wide-eyed.

"I want a gun," the Frenchman said. "Un pistolet très spécial, a very, eh, special gun, as I would say in my nah-tive tongue. And I know you have it..."

"Yep, I do have it..."

"...now you hand it over to me, Illico!" he demanded.

"Mm, now see here we have a problem, French fry. Problem is, I don't even have it. Gun's at home in my locker at the moment." Taneesha sat back, gazing at the wigged man, seeing what his reaction would be. "But even if I had it on me I wouldn't hand it over. Not to a tres-creep like you."

This didn't make the Frenchman happy, of course. "Rightfully?" he asked. "If you will not, ah, give me the gun, I shall have to teach you a les-zon armour," he said, laughing darkly.

"Whatever, wig-head."

...one hand on her Taser by now, the other in her pouch....

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, all socializing in the bar had stopped. Other than the radio and the soft pattering of raindrops on the roof, there was silence. Taneesha did a quick look-around at everyone here in the saloon, making a quick-second study of what was about to go down.

Gob: the bartender. Standing forelornly by the radio, as he often did. Gob would be okay, as long as he dove behind his counter.

Nova: the saucy red-haired prostitute. Dressed in her usual negligee, smoking a stub. She probably wouldn't get involved, but she'd also been around the block a few times, and possibly knew the wisdom of packing some protection. Maybe she's got a weapon for defense purposes; would she try using it?

Moriarty: the bar's owner. Though Taneesha could not see him, he was probably somewhere in the back of his establishment. Moriarty was a passionate man who always carried heat. Chances are he would come out of his office, fighting back. It was his place, after all.

Walter: the water-processing plant guy, just here having a drink after work. He's a softie, Taneesha assumes. Probably, he'd run right out the door.

There were also the usual smattering of settlers and wastelanders; folks who passed through town, maybe stayed around, maybe moved on. Transients, just like her. Cass the kid was one of these. Taneesha didn't know these folks, so all three of them in her current vision were wild cards.

Cho Zen Wan: Ah. Finally, the Lone Wanderer himself was present. Though Taneesha Jones was wary of this former vault-dweller (it was well-known he had attacked, killed, and looted raiders) she knew he was sure to make a move. He was the big hero of the Wasteland, after all. Eager to show off his protection skills, or so Taneesha assumed.

After making these assessments (and some quick-second calculations) she knew what she would do. From this moment on, things happened very quickly.


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

Under siege from "Cass"anova.

The Frenchman

"Un pistolet très spécial..."

[Acadian]

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.

[Lopov]

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.

[SubRosa]

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.

[Renee]

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.

Let's go sunning! played idyllically on the radio as the fighting began! Taneesha scooted across the floor while Frenchman was immediately surrounded. Cho the Lone Wanderer swung his bat and connected, Colin Moriarty shot his pistol, and one of the male settlers began swinging his fists. A fourth person fired from behind Taneesha's left shoulder, though she could not see who was there. Taneesha fired her Taser and missed, fired and missed, it was tough to aim because of all the sudden activity, fired, and finally zapped the wigged pinhead, causing him to fall to the floor ... all of this happened in the span of six seconds.

But the Frenchman? He was like the others before him; obviously tough. But now that he was down, Taneesha switched to her lead pipe, the weapon she used for backup, the weapon she'd picked up weeks ago, after finding herself placed in that shack. She began swinging ... pip! pop! pow! ... With all of these folks attacking at once, and with no means to defend himself, Frenchman stood no chance.

Within twenty more seconds, he was dead! Frenchman was a-lay on the floor. Somehow, his leg had become unhinged; it was lying right next to the table where Taneesha and Lucy shared their evening drinks.

And just like a scene from an old Wild Western, things went back to normal immediately after the fight was over.

"You need something, Walter?" somebody asked the town's water maintenace specialist.

"Oh. Hi!"

"Hey there big boy," Nova said to somebody. Taneesha did not know whom. She was (again) too jazzed with adrenaline.

It took her about half a minute before she took action. Looted the body of Frenchdude, who had several rounds of 10 mm ammo, a cigarette pack, and what looked to be a couple hundred more caps. Yes! She'd sell the ammo (or give it to Bratty, perhaps), she'd smoke the ciggies, she'd spend the caps.

"Hey, is that a toy gun?"

She located one more item in her opponent's overcoat: a 'Pip Garcon', which Taneesha assumed was the French version of a Pip Boy®. She was able to find a couple of notes recorded into its DATA section, which she uploaded into her Pip Girl 2500®.

"Finally, can I just get some quiet?" she asked nobody in particular.

Cass, the boy who'd been hitting on her a few moments ago, had apparently fled! Was nowhere to be seen.

"Dang. Now I gotta pay for my own hooch."

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

Tan versus Frenchy

Frenchman getting French Fried!

Batter up...

Cho scores a hit (...youch)

Classic Bar Fight

Frenchman's OnDeath Quest Message

Lopov'd

Notes: Flush with 451 caps in her pocket, Taneesha visited Doc Church during today's session and got totally cured of rads. 💉 Here she found Bearer Bond #9, so there's just one left to go.

This post has been edited by Renee: Oct 9 2022, 10:49 PM

[SubRosa]

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!

[Acadian]

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.

[SubRosa]

Doh! How did I miss saying: "Don't taze me bro!"

[Renee]

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.

[Renee]

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."

Lucy sat down and started her meal. She was happy. She was beaming! She had no idea that a half-invisible man wearing a dust hat had snuck into their home a couple nights ago, been killed after sustaining multiple shots from Taneesha's Blamhammer, and then been dragged out into the rain, where he'd apparently been found by one of Megaton's settlers.

"Um yeah, well as I was saying....um, about that cleaning..."

"You might want to be more careful though. I found a bit of blood up under the banister there," Lucy said, gazing up at her housemate with concern. "Did you hurt yourself, Tan?"

Taneesha nodded because it was true. She had hurt herself, but not without help. She'd been shot, after all, by an intruder who was half-invisible!

But she did not elaborate on this. Did not elaborate on getting stalked and attacked, did not get around to explaining her association with the raiders...

"Yeah, some *bunghole* with a president's wig burst into Moriarty's and attacked me, but it was nothing really. Probably just mistaken identity. And I did not take the man down on my own; there was several others helping me..."

"Damn, and I MISSED it!" Lucy West tapped the table softly three times. "The one night I decide to skip my evening drink at Moriarty's, there's a brawl up there..."

Again, Taneesha tried to think of a way to steer the conversation toward some more important issues on her mind. But the moment had passed. Maybe a more opportune time would come, and when that time came, she'd tell her housemate everything and all. But today was not the day.

"I have to go now!" And Miss West was out the door.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Later that day...
By now Taneesha knew where the next bearer bond was located. But since it was stacked right next to Doc Church's computer, and the doctor seemed to NEVER leave Megaton Clinic, it took a while (and about an hour of pretending to be sick) before Prowler Jones finally was able to slip inside Church's office unseen, hunker down, and make her attempt.

The doctor had hired a guard at some point, probably due to that time when she herself had stolen some meds from the clinic. Again and again, he'd peer in at her. "THAT is locked, and I can SEE you eyeing it," he'd say ominously, whenever she happened to gaze at Church's file cabinet.

Finally, both the guard and the doc were preoccupied with a new patient, and Prowler Jones safely made her move.

With nine out of the required ten bearer bonds now in her possession, she began brainstorming where the *duck* a tenth document could be found. Since Doc Church's clinic was a place she'd already searched in the past, she began revisiting some other homes and businesses she'd already been.

She broke into Billy Creel's house for instance, leading to an awkward confrontation, as both Billy and his daughter were right inside to catch her. Hours passed by before they left their house. Back inside, Miss Jones searched up and down, but came up with nothing. She also re-searched Moriarty's, the Brass Lantern, and the Water Processing Plant.

Finally, she returned to the Church of Atom. This was one of the first establishments she'd been to, weeks earlier. Desperate to get this stupid mission done and over with, she started by investigating the church's bedrooms. She moved on to its common areas, and finally, Confessor Cromwell's office. Nothing, nada, zip. All the while, Prowler Jones kept wondering if she'd actually scrutinized the church's pulpit itself.

It was like a beacon; really almost like some sort of brain-powered radar going on in Taneesha's head. The pulpit... The pulpit... Did you search the pulpit?....

She made her way into the church's cellar, where prayer and worship supposedly commenced. A couple parishioners were seated here. There was a bookshelf toward the back wall, with a couple burned and scorched books lying about. She'd already been here weeks ago; had been the one who'd scattered these books, yet nobody had bothered to clean them up!

Finally, she walked to the sermon area itself, where Cromwell's pulpit stood. Moved around it so she was now facing the two Megaton settlers who'd seated themselves here, perhaps wondering for some sort of inspirative moment involving atoms. The Prowler looked to them as if about to spill some doctrine. Looked down at the pulpit itself.

And there it was. Bearer bond number ten, right there before her.

"Finally!" she exulted. "Halleuyiah, the mission is finally done!"

Of course, she couldn't just grab the damn thing yet, not with a couple potential crime witnesses sitting a few feet away.

"Miss, have you any words of enlightenment you'd like to share with us?" one of Cromwell's flock asked the prowler. "Perhaps you've been struck, and have felt the magnificent rush of ions which dwells within us all? Please, share us with your inspiration!"

Miss Jones the Prowler smirked and smiled. "Oh, I'm feeling the rush alright, the magnificent rush of ions, that is. Looks like I'm going to feel it all the way back to Springvale School."

As she began to bull*ship* a few words of wisdom to the duo of disciples seated before her, she couldn't help herself as she reached under into the pulpit's cubbyhole, and grabbed for her immediate future.

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

Taneesha's Springvale Classroom (now with Xmas lights!)

Classroom color-enhanced by Chems (Better Living Through Chems mod)

"Damn, and I MISSED it!"

Prowling the Creels'



This post has been edited by Renee: Oct 16 2022, 05:45 PM

[SubRosa]

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.

[Acadian]

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!

[Lopov]

@Lopov-- No Lopov. sad.gif

Lopov's been busy buying a real estate.

Looks like that the good gentlemen of Megaton stood up for Tan and together brought the Frenchman down - what a nice twist, and she didn't even need to use her Tazer. You're right, though - I wonder if they'd also help some man.

Awesome, she's got 10 bonds, now it's high time to bring them back to her boss. It sort of makes sense for at least one of them to be placed at the pulpit, right?

I chuckled at the dialogue between Tan and Lucy, when it came to Abraxo and the blood.

[Renee]

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.

And she scores bearer bond #9. You know, for medicinal purposes.

Herr Lopov: Firstly, congrads on scoring a new place to live. Ow blast!

Secondly, actually she did use her Tazer on Frenchman, but it took like 4 blasts to finally hit the guy. Once Frenchie was down I'm not exactly sure who pwned le gars. 🍟 Could have been Taneesha, as she was pummeling the guy with her lead pipe. Could have been Cho, as he was swinging his bat. Could have been Moriarty or one of the Settlers, as both of them were using guns. 🔫

Funny thing about Bearer Bond #10 being in the pulpit is I KNOW we looked in there last year. Or...maybe we didn't. Maybe we assumed that "nah, such an obvious place to hide one of those. No way it'll be right there in Cromwell's pulpit."

Let's see what happens next.

This post has been edited by Renee: Oct 23 2022, 01:29 AM

[Renee]

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

"... and so, as I stand before you two today, and my ions particulate with the atoms and molecules which fall from the sky..."

"Your atoms and molecules fall from the sky?"

"Yes, mm hmm, sure they do."

"Well that's unusual. We've never heard that interpretation of Cromwell's doctrine before!"

Taneesha stood before the two Church of Atoms parishioners, attempting to spontaneously come up with some sort of sermon. This was an attempt to distract the pair while she grabbed for the final bearer bond she'd need to conclude Dogmaster's ridiculous raider mission.

"Now, pay attention ladies. This part is important. For the skies to open up, and the energy mass which pertains to the ... um... molecules and ions which dwell within the glow, is a very risky move..."

"What's she talking about?" one of the Atomites whispered to the other, who shrugged.

"...for the fallout from radiation which, uh, pertains to the masses of universes and realities involved gets delivered like so. Ow! Blast!"

Attracted by the sounds of sermon-delivery coming from the bottom floor, a third Atomite sauntered downstairs. The man smiled, and had a seat. Looked forward to some really good words of atomic vision from this ... newcomer?

The moment was now. Taneesha's fingers crept into the pulpit's mid-section cubbyhole, groped across the bearer bond's cover, and froze. Froze, because it was better to simply wait for a later time to make the final grab; the prowler knew this. She knew if she really wanted to, she could just hang up here for a while, delivering her bull*ship* words of solace to the three who'd come to witness. At least for an hour or so, or until all three of them had enough of her false ministrations, and wandered elsewhere.

Even though she could tell they were getting a little confused, a little restless, in the end did it really matter where words of revelation came from? Did it matter if she was making all of this up on the spot? ... Being raised in a religious setting, all the associated doctrine, the books, the words, the sermons, seemed to be nothing but interpretation, when it came right down to it. At least that was her experience.

It was like her childhood days, growing up in what was once known as the Ellicott City Temple of Jehovah. Back then, the directors who led her congregation sometimes changed. Ellicott City was not as dangerous an area as the Capital Wasteland, but still, the locale was just like any other in Twenty-Third century America. Witnesses occasionally got shot up. Witnesses were occasionally attacked by mutated bears or wandering radscorps, or other such random enemies. Witnesses sometimes suffered rad-counts which went off the scale, as their interpretation of the Bible was God did not want them eating any form of medicine. They'd refuse to eat Rad-Away! or seek radiation treatment, and eventually succumb to their fates.

Due to their draconian beliefs concerning meds and chems, it was rare to see anyone from Taneesha's childhood Kingdom Hall aged much over 40.

Because of this, the person leading her temple would occasionally be different. One director would pass away or become too sick, so another would take over. Each director had his or her own interpretations, which meant the sermons and beliefs Taneesha heard as a child frequently changed. Young Taneesha Jones would get confused by this, all these different words and interpretations and beliefs from different leaders would often contradict.

So, in the end, did it really matter what they said? Did it really matter what she said now?

"...and he said, come one and come all! Bathe in the glow of the atom...for Adam's glow, I mean Atom's glow..."

"Who is she, anyway?" one of the two ladies originally seated before the stand mused to herself. "Is she even allowed to be up there?"

"...maintains a mainstay of this ministry to..."

"Hey. You can't just take that!"

"STOP! ... THIEF!"

"Yeah! ARRGH.. YEAH!"

Taneesha Jones the Prowler. Trying to be deft, but now all she's got left, is to RUN!

-- Run, as all three Atomites got up to brandish their weapons. Yes, they were armed. Despite being in this so-called place of worship, all three of them were carrying. The old lady who'd openly doubted Taneesha's sermon brought out a metal pipe, the Hispanic woman who'd shrugged packs a large combat knife, and the man who'd joined Prowler Jones's sermon late quickly reached into his pocket and equipped a pair of brass knuckles. Due to the commotion, a fourth individual came bounding down the stairs, eager to stab the thief with his daggar.

But the prowler's too quick. She hopped, skipped, and danced around them all. Ran up the stairs, missed the door as she rushed by it, and then was forced to one side of the upstairs floor. When that side dead-ended she made a daring leap from upstairs down into the sermon area once again, while the four Atomites struggled to follow.

"Hail Mary and halleluiah!" Taneesha saluted, as she winged her way past all four of them. One of them managed to slice into the prowler's side. But by then Taneesha had grabbed successfully for the door, and was through in a flash.

Back outside, and "ah, *cluck*!​" she says.

...For the officer lady who'd arrested her last time was already moving from her usual post by the Brass Lantern, already jogging up the ramp. The prowler froze; Taneesha decided not to move. Where is Lucy? That's all she could think at the moment. Last thing she wants, last thing she needs, is to for Lucy to see what's about to go down...

"STOP! You have violated Megaton law!"

"Yeah, I know."

"You have committed a crime against Megaton, and for this you must pay. You have but three choices: pay some caps, go to jail, or resist my arrest," the officer said, adrenaline all jacked up. "I highly suggest you choose one of the first two options, IF you want to live."

Prowler Jones, now regarded as Hoodlum Jones, blinked. "You mean I can just pay some caps and be free? Well here, take this."

"Smart move. Assuming you have the caps, you can pay me now. Lesser minor crimes of pickpocketing, stealing, and trespassing will cost you 50 caps, but since this is your second offense, this will now cost a hundred. But you still have the other two choices just outlined: go to our fine jail, or choose to resist," she tempts.

Taneesha noticed the officer was already palming her nightstick in anticipation, as she gave that final option. So she reached into her purse, grabbed her collection of caps, and dumped all of them right there on the ramp, forcing the officer to bend and start counting.

"You call this one-hundred caps?" She shook her head. "I only count eighty-one."

"Well, whatever," Taneesha said quietly, trying her best not to attract attention. "I'm only nineteen short, then. I can pay the rest later, can't I?"

"Nice try. You've got but two choices now: go to jail, or try your fate at avoiding Megaton law. Which will it be?"

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

And so it was that for the second time in nearly a month, Taneesha found herself back in Megaton Jail, this time for three days instead of one. Back in the same cell, where the same Jailbot patrolled an endless triangle in front of her cell.

*CLUNK* - swoo - *CLUNK​* - swoo- *CLUNK​​*

"You. Look. Starved ... pard'ner," Jailbot's metallic, prerecorded voice informed. "Need ... some ... grub? It is now... DIN-ner time. For all convicts. Of. Megaton. Jail."

"No, I ain't hungry. Just give me some damn smokes. Ain't you programmed to deliver cigarettes?"

"Smoking is... baaaaad. For you."

"Pfft, whatever. Give them to me you stupid hunk of junk. Maybe if you were human, instead of a bucket of nuts and bolts, you'd understand what it's like to have a nic-fit."

"Protect. And. Serve."

A small metal door opened on the front of Jailbot's fuselage (or whatever the mid-section of the robot's main body area is called). A pack of Luckies was pushed between two of the celldoor's bars, plopped right on the floor. Inside the pack there was just one cigarette. Just. One.

"Hey, what the hell man? There's only one smoke in here!"

But it was useless arguing with a hunk of clomping metal. As she resigned herself to the fact of incarceration once again, she stumbled back to the cell's 'bedroom' area.

Right next to its bed was an eleventh bearer bond.


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

Pissed-off Parishioners

Officer in Hot Pursuit

"You've got but two choices left..."

Oh no, not again

"Need. Some. Grub?"

Lopov'd

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

Notes: 1). That's really strange that a bearer bond showed up inside the jail cell. The jail and the bonds quest are from two different mods! Though I made both these mods, I have no idea how an object from Miss Vicious World.esp got into the cell of JailFallout3.esp. I looked into the jailcell in the GECK, and the bond is not there. These bonds are Quest Items too, meaning they cannot be dropped. Even as she sits in jail, and all her items have been taken away, all 10 bonds are still in Tan's possession. None of them can possibly get dropped. Strange.

2). It also amazes me the way we can abuse Karma in this game. After all the thefts she's committed so far: 19 locks picked (most of them Karma-related), 1 computer hacked (which was Confessor Cromwell's. This gained her negative Karma), 1 pocket picked, and numerous items stolen, her Pip Girl still shows Taneesha's got Good Karma. That can't be right. Must be one of the mod's I've got in her game which is not registering correctly.

This post has been edited by Renee: Oct 22 2022, 07:21 PM

[Acadian]

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!

[SubRosa]

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.

[Lopov]

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.