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Posted by: Renee Jul 4 2020, 07:42 PM

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.

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Posted by: SubRosa Jul 4 2020, 09:07 PM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Jul 5 2020, 09:26 AM

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?

Posted by: Acadian Jul 5 2020, 02:20 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jul 18 2020, 06:38 PM

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.

The next day

"Isn't it wonderful living here in Tenpenny Towers? I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else in the Wasteland!"

Miss Vicious rolled her eyes at the primly-dressed debutante before her, while pleasant music played in an endless loop. "Any idea where I can buy and sell?" she asked, lighting a Lucky Strike. She hoped her cigarette might foul some of the primly-dressed debutante's perfume, or something.

Over the previous twenty-four hours, Miss Vicious had managed to scavenge all sorts of tings in a nearby RobCo factory. She used her 10 mil handgun sparingly, shooting at radroaches and a couple molerats, only when necessary. The work had been grueling and dark. And now she was ready to make back some of those hundred caps she'd had to spend to get into this dump. Had it all been worth it?

After wandering around for half an hour, finally she had found what amounted to Tenpenny's trading desk. Time to sell her wares.

"Welcome to Boutique Le Chic," announced the lady in the perfectly-tailored pink dress. Not a parkstroller, but close. "I'm Lydia Montenegro, proprietor," she said, her voice absolutely cultured. As though the magnificently dirty and dangerous Capitol Wasteland did not exist, meters outside. "Here, you'll find only the best. With a price tag you can boast about to your friends!"

"Um well see, I got this conductor for sale," Vicious began awkwardly. "And this ammo....."

"Oh, you must get out of those clothes!" a second lady interrupted, chuckling. "What are those, hand-me-downs? You should suit up into a parkstroller, and Lydia's the lady you want to speak to!"

"Hey. Mind your own damn business!" Vicious snapped, causing Lydia Montenegro and the second lady to blink. Vicious herself was also a little surprised. Really feeling awkward. Wondering, why did I come in here? Really, what did I expect?

"Excuse me," Lydia reeled. "You look like an adventurer. And we could use someone like you."

"You could?"

"Have you any interest in taking care of those ghouls?" Lydia shivered. "If they got in here, they'd get their filth on everything! You can smell them a mile away!"

"Uh...."



One Hour Later

"Hey you, you got another cigarette?" asked the bimbo seated across the table. A regular floozy in fact, her hair the color of platinum blonde.

Vicious fished a Lucky out of her pack. "Damn, that's the third one you bummed since I came in here." Both young ladies were in Tenpenny's lounge. "I been countin', you know?"

"I'm Janet!" the bimbo extended her hand. "I'm from West Virginia! Vault 94! That's how I got this Pip Boy! Where are you from?"

"Uh... around."

The blonde bimbo now identified as Janet sat pensively for a moment. Eyes darting here and there, as though her mind was in constant, rapid thought. "Hey you know, you don't have to pay for drinks in here!"

"I don't?"

"Pfft no! Just walk around. Nobody locks their doors around Tenpenny! Just look in peoples' fridges! And like, their cabinets and stuff. I sneak liquor all the time! Wanna come with me?"

As one lady followed the other lady out for some fun, so continued the plunge of Miss Vicious Delicious back into her former life of drugs, dread, and debauchery.

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https://i.imgur.com/OQz7r8r.png

https://i.imgur.com/d9CVyqr.png -- (I just read there's a way to sneak into Tenpenny! Some wall we can jump over. Oh well.)

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Posted by: Lopov Jul 18 2020, 07:06 PM

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!

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 18 2020, 09:30 PM

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?

Posted by: Acadian Jul 18 2020, 09:37 PM

'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.

Posted by: Renee Aug 9 2020, 04:35 PM

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.

After spending the night in a small, abandoned building nearby, Vicious awoke the next morning to the sound of something roaring around Tenpenny. It was a sound she had never heard before. Something motorized, perhaps a vertibird. She thought of getting closer to the tower. Maybe get a better look. But then, changed her mind. That sound was loud. What if the place was getting attacked?

She reached into her backpack, and pulled out her handheld device. Pressed a few buttons, scrolled sideways, and the sound of Janet's strange vault music filed the air. Janet had somehow moved a bunch of songs from her Pipboy onto Vicious's device. "Well one thing's for sure, she may be a liar and a whore, but I did have some good times and I love this music."

The motorized noise (whatever it was) continued an eighth of a mile away, over at Tenpenny. A cloud of dust was kicking into the air, near the tower's front gate.

Could it be? she asked herself. Naaah.

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https://preferredmct.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/our-mad-libs-blank2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lFfWt6P.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzu9sWE9p9c

Posted by: Lopov Aug 9 2020, 08:04 PM

LoL @ the world game! Farriers even!

Anthony's rooster!

That was the sound of Janet driving away on her motorbike, right?

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 9 2020, 08:17 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 9 2020, 09:52 PM

What a hoot! The end result for Janet's story was hilarious. But she must run off for some. . . fowl play.

Posted by: Renee Aug 16 2020, 06:34 PM

I appreciate everyone's attentions. That was fun to write.

Yes, that was Janet's motorcycle. Don't tell Vicious!

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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.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 16 2020, 08:58 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 16 2020, 10:04 PM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 17 2020, 12:30 PM

"Once a raider, always a raider" - the rule obviously doesn't apply in the Capital Wasteland.

Go get them, Miss Vicious Delicious!

Posted by: Renee Aug 23 2020, 03:42 PM

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?

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"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

Posted by: Lopov Aug 23 2020, 07:49 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 23 2020, 11:59 PM

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.

Posted by: macole Aug 24 2020, 02:31 AM

Ah, such a good feeling to know that somebody wants you except when everybody wants you. Hope the plan works out well.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 24 2020, 07:55 AM

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!

Posted by: Renee Aug 30 2020, 04:24 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Aug 30 2020, 05:17 PM

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.

"Fairfax Freddy, you out there? Come in!" said the man with the dopey voice from roughly two miles away, speaking into his recently-Abraxo'd microphone. "Yo, Fairfax Freddy. You read? *Ship.* Where they all at?" he asked his nearby left-hand guy. "This ain't right."

"Like I said sir," answered the dopey-voice guy's left-hand guy, the one they called Cheese Head. "Seems like something happened out there at the ruins. We got word from Freddy himself that the lady you had sent out into the western wastes was spotted. Not wearing the Parkstroller suit, but in full raider gear. A bunch of them were out there and ready. Last we heard. Then... nothing. No word from Fairfax Ruins, from Freddy, or anyone else."

"What the *flip*," said the man with the dopey voice, really angry now. He took a swig from his beer, a draw from his Lucky Strike. "What the *flip* happened?"

"Who knows? Maybe Talon Company. Maybe the Enclave. Certainly not the lady we sent out there. That traitor. No way she could have handled them all herself."

Cheese Head's boss glowered, but said nothing.

"And it can't be the Fort Independence Outcasts, if that's what you're thinking," Cheese Head offered. "Though Fairfax and Independence are side-by-side, there's supposed to be some sort of contract between those two. You know, we stay where we are, the outcasts stay where they are. That sort of thing. Never been a problem before."

"A'iight," said Cheese Head's boss, already calming his dopey dog-like voice. He thought a moment.

Becoming head of all raider gangs of the Potomac region had not been easy. One had to be flexible, always ready for a change of plans. Unfortunately, this next plan he was thinking of would cut into some profits. He'd have to spare a few men, at least for a day or two. But this was why he had become the man he was today. The man at the very top.

"First thing tomorrow, we send a few flunkies out there. Our best recruits. We got to get to the bottom of this one, a'ight? And we gonna lose some time with that deal we was talkin' about. But this got to get done. 'Cause this ain't right."

Cheese Head agreed, not that he had much choice. In the morning, a basic scout & search team would be sent. It would cost them some time and some caps. But it had to get done. It had to get done.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 30 2020, 07:28 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 30 2020, 09:54 PM

’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.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 31 2020, 02:09 AM

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.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Aug 31 2020, 03:18 AM

Lol, VD. Dopey and Cheesehead better hope they don’t catch her!

Posted by: Renee Sep 4 2020, 04:09 PM

Yes, I know. Unfortunately this is a Renee roleplay and she's keeping the pistol. Don't worry, she will definitely upgrade pretty soon. Here's a hint. If anyone has watched The Wire, think of Omar's favorite weapon.



Whenever I game with a character and really get into her or his tale, I sometimes find myself surprised. Snaaty's desire for a gun, for instance. Another good example was Luci Pheria, my insane dark elf who was loosely based on Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West. I was totally repulsed when she stopped in the Oblivion tutorial, and spent 3 days doing nothing but eating rat's meat, wisp stalks, and brewing foul potions. Yuck. Fortunately, MVD's habit of prayer does not repulse me, even though I myself am not religious!

Luci became the Wicked Witch of the West Weald, by the way, after taking Weatherleah for her own.



Hee hee I was hoping you'd notice!

I have been putting secret phrases and words into almost all my stories since Kahreem, circa roughly 2015, and I have noticed other writers do this occasionally as well. I was hoping somebody would catch the Jane's Addiction references in Jayne Goodfall's Goblin Lady story. No JA fans at Chorrol, though.


I surely hope not .Those flunkies are real, by the way. I hemmed and hawed and then finally added them into the actual gameworld. Either they will notice her hiding spot, or they won't.

Next story has already been started, and should appear on Sundas. I mean (wrong game) Sunday. Unlike my usual T for Teen-rated stories, it will include some Rated M stuff. Maybe I will have you moderators preview that portion of the tale, just to make sure it'll fly.

Posted by: Renee Sep 6 2020, 08:05 PM

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.

Miss Vicious woke the next morning to bright morning skies. She was surprised she had slept through the entire night. She lay upon the bedroll for a few minutes, listening, always listening. All she heard was a whole bunch of nothing.

She got up. Said her morning prayer, thanking the Lord for keeping her safe as she slept. Realized she was thirsty. Looked in her backpack. Unfortunately, nothing to drink. But this might be okay. She was pretty sure there was a working fire hydrant on the street below. Irradiated water, yummy.

But first, she remembered she had some Psycho in her pack. Out of nowhere, she suddenly craved it. Nobody was around, of this she was sure.

She knelt, dug through her pack again, and retrieved the chem. She found some Abraxo cleaner as well, and though alcohol would be better at cleaning her skin before she injected, out here in the Wasteland, you did what you had to do to get by. Her one previous boyfriend, who went by the name of Jacked, was the one who showed her how to use a syringe. Go for the skin, not the vein, not until you get good at this he had told her not too long ago. So she did this now, injecting mid-point into her forearm, at roughly 45 degrees.

Psycho was not meant to be used this way; its purpose had originally been to aid those who were in combat. But in raider society, a lot of rules could get bent or broken, of course.

She pushed the Psycho's plunger. The chem's resulting rush hit her instantly. She plopped right down on the bedroll and exhaled, eyes closed, heartbeat doubled. Savoring the moment, for it would not last long. She heard a late summer mutant cicada, buzzing far away. Noticed light sweat upon her brow Sun in the sky, blazing high above. She rolled her head backward. And...

... thought she heard something.

She concentrated hard. A bit of scuffling on pavement. Nowhere nearby, but there it was again. Yes, someone was definitely here in Fairfax.

As she gathered her things, she heard a low murmur of a voice, as well. With the drug pumping through her body, a bit of paranoia began to zoom through her thoughts.

She readied her pistol. Strode quietly down a set of stairs. Made a quick pivot, and aimed directly into an area which once contained a door, back when Fairfax Ruins was not so ruined. Nobody there. Peered out the doorway, which abutted to an alleyway. Nobody to her right. A brick wall in front of her. And then... a subtle click to her left. Somebody had just lit his or her cigarette. She glanced to her left, and there they were. She counted five of them, all of them Potomac-area raiders.

"Wait, you hear something?" one of them asked.

By then, all of them were scrambling, she could hear their footfalls, while Vicious herself was not waiting to see if she'd been spotted or not. She dashed to her right, and down the alleyway. Ran a hundred feet or so, not bothering to try being stealthy. Made a sharp right, and then another. Tried to get away, by leaving Fairfax to the north.

"A-ha! Found you!"

"Dammit!"

The previous day had been a nightmare of blasts and bloodshed, and she was not going to repeat her actions today, even as they attacked her.

"Call a doctor!" she could hear one of them say with a typical Jersey accent. "We got a bleeder!"

Gunfire began to hail, single shots, fortunately not an automatic! She began to weave her movements into an S pattern, left, right, left, right, all to avoid being hit, but one of them caught into the back of her armor.

"Kick ass!" a lady with a gun screamed.

Vicious jumped over a small rise of rubble, then scaled a wall. Strafed to the left. A bloatfly was suddenly hovering in the air to her side, fat and alert. Miss Vicious rolled right by it, and kept running. From behind, she then heard at least two of the raiders get distracted, as they took care of the gigantic insect in their way.

She jumped over a boulder, careful not to break any bones! The wonderful thing: on the other side of this boulder was a small gulley, which was roughly twenty feet below. She could move safely down there, which was all kinds of wonderful. A building was immediately to the gulley's right, and this building was surrounded on its far side by a tall fence. By the sound of it, the raiders were already falling behind. She crouched down and (as quietly as possible) began to look for the building's entrance. Did it actually have a door, and would she be able to open this door?

The answer to both questions was yes. Vicious stalked inside. She had no idea where she was, but maybe it had been some sort of car dealership. There were several Chryslus vehicles inside.

She spent several minutes waiting, and (once again) listening hard. Nobody came in, and there were no sounds from outside. She had apparently lost them.

"So much for a tranquil morning's stroll back to Megaton," she mused.



Two hours later...

"Those monsters...." said the boy who'd run up to Vicious, nearly knocking her over. "They're gonna get me!" He was huffing and sweaty, in some sort of panic.

"Jesus kid," she answered. "You just scared the *crap* out of me. You can't see I'm out here tryin' to be quiet?"

The boy, whoever he was, looked to be about twelve. He had tears in his eyes, but also a defiant look upon his face.

"Hey look. Sorry. You did scare me though. Why don't you start over? Tell me what this is about?"

"Those... THINGS!" the kid was shouting. "They keep coming! They're coming after me! They scare me! Make it stop!"

Vicious looked all around. "I don't see nobody. What things you talkin' bout? Raiders? There was some raiders after me not long ago."

"THOSE things! It's al their fault," said the kid. "They keep coming after me!"

"Um. But I don't see nobody," she shrugged.

The kid was panting. Out of breath.

"Hey, my name is Vic--" she paused. "Taneesha," she continued. "My name is Taneesha." It just seemed appropriate, using her real name with this child. "What's your name?"

But the kid was in a frenzy, looking wildly all around. "No... those things! They're right behind me! Leave me ALONE!"

"Hey, maybe if you keep your voice down, you know, they might not hear you. Be like me," she suggested in a tone of confidence. "You just saw me out here sneaking around, right? I been out here on my own for a couple years --"

"No, you don't care!" He waved his fist. "The grown-ups never care! Well fine! You'll die out here too!"

Vicious rolled her eyes. "I don't see nobody, though, as I said three times now. Ain't nobody here."

"Please don't get mad at me," the kid said, suddenly apologetic. "I'm scared! Just please help me. Promise you'll help me!"

The boy then explained that 'those big things' were all over Greyditch, a location Vicious knew well. The place had been rudimentarily settled some time ago, by several roaming groups. Seemed as though it might become another Big Town soon enough, maybe even another Megaton. Vicious pressed him for more details, however, whatever sort of monsters had invaded Greyditch, the boy would not (or could not) divulge at first. But after a few minutes more, he finally told her. Fire ants, he said.

"Uh, fire ants?" she raised her voice, then lowered it. "Look, I don't know if I can help you. Matter of fact, I definitely can not. I mean, look at me, look at what I got. All I gots for a weapon is this cheap-ass pistol," she smirked. "Look here, though. I am headed up to Megaton, if I can remember how to get there. You want to come with me? You are more than welcome... uh, whatever your name is."

The kid's mood had calmed immensely as Vicious used her soothing voice, the voice they all called "delicious" back in raider society. But now that she was defying him, he was back to being frenzied again.

"You don't listen! They NEVER listen!"

"But--"

"Fine, be like that. I'm going to find somebody who will actually HELP me!"

Just like that, the kid ran away. Though it broke her heart, Vicious could not bring herself to go after him. She was simply not prepared. Maybe if the kid had run up to her a month before she could have done so. But not today.

Not much later, she found herself above the village of Greyditch, standing on a wall. Indeed there were some monsters far below, and they were the gigantic fire ants which the kid had described. She even took a shot at one, harming it with her cheap Chinese pistol. She pierced the thing's exoskeleton, which barely slowed it down. And there were a lot of them below.

From where she stood, she was safe, so she took her handheld device out of her side pouch, and activated its map. "Damn!" she said, realizing she had already passed Megaton, which was far to the north. In any event, staging a one-woman attack on the monsters of Greyditch was not going to happen. Not without some serious firepower and a flame-retardant suit.

She began walking on the wall, calmly heading north, too far above the ants for their fires to burn. As she moved away from Greyditch, a woman passed silently on the street below. This woman looked Hispanic, and had her gun in both hands. Not a raider, and not with any of the Wasteland's other official groups. She appeared to be sneaking her way toward Greyditch, rather than leaving the place.

Both ladies glanced at one another. Vicious nodded to the Hispanic lady from up above, and the Hispanic lady nodded back.

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

https://i.imgur.com/XPsUn5p.png (from last week's episode)

https://i.imgur.com/sLYqtFR.png

https://i.imgur.com/BX3Z4TW.png

https://i.imgur.com/WlmDMzK.png

https://i.imgur.com/V2J3AbO.png

https://i.imgur.com/6YG2g23.png

https://i.imgur.com/BeSAChp.png

I have a couple posing mods (Realism Poses is one of them) and it says "use the console and enter the code" for these poses to work, but the mod never says where these poses can be found. I tried another mod made by Jonas, but these do not work, which sucks because I wanted to use some poses for today's pictures. Anybody who has used either of these, let me know.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Sep 6 2020, 10:20 PM

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?!

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 7 2020, 04:25 AM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Sep 7 2020, 08:24 PM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Sep 8 2020, 10:12 AM

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!

Posted by: Renee Sep 12 2020, 11:06 PM

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.

Wait, what pictures? Oops. Maybe I missed that. Are there any pose mods which don't use the console? I assume you're using something for Jan's game. If not, then oops.


Acadian: exactly. I don't feel bad either. I approach Fallout games similar to Elder Scrolls-- at least one of my characters took care of those ants.

Lopov: Yes, that was Marge N. Overra, my Scientific character who I rolled way back in 2013. Nice catch!

Again, do all pose mods use the console? Oblivion has a mod which allows me to use the in-game menu instead, which is a lot easier.

Posted by: Lopov Sep 13 2020, 05:27 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 13 2020, 09:20 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Sep 14 2020, 06:24 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Sep 20 2020, 08:37 PM

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.

According to the exalted consensus (statistics in history books and newsreels) chances are she'd be comfortably middle class. More educated for sure. But even if she'd grown up in poverty, her life and surroundings would be nothing as bad as this! Bombs and guns and gigantic mutant creatures.

Pshew!! a bullet whizzed by.

Though the ministers who'd raised her had done the best they could, Miss Vicious couldn't help but wonder. What would it have been like to go to a shopping mall? Polished floors, dreamy music, not a speck of dust to be seen. Maybe she'd go there with all her high school friends, riding in the back of a mighty Corvega, her hair freshly-straightened at some salon. Maybe she'd have a girlfriend, someone she could trust, and they'd go on double-dates. Maybe she'd have a boyfriend, who wasn't a chem-addicted fiend. Maybe she'd have a part-time job in some pleasant air-conditioned office, looking forward to brighter things and bigger money as the prospect of college loomed.

...Or maybe none of that would happen. Maybe she was glorifying the past; maybe she'd have a life just as screwed up back then as she did today. But there was no way it could be as bad as this, hunkering behind this mailbox to avoid stray gunfire.

After another few seconds of noise, it seemed as though the fight across the river finally came to its end. Whoever was left standing over there was probably flooded with adrenaline! Ears ringing, thoughts distracted. Vicious had been in those shoes enough times. But, it was over. Now would be a good time to go.

She patted the mailbox, then remembered it'd be very wise to change out of her raider gear, and back into ordinary clothing.

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

Two hours later...



"Welcome ... toooo ... Megaton. Friendliest town ... around."

Vicious passed by Deputy Weld, the cheap robot sentry who stood guard outside of Megaton's entrance. She felt a certain chill as she neared the town's inner gate. How long had it been since she'd last been here? She thought for a moment. Almost two years, was the answer.

"Hungry ... pard'ner?" said the robot in its tinny voice from behind her. "Try the Brass Lantern."

"Guwd I hope they don't give me any brahmin crap," she muttered to herself, as she pushed the town's creaky inner gate open.

And there he was. Lucas Simms, The man who had forced Miss Vicious out of town two years ago, walking straight toward her. Tall, dark, but not so handsome. He was sporting a silly cowboy hat, wearing an armless coat despite the day's heat. This was the man who'd told her to leave Megaton, and never come back.

Vicious nibbled her lip. Of course, back in those days, she hadn't been given her current nickname, yet. Therefore, nobody in Megaton knew her as Vicious Delicious.

"Another newcomer," Lucas said pleasantly.

She steeled herself as the tall man drew near.

"Hello there," he said in his baritone voice. "Name's Lucas Simms. Town sheriff, and mayor too, when the need arises."

Vicious said nothing at first. Obviously, the man, this mayor or whatever, was not recognizing her. "Tawny," she replied. "Tawny Jones. Uh. Been awhile since I been in Megaton."

"The quiet type, huh?" Lucas was still smiling. "Fine. Might help keep you out of trouble. I hope you're not some weirdo. Got enough of those already."

"Me? Oh no, not me. I just here to visit the Church of Atom, sir." Vicious thought back to the blonde she'd met in Tenpenny. Now there was a weirdo. "That church is still here, right?"

Lucas did not answer her question verbally, instead, he gestured. "I'm glad we understand each other," he said, pointing to the church. "Now, is there something I can help you with?"

And there really was nothing he could help her with, so she simply walked away. He didn't recognize me! she realized. ... Was it my hairstyle? Vicious thought backwards in time again, back to when she was seventeen. Surely she had a different hairdo back then. But she was also younger. Skin not so rough. Face not so weathered by frequent outdoor weather. And no fights. No lowlife thug nonsense. Not in those days.

Overall, did it matter? The fact that Lucas did not remember her was a good thing. She relaxed.

"Hello," a settler greeted as she walked by, lost in thought.

Vicious paused in front of The Brass Lantern, Megaton's semi-outdoor eatery. Jenny Stahl was still here, roasting something yummy. Jericho, the town bully, strode up and began to give Jenny some *crap* about whatever. It was always something with that guy. Across the plaza was Megaton's gigantic, unexploded bomb. And before this bomb were some of Megaton's settlers, standing in the radioactive water which surrounded the bomb.

"Each of us shall know peace! Shall know an end to pain!"

Confessor Cromwell, giving yet another sermon.

"I urge you my friends. Come! Drink with me and pray... pray to Glorious Atom! I give unto you. I beg of you, to use me as your vessel guide me into--"

Vicious did not need to hear the rest; all that nonsense about how the bomb would save them all, or whatever. She began to walk away. The Church of Atom would shelter her while she stayed in town, but she didn't have to subscribe to their ludicrous theories.

"Behold!" the preacher continued behind her. Silly man, taking in those rads by the minute. "He is coming with the clouds! And every one of us shall witness Atom's glow!"

"Yeah, right," Vicious muttered, heading to see if Moriarty's still existed. Rain began to fall just as she reached Megaton's saloon.

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

Afternoon was getting late, it had been a long day.

She sidled into the saloon, and up to its bar. Rain pattering outside. The bar was somewhat crowded with people, smoke in the air. Vicious lit a cigarette of her own. A ghoul was tending bar, while an Asian man wearing combat armor argued in the next room with the older dude whose name Vicious forgot. The dude who always wore a suit, and sat in that big, comfy chair.

"Hey smoothskin, you need something?" asked the ghoul.

Vicious checked her caps, and was surprised to see she had quite a few. Being cautious, she ordered a beer, which was the cheapest thing on the menu. Mm, refrigerated beer. She took a long swallow, as Gob (the bartender) began to tell the former raider his life story, instead of the other way around. Vicious looked around. Nobody noticed her. Not even a glance of recognition. This was good, this was good.

In the next room, the Asian man's voice began to rise.


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

https://i.imgur.com/YEOF8nS.png

https://i.imgur.com/sbYT0Au.png (these pics are mostly for Acadian to see how dilapidated Megaton is)

https://i.imgur.com/yJlVl0E.png

https://i.imgur.com/4wzhH9k.png

https://i.imgur.com/nWFrzLP.png/

https://i.imgur.com/nitCdQh.png


Vicious leveled up to 2 during this session! I gave her the Thief perk, and dumped points into Energy Weapons, Lockpick, Small Guns, Sneak, Speech... I forget what else.

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 20 2020, 09:43 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Sep 20 2020, 10:21 PM

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.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Sep 21 2020, 12:32 AM

I have some contrary thoughts about this, but this isn’t the thread for that (there may not be a thread suitable for that discussion). Maybe I could post it in the “All Things Fallout” thread? *edit* Nevermind. It seems Civil Rights as a whole were pretty much thrown out the window because of the war. The Chinese Americans may have had it the worst though, as they were rounded up and thrown into concentration camps like the Japanese were during WWII.

Anyway, Renee, like Acadian, I really enjoyed the mailbox musings. Also, nice add in with Cho!

Posted by: Lopov Sep 22 2020, 06:29 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Oct 4 2020, 02:47 PM

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?

Posted by: Renee Oct 4 2020, 04:40 PM

"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.

After her second beer, Vicious was ready to go for a tinkle. Moriarty's sole toilet consisted of an alcove set off to the side, with only a flimsy sheet hanging from its doorway for privacy. Fortunately, Megaton had dedicated restroom shacks for men, and for women. It had been yet another long day, full of adventure, guns, and now a bloody baseball bat. She was looking forward to spending a few moments alone, before heading to the Church of Atom, where she'd hopefully arrange herself a bed to sleep upon.

She entered the Women's Restroom, which was blessedly empty. Walked into a stall, closed its door. Laid her lead pipe and Chinese pistol upon the stall's trash receptical. Weary she was, but the excitement of that surprise attack was already fading away. "Just another day in the Capitol Wasteland," she chuckled as she relieved herself. She realized she was slightly buzzed from the beers. Nowhere near to being sloshed, but her head was pleasantly swimmy. Maybe she'd go for a third. But then, securing a bed in the Church of Atom might become more difficult, as other settlers grabbed their cots.

"Yo, girl."

Vicious stiffened, readying her pistol by instinct. It was a man's voice, standing somewhere within the shack. She looked under the door in front of her, and could see no feet. Shooting through the door, going for an easy wounding, would not be an option.

"Yo girl," his voice was low, as if he was trying not to draw attention from anyone who might be just outside. "Say something. I know you in there."

"Damn right I am," she answered, pulling up her trousers left-handed, while keeping her pistol ready and pointed. "The *flip* you doin' in here? Don't you know this is the ladies room, fool?"

The male voice apparently did not care. "I know who you is, girl. You was livin' here couple years back. Don't know your name, but I know who you is."

"Are," she corrected. "I know who you are, fool."

"Huh?"

"You got about two seconds to get the *flip* outta here, before I start wailing."

"I know who you ... are," he ignored her warning, but heeded her grammar lesson, "and I want to talk to you before--"

But he never got the chance to finish his statement. "HELP!!!" Vicious screamed, banging upon the stall's inner wall one side, and the shack's thin metal bulwark on the other. "HELP!!! RAPE!!! RAAAAPE!!!" The entire restroom (being mostly made of tin) was shaking a bit.

The man cursed, telling her to keep her voice down, but of course that was not on her agenda. Within another five seconds, he gave up! Vacated the Women's Room in a hurry. She could hear his feet scuffling, and the shack's door opening then slamming shut. Vicious used the opportunity to rush out of the stall, gun pointed and ready! A moment later, somebody opened the shack's entry door, and began to rush in. Vicious's trigger finger gave a few ounces of pull.

"Hey! Hey, what's going on here?" Somebody was rushing in. Are you alright?"

It was the blonde lady from the bar. Vicious searched her memory a second. Lucy West. Vicious relaxed, put her cheap, tarnished pistol back in its holster. "Hey," Vicious said forcefully, almost shouting. "Did you see some fool go rushing out of here? Sounded like he was moving in a hurry?"

"No! Why, no!" Lucy said, alarmed.

Miss Vicious rushed right by Lucy, out into the night, again readying her gun. Got into a stance, pointed this way and that. But the man who'd been in the restroom (nor any man at all) was not to be seen. Vicious was joined outside by Lucy.

"There was a dude in there," Vicious told Lucy West, her voice calming, but her pistol still affixed to her right palm. "Dude came bustin' into my stall, right as I'm doin' my thing, you know? I think he was in there trying to... I don't know." She holstered her gun, disappointed. "Damn. I coulda taken care of him too. If only."

"Hey, well, I didn't see anybody, honestly." Lucy grabbed Vicious's wrist. "I heard you screaming in there though, and ... you know how it is. Things are not easy here in Megaton either, as you just witnessed firsthand in Moriarty's."

Vicious said nothing. Looked to the scrap-metal planking below her feet. Damn.

"Hey, don't be sad!" said Lucy. "Come with me. Come on. We'll have another drink, okay? It'll be on me. And then you can come to my place. Nobody will come crashing into my pad without dealing with my Little Prince, right?" she said, patting the piece at her side.

"Well..." A free beer, and then a free, safe place to stay? Why argue with fortune? "Well, okay. I guess. If you sure about it."

"I am. We need to stick together, out here. You can crash on my couch, it'd be lovely, in fact, if you did. My brother Ian has been away for awhile, and I think .... well... why don't you just follow me?"

Miss Delicious did so. Whoever's voice she had heard in the restroom was not to be heard again that night.

"Shoulda busted a cap right into dude," Vicious muttered, while the two ladies returned to Moriarty's.

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

https://i.imgur.com/ZjwhJ4H.png

https://i.imgur.com/RPd6fOI.png

https://i.imgur.com/bHMwksm.png

https://i.imgur.com/JQjABVb.png

https://i.imgur.com/Qj1fJxy.png

https://i.imgur.com/Xm1PouP.png

https://i.imgur.com/JdqUpXE.png

Posted by: Acadian Oct 4 2020, 09:19 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 4 2020, 11:11 PM

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!

Posted by: Lopov Oct 5 2020, 11:54 AM

Same here!

This story is the best in MVD's saga so far. Not just because it features both Cho & Linda, but because it's at first calm, then follows an every-day action, nothing unusual for the wastes, and ends up with a creepy stalking scene.

Good job, nice pics too!

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Oct 5 2020, 03:34 PM

Hmmm I wonder what that guy really wanted? Why not just tell Simms who she is? We’ll definitely be hearing more about this!

Posted by: Renee Oct 5 2020, 06:07 PM

Rush.. rush... Rush... rush. Everyone's gonna start thinking I've listened to too much Geddy Lee. Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Oct 5 2020, 08:14 PM

Hey, that’s living in the limelight for ya!

Posted by: macole Oct 6 2020, 06:39 AM

Who cares about Megaton. Playing baseball with Burke was more fun.

Posted by: Renee Oct 18 2020, 04:21 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 18 2020, 09:34 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Oct 18 2020, 09:45 PM

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 I Maybe I’ll see you around town.

Taneesha

“Well shoot,” Lucy said aloud, a little saddened. She had just begun to think perhaps she and Taneesha could embark on a little adventure. Headed northeast. Maybe to Arefu itself. "I do hope I'll see her around town," she mused as she poured herself some Sugar Bombs.



THE BRASS LANTERN, 9:52 AM

"Now I KNOW I've never seen you in Megaton, right?" Jenny Stahl, The Brass Lantern's cook, asked the young lady standing before her. "We get people passing through here all the time. Anyway if you're hungry, you came to the right place. What can I get you?"

Still early morning it was. Taneesha's head ached slightly from the previous night's alcohol. "Mac and cheese," she answered, looking forward to an actual hot meal, her first in almost a week. She gazed around momentarily, then focused upward. Thought she caught a glimpse of Lucy West leaving her two-story box, high above. She felt a little something about that, like maybe she should not have left Lucy's place so abruptly. That lady had been so kind the night before. But ...Taneesha Jones had never been the sort who liked to freeload off of other people. Last night had been an exception.

"Hey, I won't say it's all fresh," said the cook, "but it'll keep you going,"

Taneesha sat down next to a blonde lady wearing black and white armor, thinking it was the most fantastic set of armor she'd ever seen. Like something out of an action comic. Jericho, that bastard, stood off to the side, watching Jenny heat up Taneesha's breakfast. Thankfully, he was being quiet this morning. Behind them both, a lady wearing a guard's outfit strolled amongst a smattering of settlers. And as always, Confessor Cromwell had already begun his morning sermon.

"...Give your bodies to Atom, my friends! We shall see our release from the pain and hardship of this world, as we leap into Atom's glow...!"

"Oh my guhd." Taneesha tried to stifle her voice, hoped she succeeded. And ah, her meal was ready. Goopy mac & cheese carbohydrates, poured righteously. She began to dig in, the food was good and hot. Taking a second mouthful, then a third. The pasta squished delightfully in her mouth. At this moment, she felt a sudden hand upon her shoulder.

"Don't try the noodles." It was the blonde in the gleaming black and white armor, getting up to leave, speaking matter-of-factly under her breath. "I think I saw something moving in mine."

Taneesha chuckled. Had another bite, then looked to her left. The blonde in the fantastic hero armor was already nowhere to be seen.



THE CHURCH OF THE CHILDREN OF ATOM

"The Confessor is truly the Child of Atom," said a dark-skinned man as Taneesha walked in the church's door. He was imparting to Taneesha what she assumed he thought was divine wisdom.

She walked a few steps more into Atom's church, her shoes whispering upon sheet metal floor.

"Speak to the Confessor, or the Mother, if you wish to know more." This was said by a large-chested woman wearing an armless white shirt. The woman's shirt was white, but stained with a few dark flecks which Taneesha assumed was blood.

"I .. uh, do dwell within Atom's Glow." Taneesha tried, before having a seat at a table nearby. Oh my guhd, what am I doing here? she thought to herself, fidgeting a cigarette from her satchel. Suddenly, she was a little nervous. She needed to think. And sometimes, having a smoke was the best way to do it.

Thing is, the Children of the Church of Atom's members frequently turned over, as some "children" joined, and some children stayed. Others? They moved on. So she wouldn't be noticed as an outsider, at least not right away. But still. What exactly was she doing back in the church? As she exhaled some smoke, she hoped the two children at the other table would leave her alone. And they did.

She thought back to the Year 2275, when she had first arrived in Megaton. Scared, and seventeen. The group of Jehovah's Witnesses she'd been traveling with had scattered some days before (getting constantly shot at had helped), now she was on her own. In her previous faith, The End was always coming, and always The End was near. Better prepare for Paradise, as those who were faithful would trend towards the Kingdom of Zion. The Earth would perish in fire and hailstones. All of this was always given some date just ahead, whether this date be weeks, months, or years. It was how she had been raised. Perhaps it was because of this religious background that she'd instantly flocked to the building she was in now. Being within its walls, she cared little for their faith. But at least she had gained back some of the life she had known.

Back then, she had had good reason to flock toward the church. Where else was she going to go? Heading back north to her home was not an option; she'd never make there alive, especially on her own. But now? Where else could she go now? Maybe back to Big Town. Yeah, that could be. Nobody really worked in Megaton except the cook, the bartenders, the merchant, and Sherriff Simms. The whore in Moriarty's. The folks who ran the clinic. But in Big Town, everybody had a job, everybody who was able, that is. She could head there, maybe get back on her feet under less constrained conditions.

She nodded to herself, crushing her cigarette into an ash tray. Got up, and headed toward the church's refrigerator. Everything would be okay, she thought as she opened the fridge, grabbing some iguana meat. She could stay here the night perhaps, maybe say a few "hail Atoms" here and there. Otherwise, she'd be out of Megaton by the next day.

"Hey put that back!" the lady in the armless shirt with its dried blood exclaimed.

"Stop! Thief!" a man called aloud, getting up from across the room. He paced over quickly, and snatched the food from Taneesha's hand.

"But I thought--" she started.

But what was the use? They knew, somehow. She was not one of them. In the past, this wouldn't have mattered. The church's refrigerator had been communal during her previous Church of Atom stay. Obviously, this had changed. Not wishing to cause any more concern, she left the church's confines quickly.

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Posted by: macole Oct 18 2020, 09:50 PM

Sorry to hear that. Please, Lopov take all necessary precautions.

Posted by: Renee Oct 19 2020, 07:36 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 19 2020, 10:00 PM

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!

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 19 2020, 11:12 PM

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!

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Oct 20 2020, 01:38 AM

Uh woo woo! Somebody’s in trouble! Good thing she’s rather fleet of foot!

Posted by: Renee Oct 25 2020, 04:27 AM

Yes Acadian, Sugar Bombs sound disgusting! And yes, there was a Stormcrow sighting..

Hee hee! I was so worried about this! I'll ask next time, if there is a next time. I had real fun writing that part up.



I hope so. We shall see....

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

Last week! Taneesha Jones, also known as Miss Vicious, has settled into Megaton, but is having some trouble deciding whether to stay or not.



Megaton. Sunday, August 26, 2277

Two days passed, and life moved on. Taneesha Jones settled quietly into Megaton. The odder moments of her initial entrance into town became the latest topics of gossip for some. But overall, nothing much came of this.

The creep from the restroom three nights' prior did not make a reappearance. Taneesha listened for his voice all over town, which she knew she'd be able to identify. Whoever the creep was, he'd been keeping silent. Maybe he'd even left town.

Lucas Simms, the tall dude who'd startled her arrival, now generally left her alone. The man with the bat who'd killed Mister Burke (whose name was Cho, she learned) left town to do some investigating for Moira Brown, Megaton's main trader. Rumor was he'd originally come from nearby Vault 101; even the d.j. on the radio had mentioned something about this. Taneesha also met up with Lucy West a couple times. Apologized in person for leaving Lucy's pad so abruptly.

"Any time you need a place to crash," Lucy had said the previous day...

For reasons Taneesha herself did not fully understand, she declined Lucy's offer once again. Instead, she'd begun to stay at another Megaton establishment, a place simply called the Common House. Located on Megaton's top tier, kitty-corner to the Church of Atom, the Common House was just that, a place where any commoner (or settler, as they often called themselves) could stay. No religion required. But staying there had its own set of catches. Compared to Atom's church, the Common House was dimmer. Dirtier. Danker. It had less rules, and its fridge was communally packed with food offered from those who had more money. However, it was the sort of place for layabouts and vagabonds. The sort of place where you kept your things nearby at all times. Certain commoners had been living there for years, somehow. Taneesha did not wish to become one of them.

Otherwise, staying in the Common House wasn't so bad. Over the past two years, she'd willingly lived in places much worse. Her problems began as the stash she'd looted from those raiders in Fairfax finally ran out.

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

8:32 pm


"Can't even afford some damn squirrel stick," a nearby settler mumbled, as Taneesha walked by on this fine summer evening.

"Hi there, miss," a young girl greeted.

Taneesha waved back. Smiled, even. Her third full day in town, and things weren't going so bad. A little dull perhaps, but safe, and tolerable.

She entered Megaton's bar, bought herself some rum. Twelve less caps in her purse. Money was getting tight. And, as she had intuited, there were no jobs available in Megaton. No paying jobs, anyway. Moira Brown was offering money to anybody who would help her with some sort of book she was writing, but to get compensated meant to go into some highly dangerous places, and come back out alive! Not a mission for somebody packing a dime store pistol, at best.

She sipped her rum, retching a bit at its awesome warmth. Reached into her pack, only to find she was out of chems. "Uhhh, geez. Say it ain't so" she moaned. Unfortuantely, it was so. She'd injected her last Psycho the previous day, and had used her last Jet inhaler some time in the night. She sat pensively a moment. Lit a cigarette. Megaton might be safe and tolerable; it was its 'dull' part could eventually become a problem.

"Lord, give me strength."

She prayed to herself a moment, but quickly knew this attempt was futile. Religion was not going to help, not without the full support of her former Witness group, most of whom were probably dead by now. She tried again. Nothing, from the Man upstairs. Her thoughts raced a bit, and her arms were suddenly itchy. This wasn't due to the clothes she'd now been wearing for four days straight. She twisted in her chair. Knew where she'd need to go next, if she was to avoid withdrawal.

"Lookin's free," said Nova, the bar's resident call girl, as Taneesha stood out of her chair, "but the rest will cost ya."

"As if," Taneesha answered with a smirk. "But good luck to you, girl." Stalked off into the night. Outside, it had begun to rain again.

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

9:33 pm

"STOP!" exclaimed the lady wearing the beige guard's uniform, as Taneesha exited Megaton's clinic. This lady, this guard or whatever, grabbed Taneesha's arm forcefully. "You have violated the law here in Megaton!"

"Say what?" Taneesha had noticed this guard lady several times by now, in days' past. Guard lady was someone new. She hadn't been in town two years ago. So who the hell was this lady? "I have violated the law? ... What law?"

"You have been caught committing a crime," guard lady ignored patiently, "and for this you must pay. Stealing, pickpockets, trespassing, assault and murder are all against the law nowadays, by order of Sherriff Simms."

Taneesha grimaced glumly, trying to think of an excuse, or something. But also thinking suddenly of 'Thou shalt not steal.' The seventh commandment, which she had just broken, plain as day. "Okay, you got me," she relented. Moments before, she'd been witnessed stealing some Psycho. Once inside of Megaton's Clinic, she'd looked around a bit, crouched down, and then tried to take an injector off a shelf, only to be seen by Doc Church, the clinic's physician. "So like ... what is this? What are you saying, here?"

She glanced momentarily around the plaza, embarrassed and confused. There were a few settlers moseying around, but nobody she knew well. Best of all, there was no Lucy West.

"You have but three choices now," guard lady informed. "Pay some caps, go to our fine jail, or resist arrest. I'd highly recommend not taking that final choice."

"Jail?" she asked incredulously. "Ain't no jail in Megaton."

"There is now. Are you saying you wish to go there?"

Taneesha thought about it a moment. Paying caps was not an option, not when she was down to her last two dozen or so. "Uh. I guess."

"I know you've done wrong," guard lady replied, her voice toning down. "It happens sometimes. Hopefully cooling your heels in our cell might set you straight." She sounded different now. Maybe even compassionate.

"So, what does this all mean?"

"You're off to jail. I hereby sentence you to the term of 24 hours, after which, you'll be conditionally allowed back into Megaton, assuming you keep your thieving hands to yourself."

"Oh my guhd."

Taneesha Jones was handcuffed, then led outside of Megaton's gigantic, creaking gates.

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Posted by: SubRosa Oct 25 2020, 05:17 AM

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...

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Oct 25 2020, 04:02 PM

I’m pretty sure the common house is off limits for sleeping in the vanilla game.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 25 2020, 06:49 PM

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?

Posted by: Renee Nov 4 2020, 06:09 PM

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.

11:22 PM. Sunday, August 27, 2277

They told her she'd be locked for 24 hours, which didn't sound so bad. What they didn't tell her was who (what) she'd be locked up with.

Clank.... fwa ... Clank! ...fwa.... Clank!...fwa

Jail Bot, a two-hundred forty year-old RobCo Protectron, clanked her way, stood in one of its three destinated patrol spots. Jail Bot had been programmed to walk in a triangular pattern on the other side of her cell's gate, over and over. According to those who brought her here, the bot had also been programmed to dispense food, and would be in charge of unlocking the gate when her sentence was over.

Taneesha poised herself awkwardly before her cell's gate. "So, you are supposed to give me food, right? Well I'm hungry."

"Protect. And. Serve.," the robot answered, before clanking away.

They'd taken away all her things, but oddly allowed her to keep her solar-powered handheld device. She powered this on. Checked the time. 23:16 it said. According to the jail's rulebook, it was too late to get food; Jail Bot had been programmed to do so only in the morning and early evening, and it was now nearer to midnight. But she didn't care. She was hungry! She'd try again.

She waited 30 seconds for the robot to return in front of her cell. "Hey you *flipping* *bleeping* hunk of junk, I said I want more food! You gonna give me some, or what?"

"Protect. And. Serve."

"Oh my god."

Another 30 seconds, the robot clanked its patrol.

"Hey, Sorry I called you a *flipping* hunk of junk. But really. You can't give me no food right now? I am a human being. And we human beings use something called food for energy. We aren't powered by nuclear fission, or whatever the heck. Come on, just once. Break the rules. I won't say nothing."

"Mooove. Along. Please."

"Oh my god. Lord help me."

It would be the longest 24 hours of her life, it seemed.





8:44 AM. Monday, August 27, 2277

'Hungry ... pard'ner?" Jail Bot asked the next morning, to Taneesha's relief. She had a small hangover after last night's drinking session, and was worried the damn thing might not feed her at all. It would malfunction, or whatever. She'd be stuck in here for days, a corpse by the time they found her. "I have a .. deelightful ... Assortment of food."

She was given a stick of squirrel meat, a box of Sugar Bombs, and a Nuka Cola. Yum. She ate with a near sort of fervor, then laid back on the jail's cot. Tried to sleep, but she'd already slept the previous night, so this was impossible. She checked her device. Sixteen hours to go.

Oh lord help me



Being cooped up in here. Nothing to do. Not even a book to read. Bored. She had never been so bored.

She found a rusty nail on the floor, something which they had apparently missed while cleaning up. She grabbed the nail. Began to scratch it onto a nearby wall, seeing if it would leave any marks. It did. So she scratched her name onto the wall. But not her real name.



She carved into the wall's corrugated metal, the rusted nail making little shrieking noises as she worked. There. She left her mark. Looked over at the Jail Bot, but apparently it had not been programmed to do anything about people who wanted to write or doodle on the jail's walls. Taneesha placed the nail back on the floor, in a rather obvious spot. Mm hmm. Let the next guest of this wholesome and fine establisment also carve his or her mark.

Four more hours of this madness. Though the jail was air-conditioned, it got quite warm as its prisoner stirred. Taneesha continued to doodle on her wall. And then finally, Jail Bot's release programming kicked in.

"You have. Serrrved. All your time," its metallic voice blared. "You ... are ... now ... free to go."

Taneesha grinned, and checked her device. They said she'd be locked for 24 hours, but only 13 had passed. This seemed to be a glitch, but a welcome one, of course. She opened the gate, and stepped back to freedom.

"Please. Remove your things... from. The evidence ... locker. Before you go."

Taneesha Jones did so, opening the locker in which they'd stored her things. One Chinese pistol, one outfit made of brahmin skin, her container of Abraxo Cleaner, one cheap plastic ashtray. A bobby pin, one pack of cigarettes. And finally, her empty hypodermic needle. Taneesha looked for the lead pipe she'd been using as a hand weapon, but remembered she'd left this behind somewhere. Or maybe it'd been stolen. Her 10 millimeter rounds were not in the locker. But this was no matter, she'd simply scavenge some more, at some point. But for now, she was free!

Once outside, she spent just a few seconds breathing precious Wasteland air before a vicious mongrel of a dog attacked. Taneesha reached for her pistol, only to remember it was unloaded. "Dammit!" The dog was on her. It bit her arm. She had no choice but to pummel it with her fist. She high-kicked its face!

"Come on," she said. "I got more of this."

But the battle wasn't going so well. She not wearing armor, and not very good with unarmed combat. Really missing that old, rusted pipe. Angered and frustrated, she scurried around the jail's side. The dog bit at her again, snapping at her leg! Only this time, it also made a whelping noise. Somebody else had struck it, or something. She winced as a gun fired nearby. Held her fists, blocking the dog's teeth. Somebody was rushing toward the fight! Whoever it was, he swapped his gun for some sort of hand-weapon. Whatever this hand weapon was, it was motorized. It began making a buzzing sort of noise. Like a power saw, perhaps. The man swung at the dog with this device, whatever it was, killing the beast instantly.

Thumping and thumping. Her heartbeat, guzzling adrenaline. Taneesha stumbled. Unclenched her fists. Breathed the fresh air she'd been meaning to breathe just a minute before. What kind of a moment back to freedom was that?

Suddenly, she remembered the man who just saved her, who was standing right there. He put his power saw device away, and looked at her solemnly.

"What's up, princess. Remember me?" he asked.

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Appealing and appalling

Posted by: Acadian Nov 4 2020, 10:01 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Nov 6 2020, 07:56 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee Nov 10 2020, 02:35 AM

Thanks so much. You folks are encouraging.

Posted by: Renee Nov 14 2020, 09:39 PM

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?

"What's up with you, princess? Doncha remember me?"

It was him, the creep she had heard several nights before in that restroom. She'd been studying the sound of his voice in her head over the last few days, so she'd be able to recognize it anywhere. Only now, there was no door between Taneesha and him. Nor was she trapped inside a metal stall with her pants literally down. Nothing now to impede her aim. She grabbed her pistol. Raised it quickly at the creep's chest, even though it was unloaded. Kept her face steady. Hopefully he wouldn't realize she was bluffing.

"Oh I remember you fine," Taneesha said, aiming for center mass.

The man did not flinch, not one bit. He'd had a gun pointed at him before, no doubt. He was wearing an ordinary white T-shirt and tan overalls, but what stood out immediately to Taneesha was his hair, which was as white as a cue ball.

"You's Vicious, right?" he asked. "My name's Q Tip."

"Q Tip, eh? Hence you got yourself some dyed white hair."

She checked her peripheral vision, darting her eyes slightly from left to right, checking to see if anyone else was about to surprise. She listened as well to the sounds nearby. Nobody was coming.

"Eh, look," he replied casually, as if a weapon was not in his face. "Didn't mean to startle you the other night, alright? That was rude. Shouldn't a done that. The hell was I thinkin'?"

But she was angry. "What are you now, following me?" The wounds from that dog did not matter, the dull pain they were causing, pushed aside. "Well, you want to not make that a habit, okay? I will mess you up, you ratched cueball-headed dope. Don't make me use this."

She snapped the gun's clip slightly out and then back in. --SNICK!-- Though the clip was empty, she was hoping its quiet metallic noise would cause some sort of reaction.

"Eh, whoa whoa... I come in peace, sister. Put that gun away."

Taneesha Jones did not.

"Look here. I am putting my own gun down here. Right on the ground," he said calmly.

To her surprise he did just that, laid his own 10 mil sidearm on the dirt before her, all while keeping eye contact. He then laid the buzz-saw weapon he'd used to kill that dog a few moments ago. To further this odd intent, he kicked both weapons aside, out of his own possible reach.

"What is this? Why are you here?"

"Like I said, I come in peace. Hope not to leave in pieces, Vicious."

She blinked at hearing her nickname. How the *flip* does he know who I am?

"Hah, that's right, I know your name. You is Miss Vicious, right?"

She said nothing. Her gun unwavering its aim.

"Come on, now. You want to shoot me here? Well go ahead and do so. I just laid all my pieces before you. You can take me out now," he put his hands up in a 'you got me' sort of gesture. "But what then? Whatcha gonna do next? ... Head back into town? Where you know you is wanted?"

Taneesha flinched, suddenly curious. Her gun lowered a notch. "What is this? You know about my troubles in Megaton? How? Why are you here?"

"Dogmaster," he said, folding his arms, a slight smirk on his face. "Dogmaster sent me."

The gun lowered entirely, though she kept it gripped in both hands. "Oh I see. That idiot gooftang sent you. And why would he send you, and not some group of half-trained raiders?"

"Raiders. Funny you should mention raiders," his smirk was gone. "After what you did in Fairfax Ruins a couple weeks ago, it is indeed funny you would mention raiders."

"What about them?" she asked. Couldn't help herself. Her curiosity boiling by now.

"Dogmaster is impressed by what you did there. In Fairfax Ruins. You killed all those raiders, thinks he, and then you snuck by that whole team the dog sent. His best men and women. You got by them all, then made it here to Megaton. Like I said, Dogmaster is impressed by all that."

Taneesha grimaced, not exactly proud. "Well, I had nothing to do with any of that. You can tell him I said so personally. That was the Outcasts. The ones in Fort Independence. If you're looking for a scapegoat, blame them, not me."

"Okay, we know," the white-haired Q Tip said. "We know you didn't kill them all. Dogmaster though, he don't care. You know how he is. He wants what he wants, sister. And right now what he wants is you."

Taneesha said nothing in reply, her gun now hanging limply from her dominant hand.

"I am headed back to the Springvale school right now," the white-haired man said. "I want you to come and follow me there. You got yourself a home with us, Vicious."

She made no reply. Her face rather sad.

"Here. Take my rounds," he said, reaching into his pack, and handing her a box of bullets. "And my gun too. That is yours, now. See? I mean no harm."

She paused. But a few seconds later made her decision, and threw her Chinese pistol to the side. She took his box of 10 millimeter rounds, and then reached down to the ground. Grabbed the gun as well. Checked its action --snick!-- which was good. The piece was well-taken care of, she could see. Not the junk she'd just tossed aside.

"But I want that ripper back," he said. "That you can't have."

Taneesha remained silent, thinking of her options at this point in time, nibbling the inside of her cheek.

"I got somethin' else for you," he said, handing her three unwrapped Psycho syringes. There was a smile in his voice, now. "I know you been wanting to have those. From what I hear, those are the reason you was locked up in the first place."

Her eyes goggled a bit while she otherwise tried to keep a straight face. Three syringes of Psycho. She could not help herself as she grabbed all three.

"Look," she finally spoke. "Really, I had nothing to do with those raiders in Farifax. That was the Outcasts who did all that."

"Uh huh," the man with the white hair winked. "You gonna follow me to Springvale now or what? Come on, now. You got us both lookin' stupid out here, for all the deathclaws and mutants to see."

Again, she said nothing. Weighing her options, which suddenly seemed slimmer and dimmer.

"Well I did my part," the man named Q Tip shrugged. "I'm headed back to school. If you do decide to follow, make sure you speak to Slick Rick first, when you get back in there."

"Slick Rick?" Taneesha asked, surprised. "Slick Rick is in Springvale Elementary School?"

"He is. He wants to see you, too. Make sure you talk to him first, before you talk to any of the others. Because not all of us at Springvale are happy by what you did in Fairfax. Or what they think you did."

The man calling himself Q Tip turned, then sprinted quickly away to the east.

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https://i.imgur.com/DJLjY97.png

https://i.imgur.com/di8duuk.png -- (the jail is on the right, and Megaton is that vague shape on the left.

https://i.imgur.com/g8MQ4WZ.png

https://i.imgur.com/PB0iqbC.png

https://i.imgur.com/QqNTPaM.png

Posted by: Acadian Nov 15 2020, 07:29 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Nov 16 2020, 02:44 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee Nov 28 2020, 05:33 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Feb 21 2021, 06:23 PM

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'.

08.27.77, 12:00 Noon

Taneesha Jones, otherwise known as Miss Vicious, approached what remained of Springvale Elementary, whose long-ago principal used to declare "You're all special at Springvale!" each morning over the school's public announcement system. Nowhere to be seen were the throngs of populace which once flourished the town; no children, no teachers, nobody at all, in fact. As she approached the former educational facility, Taneesha walked calmly, but with a false sense of confidence.

A half-hour ago, she had found an abandoned bus she could hide in, and then injected one of the Psychos given to her by Q Tip, that white-haired raider recruiter. With this chem in her system, her blood was boiling by now; her senses super-aware. She forced herself to walk more slowly. Tried to calm her nerves. Patted her pockets, and was dismayed to find she was out of cigarettes. Looked this way and that, for any sort of ambush. Heard nothing but a couple cicadas. buzzing somewhere off in the distance. She knew that raiders often lurked on the north side of the building, goofing around and such. Fortunately, she was approaching from its south side.

The sun was hot, directly above. Taneesha realized she was sweating. Q Tip had promised she'd be able to rejoin the raiders, but he'd also warned her that she must speak to Slick Rick first. Until she spoke to him, she was not yet one of them. It would be Rick who would decide whether she'd be inducted back into raider society, or not.

A half-hour ago, Taneesha Jones was unsure about all this. What if this is an ambush? she had thought.

But with a few dozen milliliters of liquid courage in her veins? The idea of returning to them didn't seem so bad.

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.

Taneesha Jones went back to school.



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https://i.imgur.com/JKVKEaT.png

https://i.imgur.com/psenlkw.png

Posted by: macole Feb 22 2021, 12:18 AM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Feb 22 2021, 06:13 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Feb 25 2021, 07:46 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee Mar 7 2021, 05:39 PM

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

Posted by: Acadian Mar 7 2021, 09:30 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Mar 8 2021, 01:22 AM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Mar 23 2021, 08:15 PM

I wouldn't trust Slick Rick either. From all the raider variants of armor, the badlands one is appearance-wise the best choice, I think.

Springvale School now definitely serves a completely other purpose than before the Great War.

Taneesha may have found her "family" again but she'd better be careful around these "relatives".

Posted by: Renee Apr 4 2021, 02:51 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Apr 4 2021, 06:21 PM

..,

Slick was still standing just inside the school's doors as Vicious reentered its foyer. "Que pasa?" asked he with his usual half-smirk, half something-else.

"Well as you can see," she said a bit sullenly, "here I am."

"Damn straight Vicious, hoo! Look at you!"

"So is that it?" she challenged. "Is that all? So I am back with the raiders now?"

"Yep," said Slick with a loud sniff. "We all cool wi'chu now. So now you be cool. Have a walk around the school, yuh? And stick around for a bit, a'ight? I may... I mean, we may have some work with you comin' up real soon. Because we all know you's all that and a bag of Potato Crisps, right?"

"Well thank you," said Vicious uneasily. "I guess. Whatever that means. Thank you for accepting me back."

"Now ... here," Slick said. He reached behind himself and grabbed something nearby. "I know you like shotguns. Have this one on me. And some shells."

Vicious's eyes nearly popped when she saw the piece being given to her now. Freshly machined and oiled, this was no mutt of a firearm (as was so commonly found out here in the wasteland). No, this was a gun which had received some care. She immediately jammed a round of shells into its casing, and aimed for a wall. She then fired the gun into one of the nearby corpses, which had been hung there for whatever reason. ...*BKKSH!*...

The gun worked. Its recoil was solid, causing her to almost lose her balance. Its action and aim were both true. Which meant she was back. This was real. She was really being re-inducted into the Potomac area raiders.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there!" Slick cautioned, backing up as though he'd never fired a gun himself. "At least wait 'til you outside, eh?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that."

Vicious noticed her ears were ringing.




One facet, one common, unspoken rule of raider society, was this. If an object was placed in or on a 'common area' for more than X number of seconds or minutes, this object (whether it was a piece of clothing, a weapon, or even a chem) was now up for grabs. Especially if the object was placed there, and then the original owner of that object passed out, or wandered off into another room.

Unlike Megaton, where picking up a mere fork off the counter in Moriarty's could potentially set off a fight, or apparently cause somebody to get arrested, grabbing anything from an open shelf or a counter in a raider hideout was allowed. Some raiders might store their stuff in a locked container perhaps. Otherwise, it could be anyone's. Because of this unspoken rule, Miss Vicious began a small hunt for anything located in or on one of these common areas (lockers, shelves, desks...), just after Slick Rick told the others she'd be rejoining their family.

Despite her unease, nobody attacked her. Nobody ganged up on her. And so what if they did? She now had two well-kept weapons to defend herself with. She now possessed a set of armor which was also well-crafted. So let them come at her now, was her current train of thought. She was back, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Since she had some free time before learning what her first mission would be, she spent her first hour back in Springvale wandering its rooms and halls. Greeting the various raiders who currently lived here, all the while keeping an eye open for any items lying in the open. Anything she could choose, and maybe use. By the end of her walk around the school's first floor, she had scored some morphine, a Prewar bill, a Stimpak, and a couple of beers.

"Uh. Hello," Vicious spoke to the first man she found, who was pacing around the darkened gloom of a former classroom.

"I'm not in the mood for you, *arsehole*," was his answer.

Miss Vicious noticed he spoke with an accent. Like most Potomac raiders, he was probably not from the area.

The bulk of those dwelling in the wasteland's outlying locations, such as Springvale, Fairfax Ruins, and Super Duper Mart, had mostly come down from Philadelphia, New York City, or somewhere in New Jersey. Like the man who just called her a dirty word, they spoke with 'Joisey' accents. Locals who chose the raider life, such as Dogmaster, Q Tip, and Slick Rick, were actually uncommon. Why and when did those from Jersey migrate? Years ago? Decades ago? How had the locals managed to keep their positions at the top? These topics were unclear to Vicious. Mostly because she had been raised in a religious setting, and had not fallen in with the Capitol Wasteland Potomac raiders until a couple years ago.

"Hey. You," said another dude, this one with spiked hair. Again, he spoke with that same Jersey accent. "Yeah. You. I don't like the look you're givin' me. Keep it up, and I'll break your *ferking* skull open!"

"Up yours," was Vicious's answer to him.

Like the dude with spiked hair, most were rude to Vicious as she moved from room to room, perhaps because they were jealous.

"You best point those peepers somewhere else," said yet another. "Before I TEAR them outta your skull!"

"Says who? Your momma? I heard your momma is so old, she got her bible autographed by the Man, himself."

"Eat me, sister!"

"Yeah, you wish I would."

They all knew who she was by now, and most were jealous about this. At least, this is what she told herself. As she wandered around, she sure did put up a brave face. But inside, Vicious felt she was crumbling.

"Oh hey. Check this out," said yet another to Vicious as she wandered up a dark hallway. Unlike the others so far, he did not just insult her on sight. "You know those rookie idiots who tried to head up north? They got their *arses* handed to them by some *ferking* monsters!"

"Oh yeah? Well--" Miss Vicious stopped. She had a comeback comment planned and ready for him, just in case he had nothing nice to say. She was a little surprised when she did not get to use it. "That's too bad for them, I guess," she finished lamely.

After another few minutes of wandering, looking for a place she could shoot her latest score (and maybe just be on her own for awhile) Vicious did find a raider female; the first gal she met in this dump.

"Hey you. What's up?" the gal asked. "You look all lost, and stuff-like." Another Jersey-ite. She spoke with a high-pitched voice which apparently hadn't yet been ravaged by years of cigs or chem-use. She was drinking a beer, and had a cutesy haircut done in the 'Fairytale' style, a popular look for raider females.

"Well as you may know already, my name's Tan-- I mean Vicious," she answered. "Back with y'all raiders, I guess. Are you nice? Sick of being put down and all. Can I have one of those beers?"

"Hey, well don't look so down, and yes you can. I'm Bratty. Been here for a few days now. The others in here are all in some big commonotion about who you is, and whatcha been done in the past, or something," Bratty said, making a gesture and rolling her eyes. "I don't know what they all is rambling all about, and better yet, nor I don't care!"

"Well that's good," said Miss Vicious. She grabbed one of several beers from a nearby table, and had a seat. "So, What's a girl gotta do around here to find somebody nice to hang with?"

And from that point, Bratty and Vicious bonded. This was good, because by now, all Vicious wanted and needed was a friend. The pair decided to leave the school altogether, and headed toward an abandoned bus just up the street. There they drank a couple of beers, talked about their lives, and shared the morphine Vicious had found earlier.

"Hey, cansh I do ..." Bratty later slurred, the combination of opiates and alcohol having full effect. "I mean like, can I do ... your hair?"

"Whaaat? You know how to work a hot-comb?" Vicious asked, genuinely surprised.

Bratty did know. Bratty pulled a razor, some scissors, some soap, some water, some cosmetologist's oil, and a metal comb from her pack. The comb was set upon a pile of burning rubbish within the abandoned bus (causing a large, messy cloud of smoke which the girls had to vent with outside air). Bratty then went to work on Vicious's new look. The job took an unknown amount of time, probably longer than it should have, due to their intoxication. In her haze, Vicious was a little concerned maybe she'd wake up tomorrow looking like a centaur-head, or something. But other than a couple incidental burn-marks from the comb, she had little to worry about. Her new friend was trained in these matters.

Vicious smiled genuinely after seeing herself in one of the bus's mirrors. She looked good. More important, she looked different. Gone was her former coif, which she had kept since roaming astray from the Jehovah's Witnesses a couple years before. Though she wasn't looking like an outright raider, with spiked hair or a totally shaved head perhaps, she found herself pleased.

From that point on, the future seemed wild and bright, and full of whatever was to come in the Capitol Wasteland.

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

https://i.imgur.com/ejhcypX.png

https://i.imgur.com/HwnDo7N.png

https://i.imgur.com/Hq0D0CD.png

https://i.imgur.com/mGxovZS.png

https://i.imgur.com/3yYBwAm.png

https://i.imgur.com/MqGcuj9.png

https://i.imgur.com/6mmo4hN.png

https://i.imgur.com/RmWkO34.png

Posted by: Lopov Apr 4 2021, 06:59 PM

Taneesha better be careful not to put her shotgun down.

I like her attitude among raiders - one must be rude with them, I guess, else they'd immediately sense some weakness.

Nice that Taneesha has a friend now!

Although unladylike, Taneesha's looking good!

Posted by: Acadian Apr 5 2021, 01:02 AM

New gun, new doo and new friend! Miss VD's making gains there at that Raider hideout.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 5 2021, 02:10 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee May 1 2021, 02:37 PM

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.

Personally I like the 'new friend' part most of all. I had a lot of fun making Bratty and some of her in-game dialog and such. In fact I've been quiet these last few weeks as I've been setting up a bunch of stuff in Vicious's world.



Hee hee, I actually take this as a compliment! :blush: Slick Rick is a rather compelling character, I think. Although it depends how things go in the future.

You are also right, Rosa. The world ends, the apocalypse has come, but this doesn't mean we can't still make all those cool hairstyles from the past! Just wait 'til you see some of Taneesha's future hairdos.

Posted by: Renee May 1 2021, 04:57 PM

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

Posted by: Lopov May 9 2021, 09:31 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa May 9 2021, 09:48 PM

Uh oh, Miss VD is off to Germantown. I bet what happened to those raiders was big and yellow...

Posted by: Acadian May 10 2021, 01:07 AM

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!

Posted by: Renee May 15 2021, 04:36 PM

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.

Ha yes, good point. The place in which a bunch of crimedoers from the 21st century would have been locked up is now a place where crimedoers and monsters reign.




You know what happens due to the Big Town quest, although there will be some twists in Vicious's story, as we'll see.



Hee hee that is imagination.


Oh gosh, I love Aliens, and Aliens 2 even more. One of my fave sci-fi movies, if not my favorite.

"This little girl has survived for weeks despite aliens running around...." Ripley said. (sic)
"Well why don't we put her in charge?"

Also... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsx2vdn7gpY

Posted by: Renee May 15 2021, 07:12 PM

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.


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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.

Posted by: Lopov May 15 2021, 07:21 PM

Hey, this story is a homage to Lopov's ex-characters. The spirit of Rattler lives on.

He did kill Three Dog.

But we still don't know the name of the 3rd member...

Nice pics, the grass in the first one seems a bit brighter than usual, a play of lights or are you using some mod?

Posted by: Renee May 15 2021, 07:41 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian May 15 2021, 08:05 PM

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!

Posted by: SubRosa May 15 2021, 11:09 PM

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.

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk May 23 2021, 05:02 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee May 23 2021, 02:54 PM

Not in my gameworld!

Acadian: Bratty is fun to write, like a child who refuses to grow Good thing is, she doesn't have to. She lives in a world without jobs, without resumes & portfolios, without laws and typical modern adult social cues!

Miss Florens: Blamhammer is a play on Banhammer. *bkksh!* Yes, I like to imagine that some of our other characters also roam the wasteland. Makes the story feel bigger!

Rader: Cool, glad you have caught at least some of this. Hope you continue with Fallout Florida this summer, I think our stories compliment each other. In the past Lopov and I were writing Fallout stuff side-by-side, which was pretty fun, but Lopov's career has taken off, and he only has time for casual gaming nowadays.

Card Killer was one of Lopov's past characters (along with Rattler) and both of those guys are thankfully deceased.

The story definitely comes first, although there is some back and forth. Some pictures are just random, and don't have anything to do with the story, but add to the overall atmosphere. I think all the ones from last week actually fit what was going on.

Posted by: Renee May 23 2021, 05:20 PM

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.


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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.

Posted by: Lopov May 23 2021, 06:17 PM

That's just one of the things that make Taneesha stand out among other raiders of the Capital Wasteland.

Starsky & Hutch united in one person!

Did they spend a night in that camp just over the bridge north of Big Town?

Posted by: Acadian May 24 2021, 08:25 PM

Lol, I think I liked Starsky better when he kept his mouth shut.

Oh my! We know who that ghoulish police officer is!

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk May 25 2021, 02:56 AM

I'd love to see what your conception of what a mutated cicada is. Those are what the Sirens are in my Fallout: Florida story.




Well, it's only fair. I'm trying to view as many of other people's works as I can. My own life developments have gotten in the way of that and writing my own stuff. Whenever I have the time, I'll try to write as much of Fallout: Florida as I can. But I'm glad that Lopov's career is doing well.




Yecch. Centaurs. One of the most disgusting enemies in all of Fallout. (The Master himself from Fallout 1 probably beats Centaurs out for first place. He created some of them himself, IIRC.) Although Super Mutants have been overused, I wish Bethesda didn't cut Centaurs from appearing in Fallout 4. I've seen some concept art and some screenshots of mods that implement them, and it is one of the most revolting and disturbing designs for anything in the Fallout franchise yet, IMO.

Posted by: SubRosa May 26 2021, 12:16 AM

Looks like Officer Barlow is bringing some law and order to Germantown!

I laughed at Starsky and Hutch of course. I remember that show!

Posted by: Renee May 31 2021, 03:15 PM

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.

I was torn about making that aspect of her life (prayer / religion) more obvious in the story, in fact I had a couple paragraphs planned last week in which she explains her past to Bratty. But now is not the time for that. Maybe in the future I'll do a chapter on her past. Plus, I know we're all busy. I kinda want to focus more on the action-y parts, for now.

Posted by: Renee May 31 2021, 07:05 PM

Friday, August 31st, 2277, 5:54 pm



"You're out of ammo?!! What do you mean, you're out of ammo?! How're we supposed to go in there and find out what happened if your gun is now a slab of useless steel?"

Miss Vicious, losing her temper, really on the verge of almost screaming at her friend. Things had been going relatively well throughout the day so far. Her posse hadn't encountered too many enemies, nobody or nothing especially life-threatening, at least. They had planned their trip well. Still had plenty of food, plenty of meds, and Vicious had successfully used her Pip-Girl to locate the former police station she'd been tasked to find. But now, this. Bratty had somehow run out of bullets for her rifle. It was the first real hurdle of their journey, so far as being prepared and ready.

"I....no.. hey, I'm sorry!" Bratty said earnestly. "Honest-like! I know I should have been watchin' my rounds!" She looked to the ground. "Guess I'm not the big, bad merc you thought I was, huh?"

She was pouting, just like a schoolgirl from Vicious's childhood. But Vicious stood her ground, unfazed. Though she felt a little sorry she had yelled at her friend, now was not the time for pampering. "Shouldn't have been shooting 'em all up at *ferking* molerats," she chided. "Wastin' rounds. Because now, you are no longer useful to this mission," she began pacing, shaking her head. "You really gotta learn from this, brat. Because what if we was getting surrounded by Enclave or deathclaws right now, or something? Hmm? What then?"

"Geez, I said I'm sorry!"

Miss Vicious put her hand up, in an 'enough' sort of way. She began thinking, pacing in a tight circle, kicking up small tufts of dust. Trying to come up with some sort of alternative. Meanwhile, the sun was sinking low. The day's heat was cooling off (a small blessing), but it would also be over soon. Difficult to see. Which was not good, of course. Not good at all.

"Well, now you know why I prefer to carry my crappy knife around," Starsky N. Hutch interrupted her thoughts. "I've had this knife since I was a little boy. It's quiet, it's effective at close range, and best of all, and pay attention now ... Hey! .... it never runs out of bullets!"

"Oh shut up," Vicious said quietly, lost in thought.

"Just saying..."

After pondering a moment or two more, Vicious glanced seriously at her two followers. She'd made her mind up. "Okay. New plan," she said decisively. "I'm going in, by myself. I'm good at sneaking around and stuff, anyways. Much better than y'all, at least. No offense. Been pretty sneaky all my life, really. And I expect whatever's going on inside the station, it'll require some recon. Not going in there, blasting away, making all sort of noise, and junk."

"Okay," said Starsky, smacking his head. "Good plan! Only.... what the *ferk* are we supposed to do while you're gone, sarge?"

"Just stay here, and wait 'til I come back," she said, ignoring his histrionics. "For one thing, it's is a police station. Which means it's gonna have all the stuff she needs in there. Maybe you too, Starsky. Maybe I can fetch you a sword instead of a knife." She began pacing again. "Betcha I go in there, right? And find some five-and-a-halfs for Bratty's gun. Heck, maybe I even might find some whole other gun for both of y'all to use. And rounds."

"Then what?"

"Then, I come back. Give Bratty what she needs. By then, I should have some idea what the hell went wrong in there. Maybe they all got mad at each other one day. Shot each other up, who the hell knows, right?"

Starsky N. Hutch gestured like he was about to say something, but then he stopped himself. Seemed to think on his own for a moment. "Hmm, you know, that might work," he finally said. "You are right. I should stay here. I'm the man, after all. I can protect the brat while you're gone."

"Pfft, whatever! You ain't protectin' nobody randy-dandy-candy, 'specially me! Check yourself, fool. I been on my own for--"

"Enough, Bratty," Vicious said, raising her voice, pushing her friend in the chest until her boots slipped in the sand a bit. "That's enough. Not what we need right now, for you two to start goin' at it again. Got it?"

Bratty fell silent. Back into naughty schoolgirl mode. "Sorry."

"So really, Starsky. You's cool with stayin' here with her, while I go inside?"

"I am, sarge," he smiled. "And Bratty," he turned to her now. "I genuinely apologize for anything I've said which has offended you. Didn't really mean any of it, okay? It's just ... adrenaline and nerves, I guess. Can you blame me?"

Bratty rolled her eyes, but otherwise said nothing.

"Okay you two, this is good. I'm goin' in now. And I'll be back soon. Promise me you'll behave."

Vicious did not wait to hear an answer. Instead she readied her shotgun, lit her final cigarette. And then she was gone.



6:22 pm
As she neared Germantown Police Station, Vicious crouched down. Focused. Found a small bush she could hide behind, and waited, looking for any sort of movement. Listening for any sort of sound. Cursing her Pip-Girl 2500 personal device, which did not have a 'show enemies' option like the arm-devices from vaults often had.

The place seemed deserted. Certainly not any sort of raider establisment, that's for sure. For one thing, nobody was partying. No sounds of a ruckus going on. No whooping. No beer bottles smashing into walls. None of that. Vicious waited, then crept right up to the place. The station was surrounded by a creative mixture of tall metal fences topped with barbed wire, sandbags, and plywood. She waited, then crept right behind a pile of bags. What would I do if I were Talon Company? she asked herself, then stifled a laugh. Talon Company were some of the worst examples for reconnaisance, she realized. Talon Company's worse than Bratty and Starsky thought she. All they do is go running around, shouting for all the world to--

There was something on her right, beyond the station's modified mall. Something large, and yellow, standing about fifty feet away. It was looking dumbly toward something on the ground.



A-ha! Were a bunch of giant mutants responsible for causing all those raiders to flee... or worse?

Vicious did not wait for an answer. She readied her Blamhammer. Crept around the station's outer wall-fortification, and then snuck up behind the monster. Maybe it was a good thing night was about to fall, for the monster mutant did not notice her, as she snuck and shuffled from behind, found a gap where one of the tall metal fences had fallen, crept through this gap. Somebody had erected several canvas tents outside of the station for whatever reason, and Vicious used these tents to hide behind as she neared the beast. She checked carefully inside of each tent she passed, seeing if any other mutants were sleeping, or whatever.

Finally she was just behind the guy. Standing nine feet tall and weighing over 800 pounds, the mutant made an easy target for her.

BLAM! went her gun. She had aimed for the mutant's head, but managed to pluck more of its shoulder.

"Arrraaaghaaaa!!!" the mutant battle-cried, readying his giant sledgehammer. The mutant moved quickly, surprisingly fast for such a large oaf of meat. Vicious skipped and hopped around a large pile of rubble as the mutant closed in. It swung its gigantic weapon, but only caught air as the raider lady danced around.

"You want summa this?" she asked, as if she were offering candy to the giant freak of a lab-mutation before her. "Huh? Want some? Here ya go, fool."

She fired again, shattering the thing's knee. Now the monster was stuck, pretty much unable to move as fast as she could. Instead, it hobbled around. From somewhere nearby, a gun began to fire ... *bkksh!* ... a second mutant was shooting a rifle. Vicious kept an eye for this second beast, as she continued to blast at the one with the sledgehammer. Finally, the first mutant fell. And pretty soon, so did the second.

The place was hers now, or at least, its exterior portions were. There were no more supermutants around; she made sure of this. She began to loot the bodies, removing the rifle from the second giant's greasy hands.

Miss Vicious hollered for her friends, who were just up the hill, and pretty soon they were all safe for the night. She gave the rifle and seven rounds to Bratty.

Today's first mission, accomplished.

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

https://imgur.com/1u6liTS

https://i.imgur.com/ug8Kwp2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/G4qAORb.jpg

Posted by: SubRosa May 31 2021, 10:47 PM

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!

Posted by: Acadian Jun 1 2021, 05:36 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jun 8 2021, 01:12 AM

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.

More like children of opposing temperaments!

I should have more Vicious up this week, although my daughter just graduated high school (woo hoo!) and so that's been eating up a lot of family time. Either way, stay tuned. Things are about to get ... interesting.

Posted by: Renee Jun 13 2021, 06:37 PM

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.

8:55 am

"We need ... to get MORE!"

"I know!... But where can we find... 'em?"

Super mutants, growling to each other in some nearby room! Vicious froze, listening as the two giants were deep in conversation with each other. They apparently did not know they now had a visitor. Miss Vicious hunkered down. As each giant spoke to the other, there were frequent pauses in their diatribe. As if it was taking all their mental capacity and brainpower to construct each next thought.

"The female ... is locked up!" one said to the other. "We'll take her home... with us."

"The tiny male ... is downstairs! ... He won't be coming with us. Gwaaa haaa haa haa haa haa haa!"

"Oh my guhd," Vicious whispered. Time for the Blamhammer. She made sure it was ready to go, before sneaking down the hall, toward the two voices.

"....find more, go somewhere else! ... Gwaaa haa haa haa haa haa haa haa ha!!!"

"Yeah! Those humans .... are every where! We'll get them all ... and take them home... with us!"

"Oh, I don't think so," Vicious muttered, rounding the corner silently. She emerged into a small room, used long ago for booking various perps for drug possession and other misdemeanors.

"We need! .... More prisoners! ... Before we can go home! ... We need..."

BLAM went the Blamhermmer, straight into one of the mutant's heads. The giant she shot fell straight onto the floor, just like that. For a split second, Vicious stood surprised. One shot, that's all it took. She almost wasted a second round then. But the monster was down!

So she got moving.

"GAME's OVER!" shouted the second mutant, "Baaaa haa haa haa haa!" This second guy fired a rifle, but by the time he did so his stalker had already backed out of the room. His round hit nothing but sheetrock, spraying asbestos into the air.

Vicious rushed up the hallway, crouched the entire time, for ultimate stealth. She then stayed still for a minute. Listened. Waited for the second mutant to give up its chase. In fact, the second mutant had not initiated any sort of chase... he was still in the same room.

"Awww, waste of my time!" said mutant #2. Vicious heard him shoulder his gun, as he apparently went back to standing around. Seeming not to care at all about the fate of his mate. Seeming not to wonder why somebody would just come in the place, shoot his buddy, and leave.

A minute or two later, he was dead, with just one more blast of the hammer.

She reached into her pack, and grabbed her flashlight. Turned it on, its light yellowish and warbling. Time to do some recon.

Vicious's initial theory that the place would be packed with guns and ammo came true. As she searched the police station's upper floor, she found more shotgun rounds, some microfusion cells, four live frag mines on the floor, plenty of 10 mil handgun rounds, dozens of 32 caliber bullets, and so on. She found two more rifles: one a semi-automatic, the other a single-shooter. She also found plenty of chems. Amphetamines, prescription medical pills, downers, and uppers of all kinds. Hallucinagenics. Some of these had once belonged in evidence lockers, perhaps.

One thing she did not find were raiders. Had they even had been here, staying in the station, like Slick Rick had told her? It was hard to tell. Vicious found some bones here and there, as well as a few portions of skeletons in one hallway. But these could have come from anybody human, not necessarily raiders.


12:37 pm
She went through a door, which led to a downflight of stairs. She was now on the second floor. Something large was clomping around down there. Vicious crept forward. Came to a short hallway, which led to an intersection. The giant walked right by where she was hiding. *BLAM* went the Blamhammer. The gigantic oaf fell. She had estimated it would take a maximum of five shots for each mutant she encountered. But so far, she had loosed a total of four shots, on three mutants, two of which were instant kills.

She listened closely for the sounds of raiders. But all she heard were more super mutants. And the mutants she heard kept complaining of hunger. "I'm hungry!" one of them literally said, just before she blasted its face off.

She crept some more, than heard a voice, somewhere far away. A human voice! Vicious was sure of it. She wondered if the voice she had heard could be one of those raiders, the 'rookie idiots who went up north', which everyone down in Springvale kept talking about.

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https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/Resources/Images/districts/5District800X532.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/The_Cider_Barrel%2C_Germantown%2C_Maryland%2C_1925.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cr2lxzV.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JIfn9Y9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5lqNlc9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TNS5OnN.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RPu7gTv.jpg



Nits: I've been spelling super mutants as one word (supermutants) and that's wrong!

Posted by: Lopov Jun 13 2021, 07:49 PM

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...

Posted by: Acadian Jun 13 2021, 08:17 PM

Agree with Lopov - nice history lesson on Germantown.

Managing those two companions is a challenge! Fortunately, she did score lotsa weaponry and ammo inside.

Posted by: SubRosa Jun 16 2021, 03:36 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jun 20 2021, 02:29 PM

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!

Posted by: Renee Jun 20 2021, 06:38 PM

..,

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."

12:56 pm
By now, Miss vicious had cleared the entire top floor of mutants, and was halfway through the station's middle section. She'd been spending most of her time listening hard for the sound of the voice she'd heard before. Definitely human, and definitely female. She was sure about this.

At some point, she realized she had lost track of time. 'An hour' is what she told Bratty outside. She'd be back to get Bratty in an hour. But the truth was, she still hadn't found a weapon suitable for the brat. And she knew she would not forgive herself if, should Bratty start to lose focus and rush deep into the place, Bratty would then be crippled by one of these monsters. Crippled, or worse...

"Arrgh, no green stuff here," said one of the giants, from somewhere nearby.

Vicious was in a room full of desks and computers. She determined this room was once used as a 911 call center. Whatever that could be, she did not know. One of the computer monitors in this room still worked, though. And it had all sorts of info on 911 calls, whatever those were. It seemed these calls had been made by citizens long ago to the police station, and what Vicious was reading were the typed versions of these calls.

Whatever.

It was in this room she found a rather peculiar weapon, in an ordinary wooden desk. She immediately realized she had never seen anything like it before. It was dark gray in color, but had a yellowish-green bulb (for lack of a better word) where its barrel should be. She realized it was some sort of energy weapon. It had been stored away at some point with several energy cells, and also contained a port where cells could be loaded. Vicious was no fan of energy weapons; she preferred her shotguns. Still, the weapon might fetch a nice price back in society. Or maybe Bratty might want it.

"Come out come out, wherever you are!"

Vicious heard the sound of gunfire, a machine gun for sure. She also heard a small "yelp" coming from somewhere. Again, this yelp sounded human. So right away, she sprinted into action. Left the 911 call center, and ran into the next room, where a super mutant brute was standing. No longer sneaking around, she blasted the thing's chest. *BKKSH!!!*

"There you are! A-ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"

The mutant returned fire with his weapon, an assault rifle. Vicious ducked out of the room, and waited for the brute (a larger, stronger version of mutant) to fall into her trap. As the giant rounded the corner, too large and too unwieldy with its gun to aim properly, Vicious blasted its arm, causing him to falter, and drop his weapon. "ARRG!" The fight lasted another ten seconds or so, when finally the mutant fell.

"Hello?" she called out. "Anybody in here?"

There was no answer. So she turned on her flashlight, and looted the mutant's body. Found a Chinese assault rifle (useless) a few rounds of 5.5mm ammo for Bratty's gun, and a severed, half-eaten leg in the thing's gigantic satchel. Yicch. But ... she also found a key, which she collected. Maybe this key might be useful in the hours to come.

She then resumed her search. Outside, she could hear the sound of rainfall and thunder, which caused her to remember her posse. She checked her Pip-Girl device for time. 14:23 it said. Way past the hour she had promised Bratty. Maybe she should go back outside, then. From what she could hear, there were no other mutants stomping around. Only a few radroaches, here and there.

But before the raider could leave ...

"How'd you get in here?"

It was the human voice she had heard before. "Hey," Vicious said. "Don't be alarmed. I've come to rescue you."

"Quick!" said the lady before her. "Unlock the door! You've got to get this door unlocked so I can get out of here!" This lady was wearing red coveralls, and had a red bandanna tied around her head.

"Um, what door?"

"You're rescuing me?" lady in red asked. "Thanks, I thought we were goners for sure! I think the others are dead. Or worse. ... My name's Red by the way," she said, extending her hand.

"Hey, it's okay, Red. We know all about you and the others. All of us back in Springvale knew you came up here, tryin' to start a new branch for us, and now I can see what went wrong. But it ain't no worry. You are safe now."

"Don't I know it," said Red. "Now the trick is getting out of here."

"That shouldn't be a problem. This entire floor plus the floor upstairs have been cleared of mutants, yep, I got 'em all. There's a few roaches wandering around, still. I hate killing those things, gettin' all their guts splashed everywhere. You can just avoid those. Upstairs I left a couple rifles by the entrance. Feel free to grab one of those, and also the ammo I left up there."

Red said nothing, but she nodded, her glasses glinting in the station's dim light.

"So what happened to the others?" Miss Vicious asked. "Are there any others? Nice suit, by the way. I love the red."

"Everyone else is dead, or taken away to who knows where," said the red-suited lady. "Well, except maybe for Shorty. They dragged him off downstairs to the kitchen awhile ago. But ... no one comes back from the kitchen."

"Alright sis, I can go see if Shorty is down there. Maybe you should stay here, though. Looks like you don't have a weapon. And I ain't risking any casualties."

Vicious realized she could also lead the lady in red back to one of the rifles she had found, and then have her come along to find this Shorty. But Red would still be ill-prepared. Red wasn't wearing any armor, for instance.

"I'm not waiting around for any super mutant to lock me up again. There's a back door around here some place. If you're not back soon, I'm leaving without you. Meet me at Big Town."

"Big Town?" Vicious replied. "Hey, you don't have to go that far. Yeah, there is a door in the next room which leads outside, Matter of fact, if you go out there, just walk around the perimeter. I came with a couple others, Dogmaster's orders, in fact. The others should be still out there. You can just go there, and wait with them, while I get Shorty. You can tell them I'm okay."

By Red's facial expression, Vicious could see Red was puzzled. The lady in red immediately slunk down cautiously, obviously hiding herself as best she could, which was a good start. But she did not move.

"Okay, then. Just stay here, I guess. I'll be back soon."

Vicious turned off her flashlight, and began to continue her search.

"By the way," she called back to Red, "you might want to consider not wearing all that red if you happen to find some proper armor. Stands out too much once you're on the wasteland. You know? I'll see if I can find something else for you to wear. Hopefully some armor. I mean, once you is back with the others in Springvale you can dress however you like. Springvale and Super Duper Mart are downright safe and solid."

No wonder these guys and gals were being called "rookie idiots" by the raiders down south.




4:47 pm
Vicious found a stairwell which led to a door, and this door led to the police station's cellar. Down here, she found plenty of bones and guts in one room. She also found what had obviously been a raider female, now dead, and hanging from a meat hook. But no Shorty, nor any others. Obviously, the super mutants had been busy eating most of their meals down here. And most of their meals were (apparently) human. Other than a few more radroaches, the place seemed deserted.

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. Something was not right. Something about the conversation she'd had, hours before.

Specifically, Starsky N. Hutch. Something Starsky had said was suddenly bothering her. Something at the back of her mind. Vicious paused, and tried to remember what this could be. But before she could do so, she heard a voice. Another human voice. This time, a male. She forgot all about Starsky, and whatever it was he'd said.

The male was arguing with yet another mutant, but the conversation was too far away. Though Vicious could not hear specifically what was being said, obviously it was not good. She readied her Blamhammer. Checked a room which had once been the place's mess hall. Tables and chairs and dishes. But nobody in there. So she moved into another room, which was crammed with lockers. The voices were closer now, but nobody in here, either.

A gun fired! And fired again! A rifle, Vicious determined. The man screamed. The rifle fired again, and finally, she had located the mutant. It was at the end of a hallway, roughly 20 feet away. The mutant fired again.

"Put that down, you biscuit and cheese-headed fool!"

*BKKSH!* went her Blamhammer. But the mutant had already been alerted to her presence, and was able to sidestep his massive girth to avoid the brunt of the shotgun's pellets. So it took a few more shots, a few more back-and-forths between her gun and the mutant's. During the melee she realized she'd been hit, and had to rush off into the next room to heal herself with a Stimpak. She also decided to rummage into her pack. She grabbed one of the frag mines she'd found earlier, placing it onto the floor. She activated it, as the mutant stomped near. Vicious then ran into an adjacent room. She shielded herself from the upcoming blast behind a partition.

"Come out, come out, wherever you..." *BOOM* went the frag mine, throwing the 800 pound doofus onto his side. The battle was over. Immediately, a radroach seemed to appear from nowhere. It began nibbling on the mutant's leg just then, probably savoring a rare (still warm) meal.

Vicious ran past these two, and into the room where the mutant had been firing his gun. "Are you alright?!?" she called. "HEY!"

She rushed into the next room. But the guy, presumably Shorty, had already been killed.

"God-DAMMIT!" she swore loudly,realizing that she'd just broken one of the Ten Commandments, the one which said something about not taking the Lord's name in vain. But screw it. There were moments in life when making errors like this seemed more okay than usual. She hunkered down, then felt for a pulse. Found none. Though she did not know for sure who this was, she could see that the man had been rather short in height. Hence, this was probably Shorty.

Miss Vicious searched the rest of the basement. She found more ammo and finally a few packs of cigarettes. But no other raiders.

Time to go. She continued back upstairs, wondering how Starsky and Bratty were doing outside. She checked her device. 19:46 it said. Not good. In fact, by now multiple hours had passed since she'd last seen them. But maybe Red had gone out there by now, joining up with the others.

With the station silent, and the action all over, Miss Vicious spent the next few minutes thinking about Starsky, trying to remember exactly what he'd said to her hours ago.


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

https://i.imgur.com/4gRmCOt.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/K8bn0Ct.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rSR8UVC.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UwASHfH.jpg (by coincidence, this poor gal was wearing raider armor)

https://i.imgur.com/M4AX6jF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/muFhSij.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mulDi2G.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/G3Tuc9T.jpg


Notes: The part when Red says "quick, unlock the door" happened due to some sort of glitch. Red is supposed to be locked up in one of the police station's cells when we find her. But she somehow got out! So I had Vicious walk around to the correct cell door, unlock it, and this caused Red to forcegreet like she normally does!

Posted by: Lopov Jun 20 2021, 07:42 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Jun 21 2021, 07:24 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Jun 26 2021, 02:03 AM

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?

Posted by: Renee Jun 27 2021, 02:49 PM

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!

Posted by: Renee Jun 27 2021, 07:21 PM

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.

8:42 pm
Miss Vicious and the former prisoner left the station. Outside, the rain she'd heard before had stopped at some point. Night had fallen, but a quarter moon was in the sky, so visibility was good. The day's heat was over.

"Come round this way," she told the man as she walked forward. "What is your name, anyway?"

"Just call me Sal," he answered.

"Okay, Sal. You can call me Vicious."

She extinguished her flashlight. Together they walked down a fight of stairs, and across some ground strewn with rubble. Their boots crunched over tons of concrete and plaster. The air out here was pleasant. No more heat, at least for another twelve hours or so. She checked her device. 20:54 it said.

She began to think back to earlier that day. Trying to remember. Starsky N. Hutch had said some things, which eventually caused a few red flags to go up in her head. What were the things he'd said?



Vicious stopped walking. Cocked her head from one side to the other. Afraid of the dark, he had said....



"Uh, huh?" she asked aloud. "And which vault was this you grew up in?" She put her hands on her hips. "Was it Vault 101?"

... Vault 106 is where I was from. Wretched place. I hope I never go back....

Vicious clucked her tongue within her mouth, smiled. Shook her head. "Oh really? Vault 106, you say?"

"What?" asked former prisoner Sal. "Who're you talkin to?"

Miss Vicious thought back to her school days. 9 or 10 years old. The adults and children, locked into eternal worship. Eternal predictions, of when the world was going to end next. Always, there'd be some date for this. ...This 'end' of the world.

"Hey, why've we stopped?" Sal asked, sounding worried.

A young Taneesha Jones, asking questions. ... A young Taneesha Jones, seeking her own answers. ... She had been taken into the temple at a very young age. She'd been an orphan, raised by Jehovah's Witnesses, located in a town once called Ellicott City. Being an orphan, she'd enjoyed a few liberties not shared by the other kids. No immediate parents, which meant she could go unsupervised more often. As long as she was sneaky enough, this was true.

"Vault 106..." she mused.

Because of this, she had gone through a phase, in which she tried to learn everything she could about the outside world. The Ellicott City temple was just as insular as any vault, you see. Nobody was allowed to just leave. But the temple's elders also kept plenty of documents, books, and other such media, pertaining to the rest of America's past. Kept them in one of their special, 'Elders Only' rooms. But rules were made to be broken, in young Taneesha's mind. As long as she was sneaky enough, she pored through as much hidden material as she could, mostly while hiding in a crawlspace.

Now an adult, she tried to remember the pamphlet she had found. The one about vaults. It listed every vault in America, this pamphlet did. Young Taneesha had read and studied them all for awhile, staving off typical childhood boredom. Vault 106, eh?

"There was no way he could of come from Vault 106," Vicious said aloud, gesturing with her hands as if she were talking to somebody. "No way in hell. That's the one where they gave all those dwellers some kind of special drugs. Caused them to lose their minds. Place is uninhabitable. Dag-nabbit!"

"Who? What are you talking about?"

Vicious looked at him, shaking her head slowly. "All I know is something ain't right about the guy I traveled here with. Said he's from Vault 106, and now I know this cannot be. So. There's gonna be some questions to question, and answers to answer."

As the pair walked toward the front of Germantown HQ, Vicious cocked the safety of her gun from ON to OFF.

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

https://i.imgur.com/i8eEaIU.jpg

https://fallout-archive.fandom.com/wiki/Vault_106



Notes: Yet another Wastelander ran through the station as I started gaming today! It must be some sort of deliberately-written, unseen quest Bethesda wrote. I was too slow with the console to get a picture of the guy. Vicious did not attack him.

Posted by: Lopov Jun 27 2021, 08:02 PM

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!

Posted by: Acadian Jun 27 2021, 09:48 PM

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. . . .

Posted by: SubRosa Jun 29 2021, 01:03 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jul 4 2021, 02:35 PM

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.

Taneesha... RUN?


Acadian -- the whole bobby pins thing came to me literally as I was writing last week. I haven't worn pins in a long time, but a lot of the ladies I've known and worked with over the years, especially African-Americans, sometimes do. Especially if their hair is straightened; pins help keep their coif safe from flyaway.

In Fallout games, a bobby pin gets shown (along with a small screwdriver) whenever we pick locks, and so it hit me. She has a bunch of pins in her inventory; some of them were given to her by Slick Rick along with her specialized gun, but I like to imagine some of them are in her hair.


SubRosa -- OH no, no, no... Red is safe. Vicious is not some bloodthirsty type like most raiders. She has a background of decent morals, overall. But I also thought it would be a good idea to move Red into a different room. Because the raider convict guy is part of the RaiderFaction. And I wasn't sure if he would attack poor Red if he saw her. In fact, whenever the party comes near civilization (such as Big Town, or a Brahmin merchant) Vicious gets protective about any innocents nearby.

Ha ha I like what you just said: maybe he made his Sanity Rolls.

It is 9:32 am now. 4th of July. I need to get this done today probably in the next 6 hours, because we're going to my sister's later on for the BIG holiday party.

Posted by: Renee Jul 4 2021, 07:38 PM

Chapter 24: Starsky N. Hutch

Saturday, September 1st, 2277, 9:07 pm

Just before walking that final corner, Vicious turned to Sal, the convict she had rescued not long before.

"W-we stopped again," he said. "I-I-I don't understand what's going on?"

As instructed by his rescuer, Sal had been following Vicious at a distance, for reasons of safety. So Vicious now turned to him. Walked a little closer.

"You might want to wait here," she said.

"Why?"

"I got a funny feeling, that's why. Let's call it Women's Intuition. If I'm wrong, I'll be right back, okay?"

"O-okay... well don't be long! I don't wanna become another monster's diet, if ya know what I mean."

"I do. Just wait here. Hide behind something, if you want. I'll be back."

Sal looked as if he were going to say something. He reached out his hand, pointing a finger, as though he were about to pontificate some obvious, upcoming statement. But by then she was leaving.

Vicious turned the corner, walked past the knocked-down section of fence, and made her way back to the area with all the tents. As she walked, first thing she noticed: she saw nobody. Nobody was around, not Bratty, not Starsky. Not anyone. But this was okay. Maybe her posse was in one of the tents, playing cards. Then again, she knew this could not be true. Her intuition had kicked in, after all.

"Anybody here?" she called. Her voice echoed. Nobody answered.

That's when she saw Starsky N. Hutch. Starsky was walking toward her. By himself. Calmly strolling along.. Shoulders broad, with a very slight smile. His demeanor was different, somehow. Seemed as if he were being ... what?

"Where's Bratty?"

"Bratty's a little tied up at the moment," he answered. His smile went away.

"What. Do. You. Mean? What did you do to her?" she glowered.

His armor was different, Vicious noticed.

"Hey look," he started. "Sorry I had to lie to you about Vault 106. Sometimes it's okay to lie, though. I know you are religious, and I respect that. But some lies are necessary. Let me explain."

His tone of voice was completely smooth and mild, which infuriated her. "Where the *luck* is Bratty?" She kept her temper in check.

"Listen, I know she's your beau," he said. "But let's face facts. She's childish. She's unprofessional. She's abusive and manipulative. Trust me, you don't need her in your life any more, Miss Vicious."

He was relaxed, she noticed. As if he thought he had all of this under control.

"While you were in there, we waited and waited, and finally thought we should at least go after you. Maybe you had gotten hurt, or something."

Vicious glared. Not time for the Blamhammer; not just yet. Let's hear what he has to say...

"We were somewhere on the second level when she just snapped. Grabbed my blade, then came after me with it. Ironic, right?" he flinched. "Anyway, I had no choice but to put her down. Didn't kill her. Just put a sedative into her arm."

"Bull *ship*, she came after you with your knife. I do not believe that for one instant."

"She's still in there," he informed. "In one of those cells. Had to wait until you were done with the basement before I could move her, and lock her in. You walked right by me, in fact!" he said with a small chuckle.

Finally it dawned on her. His armor. His armor had an insignia with the shape of a talon upon its breast. "Talon Company?" she asked, an incredulous sound to her voice. "You're with the Talon Company?"

"And so now, you have a choice," Starsky ignored. "Either you come along with me, or you go in there with the brat."

Vicious said nothing. Waited. Make him guess what I'm about to do...

"Yep, Talon Company," he finally answered. "Didn't you ever notice how I never really fit in with the raiders? You're a very perceptive lady, so I know you did."

Vicious said nothing, so he continued.

"It was pretty easy to infiltrate your stupid comrades," he explained patiently. "Really, it was no sweat." His arms were crossed. "Now look. I need to explain a few things to you. Pay attention. The reason we, ... uh... we being Talon Company that is, decided to infiltrate the raiders is because of you. Because we heard about you causing that mess back in Fairfax, taking care of those raiders. Heard about it on the radio, matter of fact. We decided, we wanted to recruit you. Now, think about that for a moment..."

"Yeah, me join the Talon Company," Her face twisted. "You need to *duck* off, with that jack *skit*." Her right hand was on the butt of her gun. "That's what you need to do..."

"You also have something which we want," Starsky continued. "And I think you know what I'm talking about. A certain gun. High technology. Looks like an energy weapon, perhaps."

Vicious said nothing at first. Just stood there sadly. Yet also determined, about something. She touched her bag. Felt along its canvassing. Finally, she spoke.

"What, you want that cheap-ass energy weapon I found?"

"Ah, looks like you DID find it!" Starsky snapped his fingers. "We KNEW these things existed!"

Vicious reached into her bag, and pulled the weapon she'd found earlier out of it.

"That's not just an energy weapon," he explained, "it's a stun gun."

He waited a moment, for this bit of information to sink in. When it seemed it hadn't, he continued.

"Back in the 21st century they used stun guns all the time, mostly to apprehend uncooperative crimnals. Stun guns were non-lethal ways to take someone down," he gestured, acting like he was about to fall over. "We sent a team out here to Germantown a while back, but were unable to find one. Like I said though, we knew there had to be at least one out here. We were hoping. And looks like you found it. See, if we have a stun gun, we can figure out how it works. Maybe we can start using them, to incapacitate our opponents before they even know what's going on."

Vicious made no reply.

"Now, you have a choice, Vicious. Join us."

She shook her head, looked to the ground.

"Rules and regulations, to structure your life. Chem-free programs, to keep you clean. An army of mercenaries, men, women, and bots. We could use you. You know how to work against the odds; our staff psychologist thinks so, anyways. We're very impressed with you back at Fort Bannister. By the way, I was able to radio back to Bannister while you were gone. 'Bring her back safely, Starsky,' those are direct orders from Commander Jabsco himself, our very top leader."

"Yeah, whatever," she spoke softly. The gun was in her hand more firmly, now. "First thing you're gonna do is show me where Bratty is. Or you'll get to SEE why they been known to call me Vicious."

"Easy there. Give me the gun, Taneesha," he said. "Yep, we know your real name. One of our techs, Bea Faroni, did great research on you."

Her gastrocnemius muscle tensed. Her eyebrow twitched. From somewhere far away, an animal called out into the night.

"Or you can join the brat deep in that cell. Your choice. We'll just leave you in there," he said, pointing up the street. "Won't kill you. Because we do have respect. So we won't kill you right away. Instead, maybe we'll hunt you."

"We?"

"Oh yeah, I do have others with me. Place is surrounded, in fact. Talon Company everywhere. Because we're serious about this."

He smiled, arms crossed.

Vicious looked down at the gun. Checked its safety (which was nothing more than a power switch). She turned the gun on. A little light blinked on the gun's stock which said Powering.

"Hey whoa. Whoa, whoa ... WHOA!" he said, backing up a foot or so. "That thing's not a toy. Uh. You'll need highly specialized ... uh ... gloves to handle it, without zapping yourself."

Vicious looked down. Powering now changed to Ready.

"Uh, you didn't find those gloves, did you? Because you'll--"

30,000 volts of electricity zapped into Starsky N. Hutch just then, causing his limbs to lock up. "N--!" He screamed, while Vicious stood surprised. Surprised, that the thing would even work! ... But Starsky was frozen. He was not moving. So she switched to her other gun.

"You've just made a date with this here Blamhammer, fool."

She shot him in the chest, causing him to stumble aside, then fall onto a sandbag. She shot him again, knocking him backwards into miscellaneous stuff! His leg was broken, she could see.

Just then, the stun gun's effect wore off. Starsky got up off the ground, and grabbed a pistol he had found at some point. "Give it up!" he cried. "You're surrounded! WHERE ARE MY BOYS?" he shouted, panicking.

"Shut up. Ain't no boys. Why ain't you using your blade, fool?"

She grabbed the stun gun, left-handed. Zapped him again with its volts. Had a quick look around, to see if others were approaching. Didn't see anybody, nor hear them. "Surrounded, eh?" *BKKSSHHH!* went the Blamhammer.

"Oharrgh!!!!"

Two more shots, causing him to roll, and shriek. Next thing she knew, Starsky N. Hutch (apparently named after some famous action TV stars from the 20th century) was done for.

She checked his belongings. Found a few caps, a few rounds of 10mm ammo, but no Stimpaks! No way to heal herself. Dammit. Though she did not see or hear anybody else, she decided to play it cautiously, sneaking back toward the police station. Flashlight off. Past all the tents, and over the section of fallen-over fence. Around the corner where she'd left Sal the prisoner.

Finally, she saw somebody. Standing maybe 50 feet away. At that moment her foot snagged on something, and whoever it was heard the noise. A man, but not Sal. This man was bigger. He turned to her. Readied something large with both hands. "Talon Company!" he yelled, blasting Vicous with a spray of fire. A flamethrower!

Her arms and back burned, but fortunately she was able to also aim and hit the man from a distance with her new electric toy. The Talon Company merc fell straight to the ground! So she blasted him with her shot gun until he was done for.

Good thing was, this man had a Stimulation Recovery Pack, or Stimpak, for short. Vicious immediately jammed it into her arm, her body her returning nearly to full health. A few minutes later, she found a second merc, but this one was already dead. She searched around a little more, flashlight still off, and cautious. But there were no others to be found. Apparently, Starsky had been bluffing. Either that, or all these other mercs who'd 'surrounded' the place had decided to go off on some huge, extended cigarette break.

She began to run. Back inside the station she found Sal, hiding safely inside. Good man, she thought.

At 10:14 pm she found Bratty. Locked in a cell, but also freed from her restraints. Bratty was dousing herself with water from the jail cell's sink. She had somehow been able to get out of the ropes Starsky had tied her with.

"I knew you'd be coming! Just knew it!" Bratty said. But her enthusiasm did not last long. While Vicious pulled another set of 'lock picks' from her hair, and began working on the cell's door, Bratty began shaking. Her face fell into a jumble of sobs. Click the lock was open.

Vicious rushed into the cell. Grabbed the brat, and hugged her for a very long time. As she did so, Vicious noticed that Starsky's knife was in Bratty's possession.

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

https://i.imgur.com/yxfaWSW.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qro5q4b.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/v4iHlsX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WOrTBGQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nyHgp0m.jpg (gore warning)

https://i.imgur.com/cs4jZ7n.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0MWVonM.jpg

-------

Notes: finished and done for at 2:59 pm!

Posted by: Lopov Jul 4 2021, 08:28 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.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 4 2021, 08:43 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jul 4 2021, 11:43 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 5 2021, 12:17 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jul 17 2021, 02:05 PM

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...

Posted by: Renee Jul 17 2021, 06:34 PM

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.

Sunday, September 2nd
The next day, Vicious had better luck with their travel. She managed to head straight south this time. Found the chapel where they'd encountered super mutants days before. Avoided Big Town. And found the raider campsite again, the one which was next to that irradiated pond.

By late morning, they were home.

If Miss Vicious expected some sort of haloed welcome as some sort of heroine (and rightly, she did) she was disappointed. Here she was, carrying her big, threatening shotgun, and now had the ability to easily take down any enemy she encountered with one well-aimed zap from her genuine police-issued stun gun. As Bratty and she walked across the Wasteland, she began to feel downright omnipotent whenever they encountered an enemy of any kind. With her new energy cell-powered toy, she was unstoppable.

But back at school, it was as if nothing had changed. Nobody mentioned anything about 'those rookie idiots up north', and how it was she who had succeeded in learning the outcome which befell them. Nobody greeted her as any sort of champion. Nobody even tried to bum one of her cigarettes. As she ambled around the school, looking for Slick Rick so she could get paid, she still received their vague threats, insults, and cat-calls.

On the other hand, there was a certain...deference amongst the others. Nothing she could put her finger on for sure. But it seemed the raiders of Springvale were all just a little more ... cautious with their comments? As if they knew it was her who'd done some amazing things, but were keeping their mouths shut due to ignorance, or jealousy?

When she finally found Slick in one of Springvale's darkened hallways, the man had nothing but good things to say. Dogmaster and other upper-handers were all grateful that she'd succeeded with her assignment. Germantown Police Station was now up for grabs, said Slick. Hopefully, raiders would be able to repopulate the place before others did.

"Here you go, swell!"

Slick gave Vicious a total of 500 caps for her success. What a surprise. She had never held so much money in her life, and now all of it was hers. There were so many caps in the bag he'd given her, she had to carry it with both hands. Extra caps had been given, Slick explained, due to the prisoner she'd safely transported from Germantown to Springvale. This prisoner quickly disappeared now that he was safe. Probably, he'd holed up in some nook or cranny where he could explore all his remaining fears, without fear. The guy had been a nervous wreck all the way back, so Vicious did not blame him.

"You got, you gots, you also gots your own room now," Slick Rick explained, obviously high on something. "Your.. your favorite room! The one that's back by the back, you know which one I'm talkinabout. It's yours now, Vicious."

Vicious did know which room he was talkinabout. It was one of the classrooms, probably once used for art class, Vicious concluded. It had the usual jumble of chairs and tables, strewn and toppled this way and that. Its chalkboard was somehow still intact though, and still hung from its original wall. This classroom also had a desk, once used by some long-ago teacher. Vicious had gotten into the habit of storing some of her things in the desk. And oddly, none of the other raiders ever seemed to wander in. None of them stole her stuff. They mostly preferred to stay in the school's frontal areas. Or upstairs. With a bagful of caps, and nowhere to put it, Vicious decided to head back to the room she'd been promised. Her room.

"Hey, wanna make even more caps?" Bratty asked as she followed her friend to Vicious's room. "Me and a few other *witches* are headed off to Dukov's place. You know, across tha river! We gonna make some extra good cappy-caps!"

"Doing what?"

"The usual. Dancing," she swayed her hips as she said this. "You know. Getting together, havin' fun..."

"Whoring?" Vicious snapped. Both gals stopped walking. Vicious rolled her eyes as she looked at her friend. Dukov was well-known in the Capitol Wasteland for his hookers and whores, after all. "Don't do that, brat. Why you gonna go over there and turn some tricks for caps?"

Bratty's olive skin turned red as she went once again into bad schoolgirl mode. Busted. "Hey lady, check yourself. I ain't like that! I am NOT some *ferking* whore! I ain't gonna sell my body nor nothing, girl! We is just goin over there and dancing. Havin' some fun. Makin' some caps, while the men gets fit to ogle and stare. That's it. No *kitty* play. No sucky luck. That's all I got to say, and that's all I got to say!"

"Well." The girls began walking again. "Count me out. I want no part of that. Doncha see this-here bag of caps I just done got?" Vicious jiggled, the bag jingled. "This bag is not just my bag, it is ours. We can live off this for a good, long while." She smiled. "That's right. You and me. We are a team, if you want us to be a team. And you ain't gotta do nothin' for this. No dancing or..whatever you got planned over there. In fact, I don't wanna know."

But Bratty was determined. For whatever reason, she would not relent on her decision. "Geez! I ain't stayin' all year over there," she said. "A bunch of us ladies are goin', a couple of dudes, too. It ain't like I'm goin' over there by my lonesome self."

"Whatever. Have fun. I will be here, Brat. I won't go anywhere without you first, okay?"

So Miss Vicious bid her friend farewell, cursing under her breath as she did so. Stupid girl. But what can ya do?

Since there was a lull in activity, nothing new for her from Slick or Dogmaster, she now had some time to kill. She immediately decided her new room was an unholy mess. After selling a few unneeded items to Springvale's indoor dealer, Vicious began straightening her room. That's right. The numerous scraps of paper and rubble on the floor were placed in a bucket, then tossed outside. Tables were uprighted, and chairs were placed in such a way that they now looked forward. As if class were about to be in session.

The others thought her behavior downright odd, as she scrapped and attempted to clean. Miss Delicious, now a topic of conversation for all.

Over the next couple of days, she also spent some time wandering outside of Springvale, looking for enemies to kill, and conquer. She headed downhill, and wound up in the metro station across from Super Duper Mart, where she zapped, then shot, dozens of underground ghouls. All of this adventuring was new to her. In the past there was never a time when she had just decided 'oh, let's go off and find something to kill!' No. Guns and other weapons had always been tools of defense for Vicious.

But now she felt different about herself. Maybe Starsky was right. Maybe she really was Talon Company material. Not that she was going to go off and join them. But maybe she was good enough.

"Yo Vicious," said Slick a few days later, as he caught her walking inside 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.

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

https://i.imgur.com/63t5ZaP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wwdJuVz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nu2FKsq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vjBwmHr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QBph9rG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jCjdWId.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fJ5XUXR.jpg

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 17 2021, 10:53 PM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Jul 18 2021, 10:46 AM

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!

Posted by: Acadian Jul 18 2021, 07:00 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jul 31 2021, 04:26 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jul 31 2021, 04:53 PM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 1 2021, 06:25 PM

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'.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 1 2021, 06:59 PM

Or maybe not.

I mean, so far Taneesha doesn't seem to be involved in a lot of harmless stuff.

I quite enjoyed a history lesson of bearer bonds.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 1 2021, 11:57 PM

A bearer bond heist? I hope a New York City cop named John McClain is not there to foil the job!

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Aug 4 2021, 03:23 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Aug 8 2021, 03:35 PM

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.

It is odd, I agree. In fact, this entire next set of chapters; I'm going to be partially in the dark. I wrote the quest, but Lopov is the one who actually hid all the bonds! And he's hinted that he added some extra content along the way, which I have no clue what his could mean. Traps? Bombs? Rattler? Who the heck knows?

So, I knew what would happen (pretty much) during Germantown Police Station since I did all the GECK work, but Vicious did not. This won't be the case for her return to Megaton. Both of us are unsure what'll happen.



See, what the *ferk* is that supposed to mean? Anyway, thank you for helping me with this next portion of the Miss Vicious World.esp, spending some time in the GECK, and so on.

Lopov and I have discussed this several times. If he hadn't assisted me last summer, chances are he wouldn't have gotten inspired to create his own Enemies of the Wastes mod for Fallout 3.



I was actually thinking Beverly Hills Cop. There's a scene in which Axel Foley links cocaine to bearer bonds or something. For some reason, that notion has stuck in my head all these years... err ... decades.

Now you got me wondering who John McClain is though. I'll have to read up on him.



That's what I love the most about writing these sort of longer stories. I get to spend many months, maybe years in this case, thinking of all these extra angles. Different perspectives from different peoples already in the game.

We shall find out what the Dogmaster wants with those bonds in this next chapter. Sort of.

Posted by: Renee Aug 8 2021, 07:22 PM

..,

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.

Early morning, Thursday, September 6th, 2277

Minimum Temperature: 68.0 °F
Maximum Temperature: 91.9 °F

After breakfast (Blamco Mac & Cheese) and her early-morning cigarette, Miss Vicious felt as if she was as ready for this as she'd ever be. She looked into the anonymous teacher's desk in which she'd been storing most of her smaller things, making sure the 900 caps which she'd stored inside were still there. And they were.

"Heck, by the time I get paid for this next one, maybe I'll be able to afford my own place," she muttered. "Maybe move down to Rivet City, away from all these *arseholes*. Hmph. Maybe even take the brat with me, too. Make a decent woman out of her, if I can get into her head just right."

She closed the door to her room, carrying the bag which contained the nicer clothes Slick had given her. But for now, she still wore her raider armor. One thing she did not want was for one of the others to be high on something, and mistake her for a Wastelander who'd mistakenly wandered in from outside, all because she wasn't dressed like them.

"Hey," said a raider male as she walked by. "You know those rookie idiots who went up north?"

Vicious did not bother to reply. Instead, she rushed out of the school, and into a warm, but not-so-humid morning. Fall was coming soon. She made a left turn, and walked toward the bus located a quarter mile or so down the road. This was the same bus where Bratty and she had gotten sloshed that one day, and Bratty gave Vicious her current hairdo. Vicious walked into the bus. She changed out of her raider gear, and tried one on of the dresses. The dress was blue, made of some sort of woolen fabric. Not really her color, and it would be too hot for this weather. So she tried on the other dress, which was green and sleeveless, with a cute yellow sash around its waist.

Yeah, that's more like it. Miss Taneesha could play vicious at times, but she could also play delicious.

She selected a couple of low heels, which were yellow, and incidently matched the dress's yellow sash. Oh... snap! Ready to slay, ready to play, ready to go on the town today! Whoever it was who'd left these clothes behind sure had some sense of style.

Outside, it began to rain softly. She could hear drops begin to patter on the bus's roof. She looked into one of the bus's dirty windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of herself. But these windows hadn't been cleaned, inside or outside, for over two centuries.

"Dammit. Will they know who I am?"

Better to play it safe. As she walked toward Megaton, she decided to put on the stormchaser hat. Though she could not see herself, she knew she looked nothing but silly. Ridiculously silly. Some disguise this was. Maybe she'd even be attracting more attention to herself than necessary, by wearing practical on one hand, sassy and lady-like on the other. What a contrast! Good thing there was no such thing as Fashion Police in the Capitol Wasteland.

"*Duck* it. This will have to do, for now."

"Hello" said a caravan guard as she walked toward town.

"Fine pleasant day this is, oh, do be charmed!" she replied with some sort of fake accent she invented on the spot. A moment later, kicked herself mentally for doing so. Do be charmed? "Well hey," she said to herself as she began walking away. "Maybe I gotta get into the spirit of all this. Pretend to be someone else, at least for a few days, or however long this takes. Stupid mission. Stupid scam. I hope Dogmaster can't run whatever scam he's got going on in his head."

Miss Vicious Delicious rewarded herself with a cigarette as she walked the rest of the way to Megaton.

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

https://i.imgur.com/bHjFSqx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nfX5A9G.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RXK6ihw.png


Note: I had Vicious walk into Megaton, just to see what would happen. My crime mod idea is that if enough crimes are committed by the player-character, this causes the Megaton Officer lady to react, and try to arrest us. I was worried because during some of those times when Wastelanders would show up in raider hangouts, Vicious never killed one of these on her own, but she did assault a few. Would this cause her Major Crime Count to go up? :] Fortunately it did not. Probably because the only ones who witnessed these assaults were other raiders, who don't care about crime.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 8 2021, 07:36 PM

Prim'n'proper and off to Megaton! Taneesha will definitely gain some attention in Megaton due to her looks.

Looks like that news about Taneessha's mission up north didn't reach that raider yet.

Good luck with finding the BBs.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 8 2021, 08:35 PM

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.

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Aug 13 2021, 09:47 PM

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?

Posted by: Renee Aug 15 2021, 02:46 PM

@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.

I created my very own crime mod for Fallout, http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=8089&view=findpost&p=326897. which works in a similar way to Elder Scrolls' crime. We can Pay the Fine, Resist Arrest, or Go to Jail. However, the main difference is there is only one officer (rather than swarms of psychic guards), and only in Megaton. And if the player commits too many crimes, he or she eventually gets banned from Megaton.

Pressure's on. Let's see what happens next.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 16 2021, 12:49 AM

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.

Posted by: Renee Sep 6 2021, 03:37 PM

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.

3:07 PM

"Hey there. Glad you're back."

By mid afternoon Taneesha had gone into Moriarty's for a drink. Moriarty's, where the air-conditioning worked, and the booze worked better. She bought a bottle of wine for 12 caps. Funny how not long ago, when she had been stressed for money, 12 caps seemed like a lot.

Here she met Lucy West, the blonde Megaton resident who'd offered Taneesha a place to live a couple weeks ago. Today, Lucy informed Taneesha that her place, her home here in town, was still available. " ... It gets so lonely without my family, you see. I'm still worried about my brother back in Arefu. Having you around would definitely help."

"You know," Taneesha replied, "I am thinking of staying in town for awhile. So yeah. Think I'll take you up on your offer this time. So sorry to hear there's still trouble up in Arefu. And sorry I can't help out with your family."

"It's okay," Lucy replied. "I did find somebody who volunteered to head up to Arefu this week, so that's taken care of."

"Really?" Taneesha sipped her wine.

"Oh yes. That Asian fellow from Vault 101, Chosen something. He volunteered to go. Guy's a real knockout, let me tell ya," Lucy giggled. "He likes to pretend there's still an army here in America, and that he's a soldier in this army. Anyway, if I trust anybody to handle Arefu, I trust him."

Taneesha sipped more wine, thinking back. She had just passed by Arefu, twice. Once on her way to Germantown, and once on her way back. Not that she had time to get involved (especially with Bratty the brat taking so much maintenance), but she couldn't help but kick herself mentally, just a bit.

"I don't care about your past," Lucy continued. "What's done is done. You were lost and scared, and needed some help just like I do. But now, you seem to be taking better care of yourself. Your pallor has improved. Love your dress, by the way."

"Thank you, and sounds good, thank you." Taneesha raised her glass. "To us," she said.

"To us," Lucy West agreed.

Lucy handed Taneesha a key, making their verbal agreement official.






12:30 AM
It was late in the evening when Taneesha awoke, then started her search. What exactly was she supposed to be looking for? Bearer bonds, Slick had told her. Which looked like some sort of tattered old documents, that's what. But how would she know if she'd even found one of these documents?

She started with Lucy West's two-story shanty, because why not? Taneesha Jones had already stayed in Lucy's home for several hours, so far. And Lucy herself was still out. "I just won't take whatever I find," Taneesha promised nearby walls.

And she kept her promise. Lucy had plenty of food, plenty of goods, and a few caps stored here and there. Taneesha, raider-in-disguise, took none of this. But she also found no bearer bonds, or any sort of documents at all. So she moved on.

"Maybe it'd be good if I started with places I don't need to break into."

Next would be the Common House. Common House was one of two places where anybody could live, for free (Church of Atom was Megaton's second free home) as long as he or she followed a few unwritten rules. Conditions in Common House were cramped, with privacy just about nil. This is where Taneesha had stayed briefly, after returning to Megaton a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, Megaton's Common House contained no bonds, not that Taneesha was entirely surprised.

Next, she walked into Megaton's Water Processing Plant. The need for fresh water in the Capital Wasteland was always at a premium, and Walter of the WPP did his best to meet this need. Taneesha searched the plant's bookshelves, metal boxes, and cabinets. Nothing to find there, either.

"Hmm. Alright. Next place I pass next, guess I'll try going in."

By 'going in' she really meant 'breaking in'. And this next place happened to be Craterside Supply. She removed a bobby pin from her hair, and grabbed a small screwdriver from her purse. But Craterside had a lock which was too complicated for her budding lockpicking skills.

"Drats!"

Of course, she could try searching the place during daylight hours. Moira and a guard stayed mostly on the first floor of their goods store. Maybe Taneesha could sneak away from them, and explore the store's upper area tomorrow.

By now it was after 1 AM. The wasteland's summer air had cooled off. Taneesha strolled all over town, wondering where to go next. Nobody was outside this late except Lucas Simms, a couple of Church of Atom devotees standing transfixed in front of Megaton's unexploded bomb, and Megaton's enforcement officer. "Evening," the officer said, as she walked by.

Finally, Taneesha arrived at a door and read its placard. She had found Mister Burke's house, which was really just a a large half-tube of corrugated metal. A quonset hut, what the military might use to store supplies and ammo long ago. Taneesha remembered Mister Burke. This was the guy who'd gotten into that fight a couple weeks ago. The Asian fellow from Vault 101 had beaten the man to death with his baseball bat, right inside of Moriarty's Saloon.

"Too bad for him," Taneesha said, scooching down to hide. "But since he ain't living no more, guess he won't mind if I search his place."

She inserted her bobby pin, felt inside of the lock for a few moments, checking its tumblers, all the while keeping an eye across the plaza on Megaton's officer. Unlike the lock on Craterside Supply's door, this one on Mister Burke's former home did not feel so complicated.

She inserted her small screwdriver. Rotated. The lock did not open, but it did twist quite a bit. A second attempt, and she broke her pin after improperly locating the lock's tumbler.

"Drats!"

Despite the cool summer night, she was starting to sweat. Taneesha glanced over at the officer, who was still standing in front of Brass Lantern's concession area. "Doesn't that *twitch* ever go to sleep?" she swore quietly.

Finally she tried again. Removed another bobby pin from her hair, inserted it into the lock. Positioned it slightly to the left this time. Inserted her small pocket screwdriver...


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

https://i.imgur.com/0fXGL6j.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qoxYyvY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wMReYDS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0jJ6wTL.jpg


Notes: After Lucy West's dialog to Vicious concluded, she switches back to vanilla dialog as she does her goodbye. "Remember, my offer still stands" she says. Kinda neat when vanilla dialog compliments what I write in the GECK.

Posted by: RaderOfTheLostArk Sep 6 2021, 04:33 PM

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?

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 7 2021, 12:18 AM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Sep 7 2021, 08:08 AM

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?

Posted by: Acadian Sep 7 2021, 06:50 PM

Whew, looks like only her friends recognize her here. Nice cameo mention of Cho!

Hey, are those noodles moving?

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 7 2021, 11:46 PM

https://youtu.be/fRG_cu4lS4g

Posted by: Renee Sep 12 2021, 04:14 PM

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.

I created the bonds, and wrote the quest / scripts for them, but Lopov is the one who actually hid them. I emailed the mod to him last summer so he could do this, you see. In the process of hiding these bonds, he then added some 'extra content' into Megaton, which I have no idea what this could be.

I also created an entire crime system last summer http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8089&st=40&p=326897&#entry326897, so if your character had gotten caught killing Jericho with this .esp toggled this would equate to jail time, or paying a lot of caps!

----------

Lopov: Ha ha that's true. Major A. Holl is the one who inhabits Mister Burke's house in my gameworld. In fact, maybe HE is the one who left that cigar burning in Burke's ashtray, since Burke himself got pwned by Cho!

Chances are Taneesha would not encounter Holl. Major Andrew Holl only stayed in Burke's place maybe two times. Eventually Holl got sucked into Mothership Zeta, and was never heard from again.

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

SubRosa: Yes, in my gameworld, Cho is the one whose done a lot of vanilla quests, such as Arefu, and all of Moira's silly Wasteland Guide quests, and so on. Cho also did a ton of raids, especially on raiders. We'll hear more of than in times to come!

Vicious was worried about Megaton, but I was also really nervous about her return. Because I added my own content (crime mod), which basically counts how many times our character commits certain types of crimes. I wasn't sure if I had screwed something up, and then would have to go all the way back and fix stuff. Turns out, everything works as it should.

Cho is a goodie, you see. He rarely does stuff wrong, and I have the same crime mod in his game, yet nothing happens because he never assaults / steals / murders, and so on. So the mod won't trigger for him. Vicious on the other hand, has shot at a few of those random Wastelanders, which should count as Assaults by the game's engine. However, since the only witnesses to those "crimes" were other raiders, the game did not count those.

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

Acadian: Yes, thankfully Vicious gets noticed only for the kinder moments she's done, and she can safely go back to being Taneesha.

I think the noodles are moving, but they're supposed to move. Let's try some more salt...


EWWW!!! at Gagh video!

Posted by: Renee Sep 12 2021, 07:37 PM

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...

... and within seconds she was now inside. Taneesha's heart was hammering. She tried calming herself, by attempting to think of pleasant things. But there wasn't much pleasant to think about. She lived in the Capital Wasteland, Year 2277, after all.

She stayed crouched, and looked around. Found the place to be surprisingly well-lit; its electricity had not been shut off, despite the fact that Burke was deceased. The place was also clean.

Taneesha, in her new role as prowler, was really feeling frazzled. She was trespassing! ... She looked into her purse, dismayed to find she was out of Thorazine, and did not have any other calmer-down chems used by wastelanders. Any sort of sedative to calm her nerves would be welcome right about now, thought she. There were a couple syringes of morphine in her purse, but morphine was hard stuff. And hard stuff was for later.

She winced at that last thought. Her intake of chems had dwindled over the past couple weeks. This was partially due to willpower, and partially because heading up to Germantown, going on an actual mission, had kept her focused sober. But right about now, anything to sedate or tranquilize would be welcome.

Suddenly, she froze. There was the smell of tobacco pervaded the room, and smoke was drifting nearby! The prowler nearly fell over with light-headedness once she realized a cigar was burning in an ashtray, right on Mister Burke's desk! ... Who the heck had left that burning? Was someone here?

Her shoes made little clop clop noises on Burke's metal floor as she snuck across the room. The place had a locker, several metal boxes, two desks, three chairs, and a bed. But thankfully, nobody was here.

"Phoo...."

Since Burke's metal hut already reeked of smoke, she felt safe to light up one of her own. So she did so, which helped a little with the jitters. Then, she began her search. She turned on her flashlight, then clopped her way around as quietly as she could. Found a bobby pin. Found a sawed-off shotgun. Found some liquor. But no bonds.

3:43 AM
The prowler ended her night with a thorough search of Church of Atom. "Good to see you," one of Atom's loonies greeted as she entered the church.

Taneesha smiled and made some sort of gesture as she passed by the Atomite, which she hoped would be taken as a sign of her belonging. Growing up with Jehovah's Witnesses to guide her childhood, she knew all about gestures and signs of belonging, even though she herself never felt like she truly fit in.

But she knew she'd need to be more careful here in the Church of Atom when while moving and removing items. Unlike Common House, Church of Atom had stricter rules about posessions. If somebody left some items in a locker for instance, this did not mean it was okay to just take these items.

Taneesha found nothing Dogmaster could use, but she did grab herself a new outfit in somebody's footlocker. Couldn't resist. Her green Prewar dress was great for strolling about town, but rather uncomfortable to sneak in. This new outfit comprised of boots, trousers, and long-sleeved shirt, and all this gear was dark. Better for prowling, Taneesha assumed.

Taneesha stole this outfit, but the resulting feeling of guilt caused her to put it back where she found it.

Daylight was breaking by the time she was done searching the church.




..,

5:53 AM until 1:35 PM
Taneesha returned to Lucy West's place, and slept the entire morning. Got up at noon, had breakfast. Turns out, Lucy did not mind if Taneesha ate or used some of her food and things, but Miss Taneesha thought it prudent not to mooch. She could easily provide for herself now, thanks to all the money she had recently earned, and looted. A couple weeks ago, she had maybe a dozen caps to her name in total. Now she had 65 caps on her person, and over a thousand stored back in Springvale. After a meal of squirrel stew at The Brass Lantern, she was ready to go.

Today's first location would be Craterside Supply, Megaton's goods store. Craterside had been locked the night before, but now it was open.

"You know," said Moira Brown, Craterside's owner, "I think I've found a new way to prepare radroach meat! Still tastes like old feet, though. Anyway, what's new with you?" *

Taneesha was hoping to find some new clothes, but all Moira had for sale today was a wanderer-styled Wasteland outfit, which cost three caps. Not nearly as stylish as her green & yellow Prewar dress, but at least these new clothes would be more comfortable to prowl in.

"Good hunting!" Moira said with her smiling Midwest accent.

Yeah. Hunting. If only Moira Brown knew the implications of that. "I'll just browse around a bit," Taneesha said. "If you don't mind?"

"Take care! It's a big Wasteland out there, but you know better than me!"

Taneesha nodded, then began to mosey about the store. She made little noises as she glanced at a variety of useless items. "Ooh, very nice." A toy car. A plate. A coffee urn, and so on. Outside, it had begun to rain, which was perfect. Maybe the sound of water dancing all over Craterside's tin roof would dampen the sound of Taneesha's stylish (but noisy) yellow shoes. She browsed all around the store's lower area: its shelves, tables, and counters. Found nothing, not that she expected to.

"Leave me out of that girl's crazy experiments," said Moira's hired guard as the raider-in-disguise walked by. "I don't get paid enough for that."

Taneesha chuckled, before walking into the next room, then crouching down. Here was a bed and a locker, probably where the shop's guard slept. Taneesha sensed that she was not being watched, so she searched inside the locker. It contained nothing at all. There were also a few metal boxes in this area, and she did find a Prewar bill in one of them. But she left this alone. Stealing is wrong, she believed, and not just because the Bible says so, or Charles Taze Young said so. She was only going for the bonds, IF they existed, and only because she kept telling herself they had to be worthless.

"Stupid Dogmaster. The *cluck* am I doing here in this shop?"

She went slowly up to Craterside's second floor, cursing her non-whispering shoes. Making sure to keep out of eyesight from Moira and her guard. Again, there were more metal boxes up here, more shelves, and more lockers to search. Again, she did locate a few items which any ordinary thief could easily plunder. But she chose not to take these.

But then finally, something! There was a note placed squarely on the middle of a small round table, and under this note was a goshdarn God-forsaken bearer bond. So they did exist! Surprisingly, the bond was not a mere document, it was a series of them, bound into a small booklet Taneesha's heart began to race as she removed the note and the bond, and placed them into her purse. She then stopped crouching, and calmly walked out of Craterside Supply.

"Be careful out there!" Moira called, always cheerful.

Outside it was raining hard, so she rushed over to Moriarty's, and bought herself a beer. Sat next to Lucy West, who seemed to be somewhat of a fixture here in Megaton's sole tavern. After a few usual plesantries with her new housemate, Taneesha fished in her purse, and opened Moira's note.






3:46 PM

"What's that you got there?" asked Lucy as her housemate began to read.

"Oh, just this note I found in some trash. I dunno. I like snooping around a bit. Bad habit, I guess."

From that point on, she decided not to elaborate. Telling one lie was bad enough. Telling a slew of them could lead to bad things. She uncreased the note, and began to read. What she learned (what Moira had written down) surprised her.

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.

Taneesha Jones folded the note, and put it back in her purse. Satisfied. She now had three clues of places to go to: Jericho's place was right here in town. Silver, the prostitute who had recently fled from Moriarty, lived just outside of town; just across from Springvale School, in fact. And finally, there was this "Don" guy. Taneesha did not know whom this could be, but at least she had three directions to now go in, when just a few hours ago she had nothing.

Actually, four clues, if she could locate the second bond Moira described in her note.

She spent the rest of the day waiting for the rain to stop. Then she decided to walk back to the ancient bus where she'd stored her raider gear. She put her raider-styled armor on, then walked back to Springvale Elementary School.

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Notes: *When Moira Brown said that 'radroach meat' greeting, I have never heard that one before!

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 13 2021, 02:36 AM

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?

Posted by: Acadian Sep 13 2021, 06:56 PM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Sep 14 2021, 07:58 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Sep 19 2021, 02:28 PM

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?

Posted by: Renee Sep 19 2021, 05:35 PM

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.

Friday, 10:35 PM
But the chem's effect didn't last as long as she thought it would.

Vicious staggered out of her bedroll a couple hours later. Slapped herself a couple times to wake up. Had a beer and some Blamco Mac & Cheese for dinner, then left Springvale school. Time to get to work. She walked south toward Megaton, and made a right over to Silver's house when the road forked. Silver lived in a one-story ranch house by herself. Apparently, she had once been a prostitute, working for Moriarty.

As she got closer to Silver's home Vicious hunkered down, then crept the rest of the way, praciting her sneaking skills. She thought for a moment about changing outfits, But decided to continue wearing her raider armor, rather than switching to the new clothes she had bought earlier at Craterside. Yes, keeping her raider gear on seemed like the better choice. This way, if she got caught by Silver, it would be a raider who'd broke into Silver's place, not a Megaton socialitie who more and more people were getting to know as Taneesha Jones.

She looked at her Pip Girl 2500 Personal Information Device, which said 11:03 PM. Would it be okay to break into Silver's place now? Or should she wait another hour. Vicious lit a ciggie, pondering this.

"I mean, this Silver lady is a hooker, or was one," Vicious said aloud. "What time do hookers go to bed? ...Whores stay up all night, sometimes."

Whores, hookers, dancers. Suddenly, she was thinking of Bratty, who had gone down to Dukov's a few days ago. What the heck was going on down there? Nothing good, Vicious assumed. She took a few minutes to finish smoking her Lucky before approaching Silver's door. Then, she went inside, creeping all the while.

She didn't have to worry about breaking in; Silver's door was unlocked, so Vicious slipped right inside. But just a moment after entering, the home's owner was right there in front of her.

"Who the hell are you? Where'd you come from? Did Moriarty send you?"

Silver's hair was silver, Vicious noticed. The color of an old woman's hair, despite the fact that Sara Silver appeared to be young. "Uh, I could ask you the same question," Vicious said, fidgeting, her stun gun just a grab away. "This here's my friend's place. So who the hell are you?" But maybe she would not need to taze the lady. Or use any sort of weapon at all. Silver hadn't attacked yet, or anything.

"Well?" asked Silver.

"All right look," Vicious paused. "Sorry to bother you. This seems to be the wrong house." She paused again, thinking maybe it would be a good idea to change the subject. "Moriarty, eh? So, what's this you said about Moriarty?"

"Colin Moriarty," Silver fired off the man's name like she'd squash a bug. "The owner of Moriarty's Saloon in Megaton. That sack of *cakka* is convinced that I'm some crazy junkie who stole money from him."

"Right. Colin Moriarty. I know him." Miss Vicious took another moment. Wasn't Silver surprised to see a literal raider in her home? Apparently not. "Yeah, I've seen Moriarty bossing Nova arond. That man's a *rooster* hair."

"Look, I used to work for that slob," Silver explained. "Doing... you know... favors for guys. Well I got sick and tired of it. I told Moriarty I'm taking the caps, and leaving. I even slept with the pig to seal the deal. Next morning he tells me I couldn't leave!"

"Oh .... damn!" Vicious hoped she sounded sympathetic. Stalling for time. She hadn't been asked to leave yet, after all. "So what'd you do next?"

"So I bolted! Took my money and ran. Now he's branded me a thief and a junkie. And says he's gonna send his cronies to find me! Guess I need to find a new hiding place."

"Maybe I can help you move somewhere else," Vicious said, thinking on her feet. "You know, there are some other places out there. Heck, maybe you could come with me to Big Town. I'd take you there, then I'd say to that jerk Moriarty you are gone. I'd tell him maybe I'd come looking for you, trying to hook you up with some john, but you ain't in this house no more."

"You'd do that for me? You don't even know me. Thanks kid," Silver said. "You watch yourself out there."

"Sure, and here's what--" Vicious started to say, but Sara Silver turned the corner out of her kitchen, and walked into the next room. The raider peeked around the corner, only to see Silver had just gone to bed.

"Okay. Was gonna say we can leave tomorrow for Big Town but..."

From that moment Vicious wasted no time. She checked her Pip Girl again. Close to midnight, now.

Now was the time to get to work. Vicious moved back into Silver's kitchen, and began searching drawers. The oven. The refrigerator. All the while, Silver's radio blared the Enclave channel. Enclave Radio was the more conservative of the Wasteland's two major radio stations. Tonight, John Henry Eden (Enclave's only disc jockey) was playing his usual traditional American music. Some song Vicious had heard before, but had no idea what its name was. Horns honking and snare drums tapping, probably played during the 4th of July, and other such United States holidays. Though the music was distracting, Vicious left the radio on. Perhaps it would make her footfalls and movements more difficult for Silver to discern.

There was nothing to find in the kitchen, so Vicious moved into the next room, which was a combination living room / bedroom. Again, she found plenty of things she could easily steal and sell for caps, but she left these objects alone.

"... when I was a boy growing up in dear old Kentucky" John Henry Eden droned in his 1950s broadcast-era voice, "I had the best friend a boy could hope for. My dog. Honey. O-ho-ho, the adventures we had..."

Vicious stifled a sneeze as she risked her flashlight. She began searching a drawer top which stretched half the length of the room, ending close to Silver's feet. She moved slowly as she searched. A pile of papers. A bottle of Nuka Cola. A random fork...

"....irresponsible. And completely... inseperable. It was, for a little while, a perfect existence. So, let me ask you America, how many of your children, can say the same?"

"Ohmygod!"

It was at that moment Vicious found the next bearer bond, located right in front of Silver's radio.

"... How many of this nation's citzens are truly happy?" Eden's voice had risen. "Truly .. carefree? Well we both koow the answer, don't we?"

Vicious grabbed for the bond, but then paused. Overwhelming guilt. This caused her to stop a brown hand from thieving. I mean, the lady who she'd just been talking to was right there next to her, lying peacefully in bed. There was just something... not good about stealing from somebody you've just made pleasant conversation with.

"... America's children live in a terrifying, meaningless existence. There IS no hope!..."

"Maybe I should come back later," Vicious muttered to herself.

..."The Enclave is going to ... rebuild this great nation..." Eaton rambled.

Suddenly, she did it. Moved into a spot just to the left of Silver's shoulder blades which seemed more shadowy. Got up on her tippy-toes, reached over. And took the next bearer bond, right off of Silver's counter. As she did so, Vicious thought she could hear the sound of disappontment. An off-tune sort of sound, ringing in her consciousness.

..."Until we meet again. This is President Eden. Signing off."

And this is exactly what Miss Vicious Delicious did after leaving the home of Sara Silver. She signed off. With a little help of more morphine from her teacher's desk, she took both syringes, one after the other, blotted herself into a virtual non-existence for the next several hours, It was the only way she was going to make it through the rest of this mission, thought she.


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Posted by: Lopov Sep 19 2021, 07:55 PM

You told me about The Wire.

Did I write that note? You sure?

Anyway, congrats on finding the second bearer bond, I enjoyed the story from the President in between the search for the BB. Oh and I also liked the censored swear words.

The President's name, however, is Eden, I believe.

Posted by: Renee Sep 20 2021, 12:40 AM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 20 2021, 04:04 AM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Sep 20 2021, 07:16 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Sep 28 2021, 12:48 AM

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.

HA HA H AHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA HA HA!!! This quote made my day!!! Whoo!

Just for background's sake, the inconsistent way Slick Rick speaks (more lucid some days, totally wacked on others) is based on a real-life guy I used to work with long ago. Guy was all messed up some days, although I can't say for sure if he ever used lysergic dietthylamide acid. Or shrooms.


Acadian & SubRosa: Thanks for the kind words on her juggling identities and mixing the radio broadcast with the final moments. Silver's radio was blaring as I wrote all that so, me getting into my character's head (while feeling her anxiety) sort of built that scene toward the end.

Yes, she is in the wrong line of work, that is true. She's 19 though, basically still a kid. She had a religious background but (as we'll see maybe) rebelled against it She's basically struggling between her upbringing, and all the lowlifes she's been taken in with, in the largely moral-less Capital Wasteland.

Basically, we all made some questionable choices in those years as we try to figure it all out.

RaderOfTheLostArk: Uh oh, no RaderOfTheLostArk

Posted by: macole Sep 28 2021, 01:01 AM

I have no idea what you are talking about.

He'll take you up, he'll bring you down,
He'll plant your feet back on the ground.
He'll fly so high, he'll swoop so low.
Timothy Leary.

Posted by: Renee Sep 28 2021, 02:23 AM

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!"

Monday, September 10, Noon
Again, it seemed Jericho was one huge no-show. Maybe he'd gotten killed! Maybe his rampantly runny mouth had run all over the wrong tough guy, or tough gal. And he was dead in some ditch by now. Again, Taneesha got bored. Though she had eaten at Brass Lantern several times by now, she'd never realized that the eatery had an indoor cafeteria as well until now. On a whim, she decided to search inside this area as well....

"Got somethin' to say me kid?"

... and was surprised to find the ruffian right there inside. In fact, he was leaving. He was going out while was coming in.

Taneesha followed Jericho outside. Immediately, the guy began giving Jenny Stahl some trouble. "Jenny, you're looking fine today. Why don't you give a man something sweet to eat." And when that didn't seem to go anywhere, "What's your problem, anyway?"

"Don't play stupid with me Jericho," Jenny said to him, annoyed. "You know what my problem is."

"Look Jenny, that was years ago," Jericho whined. "I'm a different man now."

"People don't change Jericho. Now order something, or move on."

Jericho did not have a reply to this, so Taneesha stepped in. "Say man, what's your deal? Why you always gotta be giving her a hard time?"

"Huh? Look," Jericho spat. "Another one of you wasteland *bungholes*." He lit a cigarette, blowing smoke straight at her. "I don't like you. Stay away from me, and we'll have no trouble."

"Oh, so you don't want trouble. Coulda fooled me." Taneesha kept her tone of voice conversational as she slung her tough talk. Not trying to draw any attention, except from the douchebag standing before her. "What, you don't like that when a girl talks back to you? Because nobody talks back to you here in town."

"None of your *ducking* business."

"So, this is what you do all day. You couldn't handle it out there with the raiders and the deathclaws, so all you do is give us townies *crap* all day. ... Oh yeah, I know a few things about you," she bluffed. "'Cause it's easy to abuse and mock upon those who are weaker than you. Mm hmm. Tell me it ain't so, you ugly yao-guai-lookin' mother *clucker*."

Go ahead, try and take your fist to me, loser, she thought in the silence which followed. I got my Tazer ready for you. ... She honestly had no idea how crime worked now in Megaton; it wasn't like there were rules posted anywhere. Would she get arrested if she buzzed him with her gun? Even if he started it? Would Megaton's officer arrest the man if a brawl occurred? ... Or was he too much of a fixture here in town, somebody above Megaton's new laws? She'd wind up cooling her heels in jail while Jericho continued his daily menace. Hmph.

"Heh, yeh right," said Jericho, folding his arms. "I don't think so."

"Well I do. Go ahead. Come at me, fool. See where you wind up." Taneesha continued to keep her voice low, so that maybe Jenny Stahl could hear her, but no one else. "I got you, any time. Right here, right now, in fact. You want somebody to pick on? Here I am."

"You're joking right?" the meanie shrugged her off. "Come back when you got some fight in you. Until then, save your threats."

Taneesha nodded, and backed off. Now was not the time. If either he or her started a fight right here, chances are either or both of them could get arrested. It seemed Jericho already knew this. Taneesha smiled, suddenly realizing her heart was racing. Ready to go. But also, she was thinking she'd just dodged a bullet. Her mission today was not to get into some huge mess with the barn troll, it was to figure out where he lived.

...But it sure felt good telling Jericho to go stuff himself! She took a moment to feel the pride.

Taneesha walked to Jenny's side. As she did so she patted the cheap-looking gun at her side, and made sure Jericho saw her do it.


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

https://i.imgur.com/zVenwCJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/XCB14Z8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BhahZOd.jpg -- (nice try, Lopov!)

https://i.imgur.com/BhahZOd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8ZL5eDn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/quwnkml.jpg



Confronting

Posted by: SubRosa Sep 28 2021, 02:55 AM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Sep 28 2021, 06:58 AM

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!

Posted by: Acadian Sep 29 2021, 12:25 AM

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. . . .

Posted by: Renee Oct 3 2021, 04:25 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Oct 3 2021, 05:49 PM

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."

8:32 PM
Find another bearer bond? She didn't have to wait long.

She wanted to be thorough about her searching. Who knew when Jericho might emerge from his lair? So she returned to Brass Lantern's indoor cafeteria area, which had more rooms than she'd previously thought.

The initial eatery area did not yield any bonds of course, but deeper inside the place were a couple bedrooms, an upper bedroom and a lower one. In the upstairs section, Taneesha found the fourth bond. It was right in the open, on a bookshelf. Nobody around. Easy to snatch.

She removed the document from its shelf, then returned downstairs, grinning. To celebrate, she bought a bowl of Sugar Bombs from Brass Lantern's indoor chef, and had some proper dessert.

Next, she returned to Lucy West's place. Changed clothes from green 'n' lean to brahmin skin blah. She chose to head to Moriarty's, to celebrate further. Lucy West was in her usual spot, of course; the two ladies sat in their usual seats.

After a couple of drinks, Taneesha decided it wouldn't hurt to prowl the place's upstairs rooms. Maybe Nova, the tavern's prostitute, had a bearer bond hidden in her room. Though Taneesha was feeling the onset of drunkeness by now, maybe she could still pick the lock to Nova's room. Risky, but hey.

She did not have to go that far. Bond number five was located in one of the bar's upstairs rooms (not Nova's) and this room was unlocked. Again, it was not hidden, in fact was placed in plain sight, right atop an open table.

"Oh ... yessh!" she slurred, while her vision blurred. "Come to meee, mama!"

The alcohol was talking by now, and Taneesha had to steady herself as she stole bond number five. She squealed a little right then, knowing she had completed her mission. Slick Rick said all she needed to do was find five of these damn things, and now she had done so. Dealing with Jericho would not be necessary! Maybe she'd still mess with the man some time in the future, but she would not need to case his place.

Time to head back to Springvale Elementary. Time to get paid, and then Capital Wasteland, here we come!





Tuesday, September 11, 12:32 PM

Back to Springvale. Vicious returned to the school with an extra strut him her step. "Just the man I'm looking for. How ya doin' Slick?"

"Hey there girl. Whatta surprise." Today Slick did not seem so torn up on whatever he was on a couple days' previous. "How's them bonds been comin? Got any more for me, er, us?"

"Oh yes. I do got something here for you. Five of them, actually." Vicious opened her backpack, and spilled all five ancient American documents upon a low table. "So what's next? You guys want me to go shoot down some super mutants? Glam on some ghouls? Heck, maybe you want me to electrocute some Enclave?"

"Uh, did I say five?" Slick folded his arms. "I really meant ten. Yas. Ten. 'Cause Dogmaster already knows there is more out there." He shook his head. "So no five. Yes, ten. ... Hey, uh. Hey! ... What is you doing?"

"I'm going to *smuck* you up Slick Rick, right here, right now. That is what I'm doing."

"Hey, uh... whoa. Put that down, Vicious!"

"Say hello to some watts and voltage, you dork."

By now, Vicious had unholstered her Tazer, pointed it straight at him. "You little twisty-nosed twerp!" But then Springvale's chem dealer walked up, curious about what was happening. He paused, stared, put his arms up in an 'I don't want anything to do with this' sort of gesture, and walked out. Because of this, Taneesha remembered. Her stun gun. She was trying to keep it a secret.

"Yeah, okay, that's better Vicious. Put that thing away." Slick Rick made a sweeping motion across his brow. "Whoo, girl, relax."

"Oh I am relaxed," she said. "You should see me when I'm not."

"Yeah, well. Ain't nothing I can do about this one," he said, lighting a cig. "The Dog wants what he wants. Come on now, you can do this, cantcha? Just a little more, hey! This time, I promise."

Taneesha grabbed her bag, and stomped away. Stormed down the hallway, down some stairs, and into her classroom. Threw her bag across the room. Walked over to her teacher's desk, and lit a cig of her own. Sat there fuming.

"Those cheap mothers," she growled, contemplating whether she should jam some Thorazine. "I hate them!"

She started on a bottle of scotch instead. Thorazine was expensive after all, and she needed to start conserving her caps.

She grabbed her Pip Girl 2500, clicked its radio on, and dialed for Galaxy News Radio. Three Dog was in the middle of one of his silly rants, something about the Enclave this time. Vicious puffed on her cig, Vicious gulped on her scotch. She began to feel a little more relaxed. Out in the hallway, a couple of raiders were arguing about something. Oddly, this caused her to kick back and relax.

"This will be okay, Taneesha," she said slowly. "Everything will be fine. Deep breaths, girl."

But then Three Dog began talking about the wasteland's latest news. And what he had to say had her bolting red-hot out of her seat.

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

https://i.imgur.com/6P39AHo.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lBe3Uix.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/e07kM8n.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xhQKc9m.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jU3ojz0.jpg -- (She was drunk by now!)

https://i.imgur.com/AaoKCic.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7wiZbV3.png

Posted by: Lopov Oct 3 2021, 07:32 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 3 2021, 11:34 PM

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?

Posted by: Acadian Oct 4 2021, 01:31 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Oct 17 2021, 04:25 PM

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!

Posted by: Renee Oct 17 2021, 06:15 PM

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.

Though she felt confident she could make it across the river and several miles down its other side by herself, Miss Vicious thought it would be wise to try to recruit somebody to join her. Her first thought was Sal the convict, the man she'd saved from becoming super mutant meat up in Germantown. Sal was still around. Over the past couple weeks he'd been living inside the school like so many others. Vicious also knew him to be somewhat of a teetotaler. He wasn't a drunk, nor any sort of addict. Getting locked up and almost munched upon had scared him straight, apparently. But Sal was also too timid. Too shellshocked. Still too afraid to go back out there.

The two dozen others who'd been staying within the school were also no-gos. Sure, some of them might initially decide to come along; going on raids was always a blast! Problem was, the average raiders (as a general rule) were unreliable layabouts. If they couldn't get rich, or drunk, or high within a few hours' travel, chances are she'd find herself walking alone.

Finally, she thought of Q Tip, the dude with the bleached white hair who had surprised her in Megaton's ladies room, then found her after she'd been released from jail. Q Tip might work. Vicious began searching for him. Sometimes locating a specific person in the school's darkened interior could be tough, but it didn't take long for Vicious to find him.

"Yo, whattup girl? How's that hunt for dem bonds been comin along?" He snickered, smacking his leg. Apparently, her earlier outburst had perhaps become a topic of gossip within the school.

Vicious ground her gums. This might not be so easy. "Q. Look. I need your help."

"Do you now?" He did some sort of weird movement with his hands. "The Q is always at the service of one pretty lady such as thou-self. And how can I assist?"

"Yeah, well, assist. Yeah." She paused a moment, thinking on her feet once again. "Listen. I was just listening to the news on my radio."

"Uh huh... your Pip Thingamabob has a radio, eh? Damn, how do I get one of those? Gotta get me one of those..."

"Yeah it does have a radio," she said, thinking again of how she was going to do this. "Now listen, fool. Pay attention. This is serious."

"Okay, I'm listening."

"Right. Well it seems that guy Rattler has invaded Dukov's place. He killed a bunch of girls down there. Almost killed Dukov himself, though Three Dog says Dukov survived. But a bunch of girls definitely got offed. And maybe Bratty might of been one of them."

Q Tip said nothing, his jokey mood evaporating away.

"So." Vicious paused, thinking of how she might need to ask what she was about to ask. "And thing is, yeah, maybe she is dead. No, likely she is dead. Maybe a part of the brat is now in Rattler's ..." she stopped. Couldn't finish that particular thought.

"And you want ... my help?"

"Yeah. I gotta go down there. Either way, dead or alive, I gotta know. Because unlike all these other fools in here, Bratty was an actual friend."

"And you want.... my help."

"Yes I do. Will you come with me?"

"Whoa. Wait. Whaaat? Is you serious?" Q Tip shook his head, eyes bulging. "You heard about Rattler killin a bunch of sluts over in Dukov's whorehouse, and so you want to go down there, and you also want ME to come along with you?"

"So your ears do work, fool. And you apparently just heard me correct," Vicious said quietly.

Q Tip sat on a desk. "No. No! ... No thank you," he said, tapping the desk at each 'no' with one of his fingers. "I am comfortable right here, right in Springvale. And here in Springvale I shall stay." He raised his hand, and put three fingers to his lips. "You are only doing this-here hunt now in Megaton only 'cause I got busted. That was supposed to be my job. From the moment Dogmaster sought my talents, I been the Potomac raiders' Megaton agent, 'til you came along, a'course.

"Besides," the white-haired 'Megaton agent' continued, "that Rattler dude is no one to mess with. Heard he eats people, eats their blood, their flesh, even eats their hearts if he got the gumption. So uh... sorry Vicious, but no thanks."

Funny thing was, within the last few moments Vicious had expected "no" is exactly what Q Tip might say. He would reject her request, basically. So she reached into her head. She pulled a mental trump card out of an invisible deck, and laid it on the virtual table. "Please, Q Tip?"

"No."

"But ... you can be my boyfriend," she said shyly. She batted her eyes, and sauntered up to him. "Wanna be my boyfriend, Q Tip?"

Long ago during her childhood and into her teenage years, as she snuck centuries-old romance novels and comic books, she had read how men could be influenced by women through acts of temptation. Through sultry words and suggestive moves. Hell, even the Bible had its moments. But, being a young woman living in the Twenty-Third century Capital Wasteland who had been raised by Jehovah's Witnesses, she had no idea how this was actually done. Not that it mattered. Apparently, her suggestion immediately seemed to work.

"Uh, boyfriend?" Q Tip's face went from cragged to curious. "Uh. What does that mean?"

Yeah, Vicious, good question. What does that mean? She thought a quick moment before improvising an answer.

"It means.... you decide to come with me, and you can be my boyfriend. And I am now your girlfriend." She smiled, and attempted something with one of her hands upon his arm. What exactly she was trying to attempt, she had no idea. Hey, she'd been raised by Witnesses!

Q Tip spoke slowly, trying to comprehend. "So you are saying, if I go down to Dukov's whorehouse with you, that you and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. That exactly is what you are saying?"

Vicious felt some sort of shift in the room. Some sort of unseen electricity, as the guy before her changed his mind. It was almost like a bell went off, like she had done something correctly in the female department, even though she had little experience with love or romance. Q Tip was a cutie for sure, and this made it easier, of course. But she was improvising. Exerting her 'delicious' side, which was not as evolved as her 'vicious' side, this being the Capital Wasteland, and all. Maybe she was being a little manipulative too. Yes, Q Tip was a cutie, but at this moment she wasn't entirely sure she was being entirely geniune.

Was she?

"Well hell, girlfriend, let's go!" Q Tip slumped off the desk, suddenly a cowboy. Suddenly eager to rope some brahmin. "Where's my gun? Gotta find my gun first," he quipped eagerly. "I hope we do find him now, that Rattler fella. I'm gonna bust his head, if so. He ain't never gonna see us coming! ... Just let me get my things first."

"Sure, take your time," Miss Delicious said, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. What exactly had she just done?


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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7YfU60e6pk (song)

https://i.imgur.com/SzepJP0.jpg

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

Note: In Lopov's game, Rattler killed everyone in Dukov's I think, including Dukov himself. Or so Lopov tells me. Seems the snake didn't get all of them, after all.

Note 2: The moment when Vicious convinced Q Tip to come with her was made into one of those Speech Checks in the GECK. I made this an easy one, but still, there was a chance of failure there. Had he said "no" I would have honored this.

Note 3: As Cho does various parts of Blood Ties (the Arefu in-game vampire quest) I am setstaging it! So eventually things will subtly change in Vicious's world. Cho actually did these things in his own game.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 18 2021, 09:25 AM

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.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 18 2021, 07:05 PM

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!

Posted by: Lopov Nov 1 2021, 07:00 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Nov 6 2021, 04:52 PM

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!

You know, I thought about this and could not come to a definitive answer. In Cho's game nobody has bothered Dukov, not even in roleplay terms. I tried to think of one of your characters, but I don't know them well enough. Besides, I think Hecate or Jan might try to rid Dukov themselves! ... And Loviatar might want to join Rattler at the dinner table.

So the answer is open for interpretation, I think.


Acadian: The 'feminine wiles' part had me pretty nervous. Actually it's good that Stormcrow has a lot of romance stuff going on, this made me feel more comfortable branching into an area I haven't ever gone to. Rosa is taking way more risks than I am!

But it's also THE story. I feel and get inspirations as to which directions all these stories shall go--it's like I have to write them as they come, even if I feel sort of squeamish while doing so.


Lopov: Is it really clever for Taneesha to go to Dukov's you ask? Wait, isn't he gone from there by now?



NOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Posted by: SubRosa Nov 6 2021, 08:19 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Nov 7 2021, 03:36 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Nov 7 2021, 05:20 PM

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.


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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!

Posted by: Acadian Nov 7 2021, 07:07 PM

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. . . .

Posted by: SubRosa Nov 9 2021, 03:52 AM

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...

Posted by: Renee Nov 20 2021, 03:59 PM

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.

Heh. Season 3, coming soon to a theatre near you.


Good news is,

And I am staying true to this in Vicious's story.

That is it for Miss Vicious Delicious, Season 2021. See you next spring!

Posted by: Acadian Nov 20 2021, 05:43 PM

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!

Posted by: Lopov Nov 20 2021, 08:01 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee May 21 2022, 07:28 PM

Here's a scene from the last moments of last season's ... https://i.imgur.com/eEsQl5R.jpg.

... "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?" Vicious 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?"




..."Mmm, but maybe it'd be better if you actually don't come with me. Not yet, anyway."

"Why?" Q Tip asked. His index finger already on his killing machine's ON/OFF switch.

"Uh, because I said so, man!"



..."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, https://i.imgur.com/q0z1UTe.jpg.

Posted by: Renee May 22 2022, 06:34 PM

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

Posted by: Lopov May 22 2022, 07:46 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa May 23 2022, 01:01 AM

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.

Posted by: Acadian May 23 2022, 08:21 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jun 19 2022, 08:23 AM

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!

Posted by: Renee Jun 19 2022, 09:04 AM

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.

"You? Are Dukov?" she asked, her voice incredulous. She lowered her gun.

"You need a drink," the foreigner announced, ignoring her question. "Apple!" he called. "We need some *clucking* booze over here! ... Ah," he lowered his voice a notch. "A man like me, he always loves his apple pie. He loves her all night long!"

Vicious looked over the man's shoulder, only to see some *strut* with red hair, wearing matching pink pajamas, going off to fetch. "Look," the raider started. "I ain't here to get drunk with y'all..."

"Aw, come on! Dukov knows why you here! How about you give ol' Dukov a *snowjob*?"

Vicious gasped. "How about I put you down right now, here and now, *bunghole*?"


She wanted to stun the man, but slapping him made her feel so much better. "Owww, my face!" Dukov cried. "Eh, you like it rough stuff there, hey missy?" he said, rubbing his cheek. Despite being slapped, the man was grinning.

"That's right, I do like it rough. You want another?"

"Hey, Dukov LIKE!" he bellowed. "Hot, sexy raider chick, with guns, smacking Dukov around!" he gestured his pelvis a bit. "Dukov like very much! You want Dukov give you job, black sexy raider chick? ... I make you... BDSM specialist, huh? You work the whips and chains for Dukov, eh?"

By now, the lady who'd gone off to fetch a drink for Vicious had made her way to them. "Oooh, kinky!" she cooed. "Love the getup! And who are you, dear? The name's Apple!" She handed a bottle of whiskey to Dukov, who handed it to Vicious.

"My name's Miss Vicious," she told them, actively trying to calm her adrenaline. She wanted to slap them both by now, but doing so would not be very productive. Her goal right now was information, not to rough anybody up. "And I'm here lookin' for my friend, whose name is Bratty."

"Eh, brat .. brat-ty?" Dukov stammered. "Nobody here by that name." He leaned to the side, perhaps trying to get an imaginary glimpse of Taneesha's left boob. "Eh, but YOU have sexy look there, missy tough stuff raider chick! Dukov want!"

"Oh my guhd."

"You got a smokin' hot bod, ah? Sugar pie, ah? How about lettin' old Dukov rock you to sleep, if you know what I mean, a ha-ha-ha!"

"Maybe," she said, holding her hand up, attempting a bit of conciliation. "Let me just have a look around first, okay?"

"Haagh, don't let the door hit your sweet, sweet ass, ah-hah?" Dukov growled.

He growled, but otherwise left her alone. No weapons were grabbed, no threats were made. Vicious took a quick look around to see if the man had any sort of guards. Didn't see any. So she began to walk. A pool table dominated the foyer a few paces away. No Bratty, so she walked up some stairs. Another lady was up here.

"Whatcha doin' honey?" asked the lady in pink. She had dark skin, and short, cropped hair.

"Lookin' for my friend," said Vicious.

"Hello honey, I'm Fascinatia. You're not going to be staying long, are you?"

"That depends. I'm looking for a girl named Bratty. Is she here? Cute face, hair done up in pig tails? Have you seen her?"

"Have I seen who? Brrrrady?" she slurred, obviously half-intoxicated on something.

"No *switch*, Bratty. Brat. T. Been lookin' for her. She was supposed to come down here a couple weeks ago, to dance and make some caps. Hispanic, cute face, pig tails, talks with a Jersey accent." Vicious thought for a moment, of a trait which could help define her friend a little better. "Always making up stupid *skit*, talks in riddles and rhymes... like she's on some old TV show. Bratty?"

"Brat-ty?" Fascinatia blinked. "What kind of a name is Bratty?"

"Oh my guhd. Seriously?"

"Ain't nobody here by that name. But I am new here. One of Dukie's new girls," she said, gesturing her bosom from side to side. "As you may have heard, that low-life bastard was here. Rattler Snake guy. Whatever they call him."

"Uh huh."

"But he ain't here no more!" she said, rolling her fingernails up the raider's wrist. "So! Might I convince you to slip into something a little more ... comfortable?"

"Hell no. I am here to find my friend, and that is all. So step the *duck* aside."

"Pfft..." Fascinatia scoffed. "Sooo rude!"

Vicious walked a bit over tiled floor, peering into sweet, smokey air. Somebody was smoking sativex.

"Hi sugar." It was the redhead who'd given Vicious a drink. "I'm Apple. Do yourself a favor. Watch yourself with Dukov. He's all hands."

Vicious held her temper, which was beginning to boil. "Look, seriously, I am here to find my friend. Her name is Bratty. Cute smile. Kinda slow, sometimes. Hair done up in pig tails?"

"Bratty," Apple the redhead mused. "What a great name for a dancer!"

"Whatever. Is she here or not, *witch*?"

Apple took a sip from her booze bottle. "Look, I'm working right now. I ain't never heard of no Bratty, okay? Now either follow me for some action, or step aside. A girl's gotta make her caps, ya know?"

Vicious glowered.

"But feel free to look around. Lookin's free. Anything else, will cost ya."

"Why thank you, Apple. Such help you have been."

Vicious walked down the rest of the floor, and into a room which seemed to be where they stocked all their goods. Booze, and food. But no Bratty.

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

https://i.imgur.com/Q7TZne1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Jo6W1Sb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lpUZZzb.jpg (Remember this weird anomoly in her game? Wastelanders would appear here and there, usually inside raider hangouts! Here he is again. Only this time, he's shown up in non-enemy territory, which means the guy did not get immediately pwned.)

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

NOTES
1). Dukov survived the Rattler, but I renamed all his girls, pretending the Rattler got them all. Despite this, Dukov has no problem getting new, uh... talent.

Posted by: Acadian Jun 19 2022, 08:20 PM

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?

Posted by: SubRosa Jun 19 2022, 10:52 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jun 26 2022, 04:28 PM

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.

Posted by: Renee Jun 26 2022, 06:16 PM

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.

11:32 PM
Vicious climbed up a floor, and began searching rooms. Finally, she entered one which was done up almost entirely in velvets of red and pink. Across the way, a bed which was shaped like a heart.

"Oh. My. God."

And on this bed, a female had crashed. A female with olive skin, and dark hair. Her hair done up in pigtails.

"Ha! There you are."



Vicious stalked over to her friend, shaking her head in disapproval. "Bratty. Time to wake up, girl," she said. When there was no reaction, she began plucking her friend's shoulder.

"Oh whoa, hey, how ya doin', mishter?" the Brat asked, rolling slowly around, rubbing her eyes. She sounded dehydrated. She sounded wasted. "Our spechial is ... not on the menu," she said suggestively, burping a little. "But I cans make it ... worth your while."

"Oh, you stupid *hitch*..."



There was a crack of skin to skin, as Vicious slapped somebody's face for the second time in one evening. "Owwww!" Bratty cried.

"Get a hold of yourself, fool. It's ME, Vicious! Not some dude."

But the Brat did not seem to hear. At the moment, it was as she could not even see straight. "Hey, what's the big idea, mishter?" Bratty had her dukes up. "You wanna fight? I gots lots of fightin' for ya!"

Miss Vicious put her hands on her hips. Put her face up real close to her friend, and kissed her. Bratty then shook her head, blinked her eyes nice and wide.

"Vishious? ... Miss Vicious, is that really you?"

"Yeah it is, fool." Vicious grabbed her friend's wrist. Immediately began looking around the room, looking for any possessions, possibly owned by the brat. "Where's your armor? Don't tell me you ain't got your duds in here."

"What is you doing, all the way down here?" the Brat slurred.

Vicious stopped, stared hard at her friend, who was definitely hooked on something. "Oh my god. You are my friend, but really? You are so stupid, sometimes. I am here ... to rescue you. To get you OUT of this place. And back with us raiders up in Springvale, where you belong."

"You... came all the way down heres for me?" Bratty said, incredulously. "So you's like my... restrainer!"

Vicious palmed her face. "No, I am your rescuer, fool. Rescuer, not restrainer."

"Well, hey! Let ... me ... gets my things," Bratty said slowly, nearly falling to the side. "Ahhhh. Where's my dope? ... Yo Vichious, they gots the bestest dope ... here in Dukov's. Uh, but hold on. Let me finish something here. Firsht. Here. ... First."

Bratty looked down to the side of her pink heart-shaped bed. Found what she was looking for. Sat down with a whump!, and began fiddling with it.

"Oh no. NO YOU DON'T..." Vicious declared, grabbing the needle away from her friend. "No more of that! No more chems! Not until I can get you back under control, girl. But first, I'mma gettin' you outta here, like NOW."

But Bratty just sat there. Not understanding. Perturbed, like a child whose candy was just taken away.

"Is that all you got to wear?" Vicious asked. "Seriously? You been walking around for the past number of weeks wearing nothing but cheap hooker lingerie? Where is your armor?"

"Hey! My lingaray is sexshee!" the Brat hicuped.

Vicious began a mad scramble all around the room, looking for something her stupid companion could wear, because there was no way she'd make it all the way back north wearing those pink sex clothes. Nothing in Bratty's room, so she expanded her search. Found a sawed-off shotgun in an adjacent dorm, which she gave to the brat. Vicious also gave her some shells from her own ammo pack, leaving her with just five rounds. But she could find nothing for Bratty to wear, not even normal Prewar clothes. The pair of raiders were forced to leave, with the brat wearing nothing but a teddy and a doped-up smile.

"Come on dingbat. And watch your step." Bratty was leaving Dukov's place barefoot. They walked the short distance to the south.


Thursday September 13, 12:44 AM
Back at the raider camp, Vicious searched again for something her friend could wear. And of course, there wasn't anything. So she decided she would return to Dukov's, just to have a second, more thorough, glance about the place. Q Tip was sleeping on a couch, while all the others were either passed out, or up to no good. Bratty would be safe. So she told the brat to just stay behind, while she returned to Dukov's.


1:31 AM
Back in the whorehouse, the raider was beginning to tire. She'd been running around all day since the early morning hours. But this was important. This was priority.

She finally found some clothing in an old locker, off to the side of Dukov's first floor. Prewar clothes: a pink dress in relatively good condition, and a dirtier business-looking outfit. Vicious grabbed both of these. Folded them neatly into a canvas bag she found on the floor. She would allow her friend to choose which outfit.

"I think I've had too much to drink, Dukie," said one of the girls as Vicious emerged from the locker room. "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"Nonsense!" Dukov scoffed. "You just need a little more to drink, a ha-ha! Dukov got a little something special, ah, have another shot?"

"Oh, I got something special for you too."

Vicious found these two, just as the man was pouring some whiskey into a cup for Apple. Business seemed slow tonight. No johns. It seemed Dukov was about to get busy with his employee, after he plied her with more alcohol.

"Oh, hail no." Vicious closed in on this scene.

"Ah, you are back! Hot sexy raider chick, ah? So, whatcha need?" Dukov asked. "Want to slap me around some more? How 'bout some service for poor old Dukov, eh? You like to service old Dukov? Ha ha?"

"Service THIS, candy-ass!" the raider said, zapping the man with 50,000 volts.

"Help!" Apple called.

"I'm outta here!" some other girl said.

Dukov fell to the ground, while his girls all went into freak-out mode, hiding themselves from the vicious young raider who'd so defiantly invaded their territory. Before any of them could come at her with a weapon, Vicious was out of there, and hoped to never return.

Back at the raider camp, Vicious had one more moment of paranoia as (at first) she could not find her friend. But then, there the brat was, curled up on the bottom portion of one of the raiders' bunk beds. Passed out, still wearing that stupid sexy sleepwear, but also still here. What a long day this had been, but also a fruitful one.

Miss Vicious wasted no time. She put her gear on the ground beside the bed, then crawled in next to Bratty. Put her arm around her shoulder, and within minutes she herself was asleep. But just before dormancy took her over, she could not help but wonder who that lady back in Dukov's really was. The transgender one. Aspiration.

"How did she know my real name?" Taneesha murmured quietly into her friend's wasted ear.

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

https://i.imgur.com/9lzI3vN.jpg -- (note, I cannot figure out how to make face & body tones match, even after doing some research online. So for now, just a head shot).

https://i.imgur.com/Nzt0yvz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/XVGHuAz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SsGr3CQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QmdLVML.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vJ6xfVo.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cgf8tSl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KY3nEs8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jQsAP2S.jpg

Posted by: Acadian Jun 27 2022, 08:28 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Jun 28 2022, 06:51 AM

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!

Posted by: Lopov Jun 28 2022, 07:58 PM

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!

Posted by: Renee Jul 4 2022, 02:41 PM

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.

As usual, some plot has been in my head for over a year, other moments just show up as we're writing. For instance, the whole "Bratty goes to Dukov's" idea has been in my head since last summer. But Aspiration is new. So for last week's chapter there was this mad scramble on my part. Who is she? Why is she a bit more lucid than everyone else? And so on.

We shall find out, that's for sure.



I got a picture of her dressed in pink, too. Although she's got a better gun by then.





It could be that Aspiration is really keeping the place together, you're right.

When I was younger (pre-child) I used to go out a lot more. I had several dancer friends. One was a blonde named Whisper. We went and saw Amistad when it was in theaters. Goes to show, not all strippers / dancers follow the stereotypes, some are deeper thinkers who want to watch period pieces.

I had another dancer friend who made zines which were all about women's rights and tips for dancers and stuff. I mean, she was really passionate about her homemade periodicals. I worked graveyard at a printing place; she'd be there at least a couple times a month putting her zines together.




Yeah.. pretty sure my vicious raider is not into whips and chains!

Did I nail Dukov's accent and way of speaking (broken English)? Cool. Very cool. You may notice some of his quips are Bethesda (which means the English is more perfect), and some I added. I tried to use what I've seen in movies and occasionally real-life, pertaining to how people in your part of the world might speak like.

Posted by: Renee Jul 4 2022, 05:44 PM

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.

Saturday, September 15, 2277, just after midnight

Current Temperature: 73.0 °F

Next target for prowling would be the home of Lucas Simms. Vicious decided this as she walked to the abandoned bus where she kept some apparel. She entered the bus as Vicious, opened up her hidden suitcase. Changed out of her raider gear, and into some drab Wastelander clothes. She left the bus as Taneesha Jones.

The night was blessedly cool as she walked into Megaton without incident. Ironically, Lucas himself was right there... moseying about the fortified town's entryway like a sentry.

"You lookin' for the mayor? Or the sheriff?" he asked.

"Hello there," Taneesha said.

She walked right by the man, as if she wasn't planning on doing anything nefarious for the evening, such as breaking into Lucas's domicile, attempting to further her career as a lone robber.

But first, she went to the home of Lucy West, just to see if she'd left anything useful behind. Lucy was asleep on her bed. Taneesha walked past her housemate quietly. Checked her own locker. Found a pack of smokes, a leftover box of Junk Food, and a tin of Mentats. She took all these things, and walked back outside. Lucas was still pacing the avenues of Megaton, which was good.

If Simms was not home, this would make her prowl go easier.

She climbed the hill, elbowed over to his house, and hunkered down. Grabbed a pin from her hair, and a pocket screwdriver from her pouch. Then she went to work. Problem though, this lock was trickier than any she'd seen before. She tried and tried, but could not figure how to even start picking it.

But then, the Mentats! Mentats, a chem brewed long ago by a corporation called Med-Tek Laboratories, were originally used to enhance creativity, and increase mental brilliance. Did they actually work though?

"Only one way to find out."

Taneesha popped a handful. And *bam*, she suddenly knew what to do. The lock was a Schaffer mechanism which used a silicone-derived barrel, with three stainless steel tumblers. Somehow, she now knew all of this, but in an intuitive way.

She realized the radio in her Pip Girl® device was still playing softly, so she turned it off. Began to concentrate. Inserted her tools into Lucas Simms's front door. Rotated her pin to roughly 9 o'clock, but there was too much tension in the lock's barrel. She tried 2 o'clock, again, too much tension. Rotated to about 10:30.

"Arrgh!"

No dice. Still too much. Her pin was starting to lose its rigidity. She tried rotating it to 1 o'clock, and the damn thing broke.

"Dammit!"

Fortunately, Taneesha had three more pins in her hair, and eight in her pouch. She took a quick look around to see if Lucas was coming, but the town's Sheriff/Mayor was nowhere near. So she inserted a second pin. On a whim, she barely moved it to the right this time, so that she was choosing roughly 12:30. And *click!* the lock opened.

Jeepers! She was in!



The home of Lucas Simms was very well lit, even at this time of night. Taneesha checked her device, which indicated the time was just after 4. When would Simms come back home? She'd need to be quick about this.

The home's front room yielded nothing, other than a couple of squirrel-ke-bobs on sticks which had gone cold. She realized she was hungry, famished in fact! ... It'd been a while since she'd eaten. So she grabbed these, and took a few bites right then and there. She also grabbed a can Nuka Cola and a mutfruit from the fridge. She devoured the mutfruit as she prowled.

Upstairs, she did a quick look around. There were two rooms with closed doors, which she guessed would be bedrooms. She tried the one on the left. Nobody in there. Taneesha realized she was sweating lightly under her brahmin-skin outfit, but otherwise her nerves were calm. She was getting better at this.

But then, she froze. Was that the sound of a couple of footsteps in the foyer below? She froze, and waited a few seconds. Nope. Nobody down there. Taneesha listened hard just to make sure. Nothing. She went to the next room.

"Don't Lucas have a son?" she whispered without meaning to.

The next room was also a bedroom, and Taneesha was extra careful not to make a sound as she opened its door. But phew! Nobody in here, either. The place had a bit more clutter: a hunting rifle was on a shelf, along with an old skull, some utensils, and a bunch of old and ruined books.

"Now why do people keep these old books around?" she asked, irritated. Indeed, Taneesha. Why not throw them away?

Still, the prowler had to check each book, one by one, just to be sure. The bearer bonds she'd found so far (five in total) all looked like a bunch of old books. Only by looking past their covers could she discern if they were bearer bonds. She had to open each new one she found, checking to see if there were a bunch of legal terms on their front pages. By now, she knew how to read these well enough to know if she'd gotten her hands on a bond or not.

No bonds, only old, ruined books. Taneesha left the second bedroom, dejected.

It was right when she was about to give up, the time in her device reading 5:18, that she found the sixth bond. It was lying not in one of the bedrooms, but out in the place's second floor, near the top of the shelf.

"Got ya!"

Taneesha Jones grabbed it, grinning like a wolf. Time to head over to Moriarty's for a drink. She left Lucas's home confidently, not bothering to sneak her way out.


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https://i.imgur.com/FT1v5j3.jpg (I meant to post this last week)

https://i.imgur.com/fepl33K.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jpNYWcT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SLkk0t6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HLosxw5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3Flp8M6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xJaJ8MD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SCS9tHy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/M4Pp7MT.jpg

👍

Posted by: Acadian Jul 4 2022, 08:25 PM

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.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 5 2022, 04:34 AM

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.

Posted by: Lopov Jul 10 2022, 09:10 PM

They sound like two confused teens.

Well, it's good that Simms Jr. wasn't at home, AFAIK he can be found in his own home fairly often.

Good that she didn't give up and so found the 6th bond. Did she snatch the STR Bobblehead as well?

Posted by: Renee Jul 11 2022, 07:57 PM

Finding the bearer bonds is fun. Again, Lopov hid all those bonds for me last summer. I emailed Miss Vicious.esp to him so he could actually hide them. So it truly is a blind effort on my (and Taneesha's) part.




To be honest I had some ideas for a love relationship between them but I think it would be too distracting for the story by now. "Love story between two confused teens" has been done so many times, and I don't think I'd be able to do it well. Also, some of the other ideas I've got for this season are more unique. You'll see.



Ah yes, there is something with Bratty. Let's give it time, though.

I think I'll be better off with stuff which is implied, like how it was between Xena and Gabrielle for all those seasons. If I gain confidence in this area, that'll then change. I'm not as good at lovey stuff as you are, I guess.



Yes we did see the Bobblehead but she didn't pick it up. Simms has a pair of mod-added binoculars in his bedroom though (added into his home by the mod author, not me), and Taneesha did grab those. 🕶 That'll be sweet to be able to use those for surveillance in a future quest.




Yes. Two confused teens, exactly. As stated above though, I'm sort of side-stepping that side-plot so I can get to better stuff. I don't want to bore my audience, after all.

Lol you folks know all about the Bobblehead!