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#Post#: 3946--------------------------------------------------
VII [Fallout]
By: Colonel Mustard Date: June 13, 2014, 4:34 am
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[center]VII[/center]
Chapter 1 � The Future's Foundation
Suggested Listening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_e4m3bl5_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_e4m3bl5_U
It was a crisp and bright Sunday morning, uncharacteristically
mild for early February 2239, when the trucks and vertibirds
descended on the town of Hope Creek. They came along the road
that cut through the hills that surrounded the town, heavy tyres
bouncing on the mud track, advancing with impunity. Through the
small fields that that formed a perimeter they went,
half-obscured by crops or watched by impassive cattle, engines
growling. Foliage rippled and clothing on lines flapped as the
vertibirds roared overhead, stirring wind and dust.
Confused and frightened, its people stumbled from their homes as
the heavy trucks rumbled to a halt in the small square that
served as the village�s main gathering point. They watched in
fear as figures in power armour emerged from the canvas-covered
tops of the vehicles, hulking in their steel and frightening
with the laser and plasma rifles they carried. A name was
murmured. Until now, it had been nothing but a rumour of distant
troubles and far-flung worries, put aside and ignored in favour
of more immediate problems. The whisper rippled across the
crowd, laced with fear and worry.
Enclave.
The weapons they carried gleamed in the sunrise, the harsh
curves of their armour glinting as they moved forwards as a wall
of metal. Dust whipped up around them as a vertibird flew
overhead with rotors burring, the metallic buzz of some hellish
insect, stinging grit sending people cowering along with the
threat of violence.
�Attention people of Hope Creek.�
The words were a roar hashed by static, bellowed by one of the
figures who had stepped from the trucks. The weapon he carried
was strange looking, neither laser nor plasma, a series of coils
running along its barrel and a turnable crank on its chamber. On
his back was an axe, a weapon most people would have needed two
hands to carry, electricity crackling off its charged and
glowing blade.
�All citizens will assemble here and remain until dispersed,� he
ordered, and in his voice there was no doubt that he would be
obeyed. �Any who attempt to hide from us, or who attempt to
resist, will be executed. Cooperate and you live.�
He glanced back towards the Enclave troopers behind him.
�Delta, make a sweep, round up anyone you find and bring them
here,� he said. �If they try to run or fight, kill them.�
A small squad nodded, pushing through the crowd without
resistance, heading towards the mongrel buildings of Hope Creek.
They dispersed among the constructions of mud brick, corrugated
iron and scavenged concrete, built on the shells of old
buildings, heavy steel boots breaking down doors.
As they went, the door of the lead lorry opened, and another
passenger hopped down from the cab. She was an anomaly among the
armoured bulk of the Enclave troops, in a prim lab coat and
glasses, hair pulled back in a girlish pigtail. There was a
Pip-Boy on her wrist, the screen of the bulky computing device
glowing green.
�Good morning, everyone!� she said, tone jovial. �There no need
for alarm. We�re simply here to run a few simple tests, and then
we�ll be on our way.� She clapped her hands together. �Now, if
you would all be so good as to form a line along this side of
the road, we will get on with our business. Children at the
front, please!�
Wordlessly, compelled by the weapons and armour of the troopers
around them, the people of the town began to shuffle to the
roadside, forming a rough line. Those that were slow were urged
on by shoves from the Enclave soldiers or a pointed prod from a
weapon. Rifles were trained on them as they stood in place.
�Is that everyone, Captain Masson?� the woman in the labcoat
asked the leader of the Enclave�s troops.
�Delta should be finishing their sweep, ma�am,� Masson replied.
�I�ll see if I can get them on the radio.� The radio was flicked
on, and a brief conversation with the squad concluded; �They�re
on their way, ma�am, rounded up a few stragglers.�
Preceded by an Enclave trooper, and followed by the rest of
Delta Squad, the remaining population of Hope Creek were herded
into line. There was no resistance. There was no desire to, not
against the laser weapons and power armour and circling
vertibirds. Any attempt to fight back would be suicide.
�Ladies and gentlemen,� the Enclave�s leader said, stepping
before the crowd. �Thank you for your cooperation today. I am
Doctor Miranda Hart, and I am here today because you are going
to help me and my friends here with the great endeavour of
ensuring humanity�s future. Our species is beset on all sides by
danger, has been under constant threat since the Great War and
we, the Enclave, are the only ones who are willing and able to
save it. For this to be the case, however, we do need your
cooperation, so may I ask; who is in charge here? Any kind of
leader or elder?�
�That�s me.�
The voice was a croak, from a cowled figure who shuffled
forwards through the crowds, garment fluttering in the wind
stirred by the rotors of a passing vertibird. One of the
villagers tried to hold him back, but they were pushed off. The
cowl was removed. Beneath it was a face that belonged to a
corpse, scabrous and pitted, made ruin by radiation. A ghoul, a
human who had survived being blasted by radiation through some
unlikely miracle of genes, but had been rendered a walking
corpse.
�I know what you people do,� the ghoul said. �I�ve heard all
about your killing. And I�m not afraid of you, either. These are
my people, and I�m standing up for them.�
�No,� Doctor Hart said, drawing a laser pistol. �No, I�m afraid
you aren�t.�
She shot him. It was a clean, surgical shot through the chest,
an action made as passionately as the extinguishing of a candle
by pinching its wick. The ghoul collapsed, a hole bored through
his heart. Several of the villagers rushed towards him, but they
were pushed back by the bulk of the Enclave troops stepping
between them.
�Mixing with ghouls,� Doctor Hart said. �Very disappointing
start, I�m afraid, does not bode well at all. Are there any
other degenerates you have hidden away? In fact, was this�thing
even from around here?�
There was a hesitant silence.
�Was the creature I eliminated local to this area, or was it an
outsider?� she asked. �Do hurry up and answer, I�d rather not
shoot anyone else unless I really have to.�
�He�Johnson came here about twenty five years ago,� one of the
villagers managed to stammer out.
�I see,� Doctor Hart nodded. �Then there may be hope for you
yet.�
She rubbed her hands together.
�What we are doing here today is determining whether or not you,
the people of Hope Creek, are human enough,� she said. �We, the
Enclave, are looking to the future, are taking great strides
towards it while the rest of the world squats in the dust. But
the journey to the future is not easy, and it is not one that
can be made with baggage. The mutated, the irradiated, the
mentally ill, the sexually deviant, all of these things are
deadweight, unnecessary burdens that we cannot afford to carry
with us. Our future must be made by the best of humanity, and it
is a future with no room for the aberrant or the genetically
corrupt. Today is the first step in deciding whether your people
are worthy of going forward into the future, or whether you are
unwanted baggage that must be shed for the good of humanity.�
�What do you want?� someone in the crowd asked, fear in their
eyes.
�Like I said, we�re here to do tests,� Doctor Hart replied. �DNA
samples to look for genetic markers, genome sequencing, that
kind of thing. We are searching through the flowerbed to see if
we can find the weeds, so to speak. With the future in mind, we
want your children. They�re the result of this village�s genetic
input, they are the ones who can give us the most comprehensive
picture of your DNA�s makeup. We�ll take them, do a few tests,
and if you pass they�ll be returned for you none the worse for
wear; after all, pure humans like myself and my colleagues here
are precious resources, and I would be loath to waste them.�
�You can�t!�
There was a cry of outrage, and the villagers pushed forwards
before Captain Masson fired his weapon in the air, the handle on
it whirring with the discharge.
�We can and we will!� he bellowed. �There will be no argument.�
�As the good captain said, we will,� Doctor Hart said. �After
all, we have the guns, the power armour and vertibirds; who can
stop us? If you do try to fight, that�s a demonstration of
stunted self-preservation instinct, which is indicative of
genetic abnormality. Any of you who display signs of that will
be exterminated immediately. And we wouldn�t want that, would
we?�
She smiled, rubbing her hands together.
�The good news is that, should you pass our tests and be
determined as worthy of joining us, you will enjoy the benefits
of living under our protection,� she said. �Food, medicine,
education for your children, and all you will need to do in
return is support us in our endeavour with supplies and
manpower. You will be citizens of America at the dawn of its
rebirth, paying a small price for freedom, democracy and safety.
Captain Masson?�
�Yes ma�am?�
�Get them on the trucks.�
Clamping hands on some of the children and pulling them
forwards, the Enclave troops herded the town�s young onto the
lorries, moving them at gunpoint. Some of the people pushed
forwards, yelling and protesting, but they were forced back by
the troopers making pointed jabs with their laser and plasma
rifles. One young man was smacked to the ground by Masson, the
weapon�s butt smashing across his jaw, and the point of his
Gauss Rifle was levelled at his bloodied and battered head.
�ALL OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!� he roared over the crowd. �SHUT
THE HELL UP NOW OR HE DIES!� They fell silent. �We�re taking
your brats. You want to see them alive again, you stay put and
you don�t make trouble. Delta squad will be garrisoned here to
ensure compliance, and they�ll be reporting in to me.�
The only sound that was made was the sobbing of the children as
they were forced onboard the trucks and the roar of the circling
vertibirds. Doctor Hart opened the door of the lead lorry as the
last of them were put aboard, Enclave troopers taking up
positions at the back of the large vehicles.
�Let�s get going, people,� she ordered.
Engines snarling, the trucks rumbled into motion, circling the
square and exiting along the road they had entered by. A single
vehicle remained, Enclave soldiers unpacking communications
equipment while their leader addressed the remaining citizens of
Hope Creek, giving orders. The vertibirds circled a few more
times, before they too left, following the trucks with the
blades of their rotors sending the scrub that blanketed the
surrounding hills roiling.
Sometime after the aircraft had left, fading into the thin
clouds with the wind of their blades no longer disturbing the
foliage, one of the low bushes that dotted the hillside moved. A
figure rose into a half crouch, a ghoul, rangy in the dust-brown
coat he wore. He carried a rifle with a scope across its back,
and a wide-brimmed hat over his head shaded him from the sun.
�God dammit,� he growled, seemingly to empty air. �Compville all
over again.�
�Did you see her?� another voice asked, as a young woman broke
cover a few metres behind him, from where she had been watching
the ghoul�s back. �Was she there?�
She looked human, clothing lighter than the ghoul�s attire with
a sleeveless jacket and loose trousers, a bandanna holding back
her hair. Those who looked closely would have seen her slit
pupils, the odd tilt of her nose, the strange wide flatness of
her fingertips.
�Had her in my sights the entire time while she was giving one
of her little speeches,� the ghoul said. �Forgot how much she
loved to talk.�
�What? Why the hell didn�t you take the shot?�
�Didn�t want those vertibirds leaving us as scorch marks on the
hillside, kid.�
�God damn it, Ripley,� the girl said shaking her head. �She�d be
dead, that�s what matters.�
�What matters to you,� Ripley said. �I�m interested in living
past this, kid.�
�That radiation shrivelled your balls off, old man.�
�Whatever, Kat,� Ripley shrugged, already turning and heading on
up towards the crest of the hill. �The others are going to want
to know about this. We need to get going.�
�Fine,� Kat said. She spared the town one last glance, at the
bulky specks that were the Enclave troopers, and followed in the
footsteps of the ghoul.
#Post#: 3947--------------------------------------------------
Re: Seven Hunters [Fallout]
By: mirocu Date: June 13, 2014, 4:42 am
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As I read this I didn�t see a Fallout game. I saw a glimpse of
what might happen in our own world not too far ahead. With that
said, very well written indeed, mr Colonel ;)
#Post#: 4064--------------------------------------------------
Re: VII [Fallout]
By: Colonel Mustard Date: June 18, 2014, 11:24 am
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Thanks Mircou, always nice to hear something I wrote spoke to
someone on some level. :)
Chapter 2 � Hunters
Recommended listening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34I2dCO8U8A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34I2dCO8U8A
�It�s the same as last time,� Ripley reported as he and Kat
arrived at the camp. �They�ve arrived, abducted the kids and
they�ve got a garrison in place. Once that bitch is done
conducting her tests it�s probably going to be what we saw at
Compville.�
He was addressing five others, gathered in a small camp. It was
a simple affair, a few tents pitched around a pre-War APC, a
heavy tracked vehicle patched with plates of salvage and
occupying a clearing in a forest of dead trees. At the centre of
the small encampment was a fire, a young mole-rat turning on a
spit.
�Like I said it would be,� the young man leaning against the
five-ton vehicle said. He wore a leather jacket that jangled
with metal ornamentation, and his hair was a single strip of
bright violet swept across a shaved scalp. He was skinny and
lean, androgynous with his effeminate features and haircut.
�Still looking for �pure humans�.�
�The point is that we�re here in time now,� Kat said. �We can
move in and take the garrison out, find out where they�re
working from and we can hit there.�
�What about the town?� a woman sat down against the APC�s treads
asked.
�What about it?�
�I�m thinking we should help them, that�s what,� she said, the
stripes of white and red tattoos that crossed her face creasing
as she frowned. They flowed down the rest of her neck and her
bare arms, smooth lines of crimson and bone, interrupted only by
a sigil of a sword and cogs on her right shoulder.
�She speaks truth,� the giant of a man who sat next to her
rumbled, a disassembled shotgun laid on a cloth before him. His
torso was bare apart from a few patches of crude armour, covered
in the same tribal insignias as the woman next to him. �No more
corpses.�
�What about Enclave ones?� the kid leaning against the tank
asked.
�Enclave, yes,� the tribal nodded. �Innocents, no.�
Kat looked like she was about to protest, but before she could
speak Ripley stepped in.
�We can discuss strategy later,� he said, tapping the roasting
mole rat on its snout. �When�s this going to be ready? I�m
starving.�
�Few more minutes,� the man at the end of the spit replied from
where he was turning it. �I�m taking it off the heat in a bit
and leaving it for a bit, keep the juices in.�
�Wandered into camp this morning, just after you�d gone� the
last member of their group said, a woman in a heavily patched
labcoat, tapping on a pip-boy. �Sniffing for scraps, probably.
Wexler tapped it between the eyes and lunch was sorted.�
�Thank god for that,� Ripley said. Pulling off his coat, he
spread it on the ground by the fire and sat down on it, holding
his withered hands by the flames. �I�m warming up a little;
crouching in dew all morning is cold work.�
�It�s chilly up here,� the punk, Jay, remarked. He rapped his
knuckles on the side of the tank. �Lucky thing Beast has got
good heating.�
�So what exactly did you see?� Wexler asked. �Hey someone give
me a hand with this molerat, I want it off the fire.�
�Enclave rocked in with a full show of force, vertibirds, power
armour, everything,� Ripley said as the tribal man rose from his
position to help Wexler carry their meal from the fire. They
rested it between two tent poles, once they were sure it was
secure. �Got everyone assembled, took the kids, left a squad
behind to keep things in order.�
�Like in Compville,� Jay said. �They�re hostages as well as test
subjects. They�ll use them to keep everyone compliant. We should
have been quicker, been there before the Enclave arrived.�
�Well we weren�t,� Wexler replied. �Thanks, Shank.�
�No problem,� the tribal shrugged. �How many Enclave?�
�Full squad,� the ghoul replied. �Ten of them, plus radio
equipment. All in power armour and probably reporting in
regularly.�
�So even if we took out the garrison force we�d still be at risk
of getting the kids killed before we can find out where the
Enclave are operating out of,� Shank�s fellow tribal said.
�If they�re in an Enclave lab, then dying is a mercy,� Kat said.
�It�s irrelevant,� the woman in the lab coat said, looking up
from her Pip Boy. �I know how Miranda works; she�s not going to
kill a lab sample as a hostage. Not when there�s a chance that
they�re what they�re looking for. Besides, in her eyes, if
they�re �pure� they�re too valuable to waste.�
�Townspeople don�t know that it�s a bluff, though,� Ripley said.
�They saw her execute someone in cold blood, there�s no way
they�d be willing to call it.�
�You absolutely sure you don�t know what they�re searching
through these villages for, Kassa?� the tribal woman said.
�No idea,� the woman in the lab coat replied. �I was involved in
Project Zarathustra, but this is something new. Trust me, if I
knew I would have told you.�
�So you keep saying,� the tribal woman said.
�Oh come on, Daisy, I�m not with them anymore,� Kassa protested.
�Hey, looks like that mole rat�s ready,� Wexler interjected, a
heavy combat knife in his hands as he prepared to cut the meat.
�Who feels like eating?�
�Sounds good to me,� Ripley said, pulling open the flaps of the
heavy backpack he had resting on the ground. After a few moments
of rooting around within, he pulled a battered tin plate free,
along with a knife and fork. A few slices later, and the group
was sat around the fire and eating.
�This is pretty good, y�know,� Daisy said as she ate. �Where�d
you learn to cook? You never struck me as the type.�
Wexler shrugged.
�Let�s just say that when you�re out on a three-week patrol, you
can off the MRE�s the NCR issues, but you�ll wish you can�t soon
enough,� he said. �One of the first bits of advice you get told
as a Ranger is learn to cook or else learn to enjoy eating
ration packs. You said you hunted, though Ripley, how come
you�re no good at cooking?�
�Eh, food�s never been number one priority when I hunt,� Ripley
said. �I generally sell the meat on, get someone to cook it for
me. I�ve always been in it for the hides and stuff, not the
meat.�
�Fair enough,� Wexler shrugged, taking a bite from the cut of
meat he�d sliced off.
They ate in relative silence, finishing their meal with few
words. Daisy stuck her plate to one side and lit a cigarette,
before she said; �So, the town. The Enclave. How are we dealing
with them?�
�Ripley, what did you manage see there?� Wexler asked. �I�m
talking details here, layout of the town, where the Enclave are,
that kind of thing.�
�Hang on a minute,� Ripley said, placing his plate down. He
disappeared into the surrounding woods and reappeared a few
moments later with a stick in hand. Finding a patch of bare
earth, he began to sketch a crude map into the dirt. �So this is
Hope Creek. People here built it on the foundations of an old
pre-war town, can see it in the buildings. One road running
through it, goes from east to west-�
�Wait a minute,� Daisy said, craning her neck around. �The road
goes north to south, doesn�t it?�
�My east to west,� Ripley said. �I�m drawing from my north,
Daisy.�
�Makes more sense for the map to be orientated towards the
compass when you�re drawing that thing,� Daisy said.
�She�s got a point,� Wexler said. �It�s what we did back in the
Rangers, made things clear.�
�Well I�ve started drawing the map now,� the ghoul snapped. �I�m
not starting again just for your precious compass orientation.�
He sketched an arrow pointing upwards next to his map, writing
an �N� at its point. �There.�
�Bah, east, west,� Shank grumbled. �Why bother with compass? Sun
rises here, sun sets there, brightest star shines in that part
of the sky, moss growing on trees always faces that direction.
Much easier than doing what some needle says.�
�See, Shank�s got the right idea,� Ripley said. �I think.�
�Anyway, Enclave,� Jay interjected. �Where are they?�
�Far as I could tell, they were setting up a little outpost in
the central building there,� Ripley said, pointing at the
largest square on his map. �Old church, by my guess. We�ve got
building cover on the approach there from all directions, and a
lot of these fields around the town are growing corn, and that
stuff�s high enough to hide us pretty well.�
�You mentioned radio equipment, didn�t you?� Wexler said. Ripley
nodded. �Then we�re going to have be quick and quiet about it,
get them before they can call for help.�
�Still makes it a problem after we�ve dealt with them,� Jay
said. �They�re going to be checking in.�
�I can deal with that,� Kassa said. �I know Enclave radio
protocols, I should be able to keep them fooled for a while.�
�We�ll still need to deal with ten trained, armed and armoured
Enclave troopers,� Daisy said, taking a drag on her cigarette.
�And we need to deal with them quickly.�
�Me and Beast aren�t going to able to sneak in there, if that�s
what you�re suggesting,� Jay nodded. �And no offense to you two,
but Daisy and Shank aren�t exactly what I�d call quiet.�
�I�m a scientist,� Kassa added. �There�s no way I can stand up
to an Enclave trooper in a straight fight.�
�So it would be me, Kat and Ripley who could slip in there and
actually fight,� Wexler said. �I don�t fancy the odds of the
three of us against ten Enclave soldiers.�
�I could probably handle it,� Kat said.
�You�re being cocky, kid,� Ripley shot back. �Maybe get the
villagers to help us out? They�ve got numbers and they�re bound
to have guns. Only reason they�re afraid to use them is because
they think their kids are being held hostage.�
�Shank and I need to be in there,� Daisy said. �Let�s face it,
we�re the muscle in this group, and we�re the ones best equipped
to deal with them. Even if we get the townspeople to help us
it�s going to be unarmoured or lightly armoured wastelanders
versus powered armoured soldiers with energy weapons; that�s not
gonna be a fight, that�s gonna be a massacre, even if we win.�
�Still don�t know how we�re going to get you in there,� Ripley
said. �I mean, you�re toting a minigun and I�m guessing you�ll
be in power armour, and ever since Shank covered his shield in
mirrors he�s got no way of getting in there without being
noticed.�
�Why�d you do that, anyway?� Jay asked.
�Laser weapons are light, mirror reflect light,� Shank said.
�Mirrors on shield reflect laser weapons.�
�There�s something about that logic that seems pretty shaky,�
Jay said. �Kassa, you know about this stuff, would it work?�
�No idea,� Kassa shrugged. �My R&D field was biology and
genetics, not weaponry. From what I can guess, theoretically. I
mean, lasers have been reflected in laboratory conditions,
though not weaponised ones as far as I know.�
�You know what they say,� Daisy said. She tapped the ashes of
her cigarette onto the dirt. �Field testing is the best kind of
science.�
�I have never, in my entire life, ever heard anyone say that.�
�Makes sense to me.�
�Right,� Kassa said, shaking her head. �Daisy�s�alarming
understanding of scientific discipline aside, how are we going
to sneak her and Shank into town.�
�And what about me and Beast?� Jay asked. He patted the side of
the APC, as if to emphasise his point. �Let�s face it, we could
use a few tons of armour on our side.�
�If nothing else, it would be good cover,� Shank said. �Your
beast needs a weapon, Jay.�
�Trust me, I�ve been trying to find one,� Jay replied. �Not as
if people leave heavy ordnance lying around. In the meantime, I
can still crush people with it.�
Shank grinned at that comment.
�Still leaves the issue of getting it into the town unnoticed,�
Daisy said.
�I think,� Kat said, looking at the tank. �I think I got
something. I know we can�t just go for a full-frontal attack
without them calling for help, but all we need to do is get
close enough to hit them.�
�That�s what we established, yeah,� Wexler nodded.
�Then I�ve got an idea,� Kat said. She smiled. �After all, why
does Beast need to sneak in when we can hide it in plain sight?�
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