The Return to Van Buren - Finale
OST Atmosphere:
The end is here, the climax of the Van Buren plot. So, let's recap so far:
COLOSSUS, the Van Buren Prison Complex AI, has fragmented into a split personality derived from its former role as automated Prosecution and Defense: Uncle Sam and Red Menace. Uncle Sam is a draconian madman and Red Menace's only purpose is subverting him - which happens to coincide with player interest as Uncle Sam has rounded up Wastelanders and imprisoned them in the complex. Among them, mistakingly assigning a small number of Prisoners as "Prisoner 13" a pre-war high priority terrorist bound with biometrically sealed Prison-Boys, of which the Prisoner 13s are too.
After escaping the malfunctioning complex with the assistance of Red Menace - the Prisoners flee into the Wasteland.
After several adventures or weeks of time, the Prisoners will come to learn directly or indirectly through Red Menace that Uncle Sam is sending infrequent waves of retrieval robots - tracking them through their unremovable Prison-Boys. These waves won't stop, and worse, a gigantic pre-war war machine named ARGOS is being constructed - due for full completion, upgrade and deployment in 10 to 12 months. When ARGOS is free, destruction will reign - with the 13s as it's primary targets.
To resolve this they must bring back enough of an arbitrary number of Prison Boys to the COLOSSUS Core to resolve the malfunction, effectively trick the system, and reset it. The problem is, they need 11 (two of the 13s died in the prison and theirs were already logged) - and the party will only be four. So to find the other seven Prisoner 13s, Red Menace links their Prison Boys to a mapping and tracking network similarly used by Uncle Sam - the problem being that the locations are broad, and don't all log in at once (whilst not railroading, I will try to balance the open world choice with them not immediately running to regions that will flatten them). They also learn that to return to Van Buren, they need a Department of Defense Override Protocol Holotape.
The Prisoner 13s are:
- Teethbearer: Alpha of the Hangdogs tribe in Denver
- Xian: A Shi Scientist at Boulder Dome in Colorado
- White-Liner: A road warrior for the 80s tribe in southern Utah
- Alexandra: Former Desert Ranger turned Legion Slave Runner. Found at Grand Canyon.
- Mable: An adventure seeking Prospector, enslaved at Rebirth in New Mexico
- Pierre: A Scribe for the Brotherhood of Steel, located in New Mexico.
- Gaia: A Daughter of Hecate, located in eastern Arizona.
With all of the Prison-Boys are collected or otherwise located as well as the DoD tape, Red Menace will communicate a final message: the time has come. Uncle Sam has not only repaired and restored Van Buren but has installed upgrades from the manufacturing technology in place there, it will not be an easy fight. Red Menace is losing the internal logical battle, and may soon be turned or consumed. It's time to rally the troops. He will give instructions on what is needed to defeat Uncle Sam at Van Buren.
So let's look at the list of potential allies that the players can rally to assist in small bands for the siege of Van Buren. Some will or may conflict, and as this entirely dependent on player actions, their mileage may vary:
- "Diamond Dogs" a pack of the Hangdogs best warriors
- Road Band - a gang of 80s Road Warriors equipped with stolen NCR and Desert Ranger gear
- The Arizona Desert Rangers Team Sierra
- A Legionary Assassin squad (requires Idolized status with Caesar)
- A Sidewinder Squad (Required Idolized with Hecate)
- The Circle of Steel, a Paladin assault team
- Sgt. Granite's Squad (requires getting their Vertibird working again)
- Dome Authority squad (required New Plague to be resolved)
Xian will suggest Boulder Dome as a rally point (if she is alive and conditions allow for it) but players can pick anywhere.
The Siege:
Van Buren is a vast megadungeon inspired by the likes of Black Mesa Research Facility. It will attempt to test each of the Players skills, even Pilot (through regaining control and redirecting a rogue Complex Metro that Uncle Sam will attempt to redirect and crash) and in classic AI fashion, Uncle Sam will constantly speak with the players throughout. Battle rooms defended by CODE equipped Eyebots and Sentry Bots, Mission Impossible style traps and Resident Evil style puzzles all await. I won't do the designing until the campaign is in progress so here's the footnote version.
There are several main objectives that must be completed, they're the following.
- Reach the Southern Entrance and get past the Laser Cannon defense system to use the DoD Override tape and open it up
- Restore Red Menace to partial functionality in a sub-control room, may require a Speech Boy to convince his muddled mind
- Bring the facilities generators to the verge of critical condition (the shutdown of COLOSSUS will initiate full meltdown)
- Defeat ARGOS
- Reach the COLLOSUS control center and disable him
- Escape before the facility reaches total meltdown and detonates in a radioactive explosion.
ARGOS
ARGOS is a titanic multi-legged art-deco mech, powerful before the war it has now experienced AI designed upgrades.
The players and company will have to defeat it section by section: limbs, rocket launchers, laser cannons, visual control systems, Eyebot dispensers. It will be sided by repair-Eyebots and will use utilities additional to its weapons such as Riot Gas, EMP AoE attacks and CODE Bots. Think of a fight somewhere between a DnD Dragon and a Metal Gear Solid boss fight.
Depending on how long the players waited and how strong their company is, this fight may range from difficult to nigh impossible.
Once enough of ARGOS is destroyed it will expose it's overheating core - which will allow the players to deliver a killing blow.
COLLOSUS Core
Upon approaching the COLOSSUS Core, the party will encounter the cryogenic storage. Where each one, including the Prisoner 13 that's caused them so much trouble, are skeletal remains. Terminals adjacent to them list their history and crimes.
COLOSSUS Core itself is a spherical, chrome Art-Deco room (angel columns and all) usually kept cryogenically cold (but raised by the restored Red Menace.). A huge column sits at the center with a large screen, the AI himself. The walls are slots upon slots of specialized holotapes, and in true HAL-9000 fashion many must be slowly one by one removed to kill Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam will beg and reason with the player - he knows secrets that nobody else knows, the potential here is vast, he knows he's broken and just using the DoD Holotape will fix him and reset him, ready for servitude once more, he can restore America (Sgt. Granite if present will chuckle "too late for that my friend."). This is where Idella of the CoS will make her ultimatum. If the players refuse and defeat her, they will eventually disable Uncle Sam who resorts in his final moment to COLLOSUS - warning the players facility destruction is imminent and the best course of action is escaping via the vehicle bay. The Prison-Boy seals will unlock and drop to the floor.
As the players and co reach the vehicle bay, they will find a stock of several chrome art deco retrofuturist Prison Buses "VAN BUREN PRISONER TRANSPORT" inscribed on the side. As the players take the wheel, they'll find the keys on the dash and the tunnel to the surface opening up, as our outro song plays and brings the campaign to an end...
Epilogue
From here I will narrate on the outcomes of player choices regarding specific characters and the major locations - there are too many possible outcomes and rogue combinations to list, so I will list some potential "extreme" and broad ending types.
- "The Prison": If the players listen to Uncle Sam's begging and use the DoD Holotape but kill Idella in an attempt to control the facility themselves, they will face the most difficult Computer Science check of the campaign. Success means they have total control over the facility and will narrate themselves what they choose to do. failure means Uncle Sam resumes control - this time completely - and drops the temperature of the core to cryogenic levels, killing the players. Van Buren Prison becomes a nightmare tomb of the East, and the Rockies become a no-man's land where nobody ever enters and returns.
- "The Age of Steel": The Brotherhood take the facility and restore it to working condition - COLOSSUS their slave. With Van Buren and Boulder Dome, they shape a mighty empire enforced by CODE Eyebots, Paladins with new and state of the art weaponry accompanied by fleets of robots. Nobody can stop them. A steel curtain forms across the East, blocking Caesar and allowing a veil of retreat for the losing Western Chapters.
- "New World Hope": New Canaan stronger than ever, Boulder Dome prospering, Brixley's Brotherhood forming a tribal confederation, Caesar dead and a trade route established all the way from New Canaan to Nexus, the backbone of a new nation begins to form. Where the tribal meets the technological, at first chafing, but then in synchronization.
- "Chaos Reigns": New Plague devastates Boulder, Denver and most of New Mexico. Under Hecate, Arizona regresses into a tribalistic dark age of sorcery and mysticism, as what was once the Legion breaks into petty bands of warring factions. New Canaan, a shadow of its former self, disperses and the Mormons head west - to find new home in NCR.
- "Mojave Sunrise" Ending: New Canaan is restored to good shape, and a truce between Judah and Jeremiah means New Canaan continues to be a trade hub, but with protectionist policies to protect their folk. The Desert Rangers settle in Bloomfield Space Center and along with the Mojave Rangers form a line along the Colorado. The tale of FEV finally comes full circle and New Plague is cured. Idella is killed at Van Buren as the Prison is destroyed, leaving the Brotherhood stationed at the Boulder Dome with competent but unambitious leadership, leading them to a stagnant, fortified isolation. Caesar achieves easy victory over the confused, broken tribes to Hecate following her killing, and his expansion across the Four Corners never ceases.
That's all folks. Thank you so much for the help and feedback. It's been a pleasure.
