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[i]Due to popular demand (yaright... [/i][b]:* [/b][i]) I am forced at gunpoint to release the second part of
......[/i][/P]
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[FONT COLOR=green]The C[FONT COLOR=#00CC00]ase [FONT COLOR=#99FF99]of t[FONT COLOR=#FFFFCC]he
[FONT COLOR=yellow]Water[FONT COLOR=#FF9900]melo[FONT COLOR=#FF6600]n Fa[FONT COLOR=#CC0000]rmer
a Harmony Ground Story[/P]
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by [b][FONT COLOR=blue]B-pen [/b][i]o t[/i] [b][FONT COLOR=#9900CC]Illuminati[/b][/P]
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Prologue:
This..is Harmony.
It is a city, sprawling and accepting. It is nestled in the cradle of the Sierras, protected by tall adobe walls
topped with bluff autocannons. Shining and bold, it is all that remains of a grand experiment.
Seven years after the fall of the Enclave, three years after the rise of the Mordinos, and two months into a Vault
City revolt...a refuge was built here by visionary men and women with the hope of a new Life..
It was [FONT COLOR=teal]Harmony Grounds, a place where the axiom 'live and let live' was made to heart.
Reformed Enclave men, exiled scientists from Vault City, ambitious ghouls from Necropolis, and hardy men from the
dissolved Broken Hills and various New Reno clans....they all came together under the dream of a world free of
interference, of prejudice and blank hatred, where they can all live together in peace and profit.
It is sheer folly. It didn't take long before...
End Prologue[/P]
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[P ALIGN=CENTER][/P]
[i]"The descent into madness, is the same no matter when or where you start."[/i][/P]
~Khiel, Dominion Liessman[/P]
Ming lived on the outskirts of town, in the lower left section of the Main farm. Normally, corn crops are here,
which we used for the base of much of our meals. Ghouls worked the fields here..since they can stay up even when the sun's real high in the sky, or even when it's colder than shit just to tend to the corn, to see that it's watered, and act as scarecrows on occasion..
Then, they also work on improving the strains of corn that we have, making corn that grows faster..with more kernels, and more resistant to bugs.
Down South, at San Francisco, rumors has it that they have some kind of white corn or somesuch..all I know is that it's got smaller kernels and was almost tasteless. (1)
Heh. Why the hell would they want something that's tasteless? I'll stick with my sweet corn grit.
A way after that was a smaller section of the field where the yellow sea stops and a low jungle began. Under the right light, you'd think you were in some alien world here..what with the gnarled, searching tendrils, the round watermelon heads, the strange-shaped leaves of the ground vine glistening in the moonlight. Hey..maybe I can lift a few heads of watermelons now, while nobody's guarding them.
Damn. Screw that. I'm here on an official police matter..and all I can think of is stealing.
And besides that, someone beat me to the idea.
I dropped low and hid behind a wall of corn. I saw several gangsters, all in their late teens and wearing the colors
of the local gang run out of the shack. Nothing special, these ones, just out for a quick buck...or a few slices
of that sweet fruit.
Old man Ming was a miser, pure and simple. There was talk of a hidden stash in his shack, whose size would make
him the richest man in Harmony, if not this side of the Northlands. There wasn't much cause to doubt that, what
with the prices Jake charges and all... Ming was the sole supplier in a demanding market, and as such, can charge
whatever he friggin' wants..
They stopped near me, and one of them, a boy of about seventeen, drew over to the nearest corn leg and puked.
"Like..fuck!", one other gangman said. "That was the grossest thing I've ever seen.."
"Ha, like, you've seen plenty, Pinky."
"Don't call me that, dickhead!"
"I'll call you whatever I fuckin' want. It was your goddamn idea to come here and steal from the old man."
"Yeah...but I didn't expect on no fuckin' dead bodies, aright?!"
That was all I needed to hear. I stepped out from my hiding spot, got my faithful .223 pistol in hand, my badge
gleaming in the moonlight, and I said low and menacing-like, "Well, hello... boys. I see someone's whose gonna
be facing a murder one."
One of them drew a 10 mm pistol, a prissy weapon. I scoffed at it even as the leader..got a frightened look in
his eye and tried to motion his buddy into not shooting.
Too late. He drew the pistol, aimed it down and...
*pow*
The pistol flew out of his hands and into the air. I pointed at it with my pistol again...and *pow*, holed a slug
into it. It fell right in front of the gangkid who tried to use it in the first place. He bent down to take it
again, not that I care..
His eyes widened as he saw what had happened to it. A .223 bullet had been lodged into its barrel. If he tried
to shoot that thing off..it would take his arm off with it. Even in mid-air..my aim and shooting was impeccable.
Heh. Some things never leave you, I guess..
"You're....Julius, aren't you..", the leader of them said.
"And you're .....Pinky..right?"
He winced a bit, but didn't dare to contradict. "Yeah..look, we don't got no quarrel with you, we didn't do
anything..so let us go!"
"What the hell are you so fuckin' afraid of, Pinky?", said another gangkid, this one had a light scar
running down the side of his face. Seems like he arrived too late to see my little gunpoint exhibition. "Just
plug the fucker and let's get out of this fuckin' place."
"Shut the fuck up, Roy. Can't you see that's Julius?"
"Julius? THE _Julius_?"
Pinky nodded.
"The fastest shot this side of the Brotherhood?"
He nodded again.
"Oh, fuckin' shit." He raised his hands up in the air.
I grinned.
"Look, while I love to see you kids stand here and praise me all night, I've got a job to do. Ming is in there..",
I pointed to the shack. "And he's dead, right?"
Pinky nodded hesitantly.
"And you're the guys who did it."
"No, no! NO!", he frantically shouted. "We didn't do it!!"
"Then who did?"
"Um......"
"Ah, who goddamn cares...I'm bringing you in. If not on murder, on your botched robbery. You make the ....*ahem*....
citizens look bad."
Pinky frowned, then his face became thoughtful. "Hey, it's not our fault, aright?"
"Fault or not, a crime's a crime...come along."
Pinky dug into his pocket and took out something, which he threw at me. I caught it with my free left hand.
A small cloth purse.
I opened it, and took a peek inside. I saw what I rounded off to be about $75 worth of chips.
"Each.", I added.
Pinky sighed and gestured for his fellows. They grimaced, then gave up the goods.
I pocketed their money and nodded for them to leave. Hell, I knew that they didn't have anything to do with what
supposedly happened inside that shack. You could see it in their eyes, in spite of all the bravado, they had never
killed anybody.
"Screw you, Pinky...", one of the gangkid muttered as they left.
"No, screw YOU, Dirk. Do you have any idea how close we came?"
"Hey, why not? I heard the jails in the Center are nice."
"So fuckin' what? Facts is, it's still a damn jail, where criminals wait...for trial. You know what'll happen
if we get a trial, Irk? We didn't have anything to do with Ming. They got nothing on us. But they can't NOT prove
that we didn't do it. So we hang, dickhead."
"Ah, so that's how it goes."
"Yeah, that's how it goes.... Now, shut the fuck up."
Smart kid. He'll go far in Harmony. I tipped my hat good-naturally at him as they left. Not a bad job, if I do
say so myself. Three hundred dollars, all in a one night's work..
***************
Now that that's over with...let's get a look at old man Ming's place. It was old and dilapidated, made loosely
of rusted tin sheets and metal doors.
But don't let that fool you. That shack has been here since Harmony was built..more than fifty years ago.
Ever since then, a few improvements have been made, all unapparent at first glance. But under that corroded layer
was some of the strangest sights on Harmony. His own personal power generator, charging up a high-class chiller
for his drinks and feed, maybe a still for mixing his own liquor..you name the convenience, Ming has it.
As I expected, the door was unlocked. I opened it, and it squeaked like a pig rat in heat. The inside was dark
as a cave, and I had to lit a flare to give me some seeing. I found the light switch soon enough, and the roof
was flooded with light.
In the center of the room, I found the old man, Ming, drowning in his own blood. Well, at least I assume it's Ming.
Kinda hard to make an exact guess when the head isn't there to identify with..
I fled the shack, my stomach heaving. Damn.
The shack had that same slightly aromatic scent, sickly-sweet and utterly disgusting, the smell of charred flesh.
The amount of damage done...that too was a mark of laser weaponry. What else can slice a man in half with such
ease and precision?
I knew what these type of weapons can do, firsthand. I once traveled the NCR-Redding rote with a caravan...and
I was issued with this small, silvery pistol. At first, I didn't think it was anything special..until I pointed
it at a marauder and watched a bolt of white-hot energy punch through his Mark II Leather Armor like it wasn't
there..
The man looked to the hole in his chest, unbelieving, willing it to disappear, then he spat blood... and died.
But that was a long time ago. Living in Harmony may have softened me up some..Like hell.
But still.....*hurrrrrrrk!*
I waited out in the back of the shack, getting my sensibilities under control. Pinky was right.[/P]
I entered the shack again, and stared at the corpse for the longest time. I held my breath, so that the waft
of blood-stink wouldn't reach me and force my disgust to resurface. It was horrifying enough at it is..someone
had taken the time and trouble to slice the old man into THREE, then cut off his head, and took it with him. He
looked like one of those diced iguanas, served fresh and cooked to perfection. The night reflected off the pooling
blood, and I could see the moon swimming in the red ichor.
Sick bastard...he enjoyed burning up the helpless old man's limbs before letting him just die. The arms and legs
were but charred stumps, and it looks like the old man was caught by surprise..or had trusted his assailant. The
way the remains of his body was angled, he never once put up much of a fight.
I turned away from the body, and shivered. That grisly image is going to be haunting me for a long goddamn time.
I looked around at the simple, but comfortable place. The power generator was humming softly in a corner, oblivious
to everything. If only these furniture could talk..it sure would make job a whole lot easier.
I rummaged through Ming's drawers. Seems like I was the first here...the assailant didn't have time to search through.
Or maybe, he wasn't interested in searching. I didn't like that. It spoke of having this an assassination job,
which spoke of someone higher up, which whispered of a conspiracy.
On Ming's wall was hung a strange, fuzzy painting, it looked it it was from before the war. I couldn't tell whose
face it was there, but the felt cloth it was on was still silky. The edges were gold-trimmed, anyway..might be
worth something. I hefted it off and...hello, laddie!
A safe, set into a wall. Ming's treasure, no doubt! I fished into my pockets for a pair of lockpicks. No, I had
no compunction or a shred of regret at stealing from a room with a dead man. A dead man is Ming and he is a dead
man, and he's got no need for his money. I said a prayer for the old geezer, anywise, as I inserted my lockpicks.
I fiddled around with the lock for a while, and it opened with a *plunk*. Nervously, I opened it. Most of these
safes are rigged. I didn't find any taps..but that doesn't mean that they aren't.....
Oh, my god.
Jackpot.
There must be..shit! Twenty thousand or so worth of chips in there! I shoveled chips into my little sack as fast
as I could. Then, my hand rested on something I had uncovered. I took it out and examined it, it was a small collection
of papers, stapled together loosely. They looked to be maps of somesuch. Or maybe diagrams. I tried to read its
complicated writing, filled with mathematical equations and high-sounding words. The only thing I recognized was
the occasional references to Vault-Tec.
What was that?!
Shh...
I bent low, and placed tension on my legs. Furtively, I scanned the are, and placed as much view as possible of
what was behind my back. I waited tensely for a bit..and there! Someone, in the shadows!
"Hey, you there!", I shouted.
He bolted. Reeal smart move, Julius. Shit. Now, I had to chase the frigger. I leapt to action, and half-fell forward
as I started to sun after the man.
It was a little hard to see in the night, his black cloak blending wit the dark shadows. Fortunately, there was
enough light from the quarter-moon in the sky to let me pick up an outline now and then.when I felt I had gotten
close enough, I leapt, and tackled the stranger to the ground.
I pinned him down, my left hand on his chest, and Mt. ripper knife at his throat. The spot we had landed in was
free of shadows, and in the moonlight,
I had a good view of what I had caught.
Oh, shit.
The face was hidden under a sinister gas mask, the entire body was garbed in strips of sleek black leather. A Power
Fist, that charged hand of mauling, hung loosely by a meta-chain belt.
A Dominion man. [/P]
Everyone knew the Dominion. A gang, a group of gangmen....is that even the right word? Al I know is that no one.
I mean NOBODY crosses the Dominion. A pack of fanatical men and women, they show in clusters of two or three around
town now and then. Mostly, they do no damage, acting and behaving for the most part like normal people, trading
and and moving along, if a bit aloof. [/P]
Once, a hot and ambitious gang, called the Poisons, saw a lone Dominion man walking down their territory. They
came down Hard on the guy, but he put up a good fight even as he went down. The Poisons all had a ruddy laughed
and threw the bloodied pulp of bruised flesh into the water tank at the Refinery. [/P]
The Dominion wasn't so tough, they said.
Less than a day later, all the Poisons were hanging from the city gates, their throats cut, their faces mangled,
and for all the world to see, what happens to those who displease the Dominion.
Shit. I'm going down for this. Funny thing, the thoughts that run through your mind when you're contemplating
your own death. It mostly went by."Hey, this armor they wear, it's really soft. A little padded and bumpy, but that's all for impact absorbing, right?"[/P]
Like hell.[/P]
I looked down, at where my left hand rested, and revised my assessments. I don't have a Dominion Man. I had.....a Dominion Woman. Oh, crap.[/P]
I felt something cold and intensely sharp prod against the small of my back. "Stand..", I heard a low, gutteral voice say from behind me. I raised my hand and stood up, what else could I do?[/P]
The Dominion woman stood up, and I could feel the glare she was giving me under that mask.[/P]
"Owrkk....", I gasped, and my hands shot down. Shit. She just kneed me in my friggin' groin! It's a good thing I wear protection, that...a jockstrap. But even so, the pain, my screaming jewels! I keeled over and my knees dug into the soil.[/P]
"That was, unnecessary..", the Dominion man said.[/P]
"He groped me!"[/P]
"He did not know that you were female. He reacted in instinct."[/P]
"I don't care. He Touched me, and he's gonna pay." She made as if to kick me again, in the guts this
time. But the other man stopped her by blocking her foot with his own. [/P]
"All right. I sumbit that the first attack was justified. But to inflict further pain on him ow, while
he is helpless, would be barbaric."[/P]
The woman huffed and left, back to the shack.[/P]
"Who are you?", I asked the hooded man.[/P]
I am of the Dominion, that is all you need to know."[/P]
The Dominion man regarded me with calculating eyes hidden under pale amber lenses. "Do not try to run,
nor not make any sudden movement. I do not wish to harm you..but if you make any hostile gesture, I will have to
respond accordingly."[/P]
"Heh.", I snorted. "So what? Just kill me now and get it over with."[/P]
"Why should I kill you?"[/P]
I spat. "Unless I'm mistaken, that's a laser rifle you're holding.", I pointed at his weapon. It was a medium-sized rifle, basically a long green metal box on one end, a tube, the barrel extending out of it,ending
in three razor sickle-shaped blades by the muzzle. "Ming is dead. You're pointing the thing at my head. Don't
need no other thinking."[/P]
"This, ignorant one...is PLASMA rifle.", he retorted. "And We did not take the life of the old
one, nor do we plan on killing you."[/P]
"Well, excuse me for not believing you."[/P]
"What you believe is of no consequence. Ever, the Dominion is above your level."[/P]
"Yeah? Well, what are you doing here, then?"[/P]
"Harmony is Our City, Sherrif. We are here for the same reason as you. We are as interested in what had
happened here as much as you are."[/P]
I didn't like the way he said it. 'Our' city...you could almost feel the emphasis. What the hell are they talking
about? A bunch of gangmen can't be really that stupid to think they control Harmony. [/P]
Harmony CAN'T be comtrolled. It's just the way it is. NCR, New Reno, Vault city, they all tried, everything,
including sending in the troops, and always, walways, they failed even before they got halfway. Broken machinery,
deserting troops...bribes, that sort of stuff. [/P]
It's much better if Harmony remains independent, anyhoo. That way, nobody can complain of a cartel on anything.
Vault City and New Reno are itching to go to war on each other...and Harmony, the only thing standing in between.
NCR couldn't care less.[/P]
But back to the present, I found his high-and-mighty manner incredibly offensive."Well, now that the REAL
lawmen are hare, why don't you just step back and let the proffesionals handle the case?", I said, with as
much venom in my voice.[/P]
I could almost see the guy smirk under his mask.[/P]
The next thing I know..there's this flash of metal-green, and a numb sensation in the left side of my head. It was replaced by a sudden, piercing pain, and my vison swam with violent agony. I fell, and kissed the sandy soil.
[/P]
I heard just barely, from the side,"Here is an idea, lawman. Why don't you rest here a while and let the REAL professionals handle this case?"[/P]
I tried to spit, grit in my mouth stopped me from doing so, and ever so sudden, everything else blacked out.[/P]
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[P ALIGN=CENTER]*******************************[/P]
"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!",I screamed, and awoke with a start. My gun, a .223 rifle cut and modified down into an incredibly powerful handgun, was in my hand instantly, and rapid, unaimed shots rang out in the room. [/P]
I got to my feet, and looke frantically around. I jerked from side to side, often jumping to my back, while my eyes were frenzied, on alert for anypossible threat. My fingers tightened on the trigger, and I fired off again and again into the darkness, until my clip was empty.[/P]
It took a few more moments for my brain to catch up and tell me that I could stop acting like a cornered wild animal.[/P]
I slumped down against the wall, my heartbeat still racing. I took stained breaths and lifted my hand to the throbbing in my head. I encoutered a soft layer, a bandage carefully applied over my lump.[/P]
I gritted my teeth. Damn those Dominion bastards. I looked around, at the room shining blood-red in shafts of light from the rising sun. Something was wrong.[/P]
Ah, that's it. The stink, the swett-salty smell of gore, it was gone. And along with the body, too. Shit.[/P]
Shakily, I walked over to the spot they had marked out in crisp chalk body outlines. Not even a trace of blood.
Beside the outline of the fallen body were a few bric-a-bracs, which didn't interest me for the moment. What caught
my attention was the piece of paper lying dead center in the line marks. [/P]
My shaking hands took it, and opened the letter out for me to read.[/P]
It said in clear, precise handwriting:[/P]
"I hope that your bruise is not as painful as it should be, Julius. Consider it a form of advice, take
not actions that oversteps the bounds of what you are capable of. [/P]
As you have seen, the body is gone.We have took it. You do not need to worry since we plan on giving it an most
gracious burial. It is the least we can do to honor a founder of Harmony. "[/P]
Eh? I thought Ming was old..but I didn't think he was THAT old.[/P]
"We have not taken anything that will help your search for justice. Our aid is also open to you, if you ever
need it. We have taken only those that are of no consequence and unrelated to this deed."[/P]
I shot up sudddenly and looked to the safe. The money was till there..but the weird papers I had found were gone.[/P]
"You needn't have worried about the money. It is all there."[/P]
Reading my moves, aren't you..... you bastard.[/P]
"All those that we have found have been aranged by your side, Sheriff. This will be enough for now, you will
have to solve it on your own. We conduct out own investigation, but we wil not stand in your way. May you find
what you seek, and may you walk the path to true justice.[/P]
~Dominion"[/P]
Arrogant bastards. I crumpled the letter and threw it out the window, where a strong breeze caught it and wafted
it away. I turned to the small pile of junk on the floor, and bent down to inspect it. [/P]
Nothing unusual here, just the usual junk an man carries around with him all the time. [/P]
Just to make it clear, Ming had at the time of his death..[/P]
$673[/P]
2 Stimpacks[/P]
7 huffsticks[/P]
a pack of dried xander root pulp.[/P]
a condom. (what the hell?!)[/P]
and......an engaved pin.[/P]
I took the pin, and held it out to the light. It was made of solid gold, and was engaraved with the form of an
ornate H, tipped over to the side, with a half-moon rising behind it.[/P]
The sigil of Harmony Grounds. A flag flies above the Gates, wearing this same insignia.[/P]
This pin was carefully crafted, you could tell by the worksmanship. Copies of this abound, but only one pin, the
original that I knew of, had the words clearly cut into the back, "In harmony, there is strength. In strength,
power. In power, peace. In peace, prosperity." [/P]
I knew of only one person who wore this kind of pin, the kind I held in my hand, that seemed to weigh with history.[/P]
Laarni Decoerata. The most esteemed and hated Mayor of Harmony.[/P]
[/P]
[P ALIGN=CENTER]_____________________________________
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~cause anything less than total and utter overkill is a complete waste of time~
-it's the freakin' bluepencil!
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