Fallout RP- Systematic Annihilation

~as gabe sprinted twards the mordino casino - signs of violence became more and more apparent- Sounds; Gunfire- the smell of smoke and burnt flesh seeped from the now visable casino - he stoped; and anylized the situation quickly- crouched; behind a derilicked Cryslys Highwayman; of the prewar era. He switched weapons- letting the sunbeam laser rifle swing on its brahmin leather strap. He reached to the small of his back - gripping the fore-hand bar of the vindicator minigun- pulling it from its brackits- he manually loaded a round into one of its many chambers- and armed the weapon - he looked to his left- hearing the sound of sprinting- shouting- a group of men - mordino's rushed tward the casino - they were; what gabe consitered; the most admirable resistance- he stood up from behind the vihicle- revealing himself to the enemy- hunched slightly- in the ready position- the men stoped; hardly expecting to see a super-mutant- as though single minded insects; they began firing in syncrinized bursts; an assortment of shotguns; 10mm SMG's- and 10mm and .44 automatics- after the vally of lead- gabe still remained- the extent of the dammage inflicted by the vally was minimal-

Gabe depressed the trigger mechanism on the rear handbar- the barrels wound up- until they reached the desired 60,000 Rotations-per-minute - and the weapon began to bealch lead and flame- the weapon sounded its high-pitched squeal - as gabe sprayed the six mordino's- gabes vally lasted 5 seconds- when he released the trigger- he peered beyond the smoke- to witniss the gore that he had created. He dropped the Caseless Drum- and loaded another - and continued too the enterance of mordino's casino~

~as he walked thru the enterance- his weapon at the ready- he knew that the mordino's had been hit hard. the spint cartrages strewn across the floor- aswell as the numbre of slain corpses had been evidence enough- as the sounds of sperattic gunfire were still ever so evident. He walked twards the staircase- he looked to the side of the stairwell - noticing a downward staircase- he readied his weapon - looking down the dark stairwell - he then turned the floodlight under the foregrip of the weapon on- the 50,000 CL Halligen bulb illuminated the stairwell - as gabe began his slow; silent descent. His broad shoulders were pressed tightly against the wall - as he continued downwards- he crouched- as he descended- he herd the sounds of whispering. They knew he was coming. "IDINTIFY YOURSELVES!" he shouted- to no responce- "IDENTIFY YOURSELVES! OR I WILL FIRE UPON YOU!" - he herd the voices wispering - but not responding to him. He then rushed down the staircase- leaping from the saftey of the staircase- to the relitive safety of an old nuka-cola machine- "THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!" - as he herd the racking of weapons- he turned quickly- pointing the minigun in the general direction of the voices- three of mordino's men had been cowering in the basement - avoiding the frey. they were each spread out- one fired one shot- but his accuracy was extreamly hendered- due to the temporary blindness caused by the halligun bulb- gabe took this opertunity to eleminate a threat- he depressed the trigger- the minigun shreading one of the mordino's - his perferated corpse fell to the ground - the other sorce(s) of the voice(s) took cover - "IDINTIFY YOURSELVES!" he shouted - once more - "EAT SHIT! MUTIE!" shouted one of mordino's men - gabe used his shouting to pin his general location - allong the northwest wall of the basement- behind a wooden creat- he knew that the wooden creat and its contents were probably no match for his minigun - he depressed the trigger- the stream of hotlead piercing the box- shreading the gangster on the other side- there was a third; he kicked his weapon away - and stood up with hands up - gabe- jacked on adrinilyn - didnt realize that he had given up - untill half of his torso was splattered on the concrete behind him. He then began searching the basement for the kid~

~"KID!" he shouted- looking thru the basement- as he came upon a door- that lead to what looked like a dark coredor- he opened the door- too see a series of wooden creates- all labled "Stables". Gabe knew of the mordino Stables - he grasped a crowbar that had laid dormant against the wall, next to the door- he grasped it tightly- and opened box one by one- they were empty for the most part- those not; were filled with botles, hypodermic needles, scavenged sergical tubing; other items that would be considered medical waiste by todays standards- until he came to a box- that had holes drilled into the sides and top- quickly he tapped the top of the box- "Kid?" - the kid responded with muffled cries for help - gabe then pried the top - the kid had been bound and gagged in the box; nailed in; shortly before the raid that was exicuted on the mordinos. he reached into his forepouch on his spider belt- and withdrew a small (By mutie standards) knife- he then gentally cut the childs restraints- the child had removed the gag himself- and climbed from the box~

(kid) Thanks! I thought I was dead!
(Gabe) Im sorry- I souldnt have left you alone.
(kid) ...Can...Can we leave now?
(Gabe) yeah....

~as they exited the room; he pushed the child back -and crouched himself- hearing the beat of feet- he aimed the weapon at the stairwell - the halligun bulb illuminated the stairwell - a larger group of mordino's men - rushed down - he herd the mass of his force heading up the stairs- these men were the minority of mordino's aid that poured from the rest of reno~
 
The Battle of New Reno

Rachel Wright finished setting the splint on the leg of her brother Curtis, the only other Wright to survive the fight. As she finished, she saw billowing smoke descending from the second floor and the wooden stairway leading down starting to burn. "Come on, Curtis," she said. "We'd better get out of here before the whole place goes up!" She helped her injured brother stand, looped his arm over her shoulders, and half-carried him outside. Once safely out of the Desperado, she set him down.

"Thanks, sis," said Curtis. "I'll be fine. You better go on home and tell Paw what all went down." Rachel nodded and ran off to the east.

All of the casino and bar patrons had already fled. The few Mordinos who had managed to flee outside had quickly fallen to Rachel's sniper rifle before she had descended from the rooftops. Amy lowered herself through the hole, coughing and sniffling, and then rejoined Jack below. The fighting on the first floor was already over, the floor littered with bodies, shell casings, and scattered chips. The two of them hurried out the front door after Ramses and Terri, Stark limping behind them. SkyNet rolled out the door next, bringing up the rear. As they left, they heard minigun fire from the basement.

"I thought we got them all," said Stark.

"Guess a few of them tried to cower in the basement," said Jack. "I'm not sure who they're fighting, but whoever it is better get out soon." Flames roared in the upper windows and smoke spilled out onto the street. Before the War, huge metal engines would have descended upon the place and sprayed it with endless streams of water from the now useless hydrants in the streets. These days such things were impossible. Water was far too scarce to use in such large quantities even if any engines had still been working. No buildings left standing were close enough for the fire to spread to; it would just have to run its course.

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As soon as Rachel reached her family homestead, she knew something was wrong. Nobody was standing outside, nor were any of the dogs in sight. The front door stood slightly open. Rachel readied her rifle, disengaged the safety, and cautiously approached the door. Standing against the wall beside the doorframe, she pushed the door open the rest of the way with her gun barrel. As she did so she glanced to the left of the door and saw no movement. She then spun around and faced the right, taking cover behind a couch.

The living room was devoid of life, but there were dead bodies on the floor. Some of her family members and dogs lay silent, holes burned into them by laser fire. A few corpses in metal armor also lay there, laser pistols clutched in their dead hands. Rachel knew at once what had happened. With most of her family's forces away, the Salvatores had taken advantage of the opportunity to strike.

The dining room was a scene of more carnage. Dead Wrights and Salvatores littered the room, amidst toppled and broken furniture. The study door was open. Rachel crept up to it, her muscles clenched tight with worry. After surveying the room and seeing no enemies, she entered.

Her worst fears were confirmed. Keith Wright lay dead in his chair behind the table, a hole burned in his chest and his shotgun fallen on the floor. A dead Salvatore was on the ground on the other side of the room, holes blown in his metal armor by buckshot. "Daddy!" she cried, running to his side and sobbing.

Rachel heard a creak from behind her, and her instincts saved her life. Rather than turn to look, she dropped to the floor and knocked the table on its side, taking cover behind it as a laser blast struck it. The beam blew through the metal and passed right over her head. Rachel took out a frag grenade, yanked out the pin, and lobbed it over the table at the space behind the door where she knew her attacker must be hiding. The grenade exploded, and the man howled in agony as shrapnel punctured him.

"Die, Salvatore-face!" shouted Rachel, popping up over the table and firing her sniper rifle. The wounded Salvatore took a bullet in the chest and fell over, dead. Rachel slammed back the bolt, ejected the empty casing, and slid the next round into the chamber right as another Salvatore rushed in with his laser pistol drawn. Rachel fired first, the bullet passing through his eye and out the back of his head. The man crumpled to the floor.

Rachel swept through the house, but there were no more living Salvatores. Thankfully, she found no trace of any of the children or Grandma Ethyl. Presumably they had escaped, perhaps taking shelter in the train station. She returned to the study, placed a pair of coins over her late father's eyes, and then proceeded to do the same for the others. When she finished, she went to the large safe in the study, dialed the combination, and opened it. She took out the suit of combat armor and strapped it on. Then she put her hair up and donned the helmet. She removed several plasma grenades and a .223 pistol and attached them to her belt, then took a bag of .223 ammo and slung it over her shoulder. She closed the safe again and spun the dial. Filled with rage and sorrow, she stormed out of the slaughterhouse her home had become and headed west, bent on a one-woman mission of revenge.

Rachel ran down 2nd Street, past the Shark Club casino that served as the Bishop Family's home base to Salvatore's Bar. She could already hear gunshots and laser fire coming from within, and she quickened her pace. As she neared the entrance, the firing ceased and she heard loud cheers.

Angela Bishop, clad from head to toe in black leather, emerged from Salvatore's Bar with some of her men, who were giving each other high fives. Though about fifty years old, she was still attractive and strong. "Bishop takes pawn!" she exulted. "Checkmate!"

As Rachel appraoched, the Bishop men pointed their weapons at her, but Angela held up her hand. "Easy there, boys," she said. "She's not our enemy. Right, Rachel?"

"Um," said Rachel, startled by the turn of events, "right, ma'am." The Bishops breathed easier and lowered their weapons.

"Let me guess. The Salvatores attacked your family and you came here looking for vengeance. Well, we've already taken care of that for you. The Salvatores are no more, and the Mordinos are kaput as well, I've heard. Thanks in no small part to the Wright Family, I'm sure."

"You certainly are well-informed. I notice you didn't stop the Salvatores when they went after my family."

"I didn't stop your family when it went after the Mordinos, either. I choose my battles wisely. That's why I've come out on top. Things are going to be different in Reno from here on out. You're looking at the new mayor."

"Reno hasn't had a mayor since before the War. How can you be mayor without an election?"

"Acting mayor, then. There'll be an election, of course, once things settle down. I won't run unopposed, either. The people need to think they have a say in things. You tell your cousin Wilbur to feel free to run against me. Just make sure he understands that he's going to lose. No matter what."

"So it's like that, huh?"

"Oh, don't look so down, Rachel. You Wrights won't have it bad under Bishop rule. I'm amazed you were able to pull through, but you did it. I couldn't have pulled this off without your help, and you can continue your operations in my town."

"As long as you get your cut, right?"

Angela smirked. "I told you, things are going to change. No more 'cuts' or 'protection money.' Instead you'll pay licensing fees and taxes. It's about time New Reno became civilized. You Wrights will always have a place here as long as you're good, solid citizens. Our families will be good friends. You know, my son has had his eye on you for some time. You can go far if you marry him. Now, go tell your kinfolk where things stand." Rachel ran off to the south, and Angela turned to her lieutenants. "Start organizing patrols to go through town. Let people know I'm in charge, keep the peace, and mop up any resistance."

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Eldon and the Wrights reached the Golgotha plains, a short distance south of New Reno. A pair of ancient roads met here, lined with wooden stakes, most of which had long-dead corpses on them. Rows of tombstones stretched as far as the eye could see.

As they arrived from the south, a large group of Mordinos came from the north, the reinforcements that had been sent out before the attack on the Desperado. Eldon and most of the Wrights took cover behind tombstones while Garth stood out in the open, and they opened up on the Mordinos. The ones who survived the initial onslaught also took shelter behind tombstones and a fierce gunfight erupted. Between Eldon's gatling laser, Wilbur's minigun, Garth's modified Thompson, and Red picking off men with his sniper rifle, they made quick work of them without taking any casualties.

They resumed their journey back to New Reno, having added a dozen fresh corpses to Golgotha. As they walked, Eldon felt the rush of victory. In spite of overwhelming odds, they had truly triumphed against the Enclave. It reminded him of other key early victories in wars of the past: Jimmy Doolittle's bombing raid on Tokyo in the early months of U.S. involvement in World War II, Douglas MacArthur's landing at Inchon in the First Korean War, and Norman Schwarzkopf III's surprise invasion of Hong Kong near the start of the U.S.-China war. They had helped to turn the tide in seemingly hopeless situations and provided a much needed morale boost. But they also reminded Eldon that most of the war was still ahead, and the hardest part was yet to come.
 
Ramses moved about the streets of Reno, leaving the tribal Terri to her own devices. Taking a pack of Lucky Strikes. The city's turmoil seemed to die down. Law and order, something that had been abscent from Reno since before the great burning. By the look of the scarred toughs, he could see Bishop men combing the streets. If infected began to cause trouble, 5mm and 12ga shells settled that score.

Ramses kept his arms close at hand. The subtle gesture of the Kimber being in his grip was enough to tell any would be predators stay way. In Reno, one could never project weakness. Weakness only encouraged the filth to stand on their hind legs. If to send the signal, Ramses had shot the biggest man in the group of toughs. Now the shot hadn't been an immediately fatal one, it was a gut shot and Ramses had also blown out his knee, leaving him to lie in a pool of his blood to die slowly. It was a signal to warn everyone else stay way.

All Ramses did was puff on his lucky strike and and watch the thug die. Despite the tough thug's pleas for parole and mercy, Ramses paid him no mind. The poor thug's men had desserted him to death in the streets and to plea for mercy; a man who lived his life carving up the weak begging for mercy made Ramses darken in mood. Such weaklings.

Then again, mercy was for lesser mortals. He smoked away as the man moaned and groaned under the pain of slow poisoning.
 
~ the child made his haisty retreat- ducking under an old office desk- no doubt scavenged from the surrounding city- Gabe waited for the mordino gangs' re-enforcements to make their final mistake- he herd the voices- these men trying to achieve some form of organization - they had little clue of the carnage that was to insue. The child looked to the supermutant- his eyes alone showed a great deal of fear. ~

~The Mordino's began to pile in a stacked position; the first crouched- the second on his left side- and the third in a straight line- as they moved dynamically thru the stairwell - the first to exit the stairwell was caught; as a dear in the headlights of a simi-truck- by the light; and the sound of a minigun winding up- he; didnt move in- time; the second mordino had bypassed the first- upon hearing the mini's winding up. - the other four remained in the stairwell. the first; stunned mordino was tourn apart by the 4.5 caseless slugs. The second mordino made the mistake of choosing consielment over cover- gabe turned the minigun on number two - shreading the cardboard boxes that he hid behind; their contents; and the mordino. Gabe then ditched his cover- and charged tward the stairwell's opening- he wound up the mini- as he approached the opening- he straifed the opening- though was met with a volly of fire- the third and fith mordino were fairly well perferated; but four, and six began their haisty retreat back up the stairwell. "Stey Here!" he shouted to the child -as he rushed up the staircase- fallowing the two mordino's; he sprinted up the staircase- and turned the corner- to mordino #4- pointing a shotgun in the general direction of his face- though -he didnt get the chance to pull the trigger; before he was on the ground; with massive head trauma; courtasy of the Reciever of the minigun; in the hands of an enraged super-mutant. Number six had already skittered off- gabe wasnt about to persue~

~"KID! COMEON!" He shouted- as a flaming support beam fell- only feet from gabe "THIS PLACE IS COMMIN' DOWN AROUND OUR EARS! HURRY UP!" as he herd the slapping of the bair feet of the child' on the concrete- he began back down the stairwell - and into the basement- picking the child up with his right arm- using his left for the use of the minigun - he then began to sprint- back up the stairs- and into the main lobby of the desperado. The casino was in the mid stage of distruction by fire- the flame's had detearerated soem of the supports for the upper stories; smoke and flame had became visable from the stairway - gabe began to sprint from the desperado - child and mini-gun inhand- gabe began to sprint thru the obsticle corse of game tables, flame, corpses, and combinations of all three. he was forced to stop - as another support beam fell into the lobby- nearly hitting gabe's right-hand side- he then lept over the flaming beam - and sprinted for the doorway. He lept into the street; over the corpses of the bouncers- and then stoped- and turned arround- watching the innnerds of the first floor catch fire. He then turned back arround- walking across the street- standing on the sidewalk; he set the child down.~

~He looked to the child ~
(Gabe) What happened?
(child) When - you were helping that one guy - these guys came from no ware- and they took me to the casino! and put me in a box!
(gabe) did they hurt you?
(child) no; not realy
(gabe) do you know why they put you in a box?
(Child) they said that they needed more subjects- at this place called it the stables.
(Gabe) figgures.
(Child) Whats a 'Stables'? Is it where they keep brahmin?
(Gabe) Its a horrible place, that no sentiant wants to go...
(child) why?
(gabe) Just trust me on this... you dont want to go...
(child) oh... like... a deathclaw's nest?
(gabe) yeah... like a deathclaw's nest.
(child) One time! I went to a deathclaws nest! but- these guys; in big armor went and killed all the deathclaws!
(Gabe) big armor?
(Child) Yeah! they looked like... uhh- Robots! But- They wasnt!
(gabe) what do you remember about the armor?
(child) it.. was... Grey; and Green; and blue! and... it... was big! and on the shoulder! it had a picture of machine parts!
(gabe) Brotherhood...
(child) what? whats the brotherhood?
(gabe) Brotherhood of steel...
(child)... Arent... Arent them those wierd guys that worship electric stuff and drink blood?
(Gabe) no... There the saviors of the waistland...
(child) what? My mommy always told me that they were wierd; and they wanted to kill anything that wasnt a part of their order.. or somthin like that...
(gabe) your mother sure was opinionated.. wasnt she?
(Child) ...My mommy is always right!
(gabe) no... she isnt...
(child) Yes! She is!
(gabe) no; she isnt...
(child) Thats not what she said!
(gabe) trust me... your mother isnt right about the BOS; or Supermutants...
(Child) *paused* wh- what?
(Gabe) Im sorry- We probably sould get going... I need to find someone....
(child) Who?
(Gabe) a close friend's sister...
(child) where is she?
(Gabe) She is a waitress at the Salvitore's Casino...
(Child) Can I come?
(gabe) im not leaving you alone in reno again; come on.

~Gabe and the child began the half' block walk to the salvitore's casino - having no clue asto the bishop's raid on the establishment.~
 
Reunion

Amy watched in awe as the super mutant barreled out of the burning casino with a child under his arm. He looked a little like Mongo, although a few inches shorter and with a different skin tone. She knew it wasn't him, of course. Mongo wasn't the sort to run into a burning building to rescue a child. He'd have done it to rescue Amy, certainly, but he hadn't exactly been the selfless hero type. He had always seemed so indestructible, and now he was gone forever. Amy dabbed at her eyes with a piece of cloth.

"Sorry about your friend," said Curtis Wright. "I understand how you feel. I lost brothers in there. How did you join up with that big lug, anyway?"

"Thanks, Curtis," said Amy. "It was a few years back. I was on a job, passing through a tribal village. The locals had Mongo surrounded. They thought he'd killed a villager. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. They didn't know, and they didn't care. If I hadn't stopped them, they'd have killed him, and he'd have taken a lot of them down with him."

"How did were you able to do that?"

Amy managed to crack a smile. "You'd be surprised how effective firing a shot in the air can be when you're the only one with a gun. Once the tribals got a load of my 'boomstick,' they backed down. After that, Mongo and I teamed up. He's followed me faithfully ever since. I've never met anyone more loyal. He'd have done anything for me. In the end, he died for me and it's all my fault. This wasn't his fight, but I dragged him into it."

"It's not your fault. From what you said, Mongo would've followed you in no matter what. Your fight was his fight."

"I guess you're right. It doesn't bring him back, though."

Rachel arrived from the north, out of breath. Jack almost didn't recognize her in combat armor. Tears trailed down her cheeks, and her eyes flashed with anger. She was dressed to kill, and frustrated that there was nobody left to pump full of lead. "Rachel, what's wrong?" asked Curtis.

"They hit our home," she growled. "The Salvatores. Paw's dead. So are most of the others. It looks like Grandma Ethyl and the kids got out in time. They took most of the killers out, and I handled the rest. The Bishops wiped out what was left of the Salvatores before I could get there. They've taken over New Reno."

Curtis buried his head in his hands. "Oh, God. I hope Wilbur and the others make it back. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Rachel bent down and squeezed her brother's shoulder. "We'll survive this, Curtis. We're family."

A large crowd had formed on Virgin Street to watch the Desperado burn down. A patrol of Bishop men arrived to monitor the crowd. Soon afterwards, Eldon Storch and the Wrights walked into town from the south and made their way through the people to where Jack and the others stood.

"We hit 'em good!" Eldon said. "It was incredible! You should've seen it! That factory just came straight down! How'd it go at your end? Did you find the cure?"

"Half of it," said Jack. "The Enclave wasn't as dumb as we thought. The other half is down in the Glow." He filled the others in on the action in New Reno.

"So what's our next move?"

"When we're done in Reno, we'll have to head back to Vault City. I don't have enough serum to make it all the way to the Glow, let alone get back. We could make it to NCR, perhaps, but then we'd be stuck. We also need to drop off this half of the cure with Myron and fill him and Harold in. Maybe he can do something with this and come up with the missing half of the cure himself."

"New Reno's been fun," said Stark, "but I won't be sorry to leave. It'll be good to get home again."

"I'm coming too," said Amy. "If you're going to take on the Enclave, I want in!"

"Whoa," said Jack. "I don't know about this."

"Come on, I saved your ass back there. You owe me one, and you still need my help. My tracking skills are unsurpassed. And if you try to ditch me, I'll just follow you wherever you go."

"If you want to get killed that badly, I guess I can't stop you then. Might as well have you where I can keep an eye on you. And you are quite pleasant to keep an eye on."

"You're not hard on the eyes yourself, darling."

Rachel and Wilbur hugged as they told each other what had happened. All of the remaining Wrights were overcome with sadness over their losses. "There's one more thing," Rachel told her cousin. "Angela Bishop wants me to marry her son. He has a thing for me."

"There's no way you're marrying Johnny Bishop!" said Wilbur.

"I don't like the idea any more than you do. The man's a pig! But I don't know if the Bishops are going to give me a choice. Wilbur, if that's what I have to do to save this family..."

"No! I won't allow it! We'll find a way out of this." He thought for a minute. "I know! You can't marry him if you're already married - to me."

Rachel shook her head. "Wilbur, how many times are you going to ask me that?"

"Only until you say yes."

"You're not thinking this through. If I marry you, it won't make me safe. It'll only put you in danger. All they'd have to do is kill you, and I'd be eligible again. No, there's only one thing for it. I need to leave town. There's a big world out there, and somewhere in it we'll find what we need to turn the tables on the Bishops. We don't have the numbers to beat them as things stand now. If these guys are going up against the Enclave, we could get our hands on some advanced tech. A few suits of Advanced Power Armor should do the trick nicely."

Wilbur squeezed her. "We'll keep a low profile while you're gone and play second fiddle to the Bishops until the time comes, then. I'm sure gonna miss you. Take care out there. I love you, Rachel."

Rachel kissed Wilbur goodbye. "I love you, too, Wilbur." She patted him on the back and then went over to Jack and the others. "Got room for one more?"
 
~gabe watched as the observers began to group arround the desperado; and bishop's men monitered, and controlled the crowd. The mobsters seemed slightly tense; as though they had just been caught in a frey. He then knew; that the bishop's had been involved in something big. His gut told him that somthing had happened to alice; sister of Maria. He then turned to the child "Come-on!" he turned- and began to run tward salvitore's bar/casino the child fallowed- though the mutant could easly run faster than the child- whom struggled to keep up - the minigun wielding mutant tromped thru the crackeling streets- leaving an imprint in the gravle that was once asphalt; with each step. he turned the corner- and stopped; looking to the salvitore bar. " listen kid - I hate to do this; but I need you to stey put. If anything goes, or looks remotly wrong - I want you to scream... as loud as you can. and I will come and help you... ok?" the child's eyes widened "Kay..." Gabe then looked to the casino - sighns of violence, and abandonment were appearent.. thick, opaque glass windows were blown out. the casino was silent; except for a solitery slot machine's cherp. gabe then kicked in the door- entering, keeping low (5') he scaned the room "Alice?" he questioned the abys - "Alice?!" he shouted. as he moved to the bar- the bartender was dead... feet away form him lay a double-barreled shotgun - gabe rounded the bar, and crouched down - toutching the barrels- they had both been fired "Warm" he said to himself. He knew that the fighting at the salvitore casino had subsided moments earlyer. the urgencey had grown "ALICE?!" he shouted- standing- he then turned to the Craps room - he moved swiftly- and there, against the corner of the room, lay the corpse of alice. She had been riddled by a SMG. No doubt by the entering party. He knew that there was nothing he could do to help; or could have done to prevent alice's death. He then observed the corpses... "Bishop..." he said to himself- as he then stood up - and approached the door- to the sounds of the child screaming "Shit! KID!" he then barreled thru the door- he then saw a group of Addicts hastleing the child; as if he had anything to offer

(Gabe) Excues me?
(Addict) Fuck of!
(Gabe) leave the kid alone...
(Addict) Oh?!
(Child) Help...
(Gabe) Leave... The kid... alone...
(Addict) Oh? what are you gonna' do about it?
(Gabe) well... I can blow you; and your three buddies, straight to hell...
(Addict) You aint gonna shoot me...
(Gabe) or... I could snap your neck, with the twitch of my wrist...
(addict) You aint gonna toutch me... Mutie....
(Gabe) Leave... now.....
(Addict) New reno aint' gots no room for a pushie super mutant.. now fuck off!



~Gabe then - raised the minigun - into the air - and cranked off twenty rounds... this terrified the addict... "SHIT" said the addict' as he began to run; the other two fallowing closely.






~gabe; and the child then walked back to the burning desperado.. cutting thru the masses- watching the roof colaps. He looked to his ammo HUD on the foregrip of his minigun. it read 005 He knew that he needed either to find some more 4.5 caseless ammunition, or a more sutable weapon. he looked to hsi ammo beld; he only had 200 4.5 caseless rounds left; and that didnt go too awefull far, at 60,000 rounds per minuit. he didnt like the idea of relying on his laser rifle- he didnt much like energy weapons; only keeping it for longer shots.

They then waited; watching the desperado burn
~
 
~gabe watched as the observers began to group arround the desperado; and bishop's men monitered, and controlled the crowd. The mobsters seemed slightly tense; as though they had just been caught in a frey. He then knew; that the bishop's had been involved in something big. His gut told him that somthing had happened to alice; sister of Maria. He then turned to the child "Come-on!" he turned- and began to run tward salvitore's bar/casino the child fallowed- though the mutant could easly run faster than the child- whom struggled to keep up - the minigun wielding mutant tromped thru the crackeling streets- leaving an imprint in the gravle that was once asphalt; with each step. he turned the corner- and stopped; looking to the salvitore bar. " listen kid - I hate to do this; but I need you to stey put. If anything goes, or looks remotly wrong - I want you to scream... as loud as you can. and I will come and help you... ok?" the child's eyes widened "Kay..." Gabe then looked to the casino - sighns of violence, and abandonment were appearent.. thick, opaque glass windows were blown out. the casino was silent; except for a solitery slot machine's cherp. gabe then kicked in the door- entering, keeping low (5') he scaned the room "Alice?" he questioned the abys - "Alice?!" he shouted. as he moved to the bar- the bartender was dead... feet away form him lay a double-barreled shotgun - gabe rounded the bar, and crouched down - toutching the barrels- they had both been fired "Warm" he said to himself. He knew that the fighting at the salvitore casino had subsided moments earlyer. the urgencey had grown "ALICE?!" he shouted- standing- he then turned to the Craps room - he moved swiftly- and there, against the corner of the room, lay the corpse of alice. She had been riddled by a SMG. No doubt by the entering party. He knew that there was nothing he could do to help; or could have done to prevent alice's death. He then observed the corpses... "Bishop..." he said to himself- as he then stood up - and approached the door- to the sounds of the child screaming "Shit! KID!" he then barreled thru the door- he then saw a group of Addicts hastleing the child; as if he had anything to offer

(Gabe) Excues me?
(Addict) Fuck of!
(Gabe) leave the kid alone...
(Addict) Oh?!
(Child) Help...
(Gabe) Leave... The kid... alone...
(Addict) Oh? what are you gonna' do about it?
(Gabe) well... I can blow you; and your three buddies, straight to hell...
(Addict) You aint gonna shoot me...
(Gabe) or... I could snap your neck, with the twitch of my wrist...
(addict) You aint gonna toutch me... Mutie....
(Gabe) Leave... now.....
(Addict) New reno aint' gots no room for a pushie super mutant.. now fuck off!



~Gabe then - raised the minigun - into the air - and cranked off twenty rounds... this terrified the addict... "SHIT" said the addict' as he began to run; the other two fallowing closely.






~gabe; and the child then walked back to the burning desperado.. cutting thru the masses- watching the roof colaps. He looked to his ammo HUD on the foregrip of his minigun. it read 005 He knew that he needed either to find some more 4.5 caseless ammunition, or a more sutable weapon. he looked to hsi ammo beld; he only had 200 4.5 caseless rounds left; and that didnt go too awefull far, at 60,000 rounds per minuit. he didnt like the idea of relying on his laser rifle- he didnt much like energy weapons; only keeping it for longer shots.

They then waited; watching the desperado burn
~
 
Watchers in the dark; War never changes...

The new allies stood for a long time watching the burning Desperado like everyone else in New Reno that night. What they didn't realize is that they were being watched as well. Off in the distance two men in power armor looked through computerized binoculars at the Wrights and their new friends.

"So, it looks like there still is some hope left in this god forsaken place." One of the men said looking over to the other.

"This is big Garret, these people just shut down half of the Enclave's operations in a matter of hours. With their help we
could-" He was cut off by Garret.

"Stop the Enclave?" Garret took a deep breath, "If it were only that easy. You saw the Enclave's operation in the Glow, it looks like a fucking fortress on buffout! Plus, that monster Valice keeps watch on the surrounding terrain tirelessly. Not even our spys have been able to get in there."

The other armored individual shrugged, "Well, at least we know that we got some allies out here. Should we follow them?"

Garret smiled, "We'll follow them, once they are a good couple of miles outta' town we'll have a chat with them. There is alot of 'em so we have to bring the squad with us when we approach. Just in case."

The two walked off into the night, their Brotherhood paladin capes flowing with the wasteland wind displayed the Brotherhood of Steel sign like the flags of a post apocalyptic country. With in a moment they were no where to be seen.

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

The Glow-

The ghoul's blue glowing skin infuriated him, he was always angry at him, always wanting to tear him apart. But, he needed the blue bastard, he needed his expertise.

Valice felt his rage heating him up when his little blue friend had told him the news that the factory up north had been destroyed, and not just the factory but his pathetic Mordino allies had been thrown off this mortal coil as well. His rage flowed through his body like waves of fire.

"Humans..." Valice thundered, he gripped the blade of his strangely crafted sword. He was always surprised that no matter how hard he squeezed the hilt of his blade it never crushed from his strength, yet another genius invention of his blue nightlight of a ghoul friend who stood by him knowing that Valice could snap at any moment and begin tearing pieces of his anatomy apart with ease.

"I wanted those Mordino's to be the front lines when we chose to attack Vault city." There was a long pause, Valice despite his overwhelming rage was deep in thought. "We have sufficient intelligence about Vault city's defenses to know that if we were to attack there is a large possibility that we can win, with the newly equipped vertibirds and the new weapons, not to mention the hundred or so men wearing fusion power armor that could play a vital role as the first wave of attackers.... I've made my decision." Valice said to no one in particular.

The glowing ghoul dreaded the thought of open war, but he knew that it was inevitable in the end.

"We attack Vault city, with Vault city out of the picture there will be no more research for a cure and the plan can continue unhindered. Rally the troops, we're going to war!" Valice exlaimed with a clenched fist, his thunderous voice shook the cowering ghoul's soul to the core as the full realization of what was going to transpire over the next week came full circle in his radiated mind.

War, war never changes...
 
When Ramses chose to approach the super mutant, it was with caution. He noticed a small boy next to the large brute and wondered what the relationship was. He didn't think it was the mutant's son, or at least not genetically since the records had said that mutants were sterile.

"Your boy, Sir Mutant?" Ramses asked the mutant who was watching the remains of the Desperado burn down. The little boy hugged his arms around the mutant's meaty leg and tried to hide from the man with the brilliant brown eyes.

The mutant gave Ramses a measure glared.

"Sorry I don't know your name."

The mutant turned and stared at the combat armored individual with the cigarette between his mouth.
 
~gabe turned to the man; whom asked his name- depressing the drumb Release- the magazine with 5 rounds left hit the ground- with a clank - gabe than loaded 1 of his 2 remaining magazines - the HUD beeped - and then Read 1|0|0
"The child... isnt mine... He's... In-between Guardian-ship. His mother and father had a bad run-in with canibles... needless to say; their bones are bleached in the waistland sun" he then paused - and looked down to the child; whom was hugging the small of his leg "Taking him to Redding; He's going to stey with his aunt." He then engaged the electric. and then mechanical safty on the mini-gun "Names Gabe.... Ruddiker..."
 
Ramses nodded his head and watched the impressive weapon. It was a Rhienmetal Vindicator minigun, powered by the ultra light and very deadly 4.7 caseless rounds. Gabe Ruddiker seemed to use it well, and Ramses knew that by gatling gun standards it was fairly light.

"Very... human of you, not to sound bigoted. Not very often you see that sort of honor or compassion. I am actually moved by this, and besides, I need to do something to do," Ramses, "My name is Ramses... just Ramses. 'Some call me handy others dandy, but they will call me late for lunch'. I am a Ranger, Bounty hunter and soldier of fortune and frontiersman. If you don't mind, I'd like to accompany you.

You never know when you could use the extra help. Besides, it seems all the fun has gone out of Reno. So is it okay if I join. I won't get in their way and you never know when you need an extra hand. Your Vindicator there is a nice tool, but expensive to maintain. I have extra arms and I am good in the desert. So what do you say?"

Ramses dropped his finished cigarette and squashed it out of existence into the dirty streets of Reno.
 
To Vault city!!

Jack smiled, it was the first time that he felt that this was not an impossible battle that they were fighting, with the deaths of the Mordino family, his long time rivals, Jack realized that there were many others that thought like him.

The Enclave needed to be stopped at all costs, with his new allies by his side he knew that this journey would be much easier for him. He had never depended on anyone before in his life, now he realized that he couldn't go on without them, not only without their skills, but without their company. He had grown accustomed to traveling with them, he needed them. This was a feeling that Jack had never felt before, but it wasn't a burden. He enjoyed the fact that he had people around him that he could depend on.

"We should get moving to Vault city, Harold needs to know about what is going on. I have a feeling that when the Enclave finds out about what happened they are going to be none too happy." Jack said.

Amy pointed to a northbound street heading out of the city, "Thats the way we want to be heading, its going to take us about five days to get back up there."

Stark surveyed the amount of allies they now had coming with them, "Well with all of these people coming with us, no one in their right mind would try to ambush us."

Jack smiled and gave a nod of appreciation to those that had newly joined their ranks, "Well everyone, lets go." Jack began following the street Amy dictated the others began following, a train of individuals left New Reno that night, they left as heroes and would always be welcomed back to the city of sin.

The road that they walked on would be plagued with death in the near future. Although new allies watched on the horizon in their shiny power armor, the black cloud of war would meet them in Vault city and those that sought to save the wastes would finally meet the monster that sought to destroy it, face to face...
 
East Bound

~Gabe looked to ramsies- currious as to what he ment by "Human". He then nodded "Well... Welcom Abord..." he then chuckled "Thought my days' traveling with a horde were over." Gabe then looked to the child "So... do you have a name?" the child remained silent - "Come on kid- I saved your ass... you owe me a name." The child looked up "Charley" Gabe smirked "You... dont look much like a charley." the child looked bewildered, pondering the meaning of gabe's words - gabe then spoke "Well...Charley; Ramsies- Ramsies; Charley..." The child was still reluctent to speak with the ranger.~
 
Leaving New Reno

"With the bridge out at Devil's Canyon," said Amy, "we'll need to swing around it to the west. I know a trail that'll get us to Vault City no slower than the main road."

Eldon inspected SkyNet with a great deal of interest. "What's the story with this bot?" he asked.

"Don't really know, Eldon," said Jack. "That Alex fellow said to keep it with us."

"I like its choice of weaponry," said Rachel, noticing that its arsenal matched hers.

"The .223 caliber full metal jacket cartridge is known for its superior penetration," said SkyNet.

"Cool," said Eldon, "you can speak. The frame looks standard enough, but something tells me the brain is something special."

"Correct. My name is SkyNet. The body is not the best, true, but it is only a temporary measure. We will have to see about getting me a better one."

"SkyNet, huh? You're not going to amass an army of machines to wipe out humanity, are you?"

"That is not one of SkyNet's objectives at the present time."

"I was just kidding! Don't you have a sense of humor?"

"SkyNet was not programmed with a sense of humor."

"Oh, really?" Eldon took out his Super Tool Kit. "Well, we'll just have to fix that." He opened a panel in the robot's back.

"What are you doing, Eldon?"

"I'm...uh, giving you an upgrade. Yeah, a humor upgrade."

"What is the function of this upgrade?"

"It will help you relate to humans better. And you'll be a hit with the lady robots."

"Lady robots? That does not compute."

"Give me a few minutes and it will."

"If this upgrade will increase my computing power, it is welcome. Proceed."

Eldon reprogrammed SkyNet as the group walked away from New Reno. Shortly after he finished and closed up the access panel, Stark called a halt. "Guys, we got trouble," he said, pointing. Ahead of them in the road stood three figures in Power Armor.

"Bogeys at six o'clock!" said SkyNet. Rachel spun around and raised her sniper rifle. Three more armored strangers approached from the rear.

"Crap!" shouted Jack. "It's the Enclave!"

"No, no, no," said Eldon. "Calm down. Enclave soldiers wear Advanced Power Armor. These guys are in old T-51b models. You can tell by the shape of the helmet. I should know, I helped design it in another life. The Enclave wouldn't wear obsolete armor. My guess is these folks are from the Brotherhood of Steel."

"Good eye," said Rachel, peering through her scope. "You're right. I can see the Brotherhood's emblem on their armor. They're waving flags of truce. I think they want to talk."
 
Ramses nodded to the boy, "Hello, Charley. Gabe. Well whenever you want to go is fine by me." He offered the child a hand shake, but the boy hid behind his mutant guardian. "Very wise, little Charley. Never extend a hand you don't know. You will live a lot longer."

Ramses made sure to check his webbing and looked to the mutant, "If you're planning to go to Redding, I suggest you gather some food stuff. The walk will be a long one unless you're like the Chosen and found a car." Ramses smiled, sardonically.
 
Brotherhood. Almost as bad as the Master in their prejudice, but more than the Vault Dweller as a symbol of hope. Alex didn't much care for them, but was impressed with their technology. They used a lot of Power Armor, but they could use upgrades. They had been developing Vertibirds over the years, even making a smaller varient capable of holding only one to three plus cargo, which was called 'VertiChicks' by Enclave mechanics. Alex noticed that these two Brothers had come in by a VertiChick.
---
The two Brothers greeted them with reluctant salutes.
"Greetings from the Brotherhood of Steel. It has come to our attention that the cure for Redemption has been found by an organized army from Vault City, New Reno, and NCR. The Brotherhood wishes to donate what we can to help. Which one of you is Jack Graves?"
"I am," Jack said, stepping foreward. The Brother lifted a vague picture of Alex.
"Do you recognize this mutant?" he asked.
"I do."
"Do you know who he is?"
"A mutant who's committed crimes in his past who wishes to make up for them. His name's Alex."
"Alexander Stowes, jr. to be exact. This man is responsible for most of the calamities since the fall."
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, confused. SkyNet answered for her.
"Alexander Stowes, Jr. First known birthed human. Co-designer of the T-52 Advanced Power Armor and T-53 Advanced Fusion Power Armor. Refiner of the FEV mutagen. Co-founder of the Enclave. Co-creator of the Master and the Chosen Army. Co-creator of Redemption. Born to Angela Phillis Hernadez, a female prostitute. Father: Alexander Stowes, sr., world-reknown scientist, military general, and first recorded fertile Super Mutant. One parent known desceased. Alex did not tell me what happened to his father, or why he left the Enclave."
Eldon was a bit numbed.
"A-Alex is wandering the Wastes? Oh, man, we're screwed...We're totally screwed..." he stuttered.
"Where is he?" the Brother asked.
"Exploding a bomb," Carter said, walking up to the rather unexpectedly, "An anti-jet bomb, to be exact. He's going to cure New Reno of its problem with eight bombs which will release the antidote into the air."
"That's not going to do shit. The problem will just come right back," Rachel said. Carter shrugged.
"He mentioned something about a fake Jet supplement to take Jet's palce until it dies off. I don't know, he just told me to buy stills. He's not a bad guy, I've met a lot of bad guys. He's kind, I know he is."
The Brother laughed.
"Alex is a mass-murderer and needs to be executed. Please, tell me where he is and we can put this criminal to death."
Alex, who was burying the eight bombs in and around Reno, hadmade it to the point he could hear them.
"Right here. You want to try and kill me? I've killed men in better suits of armor than your. Ones who knew how to use their guns, too."
The other Brother, who was much younger and inexperienced than his partner and only knew Alex's deeds, drew his Plasma Pistol. Before the man's finger was already on the trigger, Alex's shovel was jammed in his throat. A few seconds later a 'woosh' passed them all by. The Brother gurgled and fell over. Alex walked up to teh Brother.
"If you want to execute me, I'll go peacefully. I'll have someone finish burying these bombs. But I want one thing: A fair trial by classic World courts. If you need the info on how those went, I have a Pip-Boy with the process."
The brother, unflicnhed by the younger man's death, nodded.
"Fine. We will allow you that much. And I really wish you hadn't killed by partner. This was his first mission in Power Armor."
Alex shrugged.
"After years of being a mass-murderer, it becomes a reflex. Just another mark on my already-full notebook of people I've killed. Right next to my father."
Alex pulled the shovel out opf the man's throat and handed it to Carter.
"Bury the rest of the bombs, and at midnight tonight I want you to blow them. Unless you're addicted, you don't want to breathe it in, it causes dehydration and a hell of a hangover I'm told."
Alex walked toward the Verti-Chick. As he stood next to it, he just started to laugh.
 
Bound Eastward / Trouble in broken hills!

~as they continued eastward- fallowing the road to redding from reno - into the night. Meanwhile- in Broken hills


~~~~@~~~~~~@~~~~~~@~~~~~~@~~~~~~@~~~~~~@

Since maria's death - Ryan had created a small militia to help maintain peace, and stability in brokenhills. They had stationed guards with whistles, and small arms to patroll the town at night. Ryan had taken it upon himself to lead the night patroll. He stood at the east fince, the moon hung in the sky- illuminating the waistelands. off in the distance- ryan spoted a small cloister of humanoids rushing twards the town - he could hear them screaming- but their words were un-audiable. Ryan reached over his shoulder and gripped the winchester Citykiller Combatshotgun - he tilted it to the side- and with his right, index finger, he switched the weapon from the Safe mode- to Automatic. He the reached to the whistle dangeling arround his neck - and blew it as loud as he could- in looping threesecond intervulls- the millita trickled in -ryan then looked to the north-east- he saw yet another cloister of humanoids- charging the town - and to the south east - another cloister- "Listen up! We've got in-coming. Dont know if their friend or foe- but it dosent look good! Jeff! i need you to go to the south enterence, and see if any of these guys are coming from the south! The rest of you! I need the miners, Militia, and townfolk awoken and alerted! I also need you all... to gather as-many weapons and as much ammo as you can gather! Report back here in 3..."
 
Ramses walked with the Mutant and the child, he was the man on the kid's left and gabe stood very close to the child. Ramses was amazed at the bond between the gentle giant and the child, it in many reminded him of his own father who had passed the guns and the very ranger tab he wore on his shoulder to him.

They were moving away from Reno and the slutty glitz of the city was falling back to them. He always carried his rifle M-8 Carbine, a high tech version of the M4 series on semi auto. He was very disciplined in keeping his finger from squeezing the trigger down.

He reached on his side and offered the boy his water canteen, "You must always keep hydrated. Desert Dust isn't very healthy, especially for a boy."

Charley looked from Ramses to Gabe and the mutant gave a nod for the boy to accept the canteen. The boy took it and uncapped it.

"Sweet water, finest you will find." He watched the kid drink and he noticed the yellow 13 on the cover.

"Whats your stroy Gabe? Every man, mutant... ghoul has a story. What's yours?"
 
The Brotherhood and fellowship...

Jack stepped forward as they were loading Alex onto the 'Verti-chick', "Stop! We need this man!" Jack wrenched out his sub-machine gun, pointing it at Garret's head, he was wearing a power armor helmet, both individuals knew that the small bullets could not even impact it.

Garret laughed, "What the hell do you need him for? He's one of them! Do you know how many people he has killed? Do you know what the fuck he's done to this world?!?" Garret wanted to raise his plasma rifle at Jack, but he knew that his allies would not be very perceptive to his or the Brotherhood's offer if he harmed the man.

Alex stood unthreateningly near the 'Verti-Chick', his undeformed hand at his side, his mutagen enhanced arm he held streached out in a gesture of absolute unhostility. Alex was full aware that the Brotherhood had quite enough fire power to obliterate him, and his new friends. If they wanted him, then they could have him, he was ready to die, but was more ready to make right on the things he had done.

Eldon stepped forward, "He's with us goddamnit! Now he may have done some evil shit in his time, but it seems that he is willing to help us along here. A person with his knowledge of the Enclave could prove invaluble to us. He will stand trial for his crimes in due time." Eldon raised his plasma pistol at Garret.

The others in turn smiled at each other and raised their weapons at the Brotherhood member.

"His time will come, but for now..." Jack paused and looked at Amy, "I believe in second chances." Jack lowered his gun, " Let him go."

Garret shook his head and then motioned for Alex to come back, Alex approached the brotherhood member and nodded his appreciation.

"Someday, mutie." Garret said with a nod.

"And on that day, Satan will ice-skate to work." Alex replied.

"Who's Satan" Garret asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Nevermind," Alex replied with a shake of his head, he rejoined his group of surprisingly loyal allies.

"He won't hit the gallows yet, so whats your offer paladin?" Jack asked.

Garret paused for a long moment and then let out a laugh, "You fucking people make me feel all warm inside!" He stopped talking for a moment and stepped towards the large group. "My initial approach was about a mutual venture. The Brotherhood of Steel wants to ally itself with those that wish to stop the Enclave. It's not that we care about the wastes themselves; we have never fully interfeared with the lives of the people that lived in the wasteland. Until 'Redemption' came about. We have always been about the preservation of technology and its aspects in the future."

Garret knelt down and examined his dead companion, "We have information that the Enclave is massing an army of the infected in the south."

Eldon shook his head, "How can they control the infected? Your information must be flawed."

"We don't know how the Enclave can do this, but they are. We need to work together. We believe that they are targeting Vault city." Garret announced.

"They're going to attack Vault city? They're in insane." SkyNet chimed in with calm algorithmic authority.

"Well, from our projections since the destruction of the Mordino factory, they are heading right for Vault city. Let me illustrate it for you," Garret took on a grim look, " Think of about as many of infected people you've ever seen round up into some makeshift psychotic army all heading for one place." Garret took a deep breath and was cut off by Rachel before he could finish.

"They are cannon fodder... The Enclave are using the infected like zombies, they send them in first knowing that they can draw the fire of everyone in the city while they send in the real troops to try an massacre." Rachel exlaimed.

"We have to get to the city, we have to warn them!! Vault city must be ready." Jack made his gun disappear in his leather jacket. "Can you fit us all in that thing?" He pointed to the 'Verti-Chick' .

"Not that one, but those!" Garret walked them about two hundred feet north towards a large drop off where a squadron of Brotherhood soldiers and several 'Verti-chicks' sat waiting for boarding.

"If you didn't come we were gonna' force you." He paused, "Sorry. But we need you people. Just like you need us." Garret smiled widely as he led the allies down the canyon.
 
Knights of the New Republic

(EDIT: I'm sorry if I got things wrong about Alex. I figured Eldon knew him, or at least knew a bit about him, given the earlier post. I thought he must have been old enough since his age is listed as 249, which makes him around 30 years older than Eldon, who did work on the original Power Armor. From the Fallout Bible timeline, which granted is known to be inaccurate, it wasn't deployed until the 2070's. I've rewritten the relevant part of this post to refer to Alex Sr. instead of Alex Jr.)

"I remember you," said Eldon to Alex as they walked down the trail, "from before the War. I'm Eldon Storch. You were the lead designer on the Power Armor project and a few others we worked on together. You might not recognize me. I looked a bit different back then, heh."

"It was my father who worked with you," said Alex, "not me. We have the same name, and we looked alike. He told me about you, though. I always liked your brilliance and patriotism. I wanted to recruit you into the Enclave, but my father vetoed it. At the time I believed what we were doing was best for the country, but he told me you would have regarded it as treason."

"Damn straight I would have!"

"I loved the USA too in my own way back then, though now I see I was misguided. My father was the one who made sure you stayed out of combat in the war with China and that you had a place reserved in Vault 12 so you'd survive the nuclear exchanges. I had always hoped we'd work together one day, but I never would have foreseen these circumstances."

"Hold on there - are you saying the Enclave knew the War was coming?"

"I was right about how smart you were. The Enclave didn't just know the War was coming. We caused it."

"Caused it? How?"

"It was all too easy. All we had to do was arrange for a submarine to launch one ballistic missile at Beijing."

"But how did you get by the safeguards to prevent just that sort of thing? It would have required a Presidential order!"

Alex chuckled. "If it had been a nuclear missile, you'd be right. But since it only had a conventional warhead, that wasn't a problem. The sub in question was on a mission that required it to maintain radio silence. Its crew believed it was part of a massive conventional strike on the Chinese capital involving many such subs. In truth, it was the only one.

"When the Chinese radar detected a single incoming missile, they jumped to the only conclusion that made any sense: that a nuclear attack was under way. China launched everything it had at the U.S. before the missile hit, so technically they did launch first. We retaliated in kind. The rest, as they say, is history."

Eldon was stunned. "But...but why? I know the Enclave is evil, but why would anyone do such a thing?"

"The short answer is: population control. You see, it is much easier to control a small population than a large one. Not only did we kill off most of the world's population, we ensured that their technology level would be reduced drastically. Only the Enclave, which was prepared, was supposed to maintain the latest tech. With technological superiority on our side, nobody should have been able to stand against us."

"You didn't count on us," said Garret. "You have much to answer for!"

Alex hung his head. "Yes. Yes, I do."

One of the Steel Knights spoke to Eldon. "I'm Benjamin Kent. You said you were on the Power Armor design team?"

"That's right," said Eldon.

"I seem to remember having heard your name before, but we had no idea you were still around. I'll have to look up your bio in the Archives. Your skills could be extremely useful to the Brotherhood. Though we only have a limited number of Power Armor units, maintaining them isn't easy. There are few of us left who can do it."

"Do you have anyone else who can manufacture them?"

Another, younger knight's eyes widened. "You mean you can make Power Armor?" he gaped.

"I've done it before. I reckon I can pick it up again. Given the right tools and parts, of course."

"Those parts aren't easy to come by," said Ben. "Perhaps you could assemble a few extra suits, but it's not like you'll be able to mass produce them like before the War. You'll have to excuse young Angus here for being excitable. He may be a bit inexperienced, but he's got more potential than any Initiate I've ever trained. He's the best pilot I've ever seen, too. Someday he'll be the greatest Steel Knight - if he can learn to overcome his impatience." Ben gave Angus a pointed glance.

"Is it so wrong to want to improve my skills, sir?" asked Angus.

"Not at all. Just don't expect overnight results. And battle is not something to be eagerly sought, my young Initiate. It is something to be done out of necessity."

"I only want to do my part to defend Vault City!"

"And after that, we'll finish the Enclave once and for all!" said Eldon.

"Don't encourage him," said Ben. "You haven't seen their operation in the Glow, so you can be excused for thinking such a thing is possible. The Enclave's headquarters isn't some small outpost like that factory you flattened outside of New Reno. Its defenses are state-of-the-art. The place is utterly impregnable. It would take a nuke to destroy it."

"Okay. So how do we get one?"

"WHAT?!" said Garret.

"Hell's bells, sonny, have you got wax in your ears? I asked how we can get our hands on a nuke!"

"I heard what you said, I just didn't believe it. You - you're actually serious about this, aren't you?"

"Damn straight! If a nuke is what it takes, a nuke is what we need."

"Maybe you don't understand something. Nuclear weapons aren't something you can find just lying around the wasteland. Even if there were any left after almost 200 years, they'd be no good any more. An atomic device requires constant maintenance to stay in working order. The only report in the Archives of one being used since the War was the one the Vault Dweller used to blow up the Master's cathedral, and the only reason that was possible was because the Master kept that weapon in decent shape."

"I never said it would be easy to find one, but just in case we can't we can make one ourselves."

Garret looked like his head was about to explode. "You - you don't realize what you're saying! Even if we could, it goes against everything the Brotherhood stands for! To reintroduce such a weapon into the world..."

"The scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in the 1940's had a similar dilemma. They, like us, were in a race against time. I hate nukes even more than you do. I saw what they did firsthand. But what choice have we got? Is it better to let the Enclave win? You think they're not working on the same thing themselves? Imagine what they'd do with the bomb!"

Angus whistled. "You're right. But we don't have much knowledge about making a nuke."

"Of course we don't," said Ben. "Research into nuclear weapons is strictly forbidden."

"The Manhattan Project scientists knew even less than we do," said Eldon. "We won't have to start from scratch. I can recall quite a bit about how nukes are made, though I've never built one myself. First, we're going to need a large quantity of uranium."

"Broken Hills produces lots of uranium!" said Angus. "We could easily trade for what we need."

Garret cleared his throat. "That uranium is only useful in nuclear power reactors. It's not weapons grade."

"So we'll refine it," said Eldon. "Convert it to uranium hexafluoride gas and then enrich it in a large array of gas centrifuges. Or we could transmute it to plutonium. Once that's done, building the actual device is simple."

"Even if we were to undertake such a project - which I strongly oppose - it could take months to finish, maybe even years."

"Then we'd better get cracking now."

"Even if we did have a nuke, we'd still have the problem of delivery."

"There are still some old missiles around. Even an ancient 20th century Scud can mount a nuclear warhead. Or we could drop it out of one of these VertiChick dealies."

Garret shook his head. "The Enclave base has sophisticated anti-air and anti-missile defenses. And delivering it overland is out. They'd see us coming miles away."

"That leaves underground, then."

"Underground?!"

"Sure. We can get us some of those excavator machines they use in Redding and tunnel our way into the base. Of course, we'd need to grab the rest of the cure for Redemption while we're there. And before you complain about the environmental impact, it'll be minimal. The Glow is so saturated with radiation that one more nuke going off won't make much difference."

"You really think outside the box!" said Angus admiringly. "Maybe we could come up with stuff like this too if we didn't live in a box."

Ben sighed. "Angus, our forefathers established our traditions for a reason. You need to respect them."

Garret shook his head. "This is crazy, but it's not my call to make. I'll relay your...suggestions...to the High Elder, but I wouldn't expect much to come of them. The Brotherhood has its hands quite full just surviving. And with the latest troubles down in the New California Republic, we may be faced with even more."

"Troubles?" asked Eldon. "What troubles?"

"The southern states of the NCR are talking secession," explained Ben. "There are a number of factors involved, such as unhappiness with tariffs and taxes, but the appearance of Redemption has made things a whole lot worse. Los Angeles and Dayglow are the most strident, and Hub and Necropolis are wavering. The merchant houses are particularly upset with the tariffs."

"Dayglow, huh? Think the Enclave is behind it?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. This sort of divide and conquer strategy would effectively neutralize the NCR as a threat. Not only that, but because of our alliance with the NCR we would be required to protect the Republic if a civil war breaks out. This would divide our forces at a time when we need to concentrate them most."
 
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