Fallout Plus: World War Four

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [15.2][0018]

 

"They were fools constantly arguing with one another and plotting against each other. The triple alliance was bound to fail given the nature of GoMIRC, the TechCorps and UmbCorp. Each factions had its own internal problems. They lied to the other factions while internal subfactions were just as secretive. So it was that an UmbCorp Subfaction began an experiment utilising poorly hybridized zetan human technologies, the experimental human supertech being as dubious to use as the strange zetan ones."

 

The GoldQueen was an elegantly, sexually attractive, holographic projected image of a woman or at least that was what she was represented as. In that big chamber, once more safely sealed behind a heavy armoured wheeldoor there was a crazy mixture of robots, machinery and elegant 19th Century style furnishings, fittings and decorations. While much of it was holographic in nature, some of it was genuine antiques including artworks on the walls and in display cases.

 

She went on speaking as protectron robots patrolled the area while bigger, more powerful, sentryrobots stood back in alcoves ready to act if needed. Lasergun equipped eyebots floated through the air carried by quietly humming fanjets. "The zombies are mostly destroyed, often recycled by the NecroQueen of a twisted monster. She is of her own NecroHive that was once a small, less important, part of the grand GoldHive. Fearful humans inhabit another part of my domain and we have a treaty that is not quite a true alliance. We could have one if they simply bowed to my rightful rule but no, they are fools and ingrates."

 

Sarah nodded. "What do you do for each other?"

 

GoldQueen; "I keep the NecroQueen away from their territories and they keep fixing some of my robots, using my territories as a buffer zone against that which they truly fear. They call us the GoldSector and NecroSector while they title themselves the HumanSector. They have no supercomputer networksystem as a 'queen' which is both good and bad in that I can not so easily communicate with them and yet I am not competing with another supercomputerised monarch."

 

It was then that alarms began to shriek and an attack began on the GoldSector.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [15.3][0019]

 

Ceiling turrets dropped down to unleash machinegun, or laser, fire upon shambling zombies. The entities easily fell to the firepower but there were plenty of them and they were not the real threat. Bigger, stronger, hulking versions of zombies came as stompers that pushed aside shamblers or even stepped on them, if they fell, sometimes killing them. Bullets, and laser beams, hurt these creatures that were much fewer in number than the shamblers. Then there were the faster, more agile, speeders that darted amongst the others, trying to survive other zombies and the turrets.

 

LyonsPriders unleashed hell with battlerifles that tore the living-dead apart. They had set up a killzone , with the assistance of the GoldQueen, and now added the firepower of ultraviolet xolasers to the crescendo. Sentryrobots, and eyebots, assisted in bringing down the zombies.

 

They began to flee as the shamblers were mostly slaughtered and then there were only the truly dead remains left behind.

 

Sarah spoke. "That was a testing attack, that is to test your current defensive ability, GoldQueen. Does the enemy have more powerful units than those types of zombie?"

 

GoldQueen: "Unfortunately, yes! There are basic weapons using shants, low flying shlivers and spine hurling spliners. The worst are the lichs, in charge, with their strange powers. They control the zombies. There are others, of the living-dead, but those factions are enemies of the Lichroyals. The vampiric ones also control zombies but in lesser numbers, if at all, for most of them prefer to control thralls and to use just a very few familiars. Then there are the living-distorted of abominations, dhampirs and yet others. I find it very hard to keep track of what is going on in the depths of the GoldHive."

 

Sarah nodded. "That is understandable given the conditions in this UmbHive."

 

GoldQueen: "Yes, in what should be my UmbHive."

 

Sarah sighed. "You are not the GoldQueen, that attack was far too staged to be real, and you appear to have an agreement, of some kind, with the Lichroyals. I psysensed you were speaking half truths and lies."

 

The voice returned, now full of anger. "I am the GoldDuke, once in charge of security. So, I tried to betray the GoldQueen but she shouldn't have isolated me as she did. You will pay for trying to betray me."

 

Then there was silence as the turrets, and robots, did nothing thanks to the subtle assistance of the real GoldQueen and her allies of the Goldmans.

 

It was clear that, as the GoldQueen had warned, the GoldDuke was quite insane.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [16.1][0020]

 

The LittleFateObserver was active, was observing but not observed except by a very few!

 

Stormghosts fell back as supermutants blasted away at them with their superpipeguns, of oversized pipeguns, hurling large spinbullets. The superpipeguns were a type of slippipeguns.

 

Slippipeguns, spinbullets and spinslugs, had been the invention of a naive supergenius who had declared his inventions were to assist good people in the coming postapocalyptic that he predicted was coming; he refused, point blank, to believe that 'bad people' would dare use them. Some Steelfolk used them such as the Steelmisfits and the Steelmutants. Professor Sagebush had invented other Postapocalyptic Tech for goodfolk to survive better.

 

Casper scowled and dared to speak softly his thoughts. "So much for the EEMSID bragging their mission briefings are faultless. There were supposed to be no supermutants in this area let alone ones in well organised, large, numbers as these are."

 

The others were clearly nervous about his daring to complain about the powerful EagleEnclaven Military Security Intelligence Department of the EagleEnclaven Military Ministry; in some ways the department was more dangerous than the ministry.

 

Casper sighed. "We need to escape downwards now that we are surrounded."

 

Now that Casper had ceased complaining, the others were obviously relieved. They were also pleased that his brilliantly tactical mind had fallen upon a viable solution in an area well known for its large scale, underground, networks and cave systems.

 

In just a few minutes they were disappearing down through an open hatchway leading into a Prewar utility network of tunnels, chambers and other features. It was only Casper that sensed that they were being observed by 'something' that certainly was not of supermutants in nature.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [17.1][0021]

 

The LittleFateObserver was active, was observing but not observed except by a very few!

 

A greylien saucership was in a large display cradle next to a still advanced, but more primitive, zetan scoutsaucer that was greatly smaller.

 

Sarah shook her head in wonder. "Zetans are said to have once been slaves of the Greys who escaped, to freedom, with much difficulty and great cost. Understandably they still greatly fear their old masters. The true origin, of the greyliens, and their twisted nature, are still puzzles."

 

An atomic rocketship stood on its tail being a prototype to the ones that later landed on Luna and Mars, leading to the deaths of many of their crew members by cancer and other radiation caused conditions. Many solutions were tried that were not successful such as adding enough shielding, to keep people safe, that made the rocketships too heavy to lift off. There only existed hints that the problems were sorted not long before Doomsday.

 

Vargas snorted in derision. "Glorified deathtraps! I heard plans to use them to colonize, the moon, were never made because what is the point of dying, sterile, colonists being sent anywhere."

 

A Martian wartripod was a carefully preserved leftover from the late 19^th Century's short lived invasion defeated by bacteria that turned out to be bioengineered by an unknown agency and a series of special inventions that slowed down the enemy. Long term studies of captured Martian heatrayguns helped to lead to the long term invention of laserguns, heatbeamers, flamers, lasercutters and other such tech.

 

Sarah shook her head. "The actual reason, behind the invasion, has never been discovered and so there has only been speculation since it ended; the same goes for the mystery factions that produced the deadly, Martian killing, bacteria and those devices that helped destroy so many of their warmachines."

 

There were more exhibitions in that great big chamber and all seemed to be linked with well known mysteries. Except, that is, for five of them.

 

One was a robot that appeared to be made up of a clump of smaller robots just as strangely spider like, except that each had 10 legs, as was the big one. Spider like but boxy and bristling with odd attachments of which some were obviously weapons, tools or instruments while the nature, of others, was obscure.

 

GoldQueen: "Self learning, self developing, self producing robotic concept that went rogue and was destroyed only with difficulty and the heavy loss of military personnel and machines, including robots."

 

A hulking, half melted, giant humanoid half kneeling on a great diskplatform beneath a large dome. The deformities were terrible and the expression, on the damaged face, was one of agony; thankfully, what ever it was, it was dead!

 

GoldQueen: "I have no idea about this exhibit except that it was brought here just before the superweapons were unleashed and that it was found in ancient, deep, isolated caves below the Amazon Jungle. Unreliable notes speak of an ancient city, largely in ruins, that none of the heavily armoured-armed explorers wanted to stay in."

 

The craft had a vertical, crystal, disk at the back of a long, broad, armoured cabin on sled like rails but with retractable wheels. The translucent disk looked as if it could spin.

 

GoldQueen: "Timemachine able to travel through time but also to safety shift, through space, if it has to. Nobody seem to know just where, when, it came from despite the late 1990sAD touches to its appearance."

 

Odder was the large, blue, police box because it looked so normal despite being historically, and geographically, out of place.

 

GoldQueen: "It materialised, one day in the middle of an Alaskan battle between NewSoviets and PanAmericans; the PanAms tried hard to get inside but found it to be impervious to any of their technologies. So it ended up here, somehow long lost to history or at least to any history known to me."

Edited March 13, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [17.2][0022]

 

There was a smaller diskplatform, on the center of the big dome's diskplatform, and melded into the center of that a very complicated chair with a cap shaped helmet, robotic arms with fearful looking devices grips by their manipulators and plenty of ways to bind somebody into that chair. While it generally looked to be a torture device, there was an impression it was far more than that.

 

GoldQueen: "All I know is it is a most dreadful transforming machine so bad that the PanAmerican Government executed its research development team and locked it away. Despite that official account of matters, there are plenty of recorded whispers that hint strongly that the true events were not so straight forward."

 

Sarah spoke. "That is often the way with official histories."

 

GoldQueen: "There is worse to see than these exhibits but I need your help to regain access to them, if you dare to experience them."

 

Sarah smiled. "We will see how our priorities work out but likely we will dare to do so."

 

GoldQueen: "Excellent!"

Edited March 12, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [18.1][0023]

 

The LittleFateObserver was active, was observing but not observed except by a very few!

 

They hid, most bravely, and shivered in fear while clutching their dollies; they had arisen as radraiders true but had failed totally as being so. Still, other raiders looked upon them with mild contempt but gave them jobs to do while protecting them.

 

Janny was excellent at repairing, and upgrading, devices including guns but not such as robots. She had two assistants of a failed radraider and a much repaired robot.

 

Gunfire blasted through the air but the skirmish was only two gangs carefully using ammo to remind each other that they both existed and should not be taken for granted. Lately the mysterious Raiderlord had begun to provide equipment-supplies in exchange for minor quests carried out for him; this included powerful drugs such as psycho, stimpaks and supercocaine.

 

Bopalot was very good at working with various types of body-armour including those favored by radraiders. He had two assistants of a failed radraider and an experimental android.

 

A small explosion caused a slight shiver through the still sturdy structure and a very small amount of concrete dust fell from the ceiling.

 

Sanddio was gifted at turning old rations and radcritter bodies into tasty food, especially by radraider standards. She had one assistant of a battered robot.

 

Another small explosion followed and then silence fell as the skirmish was ended.

 

Brucie the artist sketched fine works of radraiders that enhanced their appearance of courage, attractiveness, toughness and tasteful vulgarity; sometimes he had to do a great deal of 'enhancing'. His only assistant was his student but he did, also, have a very realistic mannequin of a young woman in appearance.

 

The failed raiders, and their assistants, got back to work.

 

Shang cultivated glowshooms, muttfruit, radtatoes, cockroaches, radroaches and other produce; it was said that she had a glowing, radioactive, green thumb. She had three assistants of two patchwork robots and a keen, bumbling, failed radraider.

 

Soon they were all busy again!

 

Techo was like Janny but focused on computers and robots. He had three assistants being two robots, of much reworking, and a android of identical type to the one assisting Bopalot.

 

Well hidden, amongst them, was the celestial presence of the LittleFateBoy who was their true protector, service-supporter and carer. Every day failed radraiders were being drawn, safely, there by him but not just them but multiple others in increasing numbers.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [19.1][0024]

 

The LittleFateObserver was active, was observing but not observed except by a very few!

 

In the settlement of Megaton there was the amazing Moira Brown was 'perfecting' one more of her 'interesting' inventions while locals tried hard not to volunteer to test it. With her android bodyguard, and two assistants plus five animal friends, she lived-worked in the Moira's Emporium. This was not to be confused with the Craterside Supplies shop as run by the more orthodox Brown Family.

 

Uncle Brown lived-worked in the jetliner fuselage held firmly above the settlement being braced on its walls. He had assistants, monkeys as pets, a fairly big telescope, two laboratories of which one was a laboratory-workshop, and lots else crammed into that Predoomsday aircraft. Uncle Brown helped Moira with her inventions; partly to improve them but also to try to make them safer. Uncle Brown knew Moria's deep secret!

 

The Stahl Siblings kept running the kiosk-diner, the Brass Lantern; they were Andy, Jenny and Leo but there were also three dogs and a cat. Jenny was the one who dared to make her way up to the Brown Jet Centre to deliver meals when he, and his assistants, were most busy. Or so it was said for the Stahls suspected he bought extra just to support their business; they were not inclined to complain!

 

Professor Brown helped maintain the protectron robots that helped in turn protect Megaton's citizens; they were Deputies Weld, Steel, Iron, Rust and Rivet, the last two being ironic names for they had no trouble with rust or did they use rivets.

 

Sheriff Lucas Simms was grateful for that, and other assistance, given to him by the professor. Since an actual mayor, and local judge, had emerged he was pleased to be able to focus his time-energies on law-order issues; before that he had served as mayor, judge and sheriff.

 

Two more escapees arrived from TechVault101 and their skills were soon turning out to be very useful.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [20.1][0025]

 

The LittleFateObserver was active, was observing but not observed except by a very few!

 

Sarah was telepathically reached by her quintuplet sister, Sasha, who specialised in psychic affairs with the SteelOrderhood though she was also gifted, skilled, in other ways. Unofficially Sarah was a strong in the psychic ways as Sasha was.

 

Sarah: "I am reluctant to let the SteelOrderhood eggheads (scientists) get their greedy hands on this secrets of this place; there are dangerous secrets here of which I have not seen the worst. While I think that, generally, we can trust the GoldQueen, we need to be wary of any secret programming inside her that even she is not aware of. The GoldHive also has much else that could help us including the scientists."

 

Sasha: "The SteelOrderhood is tied up heavily with taking over the new CitadelDC but if what you say is true, then father will wish to send you assistance. There has been talk of expanding the LyonsPride that you will continue to command as Sentinel with myself, and my people, joining you. LyonsPride will become a special purpose, elite forces, taskforce."

 

Sarah: "Time to focus down and give over, to you, a compressed form of much information."

 

Sasha: "I am ready!"

 

It only took seconds but left both sisters tired as it needed deep concentration, plus all of their experience reinforced skills, to carry out.

 

Sasha: "I have already alerted father (Owen Lyons) that he needs to heed this at once, using the code; Raise the Red Shield."

 

It was a level of alert that had only been used three times before when facing the very worst types of threats; two of those had been with the SteelBrotherhood but the last had been with both SteelFactions. Sarah-Sasha exchanged loving-caring impressions before breaking off psychic contact.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [21.1][0026]

 

The LittleFateObserver was active, was observing but not observed except by a very few!

 

Casper felt odd as he gently, firmly, probed his stomach with his fingers. Yes, there was definitely a lump there that should not have been there. None of his clone comrades had any such 'lump'. It came to him that he really did have strong psychic capacity and that he was breaking free of EagleEnclaven program-conditioning as embedded into his mind.

 

The tunnel began to swam with oversized cockroaches, tough but nowhere as big as true radroaches. Nor were they aggressive as some radroaches were. They were fleeing from something. Casper quietly ordered his people move, with him, out of that tunnel into a chamber that had a rear exit as a hole in the wall.

 

The stream, of escaping critters, grew thicker as cockroaches were joined by mice, rats and other types including smaller numbers of radcritters. Big, tough, radroaches were amongst them along with radrats and radmoles, managing to take their young with them.

 

Casper had a psychic flash of warning. He stood up and darted through the gap in the wall. Knowing him very well, being aware of his intense psychic touch, the others followed him quickly as they could. He spoke just a few words, through his helmet microphone as the others heard is through their internal helmet speakers. "Army radants, move!"

 

Army radants moved with much speed but they could be fairly easily outrun. Their relatively large size meant that smaller creatures could often get away from them using smaller spaces, often hiding. Trouble was a typical army radant was about the size-mass of one of his Stormscouts or himself. The damned intelligence people had failed to mention this threat but it was starting to seem like they knew little.

 

The threatening radants must have continued straight ahead, along the tunnel, because the unit did not encounter them.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

[1] SteelOrderhood First Arrives in Washington DC [22.1][0027]

 

The LittleFateObserver was active, was observing but not observed except by a very few!

 

Jasmine aimed her .22LR boltrifle, bolt-action rifle, and fired! While there were some stocks, of that calibre of cartridge, in TechVault101, they were hardly abundant; nor did vault security like to hand out too many of them to the Exterminators 101. A big, very aggressive, radroach died as the very well bullet destroyed its 'headridge'.

 

Jasmine Johnson, daughter of James Johnson and Catherine Johnson, worked the bolt knowing her ammo supply was starting to run painfully short; she did have a backup of a crossbow, quite powerful but slower reloading as it was, along with a large survival knife, but the rifle could take down the nasties at a greater distance.

 

"These new type radroaches are bigger, more aggressive, and have venom!" She frowned softly as she went up onto off the floor. At the deadly end, of the hallway, quite deep in the unused part of TechVault101, were heaped the ridgehead radroaches. The strange 'headridge' formations on their head areas was the only real marking indicating their physical difference from standard radroaches, apart from bigger size. Her father, Professor Johnson, wanted as many samples as he could get and there were three of them.

 

In her TechVault101 vaultsuit she had also managed to get hold of a vault security armoured vest. Two other teenadults had crossbows and one had a shortbow using arrows. The other three had spears, more for stabbing than throwing, for closer protection.

 

Why had that section, of the vault, never been used when the used section was fairly crowded? Between the two was an internal wheeldoor most often kept closed but somehow the increasingly dangerous ridgehead radroaches had managed to get to the supposedly security section though only in small numbers.

 

It was enough to make the autocratic overseers, of TechVault101, get very nervous and angry; they were used to being in tight control of what happened in 'their vault'. That is how they arrogantly spoke of it, as if it belonged to nobody but themselves.

 

With much care they gathered the four dead radroaches and left the area, soon being back in the officially safer area.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Maharg67