DC WASTELAND RISING

[Maharg67]

I HAVE TAKEN WORLD WAR THREE AS HAPPENING IN THE ALTERNATE EARTH DATE OF 1977 INSTEAD OF 2077 AS IN THE FALLOUT 3 GAME. I HOPE THIS IS OKAY WITH PEOPLE.

 

 

ONE

 

 

The 20mm autogun bullets ripped apart the first super mutant charging stupidly and openly across the big open cavern. It dropped even as she turned the big weapon against a second super mutant that she and others often called 'Stupid Mutants'. This time the big screaming beast, shouting violent stupidities as they often did, had its head explode in a rather messy fashion. The headless body kept running until it tripped and fell flopping to the ground, dropping its minigun in the process. The noise of it screeched on the nerves.

 

The smell of rotting mutie flesh and cordite filled the air to be picked up by her armoured helmets sniffers. Her helmet was a prototype grabbed from some bunker somewhere and she had promised herself she would give it to the BofS eggheads one day, or Scribes as they were called by the BofS.

 

Other soldiers squatted there in power armour that caused them to look like chunky metallic apes. Of the four, three were women and one was a man but who could tell by looking at them as they were? These new modified suits had power fists built into each hand-wrist assembly, back-up forearm-lasers, improved HUD and some other new tricks.

 

One of her comrades shot down a rushing stupid mutant with a burst of minigun fire, special 5mm bullets shredding the monster’s body.

 

Cran was damned tired and had decided not to take any more drugs because she simply did not like the side effects they had if she had too many of them or the chance of addiction. Drugs effected people in different ways, it was the true for any of them, but psycho had a bad rep. So she went down into a resting position as soon as the second super mutant was clearly dead. Resting like this conserved energy. When one didn't have to do anything in battle one rested or, if given the chance, one had a power nap. Her mag was almost full and not worth changing yet. Shortages of magazines meant they were only changed when the need was great or when empty, of course.

 

Lying amongst the dead monsters was a single teddy-bear, the toy of one of the Little Lamplighters now moved to a camp outside the caverns set up by the Sisterhood of Steel. The toy bear was an oddity, a dark irony, sitting there amongst so much death and dropped weaponry.

 

There were also thousands of spent cartridges. She reminded herself to make sure cartridges were picked up later, if they could be, for recycling. War in the DC Wastelands was restricted by restrictions, as her old training sergeant would often shout at her even when he was standing right next to her. One always salvaged or looted what one could when one could.

 

A lull had come in the fighting. The next wave of SMs would come but there would be a pause. How long it lasted was another thing for the SMs seemed to be being less regular, to be acting less predictably this time. Such a trend was concerning her for it was easier to fight super mutants who followed old habits faithfully.

 

She was in the Little Lamplight Caverns once lived in only by children until the Brotherhood of Steel had contracted their exotic off-shoot, the Sisterhood of Steel, to destroy the source of super mutants in Vault 87. They had come in twelve rebuilt atomic motorised army trucks guarded by a big tracked atomic motorised battletank with a 105mm antitank gun and missile launchers. Sisters of Steel in stealth armour had quickly taken the caverns with out even hurting one of the children. The commands were straight forward. The children were to be taken to a place of safety, like it or not, while the military forces launched an offensive through Little Lamplight against the SMs.

 

The super mutants had been alerted somehow to what was going on. At first the soldiers had suspected a Little Lamplighter might have alerted them but they did not have the means to. Then they found the thing clinging high to the ceiling of the Lamp Light Cavern facing the door to Murder Pass. It was like a spidery version of a centaur but it was flatter and could easily clamber up over rock faces. It could also, to some degree, change colour and shade to blend into the background. It could drop venomous barbs onto victims or just drop onto victims but a Sister of Steel shot it down with a 20mm snipergun before it could do either. They suspected that somehow this thing had alerted the SMs.

 

Then a supposedly dead mutant leapt up and started charging at her with out a weapon. super mutants going berserk were even stupider than normal. Then it was joined by another who limped but carried a weapon. Cran shot down the weaponless one and then blew apart the SM that had a 12.7mm heavy assault-rifle, or 12.7mm-HAR, much more suited to its size and bulk than a normal assault-rifle and much more deadly. The ground was littered with dead mutants and weapons. Small fast scavenger robots had picked up some of the guns and brought them back to the SofS soldiers. Now many of them were being used against the comrades of their former users.

 

The SMs had not appeared with such weapons before and now the Sisters of Steel were faced with many new questions. They had communicated with the Brotherhood of Steel and the fledgling new United States Federal Government but both were busy dealing with other problems and for now could send no reinforcements. The Commonwealth to the north was unified under a militaristic dictator who was attempting to expand his territories with force to grab up resources including slave labour. The problem was that something called the Institute had provided him with an army of androids and robots to use in battle. There was also a big campaign going to finally clean out all of the super mutants, Raiders and feral ghouls from the DC Grand Mall.

 

Cran was happy that the super mutants were so damned stupid but then again somebody had sent that creature to spy on the cavern below from its ceiling. Also the SMs were coming in a clever pattern of waves that had so far stopped the Sisterhood of Steel from getting through to Murder Pass let alone to VaultTec Vault 87. Somebody or something of greater intelligence was directing the super mutants.

 

Then two other figure came to crouch close behind her but she was expecting them for she had been told two newcomers would be coming to see her though she had not been given more than a few details. Helmet radio communications were difficult in the caverns and the few couriers were rushed off their feet passing messages. It did not help that the Sisterhood of Steel was still learning the layout of the Little Lamplight Caverns since the Little Lamplighters had refused to assist the soldiers in learning about their former home. The two newcomers moved quickly and like experienced killers.

 

One newcomer was in power armour that, like the suits of the SofS, was adjusted to better fit a woman’s build, but she did not have a helmet on or have any shield showing. She was beautiful but had hard sad eyes and close cropped blonde hair. The other figure was much stranger and if Cran had not been warned of his coming, she might have shot the hulking shape of Mr Fawkes the Smart Mutant. Smart Mutants was the new name for super mutants with higher than average intelligence for SMs.

 

Cran was stunned for crouching next to her was one of the Three Wanderers from Vault-101, the champions who had between them helped to save the DC Wastelands from both the Enclave and even the radioactive water. Further back crouched the large powerful dog called Dogmeat and Star Paladin Cross the black woman who was still linked to the Brotherhood of Steel but who followed this woman Jasmine. The dog wore armour of sorts made to fit his torso and the woman wore BofS power armour with the new augmentations that all such armour was getting. Secrets had been gained from the Enclave and put to good use but valuable tech data had come from other sources as well.

 

Cran turned to Jasmine and some awe showed in her voice. “It is an honour to meet you. You have done so much for all of us.”

 

Jasmine smiled lightly and spoke as if trying to get past this moment as quickly as possible. “We honour each other for we have all fought to bring forth a new and better world. No more praise, please, lest it go to my head. I am sorry if I am late. I was at Vault-101 to assist in it opening up as a base for the new USFG. The new Federal Government wants to use part of it for administration and archives. Even good government needs some Bcrats. The Vault Dwellers will gain much in return. There is now a push to recover and resettle as many of the abandoned VaultTec Vaults as possible. It will take time."

 

She changed subject. "I spoke with certain people of influence in the wastelands and Reilly's Rangers are on their way. They are sending one platoon to help us scout the area to find a way to get into Vault-87. We have worked together a few times and I am an honourary Reilly’s Ranger.”

 

Cran snorted in mild disdain. “You saved their butts from the SMs.”

 

Jasmine shook her head and her voice showed praise. “I helped save them. They are excellent fighters and slaughtered many super mutants though they were out numbered and lost only one of their number. That was their first platoon. Now they have three platoons plus more support staff plus some camp followers who live in their extended base. They also have more robots. I was told you were an RR for a short time.”

 

Cran expressed both regret and anger with her face and voice. “Me and Reilly didn’t see eye to eye. Problem was we are both commander types, not follower types, and we clashed. I tried the BofS then but though they have women soldiers it is far more difficult to reach the higher ranks as a woman than as a man in the BofS. At least it was back when I left them with Waverley and helped form the SofS. SMs killed and wounded too many of my comrades, both in the BofS and the SofS, to want me to go past a chance of wiping them out. You were the one who entered Vault 87 and rescued Fawkes here. You reported only stupid SMs there but now we seem to be facing intelligent command.”

 

Fawkes spoke in his rumbling voice. “When trapped in vault I got hints but only hints of something that told the stupid mutants what to do. Back then Fawkes only wanted to be free and did not think too much about what those hints meant. Now though I think they meant something important. You might assume that there is only two ways to get into Vault 87 and that is through the main vault gate which is very troublesome for various reasons or through here. Then again you might know about the door that leads from the Lamp Light Caverns straight into Vault 87.”

 

Cran shook her head. “We tried that even before we tried to go through Murder Pass. It is blocked now and refuses to open even though the computer works. We did a sonic probe and think that the chamber behind the dull has been filled with perhaps rubble. Perhaps it has been collapsed. We do not know. Are you saying there is a fourth way in?”

 

Jasmine’s face showed concentration. “I didn’t even see the truth myself though it was straight in front of me. The Enclave ambushed me in Vault 87, kidnapped me and stole the GECK. How did they do that even though they did not go through the main vault gate or the Lamplight Caverns unless there is a fourth way in. How are the super mutants themselves getting out, as they seem to be doing, to send reinforcements towards the Grand Mall? Waverly sent me to inform you that you and some of your soldiers are to assist us to look around and see if we can find a fourth way into Vault 87?”

 

Cran laughed sourly and then she nodded. “I also heard the story of the Enclave kidnapping you and failed to put one and one together to make two. I need to give out some orders and then we can get moving.”

 

Jasmine nodded. “By the way I brought some heavy duty Sentry Bots with me, five of them in good condition, that will cover this area nicely.”

 

Cran went off to do what she had to while Jasmine oversaw the positioning of the Sentry Bots where they would do most damage to any attacking SMs. Fawkes sat with Dogmeat who lay with his head on the super mutant’s lap. Star Paladin Cross took the opportunity to speak with some old comrades who she had served with back in the BofS.

 

 

 

Continued In TWO

[Maharg67]

TWO

 

 

The wooden structures outside the Lamplight Caverns were now repaired and changed to become part of a temporary outpost. Sandbag walls, ditches and camo-net covered shapes could be seen of the trucks and the tank. There were sentries with two big 12.7mm Browning Heavy Machineguns, a small tripod-laser with enough power to easily burn through two super mutants in a row and a mix of other weapons. It was a dull greyish day with the sky full of lightly broiling dark clouds. Gusts of wind caused edges of the camo-nets to flick up briefly. Small black flies buzzed through the air. It began raining lightly and it was only slightly radioactive. The landscape was broken and the road ran into the distance in two directions to distant horizons. A tourist information sign still stood with a stained and faded picture of a happy typical family making their happy and excited way through the Lamplight Caverns. In the distance ran some wild horses, mutated and too savage to tame. The flora in the area was dull green, was flourishing better than it was in many areas. Yet no Settlers had ventured to make a home there and even Raiders seemed to stay away from Lamplight Caverns.

 

Cran, Jasmine and the others moved out of the tunnel entrance past a portable turret and a sentry in power armour. There were ammo boxes stacked next to them and also a forkbot, a small four wheeled forklift robot. Sappers and a medic were there in light power armour both less bulky than standard power armour and with out the extra strength amplification. Nods were exchanged. Nobody saluted because of informality and because it was a good way of telling a sniper there was an officer to shoot.

 

Sisters of Steel stood on guard or were resting. Techs worked on fixing power armour, weapons or other gear. A sergeant was busy counting supplies like ammo and was frowning hard as she always did. The SofS had a few energy weapons and the ‘batteries’ they needed could be recharged but too many of their weapons used shells or bullets.

 

The children were all in a big, patched canvas tent where they were most likely sleeping, playing or trying to annoy the guards. They were learning that it took a good deal to hassle a Sister of Steel and that it was not wise to do so. The girl called Princess was busy digging out a new toilet hole thanks to her pushing matters just a little too far.

 

They kept on the move past a sandbag wall protected radio communications pit. The atmospheric conditions were always difficult for radio communications but there were few real alternatives. Telephone wires were just too vulnerable to critters and amusement seeking Raiders.

 

They were below the high wide cliff face in which was not only the main entrance to the caverns but three smaller ones that that scouts had found despite Little Lamplighter efforts to hide them. They came to a halt in a clear area protected by rocky outcrops from both enemy observers on the ground or snipers.

 

Cran crouched and took out a map. It was put together from Prewar information such as old maps and from scouting information. She spread it out on the ground and began to point to various spots as she spoke.

 

“What we have here is a large rocky hill or a small rocky mountain, take your pick. You, Jasmine, got to Vault-87 through Murder Pass and left it in an Enclave vertibird. BofS once tried to get through the main entrance but were stopped by extremely high radiation and lots of super mutants. We have picked up some data indicating that the main vault door is impassible but if this is the case, why are the SMs guarding the area up there so heavily? Next question is, how did the damned Enclave get in and out of Vault-87 with out either going through Lamplight Cavern or getting past the super mutants at the main vault gate. I assure you there are still lots of stupid super brutes up there and they are still just as nasty as always.”

 

Jasmine then spoke. “What I am about to tell you must be kept discrete. Every VaultTec Vault was meant to both house an experiment and to fail. Why this is so we do not know though we have searched the VaultTec Central Offices in the DC Wastelands and even questioned captured Enclave officers and scientists to see if they knew anything. Then, just about two weeks ago, we made a discovery in Vault-101. We found a hidden power door. It was luck that led us to it because it malfunctioned and clicked partly open.”

 

She frowned. “The whole of Vault-101 is riddled with amazingly small audio-visual and sensor pick-ups hidden even in such as the toilets, changing rooms and medical centres. All normal security cameras are linked to the same observation chamber. The observation chamber has in it a kind of cocoon of metal and plastic. What was in it was a figure somehow linked directly into the computers in the chamber. Prewar think-tanks were speaking of something called ‘cyberspace’ and ‘cyberlinking’ and we think that this was done here. This person was seeing, hearing and ‘sensing’ what was happening through out the vault and none of the Vault-101 Vault Dwellers knew it. But we found him dead, long dead. We also found he was not human, at least not all human. The body was remarkably well preserved thanks to the cocoon.”

 

Cran looked astonished. “What was it?”

 

Jasmine went on speaking. “Have you heard of the alien saucer site? It is one of those stories that circulates constantly through the DC Wastelands. I found it and an alien body there in a spacesuit. I took an alien weapon and some other items but the radiation was too high for me to stay there for long. When the BofS and I returned to the site to get the alien body and investigate the saucer we found everything was gone but the radiation and a big gouge in the ground. Signs and some accounts by local witnesses caused us to realize that either the Enclave or somebody like them had grabbed up the alien items there. The body we found in that cocoon seemed to be part human and part alien, a human alien hybrid.”

 

Cran spoke. “What was the experiment in Vault-101?”

 

Jasmine humphed. “That the Overseer was omnipotent and all had to do as he said, that he could change most of the rules as he desired and that all were conditioned to see him as the vital force that kept the vault operating. In other vaults the Overseer had to put up with various checks and balances on his or her power. A secondary part to it were small secret hatches that would let in radroaches into the vault from a secret hatchery chamber. That has now been dealt with once and for all. Another part of the experiment was the false belief that nobody ever entered or left the vault since the main gate had closed just before the Big One. In truth three scouts went out, one returned and my father, along with myself as a baby, were let in. We suspect others also left and entered Vault-101.”

 

Cran frowned. “I don’t mean to sound impatient but what has this to do with Vault-87?”

 

Jasmine gave her a hard look. “Patience! The secret observation chamber led to other chambers, a whole other vault full with equipment and supplies but with nobody in it. From this vault we found tunnels to five secret entrances into Vault-101. One was big enough to bring trucks through into a big parking bay chamber. Another was designed to have vertibirds land and be brought under ground by elevator. We now suspect that all the VaultTec Vaults have such hidden areas and secret tunnels including Vault-87.”

 

“Sounds crazy but crazy is the norm in the DC Wastelands.” Cran replied. “So somehow the Enclave found out about the secret entrances here in Vault-87?”

 

“It’s the best theory we have come up with yet.” Jasmine reached out and scratched Dogmeat behind one of his ears and the big dog wagged his tail. “Unless there is a hidden emergency exit of a kind that we have yet to find in Vault-101 which is separate from any such secondary vault. Fawkes here is a Smart Mutant, a fine scholar, and he remembers not only what he saw of Vault-87 but what the Stupid Mutants said of it.”

 

Fawkes inclined his head in response. He knew Jasmine meant what she was saying and he had always been amazed just how quickly she had accepted him and how speedily she had sensed he had a quite high intelligence even by human standards.

 

The super mutant spoke. “I saw super mutants in one area of laboratories bring in Wastelanders of all kinds. I was imprisoned in one of the holding cells for longer than I wish to remember. The stupid mutants did not often have much to say that was worth listening to but sometimes they spoke as if there was at least one more laboratory area and other holding cells elsewhere. Once I awoke from sleeping to glimpse a number of prisoners, humans, but they did not look like Wastelanders. They were albino humans and they wore strange metallic jumpsuits. At the time I was going mad and I assumed it was an illusion. One of the super mutants said something about ‘dealing with stupid rebel slug humans’.

 

Cran spoke of the thing that they had shot down from the ceiling. Then she continued. “We call them spider mutants. What else could be down there? We thought the SMs were running out of FEV and were hunting for it in the central capital area. They need FEV to transform humans into their own kind. Or that was the theory that the BofS Scribes came up with.”

 

Jasmine sighed. “Actually it was the Outcasts who came up with the idea first. Now they have linked up with the BofS again as a semi-independent faction called the Guards of Steel, the two bodies are doing much cooperative work together. Perhaps one day they might meld closer. As it is they are both going to be linked to the new United States Defense Force.”

 

Star Paladin Cross snorted. “The USDF now consists of trainers being trained to train others and a lot of people trying to put together two regiments along with some guard units.”

 

Jasmine nodded. “Back to Vault-87. There may be far more Stupid Mutants down there than we had assumed and other, new kinds of dangerous mutants to deal with.”

 

The Sister of Steel did not look impressed. “We can take on a few extra SMs.”

 

Jasmine shook her head. “I have the sense that there are for than just a few extra Stupid Mutants down there. What we may need to do is not attack them but confine them down there until we can figure just what is down there and on some way to deal with them.”

 

It seemed both impossible and yet deeply concerning. They went over the scout reports and any other information they could scrounge up about SM movements in the area. There was a general feeling of frustration except with Dogmeat who was busy licking himself in a very ungainly manner.

 

Scouts had picked up nothing but the actions of a few small groups of super mutants of the familiar Stupid Mutant kind. All of them had centaurs with them. While some seemed to be on patrol, others were heading towards the Grand Mall where they would do battle with everybody but ghouls be they Raiders, BofS, Talon Mercenaries or anybody else.

 

A scavenger group had watched a large group of SMs seemingly appear from nowhere close to a row of crumbling holiday cottages and caravans for rent. A pair of ghouls had been laying low for the day in a ditch but kept feeling odd shaking sensations through the ground. That was just close to the Lamplight Caverns United Gas Company gas station that was about five kilometres from the caverns.

 

The SofS had sent up two small robotic scout-drones to flying over the area. They had come back with only two sightings of SMs moving across the landscape. One large one had been heading away from the row of crumbling holiday cottages and towards the ruins of Germantown. Perhaps they would set up base their to renew raids on Big Town. If so they would be in for a nasty surprise.

 

Big Town’s people had been sent to an expanding Megaton where the atomic bomb was now safely placed in a bunker temple while Big Town was set up to make a nice ambushing site for SMs.

 

The Big Towners had been already allocated new homes and even jobs. Moira of Craterside Supplies had looked at a list of the newcomers and at once had wanted Bittercup as a new assistant.

 

The second large group was heading towards settlement of Arefu which, like Big Town, was being abandoned. Arefu was being turned into a military observation post, a high point overlooking a wide area of land and river. The people were being sent to Megaton. As for the infamous Family, it had vanished into the night and the underground as soon as the BofS had approached Arefu.

 

The decision was to send out scouting groups to cover as much area as possible including some special upgraded robots into the high radioactive zone close to the main vault door.

 

Continued in THREE

[Maharg67]

Some changes to DC Wastelands (will be expanded in future so please reread later)

 

Increases in populations, addition of new settlements, addition of new factions.

 

VaultTec Vaults have gained:

new unique technologies

A new range of robots inspired by those in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

Basic androids called hudroids being vaultboys and vaultgirls

carbots, robotic cars as transportation

matter-formers

wire-teleporters

fusion-globe reactors

VaultShop automated sales and deliveries of goods inside Vaults

 

Megaton is bigger with addition of:

expanded with new areas and new walls/defences

more houses and apartments

underground areas including a discovered private bunker

a small hospital

a school for all ages (because of low education level of many Wastelanders)

new shops

a mayor, a vice-mayor and city council

Moira now runs her own special centre (unqiue goods and services?) but still partly owns Craterside Supplies

Sheriff Lucas is now just sheriff but has deputies, dogs and volunteer deputies along with more robots

M? and his saloon have been forced to move to outskirts. Gob and Nova are free of him.

other changes to be noted

 

 

Rivet City: now one aircraft carrier, one freighter and one smallish ocean liner along with some other vessels and joined structures.

 

Subwayers

A large section of Subway and linked areas has been sealed off and has become the home of the Subwayers (inspired by the game Hellgate London)

 

Toyland: a large automated/roboremotic/robotic amusement land with many basic androids that was built underneath a great shallow armoured dome and semi-underground. Still functioning.

 

Armageddon Park: savage large settlement well known for entertaining Raiders, Slavers and other 'bad folk'. Protected by a mixture of Armageddon Security Guards and Talon Mercenaries. Has its own Sheriff who is surprisingly fair in order to keep customers coming to the settlement. Infamous for goods and services (entertainments?) such as drugs, prostitution, gambling, animal fighting pits, gladiator arenas, armaments and others including manufacturing of weapons and ammunition of varied quality and reliability. Builds a number of basic and reliable automatic weapons based on historical types such as greaseguns and stenguns. Known for adapting hunting rifles into a unique kind of automatic weapon called huntguns.

 

Sisterhood of Steel: in theory a woman only fighting unit, an offshoot of the Brotherhood of Steel that now takes some men. Large faction but small compared to the BofS.

 

Wastelander Federation Bias

Anti Federators who oppose any real form of alliance or return to the United States type model

Loose Federators who oppose full return to United States idea but what only a loose alliance of small nations

Full Federators who want the return of the United States as it was with some needed changes

 

Wasteland Factions (organisations?)

 

Orders

Brotherhood of Steel

Sisterhood of Steel

Guards of Steel (once Outcasts)

Orderhood/Sisterhood/Brotherhood of Sanctuary

Sisterhood of Compassion

Brotherhod of Protection

 

Mercenaries

Reilly's Rangers

Talon

Ironsides

 

LAW-Old

Regulators and Sheriffs (Linked:)

Bounty-Hunters

PIs such as Pinkerton

 

Commercial

DCTec Corporation

CC Corporation

Oasis Cooperative

 

Religeous

Church of Atom

 

Enclave

Enclave Deep

Enclave Beyond

 

(New) United States Federal Government

United States Ministries, Departments, Commissions

United States Congress (Limited)

United States Police, Law Marshals, FBI, new SWATs

CIA?

United States Defence Force (so far only National Guard)

 

Criminal/Dark

DC Syndicates

Raiders

Slavers (base in Paradise Falls and Armageddon Park)

DC Syndicates (based Armageddon Park)

 

Exotic/Odd

The Family

Republic of Dave

 

Independent?

Rivet City (Citystate?)

Crosswayne

Radio Town: settlement based in the same building as Three Dogs Studio because they take advantage of BofS protection. Provide goods and Services to the Studio poeple and to the BofS.

 

Off DC Related

Commonwealth (north)

Dictatorate

Rebels: Unified Free Front, People's Army

Institute (Techways Institution)

 

Pitt(sburg)

Free (Slaves) Republic

Order of Steel

 

Subwayers

Hunterclan (Clanhunters)

Knights of Atom (KofA)

Psyabalists (psychic cabalists?)

 

GNR Station

*3Dog himself is not only a good DJ but he is very handy with a gun and as an interviewer of people as the radio stations expands its role.

*Jogs the secondary DJ who is also good with helping to look after the hardware. He also runs the radio archives of tapes, music sheets, files and more.

*2Kitty a young petite woman with thick glasses, brown of skin/hair/eyes, wearing merc gear who is quieter and more practical and 3Dog. She is the amidistration, the book-keeper and practical organiser. She sometimes DJs with her own tastes in music.

*Freddy, Fredrick and Fredisa who are triplets being two male and one female. They are guards in metal armour who sometimes assist with other work. They are ghouls but it is less obvious than with most ghouls.

*DJ Bot is a zany voice programmed Mr Handy adjusted to help keep the technologies of the radio station working. Sometimes, for fun, they let him DJ but they keep an eye on him as he can get carried away.

*Others who work casually or part time for the radio station who mostly come from Radio Town.

 

Rivet City: expanded to include not only the aircraft carrier but a small freighter and an ocean liner both anchored against the aircraft carrier.

Market is expanded.

Flight deck is being used as an airstrip used by aircraft like single prop driven monoplanes, small vertibirds and even a small blimp.

Science Lab is expanded: more projects. Projects continued after Doctor Li left to assist with Project Purity.

 

The Citadel is no longer based on the Pentagon but on the old DC Citadel, a large multipurpose semi-underground military base

Citadel is much larger and is main base, underground base, research and development centre, special project centres, training grounds, depots, civil settlement, hospital, battlements and other

The Pentagon is much larger than the same structure of the real world and goes deep underground with many levels.

Part of the DC Citiadel extends protectively around the Pentagon for the Citidel is much larger than the Pentagon.

[Maharg67]

THREE

 

 

Cran and Jasmine scrambled up the steep path winding up the side of the slope. The path was barely wide enough to be given the name and was treacherous. The two had given up wearing standard power armour to replace it with scout power armour. This new armour was adjusted suits taken from a captured Enclave base.

 

Then they were stepping carefully onto a wide alcove style rock balcony plunging back into the cliff face. The walls of the hollow area seemed natural enough but Jasmine sensed something odd as she often did at times like that. So she paced over to the back wall of the ‘alcove’ and slipped the 12.7mm HAR of her back. Dogmeat darted past her and sniffed eagerly around. Soon he picked up something and barked quietly. He had learned not to bark too loudly when tracking to find things.

 

The two big boulders at the back of the hollowed area were fake and after some careful searching they found a small lever. With a soft humming noises the boulders shifted to either side to reveal an armoured vault gate like the main entrance.

 

Jasmine crouched and touched the ground. She looked around even as they were joined by Fawkes and two Sisters of Steel. Star Paladin Cross was elsewhere with a squad of scouts. As Cran looked puzzled and the others waited patiently, Jasmine went from place to place and simply touched things. Then she touched the door in three places before she spoke.

 

“No major movement of SMs came out of here but some did a few hours ago to do some observations. Except one of them was not a stupid mutant but a Smart Mutant like Fawkes except not as smart as he.”

 

She stood up. “Others have come out here weeks ago. They cleared up the area of rubble and with the assistance of robots fixed the fake boulders. These others were not SMs but were albino humans in strange metallic jumpsuits that were copper or silver coloured. They all wore black rubber boots and black goggles with odd lens to them. They also had strange transparent bubble-helmets on their heads.”

 

“Those in silver jumpsuits had side-arms but I could not see what kind for the holsters had closed flaps and only a small part of the pistol butts showed. Yet they also had what looked like electric stun-batons.”

Jasmine continued. “The copper jumpsuited albinos did all the work, there were ten of them, along with the robots. The five silver jumpsuited guards either just stood guard or struck at the workers with their stun-batons to get them to work faster. My new found psychic abilities find these albino minds to be human and yet odd in some subtle fashion. So are their bodies.”

 

Fawkes nodded. “The prisoners I glimpsed were wearing copper coloured metallic jumpsuits but no bubble-helmets. It seems that the stupid mutants have not used this way to go to leave Vault-87 so why go to so much trouble to clear it open, to fix the fake boulders that move?”

 

Cran was looking out over the land. “This would make a nice launching place for anything that needed to go airborne. I hope to god that they don’t have flying super mutants. We have enough to deal with them stomping over land.” She was giving Jasmine an odd look. “What new psychic abilities.”

 

The former Vault-101 Dweller shrugged. “A couple of months after I was trapped in the control chamber, was radiated and knocked out by some kind of energy spike, I began to realize that I was changing. My body, my mind and my psychic abilities. I have always been able to sense things as my mother was able to but now I can do much more. I am not superhuman.”

 

The Smart Mutant shook his head. “Fawkes does not agree. Jasmine can now pick up anything as heavy as I can and she can resist radiation as much as any SM can. She even heals and gains energy from radiation.”

 

Jasmine walked to a side wall of rock and touched it. Then she nodded. “A hidden door is here, smaller than the gate but also heavily armoured. The albino workers and guards came through this and not the bigger gate which was blocked then.” She shook her head with a look of distaste. “Something just tried to probe my mind, something of dark psychic nature. I pushed it away but now it is both aware of me and that I have strong psychic ability.”

 

Cran scowled. “Now we have new things to deal with in Postwar America.”

 

“Such things are far from new.” Jasmine turned and walked to the opposite rock side-wall and touched it. “A second smaller armoured door exactly opposite the other but nothing has come through this one for a very long time. We will go this way. I will now focus my mind.”

 

The others became quiet. Cran was puzzled. After a moment there was a soft humming noise and part of the wall became a rectangular outline of a door and then the door slid to one side. A skeletal figure in a ragged Vault-87 jumpsuit fell outward onto the floor as it must have been resting against the door. The skull rolled across the floor and when it came to a rest Dogmeat sniffed at it.

 

Beyond was a hallway that looked typical of any VaultTec Vault. Jasmine entered and the others followed. Then Dogmeat took the lead. They moved along the bare hallway beneath bright ceiling lights past metal doors on either side. They turned out to be storerooms packed with such as survival power armour, exploration power armour, lockers full of supplies, racks of weapons, a variety of robots in storage bays and much else. But the hallway was dotted with more skeletal remains of Vault-87 Vault Dwellers. Most were in jumpsuits but some were in labcoats and some were in security body-armour.

 

Cran spoke. “Must have been some fight but there are no burn marks and or bullet casings.”

 

Jasmine spoke. “Caseless ammunition but none of their weapons were used. They were not killed by such means.” She sounded grim. “Something attacked their minds in a very subtle fashion. They all swallowed overdoses of drugs convinced that somehow this would save their lives. All were terrified when they died.”

 

The hallway ended in a large chamber but half of it was collapsed, the far half, and it soon proved that it was no accident. The humans, long dead, had used explosions to drop the ceiling but why had they not escaped out into the Wastelands?

 

Jasmine crouched next to the skeletal remains of a child in a jumpsuit. “The same psychic entity, a very dark mentality, convinced them that outside the door the Wastelands was a sea of monsters. Nebulous monsters that reflected the inner fears of these poor humans.”

 

She turned to Cran. “Get your people up here. There is a good deal of prize resources here that we could use down at the encampment and in Lamplight Caverns.”

 

“Thought already entered my head.” Cran was heading back to the open air. “We will soon have everything of value taken from here and find a place to bury these poor fools.”

 

Jasmine frowned. “Many were tricked by VaultTec into thinking this was safety. They even paid to come here though in truth what they paid was only a token sum that could not have paid for a real vault life. Some though were planted here like the scientists to carry out a very dark experiment. This place had 10,000 Vault Dwellers in theory as did other vaults but who knows how many were really down here. Vault-101 had over 10,000 when I left.”

 

Cran frowned. “How did you not go mad down there?”

 

Jasmine shrugged. “We had basic VR-loungers but not as sophisticated enough to convince people simulations were real or to actually kill people, thankfully. We had a large garden dome chamber. We had constant work details, many of which were spent fixing things up or moving things around that somebody else would then move again. People found ways to make goods and sell services. Buy a massage, buy a cooked meal, buy stuff made from recycled materials, buy sex, buy semilegal drugs, buy home made booze, buy art or other things. There was the big fitness centre. There was cable-3DTV. There were hobby clubs, home education and there was sleep.”

 

She shrugged. “Officially I have a home back in Vault-101 thanks to my friend Amata becoming the High Overseer there but I have no real wish to return except to visit Amata and a few other friends that I have there.”

 

Cran frowned. “A better life than in the Wastelands then.”

 

Jasmine just nodded. “Mostly! Back to Vault-87! We have found no definite way in as yet but we have gained more valuable data. Hopefully we won’t find too many possible ways in and stretch our forces too thin.”

 

Cran went off while Fawkes, Jasmine and Dogmeat kept looking around, the dog sniffing here and there with his surprisingly keen sense of smell. The Sisters of Steel there kept guard but they were also curious about what was going on.

 

Continiued in FOUR

[Maharg67]

FOUR

 

 

3Dog was sitting at his favourite spot, his work station where he spoke to the world through a microphone or various types of recorded music. He was looking at a unmarked holotape that somebody had sent him except for the curious mark on the front of <SSS01>.

 

Around him in the newly refurbished radio station there was much activity but not close to him. 2Kitty was quietly doing the books behind her desk, somehow both very demure and very sexy. The Mr DJ robot, like a Mr Handy, was floating in one corner spending time just floating in a corner. The others were four casual part-time workers doing various tasks. All were residents of Radio Town that was a settlement down in the levels below the GNR Radio Station.

 

Jacklind walked past with another toaster that somebody had sent 3Dogs; a lot of people had not gotten that it was a joke when the DJ had ‘asked’ Jasmine to come and repair his toaster because it was on the ‘blink’. He looked up, sighed, and went back to examining the holotape.

 

Something was nagging at him, some flash of memory from a past that was blurred or even blank in many places. Then it came to him that he had seen the symbol before. Where?

 

His memories of his previous life were blurred, were fragmented, were pitted with black areas and were crazy even to his own view. They only became clearer and more concise when he had first appeared in the DC Wastelands.

 

He had woken up in a ditch with water trickling along the bottom of it, his survival suit being all bloody and a little raggedy. He was clutching a compact but power prototype blaster-pistol. That, stuff in various pouches and in a compact backpack is all he had to survive with but he did well until he was ambushed by a whole lot of marauders. He seemed doomed until the man had come as if out of nowhere. The Mysterious Stranger in a trench coat and hat who was amazingly fast, agile and hard to hurt let alone kill. He had a huge revolver that he seemed to pull out of nowhere if it was needed and other tricks. The surviving marauders ran away after the individual had killed easily half of their comrades.

 

It was he who spoke to 3Dog of hope, of making changes, of fighting the good fight. He would not give his identity, this man with lightly dusky white skin, sharp blue eyes and some oddness about it that was not disturbing to 3Dog. He had given 3Dog emergency issue information, coinage, equipment and supplies that blended better in with the DC Wastelands but in turn took all the stuff that 3Dog had with him previously. 3Dog was glad to make the exchange because he did not want to stand out, to attract the wrong kind of attention. A deal was made and 3Dog signed a contract.

 

The man had left 3Dogs in a small settlement called Greyditch that would later be destroyed by fire jetting ants thanks to the brilliant stupidity of a scientist.

 

3Dog spent many years wandering and researching the DC Wastelands, experimenting, sometimes getting into trouble but always surviving. He went to Canada for a while. He crossed over to the West Coast but returned soon enough. Then he went and began to rebuild GNR, changing it into a radio station that would serve the DC Wastelands.

 

A flash of memory came to him now, being one that came into his nightmares at times, of oddly power armoured figures with the very same symbol on their chests, foreheads of their helmets, upper backs and shoulders. Dozens of them had come out of seemingly nowhere to ambush a convoy of settlers on the move. He had been there in one of the covered wagons. The attackers had been either the size and general shape of humans or standard Super Mutants. All had polarised visors to hide their faces and all had odd looking energy weapons being big rifles for the smaller figures and even bigger rifles for the bigger figures. He had been forced to flee and he had carried a child with him, a little girl who had clutched a pair of kittens to herself. Only they had survived. He had left the girl at Rivet City where a family was happy enough to give her a fairly good life and he did visit her at least once every year.

 

He had the sharp memory of firing a powerful hunting rifle, of knocking down one of the human sized attackers with a shot to the head. The figure then shimmered and vanished but somehow he knew it was dead.

 

Now he turned and went to call 2Kitty but as she always did, she was standing behind him. He sighed, smiled, and did not bother to ask how she was there somehow knowing he would need her. He spoke. “The holoprojector is fixed?”

 

“As good as new!” She smiled but her eyes showed concern. “It has been set up in one of the newly cleared out rooms which is of the right shape to be a good holoprojector chamber. One wall was painted white to be the screen but we will improve that when we can.”

 

As they went to the new holoprojector chamber 3Dog spoke of his memories, of the nightmare flashes and the symbol that had appeared in both them and on the holotape he now held. 2Kitty asked a couple of precise questions and in answering them 3Dog revealed that the ambush of the covered wagons must have taken place only about fifty kilometres from the Lamplight Caverns and Vault-87. There had been a message from Jasmine that she and some close companions were going to Lamplight Caverns and Vault-87 to assist in dealing with the Super Mutant problem that they now thought was centred there. GNR had warned people to stay away from both the LCs and V-87 if they wanted to stay safe unless they chose to help solve the problem. He cynically doubted many Wastelanders would assist.

 

Continued in FIVE

[Maharg67]

FIVE

 

3Dog and 2Kitty were sitting as the holoprojector started up. One of the three dogs that had become mascots of GNR, a play on 3Dog’s name, sat between the chairs of the two humans. Growler was his name and he was a medium sized but chunky muscular fight-dog who had been rescued as a puppy from the Dog Fighting Rings of Armageddon Park, a very nasty settlement.

 

The holofilm was not fancily produced but was well made. The first to show was a white space with the same symbol and beneath it ‘LifeVault-87’.

 

Then the first scene began showing a scientist, an attractive oriental woman in a white jumpsuit behind a desk, speaking at the holocamera. Yet she was sweating profusely as if the chamber was very hot and her eyes were bloodshot as if through lack of sleep. Behind her was a very advanced laboratory workshop of some kind and two protectrons that seemed to be guarding the woman. On the woman’s jumpsuit was the label ‘VaultTec Research and Development Agency Division 87’.

 

She spoke in VaultTec’s favoured language of Esperanto, her voice a contradiction of obvious stress and elation that was echoed by her facial expression. “I have no idea if this message is going to get through to VaultTec HQ in Washington. I don’t even know if the HQ still exists or if the secret HQ Vault survived at all. I do know I must try even if Professor Altman would have me killed or worse if he found out. Altman is quite insane but somehow he has become imbued with strange and deadly psychic abilities. Many of my comrades have fallen under his sway, have become little more than unquestioning zombies to his commands. They would kill anybody, even themselves, at his command and the women willingly give into his sexual demands. Somehow they have become lessened as human beings. Yet I and some others are able to block him out, either his commands and his nightmarish manipulations.”

 

“A group tried to escape through one of the doors leading to the hidden small vertiport built for small courier vertibirds and robotic vertibird drones. They even collapsed part of a room to stop Altman and his forces getting at them but he did things to their minds and doomed them. Altman joked that there was only an unlocked door between them and the dubious freedom of the DC Wastelands but that he stopped them from using it. Altman must be destroyed.”

 

She paused before speaking again as if trying to clear her mind, to organise her thoughts. “I can feel his evil pressing on my mind but I have held him back so far. Yes I did have sex with him but only because I wanted to and I did kill my husband but only because it was the rational scientific thing to do. It had nothing to do with his planning to shoot Altman dead. My mind is my own.”

 

After another difficult pause she spoke again and this time her voice started to show even more strain. “The original project to turn humans into super human soldiers and workers, expendable but very useful, by feeding them FEV was a rather clumsy one. It was created to give Vault-87 an experimental usefulness beyond the original purpose of all of the 300 LifeVaults built but not all listed, at least only all listed on in a very few places. I think that the original purpose was good enough and did not need the inclusion of these new experiments but I have no real rank or influence in the VaultTec hierarchy.”

 

“Professor Altman is allowing the old experiments to continue but has abandoned the official Vault-87 altogether which is why I am in the secondary vault that is not only a better kept secret than the original but far larger and far more sophisticated. It would be pleasant to live down here if Altman was not in control. As for his experiments I only do secondary research for him and so…” She rubbed her forehead hard as if trying to deal with a bad headache. “What I need is some of Altman’s attentions but really I am just too involved with playing hockey now.” She giggled sharply a moment before she started speaking again. “Perhaps I need not send this message. Perhaps I will find a hundred golden monkeys in my sock drawer; they keep stealing odd socks.”

 

She sighed. “It is a good thing that I prepared this special projectile to insert into my brain that will protect my mind totally from Altman.” She pulled out a 10mmC semiautomatic pistol that was a standard weapon in the vaults that fired caseless bullets. She put it close to one temple, smiled in triumph and shot herself in the head. Her body toppled off the chair and vanished from sight.

 

The two sat staring in shock and horror for a while.

 

2Kitty spoke after a time with a tone of sadness. "She was going insane even as this Professor Altman was trying to control her. Perhaps her insanity helped her fight him."

 

3Dog nodded gravely. "That is exactly what it did and in the end she wanted to die, she let Altman direct her towards suicide. Somehow I know this. What else is on the holotape?"

 

But the rest of the holotape was blank.

Continued in SIX

[Maharg67]

SIX

 

 

It was growing dark as the battle raged outside of Lamplight Caverns.

 

Jasmine crouched behind a sandbag wall as the tank fired off its 105mm cannon again. She was in her BofS power armour. In the distance there was an explosion and two stupid mutants were wiped out, their bodies being hurled through the air. The big atomic motorised warmachine had fired off most of its shells and would soon run out but it had managed to do a good deal of damage to the attackers.

 

The enemy were fanned out across part of the landscape cutting off the entrance to Lamplight Caverns and the encampment from reinforcements. Yet the actual number of them was hard to tell because they were largely hidden behind outcrops of boulders, rises in the ground and mutated cactitrees that were highly resistant to radioactive water. Normally super mutants, especially stupid mutants, would not be so careful in hiding but it was as if some kind of higher intelligence was directing them.

 

There had been only some warning before the large force of super mutants had attacked the Sisters of Steel encampment at the entrance to the Lamplight Caverns. With the more standard SMs came over a dozen hulking behemoths but this time they came hauling large projectile weapons that fired 75mm shells being a kind of portable cannon. Then there were lots of centaurs but these had been changed for now they had armour added and were stronger, faster but they also carried basic laserguns that they used with some efficiency.

 

Spider mutants attacked SofS units on the cliff top overlooking the entrace area and also the smallish flat area at the top above the entrance. As fast and agile as they were, the poorly armoured spider mutants were massacred.

 

The air was thick with the noise of battle and overhead passed laser beams, bullets and shells. The enemy were coming in waves as they often did, the stupid mutants roaring battle cries and firing their 12.7mm autoguns as they came. Yet only about a quarter of the stupid mutants had these type of deadly guns. Some had miniguns but many had a range of normal less powerful DC Wasteland weapons like hunting rifles of different calibres, shotguns, some standard USDF assault-rifles and even sledge-hammers. It seemed that the enemy also did not have an endless supply of more sophisticated and powerful weapons.

 

Radio communications were being jammed. They had managed to send one warning to a radio relay outpost and hoped that the message would get through to the Citadel. For now the Citadel was also the HQ of the USDF, the United States Defence Force, but they hoped to find their own base soon.

 

Cran crawled up to Jasmine’s side in SofS power armour and with a heavy assault-rifle. She crouched there peered with great care through a gap in the sandbags. She spoke. “The enemy must number at least two if not three hundred.”

 

Jasmine responded. “I sense roughly three hundred and twenty super mutants. About two hundred are stupid mutants, including the behemoths, and the others are mostly centaurs. Yet I also sense about ten Smart Mutants who like Fawkes can reason, can communicate clearly but only one is as smart as Fawkes. Do not underestimate Fawkes; he speaks slow but he was a highly gifted scientist before events led him to becoming a super mutant.”

 

The super mutants stopped charging. It was yet another lull in the fighting. The grounds were scattered with their bodies but not enough to stop their forces from being a real threat.

 

Jasmine suddenly cursed. “Damned it. Get everybody to change defensive positions. The enemy have been mapping us. Don’t ask how I know this, just please trust me.”

 

The Sister of Steel began communicating. Very soon soldiers began to quickly and as sneakily as possible shift positions. Some propped up poor dead comrades as decoys because it was damned hard to tell one armoured figure from another, especially at a distance.

 

Then they came, fast and humming madly, small metallic robots zipping through the air at supersonic speeds. As they came they spat laser beams. They were like streamlined super fast eyebots but they were kamikaze because they struck various spots in the defences and exploded. The spots were the ones where soldiers had been before they had shifted.

 

Cran sound amazed. “I don’t know how you did that but I am damned glad you are on our side. They would have wiped out over a third of my Sisters. What sort of weapons were those?”

 

Jasmine nodded her armoured helmet. “Those were a kind of supersonic eyebot known as an eyedrone, a form of VaultTec robot found in VualtTec Vaults. They are not weapons originally but are designed for survey work, security sweeps or anything other such tasks. These were turned into missiles of sorts which I consider a waste of good resources. The dark psychic intelligence behind the attacks is brilliant, cunning and ruthless but perhaps not a good commander.”

 

She shrugged. “Vault-101 had some eyedrones stored away in the airlock subvault between the outer main vault door and the inner main vault door. They had a lot of goodies there that the High Overseer kept locked away from the Vaultfolk though they could have used them. At least now the Vault-101 Dwellers have gained access to these and other once sealed off resources.”

 

The Sister of Steel frowned. “Secret VaultTec tech?”

 

Jasmine shook her helmeted head. “No! Most VaultTec tech was freely known about in Prewar times. VaultTec introduced a wide range of unique robots into their Vaults including basic androids called hudroids being vaultboys and vaultgirls because they are basic men and women in shape. Then there are floating globebots being bigger than eyebots but smaller than Mr Handy robots. They come in a wide range. There are basic service, assistance and maintenance robots. There are dispenserbots, cleanerbots, robotic massagers and even toybots to help teach, entertain and care for children. There are many kinds of roboremotes, dumb units controlled directly by the supercomputers of the Vaults. There are turrets of many kinds. There are carbots, busbots and vanbots; these were small or medium sized robotic vehicles that carry people around the Vaults. Each Vault has at least 10,000 people and at least 10,000 androids, robots and roboremotes or at least that was the case, was the theory.”

 

“Life there must have been good.” Cran responded as he swept the horizon. Nothing was moving except some super mutants shuddering in death throws, some brave carrion birds and things moved around by some light winds.

 

Jasmine sighed. “It was in truth quite bad because space was mostly cramped, many resources were rationed and our every move was monitored. I mean even when we were in the shower or on the toilet or having a medical examination or making love we were watched and recorded.”

 

“The experiment of Vault-101 was that the High Overseer was not only nearly all powerful but that people were deeply programmed from birth in the vault to obey him. Amata’s father went insane. He caused much suffering with his growing paranoia. Over eight hundred people died because of he sent death squads out to arbitrarily attack Vault Dwellers. People found it difficult to fight back because it was done by order of the High Overseer.”

 

Jasmine went on. “It really began when my father escaped from Vault-101 and took with him some actual VaultTec secrets; then he started to really go out of control. I departed in a hurry but months later returned with the Reilly’s Rangers and some others, including Dogmeat, to help defeat the High Overseer. The power of the programming had weakened somehow under the conditions of terror. Amata led a rebellion and then convinced a very sick High Overseer to quietly surrender. It was not his fault. He was secretly administered highly powerful drugs to send him insane. We do not know how this was done or who did it.”

 

There was a moment of quiet and then Cran spoke again. “So much for the dream of getting into Vault-101 to find a nice secure haven to live in. Many people had that dream.”

 

Jasmine nodded. “It was one of the reasons that Megaton was founded and then the smaller settlement in Springvale. When I told them the truth many were happier that they had not managed to get into the vault.” She changed subjects. “The forces that are attacking us now are not the real threat. They are a secondary force, an expendable force, being used to bottle us in and away from penetrating Vault87.”

 

The next wave began and many SMs started out with metal pipes or fire-axes or other crude weapons. If they could they picked up better weapons as they charged over the broken landscape. With them came more centaurs.

 

Jasmine and Cran crouched to aim their weapons and began firing carefully so as not to waste ammunition. The battletank fired off the last of its 105mm shells.

 

 

Continued in SEVEN

[Maharg67]

SEVEN

 

Buzzbees, smaller fast flying and agile vertibirds, had brought military and civil VIPs to the GNR Tower. The vertibirds had been taken from Enclave Storage Bunker NA-WDC-Alpha which had held plenty of tech and other goodies in it. So much that the BofS was having difficulty using it all and was either passing it on or just leaving it in storage for later use.

 

Scribe Ella Vanes came from the Citadel with two assistants along with Sarah Lyons the Sentinel of Lyons’ Pride and some of her officers. Then came the new Star Marshal of the still rather small USDF and an envoy representing the new USFG. Others came and soon there was a fairly large audience there to watch the holotape being replayed.

 

The first meeting was one of trying to assess the situation, of working out what and where the threats lay, what resources the newly found DC Alliance had to use and just what needed to be done to deal with Vault-87 and its threat. It was quickly understood that the situation was diminished BofS as its main military force backed up by the GofS (former Outcasts) and the SofS. The UNDF was so new and small it really could not be counted as an effective fighting force as yet.

 

The Ironsides Mercenaries had come southwards from where they had waged a big battle with Enclave forces and with rogue military units from the Commonwealth. Even as the Enclave was finally defeated the Ironsides had crushed a fair sized military force of Enclave Stormtroopers and had helped save the BofS forces that trouble. The Ironsides had taken over a fair sized Enclave bunker.

 

Reilly’s Rangers were good for scouting and skirmishes. Other such mercenary groups like Tad’s Tigers, the Roper Family, the GIJs were reluctantly starting to join the fight. As for the Talon Mercenaries they had withdrawn to defend Armageddon Town after suffering big losses in the DC Grand Mall. Few trusted these ex-Raiders anyway.

 

Many Raiders were fleeing northwards to join the armies of the Commonwealth Dictator Hamgra Yennep or going elsewhere to still mostly savage lands. Others were joining the Talon Mercenaries or other paramilitary or military forces in the DC Wastelands. Feral ghouls were vanishing in the Subways for the previously unknown Subwayers, who had managed to stay hidden, were doing sweeps for them. They had made a deal with the DC Alliance that this would be their responsibility. They were also dealing with other menaces in the Wild Subways, as they called them.

 

The meeting came to a halt as all those around the big ring table, it was in truth a real meeting room once used by the Prewar GNR, as they all seemed to run out of easy solutions. The room was only hastily fixed up with broken furniture and other rubbish pushed into a corner including human skeletal remains.

 

3Dog sat with his fingers steepled in front of him and then he spoke with an sharp edge of annoyance. “These Subwayers seem to have a fairly high population; why don’t they send some forces to assist us?”

 

A tall impressive looking woman who many said might well make the first of the true Postwar US Presidents, studied the top of a stack of files in front of her and then looked to 3Dog. Her name was Suzanne Ubama and she had black skin, hair and brown eyes. In contrast she spoke calmly, methodically and as any good diplomat would.

 

“We have requested assistance and they have declined. The Subwayers are very secretive and they will not allow outsiders into their realms proper unless they agree to become citizens and stay there. Outsiders only get as far as their free trade zones. Yet we have picked up bits of information that indicate that though at least half of them are human, that many are ghouls and yet others are of an unknown kind of mutation or perhaps more than one type of mutation. When we have a chance we will have to investigate these Subwayers.”

 

The meeting went back to trying to find answers.

Continued in EIGHT

[Maharg67]

EIGHT

 

 

The wave of three F14X1 Tomcat vertijets came in low and fast to shoot over the super mutants. As they approached they let loose with laserguns and 20mm autoguns. Cluster bombs tumbled from the hard-points on their wings and the exploded amongst the clustered together enemies with roars of high explosives, shrapnel and napalm. The F14X1 were supersonic VTOL jets that could take off using special ramps so they could save fuel and carry more ordinance. They had been put together from various machines on and in Rivet City. The would not turn to return to Rivet City until they were safely away from the battlefield.

 

Taken by surprise many super mutants died at that moment including all of the remaining behemoths and smart mutants. They had simply not expected such an attack and bad luck played a big part.

 

The remaining SMs were all stupid mutants who were confused and enraged, looking around for something to fight but not finding anything they could get at. That many were burned or otherwise injured or even dying, did not make their situation better.

 

The remanents of the super mutant army that were able to flee did so and took with them wounded comrades, dragging them or hauling them over their shoulders. They took with them also wounded centaurs and spider mutants. The enemy was gone with impressive speed but Waverly, the Commander of the Sisterhood of Steel, was most cautious. She only allowed three small scouting teams to go out and make sure that the enemy were gone. Only after that did she have SofS soldiers go out and begin killing wounded creatures and looting what they could that was of use.

 

The area where the super mutants had camped was a messy network of reinforced ditches, fortifications and even small crude underground bunkers.

 

Jasmine stood on a mound of dirt close to a crude bit of super mutant fortifications built of bits of car, rubber tires and other salvaged stuff from the landscape. Dogmeat was sniffing around and investigating some what was probably the entrance to a molerat warren. She was tired and it showed in her voice. "That was a throw away army, an expendable force sent to either destroy us or bottle us up in Lamplight Caverns."

 

Cran had also removed her power helmet and was peering through a pair of powerful but compact binoculars. She spoke then with a grin in her voice. "The Reilly's Ranger platoon is here but they are not alone. I count at least a hundred Wastelanders with them with both arms and armour. A few are riding horses or are in brahmin pulled carts. There are a couple of electric trucks, a big atomic coach and a couple of battlebuggies made out of atomic car parts. This is a good start but we will need to find more weapons, more ammo, more of everything. The dead super mutants might well provide some."

 

But the living super mutants had taken most of the good weapons and other stuff with them. Many of the weapons left needed repair and nobody wanted to or even could wear super mutant body-armour. The good thing was that with the newcomers came many who were expert at making such repairs along with tools and materials to do the repairs with. As they poured into the camp it was revealed that they brought a few robots with them like floating robosleds full of more equipment and supplies, protectrons, MrGutsys, MrPortys who were floating globe shaped carriers, eyebots with lasers that had once floated around broadcasting President Eden's lies and even some robotanks, quite large robotic warmachines with large weapon turrets each sporting two 75mm autocannons, rocket launchers and a minigun.

 

Waverly, Cran and Jasmine met with Hrashman the Commander of the new army and Petra the leader of the RR Platoon. Hrashman was fairly famous, some would say infamous, as a man who had organised a large force of Wastelanders who had cleared out all the raiders, feral ghouls and other threats from the Crosswayne Territories. They were a fairly fertile and low radded area that had access to cleaner ground water. Crosswayne's farms provided much needed food and other produce to the DC Wastelands. Traders out from Canterbury Commons stopped there to trade or just to buy produce for the CC Corporation.

 

Very soon there was friction.

 

The tall hulking figure of Marshal Hrashman scowled his light brown features at Waverly who was shorter than he despite her relative tallness and wearing of power armour. His voice boomed out around the large chamber chamber with crates, boxes, barrels and other stuff stacked against walls. "The Wastelanders follow my leadership and I don't follow the leadership of any woman.

 

Waverly had removed her power helmet and her hard cold eyes flashed icy hard now. "I am in charge of this operation by the authority of the United States Federal Government, the United States Defence Force, the Sisterhood of Steel itself and the Brotherhood of Steel. I am a soldier first and a woman second when it comes to being a commander."

 

Hrashman went to say something more but then Jasmine looked intently into his eyes and he froze in surprise as if she had chucked cold water into his face. She spoke then. "While it is true that Waverly will be overly in control, Cran will command the SofS itself and you will command the newly arrived army more directly. If we do not properly combine forces and work cooperatively the enemy will easily destroy us. The super mutants will carry many of our people off and try to turn them into super mutants."

 

Hrashman, as strong willed as he was, had fallen before Jasmine's ability to sway people and to get people to change their minds with out her having to say much at all. She did this because, as she was then, she was always right in her point of view. Yet there was also a power behind those eyes that was superhuman, that was more than just normall willpower at work.

 

"So that story is true." Hrashman grimaced. "A fate worse than death for sure. My boys and girls have already decided a final bullet is better than such a fate but let's hope it don't come to that." He looked around in rapt curiosity. "So these are the famous caverns of the kids. Children living alone and running things is against nature and God's grace. Kids and dogs."

 

Jasmine nodded. "We are going to use the assistance of the children if they agree. They are holding back secrets on us that are very important like the answer to a contradiction that should be obvious. If the last of the adults were gone from Lamplight Caverns about two hundred years ago, then where did the new children come from over those two centuries?"

 

Cran then spoke. "I came up with the same question but so, probably, have others. The children are in the caverns now, are locked in a large cave, so we can question them."

 

But the news soon came in the form of a much annoyed SofS sergeant that all the children and dogs had vanished. A search had exposed the hidden entrance to a fairly cramped tunnel not easily used by adults let alone by adults in power armour. Of them all only Jasmine did not seem at all surprised by what had happened.

 

Continued in NINE

[Maharg67]

NINE

 

 

The Little Lamplighters were in a large cavern chamber that was thier secre place. Mayor MacCready sat in the armchair, old but comfy, that he considered to be his throne. The others were sitting around chatting. Light came from three big electric lamps on the ceiling over the big metal alcove and the machines set into the walls of those alcoves and from a small burning camp fire. There were dogs but not just the ones that outsiders (Mungos) saw but some puppies and older dogs. Lucy was tending the scrapes on the arms of Bumble who had managed to fall over yet again.

 

Most of the children were nervous though MacCready was sure the Mungos could never get through the tunnels to the cave. They were too big and clumsy, everybody knew that.

 

Joseph was not so sure. He was fiddling with an old tourist guide robot, a eyebot like guidebot that was like an eyebot with out a laser but with powerful small spotlight where the laser would be. He had found it in the maze of tunnels and chambers that no Mungos had gone into for a very long time. He looked up with a frown and with a screwdriver gripped in one hand. He spoke with a tone of caution. "Those Mungos are soldiers who have fought feral ghouls, super mutants and raiders down in the Subways, in the basements and the caves down there. When the Mungo traders from Armageddon Town come here secretly to buy our mosshooms, they tell stories sometimes of Mungo doings in other places. They told me about soldiers who go down into tunnels with only light armour or no armour at all to fight and kill their enemies. They call them tunnel rats. What if some of those Sisters of Steel is a tunnel rat? What about Jasmine? She has something special about her. She will get here somehow."

 

MacCready grinned. "Then we shoot her."

 

But suddenly all the others were glaring at him and the small mayor gulped. Then she laughed in a not very convincing way. "Only joking. Only joking. Cause we wouldn't shoot Jasmine. She saved Penny, Sammy and Squirrel from the Slavers. Then she came back lots of times and brought us more dogs, books, NukaCola, comics, clothes, good food, a couple of robots, two portable computers and those white mice."

 

Penny had the cage with the white mice and they were in that cave.

 

Lucy spoke then. "They will see the machines, the ramp that new boys and girls come down. They will learn that we are not normal boys and girls. They will learn that all the first boys and girls were stolen by the Darkman."

 

At that Bumble nodded solemly. "We are clowns."

 

Lucy giggled and then kissed Bumble on the cheek before she spoke. "Silly, we are clones not clowns. The first boys and girls sleep inside capsules and every so often a new little boy or girl is cloned from their cells. The Darkman told us this. The Darkman who speaks to us through the big screen there and who frightens us."

 

They all looked at the machines.

One was a matter-former that made goodies like basic breadbiscuits to eat, soap to wash with, paste to clean teeth with, milk to drink, butter to put on the breadbiscuits, small simple toys, small basic other things and the LL-serum that the cloned girls and boys drank to slow down their growing up. Sometimes the serum failed and the boy or girl would grow into puberty and be forced to leave. The Little Lamplighters said openly it was because they did not trust Mungos, and in truth they did not, but the real reason was that the Darkman only wanted boys and girls in the Lamplight Caverns.

Another machine treated bad injuries, burns and such like.

Yet another machine took samples of urine, faeces and blood that were sent to the Darkman.

Another machine was a kind of game that the children played because the Darkman wanted them to. It was fun in a way because one got to do different things like racing cars or shooting guns or making funny little creatures jump around. It gave small prizes when any game was played and when personal high scores were gained, special prizes. But the machine zapped the children with electricity if they did not play well enough.

There was a booth that took holographic shots of the children every month for the Darkman and which recorded their heartbeat, blood pressure and other health signs.

But it was the capsule that was weirdest and most disturbing. They had to take turns to lie in it and to experience strange disturbing dream like experiences. They would go to a place called Wonderland where they would meet characters like the White Rabbit, the Queen of Red Roses, the Mad Hatter, Alice the Schoolgirl and also the Darkman himself tall and menacing in his tophat, cloak and business suit all black and Victorian English.

 

The children feared and hated the Darkman. They told lies to Mungos from outside to hide the truth about the machines, the Darkman and their true nature.

 

When children became old enough that they had to leave and go to Big Town the Darkman fiddled with their memories so they would not remember the truth about the Lamplight Caverns and the children.

 

Princess spoke then. "What will the Darkman do now there are so many Mungo soldiers in the Lamplight Caverns?"

 

The others did not have an answer.

Continued in TEN