DC WASTELAND RISING

[Maharg67]

THIRTY-EIGHT

 

“They’re all gone!” The Brother of Steel Paladin crouched and peered into a big long and deep ditch that should have been filled with angry super mutants. Even as she did so she heard the explosions of booby-traps being triggered off safely by sappers. The same sappers were having a difficult time clearing away booby-traps, mines and turrets through out the maze of ditches left behind by the super mutants.

 

“That’s impossible.” Ajax, the National Guard Commander crouched holding his laser-rifle as if he thought he should be shooting at super mutants and was wondering why he wasn’t. “Damned impossible. There were thousands of super mutants, mostly stupid mutants, but lots of weird ones as well and lots of those horrible little centaurs. Where could they have gone and so damned quickly?”

 

A Buzzbee vertibird shot overhead as it tried to spot any super mutants. All such low observation flights so far had found no missing super mutants. They were gone from the DC Wastelands.

 

Paladin Paula Orien shook her head. “Why doesn’t this make me feel good. The fighting is over. The Brotherhood of Steel has time to mend its wounds, to gather strength and to start seeking technologies again. Yet I do not feel better. This is just too damned wrong!”

 

At that moment four armoured figures slipped passed them moving with amazing speed, quietness and a kind of deadly animal grace. They were Clanhunters from the Subwayers and they were trying to track the super mutants. They wore their special hunter power armour. With them came a pair of Psyabalists in exotic bone, metal and leather armour. They were trying to track the psychic traces left behind by the departing super mutants.

 

Orien shook her head in wonder. “I am damned glad they are on our side. If anybody can find the super mutants, they can.”

 

Ajax nodded. “What are we going to do with all these earth works?”

 

It was a good question. Much of the National Mall was now a great mess. The new United States of America was having enough trouble just making the area safe for people to pass through.

 

Ajax used to be a Major but he had proven to be such a fine mix of good commander and politician that he was now in command of the new National Guard with only two people more powerful than him. One was the President and the other commanded the whole of the United States Defence Force, which was pretty much the National Guard.

 

Recently the new National Guard had been collecting up old military vehicles including much from the Washington DC National Guard Depot. Underground parking chambers had given over trucks, armoured cars, APCs, battletanks, robots, bulldozers, worker power armour and even an armoured ditch-digger. But getting these machines into action was taking time and effort.

Commander Ajax went to stand up but then both of them sensed something and looked upwards. The great big capsule, looking like an oversized white space-capsule, was held up by three big open grey parachutes. As they watched they noted small short bests of jets firing to steer it.

 

It was over nine metres wide and nine metres high being a rounded off cone with the underside downwards. Then it was landing with surprising gentleness of the ground and the parachutes were collapsing. Yet even as they were being dragged into the machine. Not catching on anything, the parachutes soon vanished.

 

A big hatch popped open and out clambered a Rebirther in oddly colour patterned power armour that looked much like that of a BofS soldier. Then came another. Each came out with a big gun but also hauling some kind of equipment supplies canister. But this was only the first of many big paracapsules landing in the area. Many others were drifting now, lightly piloted, to land in the big open area.

 

A Rebirther strode over to Ajax and Paladin Paula Orien and he saluted the surprised figures. “Greetings. We are the 333rd Rebirther Taskforce sent to assist you with the reconstruction of the National Mall Zone. All we ask in return is space and other resources to build our new main base of operations here.”

 

Ajax stood up and nodded his helmeted head. “I think that the President will agree with that. We badly need your assistance.”

 

There was an explosion in the distance.

 

The Rebirther swivelled his helmeted head. “First thing we can assist with is those mines, booby-traps and turrets. Our equipment for dealing with such is more advanced and sophisticated than anything that you have.”

 

The Paladin also stood up and then she spoke. “Perhaps you can help us track down the super mutants.”

 

But this time the Rebirther shook his head. “The super mutants have followed the Darkman into another dimensional realm; they have gone from this world and it is beyond us to find them. For that you will need other than Rebirthers to help you.”

 

More paracapsules were landing even as he spoke. There were also ugly graceful dropgliders gracefully landing with power assisted gliding. They were of various sizes but at least one was the size of a big Prewar BO747 supersonic airliner. Yet the most surprising ones were the fully powered shuttles, again ugly beautiful in appearance, that hovered protectively above the landing dropgliders and paracapsules.

 

Commander Ajax turned to the Rebirther, who was clearly an officer. His voice showed his shock. “Just how many of you Rebirthers are landing here today?”

 

The Rebirther responded quite calmly and matter of factly. “One hundred thousand Rebirthers, one hundred thousand Brother Protectors, one hundred thousand Sisters Compassionate and Five hundred thousand New Earthers. There are also two hundred thousand Selenitors. Most are landing closer to the eastern coast where they will extend our colony of Freedoma.”

 

Ajax scowled. “This is an invasion.”

 

The Rebirther again replied calmly. “The Lunar People’s Federation has over three billion people and is tied up in a war inside the moon with a powerful enemy. If we wished to we could land millions of troops here but we do not wish to. The main reason we are coming here in such numbers is that our enemy inside the moon is called the PanAxis. The PanAxis and the Enclave are basically the one and the same thing. Freedoma is here to help the new United States of America stay free while also making sure that the enemy does not gain the very special resources hidden away in the DC Wastelands. I will not speak of the nature of those resources. That is a discussion that will take place between our Envoy and your President.”

 

The Rebirther went on. “Yesterday the Enclave invaded and conquered Point Lookout in a matter of three hours. They have a battle fleet there now of over a thousand ships, airships and hoverships plus a few atomic submarines. They have a super aircraft carrier at least twenty times the size of the aircraft carrier that is part of Rivet City and they have a super dreadnaught battleship of immense power. It can hurl rocket-shells that weigh each four metric tons to a range of at least fifty kilometres and shoot multimegawatt laser beams that can burn through most fortifications like a hot knife through butter. They have over five hundred thousand elite Stormtroopers, Marinetroopers and Aerotroopers. They also have thousands of new cyborg-deathclaws along with a whole new range of robots unlike anything seen in the DC Wastelands before. They also have new types of weapons that we have no strong intelligence on.”

 

Ajax gulped and then he sighed. “Well, you convinced me. That’s a pretty good argument. Welcome to Washington DC.”

 

The Rebirther bowed quickly. “Thank you.”

 

Continued in THIRTY-NINE

[Maharg67]

Abbreviations (Will be edited in future)

 

BVRC = Bethesda Virtual Realit Corporation

 

BofP = Brotherhood of Protection

 

BofS = Brotherhood of Steel

 

CofA = Church of Atom

 

CSIA = Central Security Intelligence Agency

 

FBI = Federal Bureau of Investigation

 

GNR = Galaxy News Radio

 

MFDP = Multifold Dimensional Pocket

 

NIP = Nothing in Particular

 

RR = Reilly's Ranger

 

SofC = Sisterhood of Compassion

 

SAofDC = Stamp Collectors' Association of the District of Columbia

 

SofS = Sisterhood of Steel

 

SWATT = Special Weapons and Tactics Team

 

USA = United States of America

 

USDF = United States Defence Force

 

USFG = United States Federal Government

 

USFP = United States Federal Police

 

USNG = United States National Guard

[Maharg67]

THIRTY-NINE

 

 

Jade found her way across country by motorised stagecoach that travelled with some BofS tracked APCs like squat box shaped trucks with low tracks either side. She got off at the new Free Trade Outpost outside of Vault-101 and made her way past colourful stalls and alert security guards in body-armour.

 

Vault-101, now expanded to include Vault-101a, was able to sell purified water to the local Wastelanders along with small manufactured items, hydroponics food and other items of value. Metallic globebots floated in the air to help keep security. Vaultboy and vaultgirl androids assisted with many tasks.

 

From the stagecoach stepped some new residents for Vault-101. While some folk had departed from Vault-101 to live in Megaton or Rivet City, other folk were leaving smaller settlements that could no longer be properly defended. There was a whole new way of life developing in the vault.

 

United States Federal Government people had taken over the use of a whole newly discovered subvault and were turning it into an administrative and archival department. With them had come new resources including more security guards and security robots.

 

Jade wore Wastelander clothes like she was some new settler, moved with confidence, and walked straight past Vault Dwellers who should have seen her as a younger version of Jasmine. She stopped and examined the price of bottles of pristine water on a big stall table.

 

She looked at the woman behind the stall table and spoke with evident anger. “Reduce your price to the agreed upon one now and refund all who bought your bottles of water at the new cheat price you have imposed.”

 

The jumpsuited woman frowned. “Who are you to poke your nose into our affairs. We need to make a fair profit.”

 

Jade shook her head. “The old price was fair profit. This is cheating. I am Jade Ashworth. Amata will hear of this.”

 

The woman frowned. “More Ashworths to trouble us. First the father, then his daughter and now you. Amata was the one to order the increase in price. The Vault-101 Cooperative needs new funding for new projects.”

 

Jade smiled. “New projects, what sort of new projects?”

 

Amata was suddenly standing there with a clipboard in one hand and a pencil behind one ear. She frowned at Jade. “You look like a sixteen year old Jasmine. Have you come to cause us more trouble? Is Jasmine still angry with me?”

 

Jade spat out her words. “For your deep betrayal of her after she came to your rescue after you called her to do so over an emergency radio frequency. She brought the Reilly’s Rangers with her, paid them to go with her, and you fobbed her off with some stinking petty gift. You could have stood up for her but you wanted to make sure your climb to power as High Overseer went smoothly as possible. James Ashworth died a hero. Jasmine Ashworth almost died as a hero. Amata the High Overseer is seen across the DC Wastelands as a betrayer of friendship, as a betrayer of a great hero. Only the fact that you saved her life once grants you any redemption. Seems Vault-101 folk have not learned their lesson.”

 

“That is not true.” A tall dark skinned woman in a blue jumpsuit walked up. “Amazing, like looking at a young Jasmine. Now that Vault-101 is holding elections, Amata is no longer assured of her position. Also many Vault Dwellers have become ashamed of how we treated the Ashworths.” She turned to Amata. “Which reminds me, I have heard you wish to charge the Sisters of Compassion to send more supplies to the nearest Wastelander Assistance Outpost at Balk Springs.”

 

Amata scowled. “Caroline, you are starting to get on my goat. The SofC demands more with every passing day. We must care for our own people first. Ever since you became Underseer of Vault-101 you have been on my back about every major decision I make. This is enough.”

 

Caroline turned to Jade. “Elected position by Citizen Vote. The Underseer supervises all decisions made by all Overseers including the High Overseer. The Underseer is linked with Coordinators and Supervisors. The Underseer is an attempt to balance against the power of the High Overseer. Amata has been very secretive about these new projects that are based in Vault-101b, a newly found vault.”

 

Amata nodded. “Vault-101 Security Protocols mean I can not discuss such matters at this time. The new projects will gain us new wealth, security and other resources. The Professors have assured me that even such fools as you, Caroline, will be pleased by the results.”

 

The Underseer shook her head. “Where did all those new guards come from and those new robots and those others now in Vault-101b?”

 

Jade sighed. She looked at her Pipboy and pressed some buttons. Then she spoke. “Begin Operation Trojan. Activate all combat teams. Activate combat robots. All Citizens must report to emergency stations. All Citizens must report to emergency stations. Will specialists prepare for emergency responses. The hospital, clinics and first aid posts prepare for casualties.”

 

The sound of gun fire, of 10mmC caseless bullets and lasers being fired, drifted out through the tunnel that led to the main vault door to Vault-101.

 

A pair of vertibirds came soaring through the air above, Enclave machines bristling with weapons. Both of them started dropping towards the encampment even as Stormtroopers came sliding down lines towards the ground.

 

Amata looked stunned. “But they promised there would be no fighting, no use of power armoured soldiers.”

 

Jade sighed. “Be the High Overseer Amata and do what you do best.”

 

Amata then pelted off. Soon she was ordering people around in a very efficient manner. Security guards, robots and AA-turrets were firing up at the vertibirds.

 

Jade crouched down and then she sprang upwards like an arrow. She shot up into the air like a missile and then halted between the two flying machines. For a moment she floated high up in the air in a seemingly impossible manner. Then she whirled and energies flew out from her hands. Both Jolly Grey Giants exploded and Stormtroopers fell to the ground as backpack jets flared to slow them down.

 

The Stormtroopers landed and rolled to come up firing. Brothers of Steel came out of nowhere in power armour, firing 20mm shells as they came. Stormtroopers died as holes were ripped in their armour.

 

Jade saw no more Enclave aircraft and drifted down to land gently on the ground again as if supported by an invisible parachute. Underseer Caroline was staring at her in shock as were others.

 

Armatroopers stormed into the Vault, a new BofS force.

 

Jade sighed. She turned to Caroline. “Vault-101 has already fallen to our forces. False government workers from the new subvault are launching a secondary attack along utility tunnels. Fighting has broken out in the approaches to Subvault Section A1a3. That is the place they found the poor dead human alien hybrid in the capsule-chair. Amata and her people allowed Enclave scientists to come into the very heart of Vault-101 to investigate VaultTec secrets.”

 

Caroline went pale. “She was always too much like her father and still too much under his influence even after you were expelled and she became High Overseer. They had secret meetings together before she made major policy decisions. Her own advisers complained she would not listen to them. Overseers, Coordinators and Supervisors never felt she was heeding them either.”

 

Jade sighed. “Amata will be terminated for high treason. She signed a major alliance agreement with the new United States Federal Government and then security intelligence agreements. The alien human hybrid and other Vault-101 secrets were to be left for investigation as soon as a new R-and-D team could be sent here. We figured what she was up to very quickly and secretly began to send military forces to here in disguise. When Jasmine came here last she found Amata and her people to be obstructive and false. Jasmine was the one who supposedly found the secret areas and the poor half human half alien dead in his capsule-chair. But Jasmine worked out that Amata already knew of the chamber, had been there before.”

 

Caroline sighed. “The USFG is going to take over Vault-101.”

 

Jade shook her head. “No, the original Vault-101 will continue to be classed as a normal semiautonomous settlement with its own leadership. The rest of the vault, though, will be USFG territory.”

 

That was when part of the cliff face above the vault entrance exploded outwards and then out from the newly formed tunnel shot a sleek enclave vertijet. The VTOL supersonic machine shot outwards, turning as it went, and then shot off westwards. Four more of these vertijets followed, each large enough to carry many Enclave clones and robots along with much else.

 

Caroline sighed. “You have won.”

 

But Jade shook her head. “I have the dark fear that the Enclave people got exactly what they came to get thanks to Amata’s greed for power, her desire to please her manipulative hateful father.”

 

She turned to Caroline. “By the authority invested in me by the USFG President Suzanne Ubama I now pronounce you to be temporary High Overseer until new elections can be held. Congratulations!”

 

Caroline did not look very pleased.

Continued in FORTY

[Maharg67]

FORTY

 

 

The new USFG was operating as per normal; that is under conditions of barely controlled chaos.

 

Bunkertown Bunker-A001 had almost been emptied of all of its stored goodies. The last items, crates of very popular toilet paper of the soft forgiving kind, were even then being removed. The empty bunker was being quickly as possible converted into a new USFG reception and visitors’ centre. It had turned out to be even bigger than it had first seemed to be.

 

Bunkertown Bunker-B001 was the GNR Bunker with a huge archives, a museum, an art gallery and other facilities. Now GNR people were living and working there with a few others such as their families and friends.

 

Bunkertown Bunker-B002 was the USFG HQ Bunker with the President’s Quarters, other quarters, the War Room, Presidium facilities, meeting rooms, Presidential Guards barracks and much else of the kind.

 

Bunkertown Bunker-C001 was full of goodies of a World War Two vintage civilian kind ranging from greyscale 2DTVs, paperback books, LP records, vacuum cleaners, jukeboxes to pinball machines, sedan cars, motorbikes, toilet paper, clothes, shoes, camping gear, medical gear and a good deal more. It was being emptied as this stuff was sent to where it was needed.

 

Those were the Bunkertown Bunkers that had been opened so far. 1Dog had found that each discovered bunker led to two new bunkers. Elevator like chambers in Bunker-A001 had led to Bunker-B001 and Buker-B002. An elevator like chamber had led from Bunker-B001 to Bunker-C001.

 

In the maze of chambers and hallways that made up the nine levels of the cube shaped Bunker-B001 was exploring, was trying to find an elevator like chamber that would most likely take him to Bunker-C002, if there was such a bunker. People were still moving into the bunker that was now called the GNR Bunker. PA speakers were broadcasting the radio channel through the bunker’s public spaces even as it was being broadcasted across the DC Wastelands.

 

Jogs, another DJ who was 3Dog’s official apprentice, was speaking about the new GNR poll asking Wastelanders if they should call themselves Wastelanders, Columbians or Americans. The poll results were so far not so conclusive.

 

1Dog entered the museum chamber where people were assembling displays of Prewar and Postwar types. Materials had been salvaged from various private and museum collections through out the DC Wastelands. The tall slim woman directing it all was looking tired and frustrated. She was waving her pencil at various people and shouting out orders in English and, sometimes, in Spanish.

 

1Dog stood next to her for a short time waiting to speak to her. At last she turned to him with a soft frown, checked her clipboard, looked at him again and frowned some more. “Who are you? A relative of 3Dog? If you are can you ask him to promote the new museum on the radio more. I mean, it was his idea in the first place. Now those damned super mutants have left the National Mall we can salvage more riches from the various museums and other institutions there.”

 

1Dog smiled. “I will be sure to speak to 3Dog and I am sure he will be glad to do so. Have any of your people found an odd elevator chamber in a place where one would least expect to find one? That is away from the main banks of elevators that carry people between bunker levels.”

 

The woman nodded. “Yes, yes indeed. Young Stanley, a fine young man with a strong gift for dropping valuable vases, found such an elevator not too far from here. He was eager to please and I was eager to get him away from the vases so I sent him to investigate. He took a protectron robot with him for security.”

 

1Dog sighed. “These bunkers are still largely unknown to us. I think that it was unwise to send Stanley alone to one even if he did take a protectron with him. Now where is this elevator to be found?”

 

She frowned at him. “I hope nothing bad has happened to him. He is my god child, which was the only reason I hired the hopeless young fool. The government assured me that this bunker is secure.”

 

“It is as secure as anything can be in the DC Wastelands.” He began to walk away. “The dates beneath the picture of President Nixon are wrong and that motorbike on display is not a HD/Hog50A but a HD/Hog54B. That model was used mainly by various State Police Services of the old USA.”

 

She snorted at his back, looked at the mentioned displays and then sighed tiredly.

 

Upon finding the elevator like chamber, it was tucked away in its own lobby chamber complete with a big curving reception desk, he called upon security. Soon there were security guards and security robots watching over the chamber.

Continued in FORTY-ONE

[Maharg67]

FORTY-ONE

 

1Dog entered the elevator like chamber alone. The doors hummed closed and he pressed the button marked C002. He had a strange tingling sensation go through his body and for a second he felt an uncomfortable dizzy feeling.

 

As soon as the doors slid open he saw the smoking wreckage that was a protectron robot. There were drops of blood on the tiled floor and a dropped clipboard with a pencil lying next to it.

 

Not a good sign!

 

He drew out his laser-pistol even as he shot through the open doorway and crouched behind a reception counter. The place was covered by light dust but there were some footprints in the dust on the floor and other indications that people had recently been there. Also by the signs a body had been dragged away.

 

The big lobby chamber was pretty bare except basic furniture, fittings and decorations. Stanley had been dragged into a hallway leading off from the lobby chamber. 1Dog sensed danger but he could see nothing particularly dangerous.

 

Then he heard the hissing noise like something between what a human and a snake might sound like. The humanoid came stalking into view with a roughly shaped human body wearing WW2 type combat fatigues and boots but its head was roughly like that of a snake that twisted back and forth on a thick snake neck. The creature held a powerful semiautomatic rifle.

 

Yet 1Dog did not shoot because he sensed no danger in this one. Instead he stood up and pointed his laser-pistol to the floor and spoke. “How are you going, dude? You seen some young guy called Stanley. That smoking bit of junk was the protectron robot that was supposed to protect him.”

 

The snakeman turned and his forked tongue flickered in and out. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. Then he spoke in a hissy kind of voice. “My kind are used to people shooting first and asking questions second. You could have shot me and yet you didn’t. I am Harold the Snake. I was human once before the Enclave got hold of me. That is one Professor Marue who turned humans into animamans and animals into animanoids. A twisted mind if there ever was one. The Brothers of Steel rescued us from Marue Island and brought us here but then they abandoned us. They said they would return but that was about two hundred years ago.”

 

Harold the Snake looked at the laser-pistol. “Is that some kind of fancy raygun?”

 

“Laser-pistol. A standard model of a weapon used up on the surface but not as common as guns like yours.” He smiled. “I am 1Dog.”

 

Harold hissed. “So you come from the good old USA. I bet you haven’t seen anything as weird as me up there. How is Washington DC these days. I suppose everybody has robot servants and live in luxury. We have a fair life down here or at least we did until the troubles began about a decade back.”

 

1Dog sighed. “You are far from the strangest thing that I have ever seen. The good old USA is gone though a new one is rising out of the radioactive rubble of the old. A sea of broken buildings, drifting clouds of toxic gas, ruined cars including unstable atomic ones that could always blow, mutated monsters of a wide variety, rogue robots, the Enclave, savage human raiders of which the reavers are the worst, slavers, cannibals, twisted trogs, packs of savage dogs, wild humans barely more civilised than wild animals. From Alaska to Mexico, from the West Coast to the East Coast, the USA is no more. Settlers in fortified settlements battle for survival and somehow civilization struggles on.”

 

He seemingly slipped a thick, flat plastic module with a 3Dscreen on one side. “Coloured 3Dphotos from some of my travels through what used to be the USA including annexed Canada and annexed Mexico. Look at the screen with the fancy pattern on it and press the little blue button every time you want to see a new picture.”

 

The Snakeman shrugged as if he expected to see nothing shocking and then he began to look through the pictures. On and on he snapped the blue button. After he had quickly seen about a hundred pictures he passed it back. “I think we have been lucky to be down here in these bunkers which are words I never thought I would ever say. The young man was taken by Sned the Donkey and Rob the Rodent. They serve Lord Dark, also known as the Darkman. About a decade ago he stepped out of an experimental teleportation booth, a telebooth, in a laboratory workshop in Bunker-D012. As you probably know by now all these bunkers are in a kind of multiple fold dimensional pocket. Each layer has twice as many bunkers as the one above it. Every bunker as two bunkers coming off it. But we of the Animal Clans, we are much deeper in the Bunker Maze now and have moved from the bunkers into other spaces that have opened up in the MFDP. My comrades and I came to this bunker hunting for Sned the Donkey and Rob the Rodent for they are wanted for many crimes committed against lawful citizens of the Animal Clans, of Ozarnia that is our hidden homeland.”

 

1Dog shook his head. “I did not know it though my people are coming to suspect the truth. We now inhabit Bunkers A001, B001, B002 and C001. We are the new United States of America. The Darkman has caused us much trouble. He was one of those who probably helped to cause World War Three to happen. Why would the two animamans take Stanley?”

 

“As a hostage, as a gift to Lord Dark?” The snakeman shrugged. “Can you contact your people and bring help.”

 

1Dog nodded. “I have already done so. What I know, others also know for I am a clone and no, not an Enclave clone. What is in this bunker?”

 

Harold the Snake shook his head. “Some odd stuff and lots of normal stuff. Shag the Dog and Babs the Bunny should be coming this way soon. Please, no jokes about Shag’s name. He is hyper sensitive about it. As for Babs the Bunny, she will try to seduce you straight off. Do not be surprised if I throw a bucket of water over her. She won’t take it personal like.”

 

They moved down a long wide hallway and passed a number of thick wooden doors. They opened each one carefully to expose small office rooms each with a desk, a mechanical typewriter, a bunk, a sink with taps with a bathroom cabinet, an odd shower like cubicle in a corner, a file cabinet, a wardrobe and a bookcase. On each bunk was a human, a naked young man or woman, immersed into what looked like a big semitransparent gelatine capsule. Bookcases were filled with books and boxes of magazines. There were prints or posters on walls. There were personal items. A light layer of dust lay over everything.

 

Harold the Snake hissed softly. “We call them the Jelly-People, the poor humans trapped in those damned capsules. We don’t even know if they are still alive because we can’t get to them. Even the Darkman left them alone and he punished any of his followers who tried to interfere with them as a joke or to try to please him. This area is riddled with hallways and those small chambers. Each of them has a young attractive man or woman in a body-capsule.”

 

On impulse 1Dog went and touched one of these capsules though Harold the Snake was impatient to move on, clearly assuming nothing would happen. When the capsule shimmered and glowed, when the naked young woman climbed out of it coughing and sneezing up jelly stuff, the snakeman hissed in shock.

 

The naked young woman frowned softly at both of them, did not seem at all surprised by Harold the Snake’s appearance, and walked straight to the odd booth in the corner of her room. When she was showered and dried, the gorgeous young woman slipped into underthings and combat fatigues plus webbing and boots. She seemed not to care that two men watched her get dressed. She armed herself with a combat knife, a pair of handcuffs, two fragmentation hand-grenades, a semiautomatic pistol and a submachinegun. Both guns fired the same .45 calibre of bullet. On her fatigues were the symbols of the Sisterhood of Steel.

 

Then she turned to 1Dog. “Thank you for bringing me back with out any brain damage. I don’t know how you did it but I suggest we start saving the others now before anything bad can happen to them. I am Susan Crier of the Sisterhood of Steel, an auxiliary service to the Brotherhood of Steel. We get to do our share of fighting but are still expected to make coffee, do the laundry and get the typing done.”

 

1Dog frowned. “Women are soldiers in the Brotherhood of Steel now and they no more make coffee, do the typing or do the laundry than any of the men do.”

 

She shook her head. “Sounds fineto me. What about the good old USA? Something tells me that you don’t have good news.”

 

1Dog sighed. “I will wait until I can tell a whole group of you. We need your help to find an innocent young man called Stanley.”

 

He told her something of what had happened. She had plenty of questions to ask but left them for later.

 

Continued in FORTY-ONE

[Maharg67]

FORTY-ONE

 

 

Jasmine, Fawkes and the Reilly’s Rangers found a cure to the sickness that killed the Little Lamplighter named Princess. The other children were saved from what became known as Clone Pox.

 

The explorations of Vault-87 continued. The Gallery Chambers were separate, were in truth part of a subvault called Vault-87c. This included the sensible mutants and their area and the cloneator machine that replaced children in the Lamplight Caverns and sent other children to other places. Jasmine feared to interfere with it because of its sheer complexity so it kept popping out infants at a fairly regular pace.

 

Mayor MacCready gave up his position and became just a young boy going to school and doing chores around the Lamplight Caverns.

 

Jasmine, Fawkes, Cran and Reilly stood together in a large Gallery Chamber. Before them was a row of domed displays that seemed to be the Darkman’s comical side showing. In each one was a stupid mutant in costume. There was a ballerina on the tip of one toe; there was an Elvis Impersonator all in white; there was an astronaut in a bulky moonsuit; there was a bikini clad stupid mutant with a surf board; there was a an artist painting a picture of a bowl of fruit; there was a housewife ironing some clothes on an ironing board; there was a rock and roll star with an electric guitar; there was an oversized boy scout; there was a movie starlet whose white dress was being blown upwards as she clung to it; there was a normal stupid mutant with a minigun; a normal stupid mutant with a sledgehammer and there were many others.

 

“All of this is linked with some powerful secret project somehow involving the code <SSS01>. The Darkman spoke of the code as representing a version of Washington DC that Fawkes, Dogmeat and myself visited very briefly thanks to the use of a telebooth.” Jasmine looked around. “The project is linked with virtual reality but is not just about virtual reality. We need to find Vault-87a and hopefully there we will find some answers.”

 

Cran, who now commanded the Sisterhood of Steel, shook her head. “Our scouting parties are constantly finding new areas of Vault-87. They found a big garage workshop stuffed full of robovehicles like those used in Vault-101. They found that depot also full of useful equipment and supplies. The people behind this conspiracy had a great deal of resources to play with.”

 

“Which they got by stealing it from the people of the old USA!” The Mysterious Stranger suddenly stood close to them having seemingly come out of nowhere. “One of the reasons that the Soviets were able to invade Alaska was that the USA was weakened by the activities of the conspiracy run by the Enclave. Except that then the Enclave was controlled by the Darkman. Many organizations were part of the conspiracy, many of which would surprise you. They included the Patriot People’s Party, VaultTec, NukaTec, the Futures Foundation, the Echelon Think-Tank, the Congressional Funding Regulation Subcommittee, the Free Masons, the Federal Reserve Bank, the United States Defence Committee and many others.”

 

The Mysterious Stranger sighed in a tired fashion. “The whole of North America is isolated from the rest of the world behind a vast force field that warps the very laws of nature both inside and outside the field. The Isolation Barrier was raised on the very day that World War Three took place. This was not supposed to happen. Everything went wrong. The conspiracy collapsed. The USA was supposed to be safe from nuclear weapons but was devastated when the Soviets launched a surprise attack. Why? Because they had learned about the rising of the barrier and fear caused the Chinese and Russians to strike out.”

 

He kept on speaking. “The Vaults were built as a back up plan in case the USA was actually attacked. The false vaults with their insane experiments would hopefully conceal the real vaults and perhaps seed any Postwar landscape with survivors. The whole Vault Program was riddled with inconsistencies and stupidities.”

 

Jasmine turned to him. “I know you from somewhere.”

 

The man, who was dressed like a 1940s American private detective, nodded. “I was there when you were born. I am your grandfather. So is the Darkman. Its hard to explain why this is so. Your mother is still alive.”

 

Jasmine nodded. “As the Darkman told me. He told me that my mother and I are actually one entity.”

 

The Mysterious Stranger shook his head. “This is not so. Your mother is a living god like both of us. She became Beatrice, a woman living in Vault-101, who became a lover of James Ashworth, your father. She helped bring you up and took on a motherly role with you when you were younger. Beatrice still lives in Vault-101 as an aspect of your mother.”

 

“Living gods?” Fawkes scratched his head. “Makes sense that does but what does it mean?”

 

The Mysterious Stranger turned to Fawkes. “We are an ancient people who drift across the Multiverse of interwoven universes feeding off the psychic emanations from more primitive peoples. In truth we live outside of time and space as you know it, or at least we should do. Now some of us, including the Darkman, are trapped here in North America by that damned force field. The irony is that the Darkman helped set up the force field project in the first place to trap some of his enemies. The Darkman is a wanted criminal of our people and I was chasing him, was going to capture him and take him back to our people to face justice.”

 

Cran frowned. “What does <SSS01> actually mean?”

 

The MS responded. “Stimulation Simulation Sensoscape Project One.”

 

Jasmine nodded. “Jas talked with a woman called Elisa who had a child to the Darkman. She is trapped somehow in Vault-87a and her baby is in the big metal chamber in the Lamplight Caverns under the care of a small robot and Lucy of the Little Lamplighters. Can you take us to Vault-87a?”

 

He nodded and turning, pointed to a single domed exhibit of a stupid mutant dressed as a baby with a big baby bottle full of milk and a nappy. With a humming noise the whole disk shaped platform and dome moved slowly to one side. A circular hole was revealed even as a safety rail rose around its edge to stop people falling in accidentally. A disk shaped platform rose into view with more humming noise.

 

Standing on the platform was a brainbot. The machine hummed along on its tracks and moved towards them. Then it came to a halt and a voice spoke from it. “Greetings from Vault-87a. The Leadership Council of Vaultburg, a large subvault and surrounding fertile caverns, has sent me to escort you. The people of Vault-87a are a fine mixture of ex-employees of VaultTec, clones, cyborgs, androids and others including some ghouls and super mutants. If you have any prejudices against androids, clones, cyborgs, super mutants or ghouls, you are welcome to leave them behind. I am not classed as a robot. Because I have a human brain I am classed as a cyborg and am a voting citizen of Vaultburg. Please hurry as there is much to discuss. The albino clones are a threat to all of us.”

 

They followed the brainbot to the elevator platform that then sank downwards with more humming noise. They found themselves in a vast chamber stretching out in all directions and dotted with great big exhibits in domes. An atomic submarine, a naval frigate of WW2, a steam locomotive from the Wild West of the 1800s, no less than three huge Martian Invasion machines from the late 1890s, a Liberty Prime robot, a Formula One atomic powered racing car, an early prototype vertibird, the huge flying boat called the Spruce Goose and many others.

 

They reached not the floor but a great viewing platform. A reception committee of humans, ghouls, androids and super mutants in jumpsuits were waiting for them. They focused on Jasmine, which surprised her.

 

A woman came forward, tall and elegant and with only one large eye. She wore elegant silkcloth robes. She spoke. “I am Leela. I am the President of Vaultburg, a secret civilisation of just over two million people. What do you think of this Gallery Chamber? Most incredible, is it not. The Darkman certainly had a way of gathering treasures to himself. The place is a vast museum, art gallery and library but it is far more than that. These exhibitions have a special purpose to them. They are part of an amazingly sophisticated computer program called Stimulation Simulation Sensoscape that projects virtual reality onto reality, that alters reality itself to suit the desires of the user of the SSS program. Or at least that is the theory.”

 

The woman frowned. “Professor Altman altered me and gave me this one eye. I am a cyclopman now and intend to stay as one since my single eye gives me special abilities of vision. I can see by your auras that you, Jasmine, and you, the Mysterious Stranger, are far from being mere humans. Like the Darkman you are of those aliens who call yourself the living gods, an arrogant term if there ever was one. You are Multiversal parasites drifting through time and space feeding off the psychic energies of other peoples.”

 

Jasmine sighed. “You are in no position to judge us, President Tazmara. You helped the Darkman to make the SSS into a reality and to create SSS01, the virtual reality copy of Washington DC which, I guess, is full of trapped people that the Darkman can feed off when ever he wants to. Just how many human minds are trapped in SSS01, President Tazmara?”

 

The woman blanched visibly and then visibly relented. “What you say is true. I was a greedy fool who saw myself as a joint winner of many wonder prizes and somebody who would go down in history as a great scientist. There are banks of people in status capsules inside a hidden vault named Vault-87b but we do not know where it is or how to get there. Those two and a half million people thought they were going to live in a series of VaultTec vaults hidden in this area. Instead they ended up trapped in the virtual reality hell of a fake Washington DC. Every day is a new hell such as Smileday, Fightday, Sexday, Sweatday and many others. Because the days are chosen randomly they can not even prepare for what is to come.”

 

She scowled. “That insane monster Doctor Braun escaped from Vault-112’s virtual reality system and got to SSS01 only to find himself a victim there. Now Braun suffers just as he caused many others to suffer when he was in control of Vault-112. We have managed to use a whole jury-rigged system of hardware, firmware and software to spy into SSS01. I myself talked with Doctor Braun’s trapped and tormented mind. Vaultburg is in danger now but not from any form of virtual reality. The albino clones of Paradise Deep, they are called protobinos, have been sending heavily armed and armoured raiding parties to the very outskirts of Vaultburg. They have so far failed to get back into Vault-87 except one taskforce that was wiped out by the super mutants. They cleared away the fake boulders in the cliff alcove entrance in an attempt to find a way to bring a large military force into Vault-87 but the protobino people are easily harmed by sunlight, are a nocturnal people, who worship the Tripoc Martians. Yes they worship the same Martians who invaded our world back in the 1890s.”

 

Jasmine spoke of the cloneator machine that produced cloned babies on a steady basis, most of them being protobino babies. She spoke of the Martian mechatripod that had destroyed the Crosswayne Warlord Hrashman and his soldiers at Paradise Falls.

 

Tazmara nodded. “Paradise Falls was pretty well known for providing slaves to that monstrous dictator at the Pitt, that fool of a former Brother of Steel. Refugees from the Pitt got to Vaultburg and now live peacefully amongst us. What was not so well known was that many slaves were sent down through a secret set of tunnels beneath Paradise Falls to a huge bunker complex known as Paradise Deep. Paradise Deep was set up by the Paradise Eternal Corporation who were a commercial competitor to VaultTec. Over a million people went into that huge set of bunkers but it became a hell hole after the bombs fell. Refugees fled from there and reached Vaultburg. Indeed they were the ones to help start Vaultburg.”

 

The woman looked out over the great chamber. “The Paradise Deepers are a mixture of albino clones, cyborgs, exotic mutants and elite immortals who are vampires of some kind able to feed on the life energies of others. Some of those vampires escaped, in the past, out to the DC Wastelands. Vance and the Family are descendents of such people. But the worst creatures of Paradise Deep are the ghoul vampires who have, we recently learned, captured Vance and the Family.”

 

Jasmine nodded. “Vaultburg is welcome to become part of the new United States of America.”

 

Tazmara shook her head. “We have found a solution against the Paradise Deepers. We are going to unleash Clone Pox upon them. Most of their kind are clones and soon they will be ended as a threat to Vaultburg. We do not want you to interfere.”

 

Jasmine shook her head. “You will do no such thing. Together we will find a way to destroy the threat of Paradise Deep with out killing so many people. You know of the Lamplight Caverns now. A child died there recently of Clone Pox. Try to use germ warfare and you will answer to me.”

 

She reached out and took Tazmara by the hand. “We must work together, we must combine our resources. Make contact with the people of the Lamplight Caverns and through them with the USA. We will instigate a combined defence plan.”

 

Tazmara frowned. “The Clone Pox robots are on their way to Paradise Deep even as we speak.”

 

Jasmine frowned back. “Paradise Deep gained its first sample doses of antiviral drugs for Clone Pox just hours ago. Jade delivered them to the very gates of Paradise Falls itself and passed them over. Why does Vaultburg really want to see the destruction of Paradise Falls? Or is it just the Leadership of Vaultburg who wish to do so because you wish to hide the fact that the slaves sold to Paradise Deep were on sold to Vaultburg. Vaultburg is a slaver society and over half of your population are ghoul and super mutant slaves forced to labour in mines, farms, workshops and factories of your people. Vaultburg is not a democracy. The United States just banned all slavery within the DC Wastelands. Vaultburg is inside the DC Wastelands.”

 

Tazmara pulled out the 10mmC pistol from her robes with surprising speed even as Vaultburg snipers aimed their sniper-rifles at Jasmine and her companions. Jasmine and the Mysterious Stranger moved quicker, pulling out huge black pistols. The two of them moved so fast they were not even a blur of motion. Guns thundered. President Tazmara fell dead to the decking as pulsebullets of energy exploded into her. Snipers died, all four of them, even before they could pull the triggers of their weapons. One sniper, a woman, toppled from her position and fell through the air to land heavily on a metal floor far below.

 

A tall, portly man in silkcloth robes stepped forward. He scowled heavily at the dead former president and then at Jasmine. “This is an act of war. We must return to Vaultburg at once and consult with the Leadership Council. You will be punished for what you have done.”

 

“It was your people who tried to fire the first shots.” Jasmine stepped back. “I sense more of your killers are here. You invite us to talk and then try to kill us. This is very bad manners.”

 

The portly man grinned. “I thank you for now I am President of Vaultburg. In gratitude I shall have you all killed.”

 

But at that moment Sisters of Steel in power armour poured into the big chamber from three directions. As they did they fired off their 20mm autoguns with expert aim. Before them fled security guards in kevlar body-armour who clearly served Vaultburg. They were also humans. Outgunned and out numbered these security guards were soon surrendering.

 

The brainbot put his arms up in surrender. “Don’t shoot me. Cyborgs are second class citizens of Vaultburg. Only humans are considered first class citizens. Slaves, be they ghouls or super mutants or even humans, are third class citizens. Androids have no rights at all and for robots it is the same. I don’t want to die for Vaultburg.”

 

Jasmine touched the brainbot and it shimmered. Then the brainbot lowered its arms. “Wow, I can feel, I can sense things like I did as a human. I no longer feel so isolated, so half insane. I have new abilities. Now, if you want to invade and conquer Vaultburg with as little death and destruction as possible I can tell you how to do it for my computers are full of data on Vaultburg’s defence and security network-systems. Later we can play a nice game of chess in virtual reality.”

 

Jasmine nodded. “Of course, that would be wonderful.”

 

So it was that the invasion of Vaultburg began, a civilization based on slavery where the masters were VaultTec ex-employees living in reasonable luxury while most of the Vaultburgers lived in hard poverty. It was Jasmine who went amongst brainbots and androids, touching them and altering them. It was these brainbots and androids that first revolted even as SofS and RR forces stormed parts of Vaultburg.

Continued in FORTY-TWO

[Maharg67]

FORTY-TWO

 

1Dog dived and crawled behind a couch as bullets and shotgun pellets exploded off the wall behind him. He had spent the day dealing with awakened Sisters and Brothers of Steel who were all gung-ho to clear away all supposed enemies in the bunkers, various animal-humans including a very randy bunny-woman and now this.

 

Poor Stanley was a hostage in a cramped office at the end of one hallway. Sned the Donkey and Rob the Rodent were keeping him prisoner while 1Dog was trying to convince them to give up.

 

His last few words had almost got him killed. He was in a small waiting room like space and a kiosk like serving window was in front of him. On the other side of that were the two villains and the hostage.

 

1Dog unclipped the stun hand-grenade, leapt up and threw it. He hoped that it would not explode too close to poor old Stanley. If nothing else Stanley would hopefully gain more survival smarts and not wander into unknown bunkers with only a protectron with him as security.

 

The stun-grenade exploded with a very satisfying blast and then the sounds of two animal-humans being thrown around. 1Dog leapt out from behind the couch and shot across the room with his laser-pistol in hand. Then he was untying a very stunned and sorry for himself Stanley.

 

Stanley moaned and looked around himself. Then he looked to 1Dog. “Thank you for saving me from those… those things.”

 

1Dog waggled his finger at Stanley. “Now don’t be xenophobic. A couple of those animal-humans helped save your life. No more unofficial explorations of unknown bunkers, right. We should get you back to your aunty.”

 

Stanley groaned. “No, no, not that! She is always ordering me around and is always making me nervous so I drop vases and things.” He rubbed his wrists. “Those ropes were very tight.”

 

1Dog helped Stanley get up. “Did you hear these two say anything of interest?”

 

Stanley scowled. “They wanted to take me to somebody called Lord Dark. It seems Lord Dark sent them out to take prisoners so that Lord Dark could question them. These two are very frightened of this Lord Dark.”

 

“They are wise to be. He is also called the Darkman.” 1Dog turned as Sisters and Brothers of Steel came in. They now wore kevlar body-armour, including helmets, as well as fatigues and other gear. Then Babs the Bunny came in, saw Stanley and smiled very warmly at him. She was very sexy in a very exotic fashion and Stanley blushed. 1Dog sighed. Harold the Snake walked in, saw what Babs the Bunny was doing, and hissed softly at her. She gave Harold a dirty look.

 

Harold the Snake spoke. “You already have two dozen children of odd parentage. You damned rabbitnoids are going to over populate our society in a couple of years at this rate.”

 

Babs the Bunny snorted. “Harold the Snake, I can’t help it if you are cold blooded in more ways than one. Anyway our people need new generations if we are to survive. We are the last of our kind in the whole world.”

 

1Dog shook his head. “No you aren’t. I saw a colony like yours on the West Coast and another hiding in a ruined vault somewhere close to the Canadian Border. Still Babs the Bunny has a good point. Also the USA needs people.”

 

Harold the Snake hissed. “They will treat us like circus freaks. We need to make contact with others of our own kind.”

 

1Dog nodded. “Right now the new United States of America needs people and right now is the right time to get needed and gain some advantage for yourselves. Now, somebody has to take Stanley safely back to Bunker-B001, the GNR Bunker.”

 

Susan Crier spoke. “Some of my people will take him there. Babs the Bunny, stay away from the Brothers of Steel. They have enough to deal with.”

 

Babs hissed. “Jealous! Worried I will steal your pretty boys away from you?”

 

 

1Dog groaned softly. Then he spoke as calmly as he could. “We need to question these two thugs of Lord Dark. I suggest we take them somewhere secure. Babs the Bunny, stay with Harold the Snake. He is better for you than you think. Are there any more of your people I need to awaken, Lieutenant Crier?”

 

The Sister of Steel shook her head. “Not in this bunker but there are things I want to show you that we found here. The Darkman has been busy with some of my people. What we found has me wishing to kill him in a most painful manner.”

 

1Dog responded. “You will have to get in line behind a few million other folks. Lead on. Let us face these horrors for surely with the Darkman involved that is what they will be.”

 

The Sisters of Steel were inside their jelly capsules but they were obviously pregnant. There bellies bulged big and smoothly. There were eighteen young attractive women, inside capsules, lined up beside each other on the floor of a big metal chamber.

 

1Dog touched each in turn and then stood to one side as the pregnant young women were helped to their feet, were led towards a row of body-booths against one wall. He was frowning softly as Susan Crier came to talk to him.

 

Susan frowned. “Well, what is the verdict?”

 

1Dog sighed. “The father of their children is the Darkman. He is a so called living god. I am a so called living demigod. The children will be living demigods as I am but will be of various powers. Each woman will have twins, triplets, quads or quins. Together the eighteen of them are going to give birth to sixty children. They are going to need a lot of special supplies including nappies, milk, nappy cleaner, cots, baby bottles and much else.”

 

Lieutenant Susan Crier whistled softly and then she spoke. “We will care for our own. They will have loving parents, all of them, and other support. Why would the Darkman do this?”

 

1Dog frowned. “My people have powerful mating urges if we face danger. It is one of our survival instincts. The Darkman has gone into great danger and he has left behind himself some children. I will be up to the mothers if they want to give birth to the children.”

 

But Susan Crier frowned at him. “They are Sisters of Steel. They will do their duty and their special children will serve the Brotherhood of Steel.”

 

1Dog nodded. “Very well, that is not my affair. We have things to do.”

 

And they did those things.

 

Continued in FORTY-THREE

[Maharg67]

FORTY-THREE

 

 

The Ironsides Mercenaries had failed to get into Vault-301 even when their sappers had tried expertly using high explosives. But they had radiated out from there in a careful search and had found both more enemies and more vault features. They also found Hamilton’s Hideaway which they converted into a base of operations after killing the raiders dwelling there.

 

In the Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema, a great yard of abandoned atomic and electric cars facing a huge holoprojector screen that was in surprisingly good condition, they found a cinema complex. There was a diner, a take-away kiosk, the gateway where cars came into the place and bought tickets, the projector rooms and other facilities. Below that was a basement and, hidden below that, a bunker. In the bunker was a second vault door to Vault-301.

 

Ironsides fought raider ghouls in the cinema, the soldiers and raiders both trying not to cause any atomic cars to explode with their now unstable atomic motors. Much of the fighting was hand to hand, was very bloody, but the ghoul raiders were soon being massacred. The few survivors fled into the semiwilderness.

 

Marshal Ironsides floated down a laneway between parked wreckages and was pleased with what he saw. Only one Ironsides had been injured and then only lightly. The bodies of the ghoul raiders lay scattered all over the place. The outdoor cinema complex arose ahead of him with sentries already posted on the roof of the building crouched to make themselves into smaller possible targets.

 

The Marshal slowed his hoverchair and lowered its struts. He turned off its motors to conserve energy and examined a computer screen. The hoverchair was far more than just a way to get around. It was a miniature mobile command centre.

 

They had found a Lightening Spike, it was smaller than the GNR Tower one, because the building around the spike had collapsed to expose it.

 

They had found a prefabricated bottle bunker close to the Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema with a hidden entrance. Just before the A-bombs had fallen a quick rich expert called Prefab Jack had an idea for making more money. Prefab Jack got his name and his wealth from manufacturing prefabricated swimming pools, emergency shelters, houses and many other structures. So he began to sell prefabricated shelters which came with many features included. These were like big square multifibre bottles with various entrance tubes like bottle necks, hence the name. Bottle-shelters dotted the whole of North America but most were in the DC Wastelands.

 

In the bottle-bunker were two dead families who had died of murder suicide as the adults had poisoned the children and then themselves. They had found out the limitations of trying to survive in a bottle-bunker.

 

It was in a bottle-bunker complex of five linked bottle-bunkers the Ironsides had found the surprise enemy. Strange robots had attacked them that were like brainbots but where the brain was normally shown in a dome was instead a turret with more weapons, cameras, mikes and sensors. In the front each also had a gattling-laser. Brainbots normally had life support systems to keep the brains functioning and the new weapons seemed to fill the same space.

 

These robots had given no warning but had attacked with much savagery. Five Ironsides had died before the others in the team had withdrawn in a rush. So far the Ironsides had found no way back into the bottle-bunker complex.

 

 

The dead were already sent in body-bags to Fort Bannister. The Ironsides had taken over the fort, once the HQ Base for the Talon Mercenaries, and now occupied its bunkers plus a big complex of prefab modular buildings and tents. They had found there a secondary series of hidden bunkers the Talons had failed to discover which had many fine resources to them including fixed facilities, robots, vehicles, weapons and other equipment plus supplies. In Fort Bannister, hidden in a very cleverly concealed safe, the Ironsides had found evidence that the real person behind the contracts against Jasmine, 3Dog and a few others of good karma, was the Darkman.

 

Ironsides had got as far as BigTown only to find that it was now a small thriving settlement of ghouls. The ghouls were highly nervous until the Ironsides medics fixed a few of them up and the Ironsides supply sergeant gave out some ammo, rations, medikits and bottles of purified water. It was the ghouls who spoke about the odd activity they had seen close to Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema. The ghouls had spotted some power armoured figures in Enclave like armour but it was coloured black. This had been at night since ghouls did not like bright hot sunshine much on their skin.

 

Hearts and Minds was an important tactic used by the Ironsides who had learned it from Lyon’s Brotherhood of Steel. That is get the hearts and minds of locals on your side to gain valuable assistance including knowledge of what was happening locally.

 

Marshal Ironsides sensed somebody standing close to him, sensed no threat, assumed it was his second-in-command and spoke to her. “We need to do some more triangulation, some more logical reasoning of where to find other entrances to Vault-301.”

 

The warm, confident young voice that answered was that of a young woman and not that of the tawny, scar faced tough second in command. “I can tell you that there are five main and fifteen secondary entrances into Vault-301 but that Vault-301 in not just another VaultTec Vault. Inside the actual vault is a dark power that would consume both you and all of your mercenaries in less than an hour and your deaths would not be quick or painless ones.”

 

Marshal Ironsides turned head and saw a young woman wearing jeans, an open denim jacket, a denim cap, black leather boots and a thick belt dotted with items including two very large pistols in holsters. She also wore a black string vest with nothing underneath but her slimly voluptuous body. The woman was a redhead, strikingly beautiful and had a big powerful semiautomatic sniper-rifle over one shoulder that looked like it could wipe out a behemoth at a goodly distance.

 

She stood with absolute stillness like a very dangerous predator about to strike. The leader of the Ironsides knew at once that this woman could probably take on his whole mercenary corporation and win with out too much effort. She was way out of his league like the woman Jasmine that he had once met.

 

She took a sheet of paper out from her blue denim jacket and passed it to him. It turned out to be a basic but efficient map of the area marking out the various entrances to Vault-301. “I am Red Sonja. Like Jasmine and the Mysterious Stranger I am an Eternal. This is a name that we do not often use with others. I am one of a few Red Sonjas and Red Sonjis, the former being women and the latter being men. I am what you might call a bounty hunter but I am not paid in mere physical resources but in something that we Eternals find far more valuable.”

 

Then she reached out and touched his hoverchair. It shimmered and the marshal shimmered for a moment. Then she withdrew her hand. Marshal Ironsides stood staring at her, stunned.

 

Then he spoke. “You upgraded the hoverchair but you also did something else.” Then he opened the side of the hoverchair and for the first time in over twenty years he stepped out on legs and stood upright. These were brand new legs in altered fatigues and body-armour. On his brand new feet were brand new combat boots. Then he looked at her carefully. “What do you want?”

 

Red Sonja smiled. “I did it because you needed to have it done. I did it because even we Eternals need good karma. I did it because I need you and your mercs to assist me. I did it because I sensed the fears deep in you of being trapped in a deactivated hoverchair while an enemy comes to kill you. The hoverchair is now a much improved mobile command and weapons station but now it is actually a robot with keen artificial intelligence. It can follow you around or work independently of you or work with others as long as you give the new robot the right set of coded commands.”

 

He sighed. “I once dreamed of blowing up my hoverchair for as good as it was, it was the symbol of my lack of legs. Now I will cherish it as an extension of my mobility and my ability to command. She looks as if she has a few tricks.”

 

The robotic hoverchair turned and spoke to him in a warm mature female voice. “I certainly do, Marshal Wonderful. I have a 20mm autogun, a big multipulsegun, extra ammo storage, a special computer network-system, a small medical bay, a coffee percolator and much more.”

 

Other Ironsides emerged into view, clearly stunned. Some wore power armour and others wore body-armour. They stared at their leader in wonder.

 

Second Marshal Conroy stepped up to the Marshal, looked at Red Sonja and back to the marshal again. “Is this one of those Jasmine tricks?”

 

Red Sonja snorted. “No, I am another entity altogether. We are distant cousins in the complex terms of my people. You might say, in primitive terms, that we belong to the same family and the same clan. But Jasmine is more powerful than me for she is higher caste and will become great even by our standards. Even the Darkman is frightened of her but he has good reason to be.”

 

The marshal stepped back into the robohoverchair and settled in. “I now name you Lieutenant Lucy Harmer II, or just Lucy-Bot, after my first second in command who died saving my life.”

 

Conroy shook her head in wonder. Then she got back to business because she, like any typical Wastelander, was used to dealing and moving on. “We are getting a bit stretched trying to cover all of this area, Marshal. We need more resources to keep a track of the area and to find more entrances into Vault-301.”

 

Red Sonja turned and touched an abandoned atomic sedan. With a sparkling shimmer it transformed and became a squat grey hovering robotic vehicle. A robohover, it could operate just as a robot or be controlled by a crew of two humans in light power armour or less. Though it had some weapons and moderate armour its main abilities were speed and agility along with that of going over water, mud or other tricky terrain.

 

Thus she moved amongst the vehicles and converted atomic sedans and stationwagons into hoverbots, MrSneakys and small scouting robotic vertibirds called vertibots. After Red Sonja had created five of each she announced that she had no more spare energy to use on such things. Then she lay on the bonnet of an electric sedan speeder and actually soaked up the sunshine to regenerate power. A very soft shimmer surrounded her as she did this.

 

The MrSneakys were scouting versions of MrGutsys with less weaponry and a good deal of sophisticated surveillance and stealth gear. Unlike MrGutsys they did not go around shouting out stupidities but kept quiet unless they had to speak.

 

The vertibots were robots but could carry one person in light power armour or less or a relative amount of cargo.

 

Ironsides brought in some battlebuggies to the cinema area and with them came some light fast all terrain trucks. Techs were soon going over the fifteen new machines and were highly impressed. They were assisted by varied kinds of techbots.

 

Copies of the new map were printed out and then passed out to various units. The MrSneakys were sent out. The vertibirds lifted off each with one pilot who would do more observing than piloting. The hoverbots each shot away with two figures in the back being one pilot-observer and one gunner-observer.

 

For a while the situation remained pretty calm.

 

Continued in FORTY-FOUR

[Maharg67]

FORTY-FOUR

 

 

The War Room was busy with the big map table covered with a cleverly projected holographic map of the DC Wastelands. Markers indicated settlements, outposts, units and other data. From the platform she stood on President Suzanne Ubama could easily see what was going on. Except that the data coming in was scattered.

 

An adviser spoke to her from one side. “We have our own eyebots sweeping over the DC Wastelands and beyond giving out your messages and our propaganda. We have scouting drones, scouts and aircraft gathering what information they can.”

 

The President nodded. “Vaultburg has fallen?”

 

The adviser nodded. “Vaultburg is now part of the new United States of America. The old slave owning oligarchy has been overthrown. Amata Cliffton, the former High Overseer of Vault-101, was executed this morning for high treason. We still do not know just what damage was done by Enclave scientists gaining access to Vault-101b. Our own scientists are now investigating both Vault-101a and Vault-101b.”

 

Suzanne sighed heavily. “A foolish young woman wishes only to please her stupid father and pays a very heavy price for doing so. What of her father?”

 

The adviser checked his Pipboy screen. “He has escaped but we have put out a generous bounty on him. Bounty-hunters are seeking him even as we speak.”

 

Her eyes swept across the map. “The Lunarites are concentrated in Freedoma on the coast and in the National Mall except for scattered Rebirther, BofP and SofC units. How many of them are in the DC Wastelands now?”

 

The adviser shook his head, muttered something, and then sighed. “We estimate at least three million. The number of refugees coming from the Pitt Firestorm is over a million and the SofC and the BofP are the only ones giving them any real hope so we expect many of the Lunarite numbers are focused between us and the Pitt. We have lost the resources of the Pitt. Will we provide resources for the refugees from the Pitt?”

 

The President nodded. “A guarded convoy of trucks shall be sent with what ever we can spare, a little as that is.”

 

She changed subject. “What word have we gained from Point Lookout?”

 

 

The adviser sighed again. “Nothing. The coastal boats that normally come from that direction have failed to arrive at Rivet City with their trade goods. That means we have nobody to question on what is happening there. This is no coincidence. The Enclave has wrapped up Point Lookout and doesn’t want the rest of the world to know what they are doing there.”

 

The President shook her head at some thought and then spoke. “We will send scouts and spies to Point Lookout. Unmarried volunteers with out dependents only. Preferably people who know Point Lookout. I want the same done towards the Pitt and to Freedoma. The new force will be called the United States Ranger Scouts Service, the USRSS. Most people will soon be calling it the RSS. The USRSS will be the scouts and the United States Military Intelligence Agency, the USMIA, or just the MIA, will be the spies. Imagine all these agencies and forces but no real resources to put behind them.”

 

The adviser looked puzzled. “You Subwayers dominate the United States Federal Government, so why don’t you supply more resources?”

 

She gave a start and then looked hard at him. “Just how many people know that this is so?”

 

The adviser shrugged. “Pretty much everybody. Yes it’s an open secret amongst us Wastelanders that you Subwayers run the new USA and why complain? You have the education, the resources, the organisational abilities and experience of government. We are just a whole lot of scattered survivors. Many of us are rogue or insane or alcoholic or drug addicted or more than one of those. Have you ever heard of Sanctuary?”

 

 

The President nodded. “Just a story of some place where the very desperate and not likely to survive can somehow go or are taken in some wondrous fashion.”

 

The adviser nodded. “It exists. I know because I have been there.”

 

Suzanne Ubama stared at the young man hard and realised, with a shock, that she had never seen him before and did not really know him. So why had she been standing there discussing highly important matters of state with him? Then she realised that nobody else in the chamber seemed to notice his existence or that she was talking with him. He was also dressed oddly and this should have caught her attention.

 

He wore a grey suit, a white buttonshirt, a grey bowler hat and large glasses that seemed to magnify his eyes. He carried a grey briefcase in his right hand and a grey umbrella in his left hand.

 

The President spoke. “Just who are… Yes, we got reports on you. Statesman Alba Diplomori. They say you spoke with Elder Lyons before he started to support the Wastelanders and to fight the super mutants.”

 

“That is me! I am linked to the Mysterious Stranger.” He bowed gracefully and then spoke some more. “Why are the Subwayers so reluctant to send more resources to the new USA? Can’t they see that they will benefit by doing so?”

 

The President frowned. “The Isolationist Political Faction of the Subwayers lost the referendum and we joined the USA but they hold enough power to force cuts in the amount of assistance sent to the USA. They play on the fears of the Subwayers who do not wish to see the Subwayer Union run out of enough resources to stay safe in case there is a major attack of ghoul vampires or those albino clones on our underground homeland.”

 

Statesman Alba Diplomori smiled. “Then inform them that the USA is about to launch a joint campaign against both the protobinos and the ghoul vampires. In this case the USFG will of course need more resources if it is to destroy these enemies of the Subwayer Union.”

 

“It could work.” President Suzanne Ubama nodded. “As of now you are my Special Envoy, that is if you do not mind.”

 

“You do me an honour.” Alba bowed gracefully. Then he stood and passed a single sheet of paper to her. “Will this be good enough wording for such an agreement to present to the Subwayer Union Triple-Council, especially to the Senate as dominated by the Isolationist Faction?”

 

She read it, laughed quietly, and then passed it back. “Very good. A very nice bit of ego stroking and a neat way for any Isolationist politician to change his or her vote while saving face. Yes, that will do nicely.” She slipped a pen out and signed it. “Please go at once. I have yet more meetings to attend.”

 

He nodded. “I will return as soon as possible.”

 

Then he was gone.

 

Suzanne Ubama studied the holographic map for a while and then looked around in a puzzled manner. She had the odd impression she had just been talking to somebody but that was impossible. All her staff knew better than to disturb her in moments like this. No, it must have been her imagination or something.

 

The President went back to studying the map.

 

Continued in FORTY-FIVE

[Maharg67]

FORTY-FIVE

 

 

Jasmine was at Jasmine’s House in Megaton but this was a different Jasmine than the Jasmine who was even then in Vault-87. This Jasmine had not left Megaton for over a year. She was in the big old building made up of concrete, aeroplane materials and glass. She was standing in the semi-enclosed top level of five levels including two basement levels.

 

It was bright warm sunshine and the noises of construction work carried to her from several directions. While there was some power tools and other machinery, much of the work was done by sweating labourers. The old water processing plant was replaced by a new semi-underground one in a concrete building but Walter was still working on it. Now he had two human and two robotic assistants to help him.

 

In place of the old water processing plant was the new Mayor’s Office which was a largely rebuilt building.

 

Moira Brown had gone off to the Lamplight Caverns with Bittercup and the bodyguard mercenary. Craterside Supplies was in a newer and bigger building which was actually six shops owned by four families. One sold guns and ammo; one sold clothing and body-armour; one sold footwear; one sold books and tapes; one sold odds and ends; the last sold food as a grocers including fresher food. Each shop had a back entrance but shared the same entrance chamber at the front. A big flashy neon sign advertised the main shop name.

 

Jasmine turned and saw the new club now run by Gob and Nova. Actually they were away in the Ghoul Underworld and it was being managed by Nova’s sister, Nada. The club had no prostitutes any more or seminaked go-go dancers as it once did. Nor did it have any gambling. What it did have was better service, fairer prices and a bigger selection of drinks and food. It also looked much better inside and had a whole lot of comfortable armchairs and couches to sit on. It was called the Nova Club since everybody agreed, including Gob, that this sounded better than the ‘Gob Club’.

 

Lucas Simms was still the Sheriff but he now had four deputies and four volunteer deputies to assist him as well as law dogs and more robots. The new Sheriff’s Office was mainly offices, the jail and a dormitory.

 

The Church of Atom was recently vacated and already was being converted into a new community hostel where each person would get a small bedroom but would have to share other facilities. This building was being fitted with solar power panels thanks to the Rebirthers’ gifts to the settlement; other buildings were also being fitted with these and solar hot water systems.

 

Houses were being changed as people moved to new and better houses in the newer outer parts of Megaton. These buildings were being converted to government, commercial and other uses.

 

The settlement looked nicer, had more greenery, had more colour, had more people but the people still carried guns and now there were new battlements added. AA-guns poked up at the sky thanks to the growing fear that the Enclave would start airborne attacks from Point Lookout. By supersonic aircraft it was not very far away at all. Bomb shelters were being constructed.

 

As for her house, it was not going to change. She was not going to move. Her house was now very special for she had transformed it. Sometimes she opened part of it to visitors and they walked through her combination museum, art gallery and library. Her pets wandered peacefully through one whole level and sometimes sunned themselves out on a big semi-enclosed sundeck.

 

A big contented molerat was slumbering against her leg. Lying on his back, behind her, in a very undignified manner was a huge yao-guai. Stretched out and sleeping peacefully on his belly were a mother cat and her five kittens.

 

Behind her also stood two android security guards in light power armour. They were a vaultboy and vaultgirl.

 

The new mayor of Megaton was one Dalton Carlton Junior. He was savvy, brilliant and politically experienced. He was also an egomaniac with a bad habit of dipping into the new town council coffers. Lucas Simms and Jasmine both had warned against the election of this man, as had others, but too few people had listened. Dalton Carlton wanted to live in Jasmine’s house, wanted to stand in the semi-enclosed level on top and peer self importantly out over the town. Not only did he want it but he wanted the town council to pay for it at a stupidly cheap price. He was demanding that with the house should come all of its fittings, most of its furniture, most of its decorations and much else including the MrHandy Wordsworth.

 

He was becoming a pest!

 

But worse than that he had been in contact with the Darkman, he was a traitor.

 

The telephone rang except there was no visible telephone. It stopped ringing and a voice spoke out of mid air as if it was speaking from a poor quality telephone line. “Hello, is this the Ashworth House?”

 

It was Mayor Dalton Carlton.

 

She spoke back but her voice was that of a tired, sore throated old man with a tired wavering voice. “Wadsworth here, may I ask who is speaking. I can hardly hear you. Damned fangled telephones. Never can hear anybody on these damned fangled telephones. Why I remember when I was a boy…”

 

Mayor Dalton Carlton replied angrily. “I happen to know that Wadsworth is a MrHandy robot and…”

 

Jasmine broke in.. “I am a what? No, no, no, I am not a robot. Who ever told you I am a MrRandy robot? Sounds rather rude to me. Why back when I was a young man people would never dream of saying anything so rude over the telephone. You should be ashamed of yourself, Mr Carlton Dalton.”

 

“Its Mr Dalton Carlton, not Mr Carlton Dalton.” The mayor sounded angry for it was the fifth time he had telephoned Ashworth House that day and always Jasmine had toyed around with him.

 

One time she had pretended he had telephoned Rivet City by mistake. Another time she pretended to be a talking Dogmeat. Another time she had been just an echo of his every word. The last time she had spoken only poor English and pretended she could only speak Mandarin Chinese.

 

She responded. “Oh, sorry about that then. It’s my hearing you see. Oh, you see. No, I should say ‘you hear’ really. No, oh, so funny. Well now your name is really Mr Carlton Dalton and not Mr Dalton Carlton. I hear you loud and clear. I will never forget your name, Mr Carlton Dalton.”

 

“I know its you, Jasmine Ashworth.” The mayor shouted into the telephone. “I am going to have that house and I am going to have it for free. I am going to have most of what is in it. You will walk out with only what’s on your back for I am…”

 

She sighed and there was the sound of a telephone being hung up on the mayor.

 

Suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot. At least she heard it as a few did in Megaton did but not most. The mayor would appear to have killed himself but in truth the Darkman would have had him killed. For Dalton Carlton was quite insane. She wondered what his real name was, who he had been before the Darkman had taken him and twisted his mind to suit his purpose. The Darkman was a cunning fool in some ways. Those he twisted were never the same, often went out of his control, often went insane and became self destructive.

 

She could not help the mayor because he had too much dark karma and had been an evil man before the Darkman had twisted his mind. The man’s dark karma had made it easier for him to fall victim to the Darkman.

 

There was the sound of a telephone ringing. Jasmine spoke into mid air. “Ashworth Household, Megaton! Jasmine speaking.”

 

Lucas Simms spoke in a grim voice. “The mayor is dead. He apparently killed himself. I don’t suppose you know anything.”

 

Jasmine responded. “Not on the telephone. Come straight away and bring a deputy as a witness. I want you to see something of importance.”

 

Later she gave the sheriff proof that Dalton Carlton was stealing monies from the Megaton Town Council and had visited many times a rather nasty little combination stripclub, brothel, drugden, casino and nightclub called the Megaton Club. It was at the very edge of Megaton. It was a place that Lucas Simms very much wanted to close down. Two witnesses had seen the now dead mayor speaking with the Darkman and had noted that the Darkman was angry with the mayor but that Dalton Carlton seemed to be oblivious of the fact. It seemed that his growing insanity had muffled him from the truth.

 

Lucas Simms left with the dark knowledge that the Darkman had killed Dalton Carlton but knowing also that he could do nothing about it and dared not even try.

 

She went into one of the secret levels of her special transdimensional house, it was bigger inside than outside, and bathed in a big bowl of a bath that was nine metres wide. Some animals came with her and others played, dozed or did other things in the greenery around the edges of the big chamber.

 

Continued in FORTY-SIX