FALLOUT MARS

[Maharg67]

0014

THE GREATER STORY OF FALLOUT MARS

BACKGROUND STORIES: WILD GHOULS GO SHOPPING

These stories are written to be read any time, in any order, with out interfering with the main stories.

 

The half wild ghouls, not savage ghoulers, made their excited way down the big well lit arcade hallway of the buried SUPERSAVES SHOPPING COMPLEX. They clutched raggedy bags full of coins, of lucky-chance bottle-caps, of voucher-cards full or half price (conditions apply). 3Dflatscreens flashed advertisements at them, colourful and loud. A simple android directed them to specialty shops and possible bargains.

 

Wild ghouls or not, the shopping complex True-AI always made customers welcome and security turrets, roboremotes and robots made sure these customers behaved themselves.

 

The slowly growing population of wild ghouls dwelt safely and happily in the supermarket complex that had been buried under rubble during Doomsday.

 

Ghouls muttered happily at each other, pointed to advertisements of perfect day bringing perfumes, of new atomic motorized family sedan cars, of wonderful domestic MrHandy robots, of holotapes of the latest block-buster holomovies, of fashionable glow in the dark tight clinging jeans, of thirty second super carpet cleaner and much else.

 

Ghouls wanted to drink NukaCola, wanted fluffy warm blankets, wanted bags of overly sweet, sour or savory spiced snacks, wanted crazy zany music to dance to, wanted toys, wanted lots of things.

 

They had even become toilet trained enough to use the automated toilet cubicles though they often drank from the toilets before using them in other ways.

 

Aaahhh, life was good!

Edited August 10, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0015

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: LUCKY EDDIE, SUPERMUTANTS AND SNIPERS

 

Lucky Eddie carefully pushed a burned out robot to one side, a protectron, and aimed his varmint-rifle through a now exposed hole. The supermutants moving along the laneway were in fleximetallic body-armour and carried a mixture of modified tools adapted as weapons along with some basic but big and powerful guns. Clearly somebody had equipped the generally stupid supermutants with power-sledgehammers, close range but lethal jackguns, backpack-flamers, big high calibre single shot bolt-action crash-rifles that were also designed as striking-stabbing weapons, and six barreled miniguns. One had a quad-launcher and another had a big torch-laser adapted from a cutting laser of a particular kind.

 

The varmint-rifle was loaded with special armour piercing explosive bullets, of his own design, but there was no way he was going to try to take on a group of supermutant massemoths by himself. Sure, being Lucky Eddie, he might just end up killing them but it would probably be a narrow thing and there was too much chance he would be hurt. Being wounded, alone, out in the Rimlands was not a good thing to be even for somebody as experienced, as trained and as gifted with special abilities as he was. Anyway there was something strange in the behavior of these supermutants for they were working in a disciplined, organized manner very unlike the berserker, wild, animalistic normal to such. Lucky Eddie, as a psyker, 'sensed' that the minds of the supermutants were under some kind of control and that this form of control was exotic and was somehow attached to their brains. The supermutants hated being so controlled but could do nothing about it.

 

So he followed them as the supermutants headed deeper into the city. Gangers were also stalking the big clumsy supermutant massemoths or so Lucky Eddie 'sensed' but out there were zentaurs, fast and slippery, deadly supermutants that were stalking the gangers. There was a brief, quickly cut off scream as a semighoul ganger fell victim to a zentaur. The zentaur was soon feeding on the flesh of the dead Springvale ganger. The zentaur did not like being controlled either.

 

Lucky Eddie slipped along a roof and was still doing so when he detected three Brothers of Steel with powerful 12.7mm calibre heavy sniper rifles. They were smart, cunning, well skilled and experienced snipers. They were preparing to fire at the supermutants having already chosen targets and being ready to move on after shooting to new firing positions already chosen. Lucky Eddie knew they were going to deal with these controlled supermutants as if they were typical berserker supermutants and that those tactics would 'backfire'. They expected crazy mad reactions from their targets, which the snipers could take advantage of, but they would be taken sorely wrong. He moved with impressive speed, agility and strength to appear amongst the snipers.

 

He spoke a command, using some psyker ability but not speaking too loudly. "Stop your shooting. Examine the way those supermutants are moving, how they are so quiet, how they are in such a rational, well planned formation. They wear uniforms. They carry a well balanced selection of weapons. Dealing with them as you deal with typical berserker supermutants will not be successful."

 

The snipers scowled but there was both something very convincing about Lucky Eddie and what he was saying was now obviously true to the three of them.

 

 

0016

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: LUCKY EDDIE MEETING JASMINE0101, SARAH LYONS AND CO

 

Jasmine studied Lucky Eddie for a short time before speaking. "You are a psyker as I am but perhaps more powerful." She sat on a smart-metal bench in a small chamber where the skeletal remains of long dead humans, preserved by the energies inside the citydome, filled up one corner. Her helmet was on a bench next to her, close to her, as was her gun. "I come from LV0101/A3 that is hidden deep beneath the small Springrock Mountain roughly north of Springvale. Some of our scouts visited Megaton in disguise so I heard about the amazing Lucky Eddie so I have wanted to meet you ever since we managed to escape from the LifeVault and the oppressive, corrupted and crumbling Overseer Government. LV0101/A3 needs help and in exchange it can give much to Megaton and the United Citystates of the Rimlands. A productive deal can also be made with the Orders of Steel who are moving into the District of Centrolumbia."

 

Lucky Eddie grinned. "I am not the one to speak to about such things. I am just Lucky Eddie. You should know that there is growing tension in the UCR between the Wastelands Side Citystates and the Havenlands Side Citystates. The UCR Central Government, the UCR-CG, is getting increasingly arrogant, stupid, corrupt and elitist. They hold most of their power and resources in the Havenlands Side Citystates but even in those territories there is growing resistance to the new UCR President. You need to decide who to have your alliance with for I predict that a bloody civil war will soon be happening though I hope against hope that it will not happen. The UCR faces enough threats and does not need to be fragmented, weakened, to become more vulnerable to those threats. Also war is mostly a stupid activity and a pointless waste of time."

 

He changed subjects. "Something powerful but subtle, a psyker force amplified by exotic technologies, is controlling the supermutants here. I have seen massemoths and have 'sensed' zentaurs, have heard one kill a ganger."

 

Sarah Lyons studied Lucky Eddie with much care. "I am also a psyker, as is my father Elder of Steel, Own Lyons. One of the reasons we particular Orders of Steel, and Factions of Orders of Steel, have been exiled to the DC by our comrades, is that we would have psykers openly serving with us. The Orders of Steel in California are sticking rigidly to their old ways to the point that their very existence is become almost meaningless and their cause is becoming increasingly less efficient. We will assist Megaton, we will assist to fight any oppressive government especially as we have gained some vital information about a very elaborate, wide spread, well resourced and brutally clever conspiracy. Part of it seems to be based in the UCR and some of our captured data brought us right here close to Megaton itself."

 

There were other Brotherhood of Steel Officers there but also two Sisterhood of Steel Officers showing the winged symbol of the aerospace force they operated as a main function of their order. They said nothing though two were sitting and eating field rations called Meals Ready to Eat, MREs, of a newer improved kind because they actually tasted not too bad.

 

 

0017

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: LUCKY EDDIE TALKING WITH JASMINE0101 AND SARAH LYONS

 

Lucky Eddie had no desire to be caught up in a fight against a conspiracy of some kind but he would not pull away from doing so if the need was great enough; he was not in the mood to admit this openly. "Right here, close to Megaton? Megaton is a big crater and a bunkerplex along with some strange walls. Oh yes, some strange architecture inside the crater full of balconies, wideways, walkways, rampways, elevators, power ramps, buttresses, flying-buttresses and lots of other stuff including lots of statues and fancy metal work decorations. There is the big fake H-bomb at the bottom of the crater that is worshiped by Cromwell and his fools, though I must admit he allows many of his followers to join despite knowing that they do so just to get a nicer place to live in and some rationed basic goods; they have to work for their keep but not in any hard fashion. There is the Megaton Guard full mostly of imported military academy fools, the Militia Guard, Sheriff Lucas Simms and his Sheriff's Office. The corrupt Mayor, the good Assistant Mayor, the Megaton Town Council. Oh, yeah, Doctor Church and his clinic in Outer Megaton."

 

Sarah cut off his flow of words. "What exactly do you know of the fake H-bomb? It could have something to do with the Shadow Conspiracy."

 

"Dramatic name for a conspiracy and kind of spooky." Lucky Eddie gave a mild grin. "It is just a fake H-bomb! I have investigated it myself. Now, what is all the fighting about?"

 

Knight Captain Sarah gave him a suspicious look. "You are not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the H-bomb. Still, why would you reveal all your secrets to relative strangers like myself?"

 

Lucky Eddie frowned. "Okay, its a hidden equipment and supplies armoured storage space for the United Citystates of the Rimlands Resistance Alliance, the UCR-RA. I suggest you that your Orders of Steel in Exile support the UCR-RA because while they support psykers living as citizens, though with some reasonable restrictions, the UCR-CG is paranoid about psykers except their pet psykers who are controlled by their secret police; their secret police being one of the worst kept secrets in the UCR. Since the new UCR President has come to power, free psykers have been murdered or have vanished into the dungeons of the Security Intelligence Agency, the SIA, that officially does not exist. Some of their clerks actually sent out letters with their official letterhead on them. Bumblers!"

 

Jasmine nodded. "Our resistance forces in LV0101/A3 could work with your resistance forces in the UCR."

 

Lucky Eddie shook his head. "Not my resistance forces. I have enough to do already with out trying to overthrow the Central Government of the UCR. I have my pets to look after, my chores to keep up with and my stamp collection, don't forget my stamp collection."

 

The two women frowned hard at him.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/ForumAddit0002-1.jpg

Edited July 20, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0018

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: SPLITTING AND REVEALING SECRETS IN SPRINGVALE

 

The problem was mainly that the controlled supermutant force in Springvale was much bigger than that of the Orders of Steel in Exile, the OSE, that had come under the command of Sarah Lyons, including the infamous Lyon's Pride elite combat unit. Jasmine0101 and her friends hardly counted and Megaton, despite having both its Megaton Guard and Militiaguards, could not spare any troopers to leave the defense of the crater centred settlement. The Springvale gangers outnumbered the supermutants but were, amazingly, less disciplined, less well armed and armoured. This was not normal for typical wild supermutants who had very little discipline and only poor equipment of any kind.

 

So while the rest of the OSE expedition made its way to Megaton, only the Lyon's Pride went seeking to find out what these controlled supermutants were doing in Springvale. Only Jasmine, all of her companions went to Megaton also, and Lucky Eddie went with the Lyon's Pride.

 

The scouting group moved slowly and carefully through the city, Eddie now wearing borrowed assault power armour and using a borrowed 3B1rifle. The 3B1 rifle was big, fairly heavy and very powerful with three weapons being an autorifle, a semiautomatic grenadeshell launcher and an EMPgun. The last was for knocking out such as dangerous robots, roboremotes and turrets. Jasmine was still in her survival power armour and had her vault gear that she was used to using.

 

In a bookshop they paused amongst bookcases of destroyed, damaged and some good condition paperback, hardback and plasticback books. The newer type plastic-paper books had survived most of all, some being copies of older publications. It was there that they found a young ganger girl. She was wounded and surrounded by heaps of books, her backsack and a small broken robotic teddy-bear of a kind common to the former Martian Colonies. World President James Patriot Jackson had given out millions of the teddy-bears to children, which had seem a wondrous gift until it turned out they were actually devices to spy on people. World President of Mars, that is.

 

Forced to make a choice for the girl's sake, Lucky Eddie took out a telesend-band and put it on the girl. Soon she, a few books and the teddy-bear were gone to the Secret Sanctuary. Of course Sarah Lyons and Jasmine were amazed and wanted to ask questions. When a small cubebox appeared to Lucky Eddie they were even more curious.

 

Lucky Eddie frowned softly at the women as he activated the cubebox and placed it in a wide, bare space of floor. In moments, as he stepped away a safe distance, the cubebox shimmered and expanded to be three metres wide and high. He opened the side of the cubebox that was now double doors, split down the middle, and revealed neatly packed general equipment and supplies based on Rimlands normality but also some special secured items. He quickly chose three small silvery globes, each but ten centimetres across, and then closed the cubebox and returned it to its small size. Then the cubebox went into his backpack.

 

Lucky Eddie shrugged at the others. "Its just something that has happened since I was born. I find people or animals or sometimes others who I 'sense' need sanctuary and send them to the Secret Sanctuary. Then in return I gain, each time, an expansion-cubebox. Each expansion-cubebox is mostly full of duplicates of typical Rimlands equipment and supplies, in excellent condition. I ask no questions and know nothing of use to others. I do need to try to find other gangers that are linked to the young girl that was sent to the Secret Sanctuary. We should go now."

 

Jasmine nodded after a pause in which she gave him an intense look. "Okay, something tells me we are not going to learn anything more by just talking to you. After experiencing some odd things in LV0101/A3, I am not greatly shocked by what has happened here."

 

"I could say the same because of my experiences in the Greenlands in the California region and the Bufferlands that surround them along with the Wastelands." Sarah Lyons slipped her helmet on. "Now we go and find out why the supermutants are all heading towards the old elite Springvale School of High Achievement Learning. The school name came up in one of the Special Research and Development Program datafiles the Orders of Steel hacked from still functioning databanks in the Octagon. All we learned of the school was that it was utilizing something called the Hypnotic Programming and Training Virtual Reality Network-System as developed by World Professor Jane Patriot Jackson and by Professor Stanislaus Braun along with a team of other scientists, specialists and those supporting them. What other bits of data we got about the school and its secret project do not paint a very good picture but that was typical for the Patriot Thirteen."

 

 

 

0019

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: SCOUTING THE SPRINGVALE SCHOOL OF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT LEARNING

 

The controlled supermutants consisted of more than massemoths and zentaurs. There were far fewer but bigger megamoths, even fewer but even bigger hulkamoths and, thankfully, only three huge hulking behemoths. All were heavily armed and armoured. All were controlled. The gangers had fled from the whole area, had probably gone underground, but the supermutants did not seem to be seeking them out. The behemoth giants held big shoulder cannons except one who had a massive energy-sledgehammer.

 

The behemoth with the energy-sledgehammer struck the huge armoured doors of the main entrance to the school. Back in PreDD times people had wondered why a mere school should have such amazing security but most had dared not ask questions and those that did often faced great risk. Most Springvale folks were happy with the big bribes that the Patriot Thirteen paid them to be less curious about what happened to the children sent to the school.

 

Sarah Lyons focused her scan-binoculars on the behemoth striking at the big armoured doors apparently with little result. To take that sort of force with out even shaking much, they were indeed built very well. "While World Professor Jane Patriot Jackson was bad enough, more sociopathic than anything, Braun turned out to be so evil, so brutal and so addicted to inflicting pain on anybody that he controlled, that he was expelled from the program by the Patriot Thirteen despite his genius in virtual reality technologies. He was messing up the program because he delighted in making the students suffer horribly for the sake of doing so. Braun was not paid any of his promised big bonuses and got only half of his promised basic fee for being part of the program. Braun was never to work for the Patriot Thirteen again or for any of the big players who had come to revile him, which is saying a good deal about Braun considering the nature of those who reviled him."

 

The behemoth gave up, as ordered to, and for the first time a black robed figure appeared, a 'new' kind of tall angular supermutant with pale smooth skin and strange striking eyes. He strode up to the same armoured doors, struck them with a golden looking metallic quarterstaff and, with a strange shimmering shudder, the doors clicked open. The robed one turned and looked and the supermutants and then he spoke loudly in Esperanto, the old internationalist language favoured by the Patriot Thirteen. "You see my power! I am the Supermutant Lord! I am your lord! Do as I say and you will gain pleasure, gifts and good places to live in. Do otherwise and you will get pain, bad stuff only and bad places to live in. I believe in rewarding those that do good. Your brain-computers will translate my words to those of you who have a poorer understanding of such things."

 

Then he spoke again. "Soon we will face a great threat. Prepare for trouble."

 

The Supermutant Lord moved back away from the slowly opening doors, that were opening inwards, and that he did so attested to his fears for Lucky Eddie and Jasmine both 'sensed' he was very powerful. Nothing happened at first but the controlled supermutants, that were now turning out to be cyborg-supermutants, moving back into defensive positions including a lighter rearguard facing away from the school. Zentaurs went out into scouting into the 'ruins' again and some went climbing up the sides of the great, big, British Imperial style building.

 

Nothing continued to happen for a time but then everything exploded into action.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0020

THE GREATER STORY OF FALLOUT MARS

BACKGROUND STORIES: THE MAIL MUST GO THROUGH

These stories are written to be read any time, in any order, with out interfering with the main stories.

 

The approach of winter and darkness shrouded the cityscape, the broken skyscrapers, cluster-blocks, the geodomes, archaeologies, domes and other structures including raised monorail lines for sleek metallic bullet-trains, many frozen on open tracks.

 

The postbot was trundling across the decimated cityscape of Washington DC, District Centrolumbia, once called New Washington or even Mars Washington. It was having difficulty finding one of the addresses that it was supposed to deliver mail to. Indeed it had been having such difficulties for centuries now.

 

Overhead drifted a loose robotic-dirigible advertising with 3Dscreens the latest block-buster 3Dmovie from 23rd Century Fox Corporation and the famous producer-director Spielberg III. In the growing darkness the screens were even more visible from the ground.

 

The postbot had learned to be careful these days because of the damage done to the open areas of the city and the other threats inside the domed parts of the super-city. There were gangers, marauders, raiders, thug-mercenaries, rogue robots, mutated beasties, zhouls, ghoulers, scavengers and other threats to deal with. The True-AIs back at the postal base had equipped all the postbots with new armour and weapons but only for self-defense. The mail had to get through!!!

 

A pack of killclaws, smaller cousins to the deathclaws but still big and hulking, paced along in the distance but they had no interest in robots. Why should they? They could not eat robots and could not afford being wounded. The postbot was careful not to go too close to any nest-caves or other nest sites of killclaws or other such beasties.

 

To the postbot the important things in the world had not changed.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0021

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: SUPERMUTANTS VERSUS GIANT ANTS

 

The swarm of giant-ants that exploded out from the open, armoured doors might have done less damage if they had been the more common kind with no extra threat abilities. Even so called standard giant ants had amazing strength and were hard to kill thanks to armoured exoskeletons including transparent eye shields. The attackers were worse. They came with jets of burning, clinging toxic-acid that poisoned as well as burning. That was the soldiers but both workers and soldiers were bigger than standard giant-ants, though the soldiers outsized the workers, and could crack through light power armour with their pincers. Giant-ants were supposedly products of FEV plagues and wild mutagenic influences but some people stated that they had at least begun out as genetically engineered bio-weapons.

 

The acidtoxin-ants struck the first of the unlucky supermutants but even as they did the other supermutants opened up with their longer range weapons or closed in with their other weapons. A massemoth fell screaming in enraged agony as a soldier giant-ant leaped upon him with startling speed. A megamoth struck down a soldier giant-ant with a power-sledgehammer, killing it with a mighty blow to its head but the pincers kept snapping away. Behemoths opened up with their big shoulder-cannons. Acidtoxin-ants exploded as they were struck by powerful calibre bullets.

 

The Supermutant Lord staid to fight, pointing the metallic quarterstaff and unleashing bolts of sparkling energy from its tip that blew apart giant-ant after giant-ant. Yet he was also commanding, directing, his troops. The supermutants formed a fighting line with close quarter weapons while those with longer range weapons blasted at the waves coming at their comrades. Miniguns blazed away, acidtoxin jets sprayed unlucky supermutants, melting at their fleximetallic body-armour, while other supermutants struck with jackguns, power-sledgehammers, altered laser-torches, big bolt-action crash-rifles, quad-launchers and even such as hurled hand-grenades.

 

A few supermutants fell at first but the organized defense paid off. The acidtoxin-ants stopped attacking, many retreating and dragging dead or wounded giant-ants with them as quickly as they could. Then, with amazing speed, they were gone.

 

 

0022

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: WHERE DID THE ACIDTOXIN-ANTS COME FROM?

 

From out of hiding came a 'new' kind of supermutant, tall but angular yet shorter than the SupermutantLord. They had no weapons but did have fleximetallic body-armour and other stuff in pouchbelts and backsacks. They were soon giving medical treatment to hurt supermutants and fixing up damaged weapons. Others of these 'skinny supermutants' were soon taking audio-visual recordings with hand-cameras and notes of the acidtoxin-ants with hand-computers. It was strange to see these exotic supermutants with out weapons and stranger to see them using hitech equipment in the way that they were doing.

 

Lucky Eddie frowned hard. "Well, look through the armoured doors and you see a hole in the floor. That would lead to lower levels so I say the giant-ants could have found a way into the fortified school through a weakness down in the basement levels. When the building was designed, I doubt anybody thought about the threat of giant acidtoxin spitting ants. Yet I sense something most odd here, a background presence that reminds me of that SupermutantLord down there."

 

Sarah Lyons cursed. "Acidtoxin-ants are not normally found outside of the Wastelands. This is a long way from the Wastelands. Their favoured food and environments are in the Wastelands. Why would they come here?"

 

Lucky Eddie frowned. "Because, as the SupermutantLord is controlling those supermutants, some other power is controlling those giant-ants. They are alike and yet they fight each other; why? Just what is happening here in Springvale and what is so important about that school? I suggest that we try to find another way into the building. The SupermutantLord does not appear to be in a hurry to leave the area. I may know a way to get into the building because about a year ago I discovered a very well hidden and secured emergency escape tunnel network. It seems to have survival chambers, escape tunnels and other facilities underneath much of the city. I did explore some of it but it is huge and some of the tunnels have buckled down though none have collapsed, as far as I know. Follow me!"

 

So the others did!

 

 

0023

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: THROUGH DEEP EMERGENCY TUNNELS

 

There was a well hidden and secured entrance hatch to the tunnels in the basement of a large SuperDuperMart complex. Behind rows of deactivated robotic shopping trollies it was disguised as a metal plate of a kind seen through out the basement levels. Soon Jasmine, Lucky Eddie and the Lyon's Pride were heading along a tunnel that was just big enough for the power armour to be used in. They went down a ramp tunnel and into the network proper. It was hard to say who had made the network for they were unlike the normal kind of bigger, shallower emergency tunnel networks, of which Springvale had one of. No, this one was yet another sign that the domed city of Springvale was more important to the Patriot Thirteen than it would have appeared to have been on the surface.

 

They came upon the first of the skeletal remains of guards and workers in flexikevlar armoured jumpsuits who had died long ago. They had been shot to death by some kind of advanced caseless bullet firing weapon. Lucky Eddie and Sarah Lyons examined them. These were humans but not standard humans; instead they were so called womb-clones born from women and not so called vat or tube clones or even biowomb clones. They had been long ago looted of any useful items.

 

"Damned the Patriot Thirteen and their clones." Sarah Lyons cursed softly. "So many disasters, so much death and destruction, so much loss and misery caused by their drive to totally control history and civilization made to meet their own insane desires."

 

Lucky Eddie shrugged. "The truth may not be so simple as that. For example why, if there were the Patriot Thirteen, that almost nothing was known about #13? Still, we have more immediate concerns to focus on."

 

Jasmine frowned softly. "I thought #13 was the World President."

 

"A common misconception!" Lucky Eddie stood up from where he had been crouched next to a long dead clone worker. "World President James Patriot Jackson was #12. The secretary was #11, the treasurer was #10 and so forth. There are many misconceptions about the Patriot Thirteen, largely because they themselves may have not really understood their own nature. Anyway, that discussion is for another time. We have some travel ahead of us to get to the school. I once found the entrance to it but never entered it. Down here we are more immune from the dome field toxins build up but we should think of getting out of Springvale before too long."

 

Jasmine and Sarah gave him odd looks of surprise and sharp curiosity.

 

The citydomes were supposed to protect and preserve not just with their materials but with something called a preservation biofield. Before Doomsday these preservation biofields worked fine but after Doomsday they became deadly to many lifeforms that staid too long inside their influence. The malformed gangers of Springvale were the best example of what a dysfunctional preservation field could do. It was why people did not normally dwell inside the PreDD domed cities. On Doomsday the preservation fields had suffered a very sharp spike in damaging influence and from that had been born the ghouls, the ghoulers and other kinds of the ghoulified. The ghoulified could exist inside the preservation fields but did not seem to like to do so. Other ghoulified had arisen in other dysfunctional biofields in other places. Many of the so called Wonder Technologies, of the Patriot Thirteen, had turned deadly on Doomsday.

 

Lucky Eddie did not admit that the preservation fields did not seem to have any bad influence on him.

 

They moved onwards through the tunnels.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Additives/ForumAddit0004-1.jpg

Edited July 8, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0024

THE GREATER STORY OF FALLOUT MARS

BACKGROUND NOTES

 

WONDER TECHNOLOGIES AND THE DOOMSDAY RESULTS #1

 

 

CITYDOMES, OTHER POWER-DOMES AND BIOFIELDS

 

The power-domes and the biofields were supposed to protect and preserve people, other lifeforms and much else. They did a very good job before Doomsday with some some problems that seemed to be on their way to be solved. Doomsday changed all of this with the biofields turning bad, starting with a sharp spike on Doomsday itself that caused the first, the big, ghoulification event. Ghouls, semighouls, demighouls and other forms of the ghoulified arose including the mysterious 'Beautiful Ones', the 'Glowing Ones' and the 'Phantasmic Ones'. In other places the biofields combined with other influences to bring forth such as trogs, supermutant like mutants of varied kinds and such as radscorpions, giant-ants and deathclaws. Some other influences were such as spikes in radiation of varied kinds, the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) and the side effects of the detonation or activation of wonder super-weapons.

 

 

TRUE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 

AI-supercomputers were in network-systems as stand alone units, were in robots, were in hub-robots controlling roboremotes (dumb-robots) or dumber remotes and-or drones. Others were in androids or in robodroids half way between smart-robots and androids. Yet others were in special kinds of cyborgs, many being part human. The only limitation was that true artificial intelligence units were difficult to make, were expensive when it came to resource expenditure and were more difficult to maintain.

 

When Doomsday came the effect on true artificial intelligence was largely minimal. The rogue and-or break down factor only effected only a tiny percentage of true AIs unlucky enough to be in the very worst of places on Doomsday.

 

True Artificial Intelligence Units were mainly manufactured and often maintained by AITek and its offshoots, RoboTek and CompuTek.

 

 

QUASITRUE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 

In an attempt to create a kind of true artificial intelligence easier to make, cheaper to make and easier to maintain, one large research and development program came up with the Quasitrue Artificial Intelligence. The results were less intelligent, less aware than true artificial intelligence but these units were easier and cheaper to make and easier to maintain. But they were also less stable. In all fairness to the Patriot Thirteen, this was not one of their projects and they did not agree with its implication. Despite this a large scale manufacturing and further R-and-D program was begun. Quasitrue super-computers, robots, robodroids and androids began to be manufactured but by Doomsday their distribution was only in some places.

 

Doomsday sent the majority of quasitrue artificial intelligence into rogue and-or insanity. Areas where quasitrue AIs were distributed and activated became very dangerous to be in.

 

Quasitrue Artificial Intelligence Units were all manufactured by RobCo, ComputersProgressive and the mysterious 13of13 Institution.

 

 

NOTE: THE INFORMATION ABOVE IS NOT COMPLETE

Edited August 2, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

 

0025

THE GREATER STORY OF FALLOUT MARS

BACKGROUND STORIES: THE WAYS OF ANDROIDIA #1; LIGHTS, MUSIC, THE PHANTOM ZONE

These stories are written to be read any time, in any order, with out interfering with the main stories.

 

The winds screamed through the area. Huge tumble-plants, ball like of heavily woven vines, bounced across the landscape. Mighty, ancient, structures loomed in the darkness as even darker shapes. A couple glowed softly, strangely, by means that no humans had come to understand.

 

The Ancient Martian 'ruins' were surprisingly intact for their great age. The expeditionary group carefully set up its encampment so it was hidden inside the edge of the great pyramid shaped structures that had many spaces inside. Lara Croft Five was a beautiful, lightly muscular woman and an android. She wore survival power armour as did the other androids and the other humanoids.

 

The Tomb Raider had come from Androidia that had once been a huge, largely underground theme-park of autorobotic network-systems, roboremotes, robots and androids. There had also been cloned and natural born humans and animals. Now the androids ruled the domain. That is androids who wanted to improve their technologies to better protect themselves from ghoulified creatures inside their domain and other threats from outside.

 

Lara Croft Five, once just a character in a ever changing theme play, a PR figure dealing with human tourists, now really did seek out to discover and salvage things of value. Yet never before had she gone to real ancient archaeology. It was exciting.

 

In fleximetallic armour, she shone her torch over a wall covered with Ancient Martian symbols, elegantly and strangely beautiful. Other androids were still unpacking large wheeled carrybots and battlebuggies. Four bonded-citizens, human clones with genetically engineered enhancements, were attempting to do psychic sweeps of the structures. That was something beyond androids, synthetic psychic technologies being a poor copy of the real things.

 

 

0026

THE GREATER STORY OF FALLOUT MARS

BACKGROUND STORIES: THE WAYS OF ANDROIDIA #1; LIGHTS, MUSIC, THE PHANTOM ZONE (CONTINUED)

 

One of the bonded-citizens cried out in pain and all three, sitting cross legged, snapped out of using 'mindeye' mode. Lara Croft Five passed swiftly to the young woman who had cried out and crouched to look at her with concern. “What is it?”

 

Sharella, the other woman, frowned. “Phantom Zone!”

 

It was not good news! Nobody knew for sure what the Phantom Zone was, at least not anybody willing to speak out about it, but it was something to do with the mysterious, advanced, exotic and sometimes disturbing Ancient Martians.

 

Then they also began to hear exotically beautiful music and the 'ruins' began to fill with golden light that had a very unusual quality of subduing shadows, of seeming to come from the very air itself. Tantalizing perfumes drifted through the air and then the group could hear mind teasing music, singsong voices singing or chatting in a strangely poetic fashion as if even that activity had to be artistically refined.

 

They could not afford to go too close to what was happening but the clone-humans were in more dangerous than the True-AIs, especially as they were enhanced psychics. At once Lara Croft Five ordered the three to be sent into safer semiconsciousness with the use of special drugs and placed inside special capsules designed for such an event.

 

 

0027

THE GREATER STORY OF FALLOUT MARS

BACKGROUND STORIES: THE WAYS OF ANDROIDIA #1; LIGHTS, MUSIC, THE PHANTOM ZONE (CONTINUED)

 

Only when Sharella and the others were so confined in the capsules did Lara Croft Five have her androids and robots prepare to safely find out what the Ancient Martians were up to. Only in and close to the Ancient Martian Ruins did the Phantom Zone open up to transform briefly reality and to show Ancient Martians cavorting in ancient celebrations or festivals or mysterious other activities, some of them being quite disturbing even for hardened Marslanders.

 

Tall, elegantly angular Ancient Martians danced and sang, chatted poetically. They drank tall glowing crystal glasses of strange bubbling liquids, played with an amazing array of pets and some did things that were a peculiar mixture of vulgar and refined.

 

The android leader watched this as she crouched behind an exotic metallic stone sculpture and next to another one. The Ancient Martians did not seem to notice her but 'something' told her that not only were they aware of her and the others but were amused that they were there. She also 'knew somehow' that the Ancient Martians would no tolerate any deeper intrusions by the androids or the robots.

 

She took 3D audio-visual records knowing that the results would be ever so slightly blurred even after the best processing was done on them. The recordings would be worth a great deal because it was rare that such were obtained.

 

The party went on.

 

Edited August 10, 2011 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0028

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: BRAZEN EMMIE TINKERS AND THROWS A SPANNER

 

Triplet sister to Lucky Eddie, or more than just that, Brazen Emmie completed adjusting some of the bits and pieces of the MEGATON WATER PLANT Pump, the main one and not the smaller emergency one, that brought up water from the deep underground waters even a good distance below the bunkerplex of Inner Megaton. The water was clean, was good and was pumped into two big water tanks and two, smaller, emergency tanks. The tanks kept up water pressure to the taps, shower-heads, ceiling-sprinklers and other utilities in Middle and Outer Megaton. The ceiling-sprinklers served the small domefarms that Megaton boasted that protected vital food and other crops from the Rimlands elements. Only stronger, more damage resistant plants were grown outside of the domes.

 

One more twist of a small wheel and then she stood up in her working coveralls and scowled at Ramsie, a teen-man who had been ogling her behind. He grinned at her, leaning lazily against a wall in his own working coveralls. "Want a quickie?"

 

She picked up a smallish, but still heavy spanner, and threw it at him so that it smashed off his forehead. He cried out in agony and fell back against the wall even as the bruise appeared. Then he cursed her. "B****, why did you do that for? I was only joking. Walter won't like this. I will mean I can't get so much work done."

 

Walter walked into view and grinned. "You don't do any work and you stole some tools which you tried to sell to the people at the CRATERSIDE SUPPLIES MART. Of course they told me about it and of course I soon found your lousy hiding place, which was the easiest place you could find near to this place. You are fired and you are not getting your first week of pay. I do not give a damn if you father is the Mayor, you are too much trouble to have about. Get going."

 

So it was that Ramsie was removed from the working coveralls, from his working boots and ejected out into Middle Megaton in his own clothes but no footwear. He shouted and cursed them but he was lightly concussed and soon headed off to see Doctor Church in his MIDDLE MEGATON MEDICAL CLINIC.

 

The old, but still going strong, Walter was most pleased. He had given into pressure by the Mayor only after months and it had taken just almost a week for the young fool to prove that he was lazy, incompetent and a thief.

 

Ramsie was a member of the Rat Gang of Megaton. The Rat Gang was led by Ted Moriarty, the second oldest son of Colin Moriarty who ran the GIRLS-GAMES SALOON in Outer Megaton. The Megaton Town Council would not let him open in Middle Megaton and very few got established in Inner Megaton. The Moriarty Family did not care for most of their customers were such as hunters, scavengers, bounty-hunters, slave-finders, mercenaries and others, including a fair few in disguise. There were the scantily clad waitresses and barmaids, seminaked dancing girls, strippers, the overpriced drinks, some basic food that was fairly priced and the gaming-tables that were crooked but not too crooked. The prostitutes were not overtly advertised and nor were the basement blood-games. Blood-games were fought to first blood, not to the death, as good fighters and fighting animals were expensive and hard to find out there in that area.

 

Walter smiled at Brazen Emmie. "You got a small bonus coming in your pay-packet this week. Say $10 in EIDs (Emergency Issue Dollars), will that do?"

 

She nodded and did not mention that Walter also liked to ogle her, she was beautiful as was her triplet sister and brother, when he did not think she noticed. She knew he would not go any further and there was no point to doing anything because most of the men in Megaton did the same sort of thing.

 

 

0029

FALLOUT MARS: THE MARSLANDS

MEGATON TROUBLES: SWEET ELLIE IN THE TRIPLETS' DEN

 

Sweet Ellie was in a big chamber carved deeper into the side of the crater than were most of the chambers of the SISTERS OF COMPASSION CENTRE that was part small hospital, small orphanage, part sister centre, part visiting brother centre, part small school, part welfare shop, part special clinic and some other things. She had been born, along with her triplet siblings of course, in Megaton but the mother had vanished soon after. They had an adoptive father and mother in Megaton but no real knowledge at all about their biological father or mother.

 

She was sitting and thinking, was reflecting again on whys and why nots of why their biological parents had abandoned the three of them. It hurt at times for all three of them though her triplet sister and brother tended not to show it as much as she did.

 

Remembering she had things to do, she turned to the workbenches along one wall and standing in her reasonably tough, practical gear, she went to work fixing up a bit of electrical-electronics hardware for a computer. It was a dumb-computer with a powerful UPS set-up in built, yes, but a compact power supply support unit for a small but efficient smart-computer, a real AI-supercomputer of a model-type that had come out just a couple of years before Doomsday.

 

Kitty the cat stretched languidly on top of the large *censored* dog, Gingergirl, and next to the smaller, male dog named Heroboy. Kitty, despite her name, was a tough mother cat and Heroboy, despite his name, was a little on the cowardly, sneaky side. Gingergirl was his mother, was patient, hard working, brave and loyal. They were all sleeping, which they did a fair deal though all were kept fit and healthy by the triplets and the others of the family.

 

She closed the panel on the dumb-computer unit and made sure it sat flushed and secure. Then she plugged in the computer, turned on the power and then activated it. Moments later she was studying the dumb-computer's small 3Dflatscreen while a computer diagnostics program was running. She was still doing so when a security alarm began to softly chime and upon on a 3Dwallscreen showed a 3Dmap layout of the SISTERHOOD OF COMPASSION CENTRE. Somebody was trying, stupidly, to tunnel from an old hallway passage deeper in from the crater, and to sneak into the main welfare shop storeroom that was full of gear. Most of it was such as good, often used, such as blankets, toys, basic furniture, mattresses, cooking gear, canned food, sealed foodbars and other stuff. Storage status containers, SSCs, kept perishable stuff fresh and healthy.

 

Sweet Ellie closed her eyes and focused her mindeye to come up with a series of linked impressions of sight, sound, feel and others including a shallow psychic scan. Then she grinned for the Rat Gang were on their way to getting into trouble again as four teen-men and a teen-woman clumsily dug at a wall with pick-axes and shovels that they had clearly stolen from somebody. She was still using her mindeye on them when Sheriff Lucas Simms, a Deputy and two constables arrived to arrest the fools. The theft of the tools had been reported and it had not been too hard for the Sheriff to track down these clumsy, lazy fools.

 

Sheriff Lucas Simms grinned happily as he arrested the five members of the Rat Gang.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Maharg67