Ain't that a Kick in the Head?

[Zephyr2011]

Mark was grinning broadly that morning all the way. As he picked through the wreckage he saw quite a few precious treasures. Just about every firearm was damaged beyond repair, even for someone with his technical expertise, he found a single intact .44 magnum tucked in a footlocker with quite a few rounds of ammo but by no means enough for him to use all the time, his crowbar would still have to serve as his primary weapon for now. The only other gun that wasn't horribly damaged was the laser rifle of the final super mutant but it was down to only three shots left and Mark had no way of making more energy cells so he decided that he would scrap the whole thing and use it for parts for his own projects.

 

There was a bountiful supply of food, not just garbage either, but some real food like molerat meat, brahmin steaks, iguana on a stick, gecko legs and the like, granted most of that was irradiated but not as bad as the ancient pre-war stuff that he also found and at least the fresh stuff didn't taste like brahmin dung. There was also quite a bit of water, dirty water mostly, but still water. It wasn't irradiated but it was far from clean, and, Mark guessed, far from pure. It was still enough to last him by himself about a month and would take a long time to raise up to his stronghold. There were also plenty of containers. Containers were easily the most underrated items in the whole of the wastes. A good, fireproof can could save your life by allowing you to purify water or carry it over long distances. Mark found several canteens and and trunks that he could lug back up to his rooftop den. And the blankets, oh the blankets! There was bedding galore, he would have a veritable palace on his floor now with all the bedrolls, blankets, and even a cot or two. This little intrusion was the best find he had ever had. Granted there weren't many firearms or ammunition involved but there were remnants of explosives and even quite a few intact mines from the side of the 'valley' that the mutants had not gone through. The mines were fairly rudimentary and were easy to spot and disarm, but Mark could fix all that with enough time and tinkering. A few very stealthy, very complex mines that could obliterate a Behemoth were significantly better than a truckload of mediocre mines that could be disarmed by even the daftest of wastelanders, and Mark decided that the reduction in quantity was well worth the increase in quality. Mark set to the exhaustive work of bringing all of his supplies up to the top of his tower, carrying most of the small items in his pack and then setting up a pulley to raise the heavier or more cumbersome items like the footlockers up to the top. It took him almost all day but by sunset his newly acquired treasure was all safe and sound.

 

Then he found it. His holy grail. Tucked in a footlocker that he hadn't looked through thoroughly enough, was a soldering iron! He practically jumped off of the tower with excitement. He had read so much about electronics and their workings and had even found spools upon spools of wire and solder in the various supply closets of the tower but not a working soldering iron among them. He cautiously fired up his generator and plugged in the soldering iron and to his utter joy it worked! That night Mark slept like a log with his beloved soldering iron between his arms and nestled under a mound of pillows and blankets atop one of the cots.

 

The dawn brought a new day and much more time for tinkering and experimenting on various electronics. Mark was at it all day, by late afternoon he had repaired some of the lights on the floor and modified a fuel cell and an old prewar camera flash apparatus into a crude electrical shocking device. That was purely fun and it was giving him great experience. He looked at his bountiful supply of solder, not even dented by a whole day of experimenting and learning the ropes, which entailed a lot of wasted solder, and began thinking of other applications for the wonderful stuff.

 

 

ooc> now Mark is caught up with everyone else time-wise. Sorry for the ooc but it seemed like it made most sense to put it here and it's not super disruptive here, I'll take it down if necessary though.

[tokyobiohazard]

Ferox crossed his arms, "Not like everyone can trust me, right?"

 

Axelle bit her lip, "I'm kind of wanting to get moving as well..."

[BaldurAnthology]

Tomoyo squeaked slightly as she was glomped onto by Cathy and kissed. Her cheeks tinged with pink, she pulls Cathy back to her for a brief, but enjoyable, make out session. Feeling bold from this, she looked towards Ferox and smiles, replying to his statement,

 

"If the kid says you're alright, then you are alright in my books. I warn you though, I will castrate you if you get anywhere near Frisky with me. Men similar to your Legion types.. they took me and they.. they did horrible things to me. I will not allow a man to touch me like that again. Understood?" She reflexively and nervously hugged Cathy tightly.

 

Sandro simply smoked his pipe and relaxed as a ghoul ran past chasing some survivor type. He would intervene, but then he would have a tunnel full of ferals to dispose of. He smiled as the man ran past a mine, and one of the ferals stepped on it, causing an explosion.

 

Leeroy was content that the ferals left him alone too.

[MikeRyan]

Morgan walked up to Versing and put a hand on his shoulder "I'm coming with you to the doc, like it or not. I'm a bit interested in her motives so if she wakes up, I woud like to be there to talk to her alright? Besides I was thinking of talking to the doctor about medical supplies so I still needed to go there."

 

Morgan looked at Versing with a look of determination that pretty much said "I'm going with you no matter what you say"

[DemonLady]

"Vers."

 

Cathy tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, something in a sack by her foot.

 

"Never answered me a while ago about my idea about your armor."

[Flipout6]

Versing could tell already that Morgan wouldn't take no for an answer, so he nodded.

"Sure. If you want to come with me, feel free. But remember that we'll have to catch up with these guys later."

Cathy tapped him on the shoulder and mentioned his promised armor refurbishment. He looked at her.

"I didn't? Sorry 'bout that. It's very kind of you to put up an offer like that. Sure. I was scavenging some parts for myself in there, so that I could do it myself if need be, but I still need to scavenge some glue or belts or something. I'll stop by Moira's up in Megaton, there's some stuff I need, anyway. Once again, thanks for the offer. Now, Morgan," He looked back to him. "We'd better get moving, before any of the trooper's wounds get infected." He stooped over and hauled her over his shoulder, and then adjusted it until she was slung over both of his shoulders. He hunkered over a little due to her weight, but was otherwise fine. He began walking towards Megaton with the woman on his shoulders.

[MikeRyan]

Morgan pulled his rifle and walked along with Versing towards megaton, once he was sure they where out of Jay and Skylers hearing range he started to talk to Versing

 

"You know, I don't trust those two at all, something just irks me about them. Call me paranoid but I think they are hiding the truth from us. Anyways if you get tired just let me know and I can carry her for a bit"

 

He made sure his rifle was loaded and put a cigar in his mouth, just because he wanted something to play around with to keep his focus.

[DemonLady]

"no, not that one. I meant my idea about my Power Armor. I don't use it often, I'm not even that great in it.. figure we could use some parts from it, once I get time to tear it apart, to improve your armor Legion Centurion-style."

[Flipout6]

"I don't think that Versing fella can hear ya anymore, miss." Jay said to Tomoyo. (From a respectable distance. That plasma rifle didn't look too friendly.)

"Somethin' definitely seems to be botherin' that guy. Damn near cried there, a minute ago." Skyler said.

"Hey, guys, we're not that far from WIlhelm's Wharf, so me and Skyler are just gonna go and get some nice, hot squirrel-on-a-stick. That's what we were doin' till we heard the explosion and met you guys."

Without waiting for an answer, the pair of them began heading down that way. It didn't take them long to reach it. True to their word, they bought some food from Grandma Sparkle. With the group all the way back up the hill, they had the freedom to speak freely, if they were quiet. They sat down at the table closest to the water, with Taurus looking at the group, discreetly incase anybody came down.

"We have all of the intelligence we need. Now we move on to the second step. Your orders were to assassinate the NCR commando, but those have changed. From here on out, you follow me. No specific orders for now, but you're essentially a fellow Centurion travelling with me. No, you haven't been promoted..... yet. When we finish eating these," Junius said in a low voice, and bit off the squirrel's head. "We're going to jump into the river and swim south, enough of a distance that none of the profligates in the group can catch us. From there, we'll run to Tenpenny tower, grab our gear, and hunt down Versing, the escaped slave, and the Commando, killing three birds with one stone." He downed the rest of the squirrel in one bite, after Taurus nodded. He tossed the stick behind him, and then got right back into character.

"Yo, Skyler, I wonder what's in that boat over there?" Both of them got up, and Junius hopped into the boat, opening the metal box. He whispered to Taurus.

"Block the group's view of me, and then hop in the boat and then dive in after me. It should look like you're going for the box, if anyone sees you at all." He threw the box in the water, and then jumped into the water after it. Taurus hopped into the boat and dove in, supposedly after the metal box. Grandma Sparkle looked over the wall at them.

"You'll say nothing of this to anyone else, if you know what's good for you." Taurus warned her. They began swimming south, and when they got out of the water half a mile away, they began to jog towards Tenpenny tower.

[MikeRyan]

Morgan decided to have a little chat with Versing, seeing as now was the perfect time whe nit was only the two of them.

 

"So Vers, seeing as you have NCR background, where you part of the first battle for Hoover dam? I heard about it when I was working as a courier but I never really took part in it"

 

 

He held his view forward so he wouldn't walk into more lampposts

 

"I heard it was a big one though"