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pyrettawychwiggin · 5 months ago

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'The Iron Angel: The Tale of Maria Røntgen' - Chapter 1: Welcome to Megaton

(A Fallout 3 Fanfiction)

Please be advised: the following story is based around my own playthrough of Fallout 3, and is basically one loooooonnnnnnngggggg spoiler. So, obviously, SPOILER ALERT. Maria Røntgen is my own original character I've created for this story, but all other assets are the intellectual of Bethesda Softworks. Please support the official release.

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If you haven't already, feel free to check out Maria's character sheet here to get an idea of who she is before you begin. Alright, onto the story...

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As Maria pushed the door open and took her first step into the open air of the wastes, her eyes flooded with the harsh light of the midday sun. Squinting, she held an arm up to shield her eyes with a wince.

The air was hot - hotter than she'd ever imagined, but as her eyes slowly began to adjust to the light, she found herself in awe. Looking over the rocks and out to the wastes, she was seeing the open sky for the first time in her life, and an endless horizon that she could barely fathom.

Strange... she thought to herself. I'd always heard the sky would be blue. I guess that must have been more common during pre-war times.

Maria adjusted Butch's switchblade to settle on it's clip on her belt and started making her way down the dusty dirt path.

As she continued down the way, she started to hear the faint sound of shrill music; it sounded like a flute being played through a tin can, accompanied by a harsh snare drum.

As she rounded the corner and into the small abandoned town of Springvale, she watched a strange floating mechanical orb as it patrolled back and forth along the broken streets, paying her no mind.

Over the rocks and sandy hills, she could see the shadows of what appeared to be a large metal structure. Curious, she made her way closer.

When she arrived, she had to crane her neck up to see it's entirety; a massive composition of sheet metal and scrap with what appeared to be a jet engine over the centre of it. A robot in a cowboy hat, about the same height as Maria, stood alert outside the entrance of the structure.

"W e l c o m e to M e g a t o n." No sooner than the robot spoke did the engine whir to life, slowly pulling two large slats of metal aside to reveal a door.

"E n j o y y o u r v i s i t."

"Er, thanks." Maria cleared her throat, pulled open the door and stepped into the settlement.

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"Whoa..." Maria breathed, her eyes taking in the sight before her. An entire city constructed of scrap metal towered around her, bustling with wastelanders of all kinds. Down the path to the centre of the settlement sat a massive black bomb. Maria's stomach dropped at the sight.

"Well, lookee here. Another newcomer." A man's voice pulled Maria out of her awe. She turned to see a bearded, dark-skinned wastelander in a leather duster and a cattleman hat drawn over his eyes. "Hope you're not here to cause trouble."

"Oh, uh, hello," Maria stammered. "My name's Maria; nice to meet you mister..."

"Simms. Lucas Simms." He held out a hand for her to shake, tilting his chin up to make eye contact with her. He seemed to be regarding her with caution. "I'm the town's sheriff. I keep the peace around here."

"Oh, you'll get no trouble from me, Sheriff." Maria raised her hands in surrender with an easy smile. "Though, it seems you folks don't seem too concerned about danger... has anyone considered dealing with that bomb down there?"

"If any of us knew how, we would." Lucas shrugged and clicked his tongue. "Why, you volunteerin'?"

"I don't know about that - I've got a pretty basic knowledge on explosives, but nothing as dire as a bomb. Especially one of that size."

"Well, if you do find a way to disarm it for good, there's a hefty reward waiting for you." Lucas patted her shoulder. "Just don't go messing with it unless you're sure."

"No arguments here. Besides..." Maria's eyes started scanning the faces of the town's residents. "I'm really just looking for my father."

"Your father?"

"Yeah, middle-aged man, about yay tall..." Maria held her hand up higher to her father's approximate height. "We came from Vault 101 not far from here."

"Hm, can't say it rings any bells. Sorry," he shrugged. "But most folks swing by Moriarty's Saloon up the path around the edge of the walls. He might be able to point you in the right direction."

"Thanks; I'll head there next, then." Maria gave him a curt nod and started to step by him when he stopped her with a firm hand on her shoulder.

"But just a fair warning - don't trust the man." Lucas spoke low, his tone grave with his warning. "He'd sell his mother for a slice of rotting Mirelurk meat if he had one. He's not your friend, alright?"

"Thanks for the warning, Sheriff; I'll be careful."

Maria followed the path up to the saloon, and pushed the doors open.

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"Come on, ya piece of junk..." a raspy man's voice grumbled over the sound of static. "Work, dammit."

Maria noticed a bartender tinkering with a hissing radio, his back turned away from her. An attractive woman with short red hair and a form-hitting sky blue jumpsuit leaned in the doorframe of a small room at the other side of the bar, rolling her eyes.

"Give it up, Gob," she sighed, taking a drag from her cigarette, leaving a trace of cherry lipstick around the stark white tip. "It's not the radio - it's GNR. Something's been up with their signal lately."

The bartender seemed to be ignoring her as he shook and smacked the radio, muttering raspy profanities under his breath. Maria slowly made her way up to the bar.

"Why-" he adjusted the antenna.

"Won't-" he fidgeted with the tuning dial.

"You-" he shook the radio with both hands.

"Work?" He smacked the side of the radio, earning him a solid two seconds of clear sound before the static returned.

"Er, excuse me, sir?" Maria tapped the man on the shoulder and nearly jumped out of her skin when he turned to face her. "JESUSFUCKINGCHRIST."

The bartender was only a few inches taller than Maria, with a ill-fitting white tee shirt and cargo pants, a dirty bar towel hanging from his pocket. However, where Maria was expecting to see a typical face - nose, flesh and all - she saw what appeared to be either a talking corpse, or the most unfortunate burn victim she ever imagined she'd see.

There was a triangular pit where a nose should be and wisps of light brown hair in frayed patches on his scalp. His eyes seemed to have once been baby blue, but had now taken on a milky gloss, fading their colour only slightly. Every patch of visible skin seemed to be covered in the same kinds of burns, revealing deep red scars, purple veins, and muscle tissue. In some places, skin seemed to be in the process of sloughing right off.

"What's the matter?" He sighed, placing the radio down, his brow bone rising as he folded his arms. "Never seen a Ghoul before?"

"A Ghoul...?" Maria gulped, feeling her heartbeat slow back to a normal pace. Not sensing that he was hostile, she took a seat at the bar as the initial shock passed. "What's that?"

"Well, not all of us got to hide out in a fancy vault when the bombs dropped." Gob gestured to the vault jumpsuit she was wearing. "Some of us got a big dose of radiation. Most of 'em died, obviously, but those of us that didn't, well..."

"And people call you Ghouls?" Maria frowned. "That doesn't seem right..."

"Well, look at the way you reacted when you saw me." He shrugged, picking up a shot glass and wiping it, moving his eyes to his task. He seemed to be masking a long-standing exhaustion on the subject. "When you've got a face like ground Brahmin meat, folks don't always treat you the best."

"I am sorry about that - I just..." Maria felt guilty about her reaction, now. "I've never seen a.... Ghoul before. I wasn't expecting it."

"S'alright, kid. Ya get used to it after a few decades."

"Though, now that that first shock has passed, well..." Maria trailed off, regarding the bartender curiously for a few seconds. "It's really not so bad."

Gob's eyes snapped back up to meet hers in shock.

"Really? Ya mean it?"

Maria did meant it. Despite his burns, she could see his eyes were still bright and expressive, and his smile, though crooked, was a kind one that made her want to smile back. He had rather broad shoulders despite his relatively lean frame, and strong hands, no doubt from his labours of work. He had the slightest belly that complimented his build surprisingly well.

"Mmhm." She gave him a genuine smile. "It's the eyes - you're very expressive."

"Well, I dunno about that..." He looked down sheepishly, fumbling with his towel. The red-haired woman watched from where she lounged just within earshot, smiling slyly at the exchange. Finally, Gob continued. "Still, even if you're just saying it to be nice, I like t' hear it. Most folks just spit in my face."

Maria frowned. "I hope you don't mean that literally."

"Well, I-"

"What the hell're ye doin', y'idiot?" an older man with shaggy white hair and a beard emerged from the room behind the bar, yanking Gob from where he had been leaning on the bar as he was speaking to Maria. The Ghoul let out a pained grunt, but made no effort to fight back. "I don't pay ye to chat - go make yourself useful!"

Maria looked to the red-haired woman who looked at the ground with a frown to avoid watching what was happening. It seemed as though this wasn't particularly surprising to her- or to any other patrons for that matter. Maria stood from her seat and pushed herself away from the bar, moving to walk around it, earning her a look of either shock or terror from the red-haired woman.

"Come here!" the white-haired man barked, raising his arm to backhand Gob as he knelt helplessly at his feet. "Ye useless waste of skin-"

"Hey!" Maria called out. When she was ignored, the man raised his hand again to strike Gob a second time. Without thinking, she rushed forward and grabbed his arm. "Stop that!"

"Fuck off!" the white-haired man shoved her to the ground, turning his attention to her. "What gives ye the right to interfere with my management, aye?"

"Management?!" Maria squeaked, realizing this must be the infamous 'Moriarty' Lucas had warned her about. "You're beating the poor man! What the hell is your problem?"

"Man? Hardly." Moriarty scoffed. He looked like he was about to approach her when Gob interjected.

"Wait, wait!" He rasped, putting himself between them with his hands up in surrender, hunching to make himself appear as small and meek as possible, shaking in fear and avoiding looking in Moriarty's eyes at all costs. "I-I'm sorry - I started talking to her and I just got carried away, that's all."

"Ye think I give a shit about your excuses?" Moriarty let out a wry laugh. "Just get back t'work, you lazy sack o' skin."

"Yes, sir...." Gob gave Maria an apologetic nod and scurried back to his place behind the bar, frantically cleaning glasses and focusing on looking as busy as possible.

"Now. Before I kick your ass out of my bar, what the hell d'ya want?" Moriarty folded his arms, glaring at Maria. "Ye don't have a drink in yer hand, after all."

"I'm looking for my father," Maria sighed and shook her head, pulling herself back to her feet and dusting herself off. "From Vault 101 - like me."

"Ohh, I see - the little baby brat from the vault's all grown up." To Maria's surprise, Moriarty's expression seemed to light up with genuine recognition. "And ye figure I'll be tellin' where yer dear ol' dad ran off to, aye?"

"That was the plan, yeah..."

"Ha! Well, ye can forget it," Moriarty scoffed, shoving past her as he flicked a cigarette between his lips. "Ye can get yer drinks and a bed here if ye've got the caps. That's the extent o' my generosity for brats that stick their nose in my business."

"But-" Maria tried to speak further, but the man was already out the door, slamming it behind him in defiant finality.

"Shit..."

"Tough break, kid." A sultry voice broke the awkward moment of silence. The red-haired woman from earlier had her arms folded as she spoke. "But that's Colin for ya. He can be a real bastard. Name's Nova, by the way."

"Pleasure to meet you, Nova." Maria sighed, slumping into a seat at the bar, watching Gob taking inventory with a clipboard, his hand still trembling. "Why is he so horrible to him?"

"Well, he treats us all like shit." Nova spoke plainly, taking a seat beside her and lighting up another cigarette. She offered one to Maria, but it was turned down. "But he treats poor Gob the worst out of all of us. Just because he's different, maybe?"

"It's not right." Maria found herself gritting her teeth at the thought.

"You don't know the half of it." Nova chuckled. "You know that asshole bought him off some slavers way back? Says he can earn his freedom if he works off his debt."

"When will that be?"

"Never." Nova dabbed her cigarette on the edge of the ashtray. "He charges him rent and board, too - so he'll never pay it off."

"What?!" Maria squeaked. "But that's just slavery!"

"And that's why he's been here for 15 years."

"Unbelievable..." Maria grumbled and shook her head. "And now he won't even tell me where my father is. What a dick."

"Hm..." Nova took another puff of her cigarette and thought to herself for a moment. "Hey, Gob."

"Hm?" He turned and walked over to the bar, eyes darting past them to the door to make sure Moriarty wasn't coming back. "What is it?"

"You think Colin's files have any info on that handsome man from the vault from earlier?"

"Are you kidding? He has dirt on everybody on that stupid terminal." He leaned in conspiratorially to speak with Nova. "Think you can give her the password? Help her out?"

"I don't know, Gob..." Nova winced with a shake of her head. "If Colin finds out, I'll be out on my ass so fast my head'll spin."

'"C'mon, Nova..." Gob pleaded. "I'll do all your errands for a week."

"You really wanna help her that bad?"

"I feel kinda bad - she almost got beat because of me." He frowned, shuffling his feet sheepishly. "No one's ever stuck up for me like that before."

"Gob..." Maria was touched. "Look, neither of you need to put yourselves at risk for my sake, alright? I'll ask around town - there must be someone else who knows something."

"Doubtful. Colin keep tabs on everyone here." Nova extinguished her cigarette and sighed. "No one'll wanna tell you anything if it'll just piss him off."

Nova clicked her tongue and thought to herself for a moment. Gob looked at her with pleading eyes, and she grinned before coming to some sort of silent conclusion.

"Alright, kid." She chuckled. "I'll tell you the password. But if anyone asks, you didn't hear it from me, okay? And Gob; you're running my errands for a month, got it?"

Gob and Maria sighed in relief. He went back to his task and Nova leaned in to whisper the password in her ear.

"Thanks, Nova!" Maria was about to slide away from the bar, but Nova gently pulled her close again to whisper into her ear again.

"Thanks for sticking your neck out for Gob. You've made a lifelong friend in him, I hope you know that."

Maria smiled and gave her a quick nod in thanks as she rushed to the backroom behind the bar, hoping she could find what she needed before Moriarty came back from his apparent smoke break.

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As the hour grew late, the air cooled and the moon rose over the scraps of Megaton. Few stars could be seen through the smog, but Maria still found herself enchanted by the vastness of the open sky; and her eyes were glued to the waning moon - something she'd only ever heard about in songs and books.

Stretched out on an old, discarded couch by the community bunkers, she pulled Butch's jacket further over her shoulders and let out a heady sigh. Since Moriarty had conveniently decided to double the price of the rooms, Maria had no choice but to sleep elsewhere for the night.

So my dad's gone off to find this GNR radio station... Maria pulled out Jonas' glasses and sniffled idly, wiping off a leftover smear of blood from the frame with her sleeve. I guess I need to get to D.C. somehow.

Holding the glasses to her chest, she felt her eyes begin to well with tears.

I hope this ache goes away eventually... She wiped her eyes on her arm. I'll need to get my hands on some supplies before I even think about traveling that far. Guess I'll need to get my hands on some caps somehow.

Tucking the glasses away, she stretched out on the couch and felt sleep begin to take her.

I'll ask around in the morning. I'm sure there's something I can do around here to round up a pocket-full of caps...

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"Well, I'll be damned!" Walter whistled, nodding in approval at the repaired pipes that had been giving him hell for the past few weeks. The man had one damn job in this gods-forsaken town, and it was made much harder when the water pipes had burst in three areas all at once. "You managed to patch 'em up in record time. Nice work, kid!"

"No worries, Walter; happy to help." Maria wiped the grime from her hands on the pants of her jumpsuit. She silently thanked Stanley for teaching her what he knew about maintaining the Vault's water system. "Clean water's hard to come by - it's a necessity of life, after all."

"Right you are, girl. Here you go." The mechanic handed her a handful of caps. "I know it's not a lot, but it should at least be enough to get yourself something nice."

"Thanks, Walter. I guess I should go check out this Craterside Supply I've heard so much about."

"Yeah, Moira'll be happy to help you out. She's a nice girl." Walter chuckled. "Might also be one of the strangest girls you'll ever meet, too."

"Take care." Maria gave Walter a polite pat on the shoulder before walking by him to Craterside Supply just down the walkway.

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"Welcome to Craterside Supply!"

Right away, Maria was greeted by a woman in coveralls and blood orange hair. She had a spark of mischievous intelligence in her expression as she tinkered at her workbench with some sort of contraption that Maria couldn't identify.

"Hello - I'm about to take off on a bit of a long journey, and I just need something a little heftier than a switchblade." Maria counted the caps on the surface of the counter. "And maybe some food and supplies if I can afford it."

"You wouldn't happen to be heading north, would you?" The shopkeeper stopped tinkering, regarding Maria with a hopeful smile. "I could really use a research assistant!"

"A research assistant? For what?"

"Well, I'm writing a book, you see. I'm calling it 'The Wasteland Survival Guide' written by Moira Brown." She practically bounced with excitement at the thought. "It's going to save so many lives once it's written and out there in the hands of those poor souls out wandering the wastes."

"Why not just do this research yourself?"

"What? I'd get myself killed out there!" Moira scoffed. Maria appreciated her willingness to speak so candidly. "I need someone who can handle themselves out there."

"Does it pay well?" Maria raised an eyebrow. "I could really use the caps."

"You won't just get caps." Moira beamed. "You'll get supplies, new gadgets, and best of all - the very best survival skills that you can only get by being put in dangerous and traumatic situations!"

Maria stared at Moira in silence for about ten seconds, noting the shopkeeper's complete lack of concern from what she'd just said.

"That..." Maria trailed off. "...sounds awful."

"Pfft - nooo!" Moira shook her head with a flick of her wrist. "I think you'll find the rewards far outweigh the near-death experiences. So whaddaya say?!"

Well, this could be my opportunity to get my hands on the supplies I need... Maria sighed. "What's first?"

"You'll do it?!" Moira bounced and clapped her hands excitedly. "What do you know about radiation sickness, scavenging and... landmines?"

Maria gulped, somewhat dreading what she may be agreeing to.

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TLDR

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• Maria arrives at Megaton and makes a good impression on Lucas Simms; she has some knowledge on explosives, but not enough to disarm the bomb at this time.

• Maria meets Gob and Nova at Moriarty's Saloon. Having never seen a ghoul before, Maria is spooked by Gob's appearance at first, but when they start talking and she realizes that he's friendly, she warms up to him quickly and even admits to finding him oddly charming.

• Moriarty catches Gob conversing with Maria and starts to beat him - Maria jumps in to stop him and gets knocked to the ground. Before Moriarty turns on her Gob manages to convince him to stop. Moriarty refuses to tell Maria anything about her father's whereabouts and leaves the saloon to have a smoke.

• Nova is hesitant to help Maria at first, but between Maria's willingness to be so kind to Gob, and with Gob practically begging her to to help, she finally agrees to give Maria the password to Moriarty's personal terminal.

• Maria finds out her father has gone to D.C. and was headed to the GNR Radio Station.

• Moriarty doubled the price of the rooms at the saloon for the night, forcing Maria to use the old, discarded couch outside the common quarters. She laments about her losses and makes a plan to scrounge some bottlecaps together to try and get her hands on some more supplies before she makes the long journey.

• She helps Walter fix up the busted water pipes around Megaton; thankfully, she has some decent knowledge on repairs since Stanely taught her a few things about the Vault's water system maintenance way back. He hands her some caps and points her in the direction of Craterside Supply.

• Maria meets Moira at her shop and learns that she's in the midst of writing a 'Wasteland Survival Guide.' Moira asks Maria for help with some research in exchange for caps, supplies, gadgets, etc. Maria agrees.

Coming Up: Chapter 2 - Into the Wasteland