#one of these guys is our courier and it's NOT the guy with the ranger armor and head trauma

[shithowdy]

rotating my blorbos in my head isn't good enough i need to manifest them physically !!!

i spent upwards of two weeks working on these, and i'm really happy with them! it was a bit like putting myself in character design boot camp because it forced me to rethink how i do everything from a more "intentional" angle rather than just arbitrary choices.

i may do some future single-layer ones of other characters, but... i need a break.

emil's ass better watch out because it's only a matter of time before he gets some horrible left side disfigurement, apparently

linking an imgur folder with the static jpegs in the comments vvv

[3xm-draconic]

The Jester and The Courier: a wild wasteland love.

Chapter 2: Radioactive.

Myrtle got on her ranger gear, say for gear helmet and went down stairs. In the spare room handcuffed to the radiator was the crazy little red head dude, just…giggling to himself… 

“Any idea if the psycho is still in his system?” Gannon turned to Joshua, “no idea, psycho isn’t supposed to last that long…then again he might just be insane like Raul said” Joshua replied.

Myrtle approached the man and knelt down so she was eye-level with him, the man’s crazed grin fell from his face as soon as he saw her’s. It was no doubt due to the horrific scar across her left eye which was now completely cybernetic, that would scare the willies out of anybody.

…but…then he smiled again…

“You are something Cicero has never hallucinated before…a half-metal woman!” he gleefully giggled, “hmm, dilated pupils, erratic speech patterns, hallucinations…he may have severe mental trauma” she turned to the others “I think taking him to doc Usanagi for therapy might do him some good”.

“Where is Cicero? Why is he chained?...WHERE IS HIS JESTER’S CLOTHES!?” he squeaked and began to panic “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO POOR CICERO!?”, “ehey, ehey shhh, it’s ok buddy we didn’t do anything to you, we want to help you ok?” Myrtle hushed him “can you tell me what happened? Do you remember how you ended up naked and falling out of the sky?”

The red head…this Cicero guy…just looked at her weirdly and screamed “WHAT!?”, a water bottle was then flung at them “CAN HE STOP FUCKING SCREECHING!? I’am hungover and I’d like some peace and quiet!” Cass bellowed.

Myrtle turned to Ulysses “can you bring me some food and a bottle of water?”, “what for?”, “our friend here is so skinny he looks like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in weeks and I think the best way to get through to him is with kindness, not an interrogation” Myrtle replied.

Ulysses nodded and went into the kitchen to grab a plate of whatever Lily was making, “guys can I be alone with him?” Myrtle turned to Gannon and Graham, they nodded and left to go eat.

“so…Cicero, where are you from?”, the man hesitated “Cicero was from the Empire but he moved to Skyrim to be closer to his family”, “Empire? Sky-rim?” Myrtle pondered “I don’t know these places…they certainly ain't close to the Mojave or California” she mumbled. “Mo-ha-vee?...Cal-ee-forn-ya?...What are you talking about? What are those places?” Cicero wondered, “It’s where you are now bud, you are in Nevada, Southwestern Commonwealth of America, the Mojave desert, west of the NCR?” Myrtle pause “any of this dinging any bells up there?”

He stared at her blankly “no…but if Cicero is in a desert is it close to Hammerfell…the Alik’r?...or is it in Elsweyr?”, Myrtle blinked “no…you got me even more confused now”.

“What direction is this Sky-rim?”, “oh it is very, very far north” Cicero replied as he carefully observed the strange metal woman, her greenish-blue eye and metallic yellowish green one never wavering from his amber gaze, “north hmm? How far north? Like Uta or…?” she pondered, “U-ta?” Cicero wondered “Cicero has no idea about any of these places you say!” he snapped, he was getting agitated.

Myrtle sighed “look I’am sorry, I don’t mean to anger you I’am trying to help you find your way home” Myrtle said softly, Cicero calmed down a little as her words sounded ginuwine “ok…ok” he sighed.

Ulysses arrived with food: a plate of potato-bread toast, sunny side-up gecko eggs, brahmin sausages and cactus fruit jam.

She took the plate from him and sat it next to Cicero, “ok, I’am going to uncuff you and give you a fork…please…don’t stab me with it” she kindly asked him, Cicero had to hold back a pout…he wanted to stab someone…badly…

She got close enough to where Cicero could have easily jabbed it into her neck…but he needed to know more about just where in the void he was…and killing the only person wanting to help him would be like stabbing himself in the foot.

Cicero eyed the food on the plate…it…was weird…

“What is this?” he pondered as he poked at the strange eggs, “gecko eggs…have you never eaten one before?” Myrtle turned to him, Cicero cocked his head in confusion “nope…” he shrugged, “well their good eaten I say, I’ve had them plenty of times in my life” she shrugged and grinned “nothing is better in the morning like a cup of coffee and a plate of gecko eggs”.

“What's this coff-ee you speak of?” Cicero pondered, “it’s drink, it helps ya wake up in the morning, would you like a cup?”, Cicero thought about it for a moment “well when in the Empire do as the Impirals do” the thought to himself “yes, thank you” he nodded.

Myrtle left to get him some while Ulysses watched him, “so…Cicero…your name” Ulysses’s deep raspy voice rumbled “it sounds very…Legionary…” he mumbled.

Cicero eyed the strange man with a metal mouth “Cicero’s name is a perfectly normal Impiral’s name…what does it have to do with the military?”, “so your military is in league with Caesar?...oh dear…Myrtle was begging to like you…” he sighed.

That got Cicero on edge, what did he mean by that?...

“who…Who is this Ceasar you speak of?” he pondered, Ulysses cocked his head “don’t play dumb, he’s the leader…” he gave a small laugh “former…leader of the Legion”, Cicero looked even more confused.

“So…in this world there is no Tiber Septim?...no Empire?” Cicero’s head started to spin, if his very NATION didn’t exist here…then that would mean…

Myrtle came back with a cup of coffee “I made it with some brahmin milk and sweetened it with a little ant nectar, you look like somebody who wouldn’t like just straight black coffee…” Myrtle opened the door to see an alarming sight…

Ulysses knocked out and Cicero attempting to break out of his remaining handcuff using the fork but doing so badly that he was only hurting himself in the process.

“CHRIST ALMIGHTY!” Myrtle screamed as she set down the coffee on a dresser and ran over to Cicero, she smacked the fork out of his hand and restrained him “STOP, Stop, stop…what’s wrong?” she gazed into his panicked wild eyes, he was like a frightened animal.

Cicero headbutted her…but that only ended in him hurting himself…“don’t do that please…my skull is pure titanium and I doubt your old flesh and bone one can do much damage…now calm down before I make you calm down”.

“You won't take my soul daedra!” Cicero snarled at her and attempted to bite her, he managed to sink his teeth into her shoulder but then he felt a sharp pinch in his neck…then…he started to feel…relaxed.

“Ok, I’am gonna cuff you back to the radiator while you calm down ok buddy?” Myrtle said as she gently laid him back against the wall, thank GOD she had a needle of calm-x on her.

She checked on Ulysses who was waking up, “Hey S.Grant you ok pal?”, Ulysses groaned “little fucker…headbutted me…hard…ow”, Myrtle gave him a small pouch of healing powder “here go take a nap on the couch and heal up”.

“What of Crazy-Ass?” he grumbled, “calm-x, was gonna use it on myself to ease my jitters of hoover dam…but I think in the moment it was needed more on him” she sighed, “Myrt?” Ulysses looked at her with concern, “don’t” she glared at him “don’t worry about me and DON’T bring it up with the others…got it?”

He sighed  and they left the room.

[lavaeolus]

I beat New Vegas and its DLCs with 0 kills on Hardcore

Right, I feel like I owe you some details on this. Meet Michaela, courier and Wasteland doctor. Swearing something not entirely dissimilar to the Hippocratic Oath, she's a devout member of the Followers of the Apocalypse. And less devoutly the Brotherhood of Steel -- but she's a little concerned hijacking a robot army might've gotten her kicked out of the latter. Hasn't had the nerve to ask about it yet.

Strap yourselves in; this is going to be a long one. First, the core three rules to this playthrough:

No direct killing. Don't do anything that would increase People Killed, Creatures Killed or Total Things Killed.

No companion killing. Would make this a lot simpler if we brought one along! But I think that would be less a "no-kill" challenge and more a "companion commander" one.

No luring enemies to their death. It's hypothetically possible to just beat a guy to 1 HP and lead them to a radscorpion. But that's not very nice. Try to bypass them through means other than reducing their HP to 0 if possible.

Full disclosure that I did allow myself to use Robotics Expert and shut off machinery. I didn't really view this as destroying them, as they retain their HP and can theoretically be turned back on one day. In fact, deactivate Mobius's giant roboscorpion with the perk and he will, after a few moments, do just that.

Tackling the base game

If you follow some of my other social media, you might know this isn't my first try at a 'no-kill run'! The main difference is that in the last one I didn't really do any DLC. I did Honest Hearts and called it a day. This run was also done on Very Hard / Hardcore, which doesn't change things too dramatically but does mean we can't be quite as cavalier about rushing in and running past people. We side with Yes Man in this go-through, unlike our first run which was NCR. They share a lot of ground, though, so again: not too big of a difference.

One fun fact about New Vegas is that being able to get through without killing anyone was one of Obsidian's initial design tenets. But... that comes with a bit of a proviso. You can get through to pretty much any ending without ever having to pull out a gun (or ballistic fist, as the case may be), although there will be clunky moments from the engine being designed with the idea you'd be clearing places of enemies. Hell, you can wipe out most of the factions without ever pulling out a gun, if you help Lanius come to power and side with the Legion.

Can you get through "as a pacifist"? Well. I mean, you don't have to kill House, exactly. You can just pull him out of his tub, expose him to bacteria, and then shove him back in -- disconnected from his systems until he inevitably dies in about a year. There are a few other questionable moments, like the fact that bringing law to Primm inexplicably causes all the people in the Bison Steve to suddenly drop dead. Heart attacks, I assume.

Still, side with the right faction and your hands can come out relatively clean, and I do a few extra things to keep in spirit to the run. I don't give the Legion the Boomer howitzer parts. Our favour from the King is spent ending the violence against NCR citizens, thereby avoiding conflict with Pacer. For the Omertas, I avoid having Cachino open fire on the bosses. Instead I blow up their weapons, blackmail Clanden, and then re-enter the casino. Whereupon they ask me to hand over my weapons and I tell them to shove it, rendering the Omertas irrevocably hostile to me. (This lets me progress the NCR path a bit further, although it's not strictly necessary on an Independent run.)

While there are a handful of quests you can't do, you can complete the majority of the game and most of its quests. The only companion you can't recruit without loosening the rules a bit is Boone. With Cass, you can avoid having to help Ranger Jackson if you take the Barter or higher Speech routes. I avoid having Old Lady Gibson put down her dog for Rex, but if you're not being as extreme fixing him's just a few caps or a Barter check away.

That doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the best ending for everyone, of course. There are some factions, like the Powder Gangers and Fiends, who probably should be dealt with -- but sticking to the pacifist ethos leaves these groups in play. This is only heightened by staying Independent rather than joining the NCR, who would ultimately deal with the Powder Gangers and limit the Fiends' influence once their hold is strong enough.

Tackling the DLC

Does that ethos carry through to the DLC? Sort of. There are troublesome spots throughout, and obviously dealing with Father Elijah through stealth still involves locking him in a room without food, water or light. But I think the only direct violation of that earlier design tenet comes in Lonesome Road. Honest Hearts is actually where we get our main weapon of choice, the Compliance Regulator: a special laser pistol that does less damage but temporarily paralyses an enemy on crits. (A few similar fatigue weapons exist in the base game, but are usually trickier to take advantage of.)

But let's go through some issues:

Companions! Honest Hearts, Dead Money and Lonesome Road all have you escort companions around. If you go into Caution, companions can open fire on people. Sometimes we can just walk on and be sure they won't do much. By all means, ED-E, solo the three deathclaws while I scoot over to the next area. I'd recommend you bring a few Stealth Boys to the Divide just to help keep ED-E out of trouble. Other times we have to get creative. To complete "Prisoners of War" without anyone dying, I have to zap both a White Leg and Graham with the Compliance Regulator, paralysing them each for 10 seconds. I then have to paralyse Graham again to get to Salt-Upon-Wounds without Graham going Rambo on his minions. In all cases, you can abuse the Wait function once you're far away enough from enemies your companion might still be fighting.

Holograms. Dean doesn't want to do his part in the heist without some protection. Two options: threaten to break his legs, which is tempting, or you can activate some holograms to keep guard. Unfortunately the Ghost People have some special coding that says whenever one is permanently killed, for any reason, they should be added to your kill-count. The solution is simple but difficult to pull off. Activate the holograms, then leg it out of the area before they have the chance to murder any poor Ghost People. A gamey solution for a gamey problem.

Saving ED-E. Can't use the terminal until the robots are dead! So either nuke somewhere or trick a few robots into blowing themselves up. But this is technically optional.

Showdown with Ulysses. When I mentioned there being one violation, this is what I was referring to. The DLC ends with a big final showdown between you and the Marked Men, which doesn't progress until the Marked Men are dead. Strictly speaking, Ulysses is perfectly capable of soloing them all while you hide in a corner -- which we do. But that a high-Speech character is able to be carried by Ulysses doesn't really change that you're meant to be fighting off waves of enemies.

In the end, though, we're able to come out moreorless abiding our initial rules, some dodgy moments aside. Old World Blues is the best about it, having no real catches throughout. The enemies have pretty good Perception, so can be a little tricky to sneak past, but there's no mandatory killing. Honest Hearts is interesting in that it's clearly aware a pacifist approach is possible and actually addresses the possibility in some dialogue -- although, of course, Graham does add some complications if you're strict about it.

Dead Money and Lonesome Road? Tough stuff. If a non-combat character interests you, there's an extent I'd say go for it, but maybe just give yourself a mulligan for these two DLCs and the Graham-segment of Honest Hearts. From a roleplaying angle and outside the confines of the Pip-boy stats, it's not strictly your fault if some guy you're forced to travel with attacks someone, right? So long as you don't deliberately take advantage of it.

Video proof

I didn't record this full playthrough, but I did record the final mission and the ending of each DLC. Just so I'd have a record of having done it. The full playlist is here, but if you'd like to watch any individual one:

Base game

Honest Hearts

Dead Money

Old World Blues

Lonesome Road

I realise this isn't, like, irrefutable evidence. But if you're curious about how the ending slides play out or if there's anything special, there they are.

[undeadcourier]

rick: it's just—something seems different, right, these past several days? maybe he worked something out with motor-runner, or—

rachael: or what? an ncr ranger couldn't save us, there's no chance some courier could. forget it, rick, that guy's dog chow by now. and we're next, once these fiends find out there's no one to pay our ransom.

*cal walks by, drinking a cola, and notices them.*

cal: oh, shit, forgot y'all were down here

rachael, rick, dennis:

so there are three caravaners down in vault 3 being held hostage and i talked to them and meant to come back after killing motor-runner but.

i forgot.

they've been down there for weeks

[fallout-lou-begas]

Elevated Extras: Ranger Ghost Companion

You a Courier? If so, this might be your lucky day...if you don't mind walking a bit and your eyes are good. 

(Original sketch by @tarberrymentats / based on the OC Companion Meme by @falloutfandomeventhub / if you borrow this concept please tag it as #fallout elevated extras)

General

Name: Ranger Ghost

Location: Mojave Outpost

How to obtain: Complete the sidequest “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize,” then begin the sidequest “Giving Up the Ghost” to get her reassigned from the Mojave Outpost. Once freed of her assignment, she can travel with the Courier to monitor Legion activity throughout the Mojave.

Companion Quest: “Giving Up the Ghost.”

Ranger Ghost, like everyone else, is sick and tired of being stuck at the Mojave Outpost. Unfortunately, orders are orders. With the courier’s help, though, she just might be able to come down from that rooftop, but dealing with NCR bureaucracy might be a worse ordeal than Legion crucifixion.

Companion Wheel

I think we should travel together. You probably can’t tell, but that’d make me very happy. Let’s get the hell out of here.

Let’s talk about your tactics. Sure. Lecture the ranger on tactics. Go ahead. / What’re you thinking?

I want you to change your combat style. (humoring) Alright. / If you insist.

Use a melee weapon. Close combat, then. / Sure. We can hold their hands and tuck them in while we’re at it. / (Wild Wasteland Enabled) Try to remember the basics of CQC.

Use a ranged weapon. (stating the obvious) It’s what I do. / You going to spot for me? / (deeply sarcastic) Aww. Finally remembered I’m a ranger?

Be passive. Sure, give peace a chance. / Don’t go pacifist on me, now.

Be aggressive: Locked and loaded. / (mocking the company line) Right, and with “extreme prejudice.”

Enough about tactics. Agreed. Anything else? / Are we good, then?

Let’s talk about how close you’re following me. Is there a problem? / What are you...implying, exactly?

Wait here. Right. Things to do, places to be? / Holding down here. / I’ll keep watch here.

Follow me. Let’s roll out. / Finally. Don’t like waiting. / Right. Skip to my fucking lou.

Stay close to me. (sternly cautious) Define “close.” / Got it, on you. / Just don’t bump my gun.

Keep your distance. Positioning, got it. / Yeah, covering you. / (facetious concern) Don’t get lost, now.

Let’s trade equipment. Don’t get fucking handsy, now. / Just don’t hog the ammo.

(Overburdened). I’m not your fucking pack brahmin. / (exasperated) I’ve only got so many pockets.

(Sneaking). Staying low. / (wryly imperative) Quiet, now.

(In Courier’s iron sights). What the fuck is wrong with you? / (slowly, emphasizing) Watch your trigger discipline. / Don’t make me take that away.

(Courier lays mine). I’ve got my eyes on that. / You’d better have a plan for that.

It’s time for us to part ways. It’s because i’m a bitch, isn’t it. / Such sweet fucking sorrow, I bet.

I’d like you to go to the Lucky 38. Hm. Sending the Ghost to the haunted house. See you there. I’ll try not to spook the Securitrons.

We can meet again at the Mojave Outpost. (sucks teeth) Guess I’ll report what I’ve got back to headquarters. Hopefully by now they’ve got someone else watching the brahmins shit full-time.

Injured: (seething) SSShhit. / Didn’t want it like this. / (with conviction) I didn’t get off that roof just to fucking bite it.

Damaged Limb: (shout of pain) Fucker clipped me! / Sure could use a fucking medic.

Regaining Consciousness: What...what the hell happened? / (trailing off) Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck...

Death: (death rattle) / (weakly) Ghosts...can die, huh...ha...

Attributes

Aggression: Aggressive.

Confidence: Brave.

Assistance: Helps friends and allies.

Karma: Neutral.

Perks

Ghost of a Chance: When Ranger Ghost is by your side, so are the odds. In addition to gaining an extra 3% chance to critically hit, any single attack that would kill you may instead leave you just barely alive and invulnerable for a brief moment..

Drops, if killed

Ranger Vest Outfit

Ranger Grey Hat

Authority Glasses

Cowboy Repeater

Combat Knife

Iguana Bits

Grognak the Barbarian

Dialogue, Quest Details, and Ending Slides:

Dialogue

Why do they call you Ghost? What, don’t I scare you? Boo? Nothing? (beat) Well, if you gotta know, it stuck pretty quick back in basic. Not like there were many other albinos in boot camp. The all-white spooky bitch who shoots better at night? Yeah, that’s a ghost, alright. Pissed me off at first, but I came around when it started giving privates the heebie-jeebies. Just a little kick, is all.

What’s an albino? Albinism is a pigment disorder. You know, the color of your skin and hair? As in I don’t have color. Pale as a sheet.

[Medicine 35] A sharpshooter with albinism? Isn’t your vision affected? Done your homework, huh? Well, these big, bad sunglasses aren’t just for intimidation, doc. They only come off when I sleep. Sucks enough being photosensitive in the goddamn desert, but like I said. I’m a lot better at night.

What’s your real name? (the thousandth time she’s answered this exact question) If I told you that, I’d have to kill you.

Aw, come on. Curiosity killed the courier. Don’t push it.

[Speech 40] I’m just trying to understand my partner better. Then “understand” that I don’t owe you shit except loyalty. Just call me Ghost, and you’ll get that.

[Cherchez La Femme] Surely you’ve got a name to match that lovely personality. (flustered) Are you d-...I-...Yeah, I do.But you can just keep calling me Ghost. (quietly) For...for now.

What’s the deal with Ranger Jackson? Man hasn’t got a thought in his fucking head...which is why he’s such a good C.O., from the top down. He’s a nice enough guy on a good day. He’s...principled, for sure. But the man wouldn’t budge on an order from brass if it’d save his life. Stranded caravaneers get so bored and restless because of the impasse he’s overseeing that he’s started (excessive emphasis) “hiring” the rowdier ones for odd jobs off the grounds, which is why we’ve been “losing” supplies for a while. Gets shit done, I guess, but wish he’d show half that drive when bitching to HQ, but no. They tell him to sit tight, he says yes sir, and then he takes it out on us when we get frustrated at the frustrating bullshit.

Do you know Major Knight? (standoffish) Yeah. Good guy. Known him a while. Hell, he’s been at M.O. longer than I have.

What does he do? Repairs, mostly. With all the caravans backed up, we sort of have a monopoly on maintenance and upkeep. And believe me, he does damn fine work.

[Confirmed Bachelor] Is he...you know…? Is he...oh. Between you and me? Yeah. He and I are...alike. I mean, I’m the bitch everybody hates, so I don’t really give a shit, but beneath that…(thinking how best to describe him, ribbing him a bit)...accountant exterior of his, he’s really the soft, sensitive type. Needs someone to talk to sometimes. I’m that someone, sometimes, but if you get the chance...it’d do him good just to know he’s not that alone out here.

How can I best use your skills? Hard to find a way that’d be worse than all the wasted time at M.O., but I’ll make it easy for you: give me a target and let me shoot it. If it’s too close to shoot, I’m trained in hand-to-hand, and if it’s too far to shoot, it’ll never see me coming. Standard repertoire for a ranger.

What’s your opinion on the NCR? High enough to keep me enlisted, low enough to where I’ve got plenty to mock. We’re a good country, a damn good country. We’re the only real country actually left in the West. We’d be the best thing to ever crawl out of the bombed-out ruins of this war if it weren’t for all the bureaucratic bullshit, and the brass getting duller the higher you go. It’s all just song and dance and sloganeering to them out here. Whatever looks good on paper. They don’t give a shit what really happens to people out here, and if Caesar doesn’t kill us, that might. At least on the inside.

What’s it like being a ranger? Ranger training is the best, most brutal gauntlet this side of the Colorado. Hours and hours of days and days spent shooting, drilling, fighting, bringing the body to its breaking points, pouring blood and sweat just to get an inch past the wide-eye hopefuls who were always going to just wash out...and all of it just to stand on a fucking rooftop staring at ants and malnourished raiders on the interstate. I swear, if you gave headquarters a golden egg, they’d fucking cook it.

Were you at the battle of Hoover Dam? Was going to be, but believe it or not, I sat out sick. Got the fucking flu right before and was stuck at McCarran the whole time, half-lucid. Let me tell you, the whole tent of coughs and sneezes crowding around that radio, listening to the reports...when Hanlon ordered that retreat out of Boulder City, we were grabbing our rifles and getting ready to march out on foot, even if we could barely stand. We thought that was it. Of course, it wasn’t, and we cheered so loud when they radioed about the explosion that I hope Caesar damn well heard it.

Do you wish that you had been there? Of course I do. If I miss the next one because I’m stuck at the Outpost or some shit, I’m deserting with a dozen fed-up caravaneers to flank his fucking fort myself, if only for some goddamn excitement.

How do you feel about the Legion? Love ‘em. Joined the NCR because I just wanted to meet them that bad. Their new Legate’s such a heartthrob, I hear.

You’re not serious. (sucks teeth, deep sigh) Look. You saw Nipton. It was just a taste of what they do. I’ve seen good men die on crosses, and that’s a mercy compared to the good women. I hear when women sign up now, they get about five extra “are you sures?” from recruiters. Not officially, of course. Brass would never let people back home know how bad it is. But it’s just another thing that makes me glad I’m a sniper, sometimes. Engage at range. Out of reach.

What about Legion society? Do you know anything about life across the river? There’s nothing across that river. Nothing. (beat, pondering) Do you remember the Enclave War? Bitter, bloody, big explosion at Navarro? And the Brotherhood campaign out here? Even worse of a shitshow, but still, we won that out, too. But the Enclave and the Brotherhood at least stood for something. They were societies, or at least promises of one, and if things had shaken out the other way for the NCR at least something would still be standing here. The Legion isn’t like that. They aren’t “something.” They’re one big razor across Arizona, shaving everything down. And if we don’t stop them here, we never will.

What about their Legate? (with contempt) Lanius, “The Monster of the East.” Caesar must’ve plucked him out of hell or something after his first legate blew it at Hoover Dam. Word from recon is that the only reason we’re all still twiddling our thumbs there is that he’s out making friends for Caesar someplace, and he’ll be bringing them all back for a whole ‘nother goddamn jamboree soon. (tension broken by a funny thought; spoken dryly) Or should I say a Damboree. Since it’d be at the Dam.

Do you know anything about Mr. House? No. Closest I’ve ever been to the Strip has been McCarran, where I was too proud to get wasted on expensive booze in the casinos. As punishment, I got stuck with nothing to do but get shitfaced on cheap booze at the outpost. All I know is Mr. House runs the whole Strip himself, and there’s one casino, the Lucky 36 or something, that’s supposed to be all his. No one’s allowed in, no one’s ever come out. Frankly? Just strikes me as fucking weird.

Companion Quest: Giving Up the Ghost

After completing the sidequest “Eyes On the Prize” (in which the Courier checks Nipton for survivors), Ghost will remark that the Mojave’s going to hell, and all she can do is sit and watch. The Courier will reply that she ought to stop watching and travel with them, to which she’ll respond that her orders are absolute—but if the courier can change her orders somehow, she’d be indebted. The quest then begins.

= = = Stage 1: Deal with Jackson = = =

First, the Courier must speak to Ranger Jackson and convince him to consider Ghost’s reassignment. They can do this through the following dialogue options:

[Speech 80] This outpost is just waiting to be overrun by Legion. You’ll be the next Nipton unless you’re proactive.

[Speech 55; completed “Can’t You Find It In Your Heart” beforehand] Maybe I could tell your superiors about where I “found” these “lost” supplies, then.

[Barter 80] Ghost is an exceptional asset to the rangers. Stationing her here is a waste of valuable NCR resources.

[NCR Fame] There’s work to be done for the NCR out there, and Ghost is who I trust to do it with me.

[Black Widow] I’ve ways of making men come around...especially handsome men in uniform. (The Courier must then sleep with Ranger Jackson)

Note that the Courier can not simply complete the quest “Can’t You Find It In Your Heart?” as a favor to Jackson for Ghost’s reassignment. While he’ll let a caravaneer go, it’ll take more than clearing some ants from the road to get him to compromise his standing force and let go of a ranger. 

Alternatively, Jackson’s death will advance the quest.

Kill Jackson. Similar to Cass’ companion quest, Jackson can simply be killed. However, Ghost is far less sympathetic to this course of action and will confront the Courier over the murder. If Jackson is simply killed, the Courier will either need a convincing alibi [Speech 90] to argue that they weren’t responsible or admit to the murder. If the Courier fails the Speech check or admits to the murder, Ghost will turn hostile (“Maybe you didn’t fucking think this through, but do you know what we call someone who kills an NCR ranger? An enemy of the NCR rangers. Now, eat shit.”). Alternatively, the Courier can intimidate Ghost into silence with a [Terrifying Presence] option, after which a shaken but seething Ghost will simply ask the Courier to leave the outpost and never come back. Passing the Speech check is the way to not fail the quest from this option.

Kill Jackson and frame Cass. If the Courier kills Jackson themself, attempting to loot Jackson’s body will trigger a message suggesting that they could frame Cass for the murder by splashing whiskey on the body (so long as Cass is not currently the player’s companion and is currently at the Mojave Outpost, not the Lucky 38). By adding a whiskey bottle to Jackson’s body without themself or the body being discovered in the meantime, they can successfully implicate Cass for the murder, and explain as much to Ghost. She’ll buy it, since Cass was one of the most frustrated residents of the outpost and was drunk almost all the time. Cass will then disappear from the game, and if Lacey, Major Knight, or Ghost (if the Courier left the outpost before speaking to her again) are asked, they will explain that Cass was arrested by the NCR.

Have someone else kill Jackson. A desperate, fed-up caravaneer named Paul by the brahmin pens is willing to kill Jackson for 5,500 caps. This price can be negotiated down to 4,000 with a [Barter 60] check, and 3,500 with [Barter 75]. At midnight that night, Paul will attempt to sneakily kill Jackson. Alternatively, Paul can be incensed into attacking Jackson immediately and for free with a [Hot Blooded] trait check. In either case, though, there is no guarantee that Paul will succeed, and if Paul is killed then the Courier must advance the quest another way (though they can loot their spent caps from Paul’s body). When spoken to afterwards, Ghost will remark that she saw the Courier speaking to Paul and ask if they had anything to do with it. By passing a [Speech 50] check, the Courier can convincingly lie that they were trying to talk him out of it. With either the [Black Widow] or [Cherchez la Femme] perks, the Courier can lie and say that Paul very foolishly did it to try to impress them. With [Low Intelligence] the Courier can earnestly say that they thought “taking care” of Jackson meant doing something nice for him.

Somehow allow Jackson to die. If Jackson just somehow dies in an unaccounted way, such as from a spawned-in deathclaw eviscerating him in his own office, Ghost will remark on the strangeness of the situation but won’t blame the Courier. This is a failsafe option to prevent quest breakage.

= = = Stage 2: Find a Replacement = = =

If Jackson is alive, he’ll agree with the Courier that he ought to let Ghost go, but he’s still under orders to maintain a standing force at Mojave—a standing force which includes a highly trained sniper. If Jackson has been killed, Ghost will mention that Major Knight is next in command and would be glad to give her clearance, but that he won’t be able to do so without a replacement sniper, either. Either way, the Courier is tasked with finding a suitable replacement. The Courier can ask her for advice:

Who should I look for to be your replacement? They have to be NCR, obviously. Ex-NCR might work, too, so long as they’re in good standing. Any Dick or Jane off the road is a no-go, since brass put the kibosh on officially contracting mercenaries. Oh, and anyone you get would have to be well-trained. Not necessarily a ranger, but good enough to replace one, even for a sit-on-the-shitter job like this. Only the best and brightest get to stare at this fucking road all day, apparently.

Where should I look for your replacement? If you checked out some of the ranger stations around the Mojave, they might be able to move some people around. Hell, take it all the way to McCarran if you want, or with Hanlon. If you’re going to give them shit on my behalf, by all means, go nuts. A lot of higher-ups can be greased with enough favors, anyway. Whoever you get just needs the right credentials. Legion attacks get dragged asses and twiddled thumbs, sure, but bad paperwork would set a goddamn fire at headquarters.

The following characters can be recruited as the Mojave Outpost’s new watch:

A generic ranger. By speaking to the commanding officers of at least three of the NCR ranger camps across the Mojave with sufficient [NCR Fame], the Courier can speak to Chief Hanlon to arrange for Ghost’s replacement with a generic ranger. This option is impossible if “Return to Sender” has already been completed.

Craig Boone. If the Courier has completed “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” in a way that makes Boone repentant over his past, he can be persuaded to take over Ghost’s position as a good way to put his skills to use. Otherwise, he will refuse, either preferring to stay in Novac where he lived with Carla or not wanting to be stuck as a watchman again when he could be out killing Legionnaires. If selected, Boone’s home marker will change from Novac to the Mojave Outpost.

Manny Vargas. Novac’s other sniper can be convinced to take up Ghost’s post, but only if the Courier has completed “One For My Baby,” “Come Fly With Me,” and eradicated the Legion presence from Nelson. Once convinced that Novac seems safe, for now, he’ll be willing to reenlist if paid a generous salary. The Courier can either pay Manny 5,000 caps to reenlist now, pass a [Barter 65] check to explain that it’s a provisional reenlistment and reduce their bribe to 3,000, or if the Courier has already passed the [Confirmed Bachelor] check in dialogue with Knight, they can tell Manny about the cute little major sitting behind the desk all day there by his lonesome. Once convinced, Manny will relocate to the Mojave Outpost and take Ghost’s place.

Bryce Anders. This keen-eyed ranger can be recruited to Ghost’s position if he is rescued from the Vault 3 Fiends by the Courier. Once spoken with in Camp McCarran, the Courier can explain that the Mojave Outpost needs a new ranger stationed there. He will defer to Colonel Hsu’s authority on reassignments, and with a successful [Speech 60], [Medicine 40], or [NCR Fame] check, Hsu will agree to the reassignment on the grounds that it’s a useful position still sedentary enough to not complicate the ranger’s recovery.

Little Buster. The listless bounty hunter at Camp McCarran is looking for another career path and would be willing to take over Ghost’s do-nothing position. However, the only way to recruit him is to fabricate both credentials and enlistment records by either stealing personnel files from either Colonel Hsu’s office at Camp McCarran or from the filing cabinets at Camp Golf, or speaking to Daniel Contreras, who “knows a guy” who’ll take care of it if the Courier has already acquired access to Contreras' expanded inventory by siding with him in the unmarked quest “Dealing with Contreras.”

Private Halford. The sole survivor of Camp Guardian mentions that he wants to head back home through Mojave Outpost after being rescued from the mirelurk caves, at which point the Courier can mention no one is allowed to leave through there, and ask if he’d like to take Ghost’s position there instead. At first he’ll refuse, but with a [Speech 45] or [NCR Fame] check he can be convinced that a quiet, do-nothing watch assignment would be a lot better than anything else after what happened at Camp Guardian, to which he’ll agree. He will also relocate to the Mojave Outpost after being freed anyway, getting stuck like everyone else so that the speech check can be re-attempted. However, Halford isn’t considered well-trained enough for a ranger’s job. The Courier must speak to Jackson (or Knight, if Jackson is dead) and pass a [Speech 80] or [NCR Fame] check to make a strong endorsement, or a [Survival 55] check to explain how impressive it is that he survived an attack from so many mirelurks. Alternatively, the Courier can fabricate impressive enough credentials through the options required to assign Little Buster.

Once Ghost’s replacement has been assigned to the Mojave Outpost, the Courier only needs to speak to Ghost again. She will explain that she’s been “reassigned” to open patrol across the Mojave, ostensibly to track Legion activity, so long as she does so with the Courier. She also gains an additional dialogue option dependent on your choice of replacement:

What do you think of your replacement?

(Generic ranger) For this job? Any ranger’s as wasted as any other. I almost feel bad, I doubt she’ll like that fucking roof any more than I did...almost feel bad. Doesn’t quite cancel out the relief.

(Boone) First recon is one hell of a pull. Took right to it, too, like he was already used to it. Strikes me as the...quiet, contemplative type. Likes to think. Not much else to do up there, anyway. I bet those brahmin pins have never felt safer.

(Manny) First recon is one hell of a pull. Took right to it, too, like he was already used to it. Seems like a nice enough guy, and seems to be getting along with Major Knight. Hell, you love to see it.

(Bryce) A good man. Heard about what the Fiends did to him, and after all that, he certainly deserves a break. Didn’t think of this shit job as much of a vacation before, but seems like it’ll do him good.

(Buster) Not sure where the hell you found this guy, but if (Jackson / Knight) gave the okay, then...okay. I would’ve put a goddamn brahmin in a beret up there if it could have gotten me another assignment.

(Halford) The mirelurk guy? Yeah, he seems alright. I’ve never actually seen a mirelurk, but after hearing his story, I don’t think I want to. I didn’t even know we had a camp that far up there.

Speaking to Ghost after her replacement takes her position completes the quest, and from then on, she can now be recruited as a companion. However, similar to Boone, she will only remain the Courier’s companion if they maintain good reputation with the NCR, and as an active-duty ranger, her intolerance for anti-NCR actions is even more strict.

Ending Slides

If "Giving Up the Ghost” is started, but never completed:

NCR Victory. Ranger Ghost remained at Mojave Outpost, dutifully, thanklessly, and restlessly. When the rangers there received word that the Legion had made their move on the dam, the entire outpost went silent. Waiting. From her rooftop perch, at least she was the first to see the bearer of good news come up the road. In the moment, at least, it was worth everything to be there.

Legion, House, or Independent Victory. Ranger Ghost remained at Mojave Outpost, dutifully, thanklessly, and restlessly. When the rangers there received word that the Legion had made their move on the dam, the entire outpost went silent. Waiting. From her rooftop perch, she was the first to see the NCR’s retreat, as civilians and troopers alike began fleeing through the Long 15. She was right: this whole time, all she could do was watch.

Ghost is dead. Ghost, bitterly, died as she lived...(deep sigh) at the Mojave fucking Outpost.

If “Giving Up the Ghost” is completed:

NCR Victory: When legionnaires by the score descended upon Hoover Dam, Ghost was proud to have been one of the many rangers in the battle that kicked their shit in back across the Colorado. She celebrated with the rest of them, even a smile creeping onto her face every now and then. Still, Ghost returned to business before long, as part of a squad out East tracking down the straggling remnants of Caesar’s retreating Legion.

Legion Victory: Ghost was among the many rangers who fought at Hoover Dam, but when the army of legionnaires led by the Courier, to whom she owed her very presence there, proved unstoppable, she was ultimately among its many casualties. Their advance was too sudden, too overwhelming, for a clean evacuation, and a grisly duel with a centurion trapped her near the front. Still, the Legion never took Ghost alive. She made sure of it.

House or Independent Victory: The arrival of the Securitrons at Hoover Dam was a surprise to every NCR trooper stationed there, including Ghost. Their sudden turn against the NCR, and their allegiance to the Courier, even more so. The triumph of vanquishing the Legion was short-lived, then, as Ghost joined the forced retreat, one pale face in a sea of many. 

Ghost is dead: Despite her name, there was no supernatural flourish when Ghost died. She simply died like a ranger, fighting to the end. That’s all that mattered.

(Bonus) Cass’s Ending Slide if the Courier frames her for the murder of Jackson:

Rose of Sharon Cassidy spent all of her time at the Mojave Outpost in a drunken stupor, which is why when Major Knight oversaw her arrest for the murder of Ranger Jackson, it took so long to get exonerated. By the time the alibi was pieced together and the evidence was admitted as circumstantial, the battle of Hoover Dam shifted NCR’s attention elsewhere, and the crime was never solved. For a few months in the clink, though, at least Cass got what she wanted: home, and finally away from the outpost.

[thecouriersix99]

A Courier’s Journey

Ch.7

The sunset that night was lovely Six thought as she watched it from the view she got from her room. She hadn’t been able to rest fully since Nipton and things seemed calmer here if not a little eerie. Walking down the stairs she headed to the dinosaur to buy some supplies from Cliff before she made her way to the Repconn Test Site tomorrow. As she walked in she noticed Manny coming downstairs “Done for the day?” He looked up at her with a slight smile “Uh yeah, my shift is over. Boone is up there now.” She nodded and paid Cliff. “Is Boone a good Sniper?” Manny snorted “Good? We were first Recon.” She nodded pretending she knew what that meant “Uhh First Recon yeah.” Manny nodded “He’s up in the mouth right now. I’m heading out. Make sure to check in with me once you’ve cleared out the Repconn Site.” She waved him off and sighed I can’t get one day off can I? Sure she loved helping people and it get her such warmth to see people truly feel safe but the road out there was lonely. Silent. Just like the grave she was buried in.

Curiosity getting the better of her she wondered what the sniper up in the dinosaur mouth was like. Is he really that good of a shot as Manny said he is? Adjusting her vault suit a bit she headed up to the mouth. The night was cold and dark as usual which made her feel lucky that she had a place stay. The man that had his built back to her stood tall and focused. She remembered that Manny was focused as well so this guy probably didn’t hear her come out. “Hello?” The guy jumped into action and aimed his gun at her. Without hesitation she put one and in the air and the other by her gun holster “Goddamn it! Don’t sneak up on me like that. What do you want?” His voice was rough and serious which matched the even more serious look on his face. He lowered his rifle slightly and she relaxed “Expecting visitors?” She lowered her hand and the one near her holster. “Yeah. I guess maybe I am. But not like you.” He looked at her suspiciously “Huh. Maybe it should’ve been you I was expecting all along.”

She sighed and dusted off her vault suit “Why are you here?” She shrugged a little “I just wanted to look at the view.” “I think you better leave.” Slightly shocked and a little disappointed she shrugged in response “Just making friendly conversation.” She looked down at her shoes with slight embarrassment “I don’t have friends here.” His voice sounds kinda sad. She lifted her head with an optimistic look in her eye “Well lucky for you I’m not from here.” He eyed her intently “No. No you’re not, are you? Maybe you shouldn’t go. Not just yet.” A smile crept on her face as he stood there for a moment thinking. “What do you need?” He stopped thinking and stared her straight in the eyes, or what she assumed was her eyes. His glasses made it hard for her to read him. “I need someone I can trust. You’re a stranger. That’s a start.” She tilted her head in confusion “You only trust strangers?” He groaned a little “I said it was a start. This town....nobody looks me straight in the eye anymore.” She sensed she hit a sour spot so she quickly changed the subject “Exactly what would you need me to do?”

He holstered is rifle and crossed his arms “I want you to find something out for me. I don’t know if there’s anything to find, but I need someone to try. My wife was taken from our home by Legion slavers one night while I was in watch.” Six suddenly realized that this was not just some random task, he was asking for serious help. “They knew when to come and what route to take,and they only took Carla. Someone set it up. I don’t know who.” A sickening feeling in her stomach flared as she heard the name of the Legion come up. “So you’re trying to track down your wife?” His fist clenched and his whole body tensed “My wife is dead. I want the son of a bitch that sold her.” She flinched a little at his words. “What do I do once I find this person?” Six knew she made a promise to Manny about clearing the Repconn Test Site tomorrow but this man in front of her was suffering way more then anyone in this town. The ghouls can wait. This takes top priority. “Bring him out in front of the nest here while I’m on duty. I work nights. I’ll give you my NCR beret to put on. It’ll be our signal, so I know your standing with him. And I’ll take care of the rest. I need to do this myself.” Six nodded “Alright. I’ll see what I can find, give me til tomorrow night and I’ll have them with me.” Boone unfolded his arms and took of his beret handing it to her “Good. I’ll make it worth your while. And one more thing. We shouldn’t speak again. Not until it’s over. No one in town knows I know what happens to my wife. Best they never know. Or the Legion will be after me next.” Stuffing the beret in her pack she headed out. “See ya.” “Yeah.”

Look for evidence,find who’s responsible, put on beret, and take them in front of the nest tomorrow night. Simple enough yes but it’s easier said then done. “Where do I even start?” She laid in bed feeling slightly overwhelmed. With all these thoughts running thought her mind she was surprised she had even fell asleep. Waking up at around early noon she changed her clothes with some stuff she he bought from Cliff. The vault suit was starting to wear out its welcome and began to smell, she decided it would be best to wash and put it away until further notice. Putting on her knew clothes which consisted of leather armor, a faded red bandanna around her neck, and a nice old hat to keep the sun out of her eyes. All in all she was ready for her investigation. Assuming she wouldn’t be fighting much today she put secret knife into her boot and headed out the door.

The sun already starting today’s heat was relentless “Good thing I got this hat.” She flicked it up and headed down the stairs. Maybe Manny will know something about her. Heading back to the mouth she knocked on the door and headed in “Hey Manny, mind if I ask you something?” He put his rifle down an waved as a signal that she could talk. She liked Manny for the most part, he was honest and he didn’t look at her the way most men do. He was respectful. “Can you tell me anything about Boone’s wife?” He raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. She’d never seen someone go so quick from being nice to sour “Me and his wife, we didn’t see eye-to-eye on something’s. We had some pretty bad arguments. One day she turns up missing and he hasn’t said a word to me since.” Okay so maybe he wasn’t as respectful as I thought. “What did you argue about?” He sighed and shook his head “Man, you name it. See I grew up in North Vegas. Me and my cousins. We were some bad seeds. Got in with a gang. I loved it! Then something happened, and I couldn’t handle it anymore.” Six was trying hard to see what this had to do with Carla. Right now it sounded like he was having a pity party “So, I enlisted. Earned my future. Brought down my best friend to share that future with me. And here is this women who is too good for it, trying to take him away. So yeah. I didn’t see eye-to-eye with the bitch.” Six’s eyes widened. Is this really the same person I was just talking to? This is more then anger, this is jealousy. “Do you know anything about her disappearance?” He snorted a little “Believe me. When I heard the news, my first thought was the I owed somebody. Big. I figured Boone would come around after a while. But he hasn’t. I’m starting to think that if he doesn’t find her things will never go back to the way they were.”

Six couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Manny was supposedly Boone’s best friend but this wasn’t a friendship at all. Of course Boone couldn’t trust anyone anymore. His wife gets taken by slavers and his “best friend” just expects him to forge her? What the hell is wrong with him? She didn’t want to hear anymore but if she was going to find who did this she needed to know everything “So who didn’t like Carla?” Manny actually chuckled this time “Man, everybody. That girl didn’t have one friend in this whole town. She didn’t want any. She wanted to sit in her room all day and make herself miserable. And she went out of her way to be rude. She upset a lot of people. You wouldn’t have liked her either.” Something in Six snapped and suddenly her fist made contact with his nose. “Don’t stand there and shit talk a women who isn’t here to defined herself. And don’t you dare assume to know anything about me!” He shrieked and put his hands over his nose as it began to bleed “Y-you broke my nose!” She let out a heavy sigh and walked out slamming the door behind her.

If anyone had a motive it could have been Manny. He doesn’t seem like the type to get involved with the Legion though. Even if he did hate Carla, the Legion would have killed him too. Shaking her hand a little as it throbbed from making contact with Manny’s nose, she headed to the front office. “I hope your finding everything to your liking!” Jeannie May said happily. “Hello ma’am I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about Carla Boone?” Jeannie May’s hands got a little fidgety “Oh how should I put it? I guess you could say she was like a cactus flower. Real pretty to look at, but there was no getting close to her.” The sound of her voice sounded solemn but also suspicious “She never did take to living here. She liked the big lights and fast living of New Vegas. I got the feeling she was trying to get Boone to leave with her, but I guess she got tired of waiting. I know he thinks she was kidnapped, but I’m not sure she didn’t just run off in her own. You could tell she was thinking about it the day they arrived.” That doesn’t sound right. I’m getting a hunch that she knows more then she is letting on. Boone said he didn’t tell anyone he knew about Carla getting taken, only that she was missing....so why would Jeannie May say that? Things weren’t adding up. Six was running out of time and with barely any information she quickly talked to Cliff and Ranger Andy but still came up short. The only lead that was coming up loose was Jeannie May. Guess I can do some snooping. Later that night she snuck into the office. She looked through file cabinets, the old desk and still nothing. Stomping her foot in frustration it hit something the sounds hallow. She lifted up the floor boards and found a safe “Bingo!” Unlocking was kinda tricky but once inside she had found it. A recite of sale. Reading it over was hard even for her, and not only was it a recite for Carla but for their unborn child as well. “Damn it.” Finding that out just made the act far more cruel. Boone lost his family. The love of his life and his child. Jeannie May is a goddamn monster! She banged her bruised hand on lid of the safe. “I don’t have time for this. Boone needs this done now.” By the time she left the office the sun was gone and the stars were out. Alright all I need to do is to lure Jeannie May in front of the nest. She sprinted to Jeannie Mays house and knocked in the door hurriedly, Jeannie May answered with tired eyes “What is it dear?” Out of breath six shook her hands in the air “Someone is hurt in front of the Dinky! Please follow me!” Jeannie May let out an “Oh Dear!” And quickly followed Six. Without hesitation Six pulled out Boone’s beret and placed it on her head. With Jeannie May close behind she sent a wave to get Boone’s attention and as soon she Jeannie May reached the front of the nest facing Six, her heard splattered.

The force from the bullet caused her brain to explode as blood splattered on Six’s face. “Fuck!” Six fell over and landed on her butt. Looking at Jeannie Mays body in the floor made Six feel something she’s never felt before, or at least not in this life. She felt righteous. She got exactly what she deserved. Although having her blood all over Six’s own face she could do without. Six then made her way up to the nest go meet Boone again “That’s it then. How did you know?” Six pulled the bill of sale hot of her pack “Her story didn’t add up and I found the Bill Of Sale.” She handed it to him along with his beret and he took it. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’d be like them to keep paperwork. Here this is all I can give. I think our dealings are done.” She shook her head and pushed them away. He looked slightly confused but understood what she meant. “I don’t need those. But what are you going to do after this?” He sighed and put his caps away “I don’t know. I won’t be staying. I know that. Don’t see much point in anything right now, except hunting Legionaries. Maybe I’ll wander, like you.” She perked up a little “In that case why not come with me? We can hunt down the Legion!” She looked brightly at him “You don’t want to do that.” She was taken aback “We can kill more with the two of us.” He thought for a long moment and sighed “Yeah. That might be true. And that’s reason enough for me to take you up on it, I suppose. But this isn’t going to end well.” She smiled her first genuine since she essentially came back from the dead. “I promise that together we will make them pay.” Her tine was now serious. She wanted him to know she meant it. That she knew how he felt. Even if he didn’t know how she knew how it felt she was glad he was going to travel with her. “Tomorrow we are going to empty out the Repconn Test Site so be prepared I don’t know exactly what we are up against.” He nodded. Not much of a talker I guess. Then again I can’t blame him. She smiled and patted his back “Alrighty then partner!”

[askfreddiemercury]

We all make our north and turn southeast when we get to an intersection. Not too long we make to Boulder City, and it’s in ruins, even worse than Nipton.

Freddie: Woah, what happened here?

I walk to a man standing in front of a large memorial.

Freddie: Excuse me, sir.

He turns around.

Private Kowalski: You here to pay your respects, too?

Freddie: What is this memorial?

Private Kowalski: It commemorates the Battle of Hoover Dam. The Rangers lured the best of Caesar's Legion into Boulder City, then blew the whole town up. The NCR still lost a bunch of troops in the fighting, though. My older brother sacrificed himself so they could evacuate some of the wounded.

Freddie: I’m sorry to hear that.

Private Kowalski: Don't worry about it.

Freddie: Where are you normally stationed?

Private Kowalski: Camp McCarran, but I’m on leave at the moment - heading back to California to see my folks. I’m supposed to join up with a caravan that’s heading that way up to 188, but they’re not due to arrive for awhile yet.

I bid the man goodbye and we walk along the road into the town, but I stumble upon a skeleton and then two others leading into a building. I walk into the building and see another skeleton on the stairs. Once I’m up the stairs I walk into a room with even more skeletons, what is happening?! One of them must’ve been a ranger since his hat is beside him, he had a service rifle, and there’s a holodisk beside the hat.

So, this ranger held the Legion back knowing that the town would be blown up. All these men and women knew that, guess they didn’t have a choice to make with the Legion right behind them. As we leave the building I spot a ranger standing near a blockade.

Lieutenant Monroe: We’ve got a situation with some Great Khans right now. The brass at McCarran has ordered me to lock down the ruins until it’s been resolved.

Great Khans you say?

Freddie: What’s going on with the Great Khans?

Lieutenant Monroe: One of my patrols was on its way back from Novac when it came under fire from the Great Khans. They radioed for reinforcements, but instead of waiting for us, they chased the Khans into the ruins where they were caught in a crossfire. No deaths, but not all of the squad got out. The Khans have Private Ackerman and Private Gilbert as hostages.

Freddie: Maybe I could help, these Khans might have something of mine - a platinum chip.

Lieutenant Monroe: Once the Great Khans have been killed or captured, you’re welcome to retrieve any property they’ve taken from you.

Freddie: What are you going to do about the hostages?

Lieutenant Monroe: “Acceptable casualties,” I’ve been told. I don’t like it, but the brass has their reasons.

Freddie: What? No, uh, I think I’d rather try negotiations, instead.

Lieutenant Monroe: Normally, I’d turn you down since I have no idea who you are, but considering that the hostages are as good as dead when we attack… All right, I’m going to give you a chance to talk to the Great Khans. Their leader is a man named Jessup. If we hear shooting, we’ll be coming in, but it’ll probably be too late for you.

Thanks for the encouragement, sir. I tell ED-E and Boone to wait for me outside the ruins, once they agree I walk inside the locked area.

~~~~~

This place has been through hell and back. I walk past some NCR soldiers who try to stop me by just calling to me. I’m surprised the Great Khans don't open fire on me when I get close but instead complain about Benny.

Great Khan: Fuck Benny. We’ll make him pay for stabbing us in the back.

Freddie: He might’ve stabbed you in the back, but at least he didn’t shoot you in the head.

He gives me a concerned look as I walk by him and into the only ‘good’ part of a ruined building.

Jessup: What the hell? You’re that courier Benny wasted back in Goodsprings. You’re supposed to be dead.

Time to play with these guys.

Freddie: I’m a ghost here to haunt you. Oooooh…

Jessup: All right, quit fucking around. You survived and tracked us down. What now?

Freddie: I believe you have something of mine.

Jessup: Yeah… about that….

He looks away from me.

Freddie: Where’s the platinum chip?

I’m almost tempted to pull out my shotgun and threaten these guys.

Jessup: Don’t have it. Benny stole it, right before he stabbed us in the back. He’s probably back at the Strip by now, laughing at me.

Freddie: Are you kidding me?! I come back from the dead, help a bunch of people, and kill a bunch of people, for this? All right, tell me something.

I rub the bridge of my nose.

Jessup: On what?

Freddie: Why did Benny betray you?

Jessup: He’s a snake, that’s why. He owed us the rest of the pay for the job, so maybe he didn’t want to pay up. Anything else?

Freddie: Why haven’t you just shot your way out of here?

Jessup: I’m not afraid of a gunfight, but I’d rather get back to Red Rock without a few holes in me if I can help it.

Let’s see if this guy is willing to negotiate with me.

Freddie: Let’s talk about settling things between you and the NCR.

He scoffs.

Jessup: What’s to negotiate? The NCR backs off, we walk out of here, nobody gets hurts.

Freddie: That’s never gonna happen. Uh, I’m willing to hearing another suggestion.

Jessup: We’d try to bribe our way out, but seeing as Benny didn’t pay us yet, that won’t happen.

Freddie: Oh, right. Any chance you’re willing to surrender?

Please say yes.

Jessup: And face NCR “justice?” No thanks. I’d rather not spend the next ten years doing hard labor.

I sigh and put my head down, looks like I’m the one who’s going to be bribing Lieutenant Monroe out there. I don’t have a choice if I want to be on good terms with the Great Khans, that sounds like a dumb idea since these guys did help Benny take my chip, but right now I have my mind set on destroying (maybe that’s too harsh but seriously look at them) the Legion.

~~~~~

Lieutenant Monroe: How are negotiations with the Great Khans going?

Freddie: About that… Heh, how much money would it take for you to look the other way while the Great Khans left?

Lieutenant Monroe: You mean… just let them go? How would I explain this to my superiors?

Freddie: Look at it this way - nobody dies.

Lieutenant Monroe: 500 caps would go a long way for some soldier’s families.

[Barter 45] Freddie: 400 caps is a less suspicious amount. You have enough trouble here as it is.

[Success] Lieutenant Monroe: That makes sense, and it's still more than these troopers see in a month.

I hand him the caps. Just how much do these people get paid if 400 caps is more than they make risking their lives?

Lieutenant Monroe: This doesn't feel quite right, but it resolves things and gets my troopers back in one piece.

Freddie: A couple more things. What can you tell me about Hoover Dam?

Lieutenant Monroe: It's one of the biggest sources of electrical power in the region, so the NCR's fortified the place pretty heavily. When President Kimball shows up on his inspection tour, I'm sure he'll be confident that the Dam is safe and secure.

Freddie: The President is coming to Hoover Dam?

Lieutenant Monroe: It's probably just a political thing - you know, give a few speeches, shake hands with the troops, boost morale.

Freddie: Lastly, where can I find McCarran?

Lieutenant Monroe: Camp McCarran is the headquarters for the NCR military in this region. It occupies the old airport next to New Vegas. Thanks for getting both of my people out of there.

I give him a nod and watch the Great Khans leave Boulder City. I grab the gang and head northwest towards a concrete processing plant near the city, wonder if there’s any good loot here. I walk up one of the ramps and find a duffle bag filled with some cash and other good items like purified water, but as soon as I walk down the ramp.

Victor: Fancy meeting you here, friend.

Freddie: What?! How’d you get here?

Victor: Just rolling along on my spurs. Looks like I might just make it to New Vegas after all.

Freddie: You see what happened in there?

Victor: Yup. Guess it’s just down to you and fancy-pants. I wouldn’t worry about him - he looks all hat and no cattle if you ask me.

Freddie: Did you see Benny come this way?

Victor: Fancy-pants? No, I ain’t seen hide-nor-hair of him since the tussle in Goodsprings. I’m sure he ran back to the soft-living of New Vegas, ‘though.

Freddie: Despite it all, it’s good to see you.

Victor: Yup, but this is getting a might embarrassing - people are going to start to talk.

He laughs.

Freddie: But I just don’t like being followed, robot.

Victor: Now-now, it ain’t my fault that Dorothy and the Tin Man happened to be on the same yellow-striped road, is it?

Freddie: Goodbye, Victor.

Victor: Look me up when you get to New Vegas - I’ll buy the first round.

And with that, he speeds off to New Vegas, and so can I. I learned all I needed from the Great Khans, especially on how important Benny is. He’s a higher power of the strip of a group called The Chairmen and owns The Tops casino. All we need to do now is get to New Vegas, find The Tops, and confront Benny there. As we continue to move northwest, I see the Lucky 38 casino as it towers higher than all the other casinos. But before we can get into the city, I need to see what all I can do in Freeside. I want to make a good impression on everyone I meet unless they’re a part of the Legion that is.

Boone: So once we get to Benny, what will we do afterward?

Freddie: That’s a long way away, Boone. I don’t think I can answer that, all I can think of is helping anyone I can trust and killing legionaries. As long as you’ll help out. You’re in too, right ED-E?

ED-E makes some confirming beeps.

Boone: You can understand this thing?

Freddie: You can’t? But you’re still with me, right?

Boone: Sure. It’s why I joined up with you.

Freddie: Alright! Let’s go make ourselves a small army and show the Mojave not to mess with courier six and his friends!

ED-E beeps with the same excitement and Boone just lifts his hand into the air.

[sublimegentlemanalpaca]

Some good book series I’ve read you might want to check out.

Note: I’m horrible at explaining things, so I’ll try and give a brief explaination of the series in question and move on. The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica written and Illustrated by James A. Owen. Mind you, I know most of my followers and mutuals and what not have already read this...but in case you someone who hasn’t, I highly recommend this. It’s the one thing I always recommend that my friends and family are practically sick about hearing it. It’s the sort of series with a lot of Mythology, some Literature and a fair dose of History. You’ve got Three guys all brought together following a man’s death and they end being entrusted with an Atlas of all he lands of Myth, legend and literature the Archipelago of Dreams. A seven book series, finished. Good stuff. Also, there’s Talking Badgers, Clock Work Owls, Time Travel, epic quests! It’s just great. It also has one of the best fandoms (lacking some of the negative qualities that I understand plague the larger sorts). First book is Here, there Be Dragons. There’s omnibus things, but they lack the beautiful illustrations. Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michele Paver. I swear these aren’t Chronicles of this or that. It’s a series set in Stone Age (Neolithic?) Finland I want to say? First book you’ve got a This 12 year old whose dad has been fatally wounded by i big ass Demon Posseses Bear! Gets a Wolf cub side kick buddy, ends up on a quest to stop said demon bear. The other books are basically problem, trying to solve it leads to a new locale of the world. Good stuff. Amazing Villains (EOSTRA SEES ALL!). Great main characters (Torak, Renn, Wolf), and side characters (The Walker is one of my favorites). Six books. First is Wolf Brother. There’s also amazing audio books narrated by Sir Ian McKellan. It’s awesome! The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. This one is easy. Fictional son of real life royalty on the run, young girl cross dressing to join the Air service...oh yeah! It’s World War One and the War Machines at play are either Diesel Punk Walkers and Tesla Cannons, and Genetically Enginered monstrosities...for example the titular Leviathan is a Whale that’s a Blimp?? Has one of the most amusing ship names ever (Dalek for Deryn and Alek). Also, another series with art which is both beautiful and excellent! You should be able to find a trailer that better explains it on YouTube or some such. This also has an excellent audio book, narrated by Alan Cumming. But the art!!! As the Trilogy bit implies, it’s three books. Complete and stuff. Let’s see...what else is there.. The Ranger’s Apprentice Series by John Flanagan. You’ve got this orphan boy Will who is wanting to become a Knight and stuff as young boys in Fantasy series tend to do. Only for on the day when it’s time for people to choose Apprentices and stuff. Will’s Bully (at First they’re eventually great friends) does get into Battle school. Another child is Apprenticed as Courier, another as a Scribe, and Will gets chosen by the Enigmatic and spooky Ranger Halt. Basically about learning to be a Ranger for the kingdom of I forget how to spell it. Fantasy equivalent England. The Ranger Corps basically deal with Espionage and stuff ...12 books long? Book seven should be read after book four then continue on to 6, 7, and so on.You’ve got a spin off series. A prequel series. Funny as hell. First book is the Ruins of Gorlan. The Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab. Interdimensional travel and Elemental Magic! A cool way of writing about magic. I’m having difficulty remembering names and terms off the top of my head. Kell, Lila Bard, Prince Rhys (One of the best characters, Kell’s adoptive brother, who is a Bi as Hell (Pan?) Prince Who is wonderful and deserves to be happy). You’ve got Brothers, Thieves, Pirates, Interdimensional Political Intrigue...and a really cool Magic system. Just good. I can’t think of how to explain it. Kell is one of only two known people who can travel between the different Dimensional London’s. Red London (Kell’s), Grey London (our World, later Georgian Era (Mad King George III and what not), and where Lila is from), and White London. And...crap. I can’t remember how to explain this one, just take my word that it is great! There’s like a few other series...but I think I’ll leave it with these. If you haven’t read any of these, I’d recommend them. And I’d advise looking up actual blurbs which can actually explain stuff. Make of this what you will. Al, the Chronographing Cottager and Prince of Naming.

[fallout-tes-rph]

tA non-rebloggable version can be found here on our navigation page. All blogs are on alphabetical order. The sole purpose of this entire list is as a promo in re-blog form from our part. Re-blogs and likes on this post will NOT be added to this masterlist. We have a post for that right here, so please, if you wish to be added / promoed refer to that post in order to be added.

If there are any errors to your blog’s description please shot us an ask to fix it.

Thank you for participating, spreading the word and in special for sharing your writing and portrayal with us. Keep up the good work guys !

Keep in mind this list is a permanent under construction and might be under constant updates as we move on with this blog etc. Last update: 07/29/18

Fallout

THE VAULT DWELLER BASED MUSES

@dwxller [ ANGELA HALL. Vault 13. Arroyo.]

Fallout 3

CANON MUSES

@antexomniaxarmari​​ [KNIGHT CAPTAIN COLVIN. Fallout 4 Verse.] 

@asxyouxcommand [CHARON. side-blog] 

LONE WANDERER BASED OC’S

@crzykid101 [MALCOLM  BABAJIDE. side-blog.] 

@explosivedarling [ ANTONIA LEYVA. Fallout 3 Lone Wanderer & Fallout New Vegas Courier Six oc.]

@reflectingchaos [ CUECO. Multi-muse blog ] 

@scientificpursuit [ MIRIAM C LEUCE. ]

@that-kid-from-vault-101 [AARON SHELING. Lone Wanderer.]

OC’S

@advxctoriam [ABBY. FO3 oc. Brotherhood of Steel Scribe. Cyborg. FONV/ FO4 au. Side-blog]

@asclepiivs [ RORY TYLER. Ghoulifying Medic. NV & 4 Verses.]  

@mementomorphosis​ [ AUGUST DEVLIN. Pre-War Ghoul OC. FO4 Verse. ]

@remnantrecruit [ PRIVATE ABNER. Fallout Enclave oc]

@smilingwaster [SMILEY. A Serial Killer from The Pitt. Fallout oc]

@strickenveteran [BERNARD SALEM. Enlcave oc. Has au’s for FONV and FO4]

Fallout New Vegas

CANON MUSES

@ask-arcade-gannon [ARCADE GANNON. Canon muse. Ask & rp blog] 

@actuatoric [ROBERT EDWIN HOUSE / MR. HOUSE. With some divergence.] 

@companionprotocol [ ED-E. side-blog.] 

@crymedic [DR. ALEX RICHARDS.  side-blog.] 

@deckstacker [BENNY GECKO. The Chairmen. ]

@riighthandman [SWANK. The Chairmen. ]

@thelasttejada [ RAUL TEJADA. ]

@vulpxes [ VULPES INCULTA. Leader of Caesar’s Frumentarii. Pro. Probably a furry.]

@whiskeyxxrose  [ROSE OF SHARON CASSIDY. Side-blog.]

@xxyourdeathxx [LEGATE LANIUS. Ask & rp blog. Both crack& serious. Side-blog]

COURIER SIX BASED MUSES

@cerebralcrash [TRISTAN. Aligned with Mr. House.] 

@cold-steel-eyes​ [ BUCK. Neutral Good unaffiliated Courier Six.] 

@cottonbelles [ COTTONBELLE HERNANDEZ. Independent route. ] 

@courierdusters [ELLE DAYS. House Affiliated. Independent Ending. ]

@daggersandsparks [MAIRWEN.  Legion Aligned, Independent Ending. FO3/4 Verses]

@envyiism [ LAILAH / MAE. Multi-muse blog. Courier Six & Sole Survivor muses.]

@flyfarflyfcst [ ALMA. Mr. House aligned. Great Khan affiliated. ]

@lotuskissed [ RAMONA D’ANGELO. FO NV & FO4 oc. ] 

@notyxurslave [ SHIALA.  House Aligned. Former Legion Slave. ]

@nucleicity  [ SURIA. NCR affiliated ] 

@platiinvm [VALERIE CHURCHILL. Independent New Vegas path] 

@platinumchip [ COURIER SIX / SIX. Independent New Vegas ]

@riotgeared [KEATON MARR. NCR and BOS affiliated.]

@smolcourier [SHEKINA. Legion affiliated.]

@tabellarium [FAWN. Legion affiliated.]

OC’S

@damngoodsniper [ ENIAFE ILESANMI. Daugthers of Hecate. Van Buren + Fallout New Vegas oc. ]

@dantosuru [TAKEO KUROSAWA / “ATTILA”. Wasteland samurai. Sneering imperialist. Legionary soldier. side-blog.]

@deadrabbiiits [LEPUS. FONV oc. Frumentarius acting as a Follower of the Apocalypse surgeon (Doctor). Side-blog]

@desertbled [ABBOTT WOLFF. Former NCR ranger, now courier OC. Side-blog.]

@falsumruber [ FAUSTUS LIVIUS. Legion Praetorian. Snyth. FO4 verse. Side-blog. ]

@fatherjudas [ATTICUS KNIGHT. Ex-Legion Slave OC. FO4 verse. ]

@gbwymaxwell [ MAXWELL. FONV oc. Serves as ‘Companion’ to Courier muses. See blog for further details. ]

@legionprettyboy [ SOLIS MAXIMUS. Frumentarii, Legion Aligned Courier.]

@lumxnousfollower [ TESLA MONDRAGON. Followers of the Apocalypse OC ]

@mojaveimpulses [ ARCHIE. Indie Fallout NV OC. ]

@paradcxa [PARADOX. FONV oc. Fiend, drug dealer & mercenary for hire. Side-blog.]

@postanabiosis [BENJAMIN TYLER. Runaway Institute Scientist OC. FO4 verse]

@regulatorpadfoot [JOEL MARSHALL. Bounty Hunter & Gunslinger, NCR affiliated.]

@skie-the-hybrid [SKIE. Coyote Person OC.]

@taurusxspeculor [IOVITA. Canon-Divergent Legion speculatores OC. Side-blog.]

@thx-lost-yxars [SCRATCH. Fallout NV Fiend OC.]

@thevengfulwife [DANU. Ex-slave oc. Escaped slave, hunter of Legionaries.]

Fallout 4

CANON MUSES

@adsequor [CHASE. Canon Muse. Far Harbor.] 

@askmaccready [ROBERT JOSEPH MACCREADY. ]

@askthepaladin [PALADIN DANSE. ] 

@athingforantiques [NICK VALENTINE.  ] 

@atomsgrandzealot [GRAND ZEALOT RICHTER. Children of the Atom. Canon muse.] 

@combatheavy [GLORY.] 

@deathbunnics [DEACON. Railroad.]

@disciplc [ NISHA - Canon Muse. Nuka World Raider ]

@drcvrie [CURIE. Canon muse] 

@effectivedetectivc [NICK VALENTINE. Canon muse] 

@handiiman [STURGES. ]

@justificd [ NICK VALENTINE. ]

@mx001e [ELDER ARTHUR MAXSON, Brotherhood of Steel ]

@spyshadcs [DEACON. Railroad. ] 

@unlikely-valentiine [ NICK VALENTINE.  ]

SOLE SURVIVOR BASED MUSES

@afleetingimpressixn​ [ ABRAHAM. ] 

@atomicstasis [ ANASTASIA. Minutemen affiliated]

@aviiatrix [ RIVER CONNELL.  Minutemen affiliated. ]

@bassofthewasteland [SEBASTIAN NATHANIEL “BASS” MATHESON III. ] 

@solesurvivorkatherine [ KATHERINE VANCE.  Railroad Aligned ]

@themostresilient [FOX LAWSON. Affiliated with the Minutemen & Railroad]

OC’S

@ad-viictoriam [BISHOP THEROUX. Brotherhood Knight OC.]

@atomicblcnde [ IZABELLA LOUISE CROUP. Robotics Mechanic oc. ]

@deadeyedrifter [ RICK BARROW. Unaffiliated. Freelance Mercenary. ]

@deciphra [ RUQAYYA. Companion OC ]

@errorexecutingfile​ [ OZIAS KRANE. Gunner Commander. Antagonist. ]

@ex-lone-hero​ [ADRIEL CANON. Ex-lone wanderer]

@fcgdcg [ WILLOW. A precious doggo in Far Harbor.]

@fendiethesynth [FENDIE. Fallout 4 synth oc.]

@formidablekind [LEE MACNAMAR. Fallout 4 Raider OC. Multi-muse blog.]

@generaladamrlee [ADAM R LEE. Fallout 4 Minutemen OC. [Co-]General of the Minutemen.]

@goddessofthewaste  [BETHANY EASTON. FO4 oc. Railroad. Nuka World. Crazy cat lady]

@gxddamnheat [CAIT. Unaffiliated Fallout 4 muse]

@iinxsearchofxisolde [TRISTAN. Brotherhood Outcast oc]

@jadetheassassin [JADE HYPERION.  Fallout / Borderland oc muse. Railroad]

@mechcnist [ISABEL CRUZ. FO4 oc]

@rosa-stellata [DR. ROSA. FO 4 railroad agent oc]

@thelastxxhangman [ DAMIAN BARKER. OC. Covenant’s Executioner. ]

@the-silver-goddamn-shroud [ SILVER SHROUD / SHROUD. Railroad. FO4 oc.]

@vartouhix [SUNMI LEE. Minutemen aligned OC.]

@wastelandkniight [ ALEC LYALL. Brotherhood of Steel OC. ]

@whiskeysighs​ [ ELIZABETH “BETTY” GRAHAM. Synth turned settlement protector. NV verse. ]

Other

This are multi-muse blogs with more than one muse in different areas / games, or blogs that are outside the fandom but which include a verse / AU within their blog for the Fallout universe.

@aliummusae [ Multi-muse blog. Has an Atom Cat and a Raider muse]

@greased-ghoul [ JOHNNY MIDAS. Ghoul. Wrench for hire. Multi-game.]

@hungrynxmad [FANE. Ghoul. Fallout oc; covers all FO games / timelines.]

@lovetts-synth-sanctum [Side-blog multi-muse rp blog. Please refer to it for a better list of muses.]

@misfitting-mistrusted​ [ Multi-muse rp blog. Canon and oc muses. ]

@morethanbolts​ [ Multi-muse rp blog: synth muses. Canon and oc. ]

@rapturerecordssilas [SILAS COBB - Bioshock Muse with Fallout Verse]

@rejxctsandrenxgades [ Multi-muse rp blog. Has various muses for FO3 / NV / 4. Please refer to their muse list.]

@solariic​ [ Multi-muse rp blog. Canon muses ]

@starkunlimited [ TONY STARK. Marvel Muse with Fallout Verses]

@synth-plant [Multi-Muse blog. Refer to blog for further info. ]

@vartouhix [ VARTOUHI - Indie OC with Fallout Verse ]

@vuulpecula [ FOX AILEEN ALKAEV. Indie OC with Fallout Verse. ]

[shithowdy]

can we ask about those fallout ocs from the trailer?????? i wanna know about everybody 👀

Hello anon have a seat beside me

Thank you for asking about them!! 'Trailer' bears such heavy implications of a followup project and while I can dream... well, I can dream. 🥲

The characters are from an ongoing RP I am doing with @ninamodaffari and @sakom75 that takes place a few years before New Vegas. It surrounds the personal story of our main three guys unraveling their extremely fateful connections, while at the same time being the origin story of our setting's Courier Six as a recurring antagonist.

Some character blurbs! I tried to make these brief but I failed.

The cowboy ghoul is my boy Oliver, who began as a cowboy death knight in world of warcraft back in 2009 (who remains my avatar, my brannnnd). His past as a paladin now living a life as a near-immortal deformed ex-human at risk of losing his mind at any moment translated so well into the setting. After being forced into retirement from his 30-year army career due to a "medical discharge" (had a heart attack inside power armor after being given experimental stimulant drugs) he returned to his roots and bought a ranch, which is where he was when the bombs fell. After he and his employees failed to drive their herd toward a radio signal calling for mutual aid due to the radstorm that began his ghoulification, he instead rode west through the desert to begin his completely delusional quest to find the resting place of his son, who he only knew was in a non-vault-tec vault around Southern California. He was obviously stymied by the impossibility of it, and eventually became a nameless fixture of the wasteland along the I-10, with the recent nickname of 'Matador' by locals due to his skirmishing with the Legion operating out of the growing Fort Blythe.

Dallas (larger, in coat) and Emil (little guy) belong to Sako and Nina respectively. Dallas was born to a Legion officer in the faction's infancy and was raised to be a brutal killer at a young age, which made his eventual defection as a teenager very easy. He surrendered himself to a ranger named Sancho, who after it became clear he was a true defector ended up "adopting" him and helping him integrate and, eventually, become a ranger himself. While dodging bounties offered by his father, his goal is to find his mother and, after he was swept away in the Colorado a few years ago, Sancho-- he does not believe him to be dead. (He's correct)

Due to his search, he tries to take a lot of solo scouting missions to cover as much ground as he can, and it's on one of these missions he met Emil near the central coast while pursuing some fiends with a captive. Emil had recently emerged from an underground facility further north with only the name E412, a mutant resulting from very similar experiments to those from Vault 4 except with the purpose of manufacturing psykers in what was supposed to be some kind of new world governance scheme but flopped with the bombs. Except the robots overseeing it weren't programmed to consider the bombs, and kept the scientists that had previously been tricked into working there on orders even when there wasn't a world left. Also, the program was nonsense and relied on harvested DNA from a dwindling staff. Most of the staff died by their own hand, resulting in the on-and-off cryo cycling of those that remained, leaving them frostbitten husks with numerous replaced parts working for an impossible goal. They conspired secretly to end the facility, but it was difficult. One such place to drop notes was near the composting area, where one could even at times hear rain through the vents. A scientist one day found mushrooms growing here, and introduced them into his process just for something different.

He didn't expect it to work.

Oliver was wrong, his son Chadley was not in southern California. He had been tricked with hundreds of others into a new contract of secrecy, and before he could communicate his fear aboveground, the world ended. His death was not two hundred years ago but mere weeks, when he finally sent the facility into shutdown, leaving the creatures there to fend for themselves against the robot overseers. E412 escaped at last, only to find a bag on his head. After being rescued by Dallas, he was given a proper name and it was insisted he tag along.

Weeks later the pair found themselves sheltering from a hunting party after Dallas: mercenaries on Legion hire, accompanied by a Centurion and his own party. A convergence of fates had them shelter in the Matador's home of all places, and after reversing a staunch refusal to help them when he realized helping them = annoying the Legion, he agreed to guard and guide them so they could get to a Followers base in Arcadia so Dallas could get some shrapnel from a prior assassination attempt removed. In charge of this base is Dr. Wei Song, another of Oliver's young wasteland rescues from decades before and the only person he has a continued relationship with.

But rejecting extended companionship, Oliver left them at Arcadia after having barely learned about them and went home, where the same failed assassin that left shrapnel in Dallas waited for him in the rafters with a dartgun full of RadAway. This was Frumentarius Lupus Rex, who was supposed to be kind of a one-off dollar store Vulpes Inculta (which says a lot i know) for our own plot but got oops'd into being a real character when he showed a smidgen of honor and Oliver, his captive, asked him his "real name".

Thus began the conflict of Lupus Rex vs. Vasco Sawtooth, the tribal boy repressing years of trauma and hate for the sake of simply surviving. He realized, like Dallas, there are other options and resolved to undo what happened but was caught by his superior, Princeps Peregrinorum Scaevola, and lost his arm in the process.

A former Brotherhood paladin who valued power more than the Brotherhood's goals, Scaevola defected when he saw the Legion growing in power as a "tribe" and knew he could secure a position he could abuse there much more easily. Which he did, by throwing himself at Caesar's feet with a whole host of energy weapons/ammo/powerfists. While remaining loyal he did retain old connections (and made new ones, such as a close friendship with Dallas' father Viator) and with these connections he had his traitorous pet "remade", rank stripped, left nothing but a living weapon operating outside the bounds of typical Legion method.

Kind of the Shadow to Emil's sonic, he pursues without choice until the favor is finally able to be returned. We haven't gotten to this point in the RP yet, but eventually he will find his freedom and guidance under Francine, a [redacted] recently emerged from cryo and rather than following operations destroyed her facility and started a diner.

Through her he'll learn how to function like a normal person and, eventually, find a job of his own as a courier. A nice, normal, easy job.

If you read all that I'm kissing you with tongue.

[jinglyjangly]

When it comes to f4:nv i would want them to get rid of all the sexual violence towards women that was in the original game. Like make the Omertas bad in some other way since they play a part of the women being treating awful in the original.

Yeah thats what im saying, theres a ton i would want to change that [white male cis straight] gamers wouldnt think about: make the human companions poc instead of all white, fix jimmys story (the black gay guy ex legion sex slave who you can actually rape as a female courier), have it so ranger stella and siri could be snuck out of the legion considering you can do the same with benny, ect…But theres also a bunch of stuff thats not super controversial i would change too: rpg choices with benny, add more stuff to do on the strip that mimics the irl version of the strip more, add more legion related content thats not the fort… Thats why i said its probably best they just replicate it completely, copying doesn’t take any critical thinking so itd be a lot easier and faster. Fnv has a lot of problems but trying to fix those problems… you might as well just make it a mod for regular fnv, or just make your own new mod.

Theres also the problem of the “bethesda effect” that fallout 4 has that i wouldnt want someone trying to do to fnv, where they try to make it be palatable to everyone. theres no homophobia because no ones straight or gay since theres no mention of sexuality and everyone dates anyone, theres no violence to sex workers because sex workers dont even exist in the game even if theres a whole settlement dedicated to letting people do whatever they want, speaking of its a place of anarchy thats also dictated by one dude who somehow knows exactly whats “right” and “wrong” and is never questioned, slavery isnt mentioned anymore because they replaced it with synths being enslaved (except once and then a whole dlc??), ect. The answer to “fixing” how a story deals with controversial issues shouldnt be to erase them completely (or replace them with fictional versions with them like “fantasy racism”), because ignoring/silencing peoples struggles is another form of oppression. I think youre right and the omerta storyline was written Horribly™ and should have been reworked completely, but also i think we should realize fiction can be used as a great outlet for criticism on our own society, much like how prewar america in fallout is a criticism of blind nationalism and how greedy capitalism is. There’s violence towards everyone in the games considering its the post apocalypse, and ive commented before that you cant be “colorblind”, “genderblind”, or “sexualityblind” when writing…but we cant just ignore things because they make us uncomfortable, we should actually speak up about it. I also think these are big name companies that can fucking HIRE women to write stories about violence towards women, poc to write stories about racism and xenophobia, lgbt people to write about homophobia/biphobia/transphobia…but You Know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[jarienn972]

Only a Little Superstitious - Chapter 15

I'm going to preface this chapter with the revelation that it came together as the result of a very stressful couple of weeks for me. So, that said, this one is going to be heavy on the angst  - with just a couple of major developments playing out both in Phoenix as well as back home in Storybrooke. I promise, there is going to be a happy ending, but there's still a bumpy road ahead for both Emma and Killian..   @killian-whump, I’d forgotten to tag you on the last couple of chapters, but I didn’t want you to miss out on some juicy angst.

 AO3   FF.net

From the beginning on Tumblr:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14

Evening was quickly descending on Storybrooke as Regina yanked open the heavy front door of the town library, here thanks to an urgent message from Belle stating she'd discovered something very important. Regina didn't see the brunette librarian anywhere as she entered but she could hear a couple of muffled voices off in the distance.

"Belle?" Regina called out, having recognized Belle's voice as well as a male one – David. "You've got news?"

"Regina!" Belle's voice shouted back from further back in the dusty, musty building. "We're back here – in the computer room."

"We?" Regina asked. She had only made out two voices so she wondered who else might be present.

"David and I," Belle replied as Regina came around the corner into the library's make-shift computer room which also housed most of the reference section. David, clad in a blue plaid flannel shirt and jeans, was leaning against the wall across from Belle. "I figured he should be here as acting Sheriff so he could hear this as well…"

"Must relate to Emma and Hook then," Regina said in what came across as a perpetually annoyed tone.

"Sort of…," was Belle's cryptic response as she took a couple of steps over to a huge, solid oak library table stacked with piles of leather-bound first editions and reference materials. Belle pushed one of the stacks to the side and produced a fistful of papers. "Actually, it has more to do with Yzma's partner, Kronk…"

"Kronk? The guy who stabbed Hook then followed my daughter and son-in-law through the portal to Arizona?" David queried.

"That Kronk," Belle confirmed, plucking the first page from her pile of papers, one that looked like a poor quality photocopy. "I've been doing some research into both of our recent troublemakers, both Yzma and Kronk."

"Okay…" Regina hadn't expected the the petite librarian to continue looking into the pair once they'd been identified, but maybe this was a good thing.

"Well, we know that they arrived here with Mr. Hyde and his cronies from the Land of Untold Stories," David stated, curious as to what else Belle might have uncovered.

"Yes, they did come from the Land of Untold Stories," Belle verified. "I confirmed that through some of the journals found with both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde's belongings. Each seemed to be trying to keep records which partially identified the story book characters trapped in that realm. Thing was, neither of them made any mention of Nehemiah Kronk or what his story was. That got me very curious so I started to do a little digging and, with the help of some modern technology, I found something very interesting…"

"Are you going to kill us with suspense?" Regina deadpanned, eager to get home after a long day.

"Sorry, let me get to the point," Belle responded, voice dripping with sarcasm as she had no intention of being bullied by the mayor's insolence. "Nehemiah Kronk isn't a fairytale character at all…"

"What?!" both David and Regina chimed in unison.

"What do you mean he isn't a fairytale character?" Regina repeated Belle's revelation. "He has to be…"

"He's most certainly not," Belle replied very matter-of-factly as she passed the paper clutched in her hand to Regina. "Nehemiah Kronk is from this world, the Land Without Magic. Look…"

Regina perused the slightly blurry page before her which appeared to be a badly preserved copy of a very old newspaper article. "What exactly am I looking at? Old news?"

"That is a printout of an article I uncovered, published by the Arizona Republican newspaper in 1892…" Belle started to say as Regina handed the barely legible page to David.

"This says something about a missing US Marshal?" David asked as he glanced down at the page, confused as to what this had to do with Yzma's dangerous henchman. "I guess I'm missing something here…"

"Let me finish?" Belle asked, to which both David and Regina agreed, promising not to interrupt again. "That article talks about the mysterious disappearance of United States Marshal Nehemiah Kronk who vanished somewhere outside of the city Phoenix, then in the Arizona territories, while escorting a prisoner from Denver to Los Angeles. He and his partner turned their prisoner over to the California team, but when his partner checked in the next morning before they were to board the train back to Denver, Kronk was nowhere to be found. Witnesses reported he was last seen in a tavern talking to an old man. No one ever saw Kronk again and he was suspected of becoming a victim of one of several Apache attacks that week."

"Okay, but this is from the 1890s… How could someone from this world still be alive and unaged over a century later?" David wondered. "I'm sure the frozen time aspect of the Land of Untold Stories had something to do with it, but how did he get there if he isn't from a story? And how did he manage to hook up with Yzma?"

"I can't give you answers to those questions, but it's definitely the same guy…" Belle peeled the second page from her pile which contained a grainy, black and white photograph of the missing Marshal and while the hairstyle, attire and facial hair were different, David recognized the face of the man he'd fought alongside his son-in-law.

"Damn… that's him…" David sighed, unsure what this would mean for his daughter and her wounded husband.

"Well, at least we now have something that explains how they ended up in Arizona," Regina spoke up. "If Emma's right about the dagger being the object that opened the portal, not the scepter, Kronk may have had an impact on their destination."

"You think Kronk had a reason to go back to Arizona after all of these years?" David asked.

"Maybe. There are a lot of things we aren't going to be able to answer, but maybe this information would help Emma's friends track him down before he finds them?" Belle questioned. "Maybe we should call her?"

"She's still waiting for the dagger and potion to arrive," Regina said as she glanced down at her gold, diamond encrusted watch. "It won't get there for a few more hours but she's supposed to call when the package arrives and let us know if the potion works."

"Emma's got enough on her mind right now," David began. "Let's wait until we know the potion worked before we give her something else to worry about…"

"Agreed," Regina said. "Let's not bother her with a story about a century and a half year old former Federal Agent until the dark magic is dealt with. As for me, I'm heading home. If you happen to hear from your daughter sooner, let me know."

Sunsets in the Valley of the Sun were always spectacular and Carlos found his eyes immediately drawn to the blaze of color stretching across the Western sky as he exited his battered old pickup truck. The last few rays of sunlight could be seen reflecting off of the front windows of the nondescript office building in Scottsdale that he'd parked in front of, one which housed the National Parks Service field office. At nearly 6pm, only a few of his fellow government employees would still be here, most swapping their assigned Parks Service SUVs for their personal vehicles after a long day of patrolling the surrounding expanse of Federal lands.

He tapped his ID badge against the electronic security panel to the right of the entrance, tugging the door open when the panel buzzed and flashed a green light. Ana, their receptionist, glanced up from her desk as he entered, momentarily startling her as few people entered through the front door at this hour.

"Littlecreek? What are you doing at the office at this hour?" she asked, her dark eyes narrowing in confusion. "And isn't it your day off?"

"Hey, Ana," he greeted her with a friendly smile, hoping he could sell her on the basic story without going into a lot of detail. "Yeah, sorry for the confusion. I've got a package being delivered here from back East. It's pretty important so I didn't really want to risk having it dropped off at my place."

"Ooh, the mystery deepens, huh?" Ana teased him as he pulled one of the waiting area chairs away from the window and flopped down onto it. "Must be pretty important for you to show up here on your day off…"

"Yes, it is. Important enough to warrant private, same-day courier delivery. Good thing it's not on my tab. Figured I'd get over here early though in case the plane lands earlier than scheduled."

"Okay, well, you're on your own. I'm not sticking around while you wait," Ana stated as the clock on her desk now read six o'clock. "My day is over and I'm heading home. See you later, Littlecreek."

"Goodnight, Ana," he replied as she retrieved her purse from beneath her desk and scurried out the door. While he would have preferred the company, the less prying eyes, the better. He didn't want to have to go over the story of the package's contents more times than necessary.

He'd nearly drifted off from boredom when a loud knock sounded against the thick glass door forty-five minutes later. Carlos sprang to his feet and took a step towards the door, taking in the sight of a slight, blond haired man in his early to mid twenties dressed in a navy blue uniform and clutching a small box wrapped tightly in clear tape.

"Evening," the courier greeted Carlos from the opposite side of the thick glass door. "I've got a package here for a Mrs. Emma Jones, care of a Ranger Carlos Littlecreek?"

"And that would be me," Carlos replied. "One moment. Let me buzz you in…" Carlos found the button to his left and pressed it before pushing the door open for the courier to enter the office lobby.

"Thank you," the courier said as he took a few steps inside toward the reception desk. He rested the package on the desk while fumbling through his pocket with his free hand to find his tablet so he could collect Carlos' signature confirming the delivery. It was only as the package was placed atop the counter that Carlos noticed that one side was dented significantly. "I just need you to sign here but I'd also like you to take a look over the package and the contents and make sure they're intact in case you need to file a claim. We had a pretty bumpy flight and everything in the cargo hold got jostled around a lot. 'Found this package beneath a heavier one that got bounced on top of it and since the manifest stated it contained medicine, I was a little concerned…"

"Yeah, it contains some cough medicine for a colleague of mine. Desert air doesn't quite agree with her," Carlos chuckled as he hunted around Ana's desk for a pair of scissors so he could cut through the many layers of tape securing the box. Upon closer inspection, it appeared the courier had valid reason for his concern. He could see that beneath the tape, corners of the cardboard seemed to be damp with a reddish liquid and as he lifted it, the bottom was sticky against his palm. It was all adding up to be a little disconcerting. What if the potion bottles were damaged? There might not be time to wait for another batch… He cautiously cut through the tape securing the top flaps of the box and pulled them open to reveal layer after layer of bubble wrap lining the carton. He dug into it, easily finding the first prescription bottle and breathing a small sigh of relief upon discovering it was intact. They'd have one dose at least.

Unfortunately, as he discovered more of the sticky liquid clinging to the plastic, it became fairly evident that the second container hadn't been spared and as much as he hated it, he was right. He found the second bottle positioned against the dented side of the box sporting a large crack down the side. Grabbing what looked to be a clean coffee mug from Ana's desktop, he carefully extracted the second bottle, trying to preserve as much of the precious liquid inside as he could. He dropped the damaged container into the mug so it could catch any additional spillage, then slowly removed layer upon layer of bubble wrap, pouring what he could salvage into the mug.

"Damn…," the courier sighed. "I'm so sorry about that. We'll notify the sender so they can put in a damage claim if they want."

"Nothing you could do about the turbulence," Carlos assured the courier, not blaming him for this setback. At least one bottle had survived so they had one full dose and he was doing all he could to collect every drop he could rescue from the broken bottle. "Here, let me sign that so you can get out of here and I can get this stuff over to my colleague." The courier handed him the tablet and a rubber tipped stylus to sign and Carlos scrawled out his name as best he could with his now very sticky fingers. Once the transaction was all completed, he buzzed the courier out and tried to decide if he should call Emma now to warn her or just explain it all in person. Neither option was particularly pleasant at the moment.

Deciding it preferable to explain face to face, Carlos packaged the borrowed mug inside the box with the unblemished container and the still wrapped dagger then hurried out to his truck. He headed south toward Mesa, driving as quickly as he could without drawing too much unnecessary attention. Last thing he needed was to get pulled over for speeding and lengthen the delay the snarled traffic was already causing.

He finally arrived back at the hospital just after 7:30pm, box carefully tucked under his left arm. The unusual package had gotten a bit of scrutiny from security, but a casual mention of Tim Stillwater's name managed to get him through without too many questions. As he at last approached the room, it looked like Killian was asleep. Emma's back was to him but Grandmother spotted him lurking in the corridor and waved him inside.

"Why were you standing out there just staring?" Grandmother scolded him. "You could have just entered."

"I saw that Killian was sleeping and I didn't want to disturb him," Carlos replied in defense of his stalling.

"Right now, I don't care who you wake," Emma stated, standing up and hurriedly retrieving the box Carlos was carrying. "This package right here is the only thing I'm worried about right now."

"Well, the potion is definitely in there, as was the dagger," Carlos told her. "I wasn't even gonna try to bring that thing in here though so it's locked in my truck, but unfortunately, we may have a small problem…"

"Problem?" Emma's gaze shot up to meet Carlos', the earlier eagerness now tempered with a hint of trepidation. "What kind of problem?" She had already placed the cardboard box atop the rolling side table and was lifting the flaps to open it, not yet noticing that the corners were damp and discolored, but Grandmother's eagle eyes had spotted the stains.

Sharing a knowing glance with her grandson, the old woman was already asking "What happened?" even before Emma had the lid open, knowing not all of the potion had survived the journey from Storybrooke. Grandmother's intuitive suspicions were confirmed when Emma peeled back the sticky bubble wrap to discover the ceramic mug holding the cracked prescription bottle and the remnants that Carlos had managed to salvage.

"One of the bottles was broken?" Emma asked with a very audible sigh, lifting the mug carefully from the box so she wouldn't spill any more of its valuable contents. "It's all soaked through the box…"

"The courier said they hit some nasty turbulence and some other boxes fell on top of this one," Carlos explained. "I salvaged what I could from the broken one, even what I could manage to save from inside the layers of bubble wrap. 'Borrowed a friend's mug so I'd have something to catch it all. Looks like there's maybe a third of the original amount left…"

"The other bottle is intact?" Grandmother asked just wanting to be certain.

"Yes, it's fine," Emma responded as she withdrew the undamaged bottle from the package and placed it atop the table. Resting the mug beside the prescription container, she extracted the broken bottle and removed its lid, dumping the remaining contents into the mug. The thick, reddish-brown liquid certainly looked and even smelled like cough syrup. Regina had done well disguising it, but they had only a little more than a single dose. "Might as well have him drink all of it now," Emma decided, raising the second bottle to remove its cap and emptying it into the mug as well. Now all she had to do was get Killian to drink it.

"You're not worried it might be too much?" Carlos wondered, figuring there had to be a reason it was split into two separate doses. He didn't really expect Emma to answer as there definitely wasn't enough left to make a second dose that would likely have any effect, but he was still curious that too much could be equally as troubling as not enough.

"I don't see much of a choice," Emma replied as she gently nudged her husband's shoulder in an attempt to get him to stir. "Killian? If you can hear me, you need to wake up…" There was little response from her first effort so she had to try a bit harder this time, stroking his upper arm as she called out to him once again. "Killian – we've got the potion… You need to wake up so you can drink it…" This time, his head lolled toward the sound of her voice, followed by a faint, pained groan of displeasure. "That's it…" Emma continued to encourage him out of his drowsiness. "C'mon, talk to me…"

"'M tired, Swan…" Killian complained, eyes still closed tightly.

"I know," she apologized. Emma hated forcing him, but deep down, she knew it was for the best. "You've got to wake up and drink this to fight off that dark magic that has a hold on you." Killian's eyelids parted to slits, barely enough to make out the shape of his wife's face as she leaned over him. He took another moment to allow his sleepy eyes to adjust until he could discern a mug clutched in her right hand.

"Regina's potion?" Killian asked, his left eyebrow arching with suspicion.

"Yes," Emma smiled at him. "It's the potion we've been waiting for." She gently took a seat beside him on the narrow bed. "Let me help you sit up…" She found the controls for the adjustable bed and pressed the button to raise his head, slipping her left hand behind his shoulder to help ease him forward until he was seated upright, nearly eye level with her. He immediately grimaced and nearly tumbled back against the pillows as a twinge of pain shot through his chest. "Ooh, sorry… Shouldn't have done that so fast…"

"Be fine in a moment…," Killian insisted, gritting his teeth until the discomfort lessened. "Where is it?"

"Here," Emma replied, offering the ceramic mug. He managed to wrap his fingers around it, but found his hand shaking too much to keep a grip on the handle. "Maybe I should hold it?" his wife offered, to which he nodded in agreement. "Okay… take it slowly, but you'll have to drink it all." She raised the mug to his lips and gradually tipped it. When he nearly gagged on the first mouthful, she instinctively pulled the offending vessel away, fearful that it might be too much right now, but Killian shook his head and reached for her.

"It's fine, Love," Killian assured her despite a crinkled nose and a frown stretching across his lips. "It's a bit much. Rather distasteful, to be honest, but I can do this…" The frown melted into a weak smile as he cupped his hand around hers, still trembling from even such a slight exertion. His fingers stayed with hers as she brought the mug back to his open mouth again. Killian wasn't shy about displaying his displeasure at the foul-tasting liquid but he drank all of it. Emma lowered the mug and passed it to Grandmother as Killian forced himself to swallow the last of the potion.

"Feel any different?" Emma asked, remaining at her husband's side while Grandmother placed the mug on the counter next to the sink to wash later.

"Burns a little," Killian responded, his fingers latching onto Emma's upper arm for support. "Kinda like heartburn after eating that noxious substance Granny calls chili…" That statement had Emma trying to stifle a chuckle even as she felt his grip tighten.

"You sure you're okay?" Emma asked, no longer amused. "You've got a death grip on my arm."

"Sorry… Don't know my own strength…" Killian grinned, but the forced smile was soon betrayed by a powerful spasm that sent his body tumbling into his wife's arms.

"Killian?!" Her arms immediately wrapped around his torso as she caught him crashing into her, nearly knocking her over. His heart was thumping against his chest wall; his breaths coming rapid and shallow and suddenly, the electronic monitor behind him was beeping in time with his racing heart. This was definitely going to draw attention they didn't need.

Sensing what was happening, Grandmother shooed Carlos away from the door as Emma clung to her trembling husband. These spirits weren't going to give him up without a fight, but the old woman recognized that an interruption by medical personnel at this critical moment would disrupt the process so she moved swiftly to intercept the nurse before she entered.

"Is everything alright here?" the nurse asked suspiciously as she saw her patient clenched in his wife's embrace, apparently wrought with tremors. The first thought as the monitors had lit up with alarms was that Killian Jones was suffering another seizure. "This might be another seizure so if you'd please, move out of my way so I can examine my patient."

"Everything is fine," Grandmother insisted, voice calm and steady so that she might sound more convincing. "It's not a seizure. Mr. Jones merely woke from a very visceral nightmare – the poor man forced to relive the horror of being stabbed by an assailant that has yet to be captured. His wife is attempting to comfort him. She gave him a little bit of water and is holding him while the shaking subsides. Please, give her some time before you interrupt them. You might startle him anew." The nurse relented, partially because she noticed that the monitor displaying the patient's heart rate showed his pulse returning to normal and partially because she didn't want to argue with this old woman standing before her.

"I'll be back in two minutes to check his vitals," the nurse insisted. Grandmother responded only with a nod, returning to the room to find that Killian had passed out, his body slack in Emma's arms as she eased him back against the mattress, lowering the bed's angle to a more comfortable sleeping position.

Once Killian was resting seemingly peacefully, Emma drew her arms back from beneath him, but then raised her right hand to sweep away the unruly strands of dark brown hair that had cascaded over his temple when he'd fallen forward. His forehead still felt a bit warm to her touch, but perhaps not as much as earlier? "Please let this work." Her plea came out in a barely audible whisper.

"I don't sense the evil spirits here in this room any longer," Grandmother stated as she extended a hand to help Emma to her feet. Emma's gaze remained fixed on Killian as she stood, allowing him to rest without crowding him.

"I sure hope you're right," Emma responded, her voice quivering as she allowed only a single tear to escape. "I guess only a little time will tell us for sure…"

[forged-through-trials]

Once we arrived in Anvil, I just had to jaunt over to the Gold Horse Courier offices there to deliver the package, and pick up a new one, this time taking us back toward Skingrad. That business done, we hit up the Fighters Guild, and, thankfully, found Rhano in front of the training dummy. We chatted, and I inquired about training in the blade from him. Rhano: “Training, huh? Do you know how to use that thing?” He asked, pointing at my sword. Trials: “Sure I do. The pointy end goes in the other guy!” Rhano: “...” He sighed and buried his face in his hand. “This is going to take a lot of work.” Well, it was indeed a lot of work. but after hours of training, I’d improved quite a bit. Enough so that Rhano was eager to see me move on to better teachers. Rhano: “If the rumors are true, Alix Lencolia is passing through Cyrodiil.” Trials: “Who d’at?” Rhano: “Oh, you might not know him now, but he’ll be truly famous one day. A master of the blade! Word is already spreading of his skill, as even I’ve heard of him out here in Anvil. “I think someone saw him at Faregyl Inn not too long ago. You should look for him there.” Trials: “Oh, I think I’ve been there. A Khajiit there lost her potatoes. I found them, and she gave me bread and kisses.” Rhano: “...” He rolled his eyes. “Well, don’t expect Lencolia to kiss you.” Trials: “Ah, but you didn’t say anything about bread. So there’s still the possibility of a sandwich out of this.”

Ruin and I rested for a day after all of that intense training, then decided to go earn some cash. Ruin knew of another likely dungeon to hit, near to the town of Sutch, so we went looking for it, entered, and began to clear it out. It was a mostly uneventful dungeon dive. We defeated some Conjurers, and met a “Knight of Kynareth.” She didn’t have much to say, and seemed more interested in the undead of the dungeon, so we left her to her work while Ruin and I went about our own. Nothing too extravagant came out of that dive, but it was good experience, and a good chance to try out the skills I’d gained training with Rhano. For while these Conjurers plumbed Oblivion, seeking Daedra, I had studied the blade!

We rested a day, then hit the road again, and after a few hours, we were back in Skingrad. From there, it was just a short trip down to the Ranger’s Guild to deliver Moorswind’s package. No idea what he’d ordered; bow? arrows? More hoods? But with that job done, I picked up a delivery to Bravil, and we departed... then I recalled that book once more; “ An Expanded Excerpt from Vampires of Tamriel, Vol. II.” The book mentioned something about the diary of Threnodir Melainis being found somewhere East of Skingrad. Well, here we were, East of Skingrad. Ruin: “Do you not think we have enough on our plate? What about the delivery?” Trials: “Come on, Ruin. You wanted to see more of Cydoriil. Well, you can’t get the full experience just traveling the roads. I say we go cross country... and if we happen to stumble onto Nornalhorst while we’re enjoying nature... well, nothing says we can’t take a little peek, right?” Ruin: He grumbled with worry. “If we do find Nornalhorst, I would recommend... well, I would strongly recommend not going inside.” Well, Gentle Reader, guess what happened?

...we found Nornalhorst. Ruin again cautioned against us going in, so I told him he could wait outside. He liked that idea even less, but I explained the method to my madness; I’m a Sneak, and a good one. I’d actually be safer going in alone, and keeping a low profile. Ruin could stay out here, and if I get into trouble, rush in and hit my attackers from behind. I went in.... and oh boy was I suddenly having second thoughts about this. This place crawls with vampires, and I’m an exceptionally squishy lizard who is so far 0 for 2 when it comes to trying to fight these guys. Which, of course, is why I’m not fighting. Instead, I sneaked, quiet as a whisper, less than a shadow, slipping past a dozen vampires and deeper into the ruins, and trying to resist the urge to cry and go screaming back out into the countryside.

Oh... ah, a tricky trap. Great. All the more reason that I can’t be detected. The timing on this trap is complex, and if I don’t get it right, I’ll be bifurcated! I’d rather not have to try and think about how to dodge these blades while being chased by a dozen vampires, nor would I like to end up as half the woman I used to be.

After timing the blades and slipping through, I made it deeper into the crypt. Within the depths, I found a large room, with an altar in the middle. There was a vampire in very ornate armor near a casket, and I’m going to guess that’s Lord Volmyr, the vampire who captured the sword. And that, on the altar? Could it be? Yes! Yes it is! It’s the sword itself, the Light of Dawn! When no one was looking I pinched the sword. How I managed to shove a huge sword into my pack without any of the half-dozen vampires in the room noticing... heck if I know! I mean, you’d think vampirism would come with the heightened senses of an apex predator, maybe some night-vision at least, but nope, not a one of them spotted a huge, two-handed sword vanishing off of the altar. Somehow, I did it! I was now the proud owner of the Light of Dawn! Once in my hand, the sword responded to my grasp. I felt strange sensations, as if the sword was relieved to be taken from the altar... followed by an... “anger”? The sword was angry, and thirsty for vengeance!

...and no wonder the sword was P.O.’d. These vampires had covered it in some kind of nasty gunk. And I suspect that gunk is doing something to the sword; I can sense an enchantment within the blade, but the sword seems weak and unpowered despite that. It’s got a wicked edge on it, though. Sharper than anything else I’ve come across by a country mile. Definitely worth hanging onto, even if the gunk on it kind of smells funny.

I retreated from Nornalhorst, collected Ruin, and returned to the... relative safety of Bravil. There, we had to deliver that package... and guess who the recipient was? Trials: “Got more reading material for ya.” Hans Black-Nail: “Good. Good! Hail Dagon!” Trials: I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, ‘Stale Layman,’ ‘Shawn is baking’ and ‘Meet the Bluejay.’” Hans Black-Nail: “...” He frowned at me. “What, am I a joke to you? You’ll be singing a different tune, soon enough.” Trials: I shrugged at him. “Whatever! Just pay me so I can be on my way.” Hans Black-Nail: “Fine, but when the revolution comes, you will not be spared!” With that finally done, Ruin and I decided to rest in Bravil for a day before heading out again, taking the time to mull over what we should do next.

[sarahsilverdog-blog-blog]

One Problem At A Time Ch. 6

NOTHING BURNS LIKE THE COLD

Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you, starts to fill you up, and after a while you don’t have the strength to fight it.

~George R R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

The three armored trucks drove northwest across rough terrain, and Jackson, Tessa and Dariela bounced along with Morris Brown in the rear of the caravan, heading towards an area the Australian knew to be rife with hybrids. Mitch had rigged a cooler in the back of the truck to keep the blood samples cold and safely cushioned, but even with refrigeration they would only be good for Mitch's purposes for a week so they were to head north, collecting what samples they could, and rendezvous with the others at an abandoned airstrip in San Francisco in six days so Mitch could do what he could with the samples he had.

It felt good to be back out on a safari and Jackson was honest with himself also glad to get away from Jamie- and Mitch, whose decision to let Jamie out of the cell without consulting anyone else was a clear delineation between the two of them and the rest of the team. Mitch was always going to side with Jamie, and Jackson didn’t trust Jamie, she was cold-blooded, dangerous, a liability. She didn’t care who her schemes hurt, who they put in danger. She supposedly cared for Mitch but she'd let a dangerous psychopath inhabit his mind in order to commit a murder, he thought she'd cared about him but she'd still let her novel expose him as Robert Oz's son and he'd had to leave his life behind to go into hiding. He hated leaving Sam behind and his grandson, and he ached to tell his son the truth about them but Sam wouldn't believe him now. Maybe he never would, but he was going to let the boy heal before opening up new wounds.

“So, Dylan, Green," Brown said to Jackson, beside him in the passenger seat, "there's just the four of us now so no worries. Tell me the truth- that's not really your name, is it?”

Jackson just laughed, though Tessa could see his shoulders stiffen from the backseat. "Well, yeah, it is," Jackson answered, "What makes you think it's not?"

Morris Brown was shrewd, no doubt about it. “It started knocking about my noggin when I recognized Miss Campbell. As l said before I’m a big fan of her novel, mostly because after my experiences in Australia during the animal uprising l felt the ring of truth about it, knew that she wasn't just writing about the damn thing, she had lived what she was writing. Now, if know women, the female lead in the novel is most likely based on Miss Campbell herself, and here she is, on a fancy laboratory plane, with Dr. Mitch Morgan, who just happens to be a scientist - and her love Interest- so he of course would be the veterinary pathologist in the book. Mrs. Kenyatta," he nodded at Dariela in the backseat, “strikes me as the lady Army Ranger who married Mr. Kenyatta the safari guide. So, that leaves you, Tessa Williams, who l know to be ex-IADG and only recently acquainted with the group, and you," he winked conspiratorially at Jackson, "Dylan Green, as the remaining piece of the puzzle. Or should l say Jackson Oz?"

Before Jackson could pull an answer together the radio crackled and Brown's guy in the lead vehicle said, "Hey, Brown, there's a herd of rhinos up ahead. Looks to be about ten or twelve of them, on the move, headed north.”

“Copy that, let's round 'em up, get ourselves a blood sample for the Doc!" Brown swiveled around and grinned and Tessa and Dariela in the backseat, then at Jackson as he said in his broad Aussie accent, "Well, Jackson Oz, are you ready for a prehistoric rodeo?"

Jackson grinned back at Tessa. Why deny it anymore? "I have already gone a round with one of these guys," he said, "As the rodeo clown.”

***

The plane was in the air on its way to Alaska. Clementine and Baby Sam were in the kitchen, reheating some of the cold breakfast leftovers for herself and Sam, who was still recuperating in Mitch's room. Abe was working on the sterility cure in the lab and, knowing how little he himself liked to be disturbed when he was in his science zone, Mitch left him to his work and instead migrated to the bar with a tablet, trying to figure out if there were some connection between all of the hybrid animals they knew about that could possibly lead them to the rest they would need, like the links in The Courier had done ten years ago. He barely glanced up when Jamie joined him some time after takeoff, grunting a gruff hello as she went behind the bar and poured them both a drink. He didn't look up at her until she slid onto the barstool next to him, leaning over to see what he had on his tablet. "What are we looking at?" she asked, taking a sip from her cocktail.

He cleared his throat and pulled himself away from the screen taking the glass Jamie slid toward him. "Thank you." He look a long drink, then plunked the glass down and pointed to the tablet screen. "I have been trying to find some kind of connection between the animals Abigail has used to make hybrids. but so far I haven’t been able to come up with a thing. Bears, snakes, wolves, rhinoceros, spiders, goats, mammoths, dinosaurs- they have no common denominator that l can find, unless go back to the original glob of primordial ooze that slithered up onto land." She leaned closer, putting her hand on his leg nonchalantly as she peered at the screen; it honestly wasn't helping his concentration but he certainly wasn't going to ask her to move it either. He noticed she had abandoned her Early Jamie' clothes and was now wearing what he considered Post-Tank Jamie' outfits- skin-tight leather pants and a very complimentary black sweater. He had to admit, while he missed the Jamie of ten years ago, he didnt mind her change in style so much. "How long before we land, and where exactly are we going?”

"Anchorage, about four hours. There have been three reports about our polar bear, all three within a twenty mile radius of the city of Anchorage. When we land we go to the local wildlife refuge, and a park ranger will lead us to where the bear was last seen." Her voice tightened with barely suppressed anxiety, "It's only September and they already have six feet of snow, which is unheard of there." She shivered almost imperceptibly, though Mitch could feel the vibration of her hand that still rested on his thigh and he realized she still hated and feared the cold the way she had after being stranded in Canada so many years ago.

“Hey, it's okay," he said, covering her hand with his, "you don’t have to go, Abe and Clem and l can handle it, you stay here with the baby. He likes you, remember?" He smiled, to lessen the sting he knew she was feeling, the idea that her fear was stronger than herself; his smile faded and he said softly, "Nothing burns like the cold, Jamie. I know you dream about Caraquet, you wake me sometimes, calling out for,” he swallowed and looked away from her, "for Logan, and telling him he has to burn the money because you're freezing…”

She sat back on the barstool sharply, taking her hand away from Mitch's grasp with a jerk and glancing automatically down at her foot, though it had been more than ten years since she had lost her toe to frostbite in the wilds of Canada. "I'll be fine," she said, withdrawing from him at the mention of Caraquet; her PTSD diagnosis had its roots in that town and everything that surrounded it and while she would never step foot in British Columbia again she visited the place often enough in her nightmares. Mitch’s observation was a bit too on the nose because in those awful, paralyzing dreams she was always freezing. so cold she couldn’t move her legs to run, or her arms to fight off the polar bears when they came to attack her and Logan and the other shadowy people on the school bus. In those nightmares Mitch never showed up with the rescue team and they were all killed one by one and then the bear would get its jaws around her throat, claws raking her body as she watched her blood spatter on the windows and she’d wake up in a frigid sweat, hoping she hadn't vocalized the strangled scream that echoed in her mind for hours afterward. And now here she was, flying off into the glacial northern wilds of Alaska to get blood from a polar bear, it was like a nightmare and she was trying to keep it together but her voice was bitter and edgy as she said, "I hope blood will be enough for you. I don't think we want to try to get a polar bear the size of my Mustang on the plane.”

“Oh, I don't know," Mitch said testily, draining his glass in one long swallow, trying not to be hurt by her reaction or to think about his own heartache after Caraquet, still so fresh for him; Jamie’s bewildering retreat from their relationship, the confusion brought on by Allison and his father-he suppressed a wave of sadness at the thought of Max- the emotional upheaval and stupid missteps he made with Jamie that pushed her further away, mistakes which he seemed determined to repeat here and now. He reached over the bar and plucked the bottle of vodka from the rack. "Sometimes you have to shoot for the stars."

It was uncomfortably silent as they both retreated to their shells, but then Jamie tapped her fingers on the bar and said, "Stars...stars...what about constellations? There's a bear, snake, and a goat at least." Mitch looked unsure, but it was a straw to grasp at in their awkwardness so she went to one of the drawers behind the bar where they had searched for the CB radio two days earlier. "l think I saw a star chart here somewhere," she bent over to rummage through the drawer, her back to Mitch, giving him a fine view of her posterior, he poured another drink and downed it in a swallow, his eyes never leaving her as he said, "Of course. Who doesn't keep a star chart on a self-flying plane?”

Jamie pulled out a large square of folded paper and peeled the corners back, peering inside, "Here it is." She unfolded the chart and spread it out over the bar. The night sky opened out before them, and Jamie traced a few familiar star formations, learned from countless nights on the farm, laying outside in the grass on warm summer nights, watching the sky and praying to the Gods- any Gods- to save her mother. The frostiness between them was dissipating with the comfort of action, as Jamie quickly scanned a list of the constellations on the side of the poster-with a grid pattern to tell how to find the constellation in the sky- she let out a breath. "There's so many.”

“Some aren't animals though." Mitch ran his finger down the side of the chart, counting rapidly. "Oh." He looked over at Jamie, "Forty-two.”

“Forty-two. Well, that's quite a few." She added under her breath “It's also the meaning of life, the universe and everything.”

Mitch was bent over the chart but he gave her a sideways smirk. "Nerd”

"English major," she corrected.

Mitch pushed his glasses back on his nose and gave her a quick smile then pointed to the list where Canis Venacti, Canis Major, and Canis Minor were grouped together. "Some of these animals are redundant, for instance there are three different constellations named after dogs; Canister Venacti, the hunting dogs, Canis Major, the Big Dog, and Canis Minor, the Little Dog. Same thing with snakes, serpents, there's Hydra, the water serpent, Hydrus, the water snake and Serpens, the serpent. Two bears, nine different kinds of bird, three different horses, if you count a centaur as a horse, which we do, I think?"

"There are several different kinds of birds but no vultures," Jamie said, "maybe she wasn't exact? Maybe she combined DNA from more than one bird?"

"Well, that's easy enough to test," Mitch said. We have one of the things on board."

"There's no rhinoceros here," Jamie said, skimming the list.

"No, but there's a Unicorn. Monoceros, ‘one horn'.”

"Wait," she said, pointing at the upper portion of the map. "All of these are Northern Hemisphere constellations. Goat, bear, snake, eagle. Unicorn." She shook her head, her red hair swinging to frame her face. "No spider or mammoth though. Or dinosaur."

“But here's Lacerta, the lizard," Mitch said, pointing between Cassiopeia and Cygnus, also in the Northern Hemisphere, "That fits a dinosaur, right? And as for the mammoth," he pointed at another area of the chart, "Cetus, the whale. It's the largest constellation in the Northern sky, and is close to other water signs like Pisces and Aquarius. Whales are the largest mammal but making hybrid whales probably wasn't really an option, or very productive, since they would only threaten sea traffic but the elephant or similar Mammoth is the largest land mammal. Maybe she just adapted. Or maybe we're just grasping at straws.”

“So long and thanks for all the fish," Jamie muttered under her breath, then continued, "And here's Aquila, the Eagle, and Cygnus, the Swan. I guess a vulture could be a cross between an eagle and a swan. Long neck, bad attitude?”

Mitch cocked his head to the side in agreement. "Sounds about right.”

The excitement of possibly finding a link, solving a puzzle was growing, and Jamie said, "That's seven of the eight we know about. The spider?”

“Cancer, maybe? It’s a crab, maybe crabs just had too limited a range for her needs, having to stay close to water, but they would be fairly terrifying so, I don't know, this is all conjecture anyway, just like the spiders and unicorns we’re worried about.” He was getting frustrated, she could tell by the set of his shoulders and the ugly tone creeping into in his voice, though he was trying to tamp it down. "So what's left in the Northern Hemisphere?" he asked.

“Leo, scorpius and draco. Lion, scorpion, dragon." Jamie looked up in alarm. "Oh my God, you don't think she made a dragon hybrid do you?"

Mitch added them up, trying not to show his concern either. "Well if she did that's eleven, and unless she's a Stranger Things fan, that's a weird number.”

"Wait," Jamie said, looking at the chart, "there's this one too. Bootes.”

"Bootes?" Mitch said, wrinkling up his nose under his glasses. “What the hell kind of animal is a Bootes?"

"It's not an animal," Jamie said, looking up at him with concern. "It's The Shepherd.”

***

Getting the sample from the rhino had been relatively easy, it was the eight foot tall goat that had been the bitch.

They were northwest of Boulder, on the Strawberry river about a mile above Starvation Dam in Utah. They had gotten a sample from the rhinos after Jackson snuck up on one with a needle and syringe and ran like hell when the beast turned on him. Brown waited a second or two before turning on the hybrid repellant frequency, just for a laugh, and he was whooping as Jackson jumped into the truck, brandishing the syringe and breathing heavily as the herd thundered away. They kept going northwest until they came to the dam, and Brown started to tell them how the place acquired it's odd name. “So the party of fur trappers were caught in a blizzard but they stumbled on an abandoned Ute Indian camp, only it wasn’t abandoned and when the men came back from fruitless hunting and discovered their only food devoured by white men, they ousted the fur trappers from the camp, and they stumbled to the banks of the river to die of the cold. But in a cruel twist of fate, the Indians perished also because the trappers had eaten the only food they had and they were trapped by the storm.”

“Well that's depressing," Dariela said. "Remind me not to tell it to Isaac for a bedtime story." Thunder rumbled in the distance and a dense brown cloud rolled across the rocky landscape around the river. Brown rolled to a stop beside a large rock formation, with lots of crevices and holes and he got on the radio shouting, "Abandon vehicles! Cover in the rocks!"

Jackson grabbed his rifle and his backpack, helped Tessa and Dariela out and they all ran in confusion to the rocky formation, ducking down into sheltered caves made by the boulders, Brown and his four remaining men jumped down among them, and they crouched down as the rumbling grew louder and louder and the ground began to vibrate beneath them. The rocks began to shake and pebbles and sand sifted down on them as the light suddenly vanished beneath thundering so loud Jackson couldn't even think. He looked up and all he could see was flashes of shadow and bright fur, he looked sideways at Brown who shouted, "Goats!”

Jackson pulled a ready syringe from his backpack, took off the safety cap and motioned for Brown to hoist him up. Brown looked at him like he was insane, then shrugged uneasily and motioned to one of his men to help lift Jackson close to an opening in the rocks.

He waited, knowing he was only going to have one blisteringly quick chance to get any blood at all from one of these monstrous creatures. Now that he was so close he could see them a little more clearly and they were huge- the hooves that flashed within inches of his head were easily the size of dinner plates and looked to be frighteningly sharp. Taking a deep breath, he waited until a shadow was just right, then jabbed the needle up, pulling the plunger as soon as he felt contact and jerking the syringe back down through the rocks as his unwilling subject squealed and kicked, catching his wrist with one of those deadly hooves.

Blood sprayed from his wrist as Brown brought him down; his hand suddenly wouldn't work right and Dariela darted forward to catch the syringe before he dropped it. Miraculously, it seemed to be filled with enough blood for Mitch's uses.

Tessa ran to Jackson, supporting him as she checked his wrist, which was still bleeding but not spraying, and he grinned at her and whispered, "Spicy.”

The herd had passed, a thin haze of dust floated in the air, and after a few minutes Brown climbed out of the rocks and descended back to the riverside. The trucks were destroyed, turned over and trampled into junk, and Jackson and Dariela ran to the one they had been in, digging around for the cooler. Tessa found the first aid kit and wrapped Jackson's wrist and Dariela found the cooler intact, prying open the lid briefly to check the rhino sample and add the goat. "It's all good." Dariela said, "but who is gonna carry this thing? Because those trucks aren't going anywhere.”

“Anybody have a radio?" Tessa asked. "I think we need to call a cab.”

***

They lost track of time going over the star chart, knowing that it was probably a useless endeavor but needing something to do to feel productive. The plane's cool, pleasant PA voice interrupted them when it chimed and said, “Wheels down in Anchorage, one hour." Mitch stretched his arms over his head, groaning at the aching muscles in his shoulders as he leaned away from the chart, thankful that Jamie had changed the plane's voice back from Logan. "So, tell me what we have," he said, as he rubbed his eyes under his glasses.

“Well," she said, "If we run with the Northern Hemisphere constellation theory we have to find a scorpion, a lion, and," she sighed as if she couldn’t believe she was about to utter the words, “a dragon. And a Shepherd”

"The dragon could refer to a Komodo Dragon, but that wouldn’t be much better, those guys are nasty. A Shepherd," he repeated, pushing his glasses back up again, “that can only be Abigail. We need to contact Jackson, tell him what we found and what he needs to be looking for."

Jamie snorted a bitter laugh. "Hey, Jackson, be on the lookout for a dragon!”

Mitch shrugged. "No stranger than a wooly mammoth or a prehistoric rhinoceros. Or earthquake sloths for that matter.”

“Maybe not.” The chilliness between them earlier had gone, but something was up with her, there was something else she wanted to say, he could tell by the way she played with her straw and looked studiously away from him and he sighed, reaching forward to touch her face gently. “What is it, Jamie? I can hear the gears grinding in your head from here.”

It had been nagging at the back of her mind for a while now since finding him alive, - or if she really wanted to pinpoint it, since the first time he put his glasses on and looked at her with his deep brown eyes, and she actually knew it was him, so familiar behind the plastic frames- a kind of unease, a fingernails blackboard feeling, and with the mention of Caraquet earlier, the subject of the cold, she realized what it was that was bothering her: guilt. Guilt for being so distant with him before he...he died, guilt for squandering the time they had on misunderstandings and anger; she had beaten herself up for years over it but managed to put it behind her but here he was, her regret made flesh and bone before her. "I'm sorry, Mitch." She stopped him, knowing he was about to say something about Duncan but she had apologized for that already and this went much deeper. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry for how l treated you after l came back from Canada. I'm sorry for all of the time I wasted between us because.. because you had gone on living after you thought I was dead.” The words came tumbling out before she could stop them, and truthfully, she found she didn't want to stop them. She was tired of secrets and lies and darkness. Mitch was the person she trusted most in the world, he was the man she loved, he was her path to the light and she wanted him to know everything while they had time to say it because they had both learned in excruciating ways how easy it was to lose each other in the blink of an eye. She'd almost lost him again over the Duncan fiasco and she knew she couldn't bear to lose him again, and she was going to do whatever it took to make sure she didn’t. "I'm sorry," she gripped the hand that was caressing her cheek and held it tightly, "I'm sorry l gave up on you. knew you weren't dead, l knew it in my heart, I looked for you for years, I followed every lead, l went to Pangaea...I interrogated every Shepherd l caught because I hoped that one would have information that would lead me to you, alive. And then...I lost hope and l gave up. I gave up on you, Mitch Morgan.” She took a deep, hitching breath as tears started to run down her cheeks. "You were alive and l loved you and I gave up on you.”

The only noise was the soft rumble of the planes engines, and Mitch pulled her close as she wet his shoulder with her tears. "When we were on the plane from Africa to DC," he murmured huskily in her ear, "and you kissed me, I couldn’t believe it was happening, couldn't believe that you wanted me, because l had been in love with you since the day you took me to your mother's grave, amazed at the way you were so open about her and how you felt and I- I had been avoiding my emotions for so long...l hid it, because was afraid of a relationship, I was afraid of you, of what you could do to me mean to me if let you in." He swallowed hard, and kissed her forehead. "And when I did let you in, BAM! You were gone-“ he choked a little at the memory of the plane falling, feeling Jamie's hand torn from his as they spun into the icy North Atlantic sea, how he screamed her name and swam from floating body to floating body until Jackson forced him onto a rescue boat, saving him from drowning because he would have died trying to find her. "You were gone, and I didn't go on living. I gave up on everything except trying to drown myself at the local bar. You were alive, I loved you, and I gave up on you too. After only three months, I may add.” He was quiet a moment, feeling her breathing against him. "I’m the one who should be apologizing.” He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. “Then I got a miracle call, and had a reason to live again," he whispered, wiping Jamie's tears away as she gave him a sniffling smile that he returned, remembering how it felt to hear her voice that morning at the bar, to realize that she wasn't gone, that he had a second chance. His heart started to hammer and he rasped, “How about we don't waste anymore time on the past? We have about forty minutes until we land, I bet we can find something to do until then.”

****

“I have something else to tell you." Jamie said, and Mitch peeled an eye open and looked over at her, sprawled against him on the bed.

“No good conversation has ever started with those words," he said, and with a groan lifted his arm to look at his watch. "You have about ten minutes to talk before the plane starts yelling at us to get up for school.”

She rolled over on her side and kissed his chest lightly. "Abe stopped me in the hall shortly after we took off, he wants me to be his test subject for the sterility cure. The formula is finished, he wants to test it soon and since Clem is already fertile, and Dariela isn't here…” His body stiffened almost imperceptibly but she felt it and frowned slightly to herself as she continued, "Anyway, it would only be a test to see if it produces a normal ovulation cycle and a viable egg.”

“So what are you going to do? Wh..what did you tell him?" He looked like a deer trapped in the headlights and she felt kind of bad for springing it on him here, like this. She hadn't meant to, she had intended to bring it up as soon as she found him at the bar but he had been so into his research that she didnt want to interrupt, and well, the time had just never seemed right. Sure, Jamie, this is really the right time.

“I told him that I had someone else to consult about it." she said, looking up at him until he met her eyes. "I think the person who shares my bed every night has a say in whether or not we can suddenly make babies." She felt him relax a little, though he was still eyeing her warily, as if she might produce a child at any time and thrust it at him. She would have found it funny if his reaction wasn’t mildly insulting. "What do you think l should do?”

“I think it's up to you," he said, as he remembered a very important point about the current world. “I’m still sterile so if you want to be the guinea pig who saves the world, go ahead.”

"You're the pig here, Morgan,” she retorted, and then with a flick of her wrist stirred the shit pot just a little. "Are you though? Sterile?" She sat up, the sheet falling away from her as she rose from the bed, bending down to pick up her clothes and Mitch felt himself start to rise even though they had just- God, she was beautiful. He dragged his attention back to what she was saying with difficulty. "Have you been tested since you came back? Because you went into the tank before the TX-14 gas had spread and by the time you came out the gas was probably diffused into the atmosphere enough to not affect you. And there's no telling what Abigail did to you, or what she had planned, she was probably going to make a family of little Abby/Duncan hybrids to rule over her apocalypse kingdom!"

Mitch shot out of the bed liked he'd been fired from a rifle with a look of panicked horror that was so comical Jamie burst out laughing as he pulled his boxers from his pile of clothes on the floor. "That's not funny." he snapped, pulling his clothes on hastily, as if he was suddenly afraid Abigail was going to barge in and force herself on him. It was obvious that this was something that hadn't occurred to him and she was immediately sorry- after all, in Mitch's world three weeks ago his daughter was eleven and now she was twenty and he was a grandfather. Things were upside down for him.

Before she could apologize there was a tentative knock at the door and Abe's somewhat embarrassed voice floated in. “Uh, Jamie? Sorry to...bother you but Jackson just called, they have run into some problems. Apparently their convoy was destroyed by a...” his reluctant sigh was audible through the door. "A dragon.”

***

[retphienix]

I'm going to let out some of my feelings on New Vegas under the cut, but let's start with some more optimistic talk based on what's about to happen.

We're going to play through New Vegas (again for me) in an attempt to re-evaluate it since I harbor such strong negativity towards it despite recognizing all it's accomplishments and improvements over F3.

To start, I adore the intro cutscene. I just do.

I wish it didn't jump to the slideshow mid-way through, but I can understand it non-the-less.

It's fun to see the factions doing interesting things, or even just actions that add character to a faceless organization.

We get the NCR partying it up and drunk, giving off vibes of "modern" military personnel on leave or taking a moment of reprieve. We also get to see the Legion acting like a small raid force and clearly using some stealth tactics as they attack quietly in the night.

To end it off we get to see Benny and the Khans, and aside from showing how strange Fallout engine models look scaled up for a cutscene (because the Khans look like crap), this was good stuff. I especially love the Courier's view swinging towards the weapon as they acknowledge the danger they are in.

Okay, let me get some things out in the air on this one.

I'm starting this playthrough with some baggage.

I really don't like New Vegas. Like at all.

Fallout 3 is one of my favorite games, Fallout 1 was so fantastic a playthrough that it got me excited about Fallout again (I've yet to play Fallout 2 but you better believe that's coming up at some point) and Fallout 4 is unbearably disappointing but offered me plenty of fun for my trouble.

I'm in the minority on this and I completely understand why.

I see all the gameplay mechanics that add depth and I LOVE them.

I see all the differences in the writing and I LOVE them.

I see the improvements to the factions to add depth and I LOVE that.(mostly, I love the attempt)

I see Hardcore mode and, while some have switched to complaining that it's far too simplistic, I had a total BLAST playing through this game on the hardest difficulty with Hardcore turned on.

I see the companions and how they are objectively the best to the point where I'd do anything to reunite Veronica with her girlfriend from the DLC or to steal Arcade away to a new land altogether.

But I just get so hung up on this game.

I've completed it every which way, I've grinded the achievements that forced me to play the game differently than I usually do, I found out unarmed is the most broken weapon-type in the game because Ballistic fists are unbalanced as heck and I loved it.

But I get so hung up on the things I don't like, despite how few they are, they are important things to me.

For one, the factions. I like that they are more complex but I just hate every single one of them.

I get that that 'can' be realistic, and I love “shades of gray” morality options that let me choose who I agree with despite the drawbacks, BUT EVERY FACTION IS UNLIKABLE, EVIL WITH FALSE “Good” IDEALS, OR THEIR DRAWBACKS ARE UNBEARABLY LAZY AND DULL.

I really, really don't like how Fallout 4 handled factions and yet I can still go "Yeah, I'll side with the Minutemen despite their synth problems because they are the moral ideology I agree most with" or "-with the Railroad because despite their human life devaluation issues I most agree blah blah".

Fallout 4 had two "too problematic for me" factions in the form of the Neo Nazi Brotherhood that goes entirely against what Fallout 3's brotherhood were (yes F3 had a simplistic "too good" brotherhood, but they were limited to that chapter and THIS racist chapter IS that chapter so that's just inexcusable), and the Institute who fail due to poor writing and lack of explanation (oh you're the GOOD guys who will SAVE us with technology? You have hidden synths wandering around all over for intel? THEN WHY DO YOU BLATANTLY POISON AND KILL PEOPLE TO STEAL THEIR IDENTITY WHEN YOU LIVE IN AN AGE WHERE YOU CAN JUST THROW A SYNTH SOMEWHERE WITH A BS BACKSTORY AND YOU KNOW THAT WILL WORK OUT JUST FINE??? You're murderers, not the good guys, screw off.)

The thing is, I was able to find factions I agreed with despite their flaws in 4, and 3 made it easy by not doing a good job at all and just giving you a good and bad choice (fair enough).

NV? It tries so hard to have diverse and interesting factions but I honestly think they got too distracted with adding flaws that they forgot to make any of them likable.

NCR are bureaucratic idiots who overexert (Bureaucracy as a flaw, in itself, is utterly lame and dull), follow the flaws of the US government (at least that's interesting) and can best be "agreed" with based on the fact that they support farms. But they even abuse that from what I remember.

The Legion have an entire in-universe explanation for why they look like a bunch of stupid cosplayers and I remember it being summed up as "I read a book, I like military tactics from the Roman empire so here we are!".

If Legion's entire goal is unifying the world under one flag then they could have been literally ANYTHING, but no, they are cosplayers with no deeper meaning beyond "I want slaves, don't respect culture if it isn't my own, and read a military book about rome".

That reason is utterly ridiculous and uninteresting. Anyone who tried to organize something like this would have success in their area (remember something about uniting some tribes and tackling opposition weakest to strongest to divide and conquer) but then they'd just fall apart because you're trying to run a racist little slave army while killing farmers, a revolt or dude in power armor is going to stomp you out realistically.

House is fine. Like, yeah. He's fine. He's gray morality, isolation is his goal, I don't "agree" with him but he's someone I COULD agree with if I was playing that kind of character.

So NV leaves me with either playing NCR because "Well, they suck completely, but hey, maybe they can do some good?", House, or take control on my own and use my own imagination to decide what happens to the area once the credits are finished (since you can’t experience any of those changes you would have instated, afterall. Though that itself isn’t a complaint because I understand the actual cost that would entail to add to the game, but the fact that my best option is this means I would have liked the option to make my lack of “good” choices felt “acceptable” because I could at least instate change etc)

So there's one major complaint out of the way, the factions all being either completely incompetent, stupid, or unlikably bad morally.

The next major complaint I had was the world itself.

I HATE IT. I HATE THIS DESERT WASTELAND OF BOREDOM.

I know some of you have probably heard a variant of that complaint! Something along the lines of "It's just empty desert and there is nothing to see" and you scoffed and you said "This idiot isn't looking in the right places" but you know what!

THERE IS A REASON THIS COMES UP IN PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE NEW VEGAS.

It's because, yes, there is stuff to see! But the LAND and WORLD look so barren by design (despite the things that are there) and it all looks so boringly dead and bland that even once we find interesting places it's all desaturated in our heads to the point where we go "ah. cool. is there anything to do in this boring hellscape."

Everything looks the same and it is a huge drain on the eyes.

This world is the most boring thing to look at. I hate sandscapes, I loathe exploring literal desert land. You have to shove more variation in there.

Fallout 3 worked with its separation between "empty" wasteland, "colonized" wasteland, "empty" cityscape, and "populated" cityscape.

You could go to these different types of places and feel a different environment around you.

New Vegas has two places. Empty desert that you sometimes find a shanty town in, or Vegas which is just casinos so who cares beyond gamblers.

It's so monotonous and boring.

The most exciting areas are your starting area (at first, because it hints that you'll find tons of strange working towns to spice up the desert instead of the reality of emptiness), Vegas if you're into that sort of thing, the NCR outpost with the Ranger monument, and Artillery tribe.

Fallout 3 had a green filter over everything and some people complained, I didn't care in the slightest. But with this brown filter over a brown sandscape I felt like it emphasized the color palate too much and made what was already boring to look at even worse.

Off topic, but throwing that in.

All said, maybe I'm exaggerating. But my time with New Vegas left me feeling like the overall politics were either utterly stupid or painfully unlikable, and knowing that made every other questline or story point feel meaningless because I wasn't invested in any character or organization involved.

When every major player is unlikable, I stop caring. So I ended New Vegas feeling like, for all it's writing and smaller stories, they messed up the factions so badly that I couldn't care about any of it.

So when I stop caring I decide to explore the world, and while it DOES have things in it, they painted over that fact by making every area look the same with their brown desert crap. It needed more cities or towns, more "outer" Vegas, and just more variety in general.

And if they couldn't justify a reason that would lend variety to New Vegas, then guess what? Maybe VEGAS is a boring as heck place to put your post apocalyptic game.

*sigh*

Since that rambling, lacking substance as I'm typing from emotion and not diving far enough in for details, rant is done-

(I really did go off and cut some of this because of that. Sad when you consider I got this fired up and I only listed two reasons, poor factions [in terms of morality and not being annoyed with their designs/lore] and the world looking terrible to me because I hate deserts)

-I am going back in to  try it all again.

[azanycollectormilkshakeworl-blog]

SR-22 insurance?

"SR-22 insurance?

If someone got an OWI in iowa, How much does SR-22 usually cost? (was not me who received one, but I am glad this person finally got one)

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://insureinfo.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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SR-22 insurance?

If someone got an OWI in iowa, How much does SR-22 usually cost? (was not me who received one, but I am glad this person finally got one)

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SR-22 insurance?

If someone got an OWI in iowa, How much does SR-22 usually cost? (was not me who received one, but I am glad this person finally got one)

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Is the affordable health act actually making healthcare affordable for everyone?

Is the affordable health act actually making healthcare affordable for everyone?

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We had shopped around for home insurance, we made a quote and compared the best company, and we purchase the policy to one of them. After a year, we received a call from collection agency saying that we owe some money for one of the insurance company that we did not chose. And when I called that company, they said that if I can show them, if I am insured and covered that particular period, then they will remove that bills. I think this is ridiculous, why such a company like this have a right to insure me, bill me and send that bill to collector? Without even notifying me first.""

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Hi, I'm turning 16 in September and is planning to get my licence right away. I haven't bough a vehicle yet, however, I'm planning to buy a car with a price range of 1000-2000 for used car. I didn't take any drivers training, I live in Alberta and I'm also a male. Around How much will my insurance be per month?""

Can you put two cars on two different insurance companies?

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Is it possible to cancel my insurance online?

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Cheapest car insurance in Massachusetts for a new driver?

I'm buying a car soon and will need insurance too.

Health insurance cost?

In June of 08 my fiance and I are getting married in IL. I will be just out of school and looking for a full-time teaching job. My soon to be husband graduated 2 years ago and found a part-time music job, but the school eliminated all the part-time positions. He is now subbing and teaching percussion lessons every week. We both will have to pay for insurance until we both get full-time jobs. What is a normal cost to pay per month. If I was to average $150.00 a month is that to little or to much for the two of us. I will be 22 almost 23 and he will be 25. I know he has insurance, but it only covers things that will cost over $8,000 and everything else he pays for out of pocket like shots and etc. It would be nice to have a better plan. He has a screwed up back and some other issues with his body hurting from time to time and blue cross and blue sheild rejected his application. So, it was hard for him to find a company to insure him. Thanks!""

Will my children from a previous relationship get my husbands insurance?

basically myself and my 2 children were on food and medical assistance and i am now off it, i will be starting to get new insurance through my husbands work and so will our child in common...but i have 2 children from a previous relationship. im not sure if they will need to have my insurance or if they will still qualify for the government medicaid since there father pays child support.""

Auto Insurance Rates...Own Vs. Lease?

I'd like to know if there is a HUGE difference in monthly auto insurance rates if you Lease a car instead of buying one? Things to consider for my scenario: 1) I'm a 23 yr old male, so my rates are still higher until I turn 25 2) Will have to have full coverage considering I won't own the vehicle in either scenario (I'd have to finance if I bought). Any info would be greatly appreciated!""

Can I make the minimum payment on car insurance and then....?

At the end of the year pay whatever the remainder is that I owe? Or does it all depend on what kind of car insurance you have?

Faster cars with lower insurance costs?

What are some faster cars available in the UK which have relatively low insurance costs. I am 20 years old so cars such as Imprezas where the insurance is 4000+ is too much. Are there any cars in the 1500-2000 insurance cost (3rd party fire and theft) which are usually cheaper to insure? Thanks

How did they steal my car? It a 2001 Lexus is200 . Stock immobiliZer fitted! Will insurance cover this?

Whill the insurance cover this? What todo? :(

Motorcycle Insurance?

If i accidentally knock over my bike, will insurance cover that? if so, which coverage covers it?""

What's a good job with good health insurance not needing a degree or experience?

I'm a college student looking to find a good job that has affordable health insurance all on which i can find an affordable place to live. Most factory's that have these benefits start with a low pay rate that doesn't seem worth it (after gas is taken out). Any ideas?

SR-22 insurance?

If someone got an OWI in iowa, How much does SR-22 usually cost? (was not me who received one, but I am glad this person finally got one)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cheap-auto-insurance-i-can-get-while-have-my-learners-castaneda/"