This LP is rigged from the start...Hey, we made it to Vegas!

[RK47]

Hours later....

I felt troubled. The guy looks like Powder Gangers uniform, but the banner with that golden ox is out of place. Nipton's on fire. I didn't take the shot. He doesn't look hostile and seemed very happy for some reason.

: Smell that air! Couldn't ya just drink it like booze!

This guy sounds like he's on drugs or something. Too damn happy.

Are you feeling all right?

: Are you kidding me? Never felt better!

: What sort of lottery did you win?

: What lottery? THE lottery, that's what lottery! Are you stupid? Only lottery that matters! Oh my god smell that air!

Unnaturally ecstatic...with a visible town burning behind him. Could he be behind all this?

: Are you a Powder Ganger?

: What? I mean, yeah, used to be, sure! But no more! Powder Gang i small-time, man! I'm a winner! I won the motherfucking lottery!

He ran off like a bolt. Out of Nipton, leaving me very confused.

Something just don't add up.

And that banner disturbs me. I don't recognize it all. Maybe there's some answers inside the general store.

I entered the shop and found a seated Powder Ganger, his eyes grew wide upon seeing me.

First I get my legs smashed, and then in walks the Powder Gangers' Grim fucking Reaper? What the fuck have you got against us, man?

Looks like I'm famous.

Jesus fucking christ, if you want me dead just gimme 15 Med-X and I'll fucking O.D for yo, okay? Fuck!

What happened to this town?

The legion happened. What the fuck's it look like?

How did you survive?

Luck, that's how! I'm just that fucking lucky! You're looking at the second place winner of the Nipton lottery! That asshole Swanick took first place, so him they let walk!

Ahhh, now I understand.

Tell me more.

It ain't like we came to Nipton to play it! Me and my crew had it worked out to kidnap some NCR troopers who came to town to get laid.

What the hell is this? A kidnapping plot?

had it all worked out with the scumbag mayor. We were gonna ransom them off, keep their weapons for ourselves, a nice score.

How'd it go wrong?

We get in position and next thing we know, we're surrounded by those fucking Legion freaks. They dragged us and everybody else into the center of the town. And that asshole with a dog on his head, he starts talking about how we're bad people!

Coincidence? A legion raid with Powder Gangers kidnapping plot masterminded by Nipton's own mayor? This shit is whacked.

He said we needed to be punished for what we did, not all of us, but some of us. And then he gives everyone a fucking lottery ticket...

What happened after that?

What do you think? He started drawing tickets, and that's how people got punished. First up was the lucky losers. They got decapitated - guess that's lucky because it's pretty quick. Then came the crucifixions. Goddamn those went on and on. Third place runners-up got enslaved. I got the fuck beat out of my legs, and the winner they let go free.

What about the mayor?

Him? When his ticket came up, they burned him alive on a pile of tires.

You said some of the people were enslaved?

Yeah, a bunch of those Legion fucks dragged them off right away. They was headed east, if you're feeling heroic.

I'll do what I can to save them.

Don't act like you'd be doing me a favor. I don't give a fuck.

Prick.

Why are you still here anyway?

I dunno, I just love it here. What the fuck do you think, asshole? I'm fucking crippled, get it?

I can spare some Med-X.

Then you're a fucking dream come true, ain't ya? How much you gonna give me?

I gave him two doses.

Good enough. Hand it over.

He wasn't going to be much help. The Med-X will dull the pain, but I doubt he'll help me out in fighting the Legion. I better check the Town Hall for any survivors.

The crucified ones are still alive!

Damn it.

The man with a dog pelt on his head beckoned me to move closer. I made no attempt to flee nor reach for my gun.

He began to speak.

I want you to witness the fate of the town of Nipton, to memorize every detail. And then, when you move on? I want you teach everyone you meet the lesson that Caesar's Legion taught here, especially any NCR troops you run across.

What lessons did you teach here?

Where to begin? That they are weak, and we are strong? This much was known already. But the depths of their moral sickness, their dissolution? Nipton serves as the perfect object lesson.

He's referring to the kidnapping plot instigated by the mayor? Then this whole raid wasn't a coincidence? Raid seems like the wrong word to use, more like slaughter.

What exactly happened here?

Nipton was a wicked place, debased and corrupt. It served all comers, so long as they paid. Profligate troops, Powder Gangers, Men of the Legion such as myself - the people here didn't care. It was a town of whores. For a pittance, the town agreed to lead those it had sheltered into a trap. Only when I sprang it did they realize they were caught inside too.

They used the mayor and in the end, killed him too.

You captured everyone?

Yes, and herded them to the center of town. I told them their sins, the foremost being disloyalty. I told them that when Legionaries are disloyal, some are punished, the others made to watch. And I announced the lottery.

And the sick games begin.

Each clutched his ticket, hoping it would set him free. Each did nothing, even when loved ones were dragged away to be killed.

You slaughtered innocent civilians?

Innocent? Hardly. Cowardly, though. They outnumbered us, yet not once did they try to resist. They stood and watched as their fellows were butchered, crucified, and burned, one by one. They stood and hoped their turn would not come. Each cared only for himself.

I tightened my arms into fist as I heard his condescending tone mocking the dead and suffering. Savages.

Your crimes are unforgivable.

As are all crimes. If you feel strongly about it, attack us, and soon you won't feel a thing.

I counted five of them plus a few mongrels. My nerve at its breaking point. I CAN do this. They turned to leave without a care, confident I was too terrified to do anything.

How wrong they were.

I clutched the syringe and jammed into my arm, injecting the chems into my system. My heartbeat increased, senses sharp. I could sense their vital points with a glance. I was ready, I grabbed the scoped rifle off my back and took aim.

Without a shred of doubt, I shot the nearest Legion on the head, dropping him immediately. I switched to the mongrels next, dispatching them with precision. The dog headed one noticed and the rest charged in with their machetes.

I stepped back as the closest one slashed his machete and switched to my Cowboy Repeater and opened fire at his head.

He died instantly.

I unloaded the rifle on another, scoring a quick kill. The dog headed one looked stunned with the quick turn of events.

I wasn't finished, I backpedalled and dropped a frag mine before switching back to my repeater and taking aim.

The frag mine exploded as I fired at him. He is no longer amongst the living. I shook off the ringing sound in my ear as I stepped up and took aim at the last Legion who is taking potshot at me with a rifle. He looked terrified.

He should be. It was his last moment on earth.

I took out my pistol and walked slowly to the dog headed man's body.

I had to make sure this one's dead.

At last, it was all over.

 

[RK47]

I wasn't finished. I dragged their corpses to burn at the pyres they have created.

And I can't let these crucified ones suffer any longer...

I'm sorry.

I decided to investigate the town hall, in a tiny hope that anyone might be alive.

Only to find land mines waiting for me underneath all the corpses of the townsfolk, each clutching to a lottery ticket till the end. Poor bastards. A few mongrels are still around, but they're easy kills.

The Mayor's computer is still intact. It might be a damning evidence on who really doomed this whole town.

Whoring the whole town to anyone he can... The last entry is the worst, however.

Was it worth it, you dumbfuck? I paused a bit before leaving Nipton and realized there's one last loose end...

I think I heard him begging before I pulled the trigger.

At last, the Nightmare of Nipton is over.

 

[DarthBehemoth]

I like your Writing style RK47 keep it up!

 

[SuicideBunny]

--= Seal of Approval =--

 

[LusciousPear]

In b4 popamole.

 

[Dragula]

Popamole larpfag

 

[Radisshu]

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

One thing NV has in spades is a whole bunch of grand prix class scumbags. The mayor of Nipton was just an appetizer, the

Spoiler

two ex-prospectors, Dermont and Saint James, who captured refugees to sell to the Fiends were by far the worst I've encountered. Mortimer might be a cannibal, but that doesn't shit on the sheer callousness the journal of Dermont had. Especially when they started shooting the fathers to save on food and effort. It also managed to make the slaughter of the Fiends bounties all the more satisfying when you read the kind of shit they'd been doing. A very good way to make horrible people you probably would kill, but not make it in-your-face obvious how horrible.

 

[RK47]

Yeah, I knew I did the right thing when I gained karma when I shot Boxcars. The first time I went through Nipton, it really showed the difference between FO3 & NV. The wasteland is a sick place. Then I hit Novac ghouls...and it went herp derp again.

 

[FaChoi]

I thought Oliver the "lottery" winner was a bit of a dumbass- bragging about winning earned him a .357 in the back of his head.... soon found out it was worthless tho

 

[Radisshu]

The karma system sucks, though. I mean, in the first games it was just another name for a reputation system, then Bethtardo invented OBJECTIVE MORALITY. If I kill a merchant to eat his body, that is EVIL. If I killed a Powder Ganger to eat his body, that is GOOD, even though I just killed someone just to cannibalize him.

 

[laclongquan]

The game look, ... I dunno, promising.

Torrent or not torrent, that's the question.

 

[RK47]

I made my way back to Ranger Ghost in the Mojave Outpost.

You check out the Nipton town hall yet? Smoke trail's not getting any shorter.

Legion turned that sinkhole into a graveyard.

Legion this far west? You're fucking kidding me. That's not outside the border, they're moving in - and fast. Nipton wasn't the most friendly town, but... All right - thanks for checking on that, wish it set my mind at ease, now I'm more on the edge than ever.

Didn't mean to be the bearer of bad news.

Unless you burned the town, don't take blame that's not due. Things are going to get uglier before the year's out. Wish we could spare the troops to go hunting, but orders are to stay put. Fucking Mojave's going to hell, and all I can do is sit here and watch.

I decided to head down to the bar and relax a bit before moving onward to Novac. Cass' still there, I suppose she can't go anywhere with the caravan papers holding her down. Maybe she won't mind a little chat.

You come around like a bad habit. What's on your mind?

Tell me something about this Outpost.

You're looking at it. It's a watering hole without much to brag about. It's like a Brahmin drive gone wrong - supposed to be a gate north, but you come here, you get caught in the pen. Better to head back home. If you don't have a gun and a will, don't matter much what you do when you reach here, except stare at that fucking monument outside.

That fucking monument outside?

Don't even tell me you missed it coming in. It's like NCR showing its dick to all the East. If the Republic put as much effort into protecting the East as they put into those two asinine giants outside, then they'd be worth that monument.

So true.

Statues of two men shaking hands covered in blood doesn't seem to be nothing to brag about.

Covered in blood?

I'm speaking figuratively, isn't any blood on their damn hands. Course, when Caesar comes walking through here, there'll be blood for real. And after the blood dries in the sun, he'll melt that piece of Jet-induced sculpture down, and reshape it into a bull. Which by my reckoning is making for a deficiency of his. But not matter what the state of his pecker, he's sure giving the West a good fucking.

I chuckled at Cass' colorful prediction. Mojave's turning into hell, and the NCR doesn't seem to be capable of doing much but defend itself. And it's not even doing a good job of it. I traded for supplies with the bartender before setting off for Novac.

A few hours later...

My scope caught sight of two legions rushing towards me. So they're out for my blood now...saves me the trouble.

I rushed onward when ED sensors caught a few more of them at a nearby encampment. No more sneak attacks.

I finished the rest off and noticed two captives dressed as Powder Gangers. They looked terrified. Must be the Nipton's slaves. I untied them and let them be on their way. There's enough killing for today.

I continued north and found a Ranger Station.

What was that about McCarran?

Radio signal out here can be pretty spotty because of all the hills. Sometimes our scheduled update don't go through. When it happens enough times, they send someone over to check up on us. Lately, we've been getting extra medical supplies for some reason.

That's not a bad thing is it?

Mind if I take some of those extra supplies?

I shouldn't have said anything in the first place, and I'd rather not get you into the habit of crossing the NCR.

Anything unusual happening around here?

All quiet at the moment. Ranger Beaumont is in charge here, but he's off leading a patrol.

Oh well, nothing to be done. I continued on my way to Novac to the north. Strange name, but the origin of the name is revealed upon arrival with a strange huge dino overlooking the eastern stretch of the town.

I could use some rest before continuing my investigation. I made my way to the motel's front desk.

Well. Welcome to you. You look tired from the road. Why don't you relax a spell, let this fine take care of you?

We haven't met yet.

Oh, what am I doing? I got to thinking about making a good impression and plain forgot to tell you my name. I'm Jeannie-May. I take care of folks here at the motel. Long as they aren't trouble makers.

What is this place?

We're in a little desert oasis, name of Novac. This is the Dino Dee-lite Motel, and it's mine.

Guess I'm in the right place.

I'm looking for a man in a checkered coat. Have you seen anyone like that?

Well he might've been wearing a fancy outfit, but he wasn't any kind of gentleman to me. Had his nose stuck so high in the air, you couldn't see it above the clouds. City folk, they always think they deserve than what they got. Those hoodlums he was with seemed to know Manny for some reason. He's our daytime sniper, up in the dinosaur's mouth.

Where can I get supplies?

Go see Cliff Briscoe at the Dino Bite Gift Shop, and tell him I sent you. I think he'll get lonely standing around in that dino belly all day. He'll be glad for the company.

What is there of interest around here?

Well, there's Dinky, the town mascot. He's a sight. You probably already saw him when you came in, but you can go up inside too. Up the road to the west, there's REPCONN. That's the old rocket factory. There's been some sinister characters out there lately, so you may want to stay clear. Other than that, nothing to do but take it easy and enjoy good company.

I updated my Pip-boy map.

Anything else?

Well, up north a ways you'll see this big tower. That's HELIOS One. Used to be a power plant in its day. And there's a town just east of here called Nelson. Used to be such a quaint little place until those slavers took it over.

Most probably Legion...

But we got our wonderful snipers keeping an eye in that direction, and so far the slavers have left us alone.

So what's been going on in town lately?

Well, let's see. Dusty McBride's been losing some Brahmin, but that's probably the heat more than anything. Honestly, it's been real quiet. Ranger Andy's still hurt, but we got these two gentlemen snipers watching the road day and night, keeping the trash out of Novac. They've been a blessing.

I booked a room for 100 caps and rested for the day, preferring to continue my investigation after a good rest.

 

[RK47]

The room's not much, but the rest was good. I woke up feeling refreshed and made my way down to the Dino Gift Shop.

The shopkeeper Cliff looks really happy to see a customer and immediately start his salespitch.

Jeannie May sent me.

Bless her. Seems like every traveler I get in here tells me the same thing. They see the sign and think, gift shop? That's just too good to be true. But Jeannie May always point them back in my direction. Well, a friend of Jeannie's is a friend of mine. And my friends get a discount at my store.

Sweet. Cliff gives good prices for sold items. More than the 50% of value we get from other traders.

What do you sell here?

Well there's t-rex figurines, of course. That's our bread and butter. We also have an assortment of the REPCONN factory souvenirs - rockets, things of that nature.

What about supplies? And guns? Do you sell those?

Guns? I, uh, well...yeah, I guess I might have a few. Darn it. No one ever buys the t-rexes.

He looked really down, so I tried to cheer him up a bit by asking about it.

Tell me more about the souvenir rockets.

They're scale replicas of the real thing. Very detailed. Got a liquid in them that makes them glow. From what I hear, REPCONN used to give them out on tours of their HQ up in Henderson. But I guess they had to stop after the first few kids thought they were filled with Nuka Cola and drank it down.

Ha.Ha. Ha.

The papers had a name for the condition and everything. They called it the REPCONN Shakes. Those were bad times for Robco.

How did they end up here?

Well, they unloaded what they had left on the Dino Bite as a tax write-off. But that was before my time. Plenty of demand for them, seeing as they're one-of-a-kind collectors item. But I might still have some in back.

Riiiiight. I browsed his supplies store and bought a mod for my Cowboy Repeater. It adds another four bullets to the max load. Nice. I made my way up to the dino's mouth. A guy wearing red beret is topside.

Hi, what's your name?

I'm Manny. I'm on security detail here. You see a rifle barrel sticking out of the dino's mouth, you got a fifty-fifty shot it's me. Otherwise it's Boone.

Who's Boone?

Boone's a sniper, same as me. Used to spot for him when we were enlisted with the NCR. After we got out, I talked him into settling down here. So, here we are. I'd introduce you, but uh...we're not so friendly now.

Why are you on bad terms with Boone?

Me and his wife, we didn't see eye to eye on some things. We had some pretty big arguments. One day she turns up missing, and he hasn't said a word to me since.

What did you guys argue about?

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. So, I enlisted. Earned my future. Brought down my best friend to share that future with me. And here was this woman who was too good for it, trying to take him away. So yeah. I didn't see eye-to-eye with the bitch.

A classic case of two bros losing their brotherly bonds over one's marriage. Sigh. Happened to me in RL too. It's not a bad writing, but Obsidian could've cut it short to the settling down at Novac part. I didn't ask Manny to go 'wayyyyyy back in grade school growing up part'. I didn't even have the opportunity to ask what was that 'something happened'.

What was your tour with the NCR like?

Oh, it was great. I wouldn't trade it. Something about that lifestyle, the discipline. Seeing new places, making people safe. What's not to like?

I can understand the feeling. But not a lot of NCR troops are like that in Mojave nowadays. And he left NCR army in the end...so what's the story?

So why'd you leave?

Ah, well... I just felt like it was time, you know? Wanted to have a home. Plus I was up at Camp Golf when Bitter Springs went down. I faked like I was sick to get out of going, because I knew some of the people there. But when everybody came back nobody would tell me what happened. And people would call us murderers sometimes when we showed up to secure towns.

Hmmm. That's interesting.

What did happen at Bitter Springs?

I still didn't know exactly. Just that a lot of people died who didn't want to be part of the fighting at all. I don't blame anybody for it. There's so much chaos when you're fighting, you're lucky not to shoot your own guys. But it did take something out of me. Just wasn't the same. So when it came to re-enlist, I just took my papers and walked.

Enough with the personal history, then.

I'm looking for a man in checkered coat.

Sure, I know him. What do you want with him?

He has something of mine.

You talking about that chip? Man, I don't think he's giving it up. Well, listen. I can definitely help you find him, but I've got problems of my own. Maybe we can trade. There's something I need.

What do you need?

Novac, it's home for me now. I want that to be for good. I like it here, and I've left too many homes behind. But the only resources we got here is junk. Without that, people wouldn't have anything to trade. They'd all have to leave. We get most of it up the road from the old rocket test site. But a bunch of ghouls showed up one day and took it over. We can't get in there now.

What needs to be done?

Well they gotta go, or this'll be a ghost town before long. Doesn't matter to me what you do. As long as the ghouls are out of there, that's good enough for me.

Just a bunch of feral ghouls infesting a site shouldn't be much of a problem to shoot at.

OK. I'll see what I can do about it.

I headed down from the dino shop and went to check on the Ranger's residence.

We haven't met yet. You must be new in town. I'm Andy.

What do you do here, Andy?

Right now? A whole lot of sitting on my keister and counting cracks in the ceiling. I wouldn't wish it on anybody. On better days I help keep the peace. Boone and Vargas watch the road, I watch the town. Tell myself I'm doing some good.

Something happened to your leg?

Yeah. Twice. Actually the first time it was more like half my body. Knocked me out of the Rangers. This time it's mostly just reminded me how useless I've gotten.

What happened?

A few years back, we get a tip that some Legion slavers were holed up in this burnt out house a few klicks where we were stationed. We get there and it was deserted. No sign anyone's been there. I mean nothing. As we're leaving, I hear something behind me. I turn around and there's this kid, just skin and bone, and he's looking up at us and he's scared half to death. Been hiding in a closet.

What did you do?

I go to grab him out of there and I notice he's holding up something in his hand. Something metal.

Oh,shit.

He shuts himself back inside the closet and that's when I see the grenade he's left by my feet. They do it a lot, the Legion. Using kids. They know we'll hesitate.

Don't forget dead bodies.

Anyway, that was the first time. Second time I fell down those stairs in front of the motel. Just in case I got to thinking I'd put it all behind me.

Ouch.

You're with the NCR, right?

Was. Was with them. That was back when my arm and leg used to work better.

They let him keep his armor? Interesting.

I still like to pretend I'm a ranger, though. I'll check in with the guys up at the station pretty regular on the ham radio. Sometimes they stop by, tell me they're paying their respects, the smug bastards. They haven't been responding to me, last couple of days. I guess they got tired of hearing me talk, but it's still got me a little worried.

Uh oh..

Would you feel better if I checked on your NCR friends for you?

Uh..no. No. They're gonna think I'm having trouble letting go. They're good soldiers. I don't give them enough credit.

All right then, good bye.

Hey, uh, wait a sec. I know what I said. But...if you find yourself by Ranger Station Charlie, let me know what you find.

Sounds good. I made my way out, anxious to check it. Shouldn't take too long. As I left the gates of Novac, I spotted a familiar looking metallic figure.

What the hell? Is he stalking me? How did he pop out everywhere I go?

What are you doing in Novac?

Don't rightly know - I just got the notion to make my way to New Vegas. Reckon I'll find out when I got there.

Quite a coincidence us meeting like this.

Seeing how this is the only road around, I'd be a sight more surprised if we didn't run into each other from time to time.

Too suspicious.

Just stay out of my way, robot.

I'll let that slide seeing how you gotta mind full of vengeance for that no-good polecat and all. Be seeing you.

Before I head out for Charlie Station, I went and check at the local rancher Dusty to look into his 'cattle killer' problem.

Hey there. In from out of town, ain't you? Name's Dusty.

I heard you've been losing livestock.

Losing don't describe it. It's a massacre. Few more days and there won't be nothing left to lose.

Tell me more.

Every night around midnight Alice and I'll wake up to some crazy hollering and gun shots. You'd think the world was ending all over again. But it's just one animal every night. They don't take it or carve it up or nothing. Just leave it there, all full of holes.

I'll see if I can catch whoever's responsible.

We'd be grateful. Especially if you find 'em before they get my whole stock. But don't go getting yourself killed over it.

I stood guard over the cattle at 11 PM that night. And scanned the surrounding area with my night scope. Nothing so far..

It was near to midnight when I started to notice there's something transparent heading across the rail tracks. A stealthboy equipped cattle killer?

I glued my scope on the shimmering shape. Not taking my shot unless necessary. Until...

A supermutant hulk uncloaked with a mini gun! Raving like a lunatic, it took aim at the brahmin. I opened fire before switching to the Cowboy Repeater as I ran up close to get a better look. It raged in pain and I left loose another shot at its face...the .357 magnum tearing it apart.

The creature howled in pain as it ran blindly towards Novac.

I put down the miserable beast with my 10mm pistol finally before it could cause anymore damage. I searched his body and found a badly damaged mini gun, some 5mm ammo and a tape recording containing the mutant's ravings...

Weird shit. I reported the matter to rancher Dusty who was happy to offer me a bunch of caps and brahmin steaks in his fridge. I thanked him on the offer and went to the Gift Shop to sell off the badly damaged mini gun, but Cliff seems to be done for the night, leaving it free for me to poke around his store room which is full of 'collectors item'

Limited edition my ass. I also noticed my Geiger counter rising when I stepped too close to the rockets...whatever is inside that toy rocket, it's radioactive. I made my way up the dino's mouth and noticed there's another sniper manning the post. Manny's shift is over at night, it seems.

Goddamn it! Don't sneak up on me like that. What do you want?

Expecting visitors?

Yeah. I guess maybe I am. But not like you. Huh. Maybe it should've been you I was expecting all along. Why are you here?

This guy's cold. Unlike the rest of Novac.

Just meeting new people.

I think you'd better leave.

Just making friendly conversation.

I don't have friends here.

Well, I'm not from here.

No. No, you're not, are you? Maybe you shouldn't go. Not just yet.

Why is that?

I need someone I can trust. You're a stranger. That's a start.

Just like any RPG. "HEY YOU LOOK NEW HERE, COME KILL SOME GIANT RATS IN THE BASEMENT FOR ME!"

You only trust strangers?

I said it was a start. This town...nobody looks me straight in the eyes anymore.

Maybe it's because you're such a dick, Boone.

What do you want me to do?

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 on watch. They knew when to come and what route to take, and they only took Carla. Someone set it up. I don't know who.

You're trying to track down your wife?

My wife's dead. I want the son of a bitch who sold her.

How do you know that?

I know, all right? And that's all you need to know.

Fine, Mr. Hardass.

What do I do if I find this person?

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 you're standing with him. And I'll take care of the rest. I need to do this myself.

I'll see what I can do to help you out.

Good. I'll make it worth your while. And one more thing: We shouldn't speak again. Not until it's over.

I guess I could ask for more info in town, but I decided against that. It's night, I can use my stealth and picking skills to dig for info. I didn't have to go far, however. Jeannie went to sleep and left the front counter empty. There's a safe behind the counter.

There's a bunch of caps and a bill of sales. The latter's contents sinister in nature.

That's just fucked up. 1500 caps for a woman and her unborn baby?!

Boone will want to see this....I guess Jeannie held on to this document for the 500 caps bonus upon the birth of the baby. Only one thing left to do. I went over to Jean's house, dreading what would come next.

Is everything all right. Awful late to be dropping in unexpected.

Come with me. There's something you should see, in front of the dinosaur.

Okay, if that's what you think.

It was a short walk to the dinosaur's front...Boone didn't waste time with her. Two steps later, a gunshot rang out, ending Jeannie's presence on this earth. One less animal in this world.

 

[RK47]

I went to the dino mouth to meet up with Boone.

That's it, then. How did you know?

I found the bill of sale.

Guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's be like them to keep paperwork. Here. This is all I can give. I think our dealings are done here.

What will you do after this?

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, just like you.

I can feel the rage in his voice. I guess he's going to kill those Legion until he dies. Might as well bring him along.

Come with me. Let's go after the Legion.

You don't want to do that.

(Intelligence) I thought snipers worked in teams.

Hnh. Yeah. Working on your own, you're a lot less effective. I've been there and paid for it. But this isn't going to end well...Fine. Let's get out of here.

Boone joins me in my travels. He's a crack shot with the scoped hunting rifle. And his spotter ability makes it easier for me to see enemies at night or dark places. Combine this with ED-E's long range sensors, nothing will catch me by surprise in the wilderness anymore.

I went back to the motel room to rest and woke up in the morning, fully refreshed. Time to clean up REPCONN.

Feral ghouls aren't much of a problem. Even stronger versions like Glowing Ones which are highly radioactives are no match to 10mm slugs to the head. Just keep them at a distance and aim well.

I found a small guard post with untouched supplies. Makes me wonder who were guarding the place. There's stims, ammo and grenade boxes strewn about. These feral ghouls can't really use weapons, can they?

The rocket testing facility looks slightly damaged. A couple of ghoul corpses are strewn on the floor. One of them clothed in robe. Weird.

Are they non-feral? I went through the front door as I blasted another two feral ghouls on the way in. As I entered the facility, the intercom next to the door crackled to life.

Hey! Over here! Are you listening? Go to the big room on the east side of this building and take the metal staircase all the way up. And hurry.

Who are you?

Who am I doesn't matter, smoothskin. Stop wasting time and get up here.

Smoothskin? Non feral ghouls? I went deeper into the facility and found a dead nightkin and a string of ghoul corpses. Looks like there's been a battle. I finally found the door to the labs and the voice in the intercom let me in. To my surprise, it wasn't a ghoul who greeted me.

Hey, you're not a ghoul!

Your pranks won't work on me, smoothskin. They won't work on Jason, either.

Smoothskin? Your skin looks pretty smooth to me.

Stop wasting my time, smoothskin. Go waste Jason's.

I ignored him and noticed the rest of the scientists are ghouls except for Chris, and the one named Jason is glowing green...a sentient Glowing One?

Hello, wanderer. Please forgive us of our humble surroundings. Our true home awaits us in the Far Beyond. Have you come to help us complete the Great Journey?

What's the deal with the human who let me in?

You're referring to Chris. I doubt you had much luck if you tried telling him that he's human. We had the same discussions when he first appeared, and the same lack of success. He believes he is one of us. Soon enough we realized that Chris was a gift from the creator. He in integral to the success of the Great Journey.

Sigh. Something has gone wrong in this writing somewhere.

Who are you?

I am Jason Bright, the prophet of the Great Journey. All the ghouls you see here are members of my flock.

I felt the need to blow their heads up. But since they're not hostile I chose to be patient. Maybe if I assist them in this great journey, they'll go away from REPCONN ruins.

We wish to escape the barbarity of the wasteland, especially the violence and bigotry of its human inhabitants. The creator has promised my flock a new land: a place of safety and healing...a paradise in the far beyond. Preparations for the Great Journey were nearly complete when the demons appeared.

Must be the Nightkins.

Tell me more of these demons.

They appeared from nowhere...except it might be more accurate to say they never actually appeared at all. The demons are invisible. Where one of them stands, the most one sees is the air shimmering, like sunlight on water. They set upon us as we were on our way to worship one morning. We had just entered the basement. My flock fought bravely, and killed a few, but at such cost. Nearly half of us died or went missing. The rest of us retreated up here. One of the demons raved at us, but they have not tried to attack us since. Still, their demonic presence brought all progress towards Great Journey to a standstill. But now you have come. Once again, the creator has sent a human to help us across a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

Riiiight.

Will you drive away the demons, wanderer?

Well. Seeing as killing a Nightkin is harder than a bunch of hippie ghouls in robes, I suppose I'm inclined to agree to help them out with the 'demonic infestation'. Can't ignore this fantastic(shit) piece of quest writing!

I think I'll leave it to the Codex to decide.

Destroy the Ghouls and hope that'll satisfy the Nightkins to leave.

or

Destroy the Nightkins and help the Ghouls on their great journey.

or ignore both altogether and get the info from Manny another way.

 

[Black]

Solve this peacefully by helping nightkins.

 

[SoupNazi]

Help the Ghouls, but then convince Chris into sabotaging the rocket, killing them all.

 

[Azira]

I'm a bit undecided on this. The conversation you can have with the nightkin leader is hilarious, but part of me just want to say kill them all...

 

[Havoc]

I have only one request... don't go NCR in the end. They're just a bunch of political scum.

 

[RK47]

I guess we'll help them out. At least at the end of it all, they'll leave the REPCONN facility. Jason handed me a key to the basement, which he claims to be crawling with Nightkins. Swell.

If all Nightkins are like the one I met in Novac's ranch earlier, then I gotta be careful. One is bad enough, but a few cloaked ones could dish out some serious pain.

It's dark in here. If you want to use a scope, I can spot for you. Keep you on target.

Heh, thanks. But I think I'll ask both you and ED-E to stay put while I do my ninja stealth run.

Looks like the commander of the nightkin. Maybe he can be reasoned with.

Who's he talking to?

An assassin, more like! I say kill it, Antler. For safe's sake! Huh? OK, Antler. I'll ask. Hi, human. Why you come here?

Are you all right? You sound...strange.

I am in command of my faculties! In command of my troops! Antler guides me in all things! As I in turn guide my kin!

Who is Antler?

Who is Antler? WHO IS ANTLER?! Antler, the human asks about you! What do I tell it? All right... Yes, of course.

I could be wrong, but maybe he's talking to that...uh..brahmin skull next to him on top of that desk.

Who Antler is, not important to you. Antler wants that you deal with me.

And who are you, exactly?

Me? I am devoted to Antler. But before Antler? Hmm...Captain, once. Last name, Davison. First name....don't remember. I commanded a troop of Nightkin. The Master's Elite. A great honor, very proud. Something happened. We wandered the desert. Life without master was...hard. The others' minds going strange, going crazy.

Poor miserable, creature. The repeated Stealthboy usage on mutants generally mess up their minds, turning them into total headcase like that Brahmin butcher back in Novac. This one worship skulls...

But then I found us a new master. I find us Antler! Since then, everything's been going really well.

So..what do you need help with?

Good. Antler brought us here for a reason...Why was that, Antler? Right! A piece of paper. Shipment invoice. Hundreds of Stealth Boys, sent here a long time ago...

Color me interested!

But Stealth Boys must be in one room we don't search yet - the one we can't search.

I'll find this stockpile for you if your kin will leave this place. (And I'll help myself to a few units myself)

Yes, Antler says we leave here as soon as we get Stealth Boys. Let me give you key. Antler had me lock the door. The ghoul inside not expecting a human. Maybe he don't shoot you. Maybe he will.

I'm confused to what he meant by that. But as I unlocked the door next to his room, a ghoul spotted me.

Hey! You're not one of those things out there. Who the hell are you?

Jason sent me down here to get rid of the demons.

And I bet he told you it's the creator's will for you to risk your ass, instead of him, right?

He's got a point there.

Well, good luck with that! I'd give you a hand, but no thanks. I may look like a corpse, but I'm partial to living.

How did you end up trapped down here?

First off, I'm not trapped. This was a tactical choice, all right? I'm no match for those things out there, so I found a good defensive position, and I've been defending it, right?

Long pause.

Aw, who am I fooling? I'm trapped. Name's Harland. Pleased to meet you. What happened was, I was escorting folks down to work when those things attacked us. Most of the fight was upstairs, but some folks panicked and made for the basement. And I went after them. Well, turns out there were even more of those bastards down here than upstairs, and things went to shit fast. I couldn't find the others, so I fell back to this room and set up a nice little kill zone. End of story.

Phew.

How have you survived?

I'm not delicate. Radroach meat for protein, condensation off the pipes of water, and I do my business over in the far corner. I wouldn't say it's been comfy.

Well, how can I help you out of this room?

Ha! Well, you're polite, I'll give you that. If this way between you and me, I'd do as you ask. But it's not. I had a friend with me when those mutant bastards came out of nowheres. She panicked and ran the wrong direction - further into the basement. She's probably dead, but I ain't leaving until I know for sure. I'd have gone looking myself, except I wouldn't last a minute out there. You, on the other hand, seems pretty resourceful. Find my friend, and I'll get out of your way.

OK. Looks like we can either shoot him down or try to find his friend. The problem with this quest is that even though I'm assisting Davison the Nightkin, the rest of the nightkin still attack me on sight. Fucking pain even when I sneak around. Try it with followers following you for maximum mess up. Other players reported that if you initiate combat too close to Davison, he'll get aggressive and you have to kill every nightkin in the end.

I ninja stealthed till I got close to the prison, then the jailer detected me and unleashed exploding flame rounds from his incinerator. If I don't deal with this asshole quick, the rest will join in and use me as a grilled punching bag. Time to even up the odds.

This should keep me out of sight...practically undetectable.

Even when on fire. I'm still hidden. I reached the door only to realize the key is required. There's no lockpicking skill check. I have to kill the jailer. No exceptions.

WHY? OBSIDIAN, WHY?

And turned out it was all for nothing.

I rushed back to Harland only to get ass-raped by two nightkins with huge concrete clubs. I barely survived without taking a single screenshot of the encounter. You just gotta take my word for it.

All right, you did your part, so I'll do mine. Look around up here if you want. I'm going to make a break for topside.

The platform Harland was guarding holds a terminal with info on the whereabouts of the Stealth Boy shipment.

Sigh, and it's not even down there. Fuck. Let's hope Davison don't get pissed.

There is no stockpile of Stealth Boys in this building.

Liar! The invoice said Stealth Boys here! Antler read it out loud to me!

At this point I expected a Speech check to calm him down, but there wasn't any. In fact, there's only one dialogue choice to continue the conversation. Thanks for freeing us from the tyranny of choice, Obsidian. This whole REPCONN chain is horrible shit writing.

The Stealth Boys were sent here by mistake, then sent back.

But invoice note said Stealth Boys were here! Why can't that note be true? (Pauses) What, Antler? But human could be lying! Stealing the Stealth Boys for himself.

Then why the fuck would I appear in front of you and tell you this? I would've delivered 7 magnum slugs to your head right now while stealthed if that's the case, dumbfuck!

Oh, Antler, you trust so easily. Your lucky day, human. Antler believe you. Nightkin will follow the new note to find stealth boys. Better be there.

Stop glaring, you freak! I went upstairs and reported the good news to Jason.

Praise the Creator! Bless you, wanderer! The way is clear! I will lead my flock through the basement to the sacred site! I hope you will come find us there, wanderer! There is much to be done.

I followed them down to a hidden staircase behind Davison's room. Following a sewer passage led me to an underground rocket launching facility. Jason looks excited.

I picked up a Food Sanitizer unit amongst the tech scraps on the floor. Also, a space suit on a shelf caught my eye. I could use a little Rad Protection sometime.

I wanted to speak with you one last time before I descend to the launch pad, wanderer. I want you to know that we will remember for all eternity how you delivered us to the threshold of the Great Journey.

Save the speech, seriously. Just get the fuck out of here already.

Our preparations are nearly complete, but the rockets that will carry us to salvation are yet missing vital components. If you would still help us, wanderer, speak to Chris. He can tell you what is missing.

Are you seriously going to make your Great Journey on those rockets?

Yes. The rockets will convey us to our promised land in the Far Beyond. Vision upon vision has confirmed it.

Sigh, whatever. As long you get your asses out of REPCONN.

Let's talk about Chris.

After all that you have done for us, I suppose you deserve to know everything. When Chris came to us, we tried to convince him that he was human. But this only angered him. He seemed lost. We decided to let him stay with us for a few days, over the course of which we learned that his technical skills far surpassed our own. It became clear that the creator had sent him to us, to ensure the success of the Great Journey. Equally clear was that Chris should labor in blessed ignorance of his humanity, and his inability to make the journey himself.

So you're going to leave Chris behind?

Such is the creator's will. Vision upon vision has shown me that, were Chris to accompany us, he would die in minutes. The radiation around the launch pad alone would kill Chris in minutes. The radioactivity of the Far Beyond is much stronger.

Just where the fuck is this Far Beyond is supposed to be anyway?

You've been using Chris (AND ME!). It's despicable!

It is the creator's will, and I must submit. There is no malice in it. We would take him with us if we could.

Sigh. Should I tell Chris the truth. Nah, he'll never believe me anyway. Jason descended down the hatch into the launch pad. Chris entered the room shortly to discuss launch preparations.

OK, Chris. How can I help?

I was close to completing work on the rockets before we were driven into hiding on the top floor. Two components were missing: a quantity of Isotope-239 igniting agent, and a set of thrust control modules. If you're looking for the control module keep in mind that REPCONN has been ransacked so many times by scavengers, it's hard to know where the components might turn up. If you know any junk dealers in the area, I'd start there.
For the igniting isotope, Jason mentioned some industrial ruins to the east that are supposed to be highly radioactive.

OK. Two stuff to try out. I know Novac has a junk dealer slightly north of the town. The Eastern ruins might have isotopes I can collect. But first, let's try to convince Chris that he can't go on the journey....

Why don't they let you work on the launch pad?

When I joined the flock, Jason made it clear that he wanted me to supervise the repairs, not do them myself. It would be waste of my gifts to work on just one system at a time. From up here, I've been able to supervise the entire project.

The radiation down there would kill you, Chris. Because you're human.

I thought we were past all that, smothskin. But you just can't resist the chance to mess with me. Typical human. I was a human once, you know. Grew up in Vault 34, northeast of here. Nice upbringing if you like assault rifle and target practice. But oh, you prefer machines that don't shoot people? Not so nice then. Who should maintain the Vault's reactor? Houser? Mitchell? No - make it Haversam. He likes machines! Haversam won't mind getting irradiated! Haversam won't mind mutating! He's already ugly as it is!

It took me a while to understand who is this Haversam he spoke of, but then I realized it's his last name, silly me.

Haversam won't mind when his hair start falling out after a few years. There's no connection, Haversam! You're neurotic!

I noted his vault location on my Pip Boy.

You left your vault because you were going bald?

Bald? You call this bald, smoothskin? I'm a monster! A monster!

(Speech) You wouldn't trust a ghoul, would you?

I see your ploy, smoothskin. I won't fall or your trap. You can plainly see that I'm a ghoul myself. You can't turn me against my flock.

Hnh.....I'll go look for the parts then.

 

[RK47]

I went to a junk dealer north of Novac, an old lady called Gibson.

You might have noticed the very large building just north of here. That's HELIOS One. The NCR runs the place, so it's off-limits to prospectors.

Do you have any thrust control modules from REPCONN in stock?

As so it happens, I do have some, but they're expensive. 500 caps worth of expensive.

I can't bargain for shits and I don't like the idea of stealing from an old lady.

500 caps it is. Here you go.

What do you know about HELIOS One?

The way I heard it, the Brotherhood of Steel ran the place before the NCR took it away from them. I'm not sure who started shooting first.

Brotherhood of Steel...a bunch of tech-hoarding paladins clad in power armor. Amazing that NCR can kick their asses.

But when it was over, the Brotherhood, with all their fancy armor and weapons, was on the run. Nobody's heard from them since.

Interesting. I was about to turn around and leave the shack when suddenly ED-E beeped repeatedly and started an audio playback.

Subject E: Diagnosis complete. Begin recording. My name is Whitley. I'm a researcher at Adams Air Force Base. Until recently I was in charge of the Duraframe reinforcement project for combat model Eyebots. Eyebot Duraframe Subject E is both the prototype, and the last functional model in this test group. I was prepared to make several significant upgrades to the machines However, as the project was canceled and all Duraframe assets are being diverted to Hellfire Armor, I am sending this model to the Navarro outpost. If you are listening to this log from one of our Enclave Outposts in Chicago, give this unit whateve repairs it needs so it can continue to Navarro. (End Playback)

Errr, I'm not sure what it wants me to do. Navarro is nowhere near here. I'm not really familiar with Enclave either. Looks like ED-E might have some skeletons in its metallic closet. Right now it's a just a luggage carrier equipped with a puny laser. I left the junk dealer shack and went east to a radioactive ruins plagued with Golden Geckos. Inside I found a rad-suit clad corpse.

And he's got the Isotope we need. That's 2 out of 2! I head back to the rocket launching facility to hand over the two components to Chris.

Jason gave a long speech about remembering two humans assistance which made the Journey possible. He highlighted Chris as a Saint and apologized that Chris can't join them in the journey. At the end of the speech, Chris looked shaken.

Did you hear him? My god, you were right all along. I'm no ghoul! They were just using me.

They'd take you if they could, Chris, but you'd die.

And dying would be worse than this? Used up and thrown away like garbage.

Well, at least they revered you as a Saint.

Oh, so I've redeemed the human race, is that it? What a crock! The human race can't stand me!

That's not true, Chris. You're all right.

So you want me to accompany you on your adventures across the wasteland, is that it?

I'd love to, but the game won't give the option to accept ...instead they gave me this shitastic line.

There's a little town called Novac down the road.

Life among humans again, that's what you're suggesting? I guess...I guess it's the only chance I've got. Maybe it'll be different this time. I was never a Saint before. I'll give it a try. You go launch the rockets. I'm going to Novac.

Yeah, don't go emo on me.

Time to settle this terrible quest chain. But WAIT! There's one final twist.

I took the liberty of raising my science to 35 upon level up. With the help of Comprehension Perk, I could hit the 55 skill check with a science magazine, the question is...which one to pick?

I'm going to take a dump before blitz-updating. If there's no votes (First 2 votes wins this!), I'll flip a coin and go on with the decision)

The fate of a bunch of ghouls cultists rests upon the Codex!

 

[Jaedar]

Set the rockets to crash into each other. EXPLOSION

 

[SoupNazi]

Examine it further. If they just crash into each other it's just sort of boring and anticlimactic, so I'm curious what happens if you choose the other option.

 

[DarthBehemoth]

Make them CRASH!!

 

[Azira]

The other option lets you optimize their flight path, to take them closer to their "intended target". You don't get to know what that target is though. Or maybe you do at the end-credits, but not in this scene.

In short, boring...