*Minor Spoilers Ahead*
Hello! And thank you for giving at least a first glance to my Fanfiction! Fallout: The Beginning takes place before the events of The End: my standalone story with original main characters separate from the video games and some ties with major Fallout 3 and New Vegas characters and stories. Since there isn't much information about how the nuclear bomb-blasted Washington, D.C. area dubbed "The Capital Wasteland "was before Fallout 3, I decided to insert my own creativeness. In The Beginning, the Capital Wasteland is still primitive and simple: energy technology and futuristic medicine are rare to many people and the D.C. ruins are ignored completely by the sane walking people since the metro tunnels had not been cleared out by scavengers yet. I've tried to make the basic plot of Fallout appealing to people who haven't played the games that much, since most of the characters and story-line are new to everyone who reads. Only true fans will understand some of the characters, background stories, foreshadowing and inside jokes that are sprinkled throughout the fanfiction.
The main character is Jace Marston; a content and somewhat timid boy who grew up in a bomb shelter after a large nuclear world war called the Great War ended the country of the United States in nuclear fire. The reader will soon learn that the "vault" Jace lives in is based off of a perfect Utopian society, and it is home to many secrets, as all other vaults are.
As the story continues and Jace is thrown into many violent situations, his personality changes and becomes at home to the outside world of the Capital Wasteland, where everyone has ended a life and those who do it are celebrated and those who do it more are called raiders. I based the Marston last name off of another original piece of video game culture: Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. The main character in that game is a rugged father with a past full of violence. All he wants is that life to end and the other peaceful chapter to begin, but due to his own ego and mistakes, he is brought back into the land of guns and betrayal and eventually loses the support of his family.
Family and togetherness is the basis of my Fallout series of Fanfiction. Family, and anything else resembling it is a constant theme throughout the series, as all of the characters spend most of their time together. As with real life, being alone is never good for you, and whenever you are, it's never a good sign.
All of the characters in the story know to stick together, not just the major ones. The raider faction of the Washington D.C. area relies heavily on that. The main enemy of the first part of the story are humans, unfortunately. These people use the strength of numbers against our three main characters, and they will have to deal with it, one way or another using the many colorful fight scenes spread out between chapters.
But the story isn't all just cracking heads and shooting raiders. Another reoccurring theme in my series is Sanity and Social Interaction.
Since the three main characters find themselves as friends early off in the story, they will often find themselves sharing intimate thoughts and issues with each other, whether it is in the town bar or just out on their jobs. Since realism is some-what important to me in my writing, I've taken into consideration what constant arguments with the same people coupled with almost dying on a weekly basis will have on a normal person, that's where the theme Sanity goes into place. When you start to think you wouldn't have made that decision, or you have no idea why something happened, you will know what point our characters have crossed on the plane of Sanity. Unfortunately, not all our characters have spent their entire lives being shot at and murdering, and some actually have, and that's where their problems arise in the form of character contrasts. Throughout the story, the character's mental health will deteriorate and at times, change their ego entirely. As with many normal people, they will look for ways to cope with knowing the fact they will have to be beaten up and kill someone again. Our three characters will use alcohol, drugs, and food to escape the insanity of their lives. And when they don't work, our characters will see a problem within themselves. Their mental stages will change, and at times, they will ignore the fact that they brutally murdered someone and just laugh at it. This will be noticed by the characters, and that's where Social Interaction comes in as a theme. Just because the three start off as friends doesn't mean they will stay that way with literally everyone for the duration of the story. They will find out each other's flaws and point them out, especially when their morals are in question and their decision making skills differ. They will fight, they will argue, and at times, they will hate each other completely. You will have to read to find out where that road leads for them.
Since the story is based from Jace's point-of-view, that doesn't mean he is the only person out in the Wasteland. As I've explained before, he will be accompanied by his two friends, Joe and Victoria, along with a myriad of original characters with some recognizable Fallout 3 characters. Joe is the comic relief of the group, and starts off as a sarcastic and tired young man with a taste for alcohol and violence. As the story develops, Joe does as well. His taste for drinks will intensify and his sarcastic remark at the end of a harsh fight will become a fondness of intense situations and dramatic encounters. This aspect, along with his sarcastic way of coping through situations will be pointed out by his friends and set up for a cross-examination throughout the story. The other main character is Victoria. As Joe's longest friend, Victoria keeps her childish friend in check and serves as the babysitter for our main characters, but she is not without fault. The mother figure of the story has a rough upbringing-one that is shared with Joe. After the experiences of her childhood, she has developed some natural distrust of strangers. This distrust will turn into paranoia of anything and anyone as well as priority issues as the story grows deeper and the stakes grow larger.
But these three aren't the only people that are examined in the story. The main antagonist, Chain, will be present throughout the first part of the story, since he is the sole leader and organizer of the raiders in D.C. Sharing a history with the three main characters, he will be the force that brings them together and the force knocking down their walls as they settle a decade long dispute that will survive through generations. You will learn more about Chain in the story, along with his reasons for doing what he does. More characters are the supporting character of Jace, Rachel. Serving as Jace's childhood best friend and mirror of Jace's youth, Rachel will be seen as the perfect person in the eyes of everyone, including her father, the omniscient leader of the vault or "Overseer". This perfectness will pose a problem to Jace and will be seen and analyzed further throughout the story. More minor characters are Chip, the childhood bully, Jab, the bar-tending ghoul that the characters will later hate as their personalities change, Moira, the quirky, weird owner of the town store, Lucas Simms, the egotistical sheriff/mayor-when-the-need-arises, Doc Hill, the under-qualified doctor with a crush on Victoria, and Michael, the super-fan of Joe who might have a man-crush. These characters will either be supporting small characters, or one time boss fights for the chapter. These comical and understandable characters will help create the air of "no more society bars" that Fallout is known for, along with setting Joe, Victoria and Jace on their way to defeat Chain.
But just because the main story is set in stone doesn't mean there are going to be setbacks. Just like the video game, these setbacks are going to be called "Side-quests" for the gamers reading, and the three characters will have to do them for their own reward, whether it be information, or personal need. These side quests include giving someone a gift, passing time in a hospital visit, or preparing for an attack. There will be times where the characters are forced into ridiculous situations that they don't want to be in, and they will express that with colorful language; verbal or body. Unfortunately, these situations will result in permanent injury or death for some or many of the characters of The Beginning. These favors won't always be completed, and the characters will definitely decline them when they don't feed they have to do them. This will leave problems lingering throughout the story, and consequences for either accepting or declining these side missions. Remember, they're human. They can't do everything on their plate and that's something you have to keep in the back of your mind when you read this story. Other people will have to finish what Joe, Jace, and Victoria started because they won't always be around in the Capital Wasteland to do these things. Readers of my first story "The End", will understand that.
I will always be lurking around this site, so make sure you give me feedback on where the story is going or where you think I went wrong in the PMs or reviews. I love talking to people and explaining why I wrote what I wrote. I hope you enjoy the Prequel to The End and please let me know how you feel. Thank you so much for giving this story a chance and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!