Through the thunderous, radioactive seas, the swamps of the Big Easy and even around the outskirts of the Empire Wasteland, roamed a suit of T-51b Power Armour, slowly striding throughout the wastes...
The man inside was like the suit, beaten and rustic, a relic of great value but still somehow obsolete... The world had moved on without them and soon they would lock up, fuse and become one...
The glowing sea aided this process, the harsh conditions did a real number on the already diminishing paint job, until, eventually, the joints began to stiffen.
Arms, legs, the torso... they all eventually fell off. Like the limbs of a feral ghoul, they had long outlived their use and as they dropped off, they were left in the dirt where they fell. The man they belonged to cared nothing for them...
He just pressed on.
He marched through the night and through the day, taking down anything that stood in his path that threatened his well-being.
This was until he came to a complete stop...
The kneem on the Power Armour's frame, locked up, the rustic suit frame had been going for so long that the knee had completely jammed. His leg had been brought to a complete halt...
His fusion core pulsed, indicating that it was running low on power and he knew that it dying completely would result in him being stuck.
He sighed, heavily, as the suit went into a depressed state and slowly opened itself up to spit its pilot out. Reaching up for his helmet, the traveller sighed heavily as he left the last piece of the Capital Wasteland that he had behind. The feeling of his helmet being torn from his head hurt as he slowly removed it, tossing it down to the ground, where it handed with a thud and sank a little into the dirt.
Slowly stumbling out of its back, he sighed heavily and looked down to the floor, eventually pulling his back back and cracking his shoulders, stretching as he adjusted to not being held up by that suit anymore.
He never had much love for power armour, too restrictive... too... easy.
He slowly rolled the cylinder of his .44 magnum out and took a quick glance at it... he was down to one shot. A shot that he had to make count...
He snapped it shut, making sure that it was cocked and ready before he began his descent, down the small hillside and across the landscape... He could see walls, just up ahead... a community, from the looks of it. He saw one a bit like it earlier, which revolved around a pylon but thought he'd make it further before bothering anybody.
Still, he hadn't much of a choice now...
"Welcome to Sanctuary Hills"
Sanctuary... These are always perfect names for bad places... He thought to himself as he examined the main gate, dozens of heavy turrets stood, keeping the bridge locked down. The walls made it impossible to run across the river and it looked like the only entrance was across the bridge, past the many automated gun turrets.
This was possibly one of the best defended settlements on the East Coast, which should say a lot of good for this settlement, when actually it said more bad about the other places he'd been. Big Town had a similar set up, minus the turrets and armed guards.
He could see robots hovering about inside, or at least he thought he could as he saw the gate open and a trader step on in. They didn't even attempt to stop or question them, search them, anything like that.
The guards must be looking for something specific...
Deciding that the place looked... decent, the traveller slowly rose out of the bushes, dragging his torn, leather coat out of it as he marched towards it, .44 revolver still in his hand.
He stepped over the rotten corpse of a dog and a naked man, just next to the river. They'd been dead for months, maybe even years... He wondered if they were killed by the settlers here or by natural causes...
Hell, they might have fallen here before the settlement was even erected.
The Wastelander slowly stepped across the bridge, getting the attention of the watchmen, who trained their rifles on him, quickly getting ready to shoot him.
"Woah, hold up stranger!" The woman on the left called, prompting her target to meet her glare.
"Who are you?"
"Bit jumpy aren't you?" The Wastelander asked before looking to her partner.
"I'm Denis, just here to do some trading and rest up... Is that allowed or do I need to take my caps elsewhere?"
This caused them both to fall silent and look to one another, the woman eventually sighed and stepped down.
"I'm getting an Officer, you move and you'll be joining buddy boy over there and his dog! I shot them both on day one, y'know?"
"Huh... There aren't any bullet holes on the corpses." Denis pointed out as he looked around, slowly smirking.
"I guess you missed and buddy boy felt so bad for you, that he keeled over and died on the spot."
"Shut it, wise ass!" The rifleman growled as the woman stepped down, leaving Denis on the bridge, seemingly alone, well, except for the man so politely pointing a gun at him.
The Regulator waited for some time, taking the time to enjoy the view of the water purifiers, which sat in the river. Some great engineering... It was a shame that they didn't have project purity, way out here.
Mind you, looks like they didn't really need it...
The gate eventually opened up, the woman, another man in military gear and finally a third man in a black leather coat, with a green hat stepped out of the town. They seemed to instantly draw their guns on him as if they were ready to execute him, via firing squad.
The man in the black coat stepped forward first, slowly lowering his weapon as he did so... He was a white man, quite pointed facial features, young, very young in fact, to the degree that it was impressive for him to be holding a rank of officer.
Hell, he looked younger than the people he commanded...
He reminded Denis of himself, during better times...
"Sorry about this pal but we've had threats of a Raider assault on the town... can't be too careful, y'know?"
"You're being threatened by Raiders?" Denis asked, immediately picking up on that. Seems to be the case that wherever he went, folks just couldn't leave each-other alone...
"Mmhmm... Used to be more frequent... The Raids, that is but now they're holding back for longer but coming in bigger, more effective waves."
"Hmm... They're getting more strategic?" Denis asked, looking around, he might want to be inside if there was going to be a full out war breaking out here.
"Not exactly... I'd say they're getting more desperate, stragglers from Nuka World have made them better equipped. Still not enough to take us down... Needless to say though, it's suspicious that you turn up today."
"Heh... It is, from your perspective... from mines it's... well, annoying. Given that I've been travelling for hundreds if not thousands of miles and the first settlement I stop at in months is about to be hit by Raiders..." Denis sighed, getting a faint chuckle from the Officer, who seemed to sympathise...
"Where you from? New York? Had a few from down there..."
"DC actually... Set out... Five years ago now, originally went down south but that place... well, I wasn't in the best condition to help it. Thought I'd go north instead." The Regulator explained, with a shrug, getting the Officer to slowly grin.
"I'm from DC myself actually, Lamplight Caverns? Ever been there?"
Denis flinched a little, raising an eyebrow as he thought on it, not that he needed to think about the place but he was trying to imagine the officer as a child...
"Yeah, a few times... I was one of the few adults allowed inside, managed to smooth talk my way in by telling the mayor that his face looked like my butt." Denis recalled, slowly trailing off as it all came back to him.
"You must like having such a good looking butt." The Officer said, giving Denis a broader smirk as Denis' concentration broke and he finally saw the Officer as he was supposed to. Honestly, he wouldn't have guessed. His face... barely resembled what it did when he was a child, he remembered his face being a lot rounder...
"Well, his Mom sure liked it." Denis shrugged, getting MacCready to chuckle to himself and shake his head.
"Well, damn... Didn't think I'd see you, way out here. Heh... Didn't think I'd see anyone really."
"MacCready, is he safe? He isn't... one of them is he?"
"Denis? Doubt it... He's..." MacCready paused, glancing back to the Regulator with a faint smile on his face as he tried to think of a way to sum it up.
"He's like Naomi, back where I'm from... I'm willing to vouch for him."
This got a satisfied nod from his fellow guard, who stepped back, allowing Denis to step a little closer as everyone slowly returned to their posts.
"C'mon man, you should get inside before the Raiders hit..." The Officer insisted, gesturing for him to step over to the gate. Denis nodded and holstered his Magnum, trusting MacCready enough not to try and shoot him at this point.
He had that opportunity a minute or two ago...
Denis stepped inside, hearing the gates shut together as he entered the true heart of Sanctuary Hills. He looked around, somewhat amazed as he examined the nearby area, seeing a cafe to his right... or was it a restaurant. Whatever it was, it was impressive to see...
There were dozens of people coming in and out of a building, the ruins of an old house that had also been converted into a place where people could eat. As they approached it, Denis noticed two things to his right. A building with 'Police' plastered on the wall, along with a bunch of warnings to discourage anyone from going near the place and a small shack, next door. Behind them both was a farm, growing every kind of crop Denis had encountered on the east coast...
A bunkhouse of sorts came just after the shack, it looked like some sort of common room. A bit like the one in Megaton, in fact this whole place reminded him of Megaton. Truly, this 'Naomi,' someone who MacCready mentioned at the gate, presuming she's the mastermind behind all of this, truly she could get results if she put her mind to something.
"It's not entirely up to snuff." MacCready admitted, with a sigh as he turned back to Denis, who hardly looked like he was listening. He was too busy observing his surroundings, keeping his gaze fixed on the buildings above.
However, to MacCready's surprise, he seemed to respond, quite quickly.
"Heh, I think you've been away from the Capital Wasteland for too long. This place is a masterpiece! How many people live here?" Denis asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.
"Oh… Somewhere between 30 and 50." The Former Lamplighter shrugged.
"It changes daily, some people are just passing through but we get a lot of settlers here." As he spoke, two children in rather scruffy attire ran past them both, laughing as they tried to grab one another. He hadn't seen wasteland children play before, normally that was a privilege saved for Vault Dwellers or Children fortunate to be born in some other form of isolation.
"Hey, Penaswela!" MacCready called as he wandered up to some sort of workshop. The workshop had a number of workbenches, a campfire of sorts; with tables and chairs around it and a number of tools, spare arts and mechanical items scattered along the floor. In the background, modifying a rifle was a guy in old, holey denim overalls with a lot of crazy addons attached to his head.
As Denis got in closer to this 'Penaswela' he saw a young, blonde man sat on a blue steel chair. Despite only being in his thirties, he seemed to be missing a leg as his second trouser leg was mostly empty and there didn't seem to be shoe poking out of the base of his leg. He didn't seem to be dressed like the other salvagers, simply wearing a t-shirt and jeans, though they were both tight fits and could easily have armour worn over them.
"How's the salvage?" MacCready continued to ask, getting Denis' attention as he noticed someone kneeling down by some sort of scrap metal made counter and heat up the side panel with a blow torch. They were wearing a long, brown, leather coat and a hood, with a green gas mask attached to it. From what he could tell, this was some sort of salvaging, perhaps R&D station.
"Oh, it's good! Some guy hit a gold mine, mechanically speaking." Penaswela began, adjusting himself on his seat.
"Turns out an institute supply got ambushed and completely wiped out. Dunno why but nobody looted it before us."
"Heh, sounds like a lucky find." Robert MacCready grinned, placing his rifle on his shoulders.
"Hey erm… You not using that leg, I got you?"
"Oh… That." Penaswela grumbled as he placed his hand on, what would be, his knee.
"Erm… Harold ran off with it again. Dunno what's up with that dog but he thinks my fake leg is his own personal chew toy." The Salvager grumbled sighing heavily as he leant back in his chair.
"I could get an APB out on that Dog, get him brought in, dead or alive." MacCready 'suggested,' with a knowing grin.
"I am tempted but you got enough on your plate, without worrying about my leg. It'll turn up eventually, with a few teeth marks in it." Penaswela shrugged, getting a nod from Robert as he turned back to Denis.
"Sorry, I should get going, this guy's got a lot more to see yet." He said, quickly turning his attention back to the Scavenger.
"Talk later, yeah?"
"You got it." Penaswela shrugged, sitting back in his chair, with a seemingly effortless smile as the two duster sporting wastelanders walked away.
"MacCready, was that… a friend?" Denis asked, seeming shocked by the concept of MacCready having friends.
"Ha! Yeah, I guess it was." Robert chuckled, shaking his head, with a grin.
"Well, more of a co-worker. Don't know him well enough to call him that but Naomi? Cait? Hancock? Best friends I've ever had."
"It's just hard to picture that kid with the foul mouth and a bucket on his head being so… friendly with folks, I guess." Denis admitted, with a shrug.
"That kid with the bucket on his head grew up, Denis. Has a kid of his own, in fact."
"What?" Denis asked, seeming genuinely surprised by this. His smile betrayed his attempt to remain emotionally ambiguous.
"No way, what's his name?"
"Duncan. He's back in the Capital Wasteland, though given how things are there, I'm hoping to get him up here as soon as I can."
"I haven't been there in nearly ten years but… From what I've heard, it's not exactly gotten better since I left." Denis admitted, with a sigh.
"Course, you held that place together for a while. From what I hear, the Brotherhood lost control and the Sheriff of Megaton is the people's last best hope for a life free of martial law… and those are in the civilized bits." MacCready sighed, looking around.
"They say you were exiled from Megaton… That why you left?" He asked as he came to a stop, outside of the clinic.
Denis merely nodded, glancing down to the floor…
"Yeah erm… Hamilton more or less made sure to do a number on the place before we finished him. I don't exactly regret anything, not anymore… Though Hardin was right, I'm not really a good protector, the Capital Wasteland has evolved, it doesn't need me anymore."
"That what you think?" MacCready asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
"Or is that what you tell yourself?"
"In this case?" Denis began, sounding like he wasn't sure himself.
"I'm telling myself what to think…" He looked over to the clinic before turning his attentions back to MacCready.
"We haven't stopped here by accident, have we?"
"Heh… No…" The Lamplighter admitted, with a faint chuckle as a Brahmin trod past, the many wares on its back rattled and jangled as it went.
"I think you should get a check-up."
"Pfft… What're you, my Dad?" Denis scoffed, looking away.
"I'm a Doctor myself, I know…"
"That Doctors make the worst patients?" Robert asked, with a faint chuckle.
"I know that you're the kind of guy who would say that he's fine, even if he was in a burning building."
"Course I would, got a fire to keep my warm and the structural integrity will hold out for at least an hour." Denis shrugged in agreement, getting his fellow Capital Wastelander to shake his head, with a grin.
"Denis? Doctor. Check up. Now."
The Lone Wanderer sighed, in truth, he could do with the rest…
"Alright, fine." He sighed, throwing his arms in the air.
"I'll get a second opinion."
"Hey, don't act like that, I got you the cute French Doctor to look you over, instead of the creepy guy with the moustache, down in Vault 88."
"You have a creepy guy, with a moustache and you let him touch people?" Denis asked in disbelief, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"It was Naomi's idea." MacCready shrugged as he stepped away.
"Now go on, get!"
"Fine…" Denis sighed as he approached the Clinic, slipping his hands into the pockets of his duster as he went. He felt the Lamplighter's eyes as they remained stuck to his back, observing closely as he stepped inside.
As MacCready saw him enter, he found himself sighing with relief, he was finally free to inform Naomi about their new visitor and inform her of the threat that he likely imposes.
Denis stepped into the Clinic, with some degree of hesitation. Before him was a large, wooden kiosk with an attractive but rather dirty young woman in a pristine, white lab coat. She had blonde hair and dark eyes, her features were simple but pretty.
"Can I help you?" She asked, getting his attention, almost immediately. She didn't seem to have a French accent of any kind and she was seemingly not a proper doctor.
"Erm… I think? Mayor MacCready told me to see the Doctor? A French woman named Curie?" Denis asked, getting the Wasteland doctor to scoff and roll her eyes.
"Mayor? Did he tell you that? That boy is so full of shit…" She grumbled, under her breath, it had only just occurred to him that MacCready wasn't necessarily going to be mayor of this town… especially given that he wasn't even stationed here.
Maybe MacCready was right, maybe he did need a doctor.
"Go to the back room for Curie, though… watch yourself. She's odd, like she's from another planet… she's great but…" The woman paused, sighing heavily as she looked away.
"You'll see what I mean."
"I've dealt with all kinds of oddballs over the years, I'm… sure I can handle one Doctor." Denis shrugged, in truth, he'd dealt with some right psycho doctors over the years. One of which kept a glowing ghoul as a pet.
Denis stepped into the Doctor's Office and looked around, he didn't see her or any sign of her anywhere. Not that he knew what she was looking for, not until he heard a faint cough behind him, prompting him to turn around.
He immediately found himself face to face with a concerned looking young woman. She wasn't exactly remarkable in appearance, her hair was short; put into a bobcut and her skin colour was a healthy glow. She had a look that would allow her to fit in anywhere, due to her lack of remarkable features.
Her white labcoat made her stand out as it was pristine.
"Excuse me, misère, are you here to see me?" She asked, as MacCready suggested, she had a rather strong French accent.
"Erm… Yes, I am." Denis clarified, with a quick nod.
"MacCready suggested I get a check up."
"A… Oh…" She paused, scratching her arm.
"He sent you to me? This is… This is highly irregular." She admitted, looking around.
"If it's a problem, I could leave." Denis suggested.
"I didn't even want to come, I'm a Doctor myself and I can tell that I'm fine."
"What? No! It's… It's not a problem, per say but… I don't work here as a Doctor, I'm on leave." Curie admitted, looking a little flustered.
"I would never turn a patient away though, if you need me then…"
"How about a brief once over, hmm?" Denis asked, taking a seat on a comfy chair, that didn't look like small insects were going to crawl up his leg and lay eggs inside his pants as soon as he sat on it.
"Just to make MacCready happy…"
"Oh no, I insist on thoroughly examining my patients. I would not wish for one to leave here, with any form of risk to themselves or others. What if you brought that plague with you, on the road? What if you have parasites!" She paused, shaking her head.
"No, you should consider yourself quarantined, for your own safety until I've examined you."
"Okay, that should be fun." Denis shrugged, with a smirk.
"Never been 'quarantined' before."
This got an odd look from the Doctor as she froze on the spot, eyeing him up and down as she tried to figure him out. Failing that, she simply sighed and pulled up a stool.
"Your reaction suggests you do not know the meaning of the word, a quarantine."
"Doc, remember… I'm a Doctor as well. I'm just saying that this is a new experience to me, being held against my will by a Doctor, for my own sake… a rather attractive Doctor, might I add."
"I do not understand this, being held against your will by an attractive jailor is better for you than an unattractive one?" Curie asked, seeming more than a little confused.
"How do you reckon this?"
"You'd be surprised how many people 'reckon' that." Denis shrugged, leaning back and draping his arm over the back of the chair.
"Right… Let us get to it. You… Have any medical concerns that I should know about before I get to work?"
Denis chuckled a little, knowing fully well what the answer to that question was but he figured that it would be more fun letting the cute Doctor Lady find out for herself as she went in to examine him.
"Voyons donc." He shrugged, with a grin.
After half an hour of examining Denis, Curie stepped back and panted heavily, shaking her head in confusion as she turned around and ran her hands through her hair.
"So… Am I good to go?" He asked, somewhat indifferently, she seemed shocked but he couldn't really tell why.
"You… You have a piece of your brain missing!?" Curie asked.
"How!?"
"I told you." He shrugged, tapping the scar that jutted out from under his hairline.
"Crazy ferryman."
He lowered his hands and leant back in his chair, shrugging indifferently.
"It's fine though, Nadine said that I didn't need that piece and I agree, there's plenty more up here." The Regulator added, gently tapping his temple.
"But… It doesn't work that way, you must've lost something. P-Perhaps a function you aren't even aware is gone." Curie fretted, peering at it.
"It's fine! Honest, Doctor, I had it done ten years ago and haven't had so much as a headache since."
Curie stepped back, folding her arms and shaking her head in despair as Denis rose to his feet, a feat that she considered to be a miracle in all honesty. She found it difficult to look at him, after finding this out, however, she eventually did.
"What is your name?" She asked, suddenly realising that she didn't know. She was far to flustered to remember the basics, like asking a patient for their name.
"Denis Callaghan." The Lone Wanderer answered, plainly. He didn't want to confuse the situation further than he already had done as the poor woman didn't exactly deserve it. The way she acted was strange indeed, almost fascinatingly so…
It was like she was a robot, only understanding things in facts, numbers and figures. She struggled to fathom emotion and ideas such as 'law of averages.' Although, Denis often broke those laws, along with most other laws he didn't agree with.
"Well, Denis Callaghan, out of two hundred years of being a Doctor… You are by far the strangest patient, I've ever had." She admitted, rushing over to her desk and picking up a clipboard as she began jotting.
"Robert was right to send you over, you are in dire need of medical attention."
"All you found was a couple of rads and a fracture that's so insignificant, I didn't know that I had it." Denis protested, with a shrug, this is why he hated seeing other doctors. Though, then again, he wouldn't let anyone else but himself walk out of a Doctor's office in his condition.
"Several untreated gunshot wounds, burns, a laceration and a missing piece of brain aren't something that I pass off as 'trivial,' Mister Callaghan." Curie sighed, stepping around and opening up the drawers as she began collecting up her equipment.
"You aren't leaving until I've fixed you up entirely, so take a seat."
"Curie." Denis chuckled, shaking his hand, dismissively as he shook his head, with a warm smile as the Doctor approached.
"I'm fine, honestly… I think…" As he spoke, she jammed the needle into his arm, injecting him with a whole vial of med-x.
"Take a seat, I prefer it when I don't have to have my patients restrained." Curie stated as she drew another needle out, prompting Denis to nod, quickly.
"Yes ma'am."