Hi everyone I would like to start this fic by first telling you what I am going to be changing and altering. First I am going to make the world a bit bigger. In the game you walk from the shack door of 101 to springvale in 30 seconds or so, I am changing it to take a good 7-10 minute walk/run. I might not put in the times for travel and so on; I just wanted to let you know.
Second, I am going to be changing the main character of this story to being a person from our world and not the lone wanderer.
Third, the dynamics of guns and damage in the fic is going to change dramatically. Any human not wearing power armor is going to be killed by a single bullet to the head. It may take more for body shots but that's not all too important.
Fourth, the whole health system is going to change as well. The pip-boy will be attached to the nerves in the arm and connected to the rest of the body in that way. Expect more realistic fights with creatures.
Fifth, no companion will be able to just randomly wear power armor. Combat armor is also going to have a bit of a change, it'll still be strong but it only does so much. Armor in general is going to be changed heavily. The only armor that stops bullets completely in this fic is power armor. And even that isn't going to be invulnerable.
All in all I want to make it more realistic while keeping it as a major fantasy sort of fic. With that said I hope all of you who read through this boring and probably annoying rant will continue to read the actual story that is to come in just a few short seconds.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything I am about to write about.
As Callan woke from a deep and untroubled sleep he rolled over and out of bed. Instead of his feet hitting the normally comfortable carpet that covered the floor of his small apartment they hit what felt like concrete. Callan struggled to open his eyes but did do so eventually. What he saw confused and scared the young man.
The floor he found himself looking at was concrete with brown stains all over and deep scores that gave the floor a look like jagged rocks. It took Callan a moment to adjust his eyes to the darkness of the room. When finally his eyes did adjust Callan looked around and jumped when he saw skeleton in the corner of the room with a very large brown stain coating the concrete floor.
Callan searched frantically for a light but couldn't find one in the darkness that seemed to engulf him. His mind racing, his heart jumping out of his chest, Callan tried to recall what happened before he woke up in this nightmarish place.
Callan could only remember coming home from work and collapsing on his bed to take a nap before going out to meet his friends for the first time in a few days. Then waking up here in this weird tunnel with a skeleton and what he guessed were blood stains all over the floor.
As Callan raised his arms to his head to pull his hair in an attempt to make sure he wasn't sleeping he noticed an unfamiliar weight on his left arm. Hard to make put in the dark Callan began wishing in his head for a light to see just what the hell was going on, then poof the object on his wrist began emitting a powerful green light that illuminated the room and bathed it with a warm green glow.
When Callan's eyes adjusted to the light enough that he could see he looked down at his arm dreading what he thought he would see. And there it was, attached to his wrist was a pip-boy 3000 a model. Bigger and heavier that the other models but sturdier and more difficult to damage. Seeing this made Callan's heart sink, not only did he now know where he was he also knew just how much danger he was in without weapons and armor.
Looking frantically around in the now illuminated room he spotted a locker and a trunk that looked brand new despite even though they should be 200 or more years old. Practically running over to the locker Callan tripped and nearly bashed his head against the cold metal of the locker. Having caught himself just in time he decided to take his time in the tunnel and hopefully not knock himself out acting like an idiot.
Calmly Callan opened the locker and nearly began to cry as he saw what was inside. In the locker was a pristine suit of reinforced combat armor, camouflaged with browns and yellows for desert combat. Above the armor was a combat helmet with similar camo, at the legs stood 2 weapons. The first was an ak-47 in what looked to be perfect condition. The second was a combat shotgun with a drum mag. The under suit of the armor came first and was designed so that when worn under the combat armor it would keep the armor from moving around on the body and leaving a vital area exposed.
After putting the armor on and stepping into the combat boots he found under the under suit he finally felt a little safer. Walking carefully over to the trunk on the ground next to the locker he knelt down and opened the trunk. Inside he found six magazines for the ak and 4 drum mags for the shotgun. He also found a harness for the guns as well as a 45 caliber 1911 colt with 10 mags. He found multiple magazine pouches on a gun belt for his pistol.
Getting all his gear on and sorted out Callan started flipping thru his pip-boy hoping that he could find gnr without the static. Unluckily gnr was mostly static just like in the beginning of fallout 3. He was only able to understand a couple words here and there but he understood enough that the game had just about started. Flipping over to the map function Callan saw that he was just south of megaton in what was probably one of the many sewage tunnels that you could find all over the map.
Only about 30 or 40 minute walk away from megaton he figured that he should get his ass moving and get to a safe settlement afafp. Securing all of his guns Callan headed for the door that no doubt lead him to the outside world filled with radiation and crazy creatures and people. Opening the door and bracing himself for what he did not doubt would be a heartbreaking sight Callan took his first step into the unforgiving world of fallout. Orienting himself Callan took off in a controlled sprint.
Moving as fast and as safely as he could, keeping his eyes open for any movement that would no doubt be one of the many deadly creatures that could kill him so fast he wouldn't be able to react Callan made his way closer and closer to what he hoped would be a safe port in the storm. What would have been a 30 minute walk was luckily only a 10 minute run. At the last leg of the journey Callan was being chased by an extremely fast mole rat that wouldn't give up the chase. With both of his high powered weapons strapped to his back too securely to yank free in time Callan had to trust that he could stop turn draw his weapon and fire accurately before the monster lunged and gored his face with its sharp looking teeth.
Running up to a rock Callan stopped turned and fired his gun only to miss badly because his hands were shaking from running as he did. Before the second shot left the barrel the rat had already jumped and bared its teeth. Missing with the second shot Callan watched as almost in slow motion as the mutated rat flew thru the air and latched itself onto his leg. Before he cried out in pain Callan positioned the gun and fired destroying the rats head and making the rat let go of his leg which now had a long and deep gash from where the bastard rat bit him.
Unable to stop himself Callan cried out in pain and dropped to the ground propping himself up on the rock he grabbed his knife and cut the cloth of his pants allowing him to see the wound. Having no medical knowledge other than C.P.R Callan took his only water and poured it on the wound hoping to see the overall damage done by the teeth. The wound looked terrible, no doubt he would need doc church to fix him up and hopefully give him a shot of penicillin.
It took Simms and Jericho a couple of minutes to find the wounded man cursing loudly at the obviously dead mole rat in front of him. Callan had already torn off his pant leg and tied it around his leg to staunch the flow of blood. Simms and Jericho carried the injured man into the clinic and told church what they thought happened.
After about an hour of stitching and disinfecting doc church finished his work by giving Callan a large dose of antibiotics. With that church was done and was more than ready for Callan to get the hell out of his office and leave him in peace. Having already been paid by Simms church directed his former patient to go and find the good sheriff.
Leaving the good doc to his own devices Callan did just as was asked and searched the town for the only man wearing a cowboy hat. Spotting Simms on the walkway that led to Moira Brown's craterside supply Callan moved as quickly as his leg would let him. Calling out for the sheriff Callan was glad when Simms changed course to meet him halfway.
"Thanks for carrying me back here sheriff. I don't have much In the way of caps but if you could think of another way for me to repay you I will gladly do so." Callan told the sheriff.
"Well for now why don't we just sweep that under the rug for later? Names Lucas Simms and so long as you don't cause trouble your welcome to stay in our little slice of paradise. Just a tip doesn't mess with Jericho or Moriarty they are both ill-tempered and more than likely to kill you not caring for the consequences." Simms said with a smile splayed across his face.
"Thanks for the tips sheriff, I'll be glad not to have to deal with Jericho again, and if that Moriarty is anything like him I'll be glad not to deal with him too. Mind if I ask you a couple questions though?" Callan asked.
"Well I guess I don't mind answering a couple questions so long as it don't take long." Simms replied.
"Thanks sheriff. My first question is have you seen a man that goes by the name burke in town anywhere?" Callan asked knowing full well that if he wasn't the one to make a deal with burke the lone wanderer might. Not knowing what side this wanderer would choose didn't sit too well with Callan, since he had no desire to see megaton destroyed or himself die in a nuclear fire.
"Yeah he's in town. Renting out a place and all. Why? He done something wrong to somebody?" Simms asked a little concerned.
"No he hasn't done anything. I was sent by his employer to escort him back to Tenpenny tower. Now my second question, is that bomb active?" Callan asked feigning fear.
"Yep it's active. But so long as no one fucks with it shouldn't go off. If that's all I better get back to my patrol." Simms replied with a laugh.
With that the two men went their separate ways with Simms going passed Moira's and continuing passed Moriarty's just as Callan was making it to craterside. Walking in Callan saw moira sweeping and her silent protector watching his every move. Nodding to the man he received a nod back and went to engage moira in a civil discussion.
"Well hey there, your new here right? Im moira brown and you are?" moira talked almost too fast for Callan to make out the words.
"Names Callan miss. Just wondering if I might be able to see your stock." Callan replied with a smile across his face.
With that Callan began searching thru moira's stock quickly picking out what he thought he would need. Trading his shotgun and shells for a few stims and med x syringes Callan then made his way to moriarty's for hopefully his meeting with a man who still needed an employee.
Making his way into the bar Callan looked around and found the man that he was looking for. Taking the seat directly across from the snake in human form Callan steeled his nerves for what would probably be his biggest bluff of his life.
"You look like a man who pays his employees promptly and well. My name is Callan you can call me a freelancer in need of gainful employment." Callan would have been sweating bullets if he wasn't scared of getting shot just for sitting down.
"What makes you think I need any help from some simple merc?" Burke replied cooly.
Raising his hand to get Gob's attention Callan ordered 2 clean glasses and a bottle of expensive scotch to be served by Nova and not Gob. Just as he hoped Gob himself walked over and set the glasses of scotch down on the table. He may not have wanted to but Callan knew what he had to do. Again steeling himself for what needed to be done Callan kicked out and knocked Gob off his feet to land hard on the floor spilling the scotch all over himself.
Grabbing Gob by the throat and lifting his face to meet him Callan had a look of pure rage splayed across his face. "I told you I wanted to be served by the lady in the corner not some rotten fucking zombie who gets his rot all over everything!" Callan practically screamed.
Burke grew interested. Not enough to give the man the job he had to get done but enough to give him an give him a chance. Before he could however the owner of the establishment came down huffing on a cheap cigarette.
"Just what the fuck do you think your doing to my ghoul?" Collin asked with an even tone.
"Your zombie here cant seem to get a easy order right. I asked for 2 clean glasses and a bottle of your finest scotch to be served by the beautiful lady working in the corner over there. He had the nerve to attempt to serve me and this gentleman here dirty glasses covered in his rot. I took it upon myself to teach him a lesson he so badly needed." Callan spoke calmly and evenly with a smile gracing his face. Not the smile of a kind and generous happy man but the smile of a cold and calculating killer who shoudnt be fucked with.
Collin wasn't a fool but he also wasn't a coward he stared into the mans eyes and decided to take the easy way out and blame gob for the incident. Beating Gob for a few moments he sent Nova over with new clan glasses and a fresh bottle. Instead of pouring the scotch into his glass Nova poured the drink on Callan's head. Promising to make her pay for It later that night when he payed for her services Callan still smiling restarted his talk with burke. Having done as needed they then went on to discuss the general plan.
"So after I plant the plug you and I head out of here with me as your 'escort back home' after we arrive I get the rest of the second half of my ten thousand caps plus a room at Tenpenny tower all for myself. Is that the general gist of the plan Mr. Burke?" Callan asked
With a simple nod Burke left to collect the first half of Callan's pay. Callan had done it he had bluffed burke perfectly now he just had to help the sheriff kill him and save this town. Maybe after that he'll find a way to disarm the bomb and take that off the list of things that might kill him.