Disclaimer: Fallout 3 is the property of Bethesda Game Studios; support and purchase their works.
Author's Notes: This is my Fallout3 fiction, after having played and finished this game, I just had to write this stuff that had haunted me since I completed the game.
Tales of the Lone Wanderer
XXX
How you doing y'all, this is Galaxy News Radio, with your favorite host Three Dog! Summarizing up the latest info, for all you to hear – the Mutants are all but roached from the D.C area, which means your more likely to find a radroach under your bed than a Super Mutant. Raiders have been hunted to extinction, that you might as well rename them Raid-ed instead. And the slavers you ask? Paradise Falls sure seems nice this time around, I hear there is good food, good people and not a slaver for a dozen miles around. And the Enclave? I think I saw one hiding in my trash-can the other day or it could've been my lunch.
And to whom to you have to thank for all this you might ask? Look no further than your White Knights in shining steel armor, the Brotherhood and your favorite Wasteland Hero – the one and only, Lone Wanderer. Some might think that due to her reputation, that you might go blind from the sheer light of purity shining from her. I have gazed upon her form and I still have my sight, children.
Speaking of the Lone Wanderer, to we really know who she is? What's her name? How was she, before she became the LW? What kind of Nuka Cola does she like?
Well children, you just might want to grab a seat and maybe some snacks to go with that, because today we got a special news story. With us, straight in the studio, we have the Lyoness of the Pride's themself sitting with us, if they are coming after you, then you can either count your lucky stars or count the time before your raiding days are over. People, lets give a big bow-wow-wow, to Sarah Lyons.
How do you work this thing? Hello?
You got it Lyons. Welcome to the studio.
Well. Hello then.
Now, as I recall you are the leader of the Lyons Pride, the kick-ass team of the Brotherhood – when a problem arises, your the guys and gals who are sent to fix it? Am I correct?
That is true.
Seeing as you have had the most experience in dealing with the Lone Wanderer, we were hoping that you could shed some light on the messiah of this wonderful Wasteland. A kid, whom you think could turn radiated water into pure drinka-oh wait, she already did that.
I am not sure, that I am the most qualified or most informed person regarding her.
Oh come now, it has been almost three years since the Purifier was started and since you people blew up the Enclave's base in DC. Since then the problems of the Wasteland have been disappearing slowly, that soon the only problem that people might have around the DC area is a radroach biting on your ankle.
If you think so.
Surely you must have some stories to speak about her – what does she like, what is her hopes and dreams?
Well...I don't have that kind of knowledge, but I have a few stories and tales about the Lone Wanderer that I could share.
Now your talking.
XXX
Beginning
Well, as some of you might know or not. Her name isn't THE Lone Wanderer from Vault 101; her name is Mia to start-off, from Vault 101; don't know her last name, funny thing that her father never told her and she could never fathom to ask him that either. She spoke that her childhood wasn't all day saving people from radroaches and feeding the elderly. She told me, that during her younger years she was the biggest troublemaker in 101. Like seriously, she played the little innocent-kid card so many times, that she could have crowned herself Overseer there if she wanted; she was just so good at manipulating people. That stayed the same for the past nineteen years there.
That changed, when believed it or not, her father scrambled off the finish Project Purity. But, as luck would have it, the Overseer in 101 went crazy about that and wanted her captured or killed. The only reason she had survived, as she told me, was because a friend of her, Amata, had woken her before they could get to her. After that, everything changed you could say. Somebody who could've turned a blind eye to her, risked angering the Overseer and her father, to help somebody that would've been forgotten just as easily as the rest.
She told me, how that first selfess action for her, changed her outlook in life. So that was how, the Lone Wanderer, known as Mia to a few, arrived to Capital Wasteland.
...and believe it or not. The first thing, that she saw in her new life, wasn't the sight of a gun in her face or a gang of slavers wanting to turn her into some cheap sex-slave. She saw her first living man when she arrived near Megaton – and it wasn't a Raider or Scavenger, she encountered a simple beggar, who simply asked for some clean water. You could say, how that moment changed her life from the juvenile troublemaker into your holy messiah of the Wasteland. From there on, she helped anybody she could – for anything that the said needy was willing to share or for free.
Humble beginnings indeed – saved from death and encountering a thirsty wastelander; bleeding hearts are kind hearts I say. Anything else you got to share?
I got a few. So listen up, cause I aint repeating myself.
XXX
First mission and encounter.
The first task, that she completed when she arrived, be scared or not – was the defusing of that bomb in Megaton. It was good laugh, when she told this. The Town Sheriff had asked her to diffuse a nuclear bomb, a live one at that. So she just said 'mmh, alright' and got to work, and well you know how that ended, bomb safe and everybody lived. But here is the funny part, she told me, how her only experience with explosives came from playing with cherry-bombs and a few make-shift contraptions of her own in the Vault – added to the fact, that she played red-green-yellow wire with the nuclear bomb in Megaton. So, if anybody from Megaton is hearing this, either your lucky or the Lone Wanderer was even luckier. Anywho, everybody lived so that is the important thing.
When, I first met her. Well, I didn't expect much from her then – I'm upto my neck in Mutant-shit and suddenly this wastelander arrives from out of nowhere, suited in some simple leather outfit and carrying an old hunting rifle. So I'm thinking to myself 'seriously, what the heck'. So she wants to tag along to the GNR, so I thought 'why not', one gun against the Super Mutants is a plus for us and she wasn't shooting at us, so I figured she wasn't a raider, or she just didn't like her odds between us and the Mutants. So we hit the GNR, and I'll admit, she was suprisingly skilled – a simple rifle sure, but damn. She was a crackshot, shooting heads left and right, while my guys were being blasted from cover – she was quick, she moved quick and she had an even quicker trigger finger. I still thought it was just regular survival skills...untill we ran into a Behemoth.
I mean, damn that, I had seen mutants in my life, but that fucker was big, really big. Took down one of our guys in an instant, smashed us into the dirt as well – the only reason we were still breathing, was because the Lone Wanderer decided to take on that freak with a rifle, a couple of headshots and lucky calls, we were rewarded with one big and dead hunk of meat.
I still can't seem to grasp the reality on how a group of trained soldiers were bested by a young woman with a rifle.
XXX
Life and Companions
I can't say much about her travels after then, seeing as while she was exploring the Wasteland I was busy with my own missions. I only met up with her, once we decided to recapture the Purifier from the Enclave. She was then shadowed by a dog and a Super Mutant. Yeah, you heard me, a real and living Mutant – and this one seemed to intelligent, and friendly, believe it or not. The dog, meh, seemed okay, useful too.
The mutant, well, I had the urge to shoot him, well more than an urge – but Mia, had forbidden anybody from harming her companions on pain of, wait let me remember the line. Under 'pain of being brutally shot-full of laser and plasma, and having your bodies dumped into a forgotten whole in the sea, which I will proceed to nuke the crap out of'. We shut-up after that, figured we just observe and record the relationship with the mutant. It could've been useful to understand Super Mutant biology and mental prowess.
After the Purifier, well I'm glad I didn't shoot him, what was his name, Fawkes, yup. Okay fellow I think, he was the one to activate the Purifier, seeing as the chamber itself was bathed in deadly radiation and neither I nor Mia could go inside without being deep-fried into a crisp. Carried us out of there too, once the energy spike knocked me and Mia out. After that, we blew up the Enclave' base, got a lot of tech, goodies and started to make the Wasteland a better place.
...was she a nuisance, once you got to know her. Hehe, I'll say this – nobody should be that silent in armor. Like seriously, she was so skilled in sneaking and picking locks, that I seriously wondered if she came from a Vault and not from some shady village in the Wasteland. She had a habit of going through everybodies personal possessions, she returned them later, but she just had such a habit of causing mayhem around the Citadel. She sneaked into somebodies room, picked the lock on their personal locker and usually left them with a note saying: 'Get your stuff back from the me. Signed LW'. I had the idiocy of trying to stop her – I started changing the locks on my personal quarters, everytime she managed to pick it open, damn be. That continued for a month, until I had it upgraded into a steel door with a terminal password, that stopped her. Only for her to start searching for other ways to get into my quarters. But, I could say that her mischief ways helped us work out a few flaws and bugs in our security – she all took it for laughs and joy.
She proved useful, when she wasn't out causing chaos in the Citadel or having a firefight with anybody she deemed was hostile or 'evil' or stupid. Damn be, you should've seen the work she could do with a wrench and hammer, for somebody who could be silent, she could also be very loud. She could fix the most smashed up gun or repair armor, that looked to be something that a Super Mutant ate for lunch. You brought something to her and she got it working again – helped shave off fixing the Prime by an entire year. We even had a test, to see if she could repair anything. We brought forward Gunny' old smashed-up armor, told her we needed this repaired ASAP and we hid all of her stuff – except for a hammer, a torch, a camera and an old missile launcher. Gunny seemed to happy with the new armor, than he did with the one he was wearing. So, nuff said.
Medical skills, don't get me started, saved a lot of good soldiers – she was a born sniper, engineer and damn be, when you screamed medic, you could hope to see another sunset with her on your team. She could lessen your pain, stop bleeding, set bones and knew the best place to ease muscle tension. I think she got those skills from her father – a builder of life and tech, a scientist...with a gun.
Sounds like nothing could stop the Lone Wanderer.
Oh, I got a few stories of her failings too.
XXX
The dirty secrets
I had invited her, one day to a sparring match in the Courtyard. Figured we blow-off some steam and relief tension, seeing as the Prides had been cleaning-up mutants, feral ghouls and other creature shit all day. So me and her get into our stances – she charges in, boom. I easily take her down, and got her leg into a hold. I wasn't even trying then, one move and the Lone Wanderer is crying uncle on the ground. Hehehe, we went for three rounds only. I stopped halfway at the third round, once her insults had degraded into 'I'm telling your dad; your bigger than me; and your a meanie'. Never seen the Prides so keeled down from the laughter. Still, word of advice, don't try taking her in close-quarters, she was packing more firepower after that incident than Liberty Prime himself.
Her aim sucks with large guns, I'm guessing she doesn't like all that weight on her, she isn't as strong as the other members or she just plain doesn't like using a minigun.
Oh yes, and NEVER, let her near a terminal, EVER.
Why is that?
Put her infront of one, and I'll bet that half an hour later, that computer terminal might be nothing less than a box of circuits and bolts. One time, we asked her to update her status in our archives. Scribe Jameson was ill that day, and I was busy with my own stuff, we figured that she could handle that stuff on her own. Forty-five minutes, me and the rest of the Brotherhood are alerted to loud screaming coming from the Library – suprise, suprise once we saw the Lone Wanderer, spouting curses that even an psycho-addict wouldn't think of in his haze, smashing one of our terminals with a pipe, She fixed that thing later, but we never let her near a terminal again; and she herself didn't seem bothered by it.
What else...oh, do you know that she is part cyborg?
Your kidding? Our messiah of hope, is part deadly war-machine?
Nah, it not like that. She doesn't have some cyber cannon hidden in her arm. Just a few parts of her left hand – she told me, that one encounter with a pack of ghouls, ended with one bugger biting off her thumb and two fingers. She had repaired that area by installing some parts she had scavenged from rogue bots. The work she had done to her hand was good, no infection, disabilty or disfigurement at all. We had a few of our Scribes help her upgrade that part, so it would look no different from her other hand – color, shape and all.
XXX
Closure
Well, guess that sums-up most of the stories I got of her. Her pet dog still hangs around the Citadel, helpings us clear-out any radroach infestations. Fawkes, her Mutant-buddy, last I recall he was scouting out any remaining Super Mutant holdouts – utlizing Power Armor that Mia had designed just for him; so if anybody sees a large mutant wearing Brotherhood Armor, I advice not to shoot at him. Mainly because, he'd easily kill you and you'd be angering the Lone Wanderer. And trust me, once she gets pissed, not even an orbital strike could stop her. Ask the Enclave...if you can find any.
Guess that is all the time we got left for this amazing show. But if you don't mind this ol'dog for asking and the Wasteland for also wondering. What has happened to the Lone Wanderer, we haven't seen her in many months. Some Talons claiming that they have already whacked her or something. Is the Lone Wanderer still among us? Wandering the Wastes in search of new adventures? Has her trouble-filled life finally caught up to her?
Oh don't worry about that, it just means that trouble hasn't found her yet. I can personally vouch, and say that the Lone Wanderer is alive and kicking-ass. Sure she is seen less nowadays, but I believe it is only because we are finally returning to some sense of normality in this world. People are able to handle themselves more often and the Wasteland isn't the same death-trap that it used to be almost three years ago.
You heard it live from the source, Lyoness Sarah herself, children. The Tales of Wanderer, live from GNR, now for some music...
XXX
A/N: That was my short-description story about my Fallout 3 stats. Regarding me maxing-out SW, Repair, Medicine, Lockpicking, Sneaking and being a good girl.
With ending up with sucky stats in unarmed, melee weapons and big weapons. And still being stuck with the computer-hacking minigame for nearly seven hours into the game before I realized how it worked.