Chapter 2
The Mad Scientist
Once Richard and Eve returned, Rich told Fawkes to give Eve something to do while he "Did some research," which meant that he would be testing chemicals at his lab station.
In particular, he hoped to find the base of the FEV from the modified version he had been given by the "late" President John Eden... and create a synthetic version, one that worked just like the original.
Fawkes had called him "Mad," but Richard ignored the Super Mutant.
He took the notes on what had become "Project: E.V.E." and put them in the computer he had salvaged from another Enclave Outpost.
As the chemical readout for the Original FEV came onscreen, he began analysis on the Modified FEV.
Once it was done, he began to isolate the single strain that killed off Mutants and Ghouls.
In a week, he finished and then began boiling down the Modified FEV to successfully separate the "ill" gene, which he labeled " POISONUS TO MUTANTS AND GHOULS" and sealed the formula in a wall safe, another item he salvaged and installed himself.
He looked at the green liquid in the vial he held. He labeled that one, "BIOHAZARD" and locked it up too.
He took off his gas mask and gloves, and walked over to his two companions.
"Fawkes. Let's talk. Eve, stay here." She crossed her arms.
"Fine. But you had better not be gone too long, or I'm coming after you." In time he had been at work, Fawkes had been teaching Eve more English, and she had become quite articulate.
"We may be gone for a day or longer, but trust me, you NEED to stay here. Understand?" She sighed and nodded.
"Good."
He and Fawkes left and began walking east.
"May I inquire our destination, my friend?" asked the large Meta Human.
"You may. It is Old Olney, where I hope to acquire a Deathclaw Egg." Fawkes was shocked.
"Do you hear yourself? You ARE mad!"
"Perhaps. But those reports spoke of talking Deathclaws. Talking Deathclaws Fawkes! Some as intelligent as you or I!"
"So they were allied with the Enclave?"
Richard smirked. "For a bit, yes. But they had morals, and, after a slaughter at a vault, realized their mistake and they rebelled."
"That's why they began using those strange devices!" Fawkes said in realization.
"Exactly. They wanted obedient, powerful troops, but not too smart so as to rebel. If we can perhaps expose an egg to FEV early on, perhaps we can use it to our advantage."
"But how will you raise one? No one has the experience to-!" He stopped. "No. We have already seen what happens when she accesses her instincts..."
"But don't you see Fawkes? This would be a great weapon against the Enclave! A smart, thinking Deathclaw! Can't you see it!"
Fawkes stopped walking. "No. I CAN see it doing the same to us as the others did to the Enclave."
Rich chuckled more evilly than Fawkes had ever heard.
"Maybe... but I doubt it. If you want to stay here, do so. I'm going. Deathclaws are nothing to me. A little laser fire and they burn. And, if all goes to hell, I have Nuka- Grenades. Besides, Eve shouldn't get bored."
Fawkes turned. "Very well. But I will have her look for you in 36 hours."
"See you then." The two parted ways.
Richard's first stop was the Citadel. He certainly couldn't keep a live Deathclaw, intelligent or not, in Megaton.
\Not enough room.
He needed space, and the Citadel would work perfectly. When he arrived, he was greeted at the gate by a Brotherhood Of Steel Knight.
"Hail."
"Hail. Might you know if Sentinel Lyons is here?"
"Yeah, she's in."
"Good."
He entered the building and walked to the A Ring. He soon ran into the blonde.
"Oh, it's you. What do you need?"
"I might have a new weapon to fight the Enclave... with the Brotherhood's help of course."
"Hold on, let me get my father." He nodded and waited patiently as Sarah Lyons went to fetch her father, Elder of the Eastern Branch of the Brotherhood.
The two soon returned. "Sarah tells me you have a new weapon with which to fight the Enclave?"
"I will soon, if all goes well. Are you familiar with a certain," Rich smirked. "Vault 13?"
Elder Owen Lyons was shocked. "Where did you learn about that? And-?"
He stopped, seeing what Richard was getting at. "No. I will not help you create any of those monsters."
" You don't need to help me create it, I just need somewhere to keep him, and my home in Megaton barely fits poor Fawkes, let alone a 10- foot Deathclaw!"
Elder Lyons turned. "I must speak with the Council." He walked off.
"What was that about? I've never seen my father that scared." Said Sarah.
"You see,ma'm, on the west coast, about 36 years ago,Vault 13 was raided by the Enclave. With them were a large group of Deathclaws."
"With those blinders on their head?"
"No, these Deathclaws were smart. They could even talk. But they questioned the morals of their creators, and moved into the vault they had helped raid. They live there today, thanks to a person known as "The Chosen One" or so I read in an Enclave computer at the little get-together I crashed the other day. I also found 'someone' to handle raising the Deathclaw. But you'll get the full briefing later."
"And you hope to create one of these... talking Deathclaws?"
"Yes. But I've done the research. All I need to do is use the pure FEV I extracted from the modified version Eden gave me."
"The council will see you now. Come and state your plan." this came from Elder Lyons, who ushered him into the Council chamber.
Richard stood in front of them and told them his plan.
"...and so all it will need is some living space. And you just have to make sure it stays INSIDE the Citadel. I'll deal with daily feedings, and proper rearing of the creature. Oh, and I'll be getting the egg single-handed... unless I can get some volunteers.
"And believe me, I can make the creature tougher, faster, stronger, and much more intelligent then the average Deathclaw. I'm hoping to get a female, as they tend to meet my previous description, although were it male, it could breed with standard Deathclaws and produce 'smart' offspring."
The council looked at him like he was insane.
Richard continued. "Without Liberty Prime, we could use more power, wouldn't you say? And I have a plan to increase growth rate until a certain 'age', using a different variant of FEV I've concocted."
"The council will now discuss this matter. You are excused."
"Understood."
Richard walked outside and waited about two minutes before the door opened.
"You plan has been approved. But we forbid you to bring more than one of those Eggs here. Also, you have some volunteers. Paladin Tristan, Sentinel Lyons, and Star Paladin Cross will be accompanying you." The three walked up to him.
"You did one hell of a job with that Adams Air Force Base business, and you've gone in those tunnels alone and come back in one piece. I'll back you up."said Paladin Tristan with a smirk.
"You have done many things that would have made your father proud. How could I say no to a chance to help you?" this was Cross.
"And of course, I missed out on all the action back at the Air Force Base, so I need a dangerous Op like this to get back in the saddle." added Sentinel Lyons.
"Perfect. We need to leave at once, as the hike will be tremendous. Also, please refrain from shooting Albino Radscorpions. That you'll have to trust me on."
The three shrugged and walked off to get their things. He wore his Tesla Armor and his Winterized Power Helmet, both at full repair thanks to the Alien Epoxy he had snatched off the massive alien Mothership, designation Zeta that now sat in high orbit above earth.
He walked to the exit of the citadel and was soon joined by the other armored humans.
"Alright. We go to Olney, get the egg, and get out."
Meanwhile, Fawkes and Eve were becoming quite bored, having nothing to do but play chess with a set Richard had recovered.
Being the more intelligent and patient of the two, Fawkes had won every game.
"Are you sure you shouldn't have gone with him? Just to be sure?" She leaned the chair back on its hind legs.
"I will not help him create what is certain to be a disaster. As a human, he would be merely hated, but I, as a Super Mutant, would be scorned by those who trusted him just for helping. I still remember the beatings the Others would give me for my 'differences'."
Eve put the chair down and stood up. She turned and began to walk to the door.
"Wait! You were told not to leave!"
"And? If I don't, I might not see daylight again. I mean, if he dies, who'll tell me I can leave?"
Fawkes wasn't too pleased with her new defiant streak, but had to agree.
"Very well," he hefted his Gatling Laser onto his back. " I shall come with you. He risked his life to save mine, I shall do the same for him."
Eve smirked. "Good." She opened the door and squinted at the sunlight. "Can't see how you adapted to this light so quickly after leaving Vault 87 the first time." Fawkes shrugged and the two began the hike to Old Olney.
While they had made their way to the ruined town, Richard and company had run into an Albino. Judas had told them he had a mental link to the massive bugs, and so he spoke to it.
"Judas, this is Rich. I need you to see if your scorpions can't dig a tunnel into the Olney Underground. Maybe not from your faction's main nests, but soon, so I can get some backup. If you come, I'll fill you in." His comrades looked at him as if he had gone insane.
"No, I didn't call the scorpion Judas. That's the name of... Hold on." The arachnid made a series of noises.
"Judas, I can't understand this thing, now tell it to make a motion in the affirmative of negative!" It made an angry noise and Richard put his hand on his rifle. Then it made a bowing motion.
"You'll come too, right?" The same bowing motion was made.
"Good. How about this thing accompanies us?" After a pause, there was a bowing motion. "Good. We need all the help we can get." He turned to his traveling companions and sighed. "Come on, we need to get this over with. Oh,"
he reached into his gear and removed three Dart Guns. The canisters were all labeled with a "Zzz" written on some tape.
"We subdue the deathclaws. If we kill the hatchling's parents, it would surely turn on us. This will knock a Deathclaw out for twelve hours, hopefully long enough for us to escape unharmed."
He then turned to the giant bug next to them. "As for you, I don't care if it kills you. Do as you wish." The arachnid hissed at him.
He checked his PIP boy watch. It read 13:22, 1:22 PM. "We're making good time, so let's continue."
Soon they encountered their first deathclaw. Richard leveled his dart gun and fired a dart. The beast went down. He slowly crept up to it and checked for a pulse. It was slow, but there.
"The compound is safe. Come on, I know a way in." He lead the group to a small opening, downing deathclaws all the way.
"Go meet up with the others." He turned to the massive scorpion and said.
The bug seemed glad to be away from him.
Richard led the other humans through the hole in the destroyed building. Almost immediately they were greeted by claws and growls. The monsters were quickly subdued.
"This manhole," Rich said, "leads to Olney Powerworks, a faster way into the nests. That, and the Deathclaws don't venture into the powerworks. Don't know why."
He climbed down the ladder and motioned the others down. They entered a tight "delta" formation, with him in the lead. Soon they arrived at a metal door.
"Alright. This is it. Let's-!" Before he could finish his sentence, the door opened... revealing a very angry deathclaw.
"Shit! I forgot they can open doors!" He hip fired a dart... and the creature fell on top of him.
"Gah! Get... it off!" He was pushing on the collapsed creature. The other humans helped get it off of him.
"There. Let's go."
Sarah Lyons stopped him. "You 'forgot' they can open doors? Isn't that kind of important?"
He sighed. "Look, just lay off ma'am. With all due respect, I've dealt with more of these than you could count, and took out all of the Behemoths in the wastes alone... aside from the one at GNR." He shrugged her hand off and continued onward.
They put down a few more before reaching the nests.
"There. Now cover me while I extract the egg." He began digging out egg from the substance it was buried in.
Then the Mother arrived.
She backhanded Richard away from the eggs.
"Oof!" Then ten more males, including one which he assumed was the Alpha male, judging from its size, joined her.
"Shit!" The beasts began to surround the humans, slowly closing in...
Meanwhile, two separate forces had been invading the ruined city. Judas led the albino Radscorpions underground, into the chamber where the nests resided.
Their numbers were small, about six, but Judas figured that his forces could easily overpower the Deathclaws.
Simultaneously, Fawkes and Eve had entered through the sewers. They were close to Richard's position, and Eve's inhuman hearing picked up Richard's audible grunt of pain. She turned to Fawkes.
"He's in trouble. Come on!" She broke into a sprint, forcing Fawkes to struggle to keep up.
Richard cursed under his breath. 'I was so CLOSE!' He slowly stood. "Get out of here." He looked at the other humans.
"What?"
"They'll let you go. It's me they want." He then turned to the Alpha Male.
"Let them go. I'm the one you want, right?" He prayed they'd understand at least that much.
The deathclaw grunted and the circle opened behind the BoS members. They slowly walked away. Richard closed his eyes and prepared to be torn to bits...
… Then all hell broke loose. A nearby wall collapsed, revealing Judas and the Radscorpions.
"Attack them!" The mammoth bugs charged the giant lizards and they engaged in battle something akin to a Japanese monster flick.
But the Mother didn't forget Rich.
Then Eve intervened.
"Back off, bitch," Eve exclaimed using some of the "vocabulary" she had picked up from Richard, and grappled with the Mother deathclaw.
Fawkes followed soon after and fired up his Gatling laser, aiming carefully so as not to hit the Radscorpions.
"W-wait! Fawkes! Don't kill them!" Fawkes shrugged and stopped firing. Wounded and beaten, the males limped away.
Richard felt a chill go down his spine when he saw the massive arachnids. Part because of how many he had fought, and part due to his Arachnophobia.
His attention then turned to the blur that shot past his vision. It turned out to be Eve, slung like a rag doll into a chain link fence. She groaned and rubbed her head. The Mother moved in for the kill, raised her arms, began to bring them down...
but found them stopped by Richard. He had the creature's wrists locked in his hands.
"I didn't want to harm you, but now? Now I'm thinking of mounting your head on my wall." He spread his legs further to brace himself as the Mother roared in defiance and pushed against him.
He yelled a war cry and pushed back. He soon found himself thrown into the ceiling. He began to fall, but grabbed the Mother's horns and flipped onto her back. He wrapped one arm around her neck and held on for dear life. She clawed at him like mad, until she finally got a hit on his side.
It was a glancing blow, but blood flowed from a wound. He hissed and started punching the beast in the face with his free hand. He finally was able to knock the creature unconscious.
He gripped at his side as Judas and Fawkes ran over to him.
"I knew it! I knew you were mad! That insanity proved it!" Exclaimed Fawkes.
"Are you going to be alright, pureblood?" Richard winced, but managed a smirk and gave a thumbs up.
"Never better." He hacked up blood.
"My friend, I have seen you better. You need-!" Richard fell over.
"Pureblood!" "Richard!" the two cried in unison. He coughed up more blood.
"Here." He handed a metal canister he had slung over his shoulder to Judas. "When... When Eve comes to her senses, have her take an egg... and put it inside this. And tell her to be careful." His eyes fluttered. "I'd have one of you do it, but no offense, neither of you have very... dexterous hands."
Judas looked at his hands. He had to agree, he wasn't pleased to have these "claws" either.
Fawkes understood well. His own hands were massive and blunt.
Then Richard's eyes shut. Fawkes checked for a pulse. It was there... but weak. Fawkes hefted Richard over his shoulder.
While all this was going on, the Brotherhood of Steel troops had called for the Vertibird to come and pick them up. When it arrived, the three BoS members began to get in, when Sarah Lyons received a radio transmision...
"...Hello? This is Fawkes. You might remember me as an associate of Richard's. We have the situation under control, but he is injured and in need immediate medical attention. If anyone can hear this, please respond." Fawkes clicked off the radio. He soon got a response.
"This is Sentinel Lyons of The Brotherhood of Steel. We were just about to take off. Get him above ground as soon as possible. Understood?" Fawkes clicked the radio.
"Understood. Meet us just outside the city limits."
"Alright. Lyons out." Fawkes turned to the two rebellious experiments and walked over to Judas.
"Can you get your scorpions to dig a shortcut to the edge of Old Olney?" Judas nodded, and made a disturbing series of clicking noises. The scorpions began to tunnel. Fawkes turned to Eve.
"Are you almost done?" She shushed him.
"I'm trying to determine which is closest to hatching." She paused and listened, then picked out an egg. "That one. He's the closest."
Fawkes cocked his head. "He?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. He's the one. The largest one of the bunch. I'm guessing..." she paused. "Next in line to be Alpha Male?"
Judas sniggered. "So it's a personal preference?"
She punched him in his shoulder and he winced.
"Ow! Alright! You needn't hit me!" She carefully extracted the egg and put in inside the container. She closed it and it sealed with a hiss.
"Besides that," she began. "I'm more human than deathclaw anyway!" She gingerly slid the strap over her shoulder, keeping the egg right side up.
Judas's eyes seemed to dull for a second, then the shine returned.
"They say that the tunnel is complete. We should make haste." The other two nodded and they began to hike out.
END CHAPTER II
Hope you enjoyed the revised, reformatted version of Chapter II!
I'm also making minor edits here and there, to improve the story overall.
For instance, Richard originally mentioned cutting their hands off for weapons, then contradicted that with the sleeping darts.
Fix'd.
I'm gonna keep my little shout-out to "The Vault"...
"I should give a bit of credit to the good people at The Vault, the Fallout Wiki. Got info on Deathclaw social structure and breeding there, as well as a pic of a "Deathclaw Matriarch/Mother". They're big, mad, and strong. Like a Deathclaw PMS'ing 24/7. Scary, no? Thankfully, Eve is actually more human than Deathclaw.
And by the way, did you know that Emperor Scorpions give birth to live young? Did you know Radscorpions are mutated from Emperor Scorpions? Did you know I actually played Fallout 3 and tested the route that our escapaders took?" -PimpedOutToast, Project Eve, chapter II (original Ver.)
Yeah I just quoted my self. Whatcha gonna do?