Someone help me. I can't stop playing Mass Effect: Andromeda. Someone, please help. Ahem. ANYWAYS, I do not own Fallout or its characters, ideas, ect. While Europa is my creation, most of the concepts introduced are not. OCs have been submitted by The Enclave Assassin, Kenny ZeWolf, mercyspace, DeathDealerInc.; CrimTheSoleSurvivor and LobsterMonster420 (I like that name). If you wish, you can submit your own OCs. I hope you enjoy the story!
God bless, JPLegends
CHAPTER THREE: Greene's Debrief
Austin and Greene head down into the bar of the Salem Hotel. It's a fairly crowded place, with humans, ghouls and robots walking and talking around every corner. Austin took care of his hand before they went down. He disinfected, cleaned, and reset his hand, before building a splint for good measure. After about an hour, he injected a stimpak that Greene bought. Luckily, stimpaks include a chemical that produces activity of the lymph nodes and bone marrow. Thus, leading to more cells that can repair the broken bones faster. Unfortunately this also means that although the hand was healed in a half hour, Austin had to spend that other half on the toilet. Once they had the chance, they instantly went down to the bar.
The two sat at the bar, waiting for the barista to take their order. "So," Austin started, flexing his fingers. "What's what with this place?"
"Europa? Or the Metroport?" Greene asks, leaning on the bar. His eyes have a charming gleam to them. Austin realizes there is a group of ladies eying them from a table.
"Both?" Austin asks, shrugging his shoulders. Greene starts laughing, his voice a bit raspy.
"Where to start, where to start…" Greene mutters. While Greene thinks, a man approaches them. The barista. He has wild, sandy hair, with a stubble beard. His eyes are brown and almond shaped, and he has a lean figure. There is a fiery tattoo running down his left arm. He wears a tattered black t-shirt and jeans, with an apron. He smiles.
"What'll ya have?" The barista asks in a British accent.
"Henry, you bastard," Greene says, laughing at the barista. "The hell have you been for the last three days?"
"Running port operations for the Railroad," Henry says, his head shaking. "Caps are caps. Now, what's your bloody order?"
"A beer." Greene says, Henry grabbing a bottle and sliding it toward him.
"Three caps," Henry says. "For you sir?"
"Nuka Cola. Wait," Austin says, thinking. "What types of Nuka Cola do you have?" Henry looks in the cupboard, moving drinks around.
"We've got Dark, Cherry, Victory, Orange, Grape…" Henry starts calling out.
"Okay, here's what I want," Austin says. "Take a shot each of Original, Orange, Cherry and Grape. Mix it and put it on ice. And possibly put a tiny umbrella in it, heh." Henry smirks, following Austin's instructions. He hands it to Austin after a minute.
"That'll be, uh…twelve…yeah, let's go with twelve caps," Henry says. "That's quite the order."
"It's a specialty in Boston," Austin says, taking a sip. "We call it Nuka-Frutti. With two 't's and an 'i' or course."
"Well, I'll remember that for later." Henry says, walking off after Austin gives him the caps. Greene drinks his beer, his eyes deep in thought.
"I noticed that the supplies here are rather cheap compared to the Commonwealth of Boston," Austin says, flexing his fingers. "What's that about?"
"They're more expensive in Boston," Greene asks, putting his beer down. "Well, the Metroport has a stable economy I suppose. The supply lines guarantee a steady flow of caps, and the traffic from the former United States improves that. So, we have a large supply of caps that we can use to produce supplies that are essential for life here. Thus, more caps. Rinse and repeat."
Austin whistles. "That's pretty smart." Greene takes a gulp of his beer, as Austin drinks his Nuka Cola.
"We have our esteemed Mayor Joseph Compton to thank for that," Greene says. "He keeps the economy and the people in line."
"The people?" Austin asks, in curiosity. He realizes that the group of ladies that were giving the two glances had moved tables.
"That's what the SMP are for," Greene says, with a hint of venom in his voice. "To serve and protect. They're supplied by Elefther, paid by the Mayor and they keep the city in line. Bastards."
"Sounds like you don't approve." Austin says. He gets his answer when Greene slams his bottle of beer on the table.
"They are corrupt as fuck," Greene says. "Their commander does business with the Raiders out there for chems. And not only that, but they come down hard on whatever crowd happens to commit a crime. Doesn't even matter if you are innocent. It's kill or capture first, ask questions never." Suddenly, it occurred to Austin why the SMP never questioned if Austin was defending himself.
"That's pretty bad," Austin says, his eye twitching. "I can't imagine how many innocent people are captured or killed in cold blood."
"Too many, and they love to fuck with the Metroport's citizens," Greene says. "My fiancé, Priya, got it bad all because of the SMP. Those bastards broke into our home a few years back and…"deprived her of her innocence." Right in front of my motherfucking eyes. And then they killed her for good measure. They were never held accountable, and every time I brought it up with captain fuck wad, he called me delirious." Greene claws at his face with one of his hands, tears welling in his eyes. He takes the beer bottle and smashes it against the bar. It shatters into pieces, and the beer and glass splatters all over the floor. Austin puts a hand on Greene's shoulder, and Greene puts a handful of caps on the table.
"Sorry," Greene says, pulling himself together. "I…don't enjoy talking about these things." Austin sits in silence, just waiting for something to come into his mind. Greene snivels, as he continues to pull himself together. Eventually, he just sniffs loudly, coughs and begins laughing quietly. "I'm a god damn disgusting mess." He says.
"I'm Austin Hyperion," Austin says. "Everything else I've told you is true." Austin just feels entitled to let this go after Greene revealed such a tragic thing about his life. Greene grins, an appreciative flare in his eyes. "So, erm," Austin continues, thinking. "You seemed surprised at what I've said about the economy of Boston."
"Well, yeah," Greene says. "But that's the economy. What else?"
"We have Vaults, Yao Guai, Deathclaws, awful water, unstable supply lines…"
"Jesus Christ," Greene says. "How do you live?!"
"How do you not know about the Minutmen, when you seemed to know everything else?" Austin asks, finishing his drink. Henry comes over and collects the caps.
"Mostly stories from the synths we get. Ample supply of them," Greene says. "You can ask a synth for details. They're well versed." Austin frowns, grunting. Greene laughs. "I get it, you don't exactly like the synths. But they're mostly fine. Ask Henry. He's a synth."
"No…" Austin says, arching an eyebrow. Henry nods, lifting his shirt. There is a massive hole in his chest, revealing mechanical parts. Henry puts his shirt down, grinning at Austin. "That's…but you're so human!" Austin says, eliciting a laugh from Henry.
"This man needs some of your famous vodka." Greene says, putting caps on the table. Henry pours a glass of a cloudy liquid. He slides it to Austin, who downs the drink in one gulp. Greene snorts. "Keep them coming."
"There's not much," Austin says. "This drink is pretty wea-HOLY SHIT!" The world begins tilting on its side, everything becoming a thousand times cozier. Austin hiccups, his eyes beginning to dilate. That shit has a high alcohol content and a very high absorption rate. Greene laughs, his voice full and jolly instead of raspy. Henry slides the two more drinks. Greene takes a glass and gulps it down, shaking his head.
"I told you, Austin," Greene says, raising his glass up. "We're getting drunk as fuck tonight!" Austin shakes his head, fighting the urge to throw up. He raises his glass, and they clink drinks. After gulping vodka yet again, Austin shakes his head hard. He starts laughing.
"Y'know," Austin says, laughing a bit. "I don't really drink that much."
"No shit," Greene says, deadpan. "Why not?"
"And old pal of mine…God, what's his name… Joel Massoni. An asshole, but reliable," Austin said. "We were part of a small group in the Capital Wasteland, just trying to survive. Along with Sean Woodroe, Jason McCullis…or was it Jason Woodroe and Sean McCullis…was his name even McCullis? Plus this ass named Frank Hamilton; he was a ghoul. And this redhead named Barb Jervis. Shit, man…"
"I assume you and Barb were…"
"HELL NO," Austin said, laughing now. "She and McCullis had a thing. Let's just say when we bunked up in buildings, it had a tendency to be pretty…loud. They were like the family I never had."
"No parents," Greene asks. "Siblings?"
"No," Austin says. "I was five when both parents were killed in a super mutant raid. I was only child. From there, I met Woodroe. Then, McCullis and Jervis. Hamilton, tons of others came along. They really seemed to be there for me. Then, they started dying. One by one. Woodroe was the one that lasted the longest. Hamilton died of a jet overdose. Why I don't do chems. Joel died from poison in his drink of neat whiskey. Why I don't drink. Jervis and McCullis were assassinated. Woodroe was killed for being a god damn synth. I ran before I saw anything happen to him."
"Damn," Greene says. "I'm honored that you would share such details."
"Bleh," Austin said, downing another glass. "So, what about the rest of Europa? Not Metroport, the other areas."
"London was the first to die in the nuclear fire," Greene says, downing two more drinks. "That place is a nightmare. Here is the area where are the ports are. Metroport is basically Diamond City for Boston. It is Diamond City, right?" Austin nods. "Great. So, the upper areas of the UK are currently in conflict. Brotherhood and Railroad are at each other's throats, fighting for synth rights and technology."
"What is the Railroad fighting for?"
"Freedom for the synths. They haven't exactly been on the winning side, but their tactics are superb. Part of the reason why they got Boston from the Brotherhood, I guess."
"The Minutemen helped out. It was actually their commander who dealt the final blow."
"The Minutemen's commander?"
"Yeah," Austin said, downing another glass. "Something about being forced to kill someone he really cared about. A synth, was it? Also a Brotherhood soldier?"
"Well, that makes no sense."
"Yeah, well…" Austin and Greene, down another glass. Austin turns to Greene, exhaling slowly. "What about the Brotherhood?"
"To kill or capture any synths as well as take any technology away from Railroad or synth hands," Greene says, kneeling against the bar. "They're also offering protection to the colonies that can't help themselves. They seem to be passionate in what they do. And I don't really blame them for thinking we don't need the super advanced technology. It's what is causing the Paladins to lose the ground war against the Spear."
"The Spear?"
"Right," Greene says, chuckling. "I keep forgetting you're new here. The Spear is the super mutant clan run by a warlord named Yuwan. Bad fucking news, them. They got their hands on some top end tech. Plasma guns, laser guns, mini-nukes, an enhanced version of the FEV. It increased their intelligence or something like that. The best part is that Yuwan, their super mutant leader, is a damned genius."
"What?!" Austin says, laughing the idea of a super mutant being a savant off.
"You laugh now," Greene says. "He used to work for the Institute back in the Commonwealth, and ran here to avoid being assassinated. He got exposed to the FEV, a strand that he was able to modify just in time so that he kept his intelligence. His intelligence stayed, but the super mutant instinct to savagely kill set in. Eventually, he conquered a metric fuck ton of mutants to be his own. And he used his brain to start burning and killing entire colonies. They keep pushing past London, and they are really close to breaking our quarantine."
"You mean, the Paladins' quarantine?" Austin asks, gulping another bit of his drink.
"Well, yeah," Greene says, gulping his drink. "The Paladins were created to specifically keep the elements of Europa in line. So colonies could thrive. There is a bit of lore about how we fell to grace, blah blah blah. That's not important. What is important is A: making sure the Spear don't get past us and B: keeping the Paladins alive."
"Who's in charge of the effort?" Austin asks.
"You'll meet him eventually," Greene says. "Just remember the name Fudono. Sound good?"
"Ugh," Austin shakes his head. "A weird name. Great answer." Greene laughs, downing another drink.
"Trust me," Greene says. "I don't like giving off half answers, but we really shouldn't stay in Metroport very long. You've got the most corrupt force on the planet gunning for you and the Paladins are about to lose a major battle. We've been fighting for three days already. We really need to get moving after today. Buy munitions, the works. But now, here's to us." The two clink glasses, and drink. After a few minutes, Austin gets a tap on the shoulder. He turns around and sees the clique of women that were eying them from earlier. The one his is face-to-face to is a redhead with green eyes and pale skin.
That's a chapter out of the way! I'll be planning and trying to survive school until the next chapter shows its face. Let's do this! WOO!
