Fallout: Hope from Beyond the Stars
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Fallout and Halo so let's not make an issue of it…
Chapter 2
Megaton
( ): Thoughts
…
As the Warthog made it's way to the location of Megaton, the Spartan scanned the area to make sure that there was nothing that was going to try and catch him off guard and he was going to make sure that he was going to make every effort to avoid being caught off guard. He looked around quickly to see the ruined lands and the town known as Springvale as he had been able to read on the map.
Miranda herself was looking at the area while carrying her Assault Rifle and ready to fire though she was still going to have to get used to riding such a vehicle. As they passed the school, John saw that the Raiders who were rumored to be there had not come out to attack, he wondered about that and decided that could wait for a better time as he focused on maneuvering the Warthog through the ruins.
Once they were there, he spotted the enclosed area that could be Megaton and he could also see the nearby sign with the name that confirmed the it was indeed the town of Megaton. He looked it over quickly and deemed it to be strong to withstand conventional assaults, but not specially coordinated ones.
Comparing the place however to the bases and cities of the UNSC made him see it as a flimsy fort in the middle of the world, while it's location was ideal and the terrain made attacking the place risky along with the high walls, he doubted that the metal walls were not going to withstand a serious assault from a determined foe. He had no doubt had this been a military target for the UNSC, they would have torn through the place easily, and even the Covenant would have laughed at the looks of Megaton.
However, he made sure to keep that train of thought to himself for now. He had to make sure that if and when he came to places like this, he kept himself as unnoticeable as possible though doing that was going to be a hard task and nigh impossible considering how he looked.
Cortana likewise nodded at that.
"Considering how we wound up being in the news, I feel that going incognito is not going to be a walk in the park. Anyway, keep your eyes and ears open John, just because they don't have the kind of firepower that is a major threat just yet, does not mean you can go easy or soft."
"Since when does a Spartan get soft?"
Cortana laughed gently at that and replied.
"Just testing, anyway, it looks like we're already here so let's stop for a while."
"What about the Warthog, leaving it here is a bad idea you know."
"I know so that is why I am sending down the Pelican so you can latch it there and get some new things to use for the rest of the stay there."
John nodded at that and as soon as they were well in walking distance from the town, John asked Miranda to wait. She wondered what he meant by that and soon got her answer as the Pelican made it's appearance once more. Once the transport landed next to them safely, the Spartan went to work securing the Warthog and locking it into place to be called upon when it's speed ,maneuverability, firepower, and armor would be used by them.
Along the way, John removed a supply canister and took out one of the Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle or the Spartan Laser as well as a pair of M7S Caseless SMGs and a set of attachments to his MA5C, which included a 40mm M301 Grenade Launcher Attachment, and an Underslung Shotgun Attachment. Once he was done, he placed those items into the rucksack and also the spare ammunition packs that were in the supply canister.
Once that was done, the Pelican Drop-ship took off and was soon off into the sky while leaving John and Miranda there on the surface as the Spartan decided to remove the Flashlight attachment from his MA5C and placed it aside while locking in the Grenade Launcher attachment just in case he needed something to deliver extra firepower without him having to use up his still present supply of grenades which he knew he was going to have the chance to use at some point in time but it was not going to be today of all days.
As they walked back to Megaton, the Spartan looked to see a man wearing a full leather ensemble that resembled the same outfit from Dusty and Kimba, he also saw the same rifle and no doubt in the Spartan's mind the man was a sentry. He spotted the odd looking robot and he could see that it was both greeter and security model.
Miranda was the first one before the gate that was now parting and the Spartan followed close behind, though he could sense that the man armed with the rifle on the upper catwalks was keeping a very sharp eye on him and no doubt that he was not going to let up in keeping him under full surveillance. As the two of them parted the gates with the creaking sound which told him and Cortana that there were generators that operated the gate systems, they found themselves in what appeared to be a collection of arranged parts scavenged vehicles that were used to make homes of some sort.
John and Cortana scanned the buildings carefully and saw the parts and began to determine that they were taken from vehicles, that ranged from cars, buses, trucks, utility vehicles, and also from ruined houses, buildings, as well as airplanes of some sort. The Spartan could see that while they were sturdy and could provide good enough protection, they were not build to withstand something that could unleash a serious assault on the buildings themselves and they were not military grade shelters and were no doubt held by duct tape, rubber cement, super glue, welds, and a lot of prayers.
To who in question he had no idea.
Cortana then spoke.
"These parts must have been salvaged from a location a fair distance from here, and judging by the majority of the parts being aircraft grade material, they must have gotten the parts from an airport, no doubt a civilian one from the looks of the parts."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah…you recall the exact appearance and dimensions of the Fat Man bomb?"
"Yes, why?"
"Take a gander in the middle of the town."
John did so and he looked on in surprise, and for good reason, there was a nuclear warhead shaped just like the said bomb that was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in the days of World War 2. He was slowly being convinced that this indeed was a different Earth as he knew that the designs of the Fat Man and the Little Boy were no longer in use by the nuclear arsenals in the UNSC. He scanned it and noted that while it did have nuclear radiation emission signals, they were fairly weak and as such were not too harmful unless one stayed there too long.
John however had great concerns as building a town around a potentially active nuclear weapon was an open invitation to being incinerated in a heart beat
"What is THAT doing here?"
Cortana replied to that question in her usual fashion.
"I have no idea, but I guess now why this town is called Megaton, maybe we should ask the man coming to talk to us, and judging from the clothes and the way he moves, he might be the 'sheriff' of this town."
He and Miranda were soon greeted by an African American dressed in what appeared to be the kind of garb one found on a cowboy in the old Western movies and carried what appeared to be a variant of the now obsolete AK-47 Kalashnikov Assault Rifle used many times in Earth's history before the universal adaptation of the MA Series of Assault Rifles. The Spartan studied the man carefully and could see that the man was something of authority and power here. No doubt he was indeed the sheriff in this place and that was something to the Spartan considering the way the land looked and what he had learned so far, having a figure of law and authority was a good sign.
The man smiled at Miranda and spoke to her.
"Good to see you again girl, been a while since you came back here."
"Nice to see you too Sheriff, anything happened while I was away?"
"Not much, but I can say that everyone, even that snake Colin is breathing a load better now that the bomb there is truly dead and gone thanks to you deactivating it. I've made sure to keep your house here out of anyone's reach so don't worry about it, everything in it is still pretty much there."
"Thanks a great deal Sheriff, I thought that being gone that long would have made people think I was dead or something."
Lucas smiled at that and replied.
"No need for that, I should be the one thanking you for that bomb disarming job…anyway, heard about what you did to that Big Town place, nice work, and this fellow right here is the one who helped you?"
Lucas pointed his gaze to John and Miranda nodded as she introduced the two men.
"Yep, this is Spartan-117, Spartan; I'd like you to meet Lucas Simms, sheriff and sometime Mayor of Megaton."
John gave the man a salute as despite Lucas being a civilian and as such not a member of any military branch that he knew of, he knew that the man was by definition a person of authority. Which after all he had seen was rare indeed in this Wasteland. And as par his training and lifestyle as a Spartan he was required to treat those of high rank who were not his enemies with respect befitting their position.
"Pleasure to meet you sir."
Lucas smirked a bit at that and decided not to shake hands, considering what he was about hear from the radio about this man, he was pure military and the way he carried himself proved that to be true in his eyes. He saluted the man though he had to admit that it felt a bit awkward to be doing that to a being who was somehow as tall as a Super Mutant and no doubt just as strong or even stronger if the reports were about right, but carried a lot of firepower from what he could see at the moment.
"Pleasure to meet you too, but I do have a need to address, I heard about how you helped those folks in Big Town and all with the aid of our own citizen Miranda, but you are new around here, so here's my rule when you are in Megaton, you treat my people well and we won't have problems, don't treat my people nice…well, you can wager a guess what the outcome is going to be, are we clear son?"
John looked at the man with some measure of respect, this Lucas seemed to be truly dedicated to keeping the peace as well as the rule of law and order, something that the Spartan had no problem respecting. He decided to reply in the same respectful fashion to the question that came from the African American Sheriff before him.
"Understood sir."
Lucas wished he could see the man's face to see if he was lying to him, but he kept his armor on and he could not help but sense that trying to make him take off the helmet would be like trying to convince Colin to be less of a crook and more of an honest man. But if he traveled with Miranda then he was not all bad in that sense.
"Good, now I need to go to work so if you two need anything, then you can find me or just call."
John looked at Miranda and spoke to her with some level of surprise and respect.
"You disarmed that bomb?"
Miranda nodded and explained how it happened.
"I had some demolition experience when I was a kid in the Vault, playing with some books and all; I took a look at the bomb and decided to deactivate the triggering mechanism and render the bomb inactive. Trust me it was not easy but I managed to pull it off."
John was impressed and so was Cortana as she spoke to the Spartan.
"She's got skills, those bombs might be obsolete and outdated in many ways to the nukes we have in the UNSC, but disarming one alone is a feat."
"Yeah, I noticed."
John then spoke to Miranda.
"Nice work."
Miranda smiled and replied as well.
"Thanks, but I did it so these people here deserve not to live in fear, my father…he always taught me to do the right thing, and I am not going to disappoint my father in any possible fashion. Anyway, welcome to Megaton, I have to give this device to Moira and get what she promised me, feel free to look about. But try not to cause trouble, Mr. Simms is pretty picky about law and order around here."
John nodded and decided to let the matter be as Miranda then went up to the building that had the tag Moira's Crater side Supply and he was quick to guess that the place was where the woman Moira was.
In the mean time John decided to check on his MJOLNIR by doing a full systems check and while he was doing this, he also checked on the rest of his gear to make sure that they were all working properly. Once he got the green light, he decided to move around the area while carrying his MA5C and looking about slowly, taking in all the details. As he had predicted, his arrival was causing a number of people to either gawk at him while keeping their distance or move away and give him a wide berth.
He didn't bother with the details for now as he explored what he could, but that was when his attention was drawn by a voice.
"That's some fancy shit you got on big man."
John turned and there was a grizzled looking man in the same black leather ensemble worn by Dusty. But unlike the formerly pessimistic youth he had encountered a few weeks ago and trained, John saw that the man was load different from Dusty and carried himself like a seasoned fighter and he could see the Chinese Assault Rifle there. Something about the man spelled trouble for the Spartan, he however kept himself calm and focused. So far this new person had not attacked him so there was little reason for him to retaliate just yet.
The man looked at the Spartan a bit more and could not help but feel a bit tense himself. Jericho had been a veteran Raider for years and had been in his fair share of battles for survival in the wasteland. And he had killed a good deal of people as well, but this guy in the green and black Power Armor was something he had never faced before. Not to mention those weapons he had on him were not like anything he had seen before, and he had seen a LOT of weapons in the past. He was especially interested in that massive cannon on the back.
(Damn, that ain't no Missile Launcher or a Fat-Man or anything I know of, it looks more like some freaking cannon.)
Jericho managed to relax and then decided that antagonizing this man or whatever he was in that suit was not worth his time but he decided to ask one more question and see what this guy was all about.
"You got a name?"
John then replied.
"Spartan-117."
"Heh, all right then, the name's Jericho by the way, now I have my own business, see ya around."
With that the former Raider walked away and headed to a nearby restaurant place that had the name tag of the Brass Lantern. John did not take his eyes of the man as what he had felt before told him to be really wary of the man. Mendez had always taught him to keep a close eye on anyone that had an aura of trouble on them as they usually were trouble, and this Jericho had a good deal of it.
Cortana herself did not like the man.
"That guy carries himself like a fighter, but he certainly is not from around here, he moves wrong and acts wrong too."
"I know…but he's not attacking us and even if he is not acting as if he was a native of this place, fighting him can be seen the wrong way."
The A.I agreed and spoke to her long time protector.
"At any rate, let's explore this place and wait to see if Miranda is done."
…
In Moriarty's Saloon…
Miranda entered the Saloon and shook her head, she had just agreed to go into the Anchorage War Memorial to plant some sort of observations module into a spawning ground of a horde of Mirelurks that apparently made the place their home. She heard about Mirelurks before from a passing trader in foodstuffs, calling them deadly in battle with their claws and tough shells as well as the fact that shooting them in the face was the best way to kill them.
She had no idea what Moira wanted to accomplish with the plan but she agreed and she would have to see it through. But for now she needed a drink and as soon as she got in there, she sat down and Gob spoke with a smile on his face.
"Hey there, you look like you could use a drink."
"Gob, you don't know the half of it."
The Ghoul laughed and took out what he knew was Miranda's drink of choice, and that was Whiskey. The woman took the bottle and poured some in and drank the whole drink straight up. She felt the burning sensation hit her and it felt all right as she enjoyed herself.
Gob turned away and decided to do some checking in the store room, just as Colin appeared, the owner of the Saloon spoke to the former Vault Dweller in his usual fashion.
"Looks you've had a hell of a run, and now you're here to drink and relax eh?"
Miranda nodded at that as she finished her drink and allowed the stuff to run through her, Colin took the bottle and then replied.
"You spent three weeks helping them folks in Big Town, can't imagine why you'd burn your time and caps on them, but that's your business."
Miranda glared a bit at Colin but ignored that and then replied.
"My choice to make."
"Right, anyway, you're by any chance hurting for some caps? I can imagine that doing all that must have been a blow to your savings huh?"
Miranda might be feeling the burn of her drink, but she was quickly alert as she looked at the man.
"What are you asking?"
"A job mostly, if you do it, I can give you some caps to help you tide your way."
This was something that made Miranda ever more wary as she knew that Colin was not the kind to give caps for free without something in exchange. Having been able to his character for herself and learning about him from Silver, a woman she had met in Springvale after leaving the Vault, she was sure that this job was something she was not going to like in the least.
"What sort of job are you asking me to take?"
"Just a retrieval job…some time before, I have another…employee by the name of Silver, she was in the same job as Nova you see. I figured that having a roof over her head, a room and board, food, drink and caps were enough."
"But she decided to rob me and leave in the dead of night. She could not have gotten far though as the Wasteland is not the place you want to be running around in. If you find her, use whatever mean to you think are all right to make her give me back my caps."
"So are you interested in the job?"
Miranda's eyes narrowed and she barely managed to contain a snarl as she already knew just who Moriarty wanted her to find, and kill. When she had left the Vault and stumbled into Springvale, she had managed to meet Silver. The woman had panicked and threatened her with her revolver and demanded if Moriarty had sent her. Of course she had no idea who Moriarty was and managed to convince Silver the very same thing.
As soon as she was able to calm the woman down, she asked just who was Moriarty and there she learned just who the man was. And she also learned just what was it that Moriarty had made Silver do. And the thought of him making her do that for caps, taking the life of the woman who wanted only to live free and away from a bastard like him was enough to get Miranda angry as she stood up and spoke to him.
"No thanks."
With that, she turned and walked out of the Saloon, intent on getting some clean air, if there was something like clean air into her lungs after having to deal with the man. However as she made her way to the other side of the town, she briefly glanced to the side and through the corner of her eye spotted Moriarty following her.
She did not like that and quickly turned to face him and spoke.
"Why are you following me?"
Colin used all his charm and replied.
"I just wanted to know why you're so upset with the job I offered to you."
"I am not interested in the job Colin, go find someone else. I've got other things to handle right now."
Colin frowned a bit and replied.
"But that doesn't make sense at all, it's a perfectly simple job, just go and find Silver and convince her to turn over the caps she took from me, it's not much is it?"
"It is to me. Let me make it clear Colin, find someone else and stop following me, I already paid you my caps to tell me where my father is, so let's leave it at that."
Colin glared and moved forward to grab Miranda by the shoulder as she had turned to walk away from hi. He made her turn and he spoke darkly.
"Listen here girl, don't try acting all uppity with me, I want to know why you won't take the job, I saw something in your eyes that tells me you know something about what I told you, or am I wrong?"
Miranda glared at the man and pushed his hand away and replied.
"That's not your business."
Colin fumed and replied.
"It is my CAPS she took from me woman! So it is my fucking business! You know something, so spill it right now!"
Miranda turned away and that was when Colin had enough and tried to grab her again, but he was not aware that he had been stalked by another person who had been following them the very second he had stalked after Miranda and before he could say anything coherent, his next batch of words came out in a scream.
"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"
The scream in question was more than enough to get the attention of all the people in Megaton and for good reason as they soon saw the Spartan holding Moriarty in a death grip by the neck.
…
Moriarty looked at the Spartan who now had him by the throat as he tried to free himself, while Miranda watched in some level of amusement. She had expected Colin to try something to her but did not expect the Spartan to have actually followed her with him placing his MA5C on his back with the massive Spartan Laser horizontal to him, not the most comfortable of positions, but it was the only way to carry both weapons in his mind
Colin gasped as the pressure felt like he was going to pass out and he looked to see his own reflection in the golden reflective face plate looking back at him. He finally managed to get some breath back and spoke to the man as best he could…if it was a man in that green and black armor.
"L-L-Let…me g-g-go!"
The Master Chief had been looking about when he spotted the man following Miranda when she had come down from what was supposed to be the town saloon and from the way he moved, the Spartan could already tell that the men had less than noble intentions to the former Vault Resident, and the fact that Miranda wanted nothing to do with the man and hearing their argument was more than enough to convince the Spartan to intervene and sure enough, he moved out of the corner and quickly restrained the man.
He looked at the man carefully and what he saw from him told him that the guy was not the kind one would trust even with a thimble of warm spit from a mule. Even more so as he had seen that he was not shy about using lethal force if he had to on someone and that someone happened to be Miranda herself.
"Not until you tell me why you were following her."
The people of Megaton were already going there to find out just what was going on with the green and black armored man with the golden visor and the new Citizen of their town. Naturally in the lead was Lucas and even Jericho as he was part of the defense group of the town of Megaton as well so as much as he did not like the idea, he had to help the man who was the law around the town.
Lucas Simms was very curious as to what happened and just how the heck Colin wound up in the grip of the giant of the man. Not that he didn't enjoy the sight of the man in that position as he had always been wary of Colin's shady dealings and apart from Jericho; he wanted to make sure that not everyone was going to be taken into his act.
But he had to maintain law and as much as he did not want to do it, Colin was a legitimate businessman here in Megaton and as such, he had to make sure that he did not wind up dead. He was honor bound to serve the law as well as justice even if it meant helping protect the man who he secretly considering to be a criminal boss and that was why he spoke seriously to the Spartan.
"Care to explain to me what the devil is going on here in my town?"
Colin turned and managed to speak.
"A-A-About bloody time…you came Simms….tell this…fucking….armored nut to let…me go!"
John then replied.
"Not until you tell me what you were doing, the only time I am letting you go is when you answer my question."
Lucas wanted to speak but he could tell that the man with Miranda was not going to budge on the matter, and while he wanted to make his point come across to the giant, he was sure that there had to SOME reason as to why this happened. He then turned to Miranda and spoke.
"Look girl, I like you and all with you taking out that bomb and making it safe, but unless you can convince your friend to tell me what is going on, or you tell me, I am going to have to take this guy in. It might be like telling a hungry Deathclaw not to eat you or tear you up for the hell of it and eat you later but I have a job to do here."
Miranda knew that she was the only one to explain what was going on and she replied.
"Colin was asking me back in his saloon to do a job for him, to find a former...employee of his, a woman named Silver to collect something she stole from him. I know already what he had in mind, I was to kill Silver and collect the money from her if she resisted, he might think that I don't know what he really had in mind, but I can read between the lines and he wants Silver dead so he would have no more loose ends to his businesses here in Megaton."
Lucas's eyes widened at that as it was a serious charge and he replied.
"That's a serious accusation girl, how do you know all of this anyway? I doubt that you were able to know all of this in mere minutes."
"Because I met Silver long before I ever came here to Megaton, she told me that she had worked with Moriarty doing favors for men, anyone can guess what that line of work was. She wanted out and decided to do it by doing one last fling with Colin to convince him to let her go. But instead of being able to leave, Colin turned back on his word, he had no plan on letting Silver go, and she took the caps she felt she was owed and left. That was when he brought Nova into his bar, and it would have been the end of it. But he was not going to let Silver go, that was why he asked me to find her and get his supposed stolen caps even if it meant taking Silver's life."
Colin glared darkly at Miranda, though he was trying as despite his anger, he could not vent his fury at the daughter of James as the giant still held him by the throat, of course, he did manage to speak out his anger at her actions exposing his plans to have Silver dealt with.
"Y-Y-You…b-bitch, you dare to b-backstab me –l-like this? I should have never told you…where your fucking…daddy was. I should have told you he was…"
John heard enough and gently tightened his grip while speaking in a cold and emotionless tone.
"One more word out of you, I will personally crush all the bones in your neck."
That was more than enough to silence Moriarty as Lucas looked at the two and he could tell from Miranda's look that she meant every word of this and he knew that she was not the kind of person to lie about it. He then glared at Colin and spoke seriously to the man.
"Looks like there's some skeletons in your closet you don't want out Moriarty."
"Y-Y-You c-can't be serious Simms!"
"Oh I am, I always had a feeling that something about you was off and now it seems I was right on the money, asking someone to kill another person for caps is not something that is welcome here. You asking Miranda to kill this Silver lady is already asking for trouble."
"Sh-She was a w-whore…"
Miranda was angry the very second she heard that come out of his mouth and quickly moved to kick him but John stopped her with a quick command.
"No."
Miranda looked at the Spartan with shock at what he had just said and wondered just why the man was defending this piece of shit for a human being. John then spoke to Colin in a dark tone as he continued to hold the Irishman up by the throat in his hand.
"You are not going anywhere, you will leave this town and never come back."
Colin then replied in a defiant tone.
"W-What the hell…do you think you…can do to me?"
John then replied as he reached behind him and took out an injection device and jabbed it into Moriarty's neck the very second he released him. The motions only took a second as the man cried as he reached for his neck. Once John saw that he recovered, he reached for a nearby device that looked like an old fashioned I-Pod device that was quite popular in his Earth and he replied.
"I just injected a special tracking explosive into your neck, and into your veins, right now it is going to go into your heart via blood flow. Once that device settles there, it will lie in wait and wait for the signal."
Colin recovered and spoke as he got his breath back.
"What fucking signal?"
"This."
John pressed the trigger on the device and a series of beeping sounds came out from the device, and it soon began to get louder and faster as John spoke once more in the same tone of emotionless control.
"This is the triggering signal for the bomb in your heart, right now it's on a timer system, you have at least three minutes to get out of Megaton before that minute runs out…and then, well you're a smart man, you can figure that all out easily enough on your own. There is enough explosive to turn your heart into shredded meat but not enough to blow you into a hundred messy pieces. It's got a full one thousand yards range so the very second you are in the range…"
Colin looked utterly shocked out of his skin and tried to tell if the man was lying, but the armor and helmet with the reflective golden visor told him nothing and the next word John said was more than enough to make him feel more chills run up and down his spine.
"You've got two and a half minutes Colin and a thousand yards is a LONG way."
He didn't need any more prodding as the owner of Megaton's bar ran away from the crowd, pushing and shoving anyone out of the way in a mad dash for the gates and was soon out of sight. The others moved after the man and so did the Spartan and when they were out of there, they spotted Colin running through Springvale like there was a whole swarm of Death claws after him John looked on and when he was sure that Colin was already a full three hundred yards from Megaton and Springvale, he turned to walk back into Megaton when Lucas stopped him, the man's visage in a look of disgust and rage.
"That stunt you pulled was beyond wrong, putting a bomb in a man's body even if he is scum is low and sickening, something only slavers ever do to people, Colin might be guilty of planning murder, but what you did has crossed the line. You got anything to say in your defense before I kick you out of my town?"
John then replied.
"I lied."
Lucas and the rest of the townsfolk were caught off guard by that and even Miranda was surprised by that as she looked at the man and spoke.
"What do you mean you lied?"
"I lied about it being an explosive, it's actually a harmless tracking signal system, and the beeping was the way of the tracking device here to tell me where my target was. Colin didn't know about that since I never told anyone about it, all he thinks is that if he comes within one thousand yards of Megaton, he is going to go boom. Which you all know is now far from the truth of things, he'll be alive, but he won't be around to make people's lives hell anymore since he thinks that he is going to become heartless…literally ."
As that began to sink into the minds of the people there, Miranda could not help but begin to smirk and soon break out into a fit of laughter as she recalled the way that Colin looked the second he swallowed the lie of the Spartan. Of course with the armor the man had on and the fact that his visor hid his face so well made it clear that reading him was not something the untested were ready for.
Jericho could not help but grin and burst out laughing as well as he looked at the path that Colin ran away from like a whipped dog being chased by wolves as well as he turned to the Spartan after laughing quite a bit.
"Nice moves there big man, you gave Colin such a shock that he flat out pissed himself while running…never thought I would see that happen in a million years."
Lucas had to grin at that a bit and he spoke.
"Sneaky and underhanded…not what I'd approve of, but at least it works. So I guess Moriarty is gone from here, not that it's a bad thing but who exactly is going to take over the bar?"
Miranda had an idea and spoke.
"Why not Gob?"
"Gob?"
"Yeah, he's a decent sort even if he is a Ghoul, and he certainly is a lot better off than most. Besides, he has no reason to be like his former boss and he's honest as far as I know."
Lucas thought it over and had to admit that Gob was the better sort and at least it was going to be a load easier since Gob was indeed nothing like Colin, Gob may be a Ghoul, but he was the decent kind of Ghoul.
"All right then, I'll talk to Gob and see if he does not mind taking or the Saloon, but I think we're not going to see that last of Moriarty, even with him gone, I've got no doubt that the man's going to make some serious moves in getting his revenge, even more so for you two. But I've got a feeling you two can handle that well enough on your own. Now then, let's go and get things organized around here."
As the Megaton townsfolk moved back into town, the Spartan kept a close watch first along with Miranda, moving about slowly around the town while looking for any sign of the now deposed bar owner and overall crime boss. It was natural though that it was John who provided the long range scanning and as such, he was Miranda's eyes and ears.
As they continued looking about, he noted that Miranda stopped and looked at a certain direction, he noted the sad look on her face and was a bit confused but that did not last for very long as he wagered a guess that where she was long at right now was the same location of the Vault that had once been her home.
He then spoke to her.
"That's where it is right?"
Miranda nodded and spoke.
"Yes…I know there is no going back there, and maybe I don't want to either…at least not until I find my father."
"You think your friend Amata has talked some sense into her father?"
"I hope so, her dad always disliked me even though me and Amata were the best of friends, but he should listen to her. Come on, let's go."
John saw that Miranda was not going to budge on the matter and so did Cortana as they both agreed to drop the subject for now and followed her back into Megaton. Once they were there, the Spartan moved to the area where Moriarty's Saloon was along with Miranda, he was not going to go there himself for a number of reasons.
One, he never drinks anything alcoholic since it was not something that he did often so he had no idea how he would be if he got drunk. Second it was against UNSC rules and while there was no UNSC here in this 'Capital Wasteland' that was no excuse to go about breaking them. Third, he had no idea just what was the quality of the stuff as the alcohol was no doubt irradiated already and the last thing he wanted was getting drunk being irradiated which was wrong on many levels. And lastly he had no idea of the building could handle his weight, he was wearing a suit that when combined with his natural weight as well over a ton.
Miranda turned and spoke to him.
"You are coming?"
"No."
"Let me guess…you don't want a drink on the house?"
"No Miranda, drinking for me is prohibited."
Miranda sighed a bit and smiled slightly.
"You have any idea what you're missing? Okay never mind that, I take it that there is another reason why you're not coming?"
"Yes, I weigh a full ton in this armor so climbing up there is not a good idea. The last thing anyone wants is their building being crushed by someone weight more than at least a ton and a half"
The woman was surprised and after looking at the Spartan carefully realized that he might have a very valid point, she knew that the buildings in Megaton, including her home were rather sturdy, but they had never dealt with anything that heavy before and she had no doubt that her home could handle that kind of weight. She sighed a bit and nodded in agreement.
"Considering that, I can see why you would not go with me, all right, I'll see you later."
With that, Miranda decided to go back to the Saloon and see just how things were going, John decided to take his time and figure out what to do with himself while waiting for the lady to arrive, in the mean time he might as well get some things done and he decided that he should remove the Grenade Launcher attachment of his MA5C and switch to something more suited for Close Combat Urban fighting as they were soon going to go into the ruins of D.C and considering what he had seen and heard thus far, getting ready was key.
He moved away and then began to remove the attachment while getting his rucksack and then taking out the Underslung Shotgun attachment. As he was doing this, it was there that an elderly man walked up to him singing a tone of some sort. The man spotted the Spartan and spoke to him as he eyed the veritable arsenal that the Spartan lugged around.
"That's some very fancy looking weapons you got there with you son."
John looked at the man and replied.
"Yes, saved me from a lot of trouble, Mr.?"
"Nathaniel Vargas, but you can just call me Nathan, you planning to work with the Enclave? I can bet the good old US of A can really use someone of your caliber."
John raised an eyebrow at that and so did Cortana, they had never heard of this Enclave before and from the sound of it, they could be remnants of the US government. That would have pleased most people, but John was doubtful for two reasons. The first was obviously the fact that the US had taken part of a global war that was the result of all this, so there was no way to know if the US had instigated the conflict, and the second was that if they were still around, why was it that they had not begun restoration efforts to reclaim the land as best they could.
Cortana then spoke to him as she thought along those very same lines.
"This is interesting, if this Enclave is indeed the remains of the US government, why was it they have gone dark all this time? Maybe getting some details from this man can help us figure out why they have been keeping quiet for so long."
"Are you sure we can rely on him?"
"Not really, but he is the only one who does know about this Enclave so no sense not finding out what you can."
This whole conversation was between the A.I and the Spartan and it was over in moments so John spoke to the man named Nathan.
"What exactly is the Enclave?"
Nathan beamed at this and John could easily see that from the expression alone the man considered the topic of the Enclave as his favorite subject.
"They are the last of the nation of the old USA, and they are the ones who are going to help rebuild this great nation once again. Most people here think I'm crazy to be placing my hopes on them, but I know I am right and as soon as they came in, they are going to bring this nation back to the power it has before."
John took that in very carefully making sure to keep this in mind as Nathan spoke to him once more.
"By the way sonny, you really should heed my advice and join the Enclave, even if you are born in the Vault like that lady Miranda is, or where was it you came from, you are still born on American soil and that makes you an American. Anyway, I have to go, I need to get my guns ready to join them when the time comes, things are going to be different once the Enclave gets here, you can bet on that."
As Nathan left, John took in the information and decided to shelve that for another time as he finished locking in the attachment and loaded in the same shells that would be used by the M90A CAWS Shotgun. Once he was done, he was surprised to see Miranda come back with a wide smile on her face as she spoke to him.
"Lucas talked with Gob and he's pretty happy with being free of Moriarty and getting the chance to be able to own the Saloon, and Nova seems to be pretty happy with it to. She's quite being what she was before when Colin managed the place and she now helps out in the bar as well as the rooms, but not in the way she used to."
John had a fairly accurate idea on what that was since he had heard it already from Colin himself.
"I think the men here will not like it."
Miranda nodded at that but kept her face strong and replied.
"I know, but that's Nova's call and besides, the Sheriff does not mind, but before anything, I have to go and get someone else to help them manage the place now that Colin is gone."
"Let me guess…Silver?"
Miranda grinned.
The two left Megaton and John made sure to patrol the area around Silver's hideout to make sure that Colin or any other threat was not around to attack both Miranda and Colin's former employee in his saloon. Miranda was surprised to see Silver was alive and safe, apparently Silver had not revealed herself and she had even asked what the hell was that pig running like a Death-Claw pack was after him.
Miranda told Silver to come out and when John appeared, the former prostitute panicked and readied her weapon, no doubt mistaking the Spartan for a Super Mutant. It was with Miranda's intervention that Silver stopped and after explaining the Spartan's part in helping deal with Colin, Silver relaxed. She even thanked the Spartan for getting rid of the bastard pig. It was here that Miranda pitched the idea of her working with Nova and Gob to run the Saloon, she was not sure how to take it, but decided that it was better than living in fear all her life and as such, she agreed with the idea.
Both of them escorted Silver back to Megaton with John checking the area very carefully, and when they made it back into the town, Miranda talked to Lucas and after some time, he agreed with allowing Silver back. After which, Miranda asked the Chief if he had plans to get some sleep and the Spartan shook his head. This made Miranda worry about how the people would feel with having him around at the time of night.
John reassured her that he would be fine and that was it as she headed to her house to get some much needed sleep. John on the other hand had other ideas as he waited for night to fall and left Megaton, getting a good deal of distance and soon when he was sure that he was not being tracked by anyone, decided to head back to the Pioneer. He had a plan to give Miranda some better protection for herself. The Metal armor was useful and intimidating, but in his mind, antiquated and heavy.
Cortana could not agree more, but reminded the Spartan that they were going to have to make alterations if he intended to let Miranda use UNSC issued equipment and clothing. However she did support the idea and once John and her were back into the Pioneer after riding up via Pelican, they went to work.
…
The next day…
Miranda yawned and got out of bed, trying to get the stiffness out of her body after all the things she had been doing, she had not been able to get enough sleep and that was why after getting a good drink of Pure Water from Wadsworth, she went to sleep.
Once she was up and about, she got out some of the Brahmin Steak she had the day before, thankful the refrigerator in her house was in good working condition. She got out also some of the water she stored and got a Ice Cold Nuka-Cola as well. She downed her meal in her room and made her way to get dressed, unmindful of the fact that she was trooping around in her undergarments as she was the only LIVING person in her house.
She put on her Vault Suit, unwilling to part with it for now while leaving the belt and then putting on her Metal Armor, she then moved out and get to work in doing what Moira had asked of her. She bid her Robo-butler farewell and Wadsworth bid her goodbye while he kept the house tidy.
It was here that she spotted John and there before him was a crate of some sort, she was about to ask what was the crate for and he merely opened it. He took out some items and gave it to her, and there she saw that it was actually a suit of armor as well as armor pieces, and clothing as well.
Miranda looked at the Armor that the Spartan that she no doubt felt that he had brought down from that transport as well as where he had come from and wondered just what was it made of as she had never seen anything like it before in her life, it looked like Combat Armor, but it was not the same either.
It seemed to be a bit heavy, but not to the same level of weight as her Metal Armor. She also had to admit it actually looked a lot more interesting and looked tougher as well. It was also colored in grey with black straps as well. The Body Armor was not limited to the chest and back, but also some armored boots as well as shoulder armor pieces that could strapped on.
She couldn't help but wonder just where this guy was able to get this kind of gear, she knew that the Brotherhood were supposed to usually wear Power Armor since on occasion she would see some of them on her travels.
This was not Power Armor but it was well made and when she thought about it, it was a bit better than her usual Metal Armor and decided that since the man was giving this to her she might as well put it to use.
"All right then, give me a few minutes."
"Sure, wear the clothes too, this should help. Put the clothes on first then the full body suit, trust me, it's comfortable and it adds extra armor protection."
The Spartan took out the duffel bag filled with UNSC Marine fatigues that were used for more urban combat environments so unlike the woodland camouflage that the Marines were known to wear, this was more in the shade of grey which was more suited for combat in urban areas. The clothes were well made and very comfortable as well as functional and the black body suit he gave was actually a full body Ballistic Assault system, made from the same Kevlar/Diamond Weave but was lighter so it served as a secondary form of defense..
The woman took the bag as well as the Armor and the sections for the boots as well, it took a while for her to carry the gear to her house. He decided to check his gear once more while waiting for the return of the woman. The Spartan did not have to wait for long as Miranda appeared after a few minutes dressed in the fatigues and the Marine Body Armor with all the pieces that were part of the whole system. He could see that she was smiling somewhat which told him that she found the Armor to be right up her alley.
As soon as she was before him, he decided to speak to her and see how she was handling wearing the new Armor which in his opinion and Cortana's was a load better than the armor she was wearing at the time when they had met her.
"So how is it?"
Miranda smiled a bit and replied.
"It's pretty good, a load better than the Metal Armor since it's a lot lighter and more maneuverable than my previous armor was before. I thought that it was going to weigh a lot but it actually was not as heavy as I thought that it was when I put it on, not to mention that it seems to be pretty comfortable."
John nodded at that as he checked his MA5C and replied.
"So where do we go from here?"
"I think that I am going to check out the outer areas of D.C to find a way into the place via the Train tunnel network, once I am done, I am going to go back and getting to finish some of the other things that Moira wants done for that book and then I'll head out and find out what that guy Three Dog knows about my dad since before we ran him out and before we met, he did tell me that my dad was going to Galaxy News Radio."
John shook his head at this as he had a feeling that this was not going to be a very boring trip, but he decided to accompany her a bit more before striking out to find the Brotherhood, however he kept in mind that they might be a bit reluctant to let him and Cortana access their data and he was not going to be surprised as he was no doubt something that none of them expected.
Miranda then spoke to him.
"You want to tell me now why you were going to D.C? You've done a lot and I've done a lot together so if you don't mind, I would really like to know just what is it you are going to do here in the very first place."
John looked at her and replied.
"I plan to meet this Brotherhood along the way."
"You want to go to the Brotherhood of Steel? May I ask why since from what I heard, they have their hands full dealing with a number of things right now?"
John thought it over and while he was not fully trusting of Miranda just yet, he decided to tell her something on what he was going to do.
"I plan to find out information and find out what I can about what happened here. This war that was mentioned to me is something that I want to find out, what caused and why was it waged to the point that they used nuclear bombs. The whole thing seems a little too excessive to me as well as self destructive."
Miranda thought about it and she had to admit that the Spartan did have a point, she used to ask her father about why they lived in the Vault, and was the world outside really bad. She recalled how he would say that while the Vault was not perfect, it was a lot safer there than it was out here. At first she discounted that he said about the world privately, but after living here in the Wasteland for a few days and seeing the many dangers for herself, she could not blame her father for saying those things.
But still, she was quite curious herself on why the world was like this as well, she had scoured the data archives in the Vault and it spoke of the war between America and a place called China. But she had no idea why that even happened in the first place, she asked her father and even Amata, but none of them knew anything that could provide in her mind a more than adequate answer. The records they found from the terminals in Germantown only gave some idea of what happened during the events after the bombs hit the area of DC but nothing before it all.
"I see…that's going to be hard you know, there were records in the Vault back where I came from, but not that many, I can tell you that the Vault I lived in and others like it were part of some sort of program to save as many lives as possible in the event of war."
"How do you know that?"
Miranda told him that she had managed to get the password from the room of Amata's father and as soon as she was done, the Spartan took that into account as well along with what he had already learned of Vault Tec, he needed to see some more data before coming to a more solid idea, and the same could be said for Cortana as well. She needed access to a very reliable source of information before she could figure out just what was going on.
…
Miranda then moved out from Megaton and John followed her, she was the one who knew the surrounding areas better than he did since even though he had the exact map and layout of the DC area of Washington, this alternate version of the said location had already been bombed heavily so his map might not be very accurate. They moved out carefully while John kept his sensors on full alert for any possible hostile contacts as they moved to the direction of what she had told him was the sight of the Anchorage War Memorial from Moira and they were there to take a chance of placing some sort of observation device in what was supposed to be a place where Mirelurks were located.
He had no idea what Mirelurks were and neither did Cortana but he decided to get ready just in case things got rather nasty as they passed the area where Miranda had gotten the food and medicine from before. And sure enough it was as they were making their way past several houses as the Spartan's Motion Sensors detected hostile movement coming their way. He got his weapon ready and aimed it at the nearby road as well.
Miranda saw that and wondered just what was making the Spartan stop there in the middle of the road, but her own honed danger instincts kicked in as several men came out from out of nowhere and she was able to recognize them as members of Talon Company and they immediately began to open fire.
"TALON COMPANY!"
John however had an answer to that as he targeted the one with the Assault Rifle and fired a short burst from the MA5C. The rounds flew in and smashed hard into the man's face, the Spartan had loaded some Shredder rounds into the clip and those were the first to fire out from the Assault Rifle. The Talon Company Merc's head was instantly torn apart by the rounds and sent blood, flesh, bone, eyeballs, and brain matter all over the place.
Miranda was not far behind as she quickly got to cover near a ruined and already worthless car that had it's reactor burned, the rounds flew over her head as she got up and fired a burst of her own, some rounds were blocked by the Merc's Combat Armor but that had force him to stop shooting to get cover, she then fired several bursts into his arm, ripping into the limb and stopping the man cold from firing his Drum Shotgun. She followed up with a burst into the thigh where the armor did not cover the man and then finished off with one last burst into the head that dropped the man dead.
The last member of the Talon group primed a grenade but before he could ready it, the Spartan was already on the move and fired one single round into the grenade and that had more than explosive results as the weapon blew up. The blast tore apart the man and sent him flying, with his right arm flying away in one direction and his left leg flying in another direction as well. The body lay there and John moved over to see that the man was barely alive.
The Spartan looked at the talon symbol on the man's armor and saw him looking at him with shock, pain, and anger. The Spartan ignored it and placed his MA5C to the man's face and euthanized him with a shot in the face. Once the man was silenced, he decided to question Miranda on who these people were since they were clearly better equipped and armed than the regular band of Raiders. He turned to see Miranda checking the body of the one he had shot and salvaged the man's ammunition to add to her own as well as his Combat Knife which no doubt would useful if her own broke or cracked and that AK like weapon as well.
She turned and saw that the Spartan was looking at her expecting answers to what had just happened and she replied.
"They're mercenaries from a group called Talon Company…they are the worst kind of mercs since they would not give a fuck about shooting children and old men as long as they got paid."
"I can see that, why are they after you?"
"Remember when I got rid of that bomb in Megaton? Well it seemed that someone named Mr. Burke hired these mercenaries to track me down and deal with me. Apparently this guy wanted me dead for doing my first good deed since stepping out of the Vault and into the Capital Wasteland for another fellow named Mr. Tenpenny who happens to own a place known as Tenpenny Towers and is a man named Allistair Tenpenny."
John was about to ask just who this Mr. Burke was and why he and this Mr. Tenpenny would try to kill her for doing something that was a very commendable act when there was another amount of screaming heading their way and he quickly reacted and so did Miranda as they aimed their weapons at the source of the screaming.
…
The Spartan lowered his MA5C as he spotted the figure to be a young boy, wearing gloves, coveralls, and small shoes. But he could see dust and grime on the boy's face as well as the looks of utter terror on his face, and the way the boy ran was more than enough to tell him that he was utterly scared.
Miranda saw the very same thing as she lowered her weapon and she looked in shock and utter worry at the way the young boy was coming towards the of them. She had no idea what was going on but the way that the boy came towards them.
As soon as the boy stopped, he tripped and was about to fall flat on his face but was caught by the Spartan as he quickly moved to catch the young man. This action was easy for something like him but for Miranda she was surprised at the Spartan had cleared a full ten feet between him and the boy…and she didn't even notice.
(Whoa…that's like in some of those comic books Amata and I used to read back in the Vault, that guy can move and that is impressive.)
She shook her head however and joined the Spartan as she looked at the boy who was trying to catch his breath, her limited medical training told her that the boy was hyperventilating and needed to calm down quickly before he passed out.
"T-T-The monsters! They're going to get me!"
This made Miranda stop cold and thought for a minute that Super Mutants were after the child and she shuddered at the thought of a young boy being eaten by those monsters.
"Were the Super Mutants?"
"N-N-No! They were Ant…Big Ants, breathing fire! I need help! Papa told me…Papa told me to run!"
Cortana spoke first to him with an incredulous tone in her voice as she spoke to the Spartan.
"Giant Ants, we have seen already, but ones that can breathe fire? This kid must be suffering from shock or something."
John had to agree with that as he could see the looks of fear on the young boy's face. But after seeing the things that they had already seen here, he was not going to put that aside.
"Maybe, but considering what we've seen on this alternate Earth, it's not too far from the truth, remember what you said to me before?"
"Right, so what do we do now?"
Miranda provided the answer as she spoke with the boy."
"Calm down, what's your name?"
"B-Bryan…Bryan Wilks."
"Okay Bryan, you can trust me and my companion, my name is Miranda, and this is Spartan-117, we can help you, but you have to tell us what happened?"
Bryan looked at both Miranda and the Spartan and could see that they were a lot stronger than anyone he had ever seen before. he felt something flow into him. He had no idea what it was, but it felt good, but he knew that he little time to think of it now, he had to help his father and spoke to Miranda.
"It…It happened a few days…ago, the Giant Ants used…they used to just be in the tunnels in that old station. But then they…they came out, spewing fire all over the place…they burned anything they could find. I hid while my Papa fought them, and then… my Papa told me to run. Please you have to find my Papa, I need to know if he is all right!"
Miranda could not help but feel great pity for the young boy, this mirrored her own predicament though she was nearly an adult, and Bryan was too young to have to suffer the loss of a parent. She was not going to let this young man live in fear and uncertainty of his father's fate and have to live alone in a world filled with constant danger, he deserved better than that.
"All right, I'll help find your father."
Bryan then turned to the Spartan and spoke to John as well.
"W-Will you h-help find my Papa too?"
John looked at the young man and decided to agree, he had seen scenes like this more frequently than he liked during the UNSC Covenant War. Children asking fellow UNSCDF personnel to find their brothers, sisters, friends, mothers, fathers, the list went on and on. He knew that by all rights, those children were never going to see them again as those people usually were either killed, or tortured, or eaten by the more cannibalistic Unggoy, Jiralhanae, and the Kig-Yar, he had allowed it to roll over him not out of heartlessness, but because there was little that could be done, though he made it a point to exact revenge on the Covenant when given the chance while maintaining his self control and focus.
This world was not his, but he was not going to let a child grow up alone without his father, if the boy's father was still alive, then he would help find him.
"Yes I will, now do you know where to hide while we do this?"
Bryan nodded and replied.
"There's…an old shelter there in the town, I'll hide there…please…find my Papa."
As soon as it was over, Bryan told the two where to find Grayditch and with that done, the young boy took off and this left Miranda to get her Assault Rifle ready and John did the very same thing as he got his MA5C ready for battle. It looks like he and Cortana were going to have to deal with a brand new threat before them as they made their way to the town of Grayditch, all to help a young boy named Bryan Wilks find his father.
…
In Megaton…
Lucas walked into the Saloon and had to admit that it was a bit odd to be in the place once owned by his long time foe Colin and not have the man give him a lot of mouth for bringing himself there. The only difference here was that the man was gone and before him was Gob himself, and along with the Ghoul was none other than Silver and Nova, the two former prostitutes decided to stay and work in the Saloon, though in a different field.
Both of them were now the ones serving the drinks as well as managing the rooms in the hotel and that was it, they had no intention of going back to the life they left behind and they also made sure to make that clear to all the men there. They would share drinks and talk to help them, but being paid for sex was no longer what they wanted.
Lucas had no problems with that and decided to let the situation be, at least the jobs the two had were legitimate jobs this time around.
Nova smiled a bit and replied.
"Hey there Sheriff, I never thought I'd see you here."
"Yeah, well, I just needed to see just how Gob was doing."
Nova smiled a bit and replied.
"You can ask him, Hey Gob!"
The Ghoul came out from the room that was once owned by Colin and spoke as soon as he was at the bar.
"Yeah Nova, what is? Hey Sheriff, didn't you to be here."
"Yeah well, I needed to see how you were doing."
The former Ghoul bartender smiled and replied.
"Doing pretty good right now, still getting used to not having Moriarty belting me in the chops for this and that. But it's great, Nova and Silver are all right company and running the place is a lot better now with them around to help out."
Lucas nodded, having both Silver and Nova there was a good thing, he had to deal with the fact that some of the men got funny ideas about having Silver back, but he put a stop to that as Silver was asked to come back by Miranda after Colin was sent away. Silver was not quite happy being back, but realizing that she was going to be given a new lease on life, she agreed.
Silver then showed up and smiled in greeting as she spoke.
"Hey, nice to see you here Sheriff, came to check up on Gob right?"
Lucas nodded and decided to listen to the radio.
It was here that they got a report from Galaxy News Radio.
'Helloooo Capital Wasteland, the is Three Dog….Aaaaaooooh Coming to loud and proud from Galaxy News Radio.'
'Have we got some news for you today. so far the town of Grayditch has been quiet for a very long time. I have mentioned that someone should go there and find out what's what and see what drove the town to go quiet. Well, it seems that there are people going to check it out. I got word from a few scouts of the Brotherhood who had come back to the Citadel of theirs after being out on patrol that they had spotted none than…drum roll please…'
'Miss Vault 101 and her massive green and black armored friend with the killer arsenal on him to go and kick the hell out of anything dumb enough to get in their way! I kid you not kiddies, they are there right now, and it looks like they have decided to go other than check out ol Gray ditch and find out just why the place went dark on us. They don't that sweet ride with them which is a shame, but Miss Vault 101 looks like she dumped the Metal getup for some very new Armor and duds, hope that it can protect her well.'
'Anyway, here's hoping that she and her massive friend will finally get to the bottom of what had happened to Grayditch. I just hope that it's not going to be something seriously freaky like the things I have heard about going on in Canterbury Commons with those costume wearing nuts, or those creepy reports I keep hearing about that Dunwich place.'
'The wasteland's got enough on it's plate already so good luck to you Miss Vault 101 and you as well Mr. Mystery. That's the news for today kiddies. Here's some music for you all to enjoy, and that song in question is from Bob Crosby reminding us that the one road we will all be walking together…and that road is the 'Way Back Home.'
Lucas looked at the radio and so did Silver, Nova, and Gob and he replied.
"Looks like our friends are at it again huh?"
Gob nodded and replied.
"Yep, I guess I will have to keep in touch and hope for the best."
Nova and Silver nodded as well as they hoped to hear good news about the two soon.
…
To be continued…
…
Author's notes:
There were go, at least a new chapter for the readers and I hope that for those eager for a new update for those eager for more. Miranda now has some UNSC gear to use and it will certainly be useful, now I would have gone for the ODST BDU, but that is expensive to maintain and now would not the best time for them to use it in the Wasteland. It will be seen later and while the Marine Body Armor is not as advanced as the ODST Body Armor, it is a good system and with the Ballistic Assault Body Suit, it should be more than enough for the time being.
As to when she will get her hands on some UNSC weapons, that is up to me and it will show up soon enough when I deem that the time is right for it to be shown so don't worry about it.
…
Normally killing Colin would have been better, but technically he is not evil in the definition of the word. So I had to come up with a less brutal yet effective way to force him out of Megaton. But don't expect me to do the same to Jericho as despite him being evil, I feel that it would be better for him to be in Megaton since he does help defend the place from attackers.
You can bet however that Colin will want some payback and that means that he will show up and sooner or later, he will get a bullet in the guts so don't expect him to be out of the picture yet.
…
As for the soon to come meeting with the Master Chief and the Brotherhood, it will be interesting to say the very least so wait for that and I hope that it will not be disappointing to you readers since I dislike disappointing too many people when it comes to this line of work of mine. It's not going to happen just yet so don't expect John to meet them early
As you can bet we will have the trip to Grayditch to deal with the Fire Ants and you can bet that Cortana will take GREAT offense to the way that a certain Doctor Lesko handled this mess, and it is also here that Cortana will finally reveal herself in the flesh…so to speak to Miranda, this should be an interesting surprise for everyone involved.
And sooner or later, there will be the encounter with the Super Mutant Behemoth and yes there will be the part that everyone loves to see the giant green-skin mutant get blasted in the face with the Spartan Laser, but don't expect Miranda to be on the sidelines as she is going to show her stuff soon enough when she gets her hands on the Fat-Man nearby and the Mini-nukes as well.
And of course, this will bring John in contact with Sarah Lyons and you can bet that seeing the Spartan in action is going to raise some eyebrows with the Lyons' Pride when they see him fight. This should make things a load interesting for the wasteland once John and Cortana start helping out a lot more.
…
It's been brought to my attention that some people want me to touch in the Fallout Power Armor, that of the Brotherhood and that of the Enclave when I get the chance. I have used Power Armor before in my days playing Fallout 2 and Fallout 3 as well as Fallout Tactics. And I have to say that while it's not ad advanced as John's MJOLNIR, it does have a good deal of power to it and due to the fact that you only need specialized training to use it instead of the augmentations needed to use the MJOLNIR, it can be a useful tool.
Of course, John and Cortana will find ways to improve it and make the Power Armor a lot more effective. Considering the UNSC's records in manufacturing and construction, these repairs and upgrades will be a step above what the Brotherhood will expect.
Some of the ideas I have will be an introduction of advanced communications and sensors to make them more able to coordinate and communicate with one another, I also plan to have the heavy armor plating replaced with ceramics from both the ODST BUD and the Marine BDU to cut down on the weight and make the Power Armor slimmer and easier to move around with, and I might even introduce a portable Stealth Module so they would not have to use Stealth Boys all that much.
These should help improve the Power Armor some and introducing the Marine BDUs and ODST BDUs to the Initiates should give them a better chance to live longer. And who knows, the new uniforms and the new Power Armor may become the new trademark uniforms of the Brotherhood which can really separate them from the main Brotherhood as well as the Outcasts.
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For those interested in the idea of Sarah and Miranda in a relationship with the Master Chief, which I might lean to at some point, don't expect Sarah to just fall for the guy. Keep in mind that she has been trained to fight since she was young as per the needs of the Brotherhood for those with the aptitude for combat, and she's not yet in the mood to get hitched.
Of course, that might change soon enough at some point so you can bet that Sarah and Miranda will each have their turns.
This will mean that John will have time to work with the Lyons' Pride when he and Miranda have to work separately at some point in the story since John will have to prove himself to be trust worthy sort of person to get access to the data that the Brotherhood have on hand concerning that had happened to this Earth that they had happened to land in.
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See you all later in the next chapter as the Chief, Cortana, and Miranda now go and do a little Ant Hunting!