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The author's notes will be at the bottom in bold text.
"normal Speech"
Inner thoughts
"telepathic speech"
(foreign languages translated)
Speeches may be combined if necessary.
Thank you, and please enjoy the fanfic.
[Matthew Howard]
It's been a week since I teamed up with Dan and the others, and so far, things have more or less been uneventful. We got along well enough to refer to each other by our names, and they told me all they could about where they came from. They kept mentioning an imperium, an emperor, alien races, and demons. At first, I thought these guys were absolutely crazy and full of scut, but then I remembered the lightning-throwing mad hobo and decided that they might not be as crazy as I initially believed.
I mean, I lived in a glorified bunker and I sure as hell don't know what the flark is going around the world.
I managed to finish helping Moira with the first chapter of her book and almost completed the second chapter on the wasteland survival guide. An interesting thing to note about that was when Riddick tagged along with Mike and me to a mole rat tunnel. When he saw what happened with the mole rat repellent, he was surprisingly upset at seeing their heads exploded. So much so, that after the mission, he yanked the stick out of my hands a threw the thing as far as he could.
It seems the guy really likes animals.
However, it wasn't all smooth sailing though. Dan had routinely pestered me on a multitude of things. These things include Not praying to their emperor, being friends with Mike, making sure I have a proper chaperone with me at all times, telling me to go to bed on time, and him being in general a mother hen to me.
I understand that he's just looking out for me due to my age, but god damnit can he drive me up the wall sometimes. But there is one thing that always pisses me off about him.
His constant attempts to separate me and Mike. He always goes on about that Mike can't be trusted, that it's 'heresy' to be friends with an AI, that I'm better off without him, and that he's biding his time for the right opportunity to kill us all. And he says all this right. In. Front. Of. Mike. He thinks he's subtle about the whole thing, but he's as subtle as a supersonic train.
So currently, Dan and I aren't on good speaking terms now.
So to get away from him, I took up a job for someone Lucy West to deliver a letter to her family in this town called Arefu. I have accompanying with me is Mike, Riddick, and Dogmeat. Mike upgraded to a Mr. Gutsy robot a few days ago because Dan 'accidentally' shot Mike and destroyed his body. He thought he killed him but was surprised when Mike spoke up on my pip-boy. That was what crossed the line with me and since then, I refused to even speak with him.
Which brings us to where we are now.
"I just can't understand what the hell is Dan's problem with Mike." I bitched to Riddick on the way to Arefu.
"… Has he ever told you of the Men of Iron?" questioned Riddick.
"The Men of What?" I replied, confused.
"I see that he has not; very well, I guess that I will be the one to explain it then." Stated Riddick, then continued, "The Men of Iron was a race of machines created by humanity during what was known as the dark age of technology. It was called this because, for some reason, the Men of Iron rebelled against humanity and killed untold trillions across the galaxy. They brought only ruin wherever they went, until one day the Emperor emerged and fought back against the machines and destroyed them. Since then, the use of AI was forbidden by decree of the Emperor, and everyone within the Imperium has been technophobic of their return ever since. Do you understand now?" he questioned me.
"… So these machines basically went terminator on you guys?" I questioned Riddick.
Caught completely off guard by my question, he responded, "A-a what?"
"Terminator, it was a series of movies where machines rebelled against humanity." I replied to him, slightly amused at seeing the most stoic guy I know being so flustered.
Figuring out that I was making another reference to something he didn't get, Riddick rolled his eyes and muttered grumpily, "Another one of your damned references."
"Hey, it's not my fault that there isn't a working theater to watch movies." I complained, pissed that I can't watch any movies that Mike downloaded into his memory before we left the vault.
I have all the movies I could want, but no means to watch any of them. Truly these are dark times indeed. At least I can listen to the music I managed to download into my pip-boy.
After having my fun at Riddick's expense, I said to him, "But in all seriousness though I do see where he's coming from, I just wish he see that Mike isn't a threat."
"That is something the two of you must work out on if you wish for things to get better." Riddick wisely spoke.
"By the way, why don't you have an issue with Mike?" I questioned; I never saw him had any issue with Mike and wanted to know why.
"Well, that's quite simple. I just don't care. I much prefer the company of animals." Replied Riddick as he leaned down to pet Dogmeat's head.
"… I also notice that you don't seem to be as… well… dedicated to the imperium like Carver and Dan." I hesitantly ask, afraid at how Riddick would act. I noticed that he wouldn't pray to this emperor guy and whenever his 'chapter' is brought up, he would speak about it with noticeable contempt.
"… no, I'm not." Riddick said, his voice tense but neutral.
"… do you want to talk about it?" I asked him, a little worried.
"… no, I don't… but I might if I trust you enough to tell you why I am not as… devoted to the 'cause' as the others." Riddick tersely replied.
"Alright, just know that I here if you want to talk about anything. After all, we each have our own secrets." I told him, understanding that he has his own issues to go through.
"… Thanks, same goes for you too." Said Riddick, a small smile on his face.
We walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company to Arefu.
We arrive at the town and saw that it is situated on a highway bridge. As we approach though, we get a less than welcoming greeting.
"HOLY SCUT!" I yelled as a grenade goes off and hit the ground, covering my head. Riddick gets down too, going on top of me, making sure that I'm protected.
"Oh shit! Sorry, I thought you were one of the monsters, my bad." Yelled one of the locals.
"My bad, my ass." I grumbled under my breath, pissed off at the asshole throwing around grenades.
After Riddick helped me up, we move towards the jackass behind a makeshift barricade.
"You the scuthole throwing grenades at us." I angrily said to the sheepish local.
"uh, yeah, that was me, sorry. I'm Evan King. I'm the sheriff and mayor of the town, or what's left of it at least." He said, flustered about the whole incident.
I asked the Mayor, "What the hell got you so damn jumpy." Still pissed at the man.
The mayor said, "It's this gang called The Family, this group of bandits or whatever that's been sneaking into town, drinking people's blood. We tried so many to keep them from getting in, but nothing works. Hey, can you check on everyone in town to make sure they're okay. I haven't had the chance to do it myself on account of watching out for any more trespassers." He said to me.
Against my better judgment, I agreed and went into town. I checked with each person in town and went to the West's house as they were the last to be checked up on. When I entered, I notice the distinct smell of blood and saw two corpses on the ground. I investigated the bodies and noticed that there were bite marks on their necks, their blood drained dry, the bite marks appear to be human, and there seems to be some kind of residue on them. After checking around the house, I went to the mayor and told him what happened to the Wests.
He was quite distressed at the news and asked where a kid named Ian was, I told him that there were only two bodies, and he seems to believe that Ian was kidnapped. He gave me a couple of locations where 'The Family' the family could be, but I notice that none of them include any trainyards and mentions it to him. The only place he could think of was the Meresti trainyard and marked it on my pip-boy. I thanked him and had Dogmeat track the scent to the train yard.
We entered a metro station, and that was when things got a little, weird.
After traversing through the tunnels, disarming traps as we moved along, we encountered a guard who spotted us right away.
"Halt, who goes there and what business do you have with us?" spoke the guard, authority clear in his voice.
I immediately replied, "I here to give a letter to Ian West. Do you know where I can find him?" I decided to pose as a courier with an armed escort to get into the base and figure out what these guys' whole deal is.
The guard instantly relaxes and says, "Oh, alright then, you can come in, but you must first speak with our leader Vance before you can meet with Ian." The guard told me before he let us in.
We went up the stairs and met the leader of the group Vance. He was white, slightly tan, with dark purple hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in the same kind of outfit as the sheriff back in Megaton.
"Who might you and your companions be stranger?" he asked, inquiring me about my group.
I respond to him, "I'm Matthew Howard, and this is my guard, Riddick. The Dog is named Dogmeat and the robot I call Mike." When I told him my name though, he had this look of recognition on his face.
He asked me, "You wouldn't happen to be related to a James Howard would you per-chance?"
"I am; he's my dad, do you know him?" I questioned him, wanting to know how he knows my dad's name.
"He was an old friend of mine many years ago. We met when me and my friend Robert, the guard downstairs, was attacked by a wretched group of slaves and was greatly injured in the scuffle. He had with him a giant of a ghoul for a bodyguard and a brotherhood of steel paladin as he patched us up. Ever since then, we joined him working on something called project purity. But after his wife passed away, I never saw him again since." Vance informed me.
"He never mentioned you before." I told the man.
"Given your upbringing, I wouldn't be surprised by that." Vance responded, looking at my outfit.
"What's this Project Purity?" I asked, never heard of this before.
"As I'm sure you know by now that the wasteland is quite rather irradiated, especially the water, the goal of project purity was to filter the radiation out of the water to make it suitable for consumption. However, we couldn't figure out how to do it, and thus the project fell apart shortly afterwards. It certainly didn't help when your mother passed away and your father shortly left the project as well." The man informed me, "If you want to know more though, you'll have to ask Doctor Li about it. She's in rivet city, a derelict aircraft carrier in the harbor." He then marked it on the map of my pip-boy.
I then asked Vance, "So what's you guy's shtick?" curious as to what their whole deal is.
"We are a group of 'vampires' that have been burdened by our thirst for blood and rejection by the outside world, where we are forced to prey upon the inhabitants of the wasteland to claim their blood for our own survival. But we are no mere savages that forever plague the wasteland, for we follow a strict code of conduct in order to keep hold of our humanity." He told before continuing.
"Our rules are as follows: 'feast not on flesh; consume only the blood. This is our strength.' To consume the flesh of our fellow man is to be an animal, and we are not animals; we are The Family. Our second rule is 'Bear not the child; welcome only the exile. This is our fate.' We must never burden a child with our curse. The third rule is 'Feed not for pleasure; partake only to nourish. This is our dignity.' We only feed to sustain ourselves and never inflict harm on a child, for they are not tainted by society's view of us. The fourth rule is 'Seek not the sun's light; embrace only the shadows. This is our refuge.' To embrace our ways is to reject the world as you know it. It is not a path to be taken lightly. The final rule is 'Kill not our kindred; slay only the enemy. This is our justice.' We are few in number, and murder is the most heinous of all crimes." explained Vance informing me of all the rules of the Family.
I asked Vance, "Are you guys actually vampires, or is there more to it?"
Vance responded, "Literally? No, we are not, but the similarities are close, so I figure why not. We are just humans whole consume blood and have our injuries healed from it due to a mutation I acquired through my travels out in the wasteland. Your father shared this ability too, though I didn't agree that he had a child, But I also respected his wishes, for he was a good friend to me and my kind. I believe that you too would have this ability as well?"
I told Vance, "I never had to drink blood before, but it would stand to reason that I could have this mutation as well." Knowing how genetics work, it could be possible, but I'm not holding my breath.
"Why are you attacking Arefu?" I finally asked Vance.
"It is because they are simply the closest town around. We do try our best only to take what we require, though I fear that one of my own is violating one of our rules to indulge themselves." Explained Vance.
"Why not make a deal with the town? In exchange for blood packs, you guys protect the town." I told the man.
Vance paused, put his hand under his chin and thought for a few moments, and then said, "Such a deal would be possible. Do you think you can convince the mayor to accept this proposition?"
I grinned and said, "Trust me, I have my ways."
Vance then told me, "If you can make it so, I will give you something your father entrusted me with before we parted ways."
"Deal." I quickly said, shaking hands with Vance.
After the talk with Vance, we went to deliver the letter to Ian and helped him out with his depression, convincing him to return home to Arefu. Together, we made our way back to town and spoke to Evan King about making a deal with The Family. He was understandably upset at the idea, but Ian and I managed to convince him that it was a good deal and agreed to it.
On the way back to The Family, Riddick asked me a question, "Hey Matthew, what's a vampire?"
"Oh, it's just some mythological creature that drinks blood and turns into bats. Why do you ask?" I questioned him.
"It just seems very similar to the red thirst that all chapters of the Primarch Sanguinius suffer from." Replied Riddick.
"So what, you saying you and the others are vampires?" I cheekily replied back.
Annoyed, Riddick replies, "Haha, you must think your so clever, don't you?"
"Scut, sorry man, I didn't realize that was a sore topic for you." I apologized to Riddick.
Sighing, Riddick responded, "I know, our chapters have been cursed by this flaw ever since our founding and haven't been able to find a cure for it in the fast 10 millennia."
"Sounds rough" I replied.
"Very." Riddick simply said.
We walked the rest of the way in tense silence.
When we met back with Vance, he was ecstatic with the news. He quickly leads us into a dark basement, one kept under lock and key, before motioning us to come inside. In the middle of the room laid a closed coffin, wrapped in heavy chains and a padlock.
"Within this coffin lies your grandfather, your father entrusted me with guarding it, claiming that should it ever open, complete disaster would be unleashed onto the world." Explained Vance.
"My grandfather?" I asked Vance, confused. My dad never really talked about his family before; I'm starting to realize he didn't tell me a lot of things.
"Yes, I was told that, somehow, your grandfather still lives and is kept within the coffin." Replied Vance.
"Do you happen to know his name?" I asked Vance, dreading what lies inside the coffin.
"Yes, your father said it was Alucard." Answered Vance.
Authors Notes.
Sorry that this chapter took so long to make. I hope it was worth the wait though.
I am surprised at having 11 follows and favs guys, thank you so much.
I read in the reviews that people think this will turn into a mary sue story, and I want to comment on that. This is the first time I am writing a story, but I don't believe that my character is a mary sue; I just haven't put him in a position to really show those weaknesses of his yet. I will confess that he may be the weakest character I have planned, but again, he is the first I have ever made, so I think it is expected.
I believe in the last chapter; I said I would go into detail about the plasma gun I had Lieutenant Dan use; I was going to have him explain it to both Matthew and the audience. But I could put it in this chapter yet without it feeling forced. So let me know if you want to hear it in the author's notes or in the next chapter.
As always, thank you for reading, and be sure to follow, favorite, and review.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Edit: I made some minor changes.