Nobody claimed to have seen what happened to Moriarty. So Simms couldn't even get a suspect officially. Simms found himself at peace with this outcome. There is no need to investigate further since it was an accident. A happy accident. Kirk, Gob, Nova, and Silver entered Moriarty's office. "So how did you know his password, Nova?" Kirk asked, turning on the terminal. "He thought I was asleep after fucking me one night and logged in. I watched him type it in." she answered. "Don't worry honey I have a feeling you could properly fuck me into a slumber." she whispered in his ear. Kirk shifted away from her when she got close and noticed he was feeling very uneasy. Silver smacked her upside the head."OUCH wha-" she went to say but stopped, looking at Silvers face. Nova realized and apologized. Kirk entered the password and pulled up the info. The man really did have dirt on every resident. He ignored this and found the visitors tab, and pulled it up. He found what he was looking for, James (Vault 101). His heart sank. Moriarty's words about his dad seem to be true. But he could've entered this to mess with my head. No. That wouldn't make sense. He had no intention of anyone else logging into this. "Everything okay hun?" Silver asked. "Yeah, it seems like he went to a place called Galaxy News Radio." Kirk answered. The three of them groaned. "What, is it far?" Kirk asked. Gob sighed, "Yes, but it's also a damn war zone where it's located. It makes sense now why he hired a bodyguard to go with him." Kirk turned to him. "But you came from D.C. too, it can't be that hard." Kirk said. Gob shook his head, "Kid, I was lucky to make it out alive, I lost four friends coming here. Look, talk to the sheriff. He can prepare you and give you more info." Kirk looked over all the other records and deleted them. The other three nodded in approval. After that, Gob took over the saloon and even renamed it to Gobs Saloon. Nova and Silver became waitresses instead of whores and redecorated the place to be more refined.
Kirk went to Simms and told him what he found out. "Damn, sorry kid, but you are shit out of luck." he said. "Yeah, that's what I hear, but what other option do I have?" Kirk asked. "Go home." he answered. "Not an option, I kinda left on dont ever come back here terms." Kirk explained. "You ain't ready to go to D.C. kid." Simms responded. He was right. Of course, Kirk knew he barely survived the raiders, regardless of the rumors of him slaughtering them with a kitchen knife. "Well, train me then." Kirk said. "Training is different than the real thing." Simms said but regretted it remembering what he had just been through. Kirk grimaced and said, "I get that, but the raider thing was luck and desperation. I would feel a lot better knowing how to handle guns and surviving out there." Kirk retorted. Simms dropped his head with a sigh, "Alright."
So, for about 2 weeks, he was shown the basics of survival in the wasteland by Simms, Doc Church, and Stockholm. He didn't like putting off looking for his father, but he knew this was for the best. Simms taught him basic weapons training and maintenance and the art of the quickdraw. Kirk had not gotten a grasp on that yet. Stockholm taught him how to be aware of the land and what noises or tracks to look out for. As well as sniping tips since Kirk was a good shot with a rifle, it turned out. Doc Church taught him more medical knowledge and about the wildlife threats that he knew about.
During those 2 weeks, he helped out the town. He fixed leaks for the Walter, the guy in charge of the water processing plant, who now works with Micky, training him as an apprentice. He helped Leo Stahl with his chem addiction, which Jenny was very appreciative of, giving him one free meal a day. He also met Moria, who was fixing up his vault suit for free in return for him doing odd chapters in a survival guide. The only request he did so far was the injury requests since he fell off a high pipe while fixing a leak, breaking his arm. However, she worked some kinda of wonder drug and healed it instantly. She called it Super Hydra, and his medical brain could not comprehend what the hell it was.
Kirk was enjoying a scotch one evening when a man approached him at the bar. Kirk immediately was on edge when this man sat down next to him. "Hello, young man, you may call me Mr. Burke and I have been looking for a man for a job I need done." Burke said coldly. Kirk had goosebumps because of this man. He could sense that this man was dangerous, far more dangerous than Moriarty, or those raiders were. "My employer views this town, this "Megaton," as a blight, and it needs to... go away, and I believe you can help me." Mr. Burke said, lighting a cigarette. "I've heard of your capabilities, and I believe we can work together on future projects as well. I know you are looking for your father, and my employer and I have connections and assets, I believe you would find very beneficial for your goal." he continued enjoying his cigarette. Kirk nodded and sipped on his scotch, "What would you have me do to obtain these helpful connections?" Mr. Burke smiled widely and pulled out a device, "Take this fusion charge and install it in the bomb. It will give it the missing power it needs to do its purpose. Once installed, come find me in the hovel I am renting out next to the silly church for further instructions." He gave Kirk 500 caps,"Think of the caps as incentive as well to our future relationship. I look forward to working with you, young man." he said, walking out of the bar.
Kirk sat there, replaying the conversation in his head. What a fucked up world he was in. 'What kind of person is willing to blow up a nuke at the whim of another mans behest? Why doesn't Burke just do it himself?' he thought. Kirk started to realize how lucky the townsfolk were that Burke picked him. Kirk finished his scotch and left the bar.
It was late evening by the time Kirk reached the bomb. He stepped into the puddle and heard his geiger counter ticking. He made note of this and opened the panel. Burke had instructions with the charge on where to put it. Kirk examined the schematics in the instructions. He had the whole schematic of the bomb in these instructions. 'He wasn't joking about connections. This is rare. Pre-War rare.' he thought. 'If this is a hint on the kind of connections he could get working with Burke, finding my dad will be much easier.' he continued in thought. He began to think of the people he had met and helped while here. 'No. I can't do it. These are good people, and they don't deserve to be annihilated just because some guy wants them gone.' Kirk concluded, looking back over the schematics. Kirk had an idea while examining them. He closed the panel and went to Simms.
Simms knew about Burke. He had men keep an eye on him once he entered town. He seemed shady and out of place, and much too clean. Not as clean as the kid but enough to notice. He figured he was scheming something based on the reports but never expected this. Kirk had just shown him everything he was given by Burke and told him the conversation he had with him. Simms stood up and said. "Follow me, kid, you are about to see some wasteland justice." Simms then grabbed his lever action rifle and bee lined straight to the hovel Burke was renting out near the church. Kirk followed, not sure what was gonna happened but he pulled out his 10mm when Simms grabbed his rifle.
Simms whistled, and 3 men came out from various directions and fell in with Simms guns ready. They stopped a few yards away from Burkes place, and Simms shouted, "Burke, this is the Sheriff! I know all about your plan for MY town! I will not allow it to happen! Surrender now!" After a few moments, Burke stepped out calmly. All 4 men had rifles aimed at him, and he showed no sign of fear or anxiety. Burke stared at them and looked over at Kirk and scowled. Kirk felt cold fear run through him. He kept his pistol lowered and watched. "Sheriff, what plan are you talking about?" Burke asked. "Don't play dumb with me, you bastard. The bomb, you want to blow it up!" Simms answered. Burke chuckled, "It would seem someone has been spreading rumors about me, allow me to handle them personally..." he sneered, looking back at Kirk.
Kirk felt the cold fear go through him again. "Enough! I'm placing you under arrest! Then you will tell me about your employer!." Simms shouted. Folks were stepping out or looking out of their homes to watch the scene. Burke raised his hands in the air and flicked his fingers. Shots rang out, and 2 of Simms men fell. 4 men amongst the ramps and crowd pulled out guns and fired at them. Simms and his man fired back at the men falling back. Burke started pulling a pistol out of his coat. He had Simms directly in view. Kirk reacted first and started shooting at Burke. He clipped him in the shoulder, and Burke returned fire at him, falling back toward his men.
Kirk ran towards cover, throwing rounds toward an attacker. He took cover behind a wall and reloaded. He looked up to see Burke walking toward his men. "You made a grave mistake, boy! The assets you could've had would have had you want for nothing!" Burke yelled, shooting at him. "The price for it was too high!" Kirk replied, returning fire. The armed men formed around Burke, and they made their way to the gate. These men were organized and deadly, nothing like the raiders. Kirk and Simms continue to trade shots with them as they neared the gate. "STOCKHOLM!" shouted Simms. Stockholm was already taking aim at one of the men and blasted his head off. The other three men returned fire at the sniper, forcing him to cover. Burke pulled out a switch and hit the button. Various locations around Megaton blew up, including Stockholms sniper perch. "STOCKHOLM!" cried Kirk and Simms.
In the chaos of the explosion, Burke and his men escaped. The townspeople were working together to repair the damage. The charges were placed strategically to cause chaos, not heavy losses. Thankfully, nobody was killed in the explosions, only injuries. They found Stockholm alive but gravelly injured. Doc Church said he would survive but will be recovering for weeks. Kirk was in the clinic with Simms, Jericho, and Doc Church, examining the body of Burkes man. "Anything?" Simms asked. Jericho pulled out a pair of dog tags with an odd symbol on it. "Talon Company." was all he said grimly. "Fuck." Simms responded. "Talon Company?" Kirk asked. "A dangerous mercenary company. Willing to do any job no matter how dirty it is." Simms answered. "Nothing else was on him boss." Jericho said putting down the dog tags. "So we got no intel on this, Mr. Burke or his employer who wants to blow up my town. Just a dead merc." Simms stated, agitated. "My town is in danger, and I got no leads!" he yelled, kicking a table. "Jericho make a shift of somebody watching that bomb at all times. If anyone steps up to it, shoot them." he said. Before Jericho could agree, Kirk interrupted. "That won't be necessary, Sheriff. I can disarm it with this." Kirk took out the schematics. "Too risky, you can blow us all to kingdom come." Simms said. "I know some basic engineering, and I am confident in disarming it." Kirk explained, pointing at the schematics. "What do we have to lose?" he added. Simms thought on his words. Either they could live in the constant fear of it being blown up by a mad man or be relieved of this fear. He shook his head and looked at Kirk. "If you disarm that bomb, I will give you a house and 500 caps as a reward." he said, holding out his hand. Kirk shook it, "I need to see Moira first." he said.
Burke and his men were a few miles outside of Megaton. They had just finished wiping out the men Simms sent after them. Burke was not happy. He has always finished a job given to him. 'How could I have misread that kid so badly? I thought his desperation in finding his father would be enough incentive for him to do the job. To have another asset like that kid would have been a boon right now.' he thought to himself. 'Well, no matter, I will just have to do the job myself,' he thought, pulling out another fusion charge. "What's the plan, sir?" one of the mercs asked. "The plan is to do the job." Burke said, removing the clothes off one of the dead Megaton men.