Hello everyone!
After some long thought, I've decided that "Blood & Steel 2" will not come out in a complete form. When I left Champions Online and began to follow the "Interplay vs. Bethesda" legal battle regarding Fallout Online, I got the idea to make the story set in the Fallout universe in anticipation of it's release. But when Bethesda won and the game was cancelled, I lost the inspiration to write it. I went to a Fallout Fanfic Wiki to look for tips on writing the story. When I saw that the story I was writing breaks one of their rules by regarding Gordon Haaken as being "overpowered" due to gaining assistance from a faction, I lost further interest in writing it.
So, I've made this post containing all the information (pictures, characters, etc.) regarding the reboot and it's formerly-planned sequels. Along the way, I will explain, in detail, about these plans to make it easier for you to understand where I was going with the projects. To begin, here are little snippets of information from a notepad text document I've kept for a while that is almost like a rough outline of sorts. They are displayed in italics to differentiate them from my commentary.
LEGEND
Section 1 "Blood & Steel 2 Concept" - [1000]
Section 2 "Interview" - [2000]
Section 3 "Main Characters" - [3000]
Section 4 "Maps" - [4000]
Section 5 "The Adventure" - [5000]
- Chapter 1 "Grand Canyon" - [5001]
- Chapter 2 "Maxson Bunker" - [5002]
- Chapter 3 "Reservation" - [5003]
- Chapter 4 "Cold Water" - [5004]
- Chapter 5 "Junction City" - [5005]
- Chapter 6 "Mardin" - [5006]
- Part 2
- Part 3
- Chapter 7 "Cincinnati" - [5007]
- Part 2
- Part 3
- Chapter 8 "The Pitt" - [5008]
- Chapter 9 "Epilogue" - [5009]
[1000]
BLOOD & STEEL 2 Concept
In 2282, the New California Republic won the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. Caesar's Legion is
weakened and retreats to the east, Mr. House is put out of commission and Benny's dream
of a free New Vegas died with him.
When I wrote this, I had recently beaten Fallout: New Vegas with separate characters, each one completing the game with a single faction. I could care less about Mr. House. I disliked Caesar's Legion but it was nowhere near the magnitude of my hatred for the New California Republic. I never liked the NCR. But out of every ending of every major faction, I liked the "free" ending better.
Gordon Haaken is a former Desert Ranger. Born in 2248, he joined the Desert Rangers at the age of 17 and took his superiors by surprise when he passed the famously rough Ranger training. For years, he served with the Desert Rangers and fought against the White Legs and remnants of The Master's Super Mutant Army. In 2271, Gordon joined the NCR Rangers in dissent when the "Ranger Unification Treaty" was signed.
I took a look at the Gordon Haaken I had made in the original "Champions Online" version of Blood & Steel, and looked at the setting of this story. I knew I had to redo his origins and fields of expertise. A science-oriented Gordon fit CO, but for Fallout it'd be less useful. So, I remade him as a Desert Ranger (continuing the long line of "Wasteland" references in the franchise) with more personality-wise similarities to me (the author), and allowing for a more "human" character with a less "superhuman" approach to things.
I never mentioned this before, so let me clarify it now. Gordon's last name, Haaken, is pronounced /ˈhɑːkən/ (or "hark-en"). The name was taken from the cancelled video game "Stargate SG-1: The Alliance" in which the new alien species of enemies that were introduced in the game were called the Haaken, with the same pronunciation as stated humorously in an interview with the writers of the game.
[2000]
INTERVIEW
Gordon sits in his room in Vegas. He picks up a photo of him and his fellow rangers posing in front of an NCR banner, held up by the second floor deck of the Novac hotel. He looks at himself in the picture and has a flashback."
Young and inexperienced, Gordon combats Caesar's Legion with his squad. They were on a mission to break civilians out of a slaver camp, and things were going badly. Gordon and his squad were laying down suppressing fire to allow some troops to reach the front gate of a slave pen. The NCR were losing troops to the Legion. They were surprised to find that Caesar's Legion had expected their attack. Traps, grenades, surprise berserkers jumped out of almost every corner. Someone had informed on them. But Gordon didn't care. He felt so great to finally get in on some action. He loved his gun, loved his squad, loved his nation. The rush of action made him feel like he was invincible. But he was too focused to realize that a grenade had been thrown over his emplacement. It rolled up to Gordon's boot. His sergeant shouted at him. "HAAKEN, GRENADE!!" Gordon began trembling and picked up the grenade from the ground and threw it back over. He was crouched with his eyes closed. Then, the grenade went off and Gordon heard screaming. He had thrown the grenade into the slave pen, killing all the slaves and injuring 3 troopers. Gordon stood up, and his violent happiness became pure horror. He stared at the bloody mess he had made. A machine gun went off, firing 3 loud shots over and over. Suddenly, he woke up from the flashback.
Someone knocks on his door. Gordon sets the image on the table next to him and he gets up. He unlocks the door while holding a shotgun with his left hand. There is a man wearing a white and black plaid suit that looked familiar to Gordon. He had a thin, black beard, and was sweating heavily. The man is shocked and puts his hands up. Gordon forcefully asks the man who he is. The man nervously replies "M-my name is-s Ch-chad. I, er... work for Nuka News Weekly." Gordon raises an eyebrow. "Why are you here??" Chad puts his arms down. "I was hoping to interview you, sir. I know that all this worry over the NCR's new law would be a great article for the news! But before I publish the story, I wanted to get the opinion of an actual NCR ranger." Gordon looks annoyed. "I can't get an interview with any NCR officials. They're all 'too busy' or "on duty" to talk!" A brief moment of awkward silence occurs. "So... may I?" "Yeah, sure" Gordon says. He lets the man in and they walk over to the kitchen table. Gordon sat down in a chair. Chad looks at the couch and asked to have the interview on there. Gordon grunts and says "That thing has god-knows-what soaked in to it." Chad has a questioned look on his face. Gordon warns him "Unless you want to smell like a sick drunk, we'll do it here." Chad's eyes enlarge, then he shakes his head to forget what he imagined was in the couch and sits at the table. They talk about Gordon's political beliefs and his time as a Desert Ranger.
"I have worked for the NCR as a Desert Ranger for nearly four years. I thought I'd see some action the moment I went on duty for the first time, but I didn't. Years would go by and I couldn't take the job seriously. I went on a few patrols around dead-end NCR outposts. Felt like I was a cheap ranger. The kind the upper brass would take for granted. The kind you could assign guard duty to and never have to worry about again. I absolutely hated it."
Chad asks Gordon about an incident that occurred a year before he left. Gordon wasn't very delighted to explain what happened. But reluctantly talked about it. "My squad and I got a mission right before our shift was finished. We were told there was a saboteur in Novac. We got no details other than knowing it was in one of the hotel rooms. After asking around, we had a stakeout at night and we saw someone move quickly through the dark. It ran right into one of the small apartments next to the stupid Rex building. We barely noticed the door was even moving!"
"The CO ordered me to lead some of my squaddies in and kill the spy. He said it was 'the only chance to prove myself to our nation'".
Gordon realizes that the NCR will bring a much more worse society to the wasteland than Caesar's Legion or Mr. House. The NCR plans to bring "safety and security" to the nation by passing a law that will station a guard at every home and track the daily actions of each citizen every day of the month. The NCR claims that it's needed to protect the nation from Legion Spies. However, the guards posted at each house have been committing crimes such as robbery, murder, arson and intimidating the residence into paying a "toll" for their service. The evidence Gordon has proves the above crimes and worse. Gordon questions the NCR's motives, claiming that their reason was "shady". He tries to confront the leaders of the NCR by visiting his friends in the government. President Kimball is finally met with Gordon and Kimball defends his actions. Kimball tells Gordon that he is one of the best and was allowed into the meeting because of his record services. But he warns him that if he continues to question the NCR's ulterior motives, he will be forced give him a dishonorable discharge. Gordon tells Kimball that he can't be discharged: He quits, rips off his NCR Ranger badge and crushes it beneath the sole of his boot. Kimball, ashamed of Gordon's actions, exiles him from Vegas.
Having beaten the "Lonesome Road" DLC for New Vegas, Ulysses made me realize the flaws in the NCR to a greater extent, and in better detail, than I previously thought of. It also made my hatred for them grow, giving me a more story-worthy reason for my negative feelings towards them. The NCR's law was inspired by SOPA/PIPA. Gordon's concern for and reaction to the law is identical to my own about said SOPA/PIPA law.
The next part of the story would have went one of two ways.
Scene A
Crow, a merchant from Fallout 3, arrives at the Crimson Caravan camp in New Vegas as a last survivor of
his caravan being attacked, showing his overall cowardice and lack of respect for his said caravan.
Gordon overhears him talk about how the Brotherhood of Steel has practically taken over the
caravan business selling pure water to the surrounding villages in the Capital Wasteland.
Suprised to hear that the Brotherhood of Steel are helping the locals, Gordon decides to
set out towards Washington D.C. to get their help. Gordon convinces Crow to come along,
only to have Crow chicken out over the beasts in the wastelands. He attempts to go back to Vegas, but is
captured and made a slave of Caesar's Legion.
I had to have a reason how Gordon came up with the idea of getting the Capital Wasteland's Brotherhood of Steel to help combat the NCR. I thought of him being ordered to leave the city of New Vegas and go by the Crimson Caravan Company's camp. And when he was there, he saw Crow and what's left of his caravan arrive at the camp. I chose Crow because, out of all the merchants in Fallout 3, he was the worst. I read the merchant chart at The Vault (the Fallout Wiki) in the page for the "Merchant Empire" unmarked quest and came to that conclusion. With Crow being made into a slave, it would lead to a possibly deleted scene, so to speak. The scene would have comedically shown how Crow was trying to adjust to slave work and then attempting to break free from it.
Scene B
Gordon leaves the newly set up President's Office in New Vegas and tries to think of a way to deal with the NCR's actions. He thinks back to his days as a pre-RUT (Ranger Unification Treaty) Desert Ranger and remembers running into the Mojave Wasteland's Brotherhood of Steel. When Gordon was patrolling near the Bloodborne Cave with a few of his ranger friends, a patrol of Caesar's Legion troops sprung a surprise attack on him. He was badly injured, his friends were murdered and Gordon attempted to hide from the patrol until they left, so he could make a clean getaway. But while in hiding, he luckily ran into a small patrol of Brotherhood scouts. They were about to shoot him to keep the Brotherhood patrol's activity secret when one of the scouts noticed that he was near death. The leader of the patrol was convinced to allow them to give Gordon quick medical attention.
When he was being treated, he realized that the Brotherhood patrol resembled the same people that he spotted at Hidden Valley when he used to patrol that area. He befriends some of the scouts and they let him go under one condition: that he does not share the Mojave Brotherhood's existence with anyone else. Gordon agrees and goes back to Ranger Station Bravo. Remembering that event, Gordon decides to visit the Hidden Valley bunker in hopes that the Brotherhood would let him in and be of some assistance to his efforts.
After gaining entrance, due to the patrol he met spreading word of him and his survival against a Legion attack to the base, Gordon meets with Elder McNamara about the NCR's threat to the region. McNamara tells him that the Mojave chapter is too small and in no condition to fight. Gordon is discouraged, but McNamara tells Gordon that the only ways to engage in a war with the NCR and win are to unite each chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel from California to Nevada, or travel to Washington D.C. and gain the help of the Capital Wasteland's chapter of the Brotherhood. Gordon understands that both options will be equally difficult and chooses to travel to D.C. for help, due to the Capital Wasteland's chapter being the largest and most likely of winning such a war.
Before he leaves, McNamara sends Gordon with the same scout patrol of four members for protection. The team's previous field medic was killed in action, having Elder McNamara assign a new member to the team. The member is a female newcomer to the Brotherhood (possibly just a young adult, rather than an outsider) with medical expertise named Gemma. The leader of the group is stubborn, thinking that they can make it on their own without her. He disliked her and held prejudice against her all because she was "new", she was a woman and she barely scraped by in training, while the group passed with flying colors. Gemma wears a full suit of Recon armor as she isn't fit enough for a set of T-51b. She mentions to Gordon that she wasn't trained for combat and is simply a Scribe, but Gordon reassures her that she's needed. Gordon and the team prepare for the long journey, with Gordon unlocking a small case in his room, filled with his old Desert Ranger equipment. He takes his old Desert Ranger combat armor and puts it on, then he takes his Desert Ranger Badge and equips it on the chest of his armor, to show his independence from the NCR. The group sets out for D.C. at night, under the cover of the artificial storm and the night's shadows.
Scene B would have been canon, as it is more plausible than scene A. With Gordon having a small group of 3 scout troops and a medical scribe of the Brotherhood, he'd have more of a chance of survival out in the wastes that he never explored before. Whereas Gordon would only be able to make it a short ways away with the remnants of Crow's caravan before he's alone in the travel, thus endangering him greatly.
[3000]
MAIN CHARACTERS
1.
Gordon Haaken, leader of the expedition. Having been a Desert Ranger for years, Gordon has excellent survival and combat skills. He wears his original Desert Ranger Armor to further show his separation from the NCR and wields his Ranger Sequoia, of which he earned from his years of service.
2.
Gemma Yazzie, a Scribe of the Brotherhood. A young woman with dark red hair and brown eyes. She was the apprentice of Senior Scribe Linda Schuler and learned much from her about medical treatment. Inexperienced in direct combat and only knows how to use Laser Pistols. Before leaving, Scribe Shuler gives her the "Compliance Regulator", an Energy Weapon with weak damage output but can stun living targets thus giving Gemma more of a chance to escape or perform other actions. The Compliance Regulator was said to be found by the Brotherhood near the Northern outskirts of the Mojave Wasteland. Gemma has similarities to the English actress Gemma Arterton. Although the similarities were unintentional, I've since then pictured the character to be played by her.
3.
Gavin, leader of the Brotherhood squad. A Paladin in the Brotherhood, Gavin has served as a trooper in the NCR-Brotherhood War. He participated in Operation: Sunburst, the battle at HELIOS One, and was disappointed that they lost the facility that day. Gavin is known to be a little paranoid of and hostile towards outsiders, especially Gordon. He is a sexist and racist for unknown reasons. Gavin uses "The Smitty Special", a highly modified Winchester P94 plasma caster created by a popular blacksmith from Adytum in the L.A. Boneyard. They looted it from a Gun Runners caravan during a late night patrol along the roads.
4.
Derek Milano, the explosives expert with a moderate amount of tactical training. Prefers to make something (or someone) blow up into a million pieces, but can provide some tactical coordination for the team when needed. Carries an M&A 9mm Pistol and has a dozen different grenades ranging from AN-205 Incendiary Grenades to the average Frag Grenade, also carries 8 blocks of C-4.
5.
Rupert Gao, the sniper of the group. Although he enjoys the safety of taking down his enemies from a distance, he is ready for any sneak attacks against him when he's on watch. Having come from a somewhat spoiled child life in the Brotherhood, he is over-confident and is prone to make unexpected actions in battle, sometimes foolishly. Uses a DKS-501 Sniper Rifle, which uses .308 caliber rounds rather than the average .223 round. Also carries two standard Combat Knives and knows a variety of hand-to-hand combat techniques. There would have been a scene in which Gordon identifies that Rupert is using .308 rounds saying "I thought the DKS uses .223 rounds?" and Rupert, cleaning his rifle, would reply, "They do. But this is a personally modified rifle." Then Gordon would ask "How do you guys get a hold of that type of ammo when you're stuck underground?" and Rupert says, with confidence, "You're forgetting one thing: We're the Brotherhood of Steel!"
[4000]
MAPS
Once again, Gordon's travels would have taken either one of two paths. Using the "United States, post-war" map from the Vault's page on "Fallout world", I made two separate versions showing the directions in which Gordon and his group would take. But I scrapped Map B in favor of Map A.
Map A
The above map shows the first choice of travel for the group to take. Here is the legend for the lettering & numbering inside the green circles.
1 - Fallout 1 location.
2 - Fallout 2 location.
1/2 - a location featured in both Fallout 1 & 2.
3 - Fallout 3
T - Fallout Tactics
B - Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
V - Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 from Black Isle Studios.
Some of you may notice that New Vegas is missing from the legend. It's because the map was made before New Vegas came out. So I had to use the Fallout Wiki's maps of New Vegas, and it's DLC locations, to roughly pinpoint their locations on the above map.
They would start off a little ways outside the Crimson Caravan Company's camp, make their way to the Grand Canyon, visit the Maxson Bunker, travel close by Buena Vista, stop at The Reservation, go by Cold Water, up to Junction City, over to Mardin, then to Cincinnati, winding up at a long mountain range, deciding to follow the range north they encounter The Pitt and struggle to make it out into the Capital Wasteland. Below, I will separate each section of the story to better clarify the location in which they take place in. As before, I will provide commentary at the end of each location.
[5000]
THE ADVENTURE
[5001]
GRAND CANYON
While making their trek through the Grand Canyon, they'd be attacked by Mutant Cannibals, giving Gemma a long cut to her arm. Luckily, she was pulled away by Gordon and he shot the Cannibal in the leg, pulled the Cannibal's left arm backwards, making it scream in pain. Gemma pulled the pin on her Frag Grenade and shoved it into the Cannibal's mouth. Gordon turned the Cannibal around, kicked it in the back, pushing it against a rock as both Gemma & Gordon turned away before it went off. In retaliation of this attack, the Brotherhood of Steel members put themselves in front of Gemma and Gordon, slaughtering the Cannibals and covering certain parts of their armor in blood. After the scuffle, Gemma applies First Aid to her wound and the group sneaks past some Caesar's Legion remnants in a battle with a squad of NCR troops.
The Grand Canyon was something that I always had an interest in. My family went there when I was a child and it's inclusion into the Fallout Universe interested me a lot. And with writing Blood & Steel 2, I thought this was a good opportunity to expand upon it's history.
[5002]
MAXSON BUNKER
After that, they arrive at the Maxson Bunker where the group meets with the very few remaining Brotherhood of Steel members there. The BoS would restock the group with the little amount of supplies they could spare. Hearing the holdouts' story of why they're alone at the bunker, the group would become discouraged to continue, but Gordon tries to encourage them to come along. He tells them that every Brotherhood of Steel base, bunker and chapter will be abandoned and the reason the Brotherhood were founded upon would become a lost cause if they do not succeed.
[5003]
RESERVATION
On their way to The Reservation, they would travel around Buena Vista, haunted by the sight of a ghostly town filled with rusting, deactivated robots. Arriving near The Reservation, they stand on a hill and see ghouls chanting around another, different looking ghoul that's standing next to a big barrel of radioactive goop. The ghoul almost looked as if he is human, though having certain similarities to ghouls as well. He has skin that's a blueish hue, slight muscle mass and his hair (or what's left of it) neatly combed back without any sign of injury. Gordon and the group theorize that the area is filled with radiation, as the populace is entirely ghouls and they have masses of glowing, green mist floating about the land. They see what appears to be a Howitzer on a platform connected to a railway system. Fearing what the Howitzer is for, Gordon decides to get a closer look at the Reservation. Knowing that this will require stealth, He drops his pack, removes his armor and takes some Rad-X to stay in the radiation longer, without getting a lethal dose.
Gordon sneaks over to a few large boulders and gets between them. Noticing a ghoul encampment nearby, he makes sure he isn't seen and tries to be careful when he observes the Howitzer. Using his binoculars, he sees ghouls carrying an empty nuclear shell to the platform. The ghouls start loading up the shell with Mini-Nukes. He notices words crudely carved onto the cannon that seem to spell out "NUCLEAR NELLIE".
While Gordon was examining the cannon's words and the shell's contents, a ghoul glances at Gordon. The ghoul, realizing there's intruders in the Reservation, motions the attention of the nearby guards. Just when Gordon decides to head back to his squad of Brotherhood troops, he hears the sound of footsteps. Thinking that it's just one person behind him, he turns to face the man only to find that it's a group of ghoul Slavers! Despite being outnumbered, Gordon attempts to fight them off with no luck. The ghouls take him to the Reservation to be made a slave.
On the hill, Gavin grows impatient with Gordon. He tells the group that if Gordon does not return, they're going to have to return to Vegas. Gemma is against Gavin's impatience and urges him to give Gordon more time. Gavin, annoyed by Gemma's persistence, starts an argument with Gemma when Rupert suddenly interrupts them. He sees Gordon with a slave collar on in the camp. Derek volunteers to go in the camp to rescue Gordon, saying that he needed to plant charges on the Howitzer. Gavin gives Derek orders saying that planting the charges is the primary objective and that saving Gordon is merely an optional, secondary objective.
Derek takes a dose of Rad-X, just to be safe, and sneaks into the camp. Knowing that Gordon is a vital part of this expedition, he quietly follows Gordon and the ghoul slave master into the building next to a broken down railroad. Once in, Derek attacks the slave master by putting his arms around the ghoul's neck, pulling it backwards and squeezing it as tight as he can. The slave master tries to reach for his collar switch to detonate the explosives in Gordon's slave collar, but can't stretch his arm long enough. Gordon grabs the switch and carefully holds it while Derek swings the ghoul over his head backwards and lands him face-first on the floor. The slave master tries to let out a scream to alert the others, but his voice is so weak that his scream barely makes it out of the room. Derek then begins using his foot to smash the ghoul's head, crushing his skull and killing him.
Gordon thanks Derek for coming to his rescue, while Derek disables his collar and remarks "With the explosives in that device, slave collars just so happen to fall within my expertise!" Gordon tells Derek that there's a small issue: his Rad-X wore off. Without it, he would be exposed to lethal amounts of radiation that may take his life within half an hour.
Outside, the ghoul in the middle of the group suddenly flashes green and becomes a Glowing One. The regular ghouls stop chanting and look on as the Glowing One stands on a platform that's connected to a rail line and carrying the makeshift Howitzer. Gordon and Derek see the large green glare and realize that the ghouls are doing this to make the area around the Howitzer even more lethal to any intruders, hindering them of attempting to sabotage the cannon. Derek tells Gordon to hurry and Gordon begins searching the room for any Rad-X or protective gear. Derek comes to the decision that, if the group were to succeed, one of them would have to make a sacrifice. He takes off his armor and runs out the door. Gordon hears the door close and turns to see Derek gone and his armor left on the floor. Horrified at the fact that Derek has put himself in danger, Gordon soon understands Derek's actions and reluctantly puts on his armor.
At the hill, Gemma notices some ghouls coming towards them. Rupert then snipes the ghouls one at a time while Gavin uses his Binoculars to keep an eye on the Reservation. Gavin sees that the platform is moving towards the direction in which the group came from. This leads him to believe that they're trying to attack New Vegas, or worse, the Hoover Dam.
Derek gets on the platform as it begins to move. He battles the ghoul for a brief time before Gordon jumps on the platform and the ghoul turns his attention towards Gordon, seeing him as a more "worthy opponent" than Derek. The ghoul shoves Derek against the cannon while Gordon and the ghoul, whom Gordon mockingly calls "Measles" because of the tumors sticking out of the ghoul's neck, begin a brutal battle. The battle goes in favor of Measles, as his fighting skills somehow surpass that of Gordon's Ranger training, which surprises him. Derek painfully applies 3 blocks of C4 to the cannon and arms them while his Radiation poisoning increases to dangerous levels.
Gordon kicks and punches Measles, but it isn't enough to do any real damage to the bizarrely strong ghoul. Despite his newly acquired Power Armor, Gordon's forehead and nose bleed. Gordon tries to inject a Stimpack, but Measles yanks it from Gordon's hands, injects it into himself and stabs Gordon in the lower side of his stomach with the empty Stimpack where the armor isn't as protected as the rest of his body. With Gordon injured and weak, he is pushed to the floor. Measles looks at Gordon and tells him that Humanity is doomed and once Hoover Dam is destroyed, they will come to fear and respect the ghoul populace. Just as Measles takes out his hidden dagger, Derek, with his last breath, shoots Measles in the head. Measles slowly falls backwards off the platform and plummets to the makeshift fence of the Reservation, being impaled by poles and his flesh ripped by barbed wires.
Gavin sees Derek's last moments through his binoculars, telling the group of his acts. Hearing of Derek's death, Gemma became discouraged but Rupert got a boost of courage and fought harder against the ghouls. Gordon looks at Derek, who died due to a large amount of radiation poisoning. Knowing he is dead, Gordon decides to take his pack, his holotags and close Derek's eyes in respect. The platform nears a hill that's high enough for safe jumping. Gordon jumps and rolls sideways down the hill. Once he stops, he sees a very broken down tent full of ghouls with a few of them coming out and running towards the Brotherhood troops. Gordon takes a Plasma Grenade from Derek's pack and tosses it at the tent. A ghoul in the tent notices Gordon, turns his head to the right just as the Plasma Grenade flies right into them. It detonates, reducing the entire group into green goo. Gavin then uses his Smitty Special and kills the remaining ghouls.
After regrouping, they detonate the C4. The explosion of the C4 sets off the Mini-Nukes in the shell, destroying the Howitzer, the platform, incinerating the ground below it and blowing back the west side gates of the Reservation. Because of Gordon and Derek's interference, this undid the years of hard work and dedication that the sinister residents of the Reservation put much effort into.
As the squad moves into the desert, they stop near a cave to rest and heal up. Gordon injects a dose of RadAway while Gemma patches him up. Rupert suddenly notices a hunting party of ghouls coming their way. The squad hurries into a small cave with a short slope in the entrance. They lay back against the slope, quietly waiting for the ghouls to leave. Gemma looks up as a ghoul takes a step near her. The ghoul's leg is grotesquely deformed. It's skin is rotten and peeling from the bone. It's veins loosely attached to it's leg, hopelessly spewing blood onto the ground. It shakes in weakness and the sweat pulls on the few remaining hairs it has left, revealing his brown bone with several flies buzzing around it. The ghouls decide to leave after finding no evidence of the intruders. Rupert lets out his breath and Gemma pukes. Gavin watches the ghouls leave and Gordon asks Gemma if she's okay. Rupert suddenly asks if they heard a sound. They soon get the feeling that they're not alone in the cave...
The group tries to climb out as dozens and dozens of giant cockroaches begin swarming them from out of the darkness. Gavin shoots them while Rupert hits them with the butt of his rifle, killing them instantly. Gemma falls when a cockroach jumps on her back. Gordon rushes to Gemma and pulls the cockroach off of her and kicks it in the face, smashing it's head in as well as shooting at it's underbelly. They climb out of the cave as Rupert takes an Incendiary Grenade from Derek's pack, pulls the pin, throws it into the cave and lights the roaches ablaze. They get away and continue their travel into the wastes.
I was interested in Van Buren and took the chance of giving my own spin to several of the locations in the story, since the main characters were travelling through them. I had difficulty deciding on which BoS member to kill off in this part of the story, but eventually chose to kill off Derek due to him having more experience with explosives than Gordon did, kind of making this part of the story more interesting while making Gordon seem less like a "jack-of-all-trades" protagonist.
[5004]
COLD WATER
The group meets a caravan halfway to Cold Water and they get the idea to find a vehicle to make their travel faster. The caravan leader tells them that he heard from his former guards that there's a black and white car in Junction City that can be repaired for use, but needs certain parts to be replaced. The caravan leader tells them that, the last time he knew, they were at the Fountain of Dreams Casino in Cold Water. The group heads there to begin the search.
They arrive with the caravan at Cold Water, a town famous for its casinos. Gordon, Gavin and Gemma decide to look for parts while Rupert can't resist his urge to go gamble. He claims he's doing it to get them some caps, so they can buy some of the parts. Gavin joins up with Rupert to get away from Gordon, as his presence is frustrating him. Gemma and Gordon look around in the alleyways and trash dumpsters for parts that may have been foolishly discarded or lost. As they search, Gordon sees graffiti on the wall of an alleyway, covered up by debris. The graffiti message says "BEWARE LUCIFER" and Gordon recognizes it. He's heard of the name before, but can't remember where. Gordon dismisses it as common "raider graffiti" and continues his search.
Gemma attracts the attention of a local gang of hoodlums. Two of them corner Gemma in an alleyway and begin asking questions, curious of what she's doing. Gemma is unsure how to handle the situation, as one of them pulled a switchblade out and start walking slowly towards her. Gordon notices the hoodlums and gets close enough to wait for a chance to attack them. The one with the knife raises his arm to slash her while the one behind him starts cheering him on. Gordon jumps out, grabs the cheering gangster by the arm, lifts him over his shoulder, slams him to the ground on his back, turns around and smashes the thug's forehead with the back of his boot, making the hoodlum cry out loud in pain. The armed thug turns to see Gordon beating up his buddy but then he suddenly hears the noise of electronics turning on. He turns back to Gemma and she shoots him with her Compliance Regulator, thus jolting him into paralysis.
Meanwhile, Rupert loses his first game in one of the casinos. But, being determined to win it big, he continues to gamble. But at the end of his next game, he realizes he's out of caps and decides to borrow money from the former caravan guards, so he can continue playing. People begin to crowd around him to watch his games, as he goes on a winning streak. Upstairs, in a dark room overlooking the casino's main floor, a woman sitting in a chair recognizes the Brotherhood of Steel insignia on Rupert's armor. She motions a guard to come to here and whispers something in his ear. Gavin arrives outside and tells Gordon and Gemma that Rupert has been kidnapped. He says that the tall men Rupert borrowed money from came to him when he lost another game and took him upstairs. Gavin tried to stop them, but he couldn't catch up with Rupert in the crowd before it was too late.
The group looks for clues as to the whereabouts of Rupert. Gavin finds a merchant and motions to Gemma for assistance who, in turn, motions to Gordon thus frustrating Gavin. Gavin gives the merchant the boots of Derek's Power Armor in exchange for information. He tells them that the casinos, and the whole town, is run by a seemingly undying woman named Lucy. The merchant stops. Gordon tells him to keep talking, but the merchant claims that he's having trouble remembering the details and suggests they give him another part of Power Armor. Gavin quips "You've gotta be kidding me!" while Gordon reluctantly agrees and gives him the bracers of the armor. The merchant thanks him. He looks around nervously to see if anybody is watching them during the transaction and continues. He tells them that he heard Rupert is being held at the top floor of the casino, where Lucy frequently takes her victims for interrogations and sacrifices. Both the inside and the outside of the casino is heavily guarded, but there's another way in. The merchant says there's a subway tunnel to the south of town that leads into the casino's basement. Having seen it with his own eyes, he says that the tunnel is lightly guarded and the only guards in it stay at the door to the basement. Gavin asks if he remembers the positions of the guards and what their schedule is. The merchant shrugs and shakes his head "no" in reply. Gavin rolls his eyes and Gemma thanks the merchant for the information. Thinking that they misunderstood the threat of Lucy, the merchant stops them and tries to convince them of her history. He says that she's been killed various times before and that no matter how many times she dies or how gruesome her death is, she always comes back. Whenever someone murders her, an hour and a half later, the person who killed her last somehow dies. Gavin is tired of hearing the merchant's nonsense, but Gordon heeds his words. They leave and head for the subway tunnel.
Rupert, weak from the beating the guards gave him, opens his eyes and looks around at the room he is in. The room has double-doors and they put him in a makeshift prison cell, and assumed it was made by very inexperienced people, due to the fact that the cell is in horrible condition. The guards are smoking cigarettes and playing a game of Caravan. A man in a formal, zipped-up leather jacket walks in to the room. He checks on the guards and asks them some questions about Rupert. One of the guards notices that Rupert is awake and tries walking over to him, but the man in the leather jacket stops him. The man in the jacket walks over to Rupert and makes a gruelling threat to him. Suddenly, they hear gun shots from outside the room. 2 of the guards leave to check it out while one hesitates. The man in the leather jacket yells at him to go and the guard eventually leaves. The man in the leather jacket hears more gun shots and decides to torture Rupert before the intruders arrive. He reaches in his pocket to grab the key, but the double doors are shoved open when Gordon, Gavin and Gemma charge through. The man turns to them and tries to pull out his gun, but Gemma shoots her Compliance Regulator at his arm, making him drop the gun. He looks at his gun on the floor and tries to look up at Gavin. The moment his eyes are laid on Gavin, a green light comes straight at him. Gavin shoots his Smitty Special and vaporizes the man's head.
The woman in the 2nd floor room of the casino cringes and tightens her grip on the chair's armrest as if she's in pain. She then shakes in anger, gets up from her chair and leaves the room.
Rupert is relieved to see them come to his rescue. He tells them about his torture and how he overheard one of the guards mention that the room with the computer console next to it, with bright light coming out from underneath the door is Lucy's favorite torture chamber, saying that one of the guards referred to it as "The Meltdown". They open his cell with a key from the pocket of the man in the jacket and Gemma applies First Aid to Rupert's wounds, while they talk about getting out of town as soon as possible. The double doors open and a woman with bright orange-red hair walks in to the room. She says "I've heard about the trouble you've caused in my town..." The woman lifts a modified Ripper with automatic lighters on each side. She turns it on, igniting the Ripper and finishes by saying "...and I'm not amused." She swings the Ripper at Gavin, but he raises his arm to deflect the blow with his Power Armor bracer. Gordon notices that the Ripper has pentagrams on the left & right side of it. He makes a connection between the graffiti message and the woman. The woman is the infamous Lucy, and the message talked about "Lucifer", the devil from a Pre-War religion. Lucy, with all her uncanny deaths and revivals, is Lucifer.
Gavin fires off his Smitty Special and the blast stops her, but is seemingly absorbed by Lucy. She laughs and swings her Ripper at his thigh. Gavin falls to the ground and she swings it again, cutting 3 out of 4 of the fingers on his right hand and barely missing his thumb. Gemma runs at her, but Lucy slams her against the wall with her arm. Gordon tries shooting her but his shots graze her arms and legs. The gun shot wounds she received begin to slowly heal. Lucy slams her Ripper on Gordon's head and Gordon's helmet blocks the blow, but stuns him for a brief moment. She then lunges to bite his arm, but she misses and Gordon shoves her to the ground. He smashes her elbow with his boot. Gemma kicks Lucy's Ripper away from her. Gordon slams her head against the floor and picks her up. Gemma finds that the door is unlocked and she opens it, showing barrels overflown with glowing, green goop. Lucy tries to break free of Gordon, but he throws her into the Meltdown room. Gordon shuts the door and Gemma, using the computer console, locks it before Gordon shoots at it, thus leaving the door stuck in a locked state. They help up Gavin and Rupert from the floor. Gemma finishes her First Aid on Rupert and then tries to treat Gavin's wound with temporary bandages, due to running out of supplies. The group leaves the building and makes it back to the entrance of town. After battling the caravan leader, who was on Lucy's payroll, they steal his wagon, store the car parts and they set out for Junction City.
Back in the Fountain of Dreams Casino, the door to the Meltdown room mysteriously opens with Lucy standing up. She is virtually unchanged by the exposure to the barrels of FEV. She walks out of the room and towards the decapitated body of a her right-hand man. She reaches his arm out to him and his head is regrown. The man weakly says "Mistress...!?" in surprise. Lucy declares "I shall regain my criminal control over this town..." The man asks, "But how...?" She points at the man and finishes her sentence "...with FEAR!" and begins to warp him. He screams in pain with his transformation, while Lucy manically laughs out loud.
This was going to be a pretty uneventful part of the story. The group would come here looking for car parts and would have run into a comedic moment (almost in the same manner of having the "Wild Wasteland" trait in Fallout: New Vegas), but I removed most of the hilarious moments from "Blood & Steel 2" and saved them for another fan fiction. ;)
The idea for Lucy's name came from Dan Aykroyd's original idea for "Ghostbusters III", in which the main cast enters the ghost world and meets a man named "Luke Shifer" who's a parody of Donald Trump. The idea of a undying menace came from the real life "mystic" named
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. I woke up one morning and immediately came up with the idea of such a character. However, Lucy was going to be a fat man named "Lou". I disliked the first version of it, so I changed it to something more original: a woman named "Lucy". Of course, when I thought of the name "Lucy" I also thought of Lucille Ball. That's when I decided to make Lucy a "evil parody" of Ms. Ball.
But with Lucy's part of the story, I'll let you imagine what happens to her next....
[5005]
JUNCTION CITY
The group travels to Junction City, with their newly-acquired caravan wagon holding supplies and a few car parts. Gordon looks for information on the car they're looking for, while Rupert scouts out for parts. Gemma seeks medical attention for Gavin from the local authorities. Gemma is able to barter several parts of Derek's Power Armor for medical supplies. They give her enough supplies to stop Gavin's bleeding, but not enough to fully heal him. When an officer of the local law enforcement walks up to them and starts asking questions, Gavin answers and explains why his group is in Junction City. The officials tell Gavin that they don't trust him and his group enough to allow them to look for parts. They do, however, have a task in mind for them. They need to take a supply of water to a building near the southeast end of the town and, in return, bring back a small supply of energy weapon ammo. Gavin agrees to the task and motions to Gordon and Rupert.
After the locals load up the caravan with water, he fills Gordon and Rupert in on the task and gives them directions to the building. When they arrive at the building, Gordon notices a car fitting the description of the same car the caravan leader told them about and they are greeted by guards. Gordon tells Rupert to stay at the caravan wagon while he goes with the guards to meet their boss. The building resembled a worn-out, pre-War firehouse with pieces of a fence used for a door and a disassembled fire truck still parked inside. The guards took Gordon to the 2nd floor of the building. There, he met Vincent, a young, punk-like boy in his late teens. Vincent spoke with Gordon about the supplies, thanking him and giving the energy weapon ammo to send back to Junction City. Gordon mentions the car he's looking for to Vincent. Vincent says that he has an important car part that Gordon can have, but he must give something in return. He asks Gordon about the Power Armor that Rupert is wearing. Gordon tells him that the armor is not for sale, but he has one spare piece left: the helmet. Vincent agrees to give Gordon the car part for the Power Armor helmet. Gordon agrees as well and tells him that he will return for the car in half an hour. Vincent stops him and asks which car he's talking about. Gordon tells him it's the black and white car in his junkyard. Vincent then tells Gordon that if he wants to use the car, he can have his mechanics rebuild it for them, but Gordon will have to take Vincent with them. Although a little suspicious and annoyed at first, Gordon agrees with the offer but warns him that their travels won't be very easy. Gordon and Rupert head back to Junction City with the Energy Weapon ammo. They give the ammo to the authorities and in return, they let Gordon and Rupert search for parts as well and aid Gemma with Gavin's injuries.
Gemma sees a crate of meds and asks for more supplies to keep as extras, just in case Gavin reacts badly to the medication or the other members of the group are injured again. The authorities refuse the request, because they recognize the Brotherhood of Steel insignia on Gavin's shoulder. They tell him that "his kind" came to Junction City years ago, trying to enforce their harsh rules and regulations, and even attempting to convince them that they had not, in fact, destroyed a robot that invaded their town. But the Brotherhood was weakened severely since that visit. They came back to try and keep whatever grip they still had on the town, even going so far as to being polite to them. The authorities called it "kissin' our tail." But fighting occurred and the local forces gained the upper hand, driving the Brotherhood out of town. Gavin has no idea of the battle and tells the officials that it wasn't the same Brotherhood of Steel. Gemma tells them that it must have been a different branch of the Brotherhood, one that probably lost communication with the Core Region years ago. Last she heard, they had little success in their mission. The authorities are stubborn and have a hard time believing them. They don't know for sure if they're lying or telling the truth. They simply say "sorry" and leave.
After Gordon and Rupert find the remaining car parts from the list Vincent gave them, they take Gemma and Gavin back to the firehouse to stay for the night while Vincent's mechanics get to work on the car. When they arrive, Vincent notices Gemma and begins staring at her. They enter the firehouse and Vincent tries looking away to keep his liking of Gemma hidden. He points at the room the guys will sleep in and takes Gemma, arm in arm, to her room on the first floor to sleep. Gemma is disturbed by the man. He leaves and Rupert quips about Vincent's odd behavior by saying "The kid seems to have a crush on Gemma." Gordon says "It's worrying. He may be up to something and we need to keep an eye on him." Gavin mutters under his breath, "Stupid outsider should learn to fear 'our kind'!" They all sleep in their own partially-broken down beds. Gemma enters her room and asks Vincent why she wasn't allowed to stay with her friends. He tells Gemma that the room is usually reserved for VIP's, but she is a special case. She thanks him with a mix of happiness and nervousness in her voice. Vincent wishes her a good night and leaves the room. She looks at her shabby, red, Queen-sized bed with torn sheets and different colored stains all over. Meanwhile, Vincent goes upstairs and lowers a makeshift periscope, made out of milk cartons with mirrors placed inside it all catty-corner to each other, into a hole in Gemma's ceiling. He watches with delight as Gemma gets comfortable in her bed.
The next morning, the group leaves the firehouse and watch as Vincent's mechanics finish their work on the car. A man from town walks up to Vincent, interrupting his fixation with Gemma and begins to converse with him. After talking to him, the man leaves and Vincent walks up to his mechanics and asks them a question. He then walks up to Gordon and his Brotherhood of Steel companions and asks if they've been around the local hospital recently. They tell him that they've been here the whole time. At first, Vincent is suspicious of them but shrugs it off, due to being afraid of looking like a "bad guy" in front of Gemma. The car is finished and the group loads their belongings into it. A mechanic runs up to Gordon and gives him the rundown of what the car is and isn't capable of. The group gets in the car and Gavin sees Vincent getting in with them. Once the mechanic is done talking to Gordon, Gavin gets out and pulls Gordon to the side to talk about Vincent. Gavin is angry and confused about Vincent coming with them. They briefly argue about Vincent, but Gordon makes a point about "needing the manpower" due to Derek's death. Against his wishes, Gavin agrees with Gordon and holds back his feelings against Vincent for another time.
They get in the car and head for their next destination.
I had a hard time writing the "Junction City" part of the story. After thinking about it for a while, I wanted to have the group obtain a car in a way that's both possible and believable for the Fallout universe. I didn't want to rehash Fallout 2's way of getting a car and I wanted this part of the story to be worth reading, so I had the characters take a chance of finding a fixable car at Junction City (which has LOTS of broken vehicles). Here, I added a new character that would form a love triangle between Gordon and Gemma. The path on the map slants southeast before changing direction to northeast. That little redirection is where Vincent's garage was.
[5006]
MARDIN
As day turns to night, the group's car breaks down at Mardin, prompting them to look in the nearby ruins for help. Mardin consists of a small, partially destroyed building in the center of a fenced-in graveyard, with several spots of radioactive goo spilled in the area around the central building. Vincent steps out of the car and begins to check it, seeing if he can attempt to "squeeze a few more miles" out of car. Gavin decides to stay with Vincent to provide him cover. Gemma, Gordon and Rupert look around the ruins. They see lit torches, but no sign of life in the area. Gordon searches the area for supplies. Rupert sets up a sniping position between two pillars to the south of the graveyard. Gemma walks to the thick, rusted sheet metal fences in the east-side of the center and investigates them. The sheets have large claw marks that cut right through them. While searching, Gordon suddenly hears the noise of a beast coming from the cave. Gemma notices bodies and a large smear of blood on the floor, as if someone was dragged away. Gordon looks at the cave and sees glowing eyes moving from within. Upon seeing the size of the claw marks and the direction they appeared to have been swung, Gemma realizes that the only things that could cause such a mess are the most dangerous beasts in all the wasteland: Deathclaws.
Gordon attempted to open fire on one of the deathclaws. With precise timing, he was able to injure the closest one to him. A deathclaw came from behind the injured one and gave chase to Gordon. Gordon climbed one of the sheet metal fences on the east side of the graveyard. The deathclaw jumped over the wall and swung it's arm at Gordon, but Gordon barely dodged it and had the back of his left leg scraped as he ran further. Gemma, upon seeing the shadow of a large deathclaw looming over her, tried to run away to the car. A deathclaw swung his hand and picked her up. It lifted her and slowly brought her to it's face. As the deathclaw opened it's mouth for a bite, Gemma aimed her Compliance Regulator at the back of it's mouth. She fired it off, sending jolts of electricity into it's throat. The deathclaw let out a loud welp as it's throat began to swell, choking it to death. It dropped Gemma on her stomach. She coughs out dirt that she accidentally inhaled upon landing and stands up.
Gordon runs out from behind the wooden walls and stops at the edge of a large puddle of radioactive waste. He looks back at the walls to see the deathclaw charging at him. Gordon rolls to the left and dodges the deathclaw. It stops at the puddle. But Gordon shoots it in the back twice and the deathclaw is thrown off-balance. It falls forward into the waste and begins screaming in pain as the toxic goo burns the deathclaw, making it's flesh and bone rapidly decay into the puddle while making a loud sizzling noise. The melting deathclaw's screams attracted the attention of 4 other deathclaws from the cave. Gemma tries to run but one of them swings it's claw at Gemma's back and rips her armor. She falls to the ground and the deathclaw goes in for the kill, slowly approaching her. It lifts it's left hand into the air for a mighty swing, but one of it's fingers are suddenly shot off. Rupert reloads and fires his DKS-501 Sniper Rifle again, shooting off another of the deathclaw's fingers. He fires at the deathclaw's shoulder. The deathclaw tries to turn back to the cave, but Rupert fires another shot at the lower area of it's torso. The shot rips open the deathclaw's stomach and it's intestines spew out onto the ground in a gush of blood. The 3 remaining deathclaws stop chasing after Gordon and turn their attention to Rupert. Gordon watches as the deathclaws run towards Rupert's sniping position. He tries to fire his Ranger Sequoia at the deathclaws but only a few bullets actually hit them.
Rupert fires off his Sniper Rifle and manages to kill 2 of the deathclaws. He laughs and taunts them. Suddenly, several deathclaws come out of the shadows behind him. He notices them at the last minute and pulls out his knives. He shouts "Think you can get the drop on me, huh? NOT THIS TIME!!" He swings his left-hand knife and tears through one of the deathclaw's arms while he stabs his right-hand knife into the other deathclaw's chest. He makes fun of them and begins to believe he's invincible. He runs towards another deathclaw coming his way. The deathclaw scoops up Rupert and hangs him upside-down by his legs. Rupert lets out a disturbing scream of terror and the deathclaw violently takes a large bite out of Rupert's torso. Gemma shouts "NNOOO!!!" and begins to cry. Gavin fires at the deathclaws as they turn to him & Vincent, tossing Rupert's corpse aside. He vaporizes one and blows off the head of another, as Vincent screams in terror.
The chaos finally brings out 4 more deathclaws and the Matriarch. Gordon notices the difference between the deathclaws and begins charging at the Matriarch. One deathclaw swings it's hand at Gordon, but Gordon dodges it by spinning around and the claws rip into the lower back of Gordon's jacket. Two deathclaws run at Gordon from the left and right of him. They leap towards Gordon, but he rolls forward and the deathclaws crash into each other. Another deathclaw runs at Gordon from the front. It lunges at Gordon. Gordon jumps at the same time and runs along the deathclaw, jumps off it's back towards the Matriarch and fires his weapon at the Matriarch's right eye. The Matriarch screams in pain and every deathclaw stops. Gordon lands with both of his knees bent and with one knee touching the ground. He holds his Ranger Sequoia in one hand close to his head, with the barrel spewing smoke and pointing at the sky. As the Matriarch collapses to the ground, every deathclaw falls to their knees and bows down to Gordon.
Gordon stands and looks around at the deathclaws, then looks back at the Matriarch. He notices that the deathclaws have fur and hears the Matriarch trying to speak to him, much to his surprise. The Matriarch tells Gordon that they came up from the caves because they heard what they thought to be scavengers attempting to steal from them. But when they noticed the Brotherhood insignia on Gemma's armor, they believed that the Brotherhood of Steel had returned to enslave them once again. Gordon told the Matriarch that the Brotherhood would never do such a thing. He said that they were only stopping because their car broke down and they didn't mean to cause any trouble. Despite being aware of the uneasy feelings everyone has about the recent battle, Gordon asks The Matriarch if they can stay until they get the car up and running again. The Matriarch grants them permission to do so, seeing no other choice with the fatally wounded state it's in.
Gordon holsters his gun and looks for Gemma. He calls out her name and hears her reply from behind a rock near the fences. He runs to her and she warns him not to get close. Gordon sees the moonlight reflect off of her back and notices she's wounded and naked. Gordon asks her what happened to the armor she had on. Gemma replies that it was torn off by a deathclaw during the battle. She asks Gordon to get her First Aid kit from the car. Gordon runs to grab her kit from the dashboard of the car. He leaves it next to the rock without looking at her. He sees the remains of her armor near the radioactive pool and examines it. He says they're badly torn but there's a chance that the armor can be scavenged for parts. Gordon comments that he's surprised the Recon Armor lasted this long, due to the chaos it's been through from here to New Vegas. He thinks about what to do for Gemma and gets the idea of making Gecko-backed Leather Armor. He thinks about looking for a gecko, but doubts the existence of one in a part of the wastelands he's never been to.
Gemma grunts as she struggles to tend to her wounds. Gordon walks over to her and injects a Stimpak to null the pain. He looks at her back and sees three large cuts from above the waist to below her neck. He takes a piece of Gemma's broken armor and tears at it until there's a few small threads left. He takes a needle from the First Aid kit and sews the largest cut on Gemma's back. She grunts and shakes in pain, but she takes it and holds still. He concludes that the other cuts aren't big enough to cause long-term damage and should heal up on their own. After sewing the biggest cut, Gordon gets out bandages from the kit and wraps it around Gemma's back and chest. He puts a ring from the Recon Armor on the back of the bandage to help hold it together. Gemma sighs in relief and Gordon puts away the medical equipment back into the kit. They both reach for the kit to pick it up and their hands meet. Gemma pulls her hand away and Gordon apologizes, but they turn and gaze into each other's eyes. In the distance, Vincent turns his back away from Gordon & Gemma. He has an angry look of jealousy on his face as he finishes work on the car.
Gordon slowly approaches the Matriarch and asks for her help in making armor for Gemma. Knowing the volatile relationship Gordon's group and the deathclaws are in, he dismisses the idea of skinning the dead deathclaws. He asks the Matriarch if there are any Geckos in the area and she shakes her head. Gordon tries thinking of another creature and comes up with a Radscorpion. He asks her about them and she tells him, "Ssssome of my kin... I have sssent them out on ssscouting missssions. They have reported ssssightingsss of ssstrange creaturessss."
"What kinds of creatures?"
"Many! Ssssome with sssskin as tough as rock.. sssome with glowing sssslime ssspewing from their mouthsss..."
"Did any of the creatures have a long tail?" asks Gordon.
"Yessss, as a matter of fact... my pupsss have dessscribed large creaturesss with that appearance!"
"Really? Could you tell me where?"
The Matriarch points off to the southwest. Gordon thanks her and he makes his way to the nearby foothills to look for some Radscorpions.
When I made the decision to have the characters go through Mardin, I didn't have much information to go on. The "Mardin" article on the Vault Wiki (now known as "Nukapedia") was very empty at the time. So, I bought "Fallout Tactics" from Steam and played through it until I beat Mardin. Ironically enough, someone on the said wiki filled the article with enough information to help me with the story. *Sigh* Better late than never, I suppose?
Gordon's solo action scene against the Deathclaws was written while listening to
"Guile's Theme" from Super Street Fighter II.
Gordon walks into the foothills at night. The moonlight shown over the area, but due to the hills, it had cast shadows around them. Normally too dark for the average human, Gordon's training allows him to see well enough to proceed. A horrible stench filled the air around him when he approached the entrance to a cave. Gordon felt uneasy when he breathed in the air. Inhaling it, he recognized the smell. The smell was of Radscorpion venom. He immediately knew he had found their nest. "Should I go in?" He dismissed that idea after giving it a brief thought. He came up with an idea of trying to lure them out of the cave, but looked around and couldn't think of anything. He saw some Mole rats off in the distance. "Perfect!", he thought. "They'll make a good trap!"
Gordon approached a mole rat within the outside of the group of them. He lured it to him easily and strangled the creature. He brought it's body back to the entrance of the cave for the set-up. He brought a Combat Knife that he retrieved from Rupert's corpse and drew it from his knife holster. Gordon stabbed the mole rat and cut it open, releasing a smell that was strong enough for a Radscorpion to notice. Gordon ran to the side of the cave, but slowed down when he began to climb it. A radscorpion left the cave and checked the mole rat's corpse with it's pincers. Its corpse was lifted off the ground by the radscorpion. When it was shaken, Gordon leaped from the top of the cave down on the radscorpion's back. The radscorpion shook itself, desperately trying to make Gordon fall off. Gordon took out the knife again and stabbed it in the back a few times. The radscorpion tried pulling him off with it's pincers, but to no avail. Then it attempted to sting Gordon with it's tail, but it missed and Gordon stabbed the tail several times before climbing on it. The radscorpion, who had lost the feeling in its tail, stabbed at its back, still believing Gordon to be there. The radscorpion had stabbed its head with the tail, inducing the poison into its own nervous system. The radscorpion's muscles tightened up and then were loosened. The tail had moved backward from it's stinging position and was heading for the rocks behind it. The tail fell towards the rocks so hard, it slammed Gordon against the hill.
He slid under the dead weight of the tail that was holding him down. The rocks cut against his armor, but he was alright. Gordon caught his breath and pulled the knife from the radscorpion's tail, then he began to cut into it's body. He tore pieces of the radscorpion's carapace off and used them for crafting Gemma's new armor. Though he felt a bit weak from the battle, he was still able to think straight and focus on getting Gemma some decent protection against the dangers of the wastelands. After carefully cutting off the carapaces, he put them in a stack for later. He needed to get some supplies from the car before going to work on it. He stood up and began walking towards the car, but heard a deep and quiet noise come from behind him. He turned around and saw the radscorpion leap at Gordon and stung him with it's last breath. Gordon's muscles tightened and he let out a loud scream. Gavin heard him and came running towards the hills. Gordon had fell to the ground and the radscorpion collapsed and died.
When Gavin arrived, he saw Gordon laying on the ground. He rolled his eyes and tried picking up Gordon, putting Gordon's arm on his shoulder and carried him back to the car. He laid Gordon on the front hood of the car, without a care of any injuries. Then, Gavin began looking at Gordon while trying to think of what to do. Gemma attempted to walk to the car to examine Gordon's wounds, but she tried to cover herself by hiding behind the car. She couldn't get a good look at him, unfortunately. Vincent ran up to Gavin and Gemma, having gathered Gordon's belongings from where the radscorpion died. Gavin told Gemma to put on the radscorpion carapace to the best of her knowledge. She took the carapaces and walked behind a partially-blown up wall. A torch was on the wall, still lit up. Both Vincent and Gavin stared at her as she changed her clothes. Neither Gavin nor Vincent knew that each other were staring at Gemma. When she was finishing up, Vincent stopped staring and saw Gordon. He asked, "What are we going to do with him?" Gavin turned his attention to Gordon and said, "I don't know. I think we should throw him in one of these graves with whatever's left of Rupert." Vincent agreed with him. Gemma raised her voice in disagreement and said, "We've got to take Gordon with us! I'm pretty sure that I can revive him, with the chems and meds we've got left. And besides, we NEED him!" Vincent quickly changed his mind and agreed with Gemma, much to both Gavin & Gemma's confusion. Two-against-one, Gavin reluctantly agreed to bring Gordon along for the rest of the trip. The Deathclaw Matriarch apologized for the death of Rupert. They gathered their items, got in the car, bid farewell and drove away from Mardin.
Mardin was the part of the story I had the most difficulty writing. I kept changing parts of it over so much, I'd lose interest in that portion!
At 189 miles away from Mardin, Gemma attempts to keep Gordon alive. She checks her bags of meds for anything to use on Gordon. Due to the conservation of Chems and weaponry at the Hidden Valley Bunker, they did not begin the journey with ample provisions. Gemma is frustrated with that fact. "How am I supposed to treat our brethren with bare minimum supplies? I'm still a Journeyman Scribe! I haven't even hit Senior yet!" She injects him with Med-X to counter the pain of the wounds. 246 miles to Cincinnati, Gemma notices Gordon's withdrawals. She looks through her bags for more Med-X, but finds none. Going on the information she only had a brief time to learn during her training, she puts tablets of Buffout in Gordon's mouth and moves his jaw to crunch them. She ponders on what she had done for Gordon. She worries that the Chems she gave him won't fight off the venom, or Gordon will become addicted to any of the meds. She tries to dissuade herself from thinking about it too much.
[5007]
CINCINNATI
A heavily destroyed city. Cincinnati has been reduced to rubble with a few hollow structures still standing. Vincent stops the car behind a wall of rubble. He gets out and sighs. "A whole lotta ruin." He heightens himself by getting on his toes, and finishes, "with a whole lotta nothin' in the middle!" "Sounds awfully familiar..." Gavin thinks to himself as he tightens the wrapping on his plasma caster, keeping the handle connected to the casing. Gemma gets out of the car. "What are we going to do, sir?" Gavin tells her "Well, there's bound to be someone around here that can help us. No way we can drive through all this wreckage, and no way we can drive for miles in either direction. We'd run out of supplies, let alone taking the risk of driving into radioactive hot zones blindly!" Gemma claims that, despite what they do, they're still allowing Gordon to possibly die without 24 hour care. Vincent tells her that Gordon's a big guy and that he can do just fine healing while they're gone. Gavin suggests leaving one of them behind for Gordon. Gavin suggests leaving Vincent. "You know more about cars than any of us do. Why don't you stay?", says Gavin. Vincent then runs up to Gavin and begins debating whether leaving one of them behind is a good idea. They start arguing and Gemma overhears what they're saying. She's shocked that the two are not fighting over Gordon, but her as well. Suddenly, a rocket is launched from the second floor of a ruined building and impacts to the right of them, near the car. The ground beneath the car caves in and Gordon is trapped inside, with a load of dirt covering the back windshield and the car stuck in a slanted position. Gavin and Vincent stop arguing and pick up their guns. They fire back at the building. Gemma tries to react to the chaos but is wounded after trying to jump out of the way of a grenade. Soon, she is separated from the car and the only two people that can protect her. She is disoriented by the blast and is shot in her left arm and leg by a hail of bullets. She cries out in pain. The dizziness and bleeding is too much for her. She tries to reach for a shot of Med-X, but the chem is too far for her to grab. The ruins that are below her collapse with a single blow from a rocket. She rolls down and is bruised from the rocks and the pressure from the remaining pieces of her armor.
Gemma tumbles through trash and broken vehicles, and is separated from Gavin and Vincent. She bangs her shoulder on the back of a Chryslus' trunk and cuts her arm on shards of glass. Gemma lands on solid ground. She gasps for air, painfully, and she feels very dizzy. Gemma begins sobbing, not so much out of pain, but more because of the truth that her own friends are trying to kill each other over her. There is movement in the rubble behind her. She is oblivious to the noise. A voice calls out to her. She slowly turns toward the direction of the voice.
"Hello? Who's there?" she asks. The man responds to Gemma in amazement.
"Who am I? You must not be from around here!" He says it as if she should already know who he is.
"Think of me as a... Washer."
"A washer?" Gemma asked, trying to understand the man's strange hospitality.
"Yes. A washer" he says. "There are evil beings in this world. People's minds have been corrupted by the harsh lands of this apocalyptic world."
Gemma listens to what the man says but her body has been damaged by the fall. The area around her seems as if it's spinning from her dizziness, and the man's voice fades in-and-out. She tries to regain her normal state of mind but fails.
"I take what is filthy and restore them. They realize the error of their ways and submit to my wisdom."
"The man walks out of the shadows and approaches Gemma. He reaches out his hand to her and tells her "I don't know you but I'll change you... If you let me!" He makes a sweet but suspicious smile, almost as if he was hiding something.
Dazed from her fall and the amount of pain she's feeling from it, she hesitantly agrees to go with the man. She had a faint feeling of fear and uncertainty about him, but couldn't remember why. She was just too charmed by his personality and smile. She slowly gets up and walks away with the man, her arm around his shoulders.
Meanwhile, Gavin and Vincent defend themselves from the unknown attackers. They hide behind some rubble as they fire back. Vincent talks again to argue more with Gavin. He tells him that "a real Brotherhood of Steel Paladin would've saved his comrades!" Gavin is frustrated and shouts at him "Are you seriously starting this again in the middle of a fight? SHUT UP AND GIVE ME THOSE GRENADES!!"
Cincinnati has a community that lives off of the Tyler Davidson Fountain in the Fountain Square. Villain would act as a mechanic that fixes and maintains the fountain for the people and gives them rusty cybernetic implants for their injuries. Secretly, he was a former scientist that was cast out of The Reservation (from above) that somehow reached Cincinnati. He studied the evolution of ghouls, but changed to Super Mutant studies and cybernetic implants. He was cast out of The Reservation due to the belief of his fellow scientists that ghouls should become superior naturally and not, as Dr. Willem Clark would say, "with iron crutches". Villain did not wish for vengeance against his former co-workers but predicted that they would eventually "nuke themselves", as he says. Because of Gordon and the BoS troops interfering in The Reservation's progress, he was disappointed but said that what happened was "close enough". He contaminates the fountain with his own modified strain of FEV, thus turning the citizens into a unique form of Super Mutant, capable of breeding. He shifted his focus on cybernetic implants to his own personal use.
I originally wanted the villain and his workers to be ghouls. But the story was already too ghoul-heavy, so I switched to Super Mutants as those don't have much of a part in "Blood & Steel 2".
Villain creates Jet-induced super mutants. The chem heightens senses, improving reaction times and boosts energy.
Ghouls would be able to shrug off limb dismemberment easier and still retain determination to chase it's target. Scientist believes that Humanity caused the Great War, due to every nation's superiority complex. Calculating the success of his plans, he comes up with the idea of ghoulifying the entire world. If the plan is, indeed, successful, the weakened state of all ghouls will serve as a painful reminder as to what they've become, and diminish their arrogance. The only "leader" of the ghoul race would be a ghoul enhanced with Jet, or a cyborg ghoul. Scientist also communicates with previously-read ghoul community at the Reservation.
The Super Mutants had superhuman strength and quicker reflexes rounded out by low intelligence and a reliance of drug.
Gavin and Vincent would be trapped in a holding cell underground. After being subjected to The Washer's experiments, Gemma feels weak. Suddenly, Gordon shows up. He is shaking. He pulls out his gun and fires it at The Washer. The Washer deflects some of his shots. He roars and runs towards Gordon. He knocks the gun out of Gordon's hand. Gordon gets shoved aside. Gemma gets off the ground and stands. She shouts "I am TIRED of this 'damsel in distress' crap!!" She toughs out the pain and helps Gordon fight the villain. Gordon tells Gemma to find anything on the floor or in shelves that could help, while he distracts The Washer. Gordon dukes it out with The Washer. Gordon asks what The Washer wants with all the innocent people. The Washer says "All of these people are ripe for change! They eek out a horrible existence in poverty and shame! They need a leader!" Gemma searches for a key to break Gavin and Vincent out of the cell. "Like what? A democracy?", asks Gordon. "Democracy failed in the Old World!" Gordon takes a few swings at him. "But from what I know... it led to war!" The Washer smiles. "The government never believed their citizens! They mislead them, terrified them!" Gemma can't find the key. She tries to think of something else to help Gordon. She finds a chain wrapped around a chair. She tries to unwrap the chains, but to no avail. "But that's why a kingdom... No, an EMPIRE can work! Perfectly!" Gordon shouts "Do you really think that's right in our world?" The Washer growls at him. "Well, at least we can actually stop lunatics like
you in our day and age!" The Washer laughs and knocks Gordon to the ground on his back. A grenade rolls out of his gear. "Crap!", he shouts. Gordon tries to grab it before it could go out of range. The villain is too focused on beating on Gordon, that he pays no attention to the grenade.
Gemma finally manages to unwrap the chains. She nearly falls into a bear trap but shoves herself off the ground before the trap springs. Gordon knocks The Washer in ribs, the villain immediately screams and spins around. The key to the cell flies out of The Washer's pocket. Gemma crawls to get it, avoiding the villain's sight. The room goes silent. Gemma grabs the key and stands up. She walks over to the cell. But a bony finger touches her shoulder. "And where do you think
you're going?" He pulls her back and laughs. He turns Gemma around and draws her close to him slowly. He makes a quiet sinister laugh. *CHINK!* A metallic sound came from behind him. Gordon begins counting. "1... 2... 3..." He swings a live grenade stuck between the jaws of the bear trap, connected to a long chain. Gemma sees the chain and makes a dive away from The Washer. Swinging it around and around, Gordon says "4... 5!" and slams the trap into The Washer right when the grenade went off. The Washer's corpse turned into a mess of blood, bones and sticky bits of flesh. When the battle is over, Gordon collapses to the ground on his knees. He begins to lose his sight. Gemma rushes to Gordon to help him. Gordon asks her "Wha- what's happening.. to me?" "You're suffering from a Med-X withdrawal!", says Gemma. "I need... you need to... friends..." She runs and unlocks the cell door. Gavin and Vincent leave the cell. They look at Gordon with ignorance and chuckle at his bodily state. Gemma rushes to Gordon and helps him. She injects a dose of Med-X to clear Gordon's withdrawal effects. "Thanks..", says Gordon in a sleepy-tone of voice. Gemma picks up his Ranger Sequoia and they all leave the room together. The Washer's remains stop emitting a small amount of smoke... and begin to slowly regenerate!
Population of Cincinnati considers the villain as a "holy leader", and prefer the villain's so-called "help" over Gordon & the group's help. They are practically kicked out of town because of The Washer's death. If I had I finished this, Cincinnati would've featured quotes from the song "Slave" by The Evolutionaries. Exactly...
"I won't move where you tell me!" - Vincent refusing to follow The Washer's orders.
"If I smile, it's obligatory!" - Gavin being sarcastic about his holding.
"I'm not yours! I never will be!" - Gemma attempting to get away from The Washer as he slowly hugs her.
"I'm a slave to the misery!" - City inhabitant to Gordon & the BoS group.
"I don't know you but I'll... change you if you let me!" - The Washer when he finds Gemma, wounded. (From an earlier part of this chapter)
"By my left hand, you will DIE!" - The Washer to a man before he mutates him.
"And by my right, you'll come alive!" - The Washer to the man after the mutation.
"Drink my blood! Eat my flesh!" - Scenes of the civilians drinking the fountain water, then feeding off of toxic sludge after their mutation.
Vincent checks on Gemma, planning to "make a move" on her. She tightens the strap on the shoulder's knitted leather piece. Vincent saw a scar on her neck but didn't mind it. He begins to talk. "Ya know, Gemma baby, I was thinking..." "'Gemma baby'??", she thought. He continued. "Ever since we've been travelling, I've reconsidered my life. Why run an auto shop alone? Maybe if we can scram, leave these low-life BoS jerks, we can run it together. Maybe call it "V&G Auto"! Hahaha." Gemma raised an eyebrow. She was confused and frightened. "Erm... that sounds nice. But I think we should take things a little bit slower." Vincent believed she was playing hard to get, so he got closer to her. He said "What we've got is something special. A true love for each other! You know it, babe. I can see it in your eyes!" He put his arm around her back. Gemma felt very disturbed just feeling his hand move across her back. She tried to pushing Vincent away as he moved in for a kiss. "I honestly don't believe we're..." she said as her voice croaked.
Vincent was stubborn, and continued to move in for the kiss. Disgusted, she shoved Vincent on his butt, landing on her bag of chems. He crushed the chems under his weight. He was frustrated by her response, initially thinking she'd be an easy woman to get. He raised his head but quickly looked back down at the meds. He saw that the chems had been spent and noticed that they all had "Junction City" labels on them. He stood up and saw the scar, then realized what was going on. "Those chems! You consumed all those CHEMS!??" Gemma started trembling. She thought nobody would discover the stolen supplies until after they had left. "You... doped-up SKANK!!!" He immediately lunged at Gemma and grabbed her by the neck. He choked her and shoved her to the ground. He said "Do you have any IDEA how many caps that cost me just to let your 'BROTHERHOOD OF FREAKS' leave SUPPLIED!??" Gemma struggled to get him off but her wounds weakened her. "Those were supposed to last you and your gang a WHOLE WEEK!!!" As she felt the life leave her body she used the last of her strength and kicked Vincent in the crotch. Vincent grunted and, ironically, lost his breath. Gemma let out a weak cry for help before coughing again. Gavin heard her and dropped his food rushed in. He kicked Vincent off of Gemma and began punching him in the face, over and over. Before Vincent drew his last breath, Gavin angrily muttered "I hate outsiders!!"
Gavin helped Gemma get back on her feet. She was still shaking in shock. "Thank you, sir. I-I had no idea he'd..." "Don't worry" said Gavin. "I'm just glad to have saved one of my own." They walked out of the room, with Gemma re-adjusting her shoulder piece. Gavin had a proud, ignorant smile on his face as he looked at Vincent's corpse one last time.
[5008]
The Pitt
The group, down to 3 people, would drive into a mountain side. Their car breaks down and they decide to walk the rest of the way. They flip a cap and decide to go north. At The Pitt, Gavin becomes a slaver and immediately takes Gemma as his slave. Gavin would gain a boost of confidence due to his status and challenges Gordon to a fight. It was to be a fight to the death. A fight of different ideals on leadership. NCR vs. Brotherhood of Steel. And their feelings for Gemma. They were stripped of their armor and weapons. During the fight, Gavin shouts that he was to start another chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel in the east of the country and Gemma would be his wife. Gemma and the crowd of spectators hear his rants. They gasp in shock. The rich spectators immediately change their bets to Gordon. Gordon tries to convince Gavin that he needs to come to his senses, but he won't listen. Gordon is winning the fight with grace and speed. He slams his fist on Gavin's head. Gavin shakes it off and goes into a berserker rage. Gordon tries to overcome Gavin's strength, but was unsuccessful. He took several blows to the chest and back. Gordon falls on his chest and grabs Gavin's leg and pulls him to the ground. Gordon gets up. "I don't want to fight you, Gavin! We need to work together to get out of this place!" "NOO!!", shouts Gavin. He picks up a cement block. He throws it at Gordon, as he approaches him. Gavin grabs another block and swings it at Gordon. He manages to slam into Gordon's shoulder. Gordon shouts in pain. He swings his legs below Gavin, knocking him to the ground. Gordon picks up the block. He looks down at Gavin. Then looks up at Gemma with sorrow. Gemma shakes her head and turns away from sight. Gordon looks down at Gavin again and says "God, please forgive me for what I do!"
He slams the block on Gavin's head again and again, until there is nothing left but blood and shards of bone. The crowd begins clapping and lets out a loud cheer of satisfaction. Gordon is shaking in shock and confusion. He questions himself. "Was what I did right?" Later, Gemma and Gordon escape. They took back their belongings and headed for a secret tunnel at the east side of The Pitt. They were under heavy fire from the slavers. They ran into a battalion of Brotherhood troops heading for The Pitt. Gordon and Gemma were escorted by a squad to the Citadel in the Capital Wasteland.
I was pleased that I was able to finish this part. I felt that the emotional drama and desperate fight added some badly needed taste to the story. With Gordon and Gemma really shook up, it allowed me to start an area on a different mood. And, the characters FINALLY reach their destination!
[5009]
Capital Wasteland
Gordon and Gemma arrive at the Citadel and try to convince Elder Lyons (the leader of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood) to aid their Mojave brethren in defeating the NCR in Vegas. The Elder says it's too dangerous. His army would reach the Mojave in months. Gordon takes a look around and sees a Vertibird. He suggests the use of their Vertibirds to at least establish a "beach head". Scribe Rothchild (Scientist and builder of Liberty Prime) agrees, saying "We could ferry troops to-and-back easily! I mean, we can get twice as many reinforcements there quickly to keep up the heat until more come!" Elder Lyons agrees to the plan and orders his troops to prepare for the travel.
Gordon and Gemma step out of the Citadel for a talk. They discussed the death of Gavin. Gemma is grieving and she asks Gordon why he killed him. "I had to! He was trying to kill me!" Gemma shook her head. "Why couldn't you have just knocked him out??"
"I couldn't! If I hadn't killed him, you were completely screwed!"
"But he was our leader! Besides, you said we needed as many people as we could!"
"Yes. But if he did win, you'd be his SLAVE!"
Some Brotherhood guards looked at them arguing.
"Doesn't that sound horrible? I mean, he became a Slaver the moment we arrived there!"
Gemma shook her head.
"With him making you his first slave, doesn't that show just how much of a psycho he was??"
Gordon sighs.
"Look... I'm sorry about all of the fighting we've done. I feel horrible just killing the man. It goes against my beliefs and experience as a Ranger!"
Gemma sat down on the steps.
Gordon sits next to her.
"I apologize for all of what we've been through. I'm sorry I killed him. I just can't let someone as sick as him to..."
Gordon and Gemma look into each other's eyes.
"...harm such an innocent life like your's!"
"I can't believe you think of me that way, Gordon."
They both put their arms around each other.
"A man who fights for the one he loves. It's..."
"...amazing."
They lean in for a kiss, but are interrupted by a scribe that comes out to get them.
"We're ready for the trip. Would you two like to be on the first Vertibird to arrive there?" Both of them quickly separate their arms. "Oh, uh... was I intruding on your...?" "No, it's fine" says Gordon. They both get up and head for the landing pad.
[5009]
Epilogue
Back in Vegas, President Kimball is at the New Vegas Capitol of the NCR. He is sharing wine and exchanging jokes and stories with his staff: General Lee Oliver and Ranger Chief Hanlon. Hanlon mentions his Rangers and Lee asks Kimball if he knows of Gordon's whereabouts. He then tells them about the story of Gordon's last visit. They all laugh throughout it. Gordon shows up in the room with the politicians laughing. They are in shock at his appearance. "Who the hell-?! What are you doing here? How'd you get past security??", asked President Kimball in frustration. "I paid the guards off with your NCR 'dollars'. You guys are too easy to fool!", said Gordon. "I have something to show you, gentlemen." He walks up to the balcony, pulls the curtains and shows them the massive invasion of Brotherhood troops.
"As of now, your security law has been dismantled and your troops are at their knees. The NCR has no place in the Mojave anymore."
"But our plan was working! You can't just stop our progress! People were safe!" and General Oliver. "What you're doing is insane!" Hanlon sighs. Gordon says to them "If you sacrifice freedom for security, then you deserve neither." Kimball looks confused. "You're risking everything we built to be destroyed! We could lose the war!" Gordon explains...
"Back in the old world, people had to serve greedy lunatics like you, with no hope of ever being free from their grasps. But nowadays? WE can -- and will -- do something to change our community for the better. Have the freedom of speech! Have the will to fight back against a political power! And live a life of true peace! The old world concepts and legacy won't ever work in our's! So, why follow THEIR rules??" General Oliver shouts "We've been following those rules since our nation was founded!" Gordon interrupts him and says "...until now!" Gordon is staring into the eyes of General Oliver, giving him a serious look. It strikes fear into his heart, making him sweat. General Oliver realizes just how serious Gordon is. Kimball shouts at him. "The price for that all could endanger our citizens! Our very country!"
Gordon replies "I've been thinking about this for a loooong time now. I've considered the risks and sacrifices one must take for their freedom. Our founding fathers of the Old World took those risks. So, yes." He pulls his gun out and points it at the president. "That's a price I'm willing to pay!"
*BANG!*
~THE END~
Someday soon, I'll release another, smaller post containing images, alternate story notes and, maybe, a small video. I am VERY glad I finally got this done! Tell me what you think by posting a comment below! :)
Thank you all for your patience and continued support!
- Oniell.
