Chapter 1
Beginnings; “Every story has a start.”
I woke up to screaming, guards shouting, people running, people being pummeled as the mob tried to run. I got up out of my bed and got dressed. I ran outside to the sirens blaring and people panicking. Guards trying to guide people out of the Vault, children crying, everything was happening. I don’t know why, maybe it was instinct, but I ran into the crowd and fought my way to the lab where my father was, only he wasn’t there. I looked for him and there was no trace. I followed the people out to the atrium where the Overseer was in his office, watching the riot unfold. Guards screamed at people as they tried to run, some actually fired at attackers, which made the riot even worse. I tried to follow the line of people going the right way when someone ran up to my with a guards gun and pointed it at me and screamed, “Get down! You’re being robbed!” He seemed to be laughing like a maniac. I immediately grabbed the gun’s barrel and twisted it sideways making it face the wall. He fired once, hitting a glass window and shattering it. I pulled it away and his fingers released. He stepped back when I aimed at him and he ran. I pocketed the weapon and ran to the exit with the people. When we finally got there, the Vault door was open. I was the first to enter the Vault Exit room when I heard a screaming noise and a loud boom. I turned to see the horror. The Vault had collapsed behind me. I was the only survivor from Vault 101.
I gathered my wits and left the tomb. It was a burial now. When I stepped outside, I was stunned by the destroyed landscape. I thought there would be more people. I walked down the rocky slope farther from the Vault. I saw a small town. It had maybe six homes in it with cars parked next to each one. They were completely demolished. As I continued on the path of the broken up road, I took a right and saw a large town of rusted metal and old searchlights. In front of it was an old Protectatron robot. It rotated about 75 degrees, stopped, and began to rotate the other way. It would say, “Howdy partner, welcome to, Megaton.” It would pause between every syllable for about half a second and for about a second for words. I didn’t bother to mess with it. When I was approaching the gate, someone grabbed my leg. I turned to see a man dressed in old rags and flip-flops. His hair was dirty and greasy. His face was a mess with dirt, grime, and blood all mixed in on it. “Please, I need. Water… Please.” You could tell he was dehydrated just by listening to his dry, raspy voice. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any water. Why don’t you go into the town and get some?” “No caps… No water…” “Caps? What do you mean by caps?” “Caps, money, buy water.” “So caps are currency? You mean like, bottle caps? From Nuka-Cola?” He simply nodded. “How much is water?” “Ten for dirty… Twenty for clean…” “I’ll see if I can get you some clean water. Just stay here, ok?” He nodded. I turned and walked away towards the gate. I pushed it open.
Chapter 2
Water: “Where ever there is water, there is life.”
I saw a rusty old town with buildings posted into their places on the slope. All of them were rusty and old. There was a mess of pipes under each one and a maze of bridges that connected everything. I hardly thought they were safe to walk on. I saw in the middle of the town was a huge mass of metal with a bit of water around it. I got a bit closer and saw that the metal mass was an undetonated atomic bomb. A few people were fearlessly surrounding it. One was speaking to it like it was a god of some kind, calling it Atom and saying we are his children, but I had no time to listen. I walked over to the nearby building labeled Brass Lantern. The woman working there asked if I wanted to business. “Yea, I need some clean water. Do you have any?” “Yea I do actually. Twenty-five caps.” “Could we do a trade?” “I guess. What do you have?” I searched around in my pack and found the old baseball bat, guard’s gun, and the BB gun I got for my tenth birthday. “How much will I get for the BB gun?” “Hmm… Forty caps But I’ll pay a cap every ten BBs.” I looked a bit harder in my pack and found a package of BBs. It said ‘100 quality, steel ball BBs!’ I gave her the BB gun and the BBs. She reached into her pocket and put twenty-five caps on the table and a water bottle on the table. “That all you need?” “Yea, I’ll be going. Thanks.” I took the caps and water and put them away. I walked out of the town and to the man. “Did you get me any water?” “Yea, I did. Here, take this.” “Thank you stranger! Here, I have something I want to give you…” He got up slowly and led me to an area next to the town. “Open that box and take what you want.” He was pointing to an old wooden box. “Are you sure you want me to take anything? I mean, I don’t want to rob you.” “No, you take what you want. You saved me.” I slowly approached the box and opened it. It was empty. I made a curious face and figured it out almost instantly. I turned as quickly as I could and saw the man holding a 10mm pistol. It was pointed at me. “Now hand over your bag, and your caps. Do it now!” I slowly took my bag off and put it on the floor close to him. I took out a little baggy of caps and put them with the bag. “Good… You fell for that one. Real easy. But you see, I can’t have you telling the sheriff. So I need you to turn around… It’ll be quick, I promise.”
As I slowly turned around. I heard a faint noise. Like a metal screeching of some kind. Then I heard a noise that was abrupt and quick sounding. It sounded like a laser. I heard the mugger drop the pistol and say, “Ah! That hurt you stupid robot!” I turned around and looked at him. He was holding his hand. I saw the robot nearing us saying, “Justice will be administered swiftly, and fairly.” It fired three more times missing the first two, and hitting him in the forearm on the third. He fell back a bit but caught himself. He got up and began to run. I picked up his pistol. I didn’t aim at him, I just shot to scare him off. But when I did, I saw a faint red puff come from his leg, and he fell. I didn’t know what to do. I had just shot someone. He was going to kill me, but I had still shot him. I lowered the pistol and let it hang from my hand. The Protectatron stopped and said, “All threats neutralized. Justice has been administered.” It went back to its post. I sighed and picked up my bag and caps and walked away. I didn’t bother to go get the water back from him. He could keep it for all I cared.
Chapter 3
Safety; “Safety can be a shield, or a shackle to adventure. Choose wisely.”
When I got back into Megaton it was obvious that people should of heard the gunshot, but it seemed like no one cared. I wasn’t surprised though, people here can be cold and unforgiving. I walked into town and the Sherriff came up to me saying, “I was told what had happened. Are you okay?” “Yea, I should be fine, how did you know?” “Crow, my watch tower guard, saw the predicament. He sent the robot over to help.” Well that explains why that thing came over there. “Well be sure to thank him for me.” “I will, hey, and I wanted you to know that you can have the house over above the Brass Lantern. Okay? It’s the least I could do to ease the troubles you’ve had here.” “Thank you for that. I really don’t have anywhere else to go as of now.” “No problem.” He says as he walks off into town. I go to the shack he assigned me and when I went inside, it was bigger than any other home here, it was pretty big. It came with a bed, desks, food, and everything else that is needed at a home except for running water… Not many homes have that at all here.
I go upstairs and drop my bag on the floor and lie down on the bed, exhausted. This day was the longest I had ever had, and with that in mind, I find myself drifting off to sleep.
When I awake in the morning, I find myself all sweaty from the clothes I forgot to take off and the heat of the un-insulated home. I got up and walked myself downstairs after grabbing my bag. The metal walls were actually hot from the Sun. I made a mental note not to touch them. I go downstairs and open the door of my home, into the open world.
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Chapter 1
Private Kodiak Miller
“Hey, Kodiak, go see who that is over there.” said Sergeant Keller. “Yes sir.” I walked over to the group of people next to the NCR-Desert Ranger monument. I noticed their pack Brahmin so I said, “If you need to pass the South-Western Mojave Outpost you need to speak with Major Knight in the barracks.” “Alright then. Where are the barracks?” “The small building to my right. It’s the far one.” “Thanks man.” They continued on to put their Brahmin in the pen and go speak to the Major. I walked back to my position at the outpost. The NCR Ranger, Ghost, was on the roof of the trade center. I’ve always hated the nicknames rangers take. They think it will make Caesar himself surrender at the final battle, they wish.
I am Private Kodiak Miller, I’m an NCR Trooper stationed at the South-Western Mojave Outpost. This outpost keeps track of traders and other people passing into California from Nevada. We don’t get very much action here because Caesar’s fort is north of Cottonwood Cove, which isn’t close at all. So really, there is no thrill here. I was hoping to be stationed at Camp McCarren, but I guess this is better than Camp Forlorn Hope. They don’t even have water clean water over there, even the name is bad…
Chapter 2
Five days later…
I woke up this morning to the sound of pack Brahmin bells and traders speaking to Major Knight. I got up and grabbed my Service Rifle so that I could deal with Raiders or Fiends if I had to. I stepped outside and saw an unusually busy day. More traders than there should be. I didn’t question the orders of crowd control. Some of the Brahmin were uneasy around each other. I had to help keep all the traders in line and not fighting to get to Major Knight. I was later assigned to helping with the people entering camp, getting their I.D.s, passes, proof that they are legit traders from Crimson Caravan, things like that. But one man walks up with his Brahman and asks me, “Where do the troops here stay?” I was surprised because of that being his first question. That isn’t really what a trader asks when they first get here. “I don’t think that matters… I need you to go to Major Knight in the barrack over there.” I point to the troop barrack, realizing a second later what I had just done when he dashed over as fast as he could trying to get there. He pushed over troops and trampled traders and ran over to the gate. He kicked it open and the troop in front of it fell over. I aimed my rifle and tried to fire but it never gave off the loud bang. It seemed to be jammed. He was almost into the barracks, troops unaware of the situation, thinking he is just annoying and ignoring him. I pull the ‘jam-bar’ back and a round flies out of the chamber. I then aim and quickly fire three bullets at him. They all missed, one almost hitting a trader. I ran to chase after him, throwing my rifle down to pick up speed. I passed by the people he knocked over, not bothering to help, I raced him to the barracks, he was at the door, I was passing the gate. He was inside and the door was shutting, I was almost in. I kicked the door in and he was standing there, in the middle of the room, arm raised, detonator in hand. I did the obvious thing and jumped at him. He fell to the floor with me, the detonator clattering to the floor, the small switch un-flipped. We were safe.
Chapter 3
Rough Starts
I had blacked out from the adrenaline rush in a bed, with Major Knight next to it. He was speaking but no words were heard. I passed out again after a minute of madness in trying to interpret his words. I awoke again, able to hear and with Major Knight still there. He began to talk again and this time I could hear him. “You awake now?” he says. I nod slightly. “Good. That guy you took down, he was a bomber from Caesar’s Legion. You got him Kodiak, you saved the base.” I smile at the thought of what I had achieved. I had just saved around twenty lives… That’s a great feat. I nodded to the Major and he continued. “You have also…” He pauses for dramatic effect. “You are now a Sergeant.” I froze in my bed, thinking about it. I had only saved about twenty men. That isn’t worth such a rank in the NCR. But he explains how I had also saved the outpost from capture. If we had lost this outpost, trade control would be lost. Thanks to me, I was now one of the war heroes that the NCR has, I had saved their trade lines from total failure. I take this in and nod at him. He continues, “Along with that, you are to take your gear when you’re ready and head out to Hoover Dam, you’ve been reassigned.” This was the hardest for me to take in. I was thinking I would just be moved to Helios One or something. But this is big. Being able to protect the dam with all those Rangers. I think about it like it’s an offer and say to him, “Ok… I’ll get packed up.” “Good, the caravan will arrive tomorrow.” I get up and pack my things into a big sack and put it beside my bed. I walk out and see two soldiers standing at the gate guarding it. They both stand at attention but do not salute. I nod at them casually and they loosen up. I walk out to the road, watching the caravans pass through.
When I finally got bored, I went inside and laid down on my bed, thinking about this day and the day before. I was stopped when Knight walked in. He went to his bed and just fell asleep. Long day for him I guess… I did the same though. I was fast asleep instantly. And when I awake, I’m looking at Brigadier General Abernathy McAlister, my new commanding officer.
Garry's Mod
General