The Fallout Wasteland

The Metal Fleet

"We've reached our destination, sir! Whitespring Resort and the Whitespring Congressional Bunker are nearby! No threats are detected in the perimeter of the landing. We are clear for landing!" The pilot of one of the VB02 Vertibirds stated to the Colonel in the back, encroaching at the resort like a majestic bird soaring in the wind with its flock.

The fleet of four VB02 Vertibirds landed at the Whitespring Resort, with the one harboring the Colonel landing atop the roof. The sudden sound of mechanical humming and blades whirling in the air ceased, allowing the men embedded in their shiny power armor suits to dismount the Vertibirds and march into the resort. As the men bustled through the front entrance door, the soldiers were greeted pleasantly by a Mr. Handy servant.

"Ah, visitors! How joyous! The last time we had visitors was nearly two centuries ago! We just unlocked our doors to the resort eight months ago after yet another refurbishment, so you gentlemen are more than welcome to make yourselves home! Welcome to the Whitespring Resort! Oh- and please don't track dirt in here! I just-... waxed the floors..."

The Enclave troops proceeded past the Mr. Handy robot, which greeted them with its programmed messages. Several troops tracked grass and dirt into the clean and pristine flooring with their power armor. Oblivious to the robot's commands, eager to discover this high-tech bunker.

Sergeant Arnold made their way into the middle of the upper lobby on the second floor and spoke to the troops, raising his voice for everyone to hear. "Listen up, maggots! I want all of you to fan out and secure this resort and locate the Congressional bunker. We need all hands on deck to find this; if anyone else is in this building or the bunker, take them prisoner and bring them to me. If they're ghoulified or mutated, execute them and burn the bodies. I want infantry on the first, second, and third floors; our service agents will patrol the exterior. Dismissed!"

After conducting an exhaustive search that lasted twenty minutes, Secret Service agents successfully located the bunker just a few meters away from the resort. The agents then returned to the resort to request a team consisting of infantry and engineers. The engineers were equipped with a Pip-Boy, enabling them to open the Vault, which allowed the foot soldiers to approach the entrance. However, they encountered an active laser grid defense system. The engineers were called upon once again to turn off the bunker's defenses. They accomplished this by deftly flipping the circuit conduit and throwing the bunker's breaker, finally rendering it accessible for infiltration.

As the armed foot soldiers entered the bunker, approached the stairwell, and stepped down the stairs, a voice crackled over the intercom, its digital tone echoing through the barren bunker. "Ah... What do we have here? Multiple identities. Barely irradiated. Power armor, from the sounds of it... Please, come further inside."

Once the foot soldiers reached the end of the stairs, they were met with a podium displaying a masculine face with eyeglasses on, a digital persona. "Ah, there you all are. We are glad to see... familiar faces. Welcome, we are MODUS, the Multi-Operation Directions and Utility System. Our solemn, personal duty is to attend to the needs of all of you who will soon call this place home. We have attempted to reach national Enclave facilities, but our broadcasting reach is... minimal. Welcome home, Enclave. What can we do for you?"

Sergeant Arnold peered over to one of the soldiers with amusement. "Get Colonel Patrick down here immediately; he'll want to see this..."

The Arkansas Woods, Home, 2289

He still remembers.

He remembers their first date, how they’d driven off their college campus for dinner and spent the night looking at the stars. As his form, now long altered by the taint of death and unnatural rebirth, trod towards his destination, he looked up and saw what he believed to be those very same stars looking down on him.

He remembers meeting her parents and how they’d loved him. He was the only man their daughter had brought home who never hurt her, never laid a finger on her, never took her trust for granted. He thought back to how his own family reacted to her— they’d hated that their son had brought hone a girl they wrote off as a illiterate country bumpkin, never mind she was only from one county over.

He remembers their wedding day and how he’d shed tears upon the sight of her walking down the aisle, her face beaming to him like light from heaven— his angel in the flesh. She’d looked so beautiful that day in her bridal dress. Only the best for the queen of his castle.

He remembers the birth of their children— Julie was the oldest, the light of his world and the one who’d always looked up to him the most. Robbie came next, his little man who reminded him so much of his own father. Then came little Lizzie, the baby of the family who was always so happy and giggly. Oh how she’d been so happy to meet them all when they were born, and how happy he was to finally meet the babies she’d given him.

He remembers the day when the bombs fell. The war took the world from them, but at the end he still had her by his side, always hopeful that things would get better. They’d tried to make the best of things— still kept birthdays, holidays, and tried making toys for the kids to lift their spirits. No matter how hard things got, she was always there, encouraging him on, his personal cheerleader.

He remembers the rainy day when he was forced to bury her. She’d gotten sick— some kind of strange illness brought on from contact with a fungi in the woods. She’d fought on as strong as she could, but in the end her lungs couldn’t take it. She passed away in the home he had helped build for them, surrounded by their children who wept for days for their lost mother. He stayed strong though and kept them safe, teaching them how to live off the land and survive in the woods.

He remembers the day he tasted death himself. The bandits had taken them by surprise, and while he had given his children enough time to escape he was too wounded from his fight, and slipped away into bliss after telling his little ones to stay strong and keep on living.

He remembers being awakened from his slumber by her voice. The same thing that took her from him had given her some kind of new life— and him by extension. He heard her voice as the angelic call he’d always known it as. “Wake up my love, the babies are in trouble and they need their father,” she had told him. And as he always did, he heeded the call. He didn’t let them see him for a while. He would slip the occasional deer to them to keep them fed, but it was only after that fearful day when those men attacked Julie that his children had seen him since his resurrection.

Now, the Green Man hauls the carcass of another trespasser— a gunman sent by those vile townsfolk to harm his family down into the heart of the earth below his home where She waits. She’s been there for years, her thick roots of flora and viscera spreading wide and deep with every morsel delivered to her. Her voice calls out to her love to bring her more, and as he watches the vines cover and consume the corpse he kneels next to her form. He places his hand on hers and for the first time in a long time her hand clasps around his. He doesn’t have lips to smile, but his heart (if he has one anymore) leaps for joy. He has ruled as king of the forests for years, but a king is alone expect for when his queen is beside him.

Oh yes, the Green Man remembers. He remembers the love that held his soul to this world to be given life anew, and he remembers the life that was stolen from them by mankind’s failure. He remembers the beloved wife taken from him, and he says to her (though he cannot speak) “Wake up honey, our family is in trouble and they need their Mother.” He remembers that he is alone without her.

But he knows that he will have her back, and he doesn’t care how many he has to sacrifice to give her life once more.

America's Comeback

Observing a fleet of steel Vertibirds flying over Appalachia stirred the curiosity of the residents in the area. The population was curious about the nature of their transportation and whether the Brotherhood of Steel or the Responders had emerged from their long absence. It is clear, however, that the fleet was heading southbound. Many individuals, including settlers, scavengers, and raiders, felt compelled to follow the fleet and explore the dangers of West Virginia along the way.

Yet, their arduous trek through the desolate landscape was rewarded with a sight that defied their expectations of a meticulously maintained golf resort. The stark contrast of fresh green grass, sprawling plains, and a grand white mansion in the distance against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world was a sight to behold. This unexpected discovery further fueled their curiosity, urging them to delve deeper into the mystery of the Vertibirds and the lands they had led them to. The exterior of Whitespring Resort is protected by Protectrons, Sentry Bots, and Assaultrons, all engineered by the Enclave robotics experts and technicians to be maintained and operated by robotics handlers from afar via a terminal computer. As the civilians, raiders, and scavengers encroached upon Whitespring Resort's entrance, Sentry Bots immediately rushed over and stopped them in their tracks.

"All combat systems active. This unit suggests you move along. Member activities in this space are restricted to the following: leaving. End of list. The recruitment station is approximately 49 meters southwest of this location."

As members of the public ventured on a path towards the southwest of the Whitespring Resort, a group of scavengers and raiders attempted to breach the defenses of Whitespring. However, the Sentry Bots stationed there quickly neutralized them with their tri-barrel miniguns, efficiently eliminating all hostile entities before they could mount any resistance.

Upon discovering the Enclave's discreet recruitment location, a group of civilians was accompanied by two soldiers in suits of APA-II armed with miniguns and two recruitment officers. The civilians were then invited to participate in the MODUS entrance questionnaire, which tested their ideologies before advancing to the next stage. One of the questions proved consequential for five of the enlistees: "Which of the following thinkers' belief systems most closely matches your own?" Unfortunately, five of the enlistees, who appeared to lack sufficient knowledge, answered randomly and chose Karl Marx. After completing their questionnaire exam, all the enlistees were instructed to follow the recruitment officers toward the Whitespring Resort for further testing while the soldiers held back the five who answered incorrectly. Before the officers left, they gave the soldiers a cold command, pointing at the five enlistees.

"All right, that's all of them. Kill those commie b*stards." The armored soldiers promptly executed the five enlistees, echoing into the atmosphere around them, filling the air with rapid minigun gunfire.

The Enclave has successfully recruited fifty new members who are being trained to become highly skilled military combatants. Additionally, the technical staff have restored and repaired ten Mr. Handy robots, which were previously deactivated or damaged within the resort. Their efforts have also led to the discovery and acquisition of more infantry armor, laser rifles, and assault rifles that the previous Enclave occupants in the Whitespring Congressional bunker left behind.

+50 Enclave recruits
+20 R90 Assault Rifles
+5 Laser Rifles
+10 Mr. Handy robots
+2 sets of Combat Armor

Always Darkest, Part 2

Somewhere in the Territory of the Knights, Northwestern Oregon

Adrian felt his breath in the gas mask as he and the rest of his squad moved through the forest. He scanned the trees, but kept calm as he caught a glimpse of one of his men, rifle in hand and nearly impossible to see unless you knew what you were looking for. That was the advantage of the armor of the Nyx Guard, dark colors that let them blend in at night.

Angels he thought to himself why did it have to be Sasquatch country?
He thought back to what the Captain had said, that if he completed this trial he would become the youngest sergeant in the Nyx Guard, and that was an achievement he wanted. So he took the job, leading a group of ten men and women he knew, had trained with, become friends with, into danger.

They didn’t even need to kill any Sasquatch, he just needed to lead a successful scout mission, assess if there was a Sasquatch camp in the area, whittle down the list of areas they could be raiding a small settlement from. Still, he was nervous that they would run into some of those hulking creatures. Green-gray, some so ancient they remembered the world from a century prior, their parents and grandparents alive before the war.

Wise too Adrian thought. Shame they can’t coexist the same way their Scorch kin can.

A twig snapped. Adrian raised his rifle and scanned the surrounding forest. He could make out the shapes of his squad moving. One raised a hand, just them, alright. They kept moving. He kept scanning the forest for any sign of movement, especially animals, since they might not actually be animals…

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun, drawing his pistol to aim at whoever had placed their hand there. He took a deep breath in relief when he saw the mask of one of his men, and one of his closest friends, James.
“Are you alright?” He leaned in and whispered, careful to make sure nothing else could hear them.
“I’m fine,” Adrian responded in an equally hushed tone, holstering his pistol.
“Hey, you can do this, if anyone here’s gonna make sergeant, it’s you,” James said reassuringly. Adrian smiled under his mask.
“Let’s just make it to the objective,” he said, reading his rifle again and continuing on.

Another thirty minutes passed when he saw a faint glow ahead. He walked forward towards it, waving a hand for the rest of his squad to follow. They approached, closing in from all sides. Adrian signaled for them to halt, then raised his rifle so he could look through the scope. He saw a small clearing with a large, nearly dead campfire in the center, dead animal carcasses strewn about, their meat ripped out rather than carved. Sasquatches, and they’d moved on by now. Likely a small scouting camp. Adrian sighed. It wasn’t ideal, but it was news he could bring back to his superiors, proof that his mission and leadership wasn’t a total failure. He waved his hand for his squad to return to the settlement they’d set out from. He saw a few shapes nodding, the message had been received and passed on.

The walk back was just as disquieting, Adrian was constantly on alert for everything around him. An owl hooted. He turned at the sound, raising his gun at where it had come from, only to sigh once he realized what the source was.

Another five minutes passed as he and his squad kept moving. Adrian watched as the trees swayed in what little moonlight there was, branches creaking. He saw one, shorter than the rest and lacking any branches, probably just an old stump. He turned his eyes forward again, then caught a glimpse of movement. He turned his eyes back to the tree he had just been looking at, keeping his head forward. The tree was still.

Just his nerves. He kept moving forward. He heard a branch snap and turned abruptly.

The tree he had been looking at before had moved, branches had sprouted from near its top, with one trailing off into a long, cylindrical shape.

That was no tree. Those were arms as thick as branches, and that shape at the end was a rifle.

Adrian’s breath caught, he felt his heart pounding. No time for fancy signals, he had to do something now. He aimed right at the shape.

”SASQUATCH!” he yelled at the top of his lungs and fired.

The light lit up the surrounding forest for a moment, giving him the briefest glimpse of a towering gray-green creature covered in the hide of a bear and carrying a makeshift pipe rifle. A long leather strap held an overgrown upper lip back, and Adrian could see an angry expression on the creature’s face before the bullet entered its left eye. The light dissipated and the mutant fell back to the ground, dead.

Lights began to flicker on, some from his squad in the form of flashlights, others from the Sasquatch mutants in the form of torches. Within a few seconds, the forest had turned into a battlefield. Adrian ducked behind a tree as he heard the rhythmic clap of the pipe weapons the Sasquatch carried, bullets whizzing by him as he clutched his rifle. He took deep breaths to steady his nerves.
I’ve trained for this he thought to himself. He heard the footsteps of a mutant approaching, fast and heavy. He rolled out from behind the tree, finding himself face to face with the creature. It snarled and raised its pipe weapon, but Adrian fired his own assault rifle, putting a bullet into its chest and another into its head. He breathed a sigh of relief and stood.

“Lights out and retreat!” he yelled out to the rest of his squad. Their lights began to flick off, leaving the mutants scrambling to spot them as knights either opened fire at a few of the mutants, cutting them down before moving away, checking their compasses and continuing towards the settlement to their East.

Adrian did the same, racing through the brush and only turning briefly to fire off a few shots with his pistol. At best he’d hit a few more Sasquatch, at worse he’d draw their attention to him, make sure they didn’t get his men. He turned his head forwards again and nearly skidded to a stop. In front of him stood a massive Sasquatch mutant, its torch attached to a rifle it was carrying. It smiled and leveled its gun at Adrian, who felt his heart stop in that moment. Then he felt someone’s hand slam into his shoulder, pushing him to the left just as the Mutant fired. He fell, only briefly catching the mutant’s head jerk back before it slowly tipped and fell to the ground, a red circle forming on its forehead.

Adrian fell to the ground a moment later, feeling another body on top of him before feeling whoever it was shift to the right and fall to the ground next to him. He sat up and looked over at the body. It was another knight, and after a moment Adrian let out a quiet gasp of fear. It was James laying on the ground next to him, groaning in pain. Adrian got up and knelt beside his friend, noticing he had a bullet wound in his shoulder and another in his neck.
“No,” he murmured. “No no no no!” His voice grew louder with every repetition as he reached for his medical kit. A stimpak, maybe some med-x, that would stop the bleeding… He felt James’ hand on his.
“Don’t bother,” he said.
“I can save you,” Adrian said, not stopping his quest for the medicine.
“No,” James said quietly. “You can’t.” His breath was ragged now, Adrian knew he didn’t have much time… “I’m losing too much blood. Just make sure I get a proper funeral. Make sure the others make it out alive.” Adrian stopped scrambling, anguish washing over him. “Tell my family that I did my duty to the Knights.”
“You…you…” Adrian wanted to say James could tell them himself, but the words caught in his throat. He couldn’t breathe.
“Live a good life Adrian,” James said, before his grip on Adrian’s arm went slack. Adrian looked down at the body of his friend, his eyes now vacant and staring up at the night sky. Adrian closed his eyes tightly, trying to hold back the grief, the tears, the sorrow…

He opened them again, now filled with fury. He stood and readied his rifle. He grabbed another gun at his hip, a flare gun. He closed his eyes, stretched his arm skyward and fired. After a moment, a red flare burst to life. His squad would come and get James’ body, but he’d also just drawn the attention of every Sasquatch that was still ready for a fight.

He opened his eyes, seeing a group of three Sasquatches in Radstag hides approaching.
“Just surrender and we’ll give you a quick death,” the first one said in a calm manner. “We don’t want any further bloodshed.” Adrian chuckled to himself, the laugh growing louder until he was cackling. The mutants looked at each other, confused. Adrian finally stopped laughing.
“You’re not leaving here alive.” He looked up at them, readying his rifle. Then, he roared, a primal scream that drew the mutants last few moments of attention as Adrian fired round after round at them. One fell immediately, but the other two took cover behind trees and another three ran forward to join their kin, torches attached to the ends of their rifles.
“COME ON THEN!” Adrian bellowed in rage, firing at the reinforcements. Another fell, collapsing onto the body of the first. A few attempted to return fire, but found other Knights approaching, their own gunfire joining the chorus alongside Adrian’s. The remaining mutants, apparently not willing to take their chances, turned and ran, dousing their torches as they did and vanishing back into the night.

Adrian exhaled, not realizing he’d been holding his breath for Angels knew how long. He turned to see that two of his squadmates had arrived, one already checking James’ body.
“He’s dead,” Adrian said, holding back tears as he did. “We’ll bring his body with us. Can’t risk those savages getting their hands on it.” The knights nodded, taking his shoulders and hoisting him up. It looked like he had just been drinking and had passed out, the same as so many nights together, flirting with girls at bars…Adrian closed his eyes again.
“I’ll carry him.” The knights looked to face him, but after a moment, nodded and handed him the body. Adrian took it in his arms with a bridal carry, and began following the other two. He looked around, seeing the rest of his squad walking through the trees, guns at the ready for another potential ambush.
“I’m sorry,” Adrian whispered to the body. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”
Live a good life, that was what James had said, what his final words were, and they swirled through Adrian's head as his legs grew numb over the few miles back towards the settlement. Adrian saw as the sun began to rise, illuminating the small cluster of huts and market buildings that constituted the town. In that moment, Adrian wasn’t sure how he could fulfill that wish. Despite the sunrise, all he could see was the darkness.

Whispers

We knew this would happen eventually. We couldn't keep the world out forever. Eventually, someone would ignore the signs.

Well it's kind of hard to believe the signs when you've had traders visit from the supposedly highly irradiated zone, now isn't it?

Yes, it certainly did not help that the New Hollanders got inquisitive, and greedy, went too far, poked the Lion.

Again, ladies and gentlemen, nothing we didn't forsee happening eventually. The wasteland is maturing. It would've intruded on us sooner or later. We're lucky it didn't happen sooner - there was a very real danger that the Brotherhood of Steel could have wrecked all our plans when they showed up in Chicago. Thankfully their efforts were directed back towards the plains and not eastwards.

Even then, the amount of effort we had to spend cleaning up after them once they finally destroyed themselves... oy vey.

Let's not get off-track, my colleagues. There is a bit of a quandry before us. The factions surrounding the Wilderness are, by all reports, much more advanced than Ivani society has managed to get to date, and they grow stronger with every passing season. We expect that Ronto's little demonstration of power will spur a new technological revolution in Ivania - but will it be fast enough to get up to the level of its neighbors in time to keep it from being overrun?

You're not seriously suggesting we try and help them? Just GIVE them technology?

That is precisely what I'm suggesting. Not overtly, of course, but a document here, a researcher there, just to help... speed them along.

I doubt, my good fellow, that that will be necessary. I have a feeling that Ivania will find all the help it needs... without us...