[IC] Fallout New Vegas: Points of Divergence [Reboot]

[Letter Bee]

Novac

Two NCR Soldiers, part of Commander Boone's command, would briefly search and question Jessica, before letting her inside the town, which seemed to be free from the unnatural storm. It was how she would remember it, with a giant dinosaur statue close to the front and a motel building nearby, the lower levels which had been comandeered by Commander Boone as the local HQ of the NCR forces there. She would then hear rumors of unusual weather phenomena, storms and cyclones and heavy rains, all across the region, as the NCR soldiers babbled about what they heard on the radio...

Nipton

Nipton was leveled, although most of the opopulation survived in cellars and storm shelters. This left Tatsuya and Obadiah with a complication; should they pursue the Legion convoy carrying the Nipton prisoners?

Paradise 'Par' Rapids

The plan was going well; Par had promised to pay good caps and purified water, after all...

@Grec@NecroKnight@Double

[NecroKnight]

@Letter Bee

Jessica whistled innocently as she got into some shelter in Nova. Looking around the place and commandeering most of the sight to memory. No doubt the Legion would require any additional information that she could get.

She entered the Dinosaur Gift Shop, eager what they sold here and also get the local news about how they felt about the NCR here, taking their motel and land for their own use.

"Hello? This place open?" asked Jessica, knocking on the door and she opened it.

[dereken]

Obadiah waved off Tatsuya as he stopped to check on her well being. She was fine, for now. The storm had already reached Nipton, unnaturally fast, and from what she could hear, Obadiah knew the town was already destroyed. And then, just as quickly as the storm materialized and tore through, it stopped. "No average storm. The Fires have flared in vengeance." She nodded, satisfied with the explanation. She stepped up from her position sitting on the floor, to approach the stairs leading up and out of the cellar. She pushed open the door, and stepped out into the remains of Nipton.

Obadiah's guess was right; there was hardly anything left of Nipton. There was naught but piles of shattered rubble, and the foundations of buildings to mark where a small town once stood. "The storm is over." Obadiah called down to her comrade. "Come, there is yet more Legion to hunt." She stepped out onto the street, watching as a few of the braver townsfolk stepped out from their shelters. "Let this be lesson. The world hates those who submit so willingly." Obadiah thought with satisfaction over Nipton's grim fate. With no true town left, those that lived there would surely scatter to the wind, and any who tried to rebuild would simply prolong the place's death, and speed their own.

[Letter Bee]

Novac

In the gift shop, Jessica would overhear an old but fit woman with her grey hair tied with a bun - Jeannie May Crawford - talking with an African-American man - Cliff Briscoe - about the topic that she wanted to know about, the NCR presence in Novac.

"Come on now, Jeannie May, the NCR bring good business! It's not as if they haven't bought my souviners!" the shop owner was saying. "Besides, it's not as if they're not paying the right dues to your motel..."

"That Commander Boone is a decent person, yes," Jeannie was saying, "but his wife and her brat have tested me to the end of my patience." Well, this was a surprise; Novac's de-facto mayor had a reputation for being calm, perhaps even passive-aggressive. "They should go back to New Vegas where they belong."

"Oh, come on now," Cliff said, "you're exaggerating."

"Maybe I am..." Jeannie seemed to recover some of her composure, and began walking to the entrance, where Jessica was well-placed to hear the conversation...

Nipton

The decision had been made to pursue, then. Now was the time for them to track the Legion convoy, which was running into its own problems, although they didn't know that...

Paradise 'Par' Rapids

For now, all Par can do was wait, and hope that he had not strained the tolerance of one James Farkas or his sister in using Freeside and his ties with The Kings as part of his gambit to drive the corrupt elements of the Crimson Caravan out...

@Grec@NecroKnight@Noodles@JackHasAShotgun

[NecroKnight]

@Letter Bee

Jessica smiled in reply as she followed after the owner of the motel complex. As Jessica introduced herself as a simple caravan guard. Her caravan heading for New Vegas and having overheard that somebody needed a lift somewhere. It was a lie, a way for the old lady to spill the secrets of Novac.

Soon enough, after having talked for about an hour and gotten herself a room. Virgo pulled out a radio from inside of her coat, soon winding it up and speaking into it. An expensive luxury, yet worth every cap. "Hello, hello. This is Virgo. Looking for some party girls at Novac - found his very cute guy. How much will it cost me?" she spoke.

Namely it was all code, incase the NCR had a Legion radio on hand. Namely 'party girls' was code for a Legion distraction/attack and by cost she asked for time until they arrived. By cute guy it was also code for a High-value target.

[JackHasAShotgun]

James Farkas - Freeside

James stood leaned against a wall just outside the Old Mormon Fort, his thumbs hooked inside his jean pockets. He stared out at the neighborhood he had called home for most of the past year, examining it. It was still a shithole no doubt about it but a year ago it had been worse still. The first time he walked through the streets of Freeside he’d seen a couple of kids no older than ten years old chasing the biggest damn rat he’d ever seen in his life down the road trying to catch the damn thing so they could eat it. Yeah, his sister had done a fine job here. Apparently they still had a long ways to go though.

To that end Julie had sent him on a bit of an errand, him being a silver tongued devil and all she thought he might be able to convince a couple of skilled men who had taken too much of a liking to the areas liquor and chems to return to the fort, get clean and hopefully start helping out again in their respective fields of work. Their knowledge on engineering and chemistry had been invaluable apparently. Though James couldn’t help but find it a little humorous that the man who had brewed the detox chems that had gotten half of Freeside clean was now an addict himself. Life's little ironies. Done sight seeing he set off on his way, his first stop would be the Atomic Wrangler.

It didn’t take him long to get there, the casino was only a few blocks over from the fort. Walking in he saw the usually sights. Gamblers doing their thing at the tables and at the slot machines. Men and women enjoying a drink at the bar and hookers chatting to men at their tables looking to ply their trade. Ignoring all the vices on display James walked directly to the bar, catching the eye of one Francine Garret.

“Hello there James, the usual?” She smiled, reaching under the bar for what James knew would be bourbon.

“Not today darling, today I’m looking for information. A couple of men who were previously valuable members of our ever improving community fell a little too deep in love with drink and chems. Bill Ronte, the engineer and one Jacob Hoff, a chemist. You seen them in here? Know where they might be?” James spoke in a friendly tone, taking off his stetson hat.

“I haven’t, your sister kindly asked us not to sell to them so we haven’t been. Don’t much like losing the money but you Followers have earned some respect around here… One minute though.” She turned and addressed a man sat at the other end of the bar. “Hey Johnny, you seen Bill Ronte or Jacob Hoff around? Friend from the Followers here is looking for them.”

“They both move around but I’ve seen Jacob both sleeping and drinking in that mess of a house up the road a little, the one opposite the Van Graffs shop. He might be there. Bill stays where me and most of the other vagrants around here stay, the building opposite Mick and Ralphs.”

“Thanks Johnny, your next round is on our friend here, right?” Francine smiled, looking back at James.

“That’s right.” James smirked, taking out and sliding several caps across the bar. “Thanks for the help Francine, I appreciate it. I’ll see you later tonight for that bourbon.”

With that James put his hat back on and headed out the door.

[dereken]

With the storm over, and yet more of the survivors arising from their bunkers, Obadiah was sure of two things. She needed to be on the move quickly, and she needed to know where the Legion tribe were. The garrison was far too small to defend a town, which meant the rest were either on the move, or dead, and Obadiah did not trust her luck for the latter to be true.

Obadiah decided to work on the second problem first. Maybe one of the locals knew something? She selected one at random, a slight, brown-haired man, in a blue jacket, and with a pair of glasses. Approaching the man, who was too busy shouting about his good fortune to have survived such destruction to notice her approach, she grabbed him first by the shoulder, then by the throat. "You. Where did the Legion tribe go?"

The man gasped, choking and struggling to escape. "Gack! Ack! I don't kno--"

"Liar!" Obadiah cut him off, shaking him like a newborn. "You tell me where Legion went or I choke you to death!" She tightened her grip on the man's throat, further strangling his speech.

"Don't--know--can't--breath!" He struggled all the more as she began to lift him off the ground, giving a final, violent shake before dropping him. He collapsed in a heap, coughing and gasping. She swept her gaze about, looking for her next victim. A few of them, apparently in the know, quickly scrambled to point out the way the Legion went, east out of the town, and down the road.

Obadiah smiled, she had a heading now. A force of that size should be easy to track out in the Mojave. The storm seemed localized, and wouldn't have blown away evidence of a Legion force very far out of town. Obadiah started down the road, sure of her ability to hunt down her foes, and even more sure she could stalk and kill however many were out there.

[Noodles]

Cecillia

"Damnnit... what the hell's with this weather...?"

Cecilia in midst of the unnatural storm, had retreated to the higher ground of the Cottonwood Cove. She was pretty sure that the climate & geography here wouldn't have produced a flash flood like this. Something that sounds impossible have happened here, and from that, she had a bad feeling about the situation. With a wide view of this settlement, she caught sight of flashes of lights around the edges of the Cottonwood Cove, then a number of steel clad men from faraway. An invasion during a weather like this is something more than a coincidence, worst come to worse, it would be a well-organized siege.

"Is the food supplies still safe?" Cecilia asked her fellow nearby legionary.

[JackHasAShotgun]

James Farkas - Freeside

It didn’t take long for James to find the run down old house the drunk had mentioned. It truly did live up to its description. The windows were gone, there was little to no furniture inside and part of the roof had caved in leaving the place almost completely open to the elements. Its appearance wasn’t even the worst thing about it though, the smell was. A strong and assaulting odor of piss and sweat that could make a fiend gag. James covered his nose with the sleeve of his coat as he entered, now grateful for it’s lack of windows. He couldn’t think of much worse than walking through such a hell hole blind.

Thankfully he found Jacob quickly, he was curled up in a corner at the top of the stairs. Even in the dim light James could tell the man's skin was red and blotchy and he was sweating. Despite that he was also shaking slightly as if he were somehow cold.

“Jacob… Jacob!” James yelled.

“Wh.. Wha.. What!?” The addict yelled back, snapping out of his suffering for a moment.

“Get your ass up. Julie sent me for you.”

“Julie… She’s a good woman.”

“Yeah, better than we deserve. You especially. Now come, get your tired old ass up and come back to the fort with me. We still need you old timer, addiction is obviously still a problem here.”

“I can’t get up James. My bones hurt more with every convulsion and what muscles I got left feel like they’re on fire… Please, I just need a hit. Bring me a hit. Dixon's got what I need.”

“Dixon huh? I’ve seen that asshole around. Where can I find him now?”

“Outside of Mick and Ralph's. He sells low quality but highly addictive chems to the vagrants that stay opposite there. Worse than an amateur chemist… Had to buy from him though, the Garrett's wouldn’t sell to me.”

“Yeah, I know all about that. All right, I’m gonna go have a talk with him. I’ll be back for you Jacob. You’re not going to erode your knowledge one hit at a time.”

James turned away and went back down the stairs, out the door and went quickly on down the street, his fingers drumming on the grip of his pistol.

[Grec]

Tatsuya watched as his partner harassed the townsfolk, he didn't quite agree with it and he questioned if he wanted to even be on this mission anymore. Obadiah walked off as Tatsuya watched on. Tatsuya walked up to a woman trapped under some debris and helped her out of it. She thanked him as Tatsuya reluctantly decided to follow Obadiah and finish the mission.

[Letter Bee]

Novac

Approval for a Legion attack would come.

Nipton

Obediah and Tatsuya would find the Legion's officers arguing over whether to bring the NCR guys with them or just summarily execute them then and there.

Paradise 'Par' Rapids

Par's thief would return...with the evidence implicating the Crimson Caravan and Van Graffs in illegal activities.

@Grec@NecroKnight@Noodles@JackHasAShotgun

[NecroKnight]

@Letter Bee

Jessica calmly waited in her room, until nightfall. Knowing it would come down at that moment, as she took the time to steal a Ranger helmet from one of the motel' rooms. She hadn't expected to find a crippled Ranger, but one took what they received.

Once the attack was underway, Jessica pulled on the helmet and as soon as Commander Boone exited his room, waiting a few minutes outside it - she then entered it. "Ma'am. I have been sent by your husband. To evacuate to the safety of to Camp Forlorn Hope. Come now, there isn't much time," she said, keeping her voice very professional and urgent. Not giving her time to argue.

Once they were ready, she left Boone a present on his bed, before they headed out. Using a back road, that was free of Legionnaires and also NCR scouts. Once they were far away, Virgo struck.

As she struck Carla near the neck and also her son - paralyzing them for a few minutes. "Sorry. Nothing personal, just your husband is the enemy of my contractor," she spoke, pulling out two syringes with red liquids in them. Which she soon injected into them. "Try not to run, and this serum in your veins will not harm you."

After that was done, Jessica soon tied them both up. Then pulled out her radio, eagerly waiting for the call from Boone. Namely she had left a second radio on the bed of the Commander' bed. And eagerly awaiting the call.