‘So, that’s a bighorn’ I think as I look at the herd of giant woolly goats.
After eating a surprisingly delicious meal considering it was comprised of what was basically mutated lizard meat, some corn and other veg, Doc gave me an overview of the town and the surroundings.
Goodsprings is a small settlement of about 80 people divided into 14 households on the eastern edge of the Red rock mountain range. He didn’t know much about the town before the war but it was apparently a mining town for the now depleted or abandoned mines to the West.
The town was resettled about 10 years ago when the NCR, which is apparently one of the largest governments to emerge after the war, started to push out from California. The town has access to freshwater springs that flows from the mountains, but a low amount of farmland and valuable materials. This led to several families choosing to migrate here and make a living from bighorn herding. The lack of value to large groups meant they are rarely troubled from both within and without.
Trade is mostly limited to themselves, but they regularly make trips down the I15 to the town of Primm, which is a prime trading town, for tools, clothing and ammunition in exchange for meat, milk and wool. They don’t get much trouble other than a few wild animals and the occasional small group that blocks the path to the I15, but the residents can usually take care of them on their own.
Or at least they could until recent years. About 5 years ago the NCR made a major push into the Mojave, the main reason being to capture Hoover Dam. Somehow that piece of engineering marvel has survived hundreds of years and a nuclear apocalypse and is still functional. The dam holds millions of gallons of clean water and is capable of generating power for several post war cities.
It was the crowning jewel that could catapult any civilisation out of the dark ages and form the basis for large scale industry. Added to that was the fact most of the Mojave was suspiciously lacking in irradiated soil and the relatively intact structures in what is now called New Vegas makes it the ideal place for expansion. The problem was the NCR weren’t the only ones to see that.
A warlord called Caesar led an army of former bandit tribes called the Legion from Arizona to the dam at about the same time as the NCR. This led to a war that due to, according to Doc, some external factors and risky tactics resulted in NCR victory. The Legion wasn’t destroyed though, more like licking its wounds, and now the Mojave is divided in 2 with the Colorado river acting as the border between the 2 factions.
For the past 4 years the NCR has been moving more troops and supplies to the Mojave to fight the legion. Unfortunately they brought their problems with them. According to Doc the NCR is most of the time a good government. Democratic, human rights and puts actual efforts towards regaining what we lost before the war, but their biggest problem is trying to control everything and everyone. Before the NCR arrived there were people already living in the Mojave, but with the arrival of the NCR came their control.
The NCR promises to bring law, basic essentials and protection to the settlements and the land between them in exchange for following their rules and paying taxes. The problem is they are a lot better at enforcing that second part than the first. The troops that were sent West were enough to destroy or displace a lot of the unfavourable elements, but lacked the ability to hold territory they had then taken.
Many of the gangs, tribes and neutral factions moved to the areas the NCR couldn’t reach and instead of general nuisances they made it their mission to hurt the NCR in whatever way they could. And that isn’t even including the problems they seemingly shipped from California as if they thought ‘we don’t have enough problems, let’s add more’.
To build their roads and mines the NCR used criminals and assigned them to forced labour. Then because they weren’t going fast enough some bureaucrat thought it was a good idea to give violent, resentful criminals dynamite. Long story short hundreds of violent offenders broke free and now occupy what is essentially a fortress on the busiest trade route in the Mojave, forming the Powder Gangers.
Recently they have been causing trouble for Goodsprings specifically but Doc said the details would be gone over at a town meeting tomorrow evening if I wanted to attend. He also offered me free room and board for a few days if I did some chores for him. That means while I am safe for the moment a long term goal would probably be helpful.
Without any idea how I got into this situation and with it looking less and less like I am just going to wake-up, I should prioritize finding somewhere safe to gather information on how to return home. If that proves impossible then trying to carve a comfortable life for myself should be the least I aim for. To do either of those I need to assess my current situation and what I have to work with.
“Cons, I am currently in a post apocalypse world with divergent technology, geography and history. Civilisation as a whole is primitive and the number of habitable territory is limited. The few resources are hotly contested by surviving factions with little in the way of law or rules of engagement.” I say with a sigh, looking out at the simple town surrounded by dry and barren landscape.
I have nearly nothing in the way of survival or combat skills, I was a shop worker in a supermarket before though I did some combat sport before, and don’t know the local laws or much in the way of common sense. And my only belongings are the clothes I am currently wearing, though thankfully I have the boots I was wearing that day rather than flimsy trainers. Not only are they less likely to stand out but they wouldn’t last very long in the desert.
“Pros,I have the VATS and the Perks.” My depression somewhat vanishes with the thought of my supposedly mystical skills.
I tested the VATS again and made some more discoveries. I first confirmed that time stops when I do it as the bighorns and everything else in my field of view froze when I did it. It also doesn’t seem to have a time limit since I counted up till 300 and there was no indication it was going to end, which is a pretty huge cheat all on its own. The ability to take all the time I need to make a decision and 360 degrees of view can be applied to a wide range of interactions and situations.
Still I tested the combat aspect of it and found several differences to the Fallout 3 version. That circle remained black and I was unable to do anything with it until I looked at a wall that was directly in front of me and the circle turned green. Deciding to try and attack it 3 of the 10 bars at the corner of my vision disappeared. I guessed that was my action points, choosing not to attack would cause the points to return and I could choose to attack several times.
I wanted to see what would happen and how fast the points return, if they do, so I selected the wall once. In an instant I assumed a boxing stance, left foot forward and arms in a guard, before launching a straight left at the wall. There was no big impact or significant damage to the wooden structure, but it felt clean and my fist was suddenly back in a guard.
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“Shit that feels weird.” I stayed like that for a second trying to process the complete lack of control I had. It was as if my body was overtaken and executed the best way to punch that my body knew. I did a few kickboxing lessons with a mate when I was younger but gave up quickly so I am no expert but it seemed like the straight was better than I could do on my own.
If the VATS could have my body automatically fight like an expert that would take care of my combat requirements. Unfortunately after checking the AP bar it still hadn’t recharged even a single bar. It took a full minute to refill the bar which means it takes 10 minutes to fully refill the bar, and considering I only get about 3 straight moves before VATS finishes it isn’t enough to turn me into a fighting machine.
Though that just means I need to make the most of the moves I have in the form of weapons. The one I want to test the most would definitely be firearms but I don’t have one of my own.
“Excuse me good sir, could I have your pistol and some of your limited ammunition so I can shoot some random stuff?”
“Of course strange person who I have just met, feel free to take my loaded weapon, despite giving me no reason to I trust you not to shoot me in the face.” Is what would only happen in my head.
So taking a large rock I activated VATS and discovered something new. Straight away I was given the option of throw or strike, letting me assume that the VATS can tell when I am carrying a weapon and what type. Choosing to throw it the circle that determines targeting changed.
First the range at which the circle remained green was much further, though still limited to about how far I could throw the stone. The second was that the circle had a percentage inside it. As I looked around the percentage changed depending on how far the target was, if it got to 0% then the circle turned black and I couldn’t target it.
When I activated the VATS it did the same thing with the punch and took control of my body and acted on autopilot to throw the stone. My body immediately formed a throwing stance and launched the stone at a post striking it, luckily since the percentage was only 64%. After the stone left my hand my body quickly returned to a starting position. With the larger motion I realised that this action was performed quicker than I would normally be able to perform the action all done in a fraction of a second. I suppose this could allow me to get the drop on someone if I needed it to.
I also tested what would happen if I had the stone in my pocket and it only gave me the option to punch. This means VATS only works with whatever I have in my hands at the time of activating VATS, so I can’t do a quick draw or swap my weapon which is disappointing.
That concluded what I know about VATS and is a big enough advantage all on its own, but the Perks have the possibility to exceed it. The issue is that the perks can’t be changed once they are chosen and I can’t use any of them until I choose all. This means that if there is a situation down the line that one in particular is needed I won’t be able to change my choices.
I also can’t leave it until the situation calls for them, as the perks immediately send me to sleep for 8 hours, which if in a dangerous situation is impossible. Using it tonight before I go to sleep is probably the safest as I am in Docs home in a sleepy town with no obvious or impending dangers. Which only leaves deciding which ones to choose?
I already decided on 2 perks and that would be Solar Powered and Rad Absorption. The first I mentioned earlier and the main reason I chose that were for the healing ability. Though the strength boost is helpful the fact it only works at certain times means it is situational at best. The healing factor will restore me to full health after 100 minutes provided I am not dead or loosing health faster than I can heal.
Rad absorption is self-explanatory; it reduces my radiation by 1 every minute, which considering I am in a world contaminated by nuclear fallout radiation is just about everywhere. Though a lot of areas have reduced and become relatively clean according to Doc, other than bullets cancer is still the leading cause of death in the waste.
That leaves me with 3 perk points left and a number of options that could mean life or death in the waste.
* Paralyzing palm – when you use a VATS strike on an organic target with your bare fists, the target will be paralyzed for 30 secs
* Animal friend – animals have a natural fondness for you, will not attack unless in defence. Can form a bond with 1 animal of your choosing that can be changed at will. Affects, bighorn, dogs, coyotes, gecko, molerat and night stalker families
* Adamantium skeleton – bone strength is doubled without increasing weight
* Toughness – skin reinforced to level of light leather
* Concentrated Fire – consecutive attacks in VATS increase accuracy by 5% each time
* Gunslinger - +25% accuracy in VATS with 1 handed weaponry
* Rapid reload – reload 50% faster
* Commando - +25% accuracy with VATS
* Grim Reaper Sprint – every kill with VATS restores 20% AP
* Hit the deck – Explosive have a 50% chance of being Duds when in you are within range
* Piercing palm – unarmed attacks transfer past armour to the skin
* Quick Draw – can draw any weapon on your person in an instant
* Miss Fortune – 10% chance in VATS to receive help from Miss Fortune
* Mysterious Stranger - 10% chance in VATS to receive help from Mysterious Stranger
14 options and only 3 to choose, though if I had to choose 1 it would have to be Animal Friend. In a world where humans are no longer the apex predator reducing the number of things that want to eat me is already a great bonus. But the bond that is mentioned is particularly interesting, as it could mean they will understand and follow my orders. Considering I don’t have any friends, family or allies here having someone or something to watch my back would be a necessity.
The others could be divided into those that work inside VATS and those outside of it. Of those that exist outside the 2 that increase durability, Toughness and Adamantium Skeleton, are the most attractive. The rest of the choices were situational, limited to certain combat styles, or based on chance.
The VATS skills are all pretty impressive, whether it increases my accuracy or the number of AP I have access to, but if I am perfectly honest I hope to use them as little as possible. VATS is in the end a skill that is used to harm and kill others. I have never gotten in more than a scuffle with people before let alone tried to seriously hurt them.
While I know I will eventually to defend myself, VATS on its own already provides significant protection. I would much rather choose something that lets me survive the general wasteland and try to reach a large settlement where some vague sense of civilisation exists.
I was extremely tempted to get the Mysterious Stranger as it was one of my favourites in Fallout 3, but in the end the chance was too low. I immediately ruled out the options that would only work some of the time as though they could be incredible and save my life in certain situations I couldn’t count on or plan for them.
Though there was one that I felt could be enough of a game changer that I had to get. The Paralyzing Palm allows me to stun any living thing with a single punch. Everything from a deathclaw to a super mutant would be at my mercy for a full 30 seconds, during which I could put a bullet in them or even capture them. In any situation where I am able or required to use my bare fists I can launch a strike as fast as a cobra and take them out.
But if I go with Animal Friend, which I am almost certainly going to, that only leaves 2 left and If I want the 2 body enhancing perks then I can’t choose the Palm skill. With toughened skin and bones, plus the strength boost from Solar Powered, I would be as durable as a super mutant.
In the end however a super mutant is still a prey for many of the predators of the waste. And the ability to bring even a super Behemoth low with a single punch is too good to pass up. This just leaves deciding which of the abilities to choose for the last one.
Adamantium Skeleton means the chance of broken bones is much lower, and considering I can’t call an ambulance is a reasonable requirement. But Toughness gives me skin that is as tough as leather, and considering most of the work I am going to do in the future will be physical then avoiding cuts that can be infected is also important.
In the end I decided to go with Toughness as Doc told me to wary of the poisonous insects and snakes around, which is why most people in Goodsprings wear leather trousers and gloves. If my skin was already tough then at least for these smaller critters I should be safe. And while broken bones can be reset and repaired, poisons that evolved in this absurd wildlife will likely kill me long before I can get help.
So there I was, in my loaned bed, praying that when I wake in the morning I wouldn’t regret my choices.