Scouting Mission and Retrieval Log

Brotherhood Knight Reese, Knight Ballard, Scribe Gildan

TO: Elder McNamara

FROM: Scribe Gildan

SUBJECT: Scouting and recovery of crashed aerial device.

Scouting and Recovery

The scouting team consisting of Knights Reese, Knight Ballard, and myself left the bunker at 0800, heading east. The device was found two miles southeast of the perimeter fence of Hidden Valley. Knights Reese and Ballard were able to attach chains to their power armor and drag the device back to Hidden Valley Bunker.

Investigation

The device appears to be a spy drone based on the optical and short-range flight systems. The design does not match any pre-war or post-war schematics for the U.S. Military, Enclave, Chinese, or Robco. The materials that make up the drone also appear to be made of an unknown molecular element that bonds together without the need for traditional methods.

Proctor Statlen agrees with the assessment this device is equal to or beyond all known capabilities of the Enclave. It is also beyond what has been observed by the local faction identified as House. The drone bears no insignia or manufacturing markings that might hint at its origin.

It is our opinion that this device was created by an unknown power with highly advanced technological capabilities. The DERVISH camouflage system detected no weapon targeting systems from the drone, but we believe that if it did, the DERVISH system might be incapable of working for a prolonged assault by these drones.

Proctor Statlen

Scribe Gildan

________

“Someone is touching my shit!” Franklin said.

“What?” Cass asked.

Curious beeps.

“I had a bunch of drones flying near Black Mountain. I wanted to see what the situation was with the big satellite dishes, but they got shot down by big green-muscled men,” Franklin explained.

“Sounds like super mutants,” Cass said.

Confirmative beeps.

“Oh? What are those?” Franklin asked.

Cass looked at him like he asked who Santa was. “You’re not from ‘round here, are ya doctor?”

“Quiet so, my new traveling companion. ED-E here hails from Virginia, but you could say I come from a place that is farther than that.”

Inquisitive beeps.

“We can debate the semantics of trans-dimension barriers and their distance in miles later ED-E,” Franklin said. The little bot was a good conversationalist for debates on the sciences. It was nice to have a colleague again.

“You can understand him? Sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me,” Cass said.

“Oh yes. It might take some time, but he has a lot to say. Now, about these mutants.” Franklin said.

Concurring beeps.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Oh yeah. They sound like super mutants. Remnants of the Master's Army from a hundred years ago,” Cass explained.

“A hundred years ago? And his army is still around? Impressive,” Franklin said. They must have been a powerful organization to survive a hundred years in this world.

“Comes with the mutations. Super Mutants don’t age. Same with Ghouls,” Cass said.

“Ghouls?” Franklin asked.

Cass made the same look at him again. “Doctor, you one of them vault dwellers?”

“Nope. My ex-wife said I was too much of a shut-in and would spend days in my lair,” Franklin complained. He hadn’t thought about his wife for a long time. She left him after finding out about his other career.

“Lot to unpack there, doc. But that is your business, so I won’t pry,” Cash said. It was nice of her to respect his privacy.

“I can tell you later if you want. Now, as for my lack of information, you can say I don’t know much about the world from after the bombs dropped.”

“Nothin? You don’t travel like you’re as blue as a vault dweller, that's for sure. Alright, how do I talk about Ghouls? They are humans who spent a little too much time squatting around radiation. Causes their skin to rot off and leave them uglier than a bloatflys asshole. Also stops them from aging, and they can feed off radiation. Do that too much, and they become feral, though.”

“Oh, I have seen one of those. The poor bastard charged me a couple of miles back a few days ago. Had to kill him.”

If Franklin had known, he would have tried harder to capture him and see what could be done about his condition.

“That sounds like a feral, alright. Now, back to the Super Mutants. They are just like Ghouls. They don’t suffer from radiation and don’t age. They are also sterile. Never met one that had a kid, well, one they created themselves.”

Cass went on to explain everything she knew of the Master’s war. He was some mysterious leader type that sought to conquer the wasteland and make Super Mutants the new master race. She also spoke of Ghouls, the only other mutant species she knew of that weren’t wild animals. She didn’t understand what created Super Mutants or how the Master planned on making more sense they were sterile.

Franklin theorized that maybe the mystery virus had a hand in their creation. To have such an effect on this many species was incredible. If it wasn’t for the possible ethical violations that might have been committed to create it, Franklin would have handed the scientists working on the virus a Nobel Prize himself.

“Now were where we? Oh yeah, someone stole my shit!” Franklin wasn’t that made at the theft. This was a world of scavengers, after all. He was just made he didn’t investigate who they were first. These weren’t just any wastelanders, after all. They had cool armor and a secret bunker. He wanted a secret bunker. Franklin’s got left behind in his old world.

“Know anything about a group of people that wear big metal armor and have a sword for a symbol,” Franklin asked Cass.

“Fuck, that sounds like the Brotherhood. Bunch of cowardly isolationists who horde guns, claiming it's all about protecting humanity. All they do is scavenge for prewar technology, saying they are gonna keep it out of the hands of people who would abuse it while never doing a damn thing for anyone with it. They might be better dressed than most groups, but they are the same raider shitheads you would find any were else. Just they say it's because of their religion instead of jet and psycho. They the ones that take your drone thing?”

So they weren’t vault dwellers like he had wondered earlier. They had a bunker in that hidden valley.

“Appears to be so. I don’t think they realize it was still on for a bit. Right now, it's in their underground bunker, so I can’t connect to it. Probably going to have to send a retrieve drone in after it,” Franklin said with glee.

Stealing from hoarders was always fun. They usually had the rarest stuff and probably kept it maintained or in mint condition. He might elevate the retrieval to a full-blown smash-and-grab just for the fun of it.

“You look like a mole rat that had gotten into the grain silo,” Cass said.

“I am planning a heist. Of course, I am happy,” Franklin smiled.

“Hate to see what you look like when you steal their shit,” Cass said.

“You might get the chance. We will see,” Franklin said.

Franklin drove for another half hour and soon arrived back in Nipton. The fires from the Legion raid had dwindled to embers. Coyotes and vultures pecked at the bodies of dead townspeople. To the south was a crashed satellite, and it was still emitting the radio signal. The drive-in was just sitting there, taunting him. Telling him adventure awaits, to come and take a look.

No! Must stay focused. There is no time for sidequests just yet.

The small town of Nipton came and went. Soon, they were dealing with raiders shooting them from the hills, wild animals taking offense to his van's noise, and potholes in the road. Fuck there was a lot of potholes. Dealing with the road took up most of their trip. Franklin told Cass the story of the last few days and the men he was hired to track down. By the time he was finished, the sun was setting and they arrived in the next town.

“Is that a dinosaur?” Franklin asked.

“No idea. Are dinosaurs a pre-war thing or a pre-pre-war thing?” Cass replied.

“Pre-pre-war. Where are we?” Franklin observed the green T-rex and saw the world's largest thermometer in its tiny claws. This reminded him of those old rest-stop towns between large cities. The kind that had to have some kind of large tourist attraction that would encourage people to stop and spend money in gift shops. Guess a large T-rex with a slightly smaller temperature-measuring device counted.

“We are in Novac. Not much here except for the few places people go to scrap,” Cass commented.

“Yeah, I imagine. I know of the REPCON facility in the mountains, and we shouldn’t be too far from the Helios solar farm.” Franklin said. He saw the rocket research facility when he was scouting a few days ago.

“Word is the NCR has taken the Helios place over. Probably not scrapping it for parts. What is a solar farm?” Cass asked.

“It's a place where you could harvest energy from sunlight. If the NCR is there, they might be trying to fix it. We can check it out,” Franklin said.

“I don’t mind too much as long as we make it north, but what about the men you have to find?”

“It will be fine. I might be a few days late, but they can’t walk faster than I can drive.”

Something Franklin realized pretty quickly was that he was probably the only person with a working car in a couple of hundred miles. This meant no one made spaces for people to park. It also meant no one knew how to steal one, so it was safe to park anywhere.

The van took a spot in front of an old gas station. The doctor found out pretty quickly why the town was called Novac. There was a motel attached to the dinosaur. It once had a sign, but everything on it was stripped away by the years of weather and disrepair. All that remained were five letters that had made up the no vacancy sign.

“Should we get a room, or do you want to sleep in the van?”

Cass just stared at the doctor.

“Right, my bad. Two rooms, then. I will see the front desk about that. Hopefully, they are still awake."