AN: Doulbe Chapters again but this time for Purple Friday!
-------------
POV Rio
As we got on the helicopter to start the return trip to Sanctuary, Pequod called me to the cockpit.
"What is it?" I ask.
"General Garvey is trying to reach you," Pequod says.
"Put me through," I say while putting on the headset.
"What's up, Preston?" I ask.
"We have an odd situation, General," Preston responds.
"How so?" I ask.
"Delta Squad brought someone back from a mission they did to investigate a group of organized robots. They brought back the person who made the army, and well, from what they said, it sounds like she had an army of around 10k robots waiting to be awakened," Preston responds.
"That many!? What is their name?" I ask.
"They originally called themselves the Mechanist, but Delta Squad managed to talk her into revealing her real name. It's Isabel Cruz. She seems to be a good person, just a little awkward. She wants to join the Minutemen," Preston says.
"Okay, I don't see a reason she can't join, just keep an eye on her," I replied, a bit confused as to why he was talking about this.
"That wasn't the main reason I contacted you. It was what Delta Squad found. The facility was full of robots and robot parts. And... Human Brains. Hundreds of them. They were making Robobrains. And beyond that, the facility was sending out an encrypted signal West. Urtica managed to decrypt it and says that it is a message meant for Robert House. They even found that it recently pinged off a nearby unit. Urtica thinks that either a Securitron is nearby or Mr. House has a base nearby. Or possibly both," Preston responds.
"Hmm, what kind of things were broadcast?" I ask.
"Mostly facility status and what the facility was doing. It was also a request for reinforcements after a facility breach," Preston responds.
"Clear out everything from the facility. Destroy the brains and leave nothing behind. If Robert House wants to come, send agents, then let them find an empty facility. Let our Robotics department use them to create the droids I gave them the designs for. Send an agent to find the location where Urtica detected the signal being sent. Lastly, let Isabel join our robotics team and keep her under watch for the time being. If we are contacted by Mr. House or his agents, let me know right away and treat them with respect. Don't cause a fight if we can avoid it. But if they become violent, then attempt to capture them," I order.
"Got it! What about the research?" Preston asks.
"Store it for now. I will review it later," I respond.
We end the conversation and head towards Sanctuary. When we get back, we go our separate ways, and I go to clean myself up. We had just gone through a lot, and it was time we finally got to rest. I also had a lot of stuff to get through.
'I am surprised that we didn't have to fight the Mechanist.'
I gave it some thought and figured it made some sense.
'If I remember right, Isabel only sent her robots out to protect the people, but wth the Mintuemen, there was little or no need for that. We wiped out most of the Raiders and other problems in the area.'
I was quite satisfied to see another sign that we were doing the right thing. But back to what I had to do. The first was that I needed to sort through the loot we got from the Brotherhood. The majority of it was food, water, ammo, guns, and armor. Most of it being ordinary wasn't an issue when it was in such quantities. We got almost 100 Suits of Power Armor, many in great condition.
As for more unique items, we got a full set of Heavy Combat Armor called the Commando Armor. The armor was pretty good. Nothing crazy, but it would be a fine addition to my collection. The next was a Missile Launcher called Death From Above that made the user move much faster while aiming with it. It was fine, but unlikely for me to use it. The most unique and interesting item we got was the Sentinel's Plasmacaster, which, unlike the original game, was an actual Winchester P94 Plasma Caster with the additional effect of double damage when hitting a target with full health. Admittedly, it was the most interesting because I didn't have such a weapon yet.
I also got the full suit of Elder's Power Armor. I kept it as a trophy even though it was actually a really good set of armor. I also got his signature weapon, Final Judgment. The Gatling Laser fired 25% faster and reloaded 15% faster. The other noteworthy loot was his battlecoat, but otherwise it was all pretty standard. After that loot there wasn't much else of note. Which meant it was time to use the ritual to grab my reward from Hell. The ritual was easy to do.
WHOOOOSH
In a flash of crimson light, a small orb appeared. It was around the size of a Basketball. The orb was dark with a strange pattern inside the orb. It had swirling red and black liquid or mist-like material flowing inside. The orb definitely felt very odd. It also looked familiar, but I wasn't sure where I had seen it before.
[Image Here]
I put it in my inventory and got my answer, and I wasn't sure if it was a good reward or a bad one. It was a Sigil Stone from the Elder Scrolls Universe.
'How the heck did you find yourself in Hell?'
I had a pretty good idea how to use the stone, but it was only theoretical, and I would have time to study it later. I also look over some reports. The one most noteworthy was a report from some caravans that still trade with Nuka World. According to them, the Raiders of Nuka World have recently sold off most of their slaves. They can't be sure to whom, but most think it's likely the Gunners. Besides that, the Disciples have been wiped out by the combined forces of the Pack and Operators. Which meant it might be a good idea to attack Nuka World soon.
'I will need to ask Preston to start drawing up some plans.'
POV Giovanni the Gang Leader
"Why the hell did you call us all here?" Sinjin asked.
"I called everyone here to discuss an opportunity I was recently offered," I respond calmly.
"Oh, and what is that?" Jessie asks.
"I was offered a position by the Raider King of Kowloon," I reply.
"Kowloon? You mean that city ran by Raiders?" Tetanus Tom asks.
"The same one. He offered me a position of Lt in his gang. It seems the massive Feral Horde is moving south, and he intends to follow it so we can loot whatever is left behind. And if there are survivors they we get to use them as we see fit," I respond.
"And why would we accept such an offer? Nothing down South but the Brotherhood. And I don't want to fight them," Jessie says.
"Let's face it, the Commonwealth is a dead end. The Minutemen expand every day, and no one can stop them. Raiding is becoming more and more impossible. They already control most of the Boston area. There aren't any other players to keep them in check. So we have 4 options. Stay here and die. Go North and hope we find somewhere to eke out a living. Go West to Nuka World and hope they don't sell you to the Gunners or enslave you. Or we go South and join with Kowloon. They intend to move all the way to the Capital Wasteland. That will give us enough distance to stay out of the Minutemen's crosshairs," I explain.
"And what about the Brotherhood?" Jessie asks.
"From my understanding, the Ferals number in the hundreds of thousands. The Brotherhood just lost its leader and a large number of its fighting troops. Combined with the horde, and they will crumble. And even if they somehow survive, we will have the numbers to finish them off. Kowloon has over 2000 Raiders to its name. There's strength in numbers. Or at least it's better than staying here," I explain.
"Please, the Minutemen aren't that big of a deal. They were strong a few years back as well. All you have to do is stay out of their way and avoid attacking their settlements. They respond to attacks, not start them. I lived through the last several iterations; I'll stay. If you want to run away, then by all means go ahead. Just don't get upset when I take over your abandoned territory," Sinjin says while walking away.
"Sorry, Giovanni, but I'm with Sinjin. The Commonwealth is where I have built up my gang. I even got an agreement with the Gunners. If the Minutemen want to fight, then I will fight, but otherwise I will be fine," Scutter says before getting up and leaving.
"Anyone else want to leave?" I ask.
When no one gets up, I explain the details of the deal.
"Sigh. Are you sure this is the best idea?" Jessie asks.
"It's better than sticking around here. Raiding just isn't as profitable anymore. Not here at least. The only other somewhat viable option would be trying to form a pirate gang or joining one. I heard that they are somewhat active up North. But I don't know enough to know the details or be sure it would work. I won't deny that taking the risk with Kowloon is risky, but look around. There are what, 7, maybe 8 large gangs left in the entire Commonwealth. The Minutemen won. We can't possibly beat them, so I will take a risk rather than wait for death," I explain.
"Fine. Let's do it. But I propose we all ally our gangs to have more say in Kowloon," Jessie offers.
"Deal," I reply.
"Deal," Tetanus Tom replies.
The other all agree as well.
----------------------
Author's Note:
So I didn't think it made much sense for the Automatron DLC events to happen anymore, as it wouldn't fit that well. I explained some of the reasons before, but in case anyone is curious, the reason Isabel found was that when she sent out her robots for testing, she couldn't find any suitable targets. This caused her to investigate further, which made her realize that the Minutemen were back and that most of the things that would make life in the Commonwealth hard were dealt with. So she altered her plans.
As for the Raiders, at this point, there are very few gangs left in the Commonwealth. Many got wiped out during the Siege of Sanctuary, and those that survived were absorbed by bigger gangs or wiped out by Delta Squad and MIMIC Agents. They aren't stupid for the most part and can see where things are heading. In my mind, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't stick around. This isn't DC or Marvel, where villains just never leave the one city with superheroes; if there is too high a risk and diminishing returns, then they will change or die. Until next time, Ciao.