Let's Play: Fallout 3

[Krylo]

Spending the Holidays with the Family Pt. 1

"Get over here before they see you!" He waves his arm gesturing me over.

I decide that he isn't going to shoot me anymore and head over, though I keep my hand on my side arm.



"Who the hell did you think I was?" I ask, with maybe just a little more anger than was entirely necessary.

He sighs a bit, "Sorry about that, really I am, but it's just... this goddamn gang. The Family they call themselves. Been patrollin' around here and harassin' us. Normally it's just a bunch of stupid bullshit, bustin' shit up, makin' lots of noise, scarin' people, you know, nothin' big but," he gestures wildly toward the bottom of the bridge, "They gone killed our Brahmin! That's goin' too far! They're our lifeblood out here in these wastes yanno!"

Gangs? Apparently assholes like Butch exist everywhere. At least their name isn't as stupid. Tunnel Snakes. Jesus...

"So if they're just a gang, why don't you just take them out?" I mean, he's obviously got some decent weaponry considering the dust cloud he blasted up in front of me.

"Nah, there's somethin... not right about them. I don't know, they're stronger than us and they got bigger guns. Got the weapons and the muscles. Why the hell don't they just take us out? What the hell do they want!? It's got me goddamn creeped out!"

"Yeah... well... I was just passing through so..."

"Hey, if you don't mind... I ain't heard from the Wests in awhile. They live in the house all the way to the back there, and I can't leave my watch. Could you maybe check on them? Tell 'em Evan King sent ya." He seems genuinely worried, and I figure, it's just a quick little walk.

"...Yeah. Why not?"

"Thanks a lot, miss... we're in a bad way out here, and I can't risk those hooligans gettin' at the citizens."

I just wave and continue into the town.



...What a terrible place. And it's under attack... isn't there any place decent in these wastes?



Sun's setting. Maybe I can find someplace to sleep... the wasteland is bad enough during the day. I don't want to see what it's like at night.



Welp... this looks like the place.



...And this explains why King hadn't heard from them in awhile...



I can't tell what killed them, but I have trouble believing it was human. They're pretty messed up...

I turn the light on my Pipboy and take a closer look around...



The Family.

...But... wounds like these, it looks like they were attacked by a wild animal or something. This... isn't good. Best let Evan know.




I inform him that Mr. and Mrs. West are dead, AND that 'The Family' was written in their blood on the wall. I also mention that it looks like a wild animal tore them apart.

He goes pale. "Ah hell... they... attacked? But I've been watchin' this the whole time, and there ain't no bridge back there how'd they... Shit, you said Mr. and Mrs... you didn't see no kid there did you?"

"Um... no, just the two terribly mutilated corpses... why?" I ask, a bit confused by his sudden leap of logic.

"The boy! They had a son, and I seen him talkin' to the family down there... Ah hell, he was always such a nice boy too... he musta snuck them in somehow. God only knows what they're doin' with him now. Listen... I'm... I'm too old for this. Could you help me out... just find the boy and bring him back, and if you happen to kill some of those freaks along the way I ain't complainin'."

I look out over the wasteland for a few minutes thinking about all the things I've seen up until now. The terrible things that have made me so desensitized in two fucking days that I can look at what The Family did to the Wests without feeling even a little sick. Fuck it. I need someplace to sleep.

"Tell you what, you get me a bed and I'll bring you a couple of heads. Sound good?"

He looks a little surprised by that. "That's... that's it? Just like that?"

"Listen, I'm really tired. Don't test my giving nature, alright?"

He nods quickly and then thinks for a minute, "Well... ain't really no place to sleep 'round here... though I guess The Wests won't be needin' their place any time soon, and I doubt The Family's gonna try to kill 'em again..."

I just sigh heavily. "Yeah... great... thanks. Fuck it, I'm going to bed."

I don't listen to anything else he has to say as I turn back toward the murder scene.



Then again... there is one more house, and Evan said he's not leaving the barricade...




Nice place Mr. King...



I decide to relive him of a little ammo while I'm here. Sure, it's not the most... moral thing to do, what with The Family and all, but I figure as that I agreed to hunt them down for him, it's the least he can do to give me a few bullets.



...Even the bed is wonderful. Hope the old man doesn't walk in on me while I'm sleeping, god knows what the old crazy would do to a young thing like me... fuck it, I'm too tired to care, and I can be reasonably sure he's not gonna kill me at least.



I wake up and head out. It's just after dawn and the wastland is positively hideous. God I hate my life. Whatever. Best get after the Family... where the hell would they be?

Maybe Evan would know?



"Yeah, about that... any idea where I'd start lookin'?"

He thinks for a few minutes. "Well, it's pretty dark when they attack, but they usually seem ta come from the east someplace. There's a few places out there. The Outdoor Movie Theater... the old Baseball Field... and uh... the Mersetti Train Station, I guess. Don't really know where exactly. They're all somewhat to the east. Station's on the North Side of the river here, while the other two are down on the south."

Great. Well... the Theater and Field I've been to... so that gives me a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for, and more or less where it is. "That helps a lot..."



As I leave town I wonder why the hell I agreed to help them...



Welp, over the river and through the woods, to the crazy murderers I go...



What the fuck is that thing!?






I fire my minigun into it, bullets chipping away at it like a jackhammer, but it barely seems to notice.



More bullets! ALL THE BULLETS!




It finally dies. Jesus. What the fuck was it?



I toss out the old ammo box and reload my nearly empty minigun. Odd that they call it that. It's pretty fucking huge, after all.



I decide to check out the dock and find a medkit. Grab some stimpaks from it, and a few bandages. However, as I'm pocketing them I hear the dock boards creak behind me.



Goddamn, another one of them. My back's to the water, and they seem to be aquatic. Gonna have to stand my ground.







I'm panting as it finally falls to the ground. I'm running low on ammo in this thing. I'd best g--



Shit.



Double shit. How many of these things are there? No time to think now. I start backpeddling and shooting. It's difficult to do with the weight of the gun, and its considerable kick. Thank god I spent so much time learning how to handle a rifle--gatling gun ain't the same, but without some basic understanding I'd probably be on my back being torn apart by these things.

The bullets rip through their carapaces, but not fast enough, and the whine of the spinning barrels turns into an offensive clicking noise.



I turn to run while stripping myself from the harness as quickly as possible, letting it drop to the ground behind me, while I reach around to pull out that assault rifle from the police headquarters. . .





One goes down, but it clicks empty, too. I toss it back on my back in the sling, and draw my side arm.





I'm panting, and trembling as I stumble away. My breath is ragged and I just want to be away from there now.



After what feels like hours of wandering around I find something that seems pretty familiar. I must be just north of Big Town... but there's a train yard, and this does seem east.



Hey, another human, and he's not dressed like one of those psychos. Ain't seen that in the wastelands before. Convenient too...

"Hey!" I shout while waving one hand, the other on my pistol, ready to pull it and blow his ass away if he was like every other crazy I've seen so far.



He's not.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asks, leisurely. Apparently some people HAVE gotten used to this place.

"I'm alright," I respond half heartedly, "getting used to the wasteland..."

He looks me over an eye cocked, then smiles, in what I hope is recognition, "Ah yeah. Vault Dweller, eh? Didn't know there was any vaults left locked up, well, welcome to hell," he says taking a drag of his cigarette, "'course, even in hell we can always have a little fun, eh?"

I groan inwardly, resisting the urge to punch him, "Yeah... I've seen just a few too many unholy terrors the last two days to even think about anything like that... but um... is this the Mersetti Trainyard?"

He looks a little disappointed as he answers, "Yeah, this is it... why?"

"I'm hunting down a band of crazy killers."

He stops for a minute looking me over, and then laughs a bit. "Yeah, well, maybe it's best you turned me down. Radiation musta already gotten to your head. Well, good luck kid, you're gonna need it. I'm getting the hell outta here before those 'killers' of yours notice there's me."

With that he waves and walks away. Maybe he's right and I am crazy. Then again, I managed to blow apart quite a few super mutants, so maybe I'm not. Guess it doesn't really matter. Not like this hell hole of a world is any better than death.



I turn back toward the train station imagining myself being torn apart by murderers. Strangely, the thought doesn't bother me as much as I feel it should.

"Whatever..."

I head in.



Nice place. Great decor.



I decide I'd best proceed as quietly as possible.



Well, someone lives down here, judging by the fires...



And the traps.



A baby carriage?



Oh. Well. Guess I'd best get the hell away from that.

I feel the heat of the explosion on my back and turn around to check the devastation.



. . .And so my nightmares for the next month have been decided.

After all that, I decide I'd better keep my eyes peeled. Can't risk turning on the light, though. Lot of good avoiding traps is going to do me if I get killed in a hail of gunfire.




An automatic pitching machine? Really? Clearly set up to shoot down the choke point created by the trains.

Amateur hour.

I grab a sharp rock and jam it into the bottom wheel, making sure it's wedged in good and tight. That oughta break it.

Good thing, too, as a second later I feel a pull on my ankle and hear its motor fry out behind me, as it tries to lob something at my back.

Need to be more careful.




Well hello thar Mr. Tripwire. How are you this fine evening? Just wonderful you say? You certainly hope no one breaks you and causes some kind of awful trap to go off in their face? Well alright then Mr. Tripwire, I'll just step over you nice and carefully.



Well shit, the traps are getting a bit more dangerous now, aren't they? Good thing I noticed that wire or I'd be meat.




I can hear a radio... must be getting close.

[Krylo]

Spending the Holidays with the Family Pt. 2

SHIT! He must've h... wait, he's not shooting?

I need to get in there... see if the kid's there... find out about the murder, but he's got that gun trained on my head, and I don't want to start shooting yet. I don't know how many there are... though I find it hard to believe the people who did... what I saw... I can't believe they're not murdering me.

"It's, well, I'm looking for something really important, please, you've gotta let me by!" Shit, that's never gonna work.



What the shit? It worked?

He continues, "If I were you, I'd speak to Vance. He's our leader. Likes to hang out on the Mezzanine watching over the common area. He can probably help you find whatever it is you're looking for."

I nod simply. "Thanks a lot... hey, who's The Family, anyway?" I ask, trying to sound innocent.

"We are a badass gang and we don't take shit from nobody. Don't like too many questions either, get in there before I change my mind."

I just nod quickly holstering my gun and raising my hands. "Right... thanks again! I'll be going now."



As he goes to open the gate, though, I think that there was something odd the way he said 'badass gang'. I believe the part about not asking questions... but... something seems off, here.



This place is nicer than Evan's place, really... and he wasn't kidding about the ordinance, Judging by the assault rifle on that box. They've definately got guns.



Well, let's meet the leader. I take a deep breath and open the door.



I walk down the 'hallway' as calmly as possible, trying not to look like I'm here to kill everyone or whatever.



...They don't look like crazed killers. What the hell is going on here?



A woman approaches me, got the same hair cut I do. Cute.

"If you got the money I got the time"

"...What?"

She smiles a bit... oddly. "Well, well. I'm surprised you don't know me. I'm Brianna... I... take care of the men around here. Well, unmarried ones anyway."

Well, they've got their official gang whore, anyway. I try not to look too disgusted, but I think she picks up on it.

I just thank god she doesn't say anything.

"So... taken care of any new guys lately? Maybe by the name of Ian?"

She thinks for a minute, "Oh yeah... Ian. He hasn't really joined our little family, so I haven't had time to... sink my teeth into him." Her smile is strange. Predatory, but not in a purely sexual way. It sends shivers down my spine, and she catches on again, letting out a laugh at my reaction. "Don't be such a stick in the mud, cutie... you gotta have fun out in the wasteland..."

"Um... yeah..." it wasn't the sex that bothered me, "But... about Ian?"

"Oh yeah, he your boyfriend or somethin'? You must be into some fun stuff to be datin' that kid." She gives me a once over, licking her lips one more time and sending another shiver down my spine, elliciting another lilting laugh from her. Thankfully, the sexuality leaves her voice when she finally answers my question, "Anyway, Vance has got him in lock down for the time being. We all had to do it. Let's us think on ourselves, you know... decide if we really wanna be part of this. No one's forced." She actually sounds somewhat... loving? But not in a sexual way. Like talking about a parent someone deeply respects. "You're going to have to talk to Vance if you want to see him."

"Thanks." I disengage myself from her as quickly as possible. I can feel her smile boring into my back. Jesus Christ, she was looking at me like she wanted to... EAT me.



I hope Vance isn't as goddamn creepy.



That must be the man.

"Welcome to Mersetti, Human."



I really don't like the way he said 'Human'. What... are these people?

"My people call me Vance. I lead this group of weary travelers and outcasts who need a home. And... to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"What... is this place?"

"What you see before you is the last bastion for the down trodden and..." I tune him out as he goes on and on about how wonderful this place is, beneath the sun-baked wastes blah blah... wait... what was that?



...Holy shit. Guess this explains the traps on the way in... sure lead people to your doorstep but kill them before they get there. It's like ordering take out! But better because you don't have to actually order anything! Fuck.

My skin goes pale and it takes an act of will not to reach for my gun. They haven't gotten violent yet... but there's no doubt these are the people who killed Ian's family. Fuck, no wonder they were so mutilated. Fucking eaten alive, probably.

"Wh.. what?" I ask, stuttering slightly, hoping that I misheard. Misunderstood. Something.

"Humans call for our extermination or reform. Reforming implies something is wrong with us..."

Goddamn right there's something wrong with you. You fucking eat people. Fuck.

He's still talking, though. Still talking. Must not be hungry. Shit this explains the way that woman was looking at me, too. She DID want to eat me.

"I see my teachings as an improvement. A way to transcend our cannibalism."

"...Transcend?" I ask, my voice wavering a little bit.

"You are more accepting than most of your kind." Not really. I'm just scared shitless because you out number me and the only working weapon I've got is a goddamn pea shooter. "But, yes, transcend. You see, we no longer eat the flesh of humans. We merely drink their blood. What would that make us in your eyes."

Great. They just rip out people's throats and drink their blood! THAT'S A LOT BETTER, VANCE! WAY TO REASSURE ME YOU AREN'T PSYCHO KILLERS OR ANYTHING!

Fuck fuck fuck.

"I... don't know?"

"Then that is a mystery you will have to solve on your own. In ceremony..." He talks more. Lots more. I don't care. Something about each member having to recite some stupid laws. He wants me to go find out what they are or something. Fucking why? Is he goddamn toying with me?

I must look like a goddamn juicebox to these people and now he wants me to go find out about their laws? Fucking my head, that's all.

He walks away after his shpiel.



And his wife walks in. She seems like an alright sort. Maybe...

"You know Ian?" I ask, testing the waters.

She smiles a bit, "Yeah. Vance has him in meditation. Sorry, but he's gotta stay locked up."

I put on my best sad face before speaking, trying to make it as believable as possible. "Hey... I uh... I was his girlfriend," I decide to go with the lie Brianna thought up, "We were pretty serious before he disappeared, and I'd like to at least see him, you know? Make sure he's ok... make sure WE'RE still ok..." I sound so good I almost convince myself.



...And I convinced her too.



Guess it's time to meet Ian... don't know how the hell to get out of here though.



He's an alright looking kid. Wouldn't have minded if the girlfriend thing hadn't been a lie.

"Eh? What do you want?" he asks as I enter.

"Evan sent me to find you..." I don't say 'after I found your parents brutally killed by the people out there.

He smiles a little bit at that. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm sure he's pretty pissed right now."

I shake my head. "More worried than anything, really. You alright? They hurt you?"

"Hurt me? ...No... they haven't. They've been protecting me. They're even going to let me join their family if I want once I finish this meditation." He doesn't sound scared of them at all. Actually a little worshipful. Like they're his heroes or something.

"Ian they..." He looks up at me questioningly. "They killed your family Ian... I saw 'The Family' written in blood over their corpses."

Ian looks down shaking his head. "No... they didn't."

"But I..."

He looks back up cutting me off, "I killed them... I ... I've always had the urge. Back when my sister was around she helped me control it, but my parents? They... they never knew about it and I just couldn't help myself. I blacked out... attacked them... I don't know what happened... when I came to Vance had pulled me away from them, and then he and one of the other members drained their blood and wrote that there... don't you get it!? They protected me... protected me from killing my own parents... so that... so I could go back there if I wanted to."

Oh God... this kid... he's... all thoughts of him being cute leave my mind. This place... these people, they're all sick.



I take a deep breath and walk to the door, mechanically almost. It swings closed, I hope it'll muffle the sounds.



I say something flirtatious. It takes a few minutes but he smiles and starts walking toward the bed.



I can only think of what I saw... his family. He's not human. He's a monster. Some kind of monster.



I pull the pistol free and take aim.



Ian is no more. The gun shot echoes through the room, though. I'm almost certain they heard it.



I put down a few mines I liberated earlier in the hallway to Ian's room. Figure I can use it as a fall back point if they heard me.



They did. Someone's coming. Looks like Holly, Vance's wife.

I reach into my shirt, pulling out one of my grenades. These fuckers deserve nothing less.



Plant it right at her feet. Should have killed her, but a hail of gunfire from the debris tells me I'm not that lucky.







I run back to Ian's room, ducking bullets and leaping over my own landmines, before letting the door close. The gun fire stops and there's silence for a few moments.

I hold my breath. The waiting is awful. I know it's probably been under a minute but it feels like days. I'm trapped in this small room. What if they disarmed the landmines? What if she got the others and they're about to bust in?



Then the blast throws the door open.



I feel almost bad about it, she seemed like the best person out of all of them. But, she was still a blood drinker and she tried to kill me.

Besides, I can't feel too bad when that's a submachine gun there. My chances of survival just sky rocketed.



I head back into the hallway, and I hear a sound to my right.



A grenade slides out of my jumpsuit with ease that feels almost unnatural, as I slide it into the door, while turning my face away for cover.



I can feel the heat and pressure, though I'm far enough back that it's not painful. A few shards of shrapnel hit the rocks around me, and I make a mental note not to throw them so close anymore.



I have to backpeddle out, though, drawing Holly's submachine gun, as Lance manages to pounce through the blast, his legs looking like ground beef. I open fire.





He was a tough son of a bitch, but now he's just more mess on the walls.

I help myself to his flaming sword, though I turn it off and slide the blade into a belt loop.



Nobody else seems to be coming right away. I slink forward, and find no one else has come up. Maybe they couldn't hear from way down there? Doubtful. . . might be they just figured Vance and Holly were enough.

Either way. . .



I decide to place a land mine at the top of each stair before looking down.



They really seem oblivious.

Gives me time to line up a shot.



He barely even moves as the bullet smashes through his brain pan. If I couldn't see the gray matter across the table I'd think I had missed.

Regardless, bullets start to impact around me and I pull back before I can even see what's going on.



I hear a blast a few moments before I see a couple injured family members coming around shooting.



I return fire, but I feel the sting of bullets tearing through my abdomen as I stumble backward, barely holding it together.



I grit my teeth and draw Vance's sword as I cower around the corner, figuring I can get the drop on them when they come around.



I see one and come out with a swing. The blade's sharper than it looks and I feel the flesh of his throat give easily, even as I notice another standing next to him ready to fire.

I continue moving my blade along the same line, and it gashes through his arm and into his ribs. I place a foot on his chest and kick him off down the ramp as I roll back into cover, my arm and stomach taking AR fire as he shoots wildly in his death throes.

I smash against the wall and fumble for a stimpak. Blood is running in rivulets down my arm as I inject it into myself. The painkillers calm my nerves, and I pull out my hunting rifle.



My arms are still shaking. They've got no strength left in them.



Explains why I only clipped her head instead of killing her flat out, when I roll out to take a shot.

I quickly roll back in to cover however, and drop the rifle, pulling out the SMG again.



The second she steps past the wall I pull the trigger.



Not much left of her.

I take a moment to survey my work. Everyone dead, and riddled with bullets.

Well... except the guard... he might not have heard all that, though. Might be able to get the drop on him.



I head back out, weapon drawn and ready to go.

Though I fully grasp the importance of stealth, right now. He has to die quickly if I'm going to live.



He saw me again... opened fire... I opened back. A bullet slices through my cheek. Another rips through my naked stomach... but my aim was more true. I'm holding in my guts as I inject another stimpack.

I head back into the station. There's plenty of first aid here... enough to keep me alive, at least. Even find some, non-human meat, food. Some guns. All kinds of stuff. More stimpaks. As I bandage myself, allowing my wounds to heal I realize that King's not going to be happy with Ian's death.

Whatever. For now... I'm living here.

Lonely weeks pass. I would love to see someone else, but at least it's safe here. More time passes before I start to run out of food, and I realize I'm going to have to leave.



My wounds have healed... but I don't know where else to go. I just know I'll have to go somewhere, for food, at least. And... some company.


------------------------------

So now where?

[greed]

Tenpenny Tower. Dealing with Roy and Tenpenny should be fun.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Back to Arefu. You've at least got to try to explain to King about Ian.

But before you go, make sure you grab the assault rifles, swords, ammo, and all of the other stuff.

[Solid Snake]

So by killing Ian, we're hostile with Arefu now too?
Bummer. I as hoping there'd be a way we could stay buddies with the Arefu folks. Strange to think Arefu would shoot you on sight without even knowing what happened to Ian or the Family. (Why not just tell them Ian was an evil son of a bitch? They'd probably believe you.)

Anyway, I still think it's in character for Lucy to return to Arefu first, given it's one place she knows and given that she shouldn't know that Arefu would respond violently to her. I think it'd be a nice wakeup call...have Lucy expect to return to Arefu some sort of heroine for having stopped the cannibals, only to get shot at.

Long-term? Assuming Arefu doesn't take a whole update, that is. There's a fire ant quest involving a young'un in the outskirts of DC that should be easy to take on and actually complete at your current level. I forget the name of the quest, but it's not that difficult and results in you getting a chance to "buff" your character with a permanent boost to a single SPECIAL statistic. I think it's the next place to go. Having done something terribly "evil" just now, Lucy could benefit from a more...positive experience.

EDIT: Actually, I think it's impossible for Ian not no turn hostile the moment you start shooting at The Family unless you have his sister's letter. So we damned ourselves to hostility with Arefu by deciding not to go to Megaton first. At any rate, my first playthrough, I was able to kill all the Family members, set Ian free, and then convince Ian that the Family were evil and that he should return home to Arefu. It required that letter, though. In that case, Arefu remains friendly.

[Mirai Gen]

On the bright side, now you have an arsenal of weaponry, which is one of the nicer things about being evil and killing the Family.

I forget the name of the quest, but it's not that difficult and results in you getting a chance to "buff" your character with a permanent boost to a single SPECIAL statistic. I think it's the next place to go. Having done something terribly "evil" just now, Lucy could benefit from a more...positive experience.

The quest is called "Those!" Exclamation is part of the name. I'm actually kind of surprised you didn't remember it with how hilariously silly the name is.

Lucy's lean towards the dark side starts to make sense with this encounter. Though, Krylo, when the Wastelander said 'have some fun' I didn't quite catch what he was referring to until I read it a second time.

I honestly want to see what she's going to say/do in the Megaton quest, so I say go there. Even if you end up killing everyone in Megaton and Tenpenny Tower you can use Miserti Station and The Family's headquarters as a base of ops.

[Aerozord]

I say head north. I wonder how Lucy will react to Paradice Falls, and assuming she has the caps she can get a companion

[G.I.R.]

Don't forget to grab Vance's coat and shiskebab! Oh.. and all the weapons and ammo their little store had.

Paradise Falls sounds like a good place to go from here. Although... something tells me when Lucy finds the slavers that she'll be inclined to murder the lot of them for their horrid practices.

And something tells me she won't take a liking to the Ghouls... She seems more likely to side with Tenpenny and kill the lot of them.

[Aerozord]

I am perfectly fine with her slaughtering the slavers, I'm guessing right after she finds out about the kids. Of course paradise falls has people with gattling guns. Krylo could probably handle it, but Lucy might think twice.

Also I think she is avoiding stripping the dead for clothing

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Crashed spaceship! Go get the alien blaster! Then nothing will stand in our way!