Fallout: New Vegas – Diary of the Mojave Wasteland part 2
The remaining pages of the diary of a Mojave Wasteland explorer!
Day 4
Headed out towards Novac. The view from the outpost hill is staggering; rolling hills, great towers in the distance, sand blown wasteland between and cracked roads snaking across the Mojave’s back. Passing back through the still burning Nipton I saw the survivor, the lottery winner, chased by a giant Radscorpion across the dunes. Let them get on with it.
Had to go through a narrow gully and of course I was ambushed, this time by the Viper gang. Fortunately it was over pretty fast; they ran into a herd of Bighorns in their haste to get to me. The Bighorns must have been protecting their kids, ‘cuz they stomped those gangsters down but good. Got some new equipment out of it.
Further down the road I met a trader caravan. They ran into a Caesar’s Legion ambush. I kept my head down again. Plenty of spoils left on the dead… welcome to civilisation. Found some throwing spears; a nice new addition to life in the wasteland. Got to say, these things really work. A passing Viper gang provided plenty of target practise.
Later that day I found the camp where the Legion was holdin’ the last Powder Gangers taken from Nipton. Felt i owed them, seeing as they made me look useless in Nipton. Too many Legionaries to take ‘em on fair.
Update: I waited till nightfall, picked off the guard on duty with my repeater rifle, snuck into their tents and beat ’em to death with my baseball bat. Not pleasant but nobody will mourn these animals. Let the powder gangers go free; maybe it’ll go in my favour next time we cross paths; who knows, but one thing’s for sure- the Legion have heard about my meddling. They sent assassins to deal with me- Caesar’s orders. Only a matter of time before they realise those assassin’s aren’t coming back. Fortunately there’s a ranger station nearby that I can bunker down in for the night. Nice fellas too, if somewhat stressed.
Day 5
Arrived the next day in Novac. Quaint place. Giant dinosaur made out of trash. Folks from before the bombs must have been real crazy critters. Good people here, if a little mixed up. They have a bucket of problems, that’s for sure- cattle been mutilated, a sniper with a chip on his shoulder about some dead sweetheart, and attacks by ghouls from a nearby factory, just for starters.
I saw something of myself in that sniper, Boone. I asked around town. He thought his lady had been taken by the Legion, but a lot of people just said she was the kind of girl who couldn’t sit still. That was until a tip off from the local loony led to me finding some evidence that there was foul play. I led the culprit to their death, letting Boone take the killing shot from that crazy T Rex dinosaur’s mouth. I ain’t going into it any more here, since Boone has agreed to come with me on my journey- he doesn’t want to dwell on it and I’m not one to argue.
One nice old ranger in Novac called Andy taught me a new combat move. He’s a sweet old guy. Asked me to go check on Ranger Station Charlie where I slept at last night. I’ll take a quick look later.
I said I would check out the town’s Ghoul problem, so I did. They’re coming out of the old REPCONN rocket factory. Mindless feral Ghouls, of course, by the dozens, but boy Boone really earned his ticket on this one. I don’t know how I managed without him- he’s picking them off like flies, while I’ve been taking care of any survivors up close with a Ripper that I found. The factory is the usual maze of rooms with faded blood stains and terminals still blinking with messages from before the war. However, oddly, a Ghoul contacted me via the intercom. Going to check it him out. There are bodies of other Ghouls in robes here, as well as these unusual beasts that look like blue super mutants. Something screwy goin’ on.
Update: found the guy, who actually looks like a normal human but insist that he’s a Ghoul. Odd. He pointed me to another Ghoul (a proper one this time) called Jason Bright. He’s some kind of religious visionary who thinks that all Ghouls- even the feral ones- are on the path to salvation. The robed Ghouls all follow him and they want to embark on some kind of pilgrimage… smells like a cult, looks like an army, but they do honestly appear to be peaceful unless pressed. Seems they normally keep the feral ones in check, or so they say, but attacks by ‘invisible demons’ have caused them to lose control and hence the recent problems for Novac. Jason said they were still beset by these demons and I agreed to help him out- seems like finding a middle ground will be best for these Ghouls and Novac. A war would just be messy and take too much of my time.
Surprised to find a Ghoul downstairs called Harland, who was trapped while trying to do the same job as me. His partner is lost down here somewhere too. Even more surprised to find that not all of the blue mutants- Nightkin- are hostile. One called Davison, who I found talking to a skull that he calls Antler, said that he would take his men away if I help them find some Stealthboys. Harland is in the way. Life in the Mojave is never simple, feel torn between killing everyone or taking a social option. Life is like a next generation adaptive RPG game sometimes.
After much killing of Nightkin, which was much easier said than done, I found harland’s lady friend dead. He took it gracefully and let me search for the Stealthboys, but they were already gone. Davison was alright about it and pulled his boys out. Quite surprised at how things around here can go so easily from life or death matters to civility; sometimes the Mojave can’t decide if it’s camp and silly or dark and gritty.
Jason Bright got what he wanted after all, though I’m going to help him find more parts for the… well… the things he needed. I’m afraid to write it down in case someone finds this journal and thinks I went doo-lally. It’s been a real long night, so I’m heading to Ranger Station Charlie to get some shuteye.
Update: everyone at Ranger Station Charlie is dead. The room had been booby trapped too to deal with anyone who came looking; fortunately I was wary enough to avoid being blown up. Legion left messages bragging about the deed. Did what I could for the rangers… went back to Novac feeling a little hopeless. Time to head north to Boulder City. Manny Vargas of Novac says the Great Khans are there, and hopefully my pinstriped pain in the ass too.
Day 6
Passed a scrapyard run by an old lady called, well, Old Lady Gibson. Something weird happened to ED-E; something we said triggered a buried program and she started spouting the voice logs of some technician who worked on her once. She seems to come from a group called the Enclave. ED-E’s mission before being battered around was to go to Navarro. Not too sure that’s a good idea, but I would like to find out more.
A much nicer surprise- an NCR runner caught up with me and gave me a radio so I could call them for backup. Good to know that sticking my neck out for them- and earning the hatred of the Legion- has been noticed and rewarded. Feels just that little bit less lonely out here now.
Well, Boulder city is a ruin, destroyed in one of the early battles with the Legion. The Great Khans are here all right; they’ve taken hostages and are hiding in the ruins. I’m going to try to get those guys back, and find out what happened to me in the process.
Jessup, the leader, turned out to be quite reasonable. I managed to use my silver tongue to get out of there without any bloodshed on either side- along with the lowdown on my suited friend Benny. Turns out he didn’t pay the Khans for the job and took that platinum chip I was carrying back with him- no honour among thieves, it seems. I know he’s back at the Strip now… so it’s time to head to New Vegas. At least I didn’t have to kill anyone today… aside from a couple of guys on the road, but technically Boone did that.
Note to self: trading post 188 has some nice people, lady called Veronica wanted to travel with me, but I already got mouths to feed. Still, may come on back here after I’m through with Benny- some female company would be mighty nice.
Update: things aren’t going to be simple. Again. After coming up past massive farmlands and spying decrepit towers on the skyline, past cracked earth and desperate wanderers, I finally found the city that everyone’s talking about. New Vegas is split into districts and you need to pay the guards to enter. The place is half run down, half ritzy glamour. There’s the smell of death on every corner. But… something real excitin’ about it too. I’m going to get answers and a whole lot more beyond those gates. There’s nowhere else like this in the Mojave; a towering city where desperation mingles with hope.
Might not hear from me in a while. This will be messy. Might have to save in a seperate slot.
…Damnit. I repair the fourth one one last time (by combining it with a spare fourth wall) and step into the Strip…
