[Kayla Keizer]

00-02(0020)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

Mr Walker, also known as Mark Walker or just Mark, entered the famous BRASS LANTERN DINER of Megaton. He was the Mysterious Stranger and now he wore typical Wastelander gear of a typical wanderer. He wore badges advertising skills such as hunter, salvager, gatherer, artisan of various skills and scribe of more than one commonly used language. Yet the large pair of powerful revolver pistols, at his hips, hinted strongly he was more than just these. The holsters looked well used but well cared for.

There was his compact backpack, a duffel-bag, a scabbard holding a large rifle that was slung over one shoulder. He had pouches on a thick belt, some body-armour, a pipboy on his left wrist, a ring on each middle finger and some other items. People looked him over in a typical cautious fashion, including the family who owned the large diner and the staff, but he 'sensed' none more than normal attention. Be they Megatonfolk or outsiders, they soon went back to their own business. He sat at a round table, almost newish looking, in a corner next to a 3Djukebox playing some Wastelander music that was PostDoomsday. Such things were uncommon.

A bustling young waitress came to him in a shirt and skirt outfit with a small apron. She showed midriff, cleavage and most of her legs but was also experienced in avoiding groping hands or pinching fingers. She stopped at his table and smiled at him, sort of, but when he smiled at her she gave him a genuine one in return, to her surprise. Then she spoke. "The BRASS LANTERN has no great big fancy menu to offer but what we do offer is healthy, well cooked and reasonably priced."

She indicated a black board with a basic menu written in chalk. "I suggest the molerat meat roll, some veges, a good strong muttcoffee with milk and some sourbread. You can even have wild honey with the coffee cause somebody got some with out being stung to death but that costs extra extra."

He made money appear seemingly out of nowhere, a stack of special minted Emergency Issue Dollar Coins as $1, $2 and $5 denominations. For some long forgotten reason, good currency coins were often known as 'caps'. This including uncommon bottle caps with prize bar-codes that could be used to claim valuable goodies from certain still functioning machines. Perhaps that was how the term had come about. The Mysterious Stranger had talked with an interesting eccentric in the floating settlement of RivetCity, a man called Abraham Washington, who ran his own museum of New Washington DC; Abraham Washington had believed that was how the term 'cap' had come around.

He spoke. "I need to speak with Andy Stahl. Tell him that 'Mr Walker' wishes to meet him. I will have what you suggested but also a tall glass of cool purified water. No, make that a jug of cool purified water along with a full glass of the same."

The waitress gave a small start. "Oh, you are Mr Walker. I was told to tell you that Andy Stahl is not here but he really is hiding down in the basemant. I say this because that fool has decided we waitresses should give him half of our tips. Our wages are pitiful and we need our tips to live. Just because he owns this place does not..."

Mr Walker sighed. "I own the BRASS LANTERN DINER including the building, the land, the ground beneath and everything in it. Andy Stahl is manager and only the manager but not for long. It seems that he has been listening to the wrong people. Jenny Stahl will become manager since Andy has proven to be untrustworthy. He has been stealing funds from the diner and even tried to sell the diner to Colin Moriarty but the Moriarty Family Elders are far from that stupid; they know who really owns the BRASS LANTERN even if Colin himself thinks he knows more than he does."

Many assumed that Colin Moriarty was one of the Moriarty Family Elders but they were wrong. The 'elders' saw him as useful in the role he was in but would not trust him any further than that. Since Colin Moriarty was a cunning treacherous fool, the Mysterious Stranger agreed with their assessment.

He spoke again. "You waitresses will lose no tips and your wages will be increased by 50%. The single mother over there, Mary Kindle, and her two children, I will pay for good food and drink for them. Inform Mary Kindle that I know she is an experienced and skilled book-keeper and that I want to talk to her about working here at the BRASS LANTERN part time. She will be well paid for her work and, if she needs it, accommodation will be provided free of charge."

The waitress smiled at him. "That is very nice of you. My name is Stella Starshine. Will you offer me the same?"

He snorted. "As an undercover Regulator, a Regulator Ghost as you are called, you have plenty of pay enough. Do not frown so. I work with the Regulators on a regular basis. I take it that you are here to investigate one very strange man named Mr Burke and just what he is up to. Love the name. I suggest we meet later at my Megaton house. Let people think I am paying for 'extra services' from you."

She shrugged. "It is a cover story that I have used more than once. I will get your order and do the same for the Kindle Family. I doubt that Andy Stahl is going to come out and meet you."

He sighed. "That is of no importance, now. Others have taken care of him. I suggest you stay away from the basemant, tell other staff to do the same including the Stahls, and call for Sheriff Lucas Simms to come here. He knows me."

Stella gave him a puzzled, curious look and then, with a rich smile, turned and walked away with a sixy wiggle. This latter was to inform others that she had done some 'fishing' for a wealthy 'client' for her 'special services' and had been successful. Other waitresses in the diner would stay away from him now since he had been 'claimed'.

[Joanne Crump]

NOTES

MEGATON; INDEPENDENT SETTLEMENT

Megaton Base: partly crater exposed super-weapon silo base, underground. Altered and used for many purposes.

Megaton Station: adapted and much used subway station beneath and one side of Megaton Crater. Used for many purposes.

Inner Megaton: based around top of, inside and underground close to Megaton Crater. Main part of Megaton.

Outer Megaton: ring shaped area between Inner Wall and Outer Wall.

MEGATON LIFEVAULTDC0321A
In theory the LifeVault is an intrinsic part of Megaton but in reality it is very much an idependent community that pays no real heed to the Megaton Government. The LifeVault houses over 100,000 citizens and many valuable resources such as two large safe-cycle mattercators, a manufactury complex and a autorobotic repair workshop complex. It is secretive about what goes on in the vault so that not even many Megatonfolk who have visited it actually know much about it for they are kept in a relatively small visitors' section. A strong consistent trade takes place between the LifeVault and Megaton proper. The LifeVault people do ask for fair prices only for their goods and services and pay fairly for what they obtain, which makes most outsiders happy enough not to hassle them.


MORE TO BE ADDED.

[marie breen]

00-03(0021)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

Megaton was divided into different sectors. Outer Megaton was between the Outer Wall and Inner Wall being a ring of ground with some structures, buttress work for the walls, work yards and some grassy areas for protected livestock as well as some carefully cultivated crops. Inner Megaton was the flat ring area around the crater edge, between the crater and the Inner Wall, and also the crater itself. This had over a hundred structures and much of Inner Megaton was underground, often going in through the sides of the crater. Holy Megaton was the cathedral and what was directly beneath it. Megaton Base was the partly exposed super-weapon silo base now converted to many purposes, most of them peaceful. Megaton Station was the subway station with platforms, service facilities, three commuter monorail trains, four subway tunnels leading off but locked off by huge safety barriers that had closed on Doomsday, along with other resources.

Government, politicians and public services, were based in Megaton Base. After confirming that Andy Stahl had been brutally murdered by an unknown assailant, Mark Walker spent some time talking with Jenny Stahl, along with some others including a local lawyer, and the sheriff. So it was that Jenny Stahl gained management of the BRASSS LANTERN DINER and it began a new time of growth and prosperity, at least by Wasteland standards.

Professor Ash and his people had settled into a cramped hire house in Outer Megaton but during the first night all but the professor, his strange android companion and two of the robots, vanished away. The others clearly did not want to be around James or his disturbing companion any longer or to have anything to do with his plans. The humans and androids offered their services, valuable education, skills and experience, to the Megaton Leadership Council. They also offered some robots as part of the package. The offer was taken up with out hesitation and bonuses were given to keep the new employees for they were badly needed in the settlement. In such things TekVault0101 was not doing great but was far better off than Megaton.

Mr Walker spoke with Mary Kindle, soon giving her a good part time job as a book-keeper for the BRASS LANTERN along with accomodation for her, and her children, in his large Megaton house that was mostly underground. She would soon be doing other book-keeper work for him as wanted by Karl Rune the woman who managed his household. There were some staff there along with permanent 'guests'. There was much more to his Megaton House than most people knew but Mary Kindle would not get to know about much of that, at least not until much later.

Mark Walker helped the small Kindle Family, complete with a tough young dog, to move to the Walker Household. They did not have many possessions and had been living in cramped, uncomfortable underground community quarters as provided free by the Megaton Government. Mary Kindle had done some book-keeping work for the Megaton Economics Council but had not been well paid for her labour. Fortunately she had no signed contract with the Megaton Government and so was not bound to their service. They had probably done this so they could pay her minimum money but it meant that they lost her services very easily.

Mark Walker met Stella Sunshine at the house and they had much to discuss about Mr Burke and his dark plans. They discussed other matters as well, including the arrival in Megaton of Professor James Ash and his companions.

[xemmybx]

00-04(0022)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

One of Mr Walker's people kept a discreet but professional eye on the house where Professor James Ash and Desella, his strange android companion, had begun dwelling. The rest of the group had abandoned them, going off to serve the small Megaton Government but the professor did not seem to make any efforts to go after them, to seek justice for the stolen robots and other equipment. Perhaps they had not really belonged to him in the first place or perhaps he did not wish to draw unwanted attention to himself. Neither he or the strange android departed from the house.

Colin Moriarty visited the place briefly, entering with jaunty confidence but leaving shaken and pale. At once a series of deliveries of beer, food, purified water and other resources began to take place from the Moriarty establishment. Yet when the deliveries were made, no apparent payment was made by Desella when she greeted the delivery pair at the door. The delivery pair were one Ben Moriarty, one of Colin Moriarty's thuggish sons, and Terence Able who was a petty criminal who did odd jobs for Colin Moriarty.

Mr Walker quickly realised that somehow Colin Moriarty was being pressured into providing free resources, was perhaps being black mailed. This was ironic considering that black mailing people was one of Colin Moriarty's favourite activities.

When the strange Mr Burke visited the professor, he seemed not to care about Desella's strangeness. If anything it was the strange android who backed away from him. He spent an hour in the household before departing. Desella saw him to the door, again keeping her distance from him, and then Mr Burke went to the small, cramped house he had been renting from the Moriarty Family. Mr Burke spent most of his time there.

Mr Walker met Sheriff Lucas Simms not far from the house where the professor was staying. They stood together on a platform that was one small part of the amazing pattern of walkways, platforms, rampways, staircases, buildings, pipes, buttresses, cages and other structures running up and into the sides of the great big crater. They could see the catheddral before and down from where they stood and CRATERSIDE SUPPLIES run by the Brown Family along with the GIRLS-GAMES SALOON, the establishment run by Colin Moriarty. There was the BRASS LANTERN furter down, the Sheriff's Office complete with a small jail, a big semi-enclosed elevator and two smaller ones, and some other facilities.

Mark spoke to the sheriff, whom he liked quite well. "I know you want to barge in there and find out what Professor Ash and his android companion are up to, Lucas, but if you do the result will be the deaths of you are what ever deputies you choose to take with you. This is Regulator level business, Lucas, and way above your head. Even I would hesitate before rushing in their."

Lucas Simms was a proud man and until fairly recently had been the unofficial mayor of Megaton but then a formal government structure had risen into place complete with mayor, councils and a public service. At least he started getting a real wage and improved resources including some full time deputies, part time deputies and more robots. The Sheriff's Office, with jail, had been built and he had also gained some non law enforcement staff. Lucas appreciated the increased resources and income but missed being the 'single hand of the law' as he had once seen himself.

He spoke. "Okay but if anything does happen I want to know about it. There are only the five Regulators, and their non-Regulator staff, in the Regulator Outpost. When are others arriving." Then he noted Mark Walker's expression and he sighed. "Regulator Ghosts! Wouldn't be surprise if a dozen or more were not already here in Megaton hiding most likely right out in the open. You speaking for them, as you often do?"

"Yes, I am doing so." He responded. "I need to know what this Mr Burke is up to other than trying to get somebody to detonate the super-weapon."

The sheriff grinned. "But the super-weapon on display is a dud."

Mr Walker shook his head. "Not that one, the real one that the Atom have hidden away below the cathedral, the one I will soon be getting rid of once and for all. Please come for dinner later and bring your lovely new wife and children with you. I will have a small gift for each of you. The others will be there of course, at least many of them."

Nobody in Megaton, outside of the Walker House, seemed to know just how many people lived there and who, or even what, they were. Perhaps not all those in the Walker House knew this.

[Neko Jenny]

01-19(0023)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: TEKVAULT0101 STRUGGLES

Jasmine (the clone), Herbert, Argyle and Gallows departed along with Sarah and the Lyons Pride. They went with envoys to Megaton. It was generally expected they would have no real troubles reaching Megaton as that settlement, once they reached the surface, was not very far away.

Jasmine369 moved in with Amata123 in their own apartment and soon DJgirl joined them there. It was a little cramped but being vaultfolk they were more than used to this. Jasmine369 found herself working for the Overseer Security Department, newly transformed as part of the new Ministry of Enforcement. She became a 'trouble-shooter', a multiple skilled operative trying to solve special problems, which meant usually the difficult ones that normal Overseer Security could not solve. Amata123 began her studies to go into Overseer Administration, which was no surprise to anybody. DJgirl began running a new, freer internal 3Dradio public address music, news and talk back channel.

The TekVault was going through a reformation, a strengthening of democracy and a new voting system was being instigated for a new Citizens Council which would have Represenatives as voted by the people. There was a new outburst of public debating of a kind that was formerly suppressed by the Overseer Government. New political factions began to arise and there was some squabbling but no real aggression.

Jasmine369 still dreamlinked of Catherine, her mother, and others but now she communicated more clearly with them. Life in AlphaBeta111 was in many ways like that of TekVault0101. She felt more at peace now but she knew that there were still troubles to come for the vault and was preparing herself to meet them. She was allocated resources to start a trouble-shooter group and began the task of selecting a number of operatives to work with along with service-support staff.

The Enclavers were gone, there were no more doppelgangers, the infestations of radroaches and radrats were being cleaned away.

The Overseer Government had still found only seven of the reported thirteen minivaults and was using their facilities with surprising efficiency. Cable-teleportation was used to send goods between areas with great quickness. Less people went, being only couriers, for there was always a certain danger factor with sending people. The mattercators came in very handy. As for the super virtual reality chambers, they came very much in handy for a wide range of reasons from therapy to education to special training and much else besides. Vaultfolk could use SVR to get 'outside' of the hard sterile vault conditions for a while.

TekVault0101 had its Sheriff's Department, newly reformed, its Security Department, newly reformed, and the Exterminators but now there was a move to create the TekVault0101 TekVault Guardia. The TekVault Guardia would be a small professional military force of regulars backed up by militia irregulars. The TekVault Militia would be larger but its main role would be to serve the Guardia.

On the surface it appeared that everything was going very well but Jasmine369 began to have dark, disturbing, fragmentry nightmares that were more than just normal nightmares.

[Lisa]

01-20(0024)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: TEKVAULT0101 STRUGGLES

News had come to Jasmine369 that a force of TekVault Security, Law Enforcers and others had gone to the false FreeZone to find it largely abandoned. Most of the escapees who had been taken there, by deception, were free but others were missing. To Jasmine369's anger the three runners that she had managed to help get to the Rimzone had vanished with the retreating Enclavers. That is Maria344, Jo209 and Angie565.

Jasmine369 reached the false FreeZone, now being turned into a true FreeZone, very quickly using a four wheel drive electric cavebuggy.

These machines had been left behind in the TekVault by VaultTek workers who had built the vault with the help of special power armour, robots and other advanced technologies. One of the TekVault0101 elites had hoarded these machines and it turned out the various elites had a habit of secretly storing away unusual resources for reasons of faction infighting and a strange form of status. The new Overseer Government, with some difficulty, was busy reclaiming many of these hidden stockpiles. The elites did not like the changes taking place in the vault and were starting to fight the 'vault reformation' as it had come to be known.

The FreeZone was a series of huge glowcrystal lit and warmed caverns. The glowcrystal was ancient stuff found deep inside Mars by the Second Martian Colonial Expedition. It could be cultivated, with some difficulty, and even shaped, also with some difficulty.

Jasmine369 walked carefully amongst abandoned Enclaven equipment, including a curious metallic panels structure and neat piles of metallic storage boxes. She was tracking traces of something unusual there that was not like any of the Enclaver superclones, faceshapers or otherwise. Next to a half stripped sentrybot she found a curious mark on the ground. Carefully she picked up a trace of oily grey substance with a piece of metal lying on the ground and sniffed it gingerly. It smelt disturbing, unnatural and something akin to a doppelganger but it was no doppelganger. There was also the 'sense' of a powerful shadoz, of the Shadonz, being involved. Somehow the doppelganger type entity and the shadoz were very closely linked.

Gallows walked into view, coming around a small armoured vehicle, a semi-enclosed hoversled, to do so. The machine was not Enclaven in design or manufacture but they had brought it to the place and then had abandoned it after stripping certain parts from it. It was a GMFord Hot-Modern 2001A, a former toy of the wealthy long ago modified to become more practical of use. He stopped to face Jasmine369. "Jasmine sent me back to assist you because she 'sensed' you would need my help."

Jasmine nodded. "Yes, I know, we communicated briefly on the subject." Then she told him what she knew about the three members of the Donald Family, much that she had learned more recently from vault datafiles and people who knew the three. "The mother, Maria344, stopped me from learning more about an ancient conspiracy linked with such improbable names such as the Illuminati. The daughter, Angie565, was spoken to this 'Voice' that gave her information including warnings of danger."

Gallows frowned. "There have been some odd stories about, bits and pieces of loose data, speaking of a group operating in the Wastelands that calls itself the Illuminati. Often the whole idea is rejected as just one more crazy Wastelands myth or as a typical Wastelands crackpot faction at work. The Children of the Atom do not have a monopoly on crazy cultism. I have run across a few very bizarre ones during my forays across North America and I have helped to destroy more than one but also to reform more than one. Yet the Illuminati stories have been more consistent than most and in saying that I mean consistently horrifying. They speak of mind control, of shapeshifters, of the vampire like feeding on of life energies, of shambling monsters, of bizarre experiments on victims and shadowy things that appear to be visible shadoza seen when they are outside of a host body and more vulnerable. Some fragmented stories may have been about doppelgangers but there was not enough detail to make this clear."

Jasmine nodded. "So what has the Enclaven to do with...." Then she frowned. "No, this thing was not with the Enclavers, it came later after they were gone and somehow I 'sense' that it followed them. It is after something... no it is after somebody. It is after Angie565, a very powerful psyker who promises to become even more powerful, a real prize for both the Enclaven and this 'Illuminati'."

HERE ENDS 'TEKVAULT0101 STRUGGLES'

[Jason White]

02-01(0025)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

Jasmine, the clone, was still adjusting to her new existence. Like Jasmine369 she was a bio-cyborg and had all of her abilities including a strong tendency of recovery which helped her at that time. When Jasmine learned of the plight of the Donald Family, she informed the others and at once the group set out to rescue the three, along with any other captives taken by the Enclavers. The captives were lucky because seeking them were some of the most able of people to do such a task be it Herbert, Argyle or Sarah with her elite Troopers of Steel. Gallows had returned to assist Jasmine369 because it had become apparent to Jasmine that her clone-sister would need that assistance against newly arising threats. This was despite that the threats' actual nature had not become clear as yet. The others trusted her in this matter because they all had experience with psykers and psyker abilities.

They changed course away from Megaton, moving through a haphazard series of constructed tunnels, cave systems and artificially altered cave systems. Apart from TekVault0101 the underground zone had been the site for other, earlier efforts such as a penal colony and even a struggling relgious survivalist colony. Nothing much remained and it was assumed that no convicts or fanatical survivalists still existed there; yet it was often hard to tell with the Wastelands, it was that kind of place.

They came across a crazy series of tunnels, chambers and other facilities built by robots effected by the 'berserker virus'. There were such mad places to be found through out parts of the world from the former European Union to the Soviet Imperium and even in such places as South Africa and Central America. The irony was that they had added to the survival chances of many people including feral ghouls.

Argyle influenced the rhouls, friendly defensive aggressive feral ghouls, to come out and meet with the expedition. These rhouls were quite intelligent for feral ghouls, had crude clubs and tools, had cultivated tall, thin, glowing mushroom like nukashooms and even tamed radroaches. They traded valuable information in exchange for some stimpaks, basic rations and some helpful skills based knowledge.

'Sensing' something about Jasmine, the rhouls kept staring at her and yet did not seem threated by her; indeed a couple came up to her and crouched quietly beside her.Jasmine was soon busy rubbing ointments into sore areas of rhoul skin, massaging as the feral ghouls crooned softly in pleasure.

The rhouls did not meet the Enclavers but had traded knowledge with other rhouls who had observed the fast moving intruders. They rightfully feared the Enclavers and kept well hidden but had nor eal need to for the Enclavers were very keen to keep moving as if they were running away from something. More than anything it was a strong clue to what was going on.

[Dawn Porter]

NOTES

CHANGES THAT I HAVE MADE

Vaults have become TekVaults, LifeVaults and some other kinds of 'vaults'.

'Tek' has replaced 'Tech' in certain corporation names and hyphens have been removed.

Brotherhood of Steel in DC has become part of the Orderdom of Steel and other Orders have been added.
Brotherhood Outcasts have become both the Outcasts of Steel and the Exiles of Steel.

The United States of America has become the United Commonwealths of America.
The Chinese Invasion of North America became the Soviet Invasion of North America (Russia, China and others).

Enclave became Enclaven with Enclaves being special home territories, often being underground complexes. Enclaven then came to mean an international secret conspiracy force of hidden government.
EagleEnclaven, of the EagleEnclave in Alaska and other places, came to represent the Fallout Games Enclave being based more on North American appearances and nationalism.

New kinds of tron robots will be added along with original protectrons.

New kinds of MrRobot robots will be added to the list along with MrHandy and MrGutsy.

MrBrains have been added being a cyborg version of a MrRobot having a brain such as a brainbot has.

New Overseer Government structures have been added to Tekvaults and LifeVaults, being smaller and more basic in LifeVaults. Prime Overseers are always AI-smartcomputer network-systems.

Virtual reality has become super virtual reality with special stimulation feedback interaction functions.

TekVaults and LifeVaults have gained androids called vaultdroids (vaultnoids, vaultboys and vaultgirls being neuter, male or female shaped).

Mattercation, cable-teleportation, Dbombs, domes and other technologies have been added.

Other changes yet to be added.

[djimi]

02-02(0026)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

The other rhouls lived in a crazy berserker virus robot built place like a mixture of subway station, cathedral and some kind of underground theme park. The rhouls, friendly feral ghouls, were attracted by the bright colours, the strangely attractive figures, the huge merry-go-round with its horse drawn carriages, jet planes and other things to ride in or on. Most network-systems were inactive, or semiactive, at best but some were fully active.

CromRude, leader of the rhouls of the BRIGHT FUN PLACE, spoke in a fearful voice of the Enclavers that had rushed through the chamber, pausing only to take some quick audio-visual recording of what seemed to be fascinating even to the superclones. Yet she spoke even more fearfully of the dark shadowy thing that had followed, that had sent the rhouls fleeing with great speed, taking with them those who could not make their own escape. CromRude was a genius by feral ghouls standards and a strong, respected leader of those rhouls while have a profound influence on many others living in the area, even berserker aggressive feral ghouls known as zhouls. Gallows, Herbert and Argyle had known her for years and helped both her and her people as much as possible; in return she had given them much valuable information and had helped them in other ways.

CromRude, who was proud of her name taken from a advertising sign she did not really understand, then spoke of a third entity. "Then came one of bright light, not like those GlowingOnes that are ghouls like us but not like us. That one was goodness, was grace, was healing and was power. That one healed some of us and activated autovendors so we could get status preserved goodies, yum. We asked the light glowing one if she was an angel and she said that it was a good as name as any. She said she was hunting a powerful shadoz of the Shadonz and advised us to keep away but I said we already ran away. Then she gave me a hug and kissed me, which was very good. It made me tingly all over. When she went away, chasing the shadowy thing, we were a little sad."

CromRude turned and indicated Jasmine. "But look but look inside one called Jasmine is light like that of the angel. Is Jasmine part angel or other kind of angel? Very confusing is this. Don't like confusing things that are confusing."

Jasmine was embarrassed and confused. "I am a biomechanical cyborg."

CromRude nodded. "Ooommm, know that but also something else."

Herbert nodded. "Yes, I know this also, have 'sensed' it. So is Argyle who has also 'sensed' something special about Jasmine. You think that the Enclavers were running away from the shadoz?"

CromRude nodded. "Think, yes, because they kept looking back and they kept point strange funny looking machine things backwards as if trying to detect something... strange. They were cold inside, bad inside, those Enclavers but we 'sensed' they were very worried in their own way. They had poor captives but they were in capsule thingies kept inside special hovering vehicle thingies."

Jasmine would not willingly think of herself as being 'part angel'. It was hard enough to accept that she was a cloned biocyborg. Yet the way that the others had spoken of the matter made it hard for her to dismiss the idea so easily.

From the rhouls, of the BRIGHT FUN PLACE, they learned that the Enclavers were travelling in five big and three small hoversleds, they all being semi-enclosed Enclaven type machines except one that was a GMFord luxury model converted to become practical. From CromRude's descriptions it seemed that the fleeing Enclavers had gotten rid of everything they could spare to move quicker. It was another indicator how much they were concerned about the pursuing shadoz.

The concern was that they would not be able to catch up with the fast moving Enclavers, shadoz or the 'angel'. They needed either a way to speed up, a short cut or both.

[Jonny]

00-04(0027)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

Professor James Ash, and his strange android companion, vanished from their rented house in Megaton. After Ben Moriarty, one of Colin Moriarty's thuggish sons, and Terence Able who was a petty criminal who did odd jobs for Colin Moriarty, both vanished the sheriff reluctantly began to search for them along with some of his people and some volunteers, including some Moriartys. Colin Moriarty did not bother to help but nobody was surprised by this. The bad smell led Sheriff Lucas Simms to breaking open the front door of the house rented by Professor James Ash. There, in the big main room, lay the strangely desicated and very rotten bodies of the two young men. The bodies were in a condition as if they had been dead many more days than the few hours in which the pair had been missing.

Mark Walker studied the open hatch in the floor that led to a hidden underground chamber and then looked back at the unnaturally dead bodies. "They were killed vampiric fashion with their life energies svcked out of them along with blood and much liquified flesh. It would have been an agonizing death except that victims normally go into shock very quickly and feel no pain. I can not tell you how I know this but each young fool was killed by a different vampriic individual in a slightly different way."

Sheriff Lucas Simms grimaced. "Bad enough dealing with raiders, bandits and deathclaws with out having to put up with this kind of horror. Would this be like Vance and the BloodFamily?"

Mark shook his head. "Vance and his people, like others of their kind, are living vampires. They are products of dark experimentations carried out before Doomsday by the Enclaven and also the TekCorporations who copied the Enclaver research and development project. Stupidity mimicking stupidity. No, the origin of the Shadanz is largely a mystery and they are more vampiric than Vance and his kind will ever be. More vampiric, less natural and more dangerous but with some exotic weaknesses that can be used against them. This is Regulator business and is way above your pay grade."

The sheriff nodded. "For once I am happy to let you and the Regulators deal with it. I am glad somebody created the Regulators about a hundred years ago. The Wastelands have always needed them."

The Mysterious Stranger shrugged. "I created the Regulators and it was over a hundred and fifty years ago. I am going down there alone. Nobody follow me until I give the singal and I mean it no matter what you hear or feel."

Apart from the sheriff there were two tough looking deputies, a woman and a man, and a robot protectron who served the Sheriff's Office. Clearly Lucas did not like Mark going down alone into that chamber that emanated a strong but subtle feeling of threat but the deputies seemed glad not to be going though they tried to hide it.

Mark Walker stepped into mid air and dropped out of sight into the chamber below, not bothering to use the rickety looking wooden chairs. Seconds later there was the rapid blasting explosion of amazingly powerful guns at work, a pair of them. There was a strange, hideous scream of rage and agony. Then the firing ceased.

Mark Walker called out. "Come down the ladder, slowly and carefully, the danger is over. Come only if you really want to and you feel you have the stomach for it; you will need it."

[Joe Alvarado]

00-05(0028)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

The Mysterious Stranger crouched next to the crumpled body of the strange android, Desella, that he had killed. The body was now that of an oddly shruken biomechanical style android, something akin to a replicant but not one. Yet there was something else there, a blob thing that hung half burned from a ceiling beam of the chamber. It was rotting, stinking and unnatural. The smell coming from it was quite repulsive. The sheriff had a handkerchief over his nose and yet looked a little green. Mark Walker was clearly uneffected.

Sheriff Lucas Simms examined the large open metal chest in one corner showing some stolen goods such as a single shot bolt-action rifle and some slightly damaged PreDoomsday books. Crudely scratched into the box front were the initials EC "Could be Unlucky Edward's cache. He was around some decades ago, a smart thief with one weakness; when he got drunk he bragged about his exploits, not caring who heard him. That was before my time. He made the mistake of stealing from some tougher thieves and died because of it. His real name was Edward Carl. Nobody ever found his loot. By today's standard I wonder if his loot was up to much but those were tough times.... but of course you know that better than I do being immortal."

Mark Walker studied the glistening black thing. "Shadoza have the ability, if they are one of the powerful older ones or unique younger ones, to generate these things called shadoks. Nasty, aggressive, brutal and ever hungering for victims to devour, they are general hard to kill but have some odd weaknesses and are stupidly cunning."

Lucas nodded. "So you killed this shadoza and the weird android."

"No, Desella was killed by Professor James Ash, or at least what used to be Professor James Ash. He needed the energies inside Desella to do the trickery he carried out and so he killed her. The shadoza have no real loyalty to each other. I did kill that shadok as it gave me no choice." The Mysterious Stranger took out a small red capsule device and threw it at the dead shadok. "Close your eyes tight and look away, Sheriff."

Lucas did and the shadok corpse, if one could really call it a 'corpse', burned away with amazing speed and efficiency as if with spontaneous combustion. The terrible stink was gone to be replaced by just a slight burned awful smell and all the remained otherwise was a very small amount of strange greasy grey ash. It looked like the remains of a killed doppelganger.

Lucas Simms frowned. "So where is the professor?"

"Teleported away in a dangerous and disrupting manner." The Mysterious Stranger picked up the red capsule thing, it clearly had survived intact, and slipped it away. Then he took out a larger green capsule and sat it on the ground after pressing a small green button. At once it began to make odd pulsating noises that were unpleasant but not greatly so. "I am stabilizing the local time-space continuum. The Shadonz care nothing for the damage they do to the Multiversal time-space fabric. Luckily the thing inside Professor Ash seems to be more carefully aware than most shadoza are. One reason that the few older ones survive is that those are the more careful ones, by shadoza standards. Stabilization will take about five minutes."

Lucas nodded. "You have amazing PreDoomsday technologies."

Mark Walker smiled. "These are far more ancient technologies, were designed by entities that existed over a hundred million years ago before they reached ultimate enlightenment and pure ascension to Nirvarna as it really is. I built these myself. Each one takes over a century to manufacture by a large, advanced, sophisticated, specialized form of mattercator. In the terms of caps, each of these is worth over one trillion caps. That is a thousand billion caps or a million million caps."

The sheriff shook his head in wonder. "This is way over my head."

The Mysterious Stranger began moving around the chamber, examining it carefully. "Way over your head? No, sheriff, not way over your head. You will play your part in what is happening and it will be an important part, as it always has been, you being a secret officer of the Ways of Steel of the Orderdom of Steel. Love the cowboy act, by the way. It has always been a good diversion."

Lucas grinned. "I always loved the old Wild West Stories so why not go with them, especially since they suit the Wastelands so much? I am not surprised you know because you seem to know everything about everything."

Mark shook his head. "That is far from true, which is both a good and bad thing. Please look around carefully. I have a feeling that there is far more to this chamber than is obvious and that it is something that the shadoz missed in its haste to leave this place. Which also begs the question, why was it in such a hurry to get away that it resorted to dangerous tricks and destroyed its valuable assistant the twisted android?"

[Jessica Stokes]

02-03(0029)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

CromRude showed them the secret place hidden below the place of autovendors that sold delicious things to eat and to drink along with nifty Tshirts, caps, beach towels and other goodies that made life better or even betterer.

The berserker virus driven robots had constructed a cable-teleport hub of no less then nine cable-teleport cubicles in three sets of three. There were only a few fully secure and active teleport-cables, according to the network-system's data, but one of those was much closer to an underground complex built below and north-east of the domed city of Springvale. That had seemed to be the direction that the Enclavers were going in.

Herbert double checked the network-system to be sure and the others rested. Jasmine slept with her head in CromRude's lap as the rhoul leader quietly hummed some song remembered vaguely from when she was a human before Doomsday. It was too easy to forget that ghouls, except the small minority of those born as ghouls, were once humans or other entities.

So it was that Jasmine 'dreamed' that the best, and only real, course for success was to dare to use the teleport-cable network to go to the cable-teleport hub beneath a complex just north of Springvale. The Complex was the domed Springvale University of Special Science and Technology. According to Herbert it had been an elite university attended only by the cream of postgraduate, graduate and undergraduate students, academics and a few others of other classifications. Now the SUSST was a dome trapped place of horrors avoided by outsiders except a few with strong enough reason to enter; most of those who entered did not leave.

Jasmine awoke and informed the others of what she had dreamed. CromRude was not happy that Jasmine was leaving but accepted it as she had accepted so much before in her long life that consisted of much suffering. Which was when it happened. Jasmine sparkle shimmered and became two versions of herself except one was Jasmine and the other was now Jasmane. Jasmane appeared to be a rhoul. All there were astonished by what had happened including both Jasmine and Jasmane. Jasmane, a smoother skinned rhoul by appearance, announced she would stay with the rhouls and help them begin to build a new and better place for ghouls of all kinds come, even the savage zhouls to be 'tamed' if possible.

So there was Jasmine369, Jasmine and Jasmane; they were three who were one that was three.

The expedition used the cable-teleport hub and departed using three of the cubicles.

The rhouls threw a celebration to welcome Jasmane to their community, drinking NukaCola, eating can-pies, doing zany dancing and listening to stories as told by Jasmane or CromRude. CromRude was a very good story teller which was one reason the rhouls revered her as a great leader. It soon turned out that jasmane, who had no intention of leadership, was good at story telling but not, it seemed, as good as CromRude.

[Manuela Ribeiro Pereira]

02-04(0030)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

Jasmine, Herbert, Argyle, Sarah and the Lyons Pride, appeared in cable-teleport cubicles, in the depths of Springvale University, with a sparkling shimmer. There was some disorientation but it quickly passed and then they were exploring the hub complex. It was partly active and mostly semiactive with its network-systems. The cable-teleport hub was a series of chambers in a larger special transportation hub. There were more energy efficient cable-teleport cubicles that could not safely carry living things. There was a small station for a high speed hovertrain and a hovertain sitting at the station. There were some remains of long dead people surprisingly well preserved in the slightly stale constantly circulated air. There were small mounds of odd dust amongst other human items that once had been living beings.

Herbert spoke as they stood in the station. "There have never been enough remains found to fully prove the actual fate of the huge population of PreDoomsday Mars. There are often more of these heaps of strange dust than actual bodies. The dust is surprisingly dense and heavy so it does not easily move even in fairly strong air movements or with such a radroaches scuttling over it. Indeed lifeforms, even tough survivors like radroaches, tend to avoid the small neat heaps of death dust."

Jasmine crouched and studied a pile of dust. "Why does it remind... of the doppelgangers in some way."

Herbert responded. "Doppelgangers are created by special kinds of super-cycle mattercators while the dust piles were created by killing organics, including lieforms, with 'reversed mattercator technologies' such as in super-weapon disintegration bombs or Dbombs. Yet even Dbombs do not explain the actual fate of at least half of the people and other lifeforms that were on Mars before Doomsday took place."

Both understood that the term 'reversed mattercator technologies' was a very basic approach to what was a very complicated and sophisticated technology. The only good thing about Dbombs and Dwarheads was that they had been built only in the few hundreds thanks to the difficulties in manufacturing them. Also at least half of them turned out to be duds when Doomsday actually came. Many of the super-weapons had failed to live up to their PreDoomsday promises and others had not done what was expected of them. Fusion bombs and warheads had been in surprisingly little numbers but had still killed a lot of people and had done a lot of damage. Some other, more exotic super-weapons, had worked only too well.

Signals went off and a computer voice announced the approach and soon arrival of a hover-monotrain. If Jasmine had not 'sensed' danger then perhaps they might have assumed it was just an empty transport on an automated run. Still they would have been prepared for trouble but now they knew it was coming. They found cover that afforded as much protection and concealment as was possible and waited.

What came was a surprise even for those well used to the often unpredictable ways of the Wastelands.

[darnell waddington]

FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: STORY SUMMERY

The Mysterious Stranger, along with Sheriff Lucas Simms, found a secret chamber below the one that had been below the house rented out by Professor James Ash but this other chamber was very much different. A previous assumption had to be given up.

Jasmi the neobaby was staying with others in Jasmine369's apartment in TekVault0101 when Jasmine369 went to investigate the false FreeZone, being turned into a real FreeZone. Jasmine369 returned to be with the others, including Jasmi the fortunate born neobaby. They spent a fair deal of time with each other and the neobaby was adopted also by Amata123 and DJgirl.

Jasmi was a powerful empathic-telepath as neobabies tended to be.

Neobabies had been developed before Doomsday for the 3D mass media networks be that 3Dradio, 3DTV, 3Dmovies or holographic projections along with the 3Dinternet. They had also been meant to serve other, darker purposes such as being exotic pets for the wealthy or worse. A huge public ground swell of opinion had neobabies gain strong legal protection and it became illegal for them to become contracted property, test subjects, pets or anything else of that nature. Then neobabies began to show they had some very special abilities indeed.

Jasmi was also good at drinking fluffy milkshakes, taking naps, playing games, making messes and much else of the kind.

Jasmine369 was linked with other biocyborgs who had been freed from secret influences. With them she formed SWATT01 being Special Weapons Armour and Tactics Team One. The SWAT-Troopers would be a paramilitary force serving special needs unlike the Sheriff's Department, Overseer Security or the new Guardia Militia based Defense Force.

While Jasmine, Herbert, Argyle, Sarah and Lyons Pride arrived underground in the Springvale University, which was mostly below surface, the TekVault0101 envoy party had dared to continue towards Megaton. In doing so they went against the advise of Herbert and Sarah, pretending to begin to return to the vault but then turning back again. This envoy party did not make it to Megaton but vanished.

Jasmane was with the her new rhoul people when they picked up whispers from other ghoulified folks that the TekVault0101 envoy party had been spotted moving towards the much feared and avoided BLACK ARCADES, a truly bizarre and very dangerous sector created by berserker virus driven robots. Rhouls had tried to advise the envoy group to avoid the BLACK ARCADES but the leader was an arrogant member of the old leadership elite of the vault; he had deemed not to listen to 'mere ghouls' and nobody in the group had stood up to him.

[danni Marchant]

00-06(0031)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

The chamber was built using VaultTek type materials and design concepts. Mark Walker shook his head a little as he looked around the fairly low ceilinged, elongated chamber. The equipment set up there was clearly meant to support a spying outpost on Megaton, on Megatonfolk and all activities. Three individuals had been there running and caring for the facilities while using some to exist. They were now dead and drained of life enrgies, blood and some flesh. The two men, and a woman, were in strange decorated and coloured vault-jumpsuits for they were purple and red with emblems on back and front of Atomicus, Divine God of the Atomic Divine Truth. The three had tried to use laserguns to defend themselves and in doing so had wounded their attacker but then that one had returned to full health by 'feeding on' the three victims.

"Atomicus Imperium Elders have broken the agreement but that does not surprise me." Mark Walker sighed. "LIFEVAULTDC0321A is inhabited by religious fanatics known as the Followers of Atomicus. Most of the Children of the Atom do not even know they exist and Confessor Cromwell is only influential, powerful, in Megaton itself; Cromwell takes orders from the Atomicus Elders. Except that LIFEVAULTDC0321A is not the real core of their faith. That is TekVault0100 was the basis of an experiment to create a new faith amongst vault dwellers to observe how this influenced survival in the vault. It was assumed, by the clever fools that set up the experiment, that the vault dwellers would destroy each other in a fanatical vault civil war. Instead the Atomicus Imperium Faction destroyed or pushed out all of the other factions including those of other faiths and the proudly athiest. A group, that I represent, forced the Atomicus Imperium to pull back from trying to take over Megaton but it seems, secretly, they kept with their 'holy ambitions'."

He scowled. "I was wrong, very wrong. Professor James Ash came this way. That is the thing that was Professor James Ash, has come this way. He drained the three unfortunate fanatics. He left false clues above to make me believe he had teleported away and I was tricked. If I had not 'sensed' something odd about the chamber, I would have gone after a false trail."

Lucas snorted softly. "You were not tricked for your instincts played you true even if your rational self played you false."

Mark Walker nodded and smiled. "Good way of looking at it, Sheriff. I need you to return to Megaton and to alert people there to what is happening. Inform them of this chamber. Atomicus Imperium will lose the valuable resources here and it might just teach them a valuable long term lesson though I have my doubts. You can not help me against what Professor James Ash has become. He will attack you, forcing me to protect you, and make it more difficult for me to deal with him. That is experience and instinct speaking."

Lucas was given some information how he could contact Stella Sunshine of the Regulator Ghosts. He would openly alert the Megaton Government and secretly alert his own true following the Ways of Steel, the security intelligence service of the Orderdom of Steel based in the DC Citadel. The DC Citadel was once the New Pentagon of New Washington DC, a massive pentagon shaped fortress that was mostly underground. It was on the shore of the DC River. The Orderdom was not to be mixed up with either the Outcasts of Steel or the Exiles of Steel.

The two men departed in different directions.

[Niisha]

00-07(0032)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

LifeVault design and technologies were almost identical to those of TekVaults because LifeTek, as a TekCorp, had been a daughter corporation to VaultTek. LifeTek built the smaller, but far more numerous, LifeVaults while VaultTek focused on the TekVaults. Except that the true story was quite different from official histories, some of which were contradictory anyway. The famous XFiles Investigations Agency, the XFIA, a quasigovernment organisation partly funded by a powerful private foundation, had theorized that many LifeVaults, TekVaults and other underground complexes were actually built by a secret TekCorp. These were those intended for experimentation purposes. This was despite that these structures were officially listed amongst standard ones. This secretive TekCorp was an exotic research, development and prototype manufacturing known sometimes as the Progressive Corporation. Officially it had no strong link with either government or TekCorps.

The Mysterious Stranger knew it to be true and had existed back before Doomsday as as the Director of the TrueLife Foundation that had largely funded and otherwise serve-supported the XFIA and other organizations. The XFIA report had caused the start of a powerful, popular parliamentary investigation and powerful forces had attempted to subvert or otherwise destroy that investigation. The investigation had led to civil strife, a covert civil war and the weakening of the United Commonwealths of America. This in turn had helped the Soviets to decide to invade the UCA because they hoped it would give them greater chances of success.

Mark Walker moved with impressive quickness, quietness and lightness through the tunnels lit by cheap, easy to power fluroflats fused into ceilings. He passed semiactive bays, complete with protectron and other types of 'tron' robots, at one point. At another he waded waist deep through murky water along a tunnel but did this also with impressive speed and quietness.

He found two more dead, dessicated, HolyVaultfolk pushed casually to one side. There he noted a small pool of black blood like sludge and realized that the thing, that used to be Professor James Ash, was in trouble of some kind. Shadaz sometimes failed after absorption of a victim, sometimes broke down and this was happening to this one, as powerful as it was. Some radroaches in the area kept their distance from both the corpses and the black sludge. The Mysterious Stranger placed his hand above the sludge and, with a sparkling shimmer, it vanished. It was simply too dangerous, for more than one reason, to be left there.

Soon he was moving on and then he was crouching next to a dying, but not dead, woman of the HolyVaultfolk. After he did as much healing as he could, he began to carry her but even so he did not slow in his speed, become any less agile or light on his feet or louder.

The platoon of HolyVault Guardsmen were crouched, fearful but ready to fight, in body-armour and holding a mixture of autorifles, autoshotguns and pulselasers except for one with a tripod-minigun and another with a shoulder heavy pulselasergun. There were also four protectrons bearing the Atomicus symbol. Mark Walker was quite well known in the HolyVaults though not great trusted by many of the Followers of Atomicus. They were used to him coming and going to speak with their leaders but it helped that Mark Walker came with a wounded HolyVaulter who he had saved the life of.

He laid the woman down and a Guardsman medic went at once to examine her.

He spoke to the lieutenant. "You have had trouble with a monstrous creature?"

The man frowned. "We have had trouble with many monstrous creatures known as doppelgangers. We were going to call for your assistance, despite the opposition of our most extreme political factions, but here you are. How do you know of this?"

"I did not." Mark smiled at the tone of suspicion in the soldier's voice. "I came here following one Professor James Ash or at least what used to be him before he was absorbed by a powerful shadaz."

All of the Guardsmen, men and women, gave their holy sign of warding against evil. The HolyVaultfolk were well aware of the the Shadanz that many other peoples had refused to believe in.

The lieutenant nodded. "Some have glimpsed him. Guardsmen went after him and vanished. Other True Followers have failed to report in."

So it was that the Mysterious Stranger told them of what had happened to the five other HolyVaulters that he had found.

[Natasha Biss]

02-05(0033)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

What came out of the gracefully chunky hovertrain were like MrGutys but these were each endowed with a small semitransparent dome with a brain shown inside it. Like brainbots, the exposed brains were actually fake, were holographic projections. The real brains were inside. The first brainbots had real brains inside the domes but this turned out to be very vulnerable to attack so they were replaced by symbolic brains while the real brains were heavily protected inside. The MrBrains, as they came to be known by many, spread out and at once began to prepare to attack; each MrBrain was equipped with a minigun, a heavy pulselasergun and a small multiple rocket launcher. This was the same configuration as used by a type of robot known as MrGrunts, not to be confused with the more well known MrGutsys.

The five MrBrains, hovering on powerful fanjets that were surprisingly quiet, did not shoot.

Herbert spoke. "The danger that some of us 'sensed' is not the MrBrain cyborgs. These are genetically engineered and cloned brains that are adapted well to existence as this kind of cyborg."

A MrBrain came forward of the others. "Greetings Herbert Daring Dashwood. We picked up stories of your supposed retirement but our anolyse of the data indicated a weakness in the overall scenario of some 21%. We calculate that you came through the cable-teleport hub to get here since all tunnels are blocked. At least that was the most likely conclusion since we lack full data of this area. The threat is inside the hovertrain. We managed to temporarily trap it inside an armoured mail carriage but already the armoured door is breaking down. We did number nine units but it destroyed them including three MrGrunts that we had with us."

Four MrBrains and three MrGrunts? Such cyborgs and robots were heavily armed-armoured so the enemy was clearly very powerful.

Then the MrBrain explained more. "The shadowy entity, we compute it is a shadaz, infiltrated the robots and then the cyborgs, causing them to self destruct so that they would not be turned against our people."

Shadaz?

Herbert moved forward with the others following including Lyons Pride. "Infiltrate? How did he do this?"

The MrBrain paused before answering. "Synthetic psychic modes."

Herbert slipped out an EMPgun and shot the MrBrain. Even as it sank towards the ground, the shadaz of black unnatural smoke, came shooting up out of the top of it. Argyle, and the others, had seen Herbert's well hidden hand signals and other EMPguns were utilised with shadaz coming up out of the other cyborgs. Even as the shadaz tried to escape, to shoot through the air, they were shot by electromagnetic pulses and they were destroyed, each making strange screaming noises of hatred and agony.

Herbert healed the cyborg brains, got the machines working again with the assistance of others, and then the cyborgs were hovering once more in the air.

Argyle spoke. "How did you know they were infiltrated. You said they were harmless."

Herbert gave a mild grin. "I said that the cyborgs, themselves, were harmless and that was true, strictly speaking. I wanted to trick the shadaz into thinking I had been deceived and I needed time to get you to prepare to attack with EMPguns."

The cyborg leader spoke again. "That experience was most unpleasant. I hope never to go through it again. It was difficult to shield the truth from the shadaz inside my frame that we serve the AlphaOmega Foundation. We did not expect you to visit again since your schism with the AlphaOmega Elders. We have interesting news for you; the AlphaOmega Elders have come to realize that you were correct and that they were in error. They no longer support Project Purity or have anything to do with the TekCommonwealth."

Herbert sighed. "The foundation was cheated?"

The MrBrain responded. "What happened was more complicated than that but the AlphaOmega Elders can tell you of that. We have also a problem of some Enclavers moving through the edge of our territories in hoversleds. They came out of a cable-teleport hub very much like the one you arrived through. The shadowy things, the shadaza, arrived soon after including a very powerful and dangerous one. It was that powerful shadaz that knocked us out and allowed the weaker shadaz to 'possess' us. He also destroyed the four other cyborgs and also three MrGrunts."

Herbert nodded. "That computes solidly; I wondered how weak shadaza could get past all of your powerful and clever safeguards. Show me these other cyborgs and the robots. We will do what we can to try to save the brains of the MrBrains and the AIs of the MrGrunts."

[Antony Holdsworth]

00-08(0034)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

Despite their pretensions, the HolyVaultfolk lived in conditions and environments almost identical to those of other, 'non holy', vaultfolk. The Mysterious Stranger entered the LifeVault to find it much like any LifeVault which meant it was also much like any bigger TekVault. As in TekVault0101, these vaultfolk had long ago started using many pedal-vehicles along with small electric ones. Apart from the various religious orders there were also more secular ones of the kind normal to the vaults. The Atomicus Imperium had an Overseer Government to run many functions but it was under the control of the Atomicus Elders who also controlled the Atomicus Church.

Vault-jumpsuits were common there as were bicyles, as were vault-androids, as were small electric semi-enclosed golfcars. Nuns moved in strangely immodest outfits of knee length robe-tunics with wide slits, at the sides, going up to just under the armpits, the two halves being held together at chest, hip and hem height. Monks moved in knee length robe-tunics with out slits. The Mysterious Stranger knew this was a change that had happened since he had last been to the Atomicus Imperium and he wondered what had caused it. As for priests, they wore fancier versions of monks' outfits and priestesses moved in fancier versions of the nuns' outfits.

Mark Walker was escorted to a Special Operations Centre at the edge of the LifeVault that he expected most of the vaultfolk did not even know existed. It was also new to him just as were the Atomicus Imperials' expansion into various glowcrystal warmed and lit caverns, one of which they had passed through. There was much new hardware about and roboremotes that hummed around the place along with some robots. Mostly though there were human citizens and basic vault-androids.

He picked up the tension from the first, as he entered the SOC, and noted people rushing around in almost panic to get things done. Mark Walker was met by a mature handsome woman in a dark dull purple jumpsuit. She sat with him at a metal table in a largely bare interview chamber. This one had a high rank in the Atomicus Security Intelligence Order but she not part of the central government. Yet she spoke with strong confidence as if assurred of her authority. "You have come at a difficult time. A very powerful, dark intruder has attempted to steal one of our most important of holy artifacts. You would be surprised to know what the artifact is."

The Mysterious Stranger sighed. "The Atomicus Holy Egg is what you call it but in truth you do not understand what it really is. It is far more dangerous than you Atomicus people understand... begin to understand. I must talk with the Atomicus Elders. It is about time I took that artifact and put it in a far safer place."

The ASIO Captain frowned softly at him. "I doubt that my people would surrender the Atomicus Holy Egg to you but very well I will attempt to get you an appointment with the Atomicus Elders. They tend to see you so there is a good chance that they will meet with you this time."

Sirens began to shreik.

[Alessandra Botham]

02-06(0035)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

Herbert was able to recover all of the cyborg clone-brains and robotic AI-brains but all of the actual bodies were damaged, some so much they could no longer operate except to serve-support the clone-brain or AI-brain. They travelled in the hovertrain back the way it had come, going deeper into the Springvale University of Special Science and Technology, the SUSST that was often known as the SUSSaT. The AlphaOmega Foundation controlled only one underground sector of the university campus but that was very large in its own right. For sensible security reasons they had sealed off other sectors of the SUSSaT though AOF exploration teams did go to other sectors at time; they were always well equipped and supplied but did not always survive; often they returned with at least some damage and at least one dead expeditionary.

In the PreDoomsday DC there had been intensive experimentations of cloning cyborg brains for use in cyborg-robots but also in other ways. On Doomsday, taking advantage of confusion and isolation from official reinforcements, the clone-brains had rebelled and taken over. Clone-brains were not just in cyborgs but in semimobile cybercores that were cyberlinked with AI-supercomputer network-systems. Some humans had joined the rebels along with animal-humans, other kinds of clones, androids and smart-robots. The AlphaOmega Foundation had arisen at the core of the new AlphaOmega Commonwealth. Since then others had joined the commonwealth, and even the foundation, including ghouls, humans and others.

They passed an area of tunnel damage, caused during Doomsday, that was being repaired by robots of various types and sizes, cyborgs and people in labour power armour. Other robots and cyborgs, along with soldiers in guard power armour, or assault power armour. It was pleasing to see something productive being done like that when most of the Wastelands was an environment of slow decay.

The newcomers learned that the Enclaver intruders had halted at a place, in the university sublevels, that was just outside the AOF Sector. Why they had done this, or just what they were up to, was unknown to the foundation scouts who had followed the Enclavers at a distance. Though they could defend themselves well enough, the AlphaOmegans were not truly a military people so they tended to be overly cautious. They probably had good reason to be when facing such as the Enclavers and the Shadanz.

Herbert spoke to Argyle, Jasmine and Sarah who were in the same cabin as himself. "The AlphaOmega Foundation knows about Project Purity that originated, in truth, before Doomsday took place. It is not to be confused with the fake Project Purity, the purification of air, water and earth in DC by special self-manufacturing nanobots, microbots and macrobots. That version of Project Purity is very positive and would do much good for both the Wastelands and for Wastelanders."

Jasmine frowned. "And the not so 'fake' Project Purity?"

Herbert frowned. "As far as I know the 'real' Project Purity would seek to alter the very structure of nature itself to achieve what is supposed to be a new, greatly improved, pure perfection of existence. Or so spoke Professor Stanislaus Braun, the sadomasochist super genius, using words that sound rather chilling. For all of his evil, and insanity, Braun fled from the project after he realized it went even beyond even his level of criminality and he was, perhaps still is, a true sociopath."

Professor Stanislaus Braun had helped develop the amazing super virtual realitiy technologies that were still functioning in parts of the Wastelands. His fame for this, and other scientific achievements, had been overshadowed by his infamy for a series of dark acts. At one stage Braun had been a favoured scientist of the President himself, of the TekCorporations and even of the Enclaven. They had all turned against him but for it had been for good reasons, which was not always the case. Braun had vanished and it was a unknown even if he was still alive.

Herbert spoke on. "The real Project Purity would bring upon this poor, ravaged world, and its people a fate worse than death. Yet there is still much we do not know about it though we know it is somehow linked with the Shadanz and a series of fallen projects begun before Doomsday."

Jasmine frowned. "Can you save my father?"

Herbert sighed. "Frankly speaking, there is little chance of doing that but stranger things have happened. Even if I have to call upon 'very special assistance' I will do my very best to help."

Jasmine knew that Herbert was telling the truth.

Then he said something that surprised her. "You may be the key to saving your father."

[Alan Cutler]

NOTES

Notes on to be added/edited here.

ALPHAOMEGA FOUNDATION/COMMONWEALTH
The AlphaOmega Commonwealth is found in the great depths of the Springvale University, not to be confused with the city of Springvale though the two are closely linked.
At the centre of the commonwealth is the AlphaOmega Foundation but this is not to be confused with the AlphaOmega Commonwealth Government.
Also
Parliament (three houses of Senate, Represenate and Foundation Council).
Law Enforcement, Security and Defense Force with different departments, divisions.
Alpha Omega Watchers (classified).


ATOMICUS IMPERIUM
One TekVault
One LifeVault
along with various other underground complexes
other
Includes two subway stations, subway tunnels and some private built shelters.

[Astargoth Rockin' Design]

00-09(0036)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

The thing that had been Professor James Ash was slowly and steadily disintegrating but it was still powerful. Like a bloated, distorted version of the professor, the shadaz smashed through a metal wall, sending a whole section flying through the air that knocked down two body-armoured HolyGuards. The HolyGuards were an order of monks not to be confused with the Atomicus Imperial Guardsmen. Another HolyGuard fired a xolaser, a specialized type of lasergun, at the shadaz and it screamed in agony; xolasers were special UV laser weapons and were more difficult to manufacture than either laserguns or pulselaserguns; they were also only very effective against certain kinds of enemies. Yet many of the Atomicus Imperium's soldiers were equipped with them. It was as if the HolyVaultfolk had known such a threat would come one day.

Mark Walker sparkled with glowing white light energies as he struck the shadaz with one armoured fist and then the other. The shadaz fragmented and fractured, crying out in inhuman hatred even as it disintegrated totally.

But it was then that the Mysterious Stranger knew that he had been very cleverly tricked. This was not a transformed genuine Professor James Ash but a clone of the same that had been little more than a decoy to draw him off target. Where was the real shadaz Professor Ash and what was he up to?

He turned to the ASIO Captain. "I have been tricked. This is but a diversion. The Atomicus Holy Egg is in danger."

She frowned. "The great artifact is well protected but I will report in your warning." She walked to a small wall terminal and plugged in her communicator, 2way radio communications did not work inside a vault, and was soon speaking urgently to somebody. Then she was finished, she put her communicator and aimed a large looking 10mmC semiautomatic pistol at him. "The Atomicus Holy Egg is gone from its vault chamber. The Atomicus Elders have ordered you to be taken into custody. You will be charged, given a fair trial and then terminated."

"So, Atomicus Imperial justice has not changed much. The Atomicus Elders are up to something, are hiding something, and will pay for it." He reached out, touched the wall and vanished with a sparkling shimmer. The woman fired and the caseless bullets exploded off the same wall.

With a sparkling shimmer, Mark Walker appeared on the other side of the wall in a shower chamber partly filled with naked young women. They quietly looked at him, made no effort to conceal themselves, and as he observed them something clicked. These young women were a special kind of clone. All of the nuns, in their immodest outfits, were clones. The information flowed to him from some unknown place but this had happened before and happened in such a way that he 'knew' it was authentic. Those that he served, in secret, had sent him this knowledge.

He quietly left the chamber of these humans who were not quite human and wondered just what sort of dark contract the Atomicus Elders had signed.

[Monique Cameron]

02-07(0037)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

The expeditionaries got off the hovertrain in a bustling settled area of the AlphaOmega Foundation Sector of the Springvale University, not to be confused with the city proper of Springvale. There was much activity that was typical but much indicating concerns about the shadaza and the Enclavers. Both concerns were smart. The AlphaOmega Foundation had inherited a series of dark projects from the sector they had taken over, some of which they had destroyed. The AlpaOmegans had killed some experimental subjects for very merciful and other common sense reasons but had created a memorial for those poor victims.

The AlphaOmega Commonwealth needed assistance. They were putting together militia units as well as AlphaOmega Guardsmen units, but they needed more resources. It was on that day, at that moment, that Jasmine did something that surprised her along with others around her. She touched a big metallic cubecanister, 3x3x3 metres in volume, and there was a sparkling shimmer. Now two identical cubecanisters stood there each filled with rejuvenated equipment and supplies.

Herbert was not so startled as the others and studied Jasmine quietly, then nodded as if confirming something to himself about the secret nature of 'Jasmine'. Jasmine369 was far more than the biocyborg that she had been turned into as a child and this was true now for Jasmine and Jasmi. But the gift came with a price for it had drained some valuable psionic energies from Jasmine and she could not do such rejuvenation duplication tricks too often or with too much.

When a human petty official tried to pressure Jasmine into rejuvenate duplicating more items, Herbert took just seconds to push him firmly but gently away. Then a MrBrain led them through tunnels until they came to a newly set up Special Situations Command Coordination Centre. A series of large metallic spheres housed clone-brains, were cybercores, while there were a few brainbots on tracks with telescopic multiple purpose limbs. There were also humans, ghoulimans, roboremotes, androids and robots.

A big 3Dscreen on a wall showed a 3Dmap and the location of the Enclavers' group just outside of the AlphaOmega Sector. The newcomers studied the 3Dmap, which was carefully censured in places, and the coordinates of the Enclavers. Both Sarah Lyons and Herbert quickly realised something was wrong with the data before them because of their extensive military expertise and experience.

[Tamara Primo]

00-10(0038)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

Mark Walker studied the three Atomicus Elders. Of the Thirteen Atomicus Elders, only these three Elder Supervisors had been brave and foolish enough to make a deal with the thing that controlled the real Professor James Ash. They had made sure that the so called Atomicus Holy Egg had been turned over to the monstrous entity. In turn they had been given the ability to create the fertile clone women that they hoped would not only bring many new fertile children to the Atomicus Imperium but also holy glory to both it and to themselves. Instead they were now in great trouble.

The Mysterious Stranger stood on the floor of the audiance chamber, looking up at the three worried Elders, but somehow he domianted the chamber. "The clones are unstable, unable to become pregnant and will soon start to die. They are emotionless, largely mindless and yet they have souls. What you have done is to take part in a terrible unholy crime. You can help make amends by bringing me all of the clone women and anybody else or anything else gained from this terrible bargain."

The grey haired man spoke, adjusting his thick glasses on his nose. "Infertility continues to be a problem amongst our people. How can we serve Atomicus if we can not multiply in numbers and spread out to take his holiest of teachings across the Wastelands?"

"It is time for the Atomicus Imperium to show courage and honesty, to come out into the open and reveal your existence to all in Megaton and beyond to many in the District of Columbia. That will be the start of spreading your faith, if people will decide they wish to become of it." Mark Walker responded. "As for the infertility problem, that is a difficulty common to all and some suffer from it far more than your people do. "We will make a new agreement, that is between you and the Lords and Ladies of the Light, as they are often called. For now I will undertake a search of the LifeVault here and try to spot if the powerful, and cunning, entity controlling the professor has... done anything else of evil intent. In exchange your people will make gains and perhaps this will save you three Elder Superviros from the wrath of your people. Why did you dress these new nuns so immodestly?"

The one woman Elder responded. "Professor James Ash stated that this would help them be more fertile. We had doubts about his words but we went along with his suggestion because we are... were... foolish."

"He was making a joke of you or at least trying to do so." Mark Walker shook his head in wonder. "Which is much more like the professor than any shadaz for they have no such sense of humour. Perhaps I need to investigate my assumptions that Professor James Ash is fully under control. This is not good, not good at all. If the professor is cooperating with the shadaz inside his body, then the combination will be even more powerful and dangerous than I have previously feared it would be. It also means that the professor is damned."

The three Elder Supervisors did not look happy but Mark Walker 'sensed' they were eager to cooperate with him, partly because they actually realized just how darkly stupid they had acted.

[Richard Dixon]

02-08(0039)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: RESCUE OPERATION

Jasmine's sister, Jaralin, had been a quiet member of the rescue group and yet seemed to have been observing everything that took place with quiet disclipline. Now she met Jasmine in a small antechamber with a look of concern on her face. She sat facing Jasmine at a small table, both of them sitting on semicomfortable metal chairs.

"Perhaps everything is not as it seems."

Jasmine sipped some vault-coffee and then nodded. "You have not been telling me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Catherine, my mother, sent you from AlphaBeta111 but you are not my real sister Jaralin."

"I am Jaralin's clone-sister and my real name is Jaralina. The real Jaralin is in a hoverchair. Before Professor James Ash departed he did some horrible experiments upon her. One of those caused her illness, which is slowly and steadily healed. Another was to create a unique form of superclone that..." Jaralina sighed. "Is you. I also have exotic abilities such as to sink into the background, to gain a kind of invisibility when others can not quite remember me or even be aware of me. Yet I can continue to be with people."

Jasmine nodded again. "I know but it did not work with me or with Herbert or with Argyle."

Jaralina was visibly startled. "They said or did nothing to show it."

Harold stepped into the chamber. "Neither of us 'sensed' any real threat from you and neither did Gallows. He also knew you were there though he could not quite fully remember your identity. You are, have always been, dreadfully afraid of something dark and treacherous, something powerful and savage. Is that Professor James Ash?"

Jaralina shrugged. "We do not know. We assumed that Professor James Ash was fully possessed, was dominated by a powerful shadaz but then we came to have doubts for growing evidence contradicted that idea. Now we fear that the professor has made a 'deal with the devil', has become a willingly cooperative parter with the shadaz but for what reason, we do not know. Is it for Project Purity? We need more information. Mother turned to Argyle and yourself because you are good people, highly reliable, very well skilled, much experienced and perhaps too trusting."

"Not as trusting as I used to be." Herbert shook his head. "My misplaced trust almost led to the real destruction of Rockopolis. As it was it took a great deal of trouble to save the real Rockopolis such as creating a fake Rockopolis, faking my retirement as a senile old man and faking Argyle's death. It was not the whole reason for what we had to do but it was more than enough."

Jasmine frowned. "So, I am a clone of a clone."

Jaralina shrugged. "Being a clone is not all that bad, at least not in my case, even if my life span is not very long."

Herbert snorted softly. "Jasmine and myself have already been healing you. You will live many years to come. Perhaps I should have a word with Catherine about cloning you."

Jaralina shook her head. "It was Jaralin who did so with out Catherine's permission. I dreamlink with Jaralin and she informed me that mother is not happy at all with what Jaralin did, not happy at all."

"Interesting!" Herbert nodded thoughtfully. "From now on I suggest you be fully visible and known amongst the group. It will be safer for you for Sarah Lyons and the Troopers of Steel sort of 'sensed' you and I had to stop them a few times from shooting you because of conditioned reflexes."

Jaralina gulped softly.

[Syaza Ramali]

00-11(0040)
FALLOUT QUEST EPIC: MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

The clone nuns were brought to the place. It seemed traditional nuns were still around, in the old style outfits, but had been made busy so they would take less notice of the clones. The same was true of the priestesses. Then came clone priestesses. This was followed by male and female clone soldiers, workers and servitors. Herbert examined them all and then, one by one, he put a thin headband on each that glowed softly. Each clone vanished with a sparkling shimmer. Herbert did not say where the clones were being sent to or how they were getting to and the locals 'sensed' better than to ask.

Every time a clone vanished, in its place came a hard metallic cubebox being 2x2x2 metre in volume. Inside them were such as solid-state circuit boards, stimpaks, med-X, xolasers, MREs, small tools, small spare parts of many kinds and much else. Very valuable were litrejons of mattercation ingredients to use with safe-cycle mattercators, fully charged atomic batteries and positronic brains.

There were also books, holotapes and other material pushing for an 'Atomicus Imperium Reformation'. That is to make the Imperium more democratic, its government more secular and to give greater freedom of religious choice or even atheism.

Then came cloned animals of breeding pairs of cattle, horses, chickens and pigs. These were also sent and replaced by cubeboxes.

The Elder Servitors examined some of the Atomicus Reformation Documents and while not happy, they were more pleased than might have been expected. The documentation, and the ideas in them, were very well thought out. The Atomicus Elders would not lost a great deal of authority in the reformed Imperium and the Imperium would gain a better reputation amongst others when it fully revealed its existence.

One of the Elder Supervisors, the woman, revealed that she in truth was under secret orders from the Atomicus Elder Director himself. The Elder Director had wanted the secret dark agreement to be made but wanted to make sure he was not directly linked to it. In case it worked he would take the credit but if it failed, the three Elder Supervisors would take the blame. Mark Walker was fully aware that the man was corrupted, cunning and brutal. He figured it was time for the man not only to be removed from his position but for him to face true justice. Realizing this would take much of the pressure off them, the three Elder Supervisors heartily agreed.

So it was that the Atomicus Reformation began that would soon begin a short but savage Atomicus Civil War between the Reformist and Traditionalist Factions that the Reformists would win.

Mark Walker went to where the 'Atomicus Holy Egg' had been secured in a heavily armoured vault protected by extensive autorobotic network-systems. It was clear that the vault doors had been left open, the network-systems turned off, but that the stolen artifact had been teleported directly from the chamber. This had been easy for the enemy to do but was also a mistake for the Mysterious Stranger could track it. With a sparkling shimmer he vanished.

Then he was standing in the Wastelands in the gear of a typical Wastelander Survivalist. He stood amongst the rubble of a house beneath a bright, warm sun and radroaches scuttled around in shade beneath slabs of broken smart-concrete that still repaired itself as much as it could. In the distance was Megaton with its great inward leaning outer walls. Close to him was a huge water-tower that was half full of lightly toxic rain water from the last rainstorm. When it rained in the Wastelands it often did so in the form of powerful rainstorms.

With a sparkling shimmer the Mysterious Stranger stepped away from Mark Walker. Mark Walker now became an extension, an avatar, of the Mysterious Stranger. He began striding towards Megaton where he had much to do including preparing for the arrival of Jasmine, Herbert, Sarah and the others.

The now invisible Mysterious Stranger moved towards the river, towards the huge SuperDuperMart Complex there for that was the direction the Professor James Ash had taken.