This is my first fan fic(Based loosely to Tactics, Barnaky ending sice it suited this the best and will feature Caesars Legion), so all feedback, be it positive or negative is appreciated. Suggestions and tips even more so. I'll first write a prologue that will be a bit short, but I aim to make chapters longer.


Midwestern Man

Prologue:

Three men were sitting on a large boulder. One was wearing an outfit made out of brahmin skin and instead of a left eye, he had only an empty eye socket. The man next to him wore a dirty tank top and cargo pants and was smoking a cigarette. The last man had a armor made out of leather and bits of crude metal and had a mournful look on his face.

"What's wrong new guy?" asked the one eyed man.

"I'm just wondering will I miss home..." replied the man with leather armor.

"Hah, just be glad you're away from the dog smell!" said the man with tank top and cargo pants, grinning.

"It wasn't that bad.." said the leather armored man "Anyway, where are you guys heading?" He continued.

"As far east as I can go" said the one eyed man.

"It's Mojave for me!" Yelled the tank topped man.

"That hellhole?" sniggered the one eyed man.

"Hey [censored] you Quint!" shouted the tank top wearing man.

"I'm heading south, to the Brotherhood." interviened the leather armored man.

"Tough... I'll be going now, see you guys sometime!" said the tank top wearing man.

"If you survive!" yelled Quint after him. "You'll want this stuff with you." He continued to the leather armored man, throwing a bottle of whiskey for him.

"You sure? I mean.." mumbled the leather armored man, catching the bottle from mid air.

"Just try the stuff. But, it's my time to go, so.. Goodbye, for now..." said Quint as he rose from the boulder.

Quint started to slowly walk east wards, leaving the leather armored man to solitude. Leather armored man stayed at the boulder, watching Quints walk towards his still unknown destination. As soon as Quint disappeared from the leather armored mans view, he rose and started to walk towards his own goal, south and the Brotherhood.

Short intro. Not sure what to think. It doesn't really introduce your character, his motivation, his feeling, where he comes from, why he's going to the Mojave.

Also, remember adjectives such as shouted, yelled etc should be used sparingly in speech tags. Remember the old saying: SHOW don't tell. You should try and show through your characters actions, a hand movement, a gesture, etc in what kind of mood your character is, what they are doing etc. It's also a bit distracting to constantly refer to the speaker as "the one eyed man" or "the one wearing leather armor". You can get away with that description maybe once, but then you should introduce their names, it feels more natural. LOL

So yea, just looking forward to see what Quint's story is.

Haha, this isn't a story about Quint! It just happened that his name was the only one mentioned... And it was my purpose to leave these characters blank in the prologue so that I can develope them further later on. And I'll be changing to names once I start writing chapters and I'll adding more actions of characters, moods and the other stuff you suggested. Thanks for the tips! (and feedback in general).

Edit: I'll just clarify a few things, just in case:

The one eyed man=Quint, he went east.
The tank top wearing man=still unknown, he went to Mojave
The leather armored man=still unknown, protagonist, he went south

Oh and I won't be writing Chapter 1 until tomorrow.

Chapter 1: A few days later

A shout broke the silence of an early morning in a small tribal village:

"Guest! Guest! Honored one!"

The shouter was a little girl, who was waving her arms wildly while running towards a small canvas tent. A man stirred from his sleep within the tent.

"Honored one!"
The girl was just outside the tent now, raising its door flap.

"Unghhh.... Just.. Just call me Ma-... Just call me Max..." murmured the man and started to grope for his clothing, his hands sliding slowly on his both sides.
The left one hit an empty glass bottle that slided away. The right one found thin canvas pants, which Max took and slid his legs inside them. His head was pounding and he felt very weak. Then he turned his gaze to the little girl. She had brown hair and stark green eyes, just like him, he noticed.

"Elder seeks your presence, honored Max" the girl squeaked, obviosly startled by Max' gaze.

"I'll be with him shortly" was the only response the girl got.

Once the girl left, Max started to look around. In the leftmost corner of the tent he saw his leather armor. "I won't need that today" he thought. As he continued to look leftwards, he noticed the empty glass bottle. "That cursed fire water" he whispered. He realised that it was the reason for his sudden weakness. And as the thought hit him, he reached for a nearby pot, grasped it roughly with both hands and vomited in it. After that he felt strangely stronger, and started to memorize yesterday evening. He remembered that his arrival to the village was a reason for joy and celebration for its people, and that he had opened that accursed bottle that evening. Then he rose up, stood wobbly and fell. He vomited again, this time on the hard stepped earth floor that the tent had. He felt even better, and rose again, this time standing and exited his tent, wearing only his canvas pants, leaving his muscular chest bare.

Outside the air was heavy and moist, but the coolness of the morning was heavenly for Max. He looked around, spotted the colorfully painted tent that belonged to the Elder and started to shuffle towards it. And as he approached the tent, its colors started to sting his eyes in their brightness. He quickly entered the tent. Inside the were two men, one woman and the little girl.

"Oh, Me sees our guest has tastet the after bite of his fire water!" chuckled the pompously dressed elder man.

Max stared at him a while, shrugged, and looked at two other advlts in the tent. The man there was middle aged, had very thin layer of hair and was wearing something that might have been a doctors coat in its better days. The woman was very young, Max estimated her to be 20 or atleast below 30, she was wearing a canvas robe that was painted in colorful hues.

"Here, drink this." said the doctorly dressed man, offering Max a shot glass full of strange, green liquid. Max noticed that Doctors hand trembled.

"Sure." Max took the shot glass and downed it without a question, assuming it to be a test to prove ones trust to the hospitable tribe.

A strange feeling started to overwhelm his head, it felt like a sand storm, only in his head. Max dropped the glass, and it broke when it hit the ground. Max fell but had the time to move his hands to support him, leaving him on all fours on the ground, gasping for breath. Then, suddenly, the feeling stopped and Max felt normal again, even his head had ceased to ache.

"Stop pondering upon your wretched state, and so the world opens before you." announced the doctor.

Max stood up, didn't speak a word and turned to face the elder, awaiting him to speak. Instead the woman spoke:

"Your presence in our village is a great joy to the Mother-who-embraces-all!"

Max turned to look her, his disbelief of a woman speaking without permission in an meeting of men was enormous. The woman noticed that and fell silent for a moment, then looked at her elder and scowled. The elder seemed amused by the situation.

"Not many can anger our goot priestess, honoret one. She always likes our goot guests, her got demands it."

"Our god" hissed the priestess.

"Ha-ha, nevermint her, she isn't really that angry. Now, allow me to introtuce myself, I am Chief Tartar and this is my shaman, Toctor Timswell!" said the elder pointing at the doctors coat wearing middle aged man.

"Doctor Dimswell, at your service honored one" the doctorly man introduced himself.

"A pleasure, a pleasure" replied Max "But I need to leave your magnificent village to reach my true destination, the Brotherhood of Steel, and I could use some directions."

"You leave to search for steel men? They are in the east, their Vault See-rou is there."

"Thank you elder, and my most sincere apologies for leaving your village so soon." said Max.

As he was leaving the elders tent through its door flap, he turned like he had just remembered something and, with a very strong voice, said:

"One more thing elder, there will be a time when your people are asked to join a greater family than yourselves, and when that time comes, only trust the man who comes from the north."

The elder nodded and Max went back to his tent, donned his leather armor and left his tent. He then loosened some strings of a small leather bag on his belt, and threw the rattling bag to the nearest tribal. He then groped his messy brown hair and turned his sight to east and started to stride in that direction with great determination....

Interesting chapter. I'm wondering why Max found it strange that a woman would speak. He isn't Legion, is he? I also like the cryptic remark at the end... only trust the man who comes from the north. Nice touch

Chapter 2: Stench of death

"Gallows town" was written on a wooden sign that was pointing east. Max looked it for a moment and decided to head there, even if he couldn't see the town no matter how long he looked east. Max was tired from his walk, for he had walked 9 hours straight since he left the tribe of the Painted Hosts. Though walking on a pre-war road was easier than on sand and rock. Then he saw a wrecked truck that was a perfect resting place for him, so he started to move his aching legs slowly towards it. When he ascended to the frontseat, he failed to notice a ring of gasoline around the truck. Max sat on the drivers seat and closed his eyes. Then hell broke loose. Max' eyes snapped open and he realised that the truck was surrounded by a wall of fire, and beyond that wall, there was a person wearing a familiar looking coat. It was Doctor Dimswell, with a laser pistol in hand and he started to yell at Max:

"I should have known you people will come after me! But I won't let you do the same to the Painted Hosts that you have done to so many other tribes!"

Max reached for his right boot and from it, he draw his three sided trench knife. He squeezed it in his palm and then yelled back to Dimswell:

"Care to be a bit more specific, my good man?"

"Don't play games with me, Brotherhood scum! I know you went to those people to convert them to your violent, bigot ways! The Painted Hosts never resort to violence and welcome man and mutant alike as honored guests. I was the first to be sent there and then I saw the errors of the Brotherhoods ways!"

Max was stunned by the claim of him being Brotherhood of Steel, and was utterly lost at words. As the fire raged, the frontseat started to fill with smoke, and Max knew he had to get out. But before he did anything, Dimswell continued:

"And now... now you have to die, so that word about the Painted Hosts never reaches the Brotherhood"

Max was changing his grip on his knife, taking hold of its blade instead of its hilt. Dimswell aimed his laser pistol at Max, but before he could shoot, Max threw his trench knife and jumped out of the trucks door into, and through, the flames. The knife flew, spinned and with a sickening crunch, sank in to Dimswells jaw, leaving him groaning in agony but alive. Max started to run towards him, hoping to retrieve his knife, for he had forgotten his 10mm pistol at the trucks frontseat. But Dimswell started to fire his laser pistol with no evident aim or purpose but still towards Max, so he couldn't run straight towards Dimswell. As Dimswells finger continued to pull the trigger, his ammo ran out and only loud clicking sounds followed. Max seized this opportunity and ran to Dimswell, kicked the laser pistol from his hands and with a merciless, swift pull, freed his trench knife from Dimswells jaw. The wound started to bleed more, and Dimswell almost choked on his own blood but as Max got a proper grip on his knife that was slippery with blood, he thrusted it through Dimswells left eye, killing him instantly. As the motionless body fell to the ground with a loud thump, Max turned to look at the flame wall, which was already going out. While waiting it to do so, he searched Dimswells body and found a notable ammount of energy cells, a note with some faded writing on it and two stimpacks. He took all of it, retrieved the laser pistol he had kicked away and started to read the note:

"Squire Dimswell, you are to go to the tribal village west from Gallows Town. Once there you will persuade the village leader to join the Brotherhood peacefully, and if they don't co-operate, report back to Gallows Town garrison and take as many troops as you need to wipe out the village. This is of the utmost importance, for if we cannot gain anything from this village, then we must make sure that the Mutant Liberation Army or this 'Caesars Legion' will not do so either. You have your orders, dismissed!
Paladin Commander Harris Derring "

Max read the note another time, and came to the conclusion that it was worth saving. Then he saw that the wall of fire had disappeared, and went to the truck to retrieve rest of his gear. As he walked past Dimswells body, he noticed that flies were already buzzing over it, and heard the howling of coyotes. "They follow their basic instincts, it's all they know." thought Max, pondering on another kind of animal doing the exact same thing, his fellow man. Then he started to move, with his steady pace, towards east and Gallows town, for he was now too nervous to rest and found some strength in adrealine, and was thinking about the welcome he would receive there, since it was held by the Brotherhood. But when he climbed on a car that was at the highest point of an hill he was rising, as he was hoping to see Gallows Town, but only a thick, black column of smoke greeted his eye. And the only smell in the air was the stench of death...

Lots of grammar errors, miswritings(wrong words and so), sorry for the inconvenience! Also tips/comments about my combat writing would be valued, I'm a bit doubtful about it. Ah, f**k it, this is going to dialogue oriented thing anyway. Chapter 3 coming later this evening, I'll just finish some 'notes' on microsoft word.

Chapter 3: The ways of war

After a quick nap and an hour of walking, Max had reached the gate of the settlement once called Gallows Town. The gateway was surrounded by debris that Max suspected to be of robotic origin, and seeing a robot hanging from a chain beyond the broken gate of Gallows Town, confirmed his suspicions. As he was looking the robots mangled hull, and thinking about how this had happened, a super mutant appeared at the corner of a nearby building. Max stared at the thing, evidently horrified when the mutant just smiled and started speaking:

"A beautiful sight, isn't it? Oh come on, haven't you seen a mutant before?"

"Just not the kind that could speak" Max muttered for a response.

The mutant laughed and signaled, with a non threatening hand gesture, Max to follow. And Max did. They walked through corpse filled streets, with ghouls and super mutants looking at them from windows and alleys. Max examined his surroundings as he walked, noticing that Brotherhood corpses had been nailed to building walls, their intestines ripped out and spread to the street. Sigils of the Brotherhood had also been painted to building walls, with blood. The occasional robot wrecks he saw were hanged from chains from the roofs and flagpoles. And the most surprising thing he noticed, was that every body beared the sigil of the Brotherhood. Max understood that this was no town, this was a military base.

Then the super mutant stopped, in front of an chainlink fenced area, and nodded his head towards it. Max got the clue and entered the fenced area. Inside he saw several ghouls and super mutants, and one human. Most were chained, but in the end of the small fenced area, was a throne built of power armor parts. On it sat a enormous super mutant, twice the size of any normal super mutant. Besides it, were a ghoul and the only living human in sight. Max approached them. The huge mutant spoke to him:

"Who do you think you are, coming to my hunting grounds?"

"I'm called Max, your um.. greatness.I'm just a normal traveler."

"And I am Marshal Miggs, leader of this strike force of the Mutant Liberation Army!" the mutant said, and took a super sledge that had leaned to the right side of the throne.

"And a great victory you have achieved here, Marshal."

The human, that had been revealed as a man when Max approached, now spoke:

"There is no greatness in slaughter, you fool..." he said to Max.

"SILENCE! You know what these monsters forced our brethren to do! To make crucifixes meant for OUR kind!" Marshal growled, very angrily.

The man fell silent, but now the ghoul, female, though Max didn't notice it, opened her mouth:

"But what would you, a simple traveler, know about victories of this magnitude?" she asked Max.

"More than I care to admit.." Max replied with a gloomy tone, "I have seen my share of the horrors of the wasteland."

"Fair enough, smoothie."

"Now you" Marshal growled, "get this human out of my sight, and yourself with it!" targeting the words to the man besides the throne.

"Very well.." the response was said with an icy voice.

The man pushed Max towards the chainlink gate, and Max let that push slide by, walking out of the fenced area. When outside of it Max started to talk:

"So, what's your story, mutant man?"

"My name's Harris, and if you call me mutant man again, I'll shoot your brains out. How's that for a story?"

The name rang bells in Max' head, and he voiced his thoughts:

"Paladin commander Harris Derring?"

"Not anymore... And just that you don't mistake me for one of those mutant lovers, it was either this or death."

"There is no greater shame than surrender." Max said, though unitentionally.

Harris glared at him, and saying nothing, took Max by a shoulder and pushed him inside one of the houses.

"I'll kill you for that, [censored]head!" Harris whispered, his spit flying over Max' face.

"No you won't..." said Max, turned his 10mm pistol holster, as it was loosely attached, and fired once, twice, thrice.

Harris trembled, stayed on his feet for a while, and fell to the floor, dead. Max gave him no second look, just felt the hole that had come in his holster with his hand. Then he heard super mutant shouts and ghoul rasping. Max crouched down and started to look for another door from which to leave. And he saw a backdoor, tried it, finding it unlocked and then he left that house. He had exited straight to an alley, too narrow for super mutants to enter, and luckily there were no ghouls there either. Then he noticed that the alley was connected to the wall of Gallows Town, and proceeded to that dead end. As he reached it, he heard a shout from the opposite end of the alley:

"Who are you? For you aren't a simple traveler!"

It was the female ghoul who had come out of nowhere, with a grenade launcher in hand, and it was aimed at Max.

"I am the one who begins certain endings." said Max, as he reached for his pistol and when he got hold of it, he shot the ghoul just under her knee.

But the ghoul had also pulled the trigger of her weapon, but Max' shot messed her aim, and when she fell to one knee, her shot went too high to kill Max. And, fortunately for Max, that shot blew a hole in the wall, and through that hole Max escaped Gallows Town. The female ghoul was screaming in pain, so no organized manhunt could be arranged soon for the lack of information. And as Max got out, he ran, ran faster than he had ever ran before. The blood that had spattered from Harris still crusted his leather armor, and the yells of the mutant marshal still rang in his ears.

And when he ceased running, he could only see the smoke raising from Gallows Town. And then he realised that he had no clue where to go next, but as he looked at the setting sun, he thought that going east was the only option. And as he walked, the sun at his back, he started to wonder when he would see his home again....

Oh wow, the last chapter was extremely exciting! I think you are writing combat very well! You had me at the edge of my seat the whole time! You did a great job towards the end, when you explained how Max shot the Ghoul and her shot went too high and that created an escape route! Well done!

Chapter 4: Thirst, danger and new friends

It had been two days since Max' escape from Gallows Town, and his water had ran out half way of the first one. He had walked under a scorching sun, and his strength was faltering. But as he shuffled forwards, he suddenly saw a well in the distance. He started to jog with his last bit of energy. As he closed the well, he tripped on a rock but continued his struggle towards the well. Red and white dots started to dance in front of his eyes, and the outlines of his view started to blur. He reached the well, seeing only little, his sight was mostly blur. And because of that, he failed to see a skeleton lying near the well. As Max reached for the edge of the well, his fingers brushing its rim, his sight became a total blackness and he fainted. And under the scorching mid day sun, he and the skeleton both rested, blissfully ignorant about that hellish heat.


Max' eyes snapped open, and he saw that he was surrounded by strangers, and that they were in a tent. One of the persons turned when noticing that Max was awake, and removed a gas mask that covered the whole face. A woman, Max saw. Then she spoke to him:

"You're finally awake, I feared that you'd never wake up, I mean, you were out for a week afterall."

"Where.. where am I? And who are you?" Max struggled to keep his voice respectful, and thought: "A week!?"

"You're at Vault 0, and we are members of the Brotherhood of Steel."

"I've found them!" Max thought, and felt a sudden wave of happiness sweeping over him.

"I don't think you knew how close to death you were out there" the woman continued "first off, you were badly dehydrated and secondly, you were trying to drink from a poisoned well."

"Am I to understand that you saved me?" Max asked, with a hint of gratitude in his voice.

"Aye, that I did. Also I happened to find some interesting items in your posession."

"My equipment!" was the dominant thought in Max' head, as his right hand slided to his boot finding his trench knife, his left hand groping for his 10mm pistol at his waist, finding it gone.

"Not your weapons, but the Brotherhood items in your possesion."

Max was stumped, he had Brotherhood equipment?

"Your laser pistol had a Brotherhood mark in it, and you were carrying classified mission briefings."

"I found them..." Max stammered.

"And I presume you found Squire Dimswell as well?" said a power armored figure, who had just entered the tent.

"That I did."

"No need to be shy, we know that he's dead, you having that note proves it." said the woman.

Max was silent for a moment, then turned to speak to his savior:

"I never caught your name."

"I'm Alice, and that tin can over there is knight commander Arnold, my older brother."

"Commanding a small troupe of Urban-soldiers." Arnold said with a voice filled with pride.

"Urban-soldiers?"

"We're the intelligence unit of the Brotherhood." Alice answered before Arnold could say a word.

"Oh, then you might be interested about some things I know." Max said to them.

"Well, lets hear it!" Arnold said, sounding enthusiastic.

Max told them all he knew about Dimswell, and the events of Gallows Town. When he finished, night had come, and he was given the tent he was as an resting place. But before Max could get any sleep, he had to clear his head that was filled with thoughts:

"She saved me, I owe her."
"Now I must join them, gain their trust..."
"I almost died."
"I have done it, I found them!"

But soon enough, he fell asleep, and slept long into the morning.

Good chapter! I'm glad Max passed out before he had a chance to drink from that well! So, I'm a bit confused. Max is happy that he found the BoS, yet he killed a high ranking BoS guy? The Harris guy? Why didn't he help him escape? What did I miss? LOL

Harris had skipped from the BoS to the Mutant Liberation Army, and after Max' comment about his actions, Harris did threaten to kill him, so Max acted in self-defense. And Max was trying to find the BoS all the time, but only succeeded finding ex-BoS members until now. And in that Harris situation, Max' comment about surrender came without thought, and it pissed Harris off.

Chapter 5: Duty calls

After Max had woken up, he went to Vault 0's recruiting master, and enlisted to the Brotherhood of Steel. But before he could be assigned to any squad, Arnold had come to request him to Urban squad, saying that Max' reports were accurate enough to earn him a place in Urban. It was agreed, but with the condition that Max would do his first mission that day. Soon Max and Arnold went to a unoccupied tent to make a mission briefing:

"You are to find some petty band of raiders someways west of here." Arnold stated "You were given this mission for these raiders cause little trouble in that region, and getting rid of them might convince locals to join us."

"Then why are they still alive?"

"We didn't have enough interest in this to send a extermination squad, but this will serve as a perfect test for you."

"So after this I'm officially part of you guys?"

"You alredy are, initiate. You'll just prove you're fit to serve in Urban."

After saying that, Arnold left and Max stood alone for a moment. Then he left, with his leather armor still on, as he thought that it would be easier to infiltrate a raider group with no Brotherhood equipment. But as he was leaving Vault 0's military compound, someone shouted after him:

"Hey, you leaving already?"

It was Alice, and Max noticed a strange glimmer in her eyes. Then he shouted back:

"I am, I'll see you when I get back!"

"A lot sooner, I'm coming with you. I'm to watch your methods."

"Fine, but trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Together they set off. They walked for half a day before they noticed the small encampment on the lone hill in the middle of the wasteland. Alice started to speak:

"That's their reported location, and this is the point where you will continue alone, and I'll watch from a distance."

"Very well, though I must say this has been the most pleasant afternoon." said Max, and couldn't believe that he had actually said that.

"Ain't you a gentleman." Alice chuckled "See you after you've done what's necessary."

And so Max left her company. As he was nearing the encampment, a raggedly dressed man came to meet him from there:

"Who are you? And wat 'ya doing here?"

"I'm Max, and I'm here to join you guys."

"What for? You some sort o' steel hater?"

"Too easy." thought Max and replied: "That I am, now will you let me pass?"

The man waved him to continue his journey. They walked side by side to the top of the hill. All along Max just pondered about the stupidity of this man. When they reached the edge of the raider encampment, the man asked Max to relinquish his weapons. Max shrugged, showing that he was unarmed, as his 10mm had been taken by the Brotherhood and left unreturned. The man showed him the way to the biggest shack, and told him to go speak with their leader, and Max went. The leader appeared to be a grotesquely fat man, and he was sitting on a mountain of pillows. The leader started to speak, though quite unclearly:

"You... you have come to us... seeking refuge, a chance of revenge perhaps? What has the Brotherhood done to you?"

"They killed my family and took our home." Max lied.

"HAH! That... they do... But we... we fight back.... We all were farmers or regular townspeople before... before they came... Now we hunt them!"

"How exactly?"

"We... poison wells.... ambush merchants dealing with them....." the fat man stopped suddenly to wipe drool off his floppy chin.

"Wells?!" Max thought and decided that these people would die, be they farmers or raiders.

"So... you will aid us? Fight with us tomorrow.... as we.. we strike at their scouting parties... that camp nearby..."

"Like you could even move, chubby!" Max thought, but stayed silent. Then he nodded.

"Good!.... Good... find yourself an empty shack and... and sleep..." and like that, the fat man fell asleep and started to snore.

Max left the shack, disgusted by the fat man. Then he searched an empty shack for himself and rested, as he planned to act at night. When night fell, and Max woke, he pulled his trench knife from his boot were it had been hidden. And then he set for his grim business, first silencing sentries by thrusting his knife to their throats from behind. After they had been killed and hidden, he started to systematicly empty shacks from people. It proved to be no challenge, only when multiple people slept in a same shack, Max had to be careful. Hand over mouth, knife to the throat. Hand over mouth, knife to the throat. After every shack had been cleared, except for the biggest one where the fat man slept, Max found a supply shack full of chains, hooks, ropes, ammunition and the like. And an axe, which gave Max an idea. After he executed his idea perfectly, he washed himself with some water he had found, for he was covered with blood. Then he went to sleep.

As morning came, Max woke to horrified shouting that came from the fat mans shack. A smile found its way to Max' face, and Max went to the fat mans shack, and opened the door. Inside Max saw the fat man shrieking in horror as he looked at the severed heads of his comrades, hanged from the ceiling with ropes and hooks. Then the fat man looked at Max and squeeked:

"You... you did this... Why? WHYYY?"

"You almost killed me, and I don't react kindly for that kind of behavior." Max said, with a cruel look in his eyes.

"We haven't even seen... you... before!"

"But you poisoned wells." Max continued, and picked up the axe he had left near the door.

As Max left the fat mans shack, he was covered with blood again, but it didn't seem to disturb him. He continued his way out of the encampment and back to the point where he had departed with Alice. She was waiting for him there, with a puzzled look on her face.

"It had to be done." was the only thing Max said.

They then started to walk back to Vault 0, though this time they did not talk.

Chapter 6: The world is small

After Max and Alice had returned, Urban squad held a party of sorts, to honor their newest member. It was held within a rather large tent, and most attendants wore their power armor or enviromental suits, so their identeties eluded Max. Many congratulated Max, but not all. Some told him their tricks of stealth and infiltration, though Max already knew some of them. Max himself did not speak, until one rather talkative member of Urban came to speak with him:

"Hey D-cap!"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, decapitation? You severed heads, we heard the reports!"

Max scowled, and thought: "D-cap? How vulgar." And the Urban soldier continued to talk, though Max did not bother to listen, only nodding once in a while.
The party lasted to midnight, when everyone went to sleep. Max was told to come to the armory at dawn, and to bring his leather armor. And in the morning, Max woke when Arnold came to shake him by the shoulder, and whispering:

"Come on, let's go get your equipment."

Max rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, donned his leather armor, and went after Arnold into the cold morning air. It brought memories into Max' head, the image of him walking amongst the Painted Hosts floated in his head. But when he blinked, the vision was gone. As he walked, he noticed an APC and troops climbing into it. It made Max curious and he decided to ask Arnold about it:

"Where are they going?"

"To Gallows Town, and notice that teal coloring on their armor? It marks them as Talon squad troopers."

Max nodded and proceeded after Arnold into the armory. Inside Max saw tens of assault rifles, pistols, energy weapons, missile launchers and many sets of power armor, enviromental suits, leather armors, metal armors and tesla armors. Max was amazed by the sheer number of weaponry and protective equipment. As Arnold noticed that, he smiled and pointed at a small desk at the end of the armory. Max looked, and noticed that a man was sitting there, tinkering with something. He and Arnold then proceeded to the desk, and the man hunched over the desk lifted his eyes to look at them and said:

"Ah, Urbans newest addition! I've been working wonders with your pistol!"

"What have you done to it?"

"Oh you'll see! And please, call me Zach!"

"Well Zach, can you show me my pistol?"

Zach started to go through the drawers in the desk, eventually finding Max' 10mm and lifting it so Max could see its modifications. A laser sight, new handle, somesort of saw under the barrel and that caught Max' attention. Max asked about it:

"What's this then?"

"Ohoho! It's a small ripper, my own design! I made it for you after hearing those things you did."

"Great" Max thought. "I already have a reputation here."

"So, do you like it?"

"I do, but do you have a holster that it fits in?"

"Of course, of course! Here you go. And now, shall we look at your armor?"

Max started to scan the racks with his eyes, and a particularly sleek enviromental suit caught his eye.

"That one." He said.

"Very well.... But this is your only free piece of armor, got it? Dent it, scraqe it, or otherwise break it, you're paying for it!"

Max nodded, took the armor, and tried it on. It was a bit heavier than his leather armor, but he felt comfortable in it. He then thanked the quarter master and exited the armory. Soon after Arnold spoke to him:

"You're leaving today."

"I am?"

"Yes, and Alice is again coming with you, to make sure you're not going to run away with Brotherhood equipment."

"Well, where am I going?"

"Alice will tell you, she's awaiting you outside of the compound, now go Initiate!"

And Max went, outside of the compound and met Alice just outside it. Alice started their conversation:

"Well... This is your first real mission. And it will be dangerous, so here are some microfones for communication."

Max took them and asked:

"Where are we headed?"

"Denver, we're to scout it, well you are, as I'm just a back up."

"Denver..." Max thought, and a whisper escaped his lips:

"The Dogcity."

And another synonym was racing through his head:

"Home."