» Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:02 pm A Dead Land
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDdkT85D8DU......it was a lie."
Its been five years since The Cloud first appeared in the Mojave.
Like a rolling tide of death, it washed over New Vegas and the lands surrounding it, covering everything in a thick reddish haze. It killed quickly, and without discrimination: any creature that breathed oxygen was susceptible to the Cloud's deadly effect. Brahmin dropped in the fields where they grazed and people died clutching their throats in the streets of New Vegas: packed together like rats as they all desperately tried to escape the city.
Those that were lucky enough to survive the hellish haze soon found that the Cloud contained other, equally deadly, horrors. Survivors that managed to escape back to the NCR reported that the ghosts of the dead walked the Cloud: striking down anyone they found with flashes of bright light. Others told tales of creatures with terrifying green eyes emanating unearthly sounds that drug off anyone they didn't kill, kicking and screaming, into the depths of the cloud. Never to be seen again.
As the Cloud continued to spread, the NCR exhausted all its efforts attempting to stop the Cloud from reaching its territory. The full manpower and resources of the Republic was put into stopping it: chemical aerosols meant to neutralize the Cloud proved ineffective, and all efforts to contain the Cloud to the Mojave failed miserably. As the Cloud continued its relentless march, outlying NCR towns were the first to fall, and then after one final effort at containment: so did the NCR's capital. The Cloud then swept over New Reno and Vault City, even as the NCR's government and military command fled to San Francisco. Those who could not evacuate, succombed. And a mass exodus occurred of NCR citizenry to the shores of the Pacific: desperate to try and escape the oncoming death. With this mass exodus came food shortages, disease, and scarcity of water, as the Republic's resources were strained to breaking.
It was at this crucial juncture that the Brotherhood of Steel stepped forward, in the form of their secretive inner-organization: "The Circle of Steel." They offered their help and what knowledge they had of the Cloud, knowing full well that they would be destroyed too if they did not act. Though the Brotherhood, the NCR learned the name of their enemy: Father Elijah, who was responsible for unleashing the horrors that now beset them.
In a last desperate mission: the Circle of Steel and the NCR have sent their best soldiers to attempt to penetrate the depths of the Cloud, kill Elijah, and figure out someway of reversing the spread before it becomes too late. It is a suicidal mission, and each man and woman undertakes it fully expecting to die. For survival in the Cloud is harsh at best, and impossible at worst. Life as we know it doesn't exist there, and any food and water sources not air-tight have been contaminated by the Cloud. Exposed skin will need to be protected, and special filtration masks worn at all times: even a few minutes of direct exposure to the Cloud can lead to instant death. Visibility will be poor, as the Cloud has partly obscured the sun and brought on an almost endless swirling red night.
The team will have the best equipment the NCR and Brotherhood can provide, but be warned: there are things which stalk the cloud that cannot be killed. And what further horrors will await them in the Dead Land?
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Cal's misanthropy has been the central theme of his character, so the world ending a second time is almost a dream come true for him. You know, I actually forgot he had his helmet off, but someone noticing that little smirk he has could lead to a really interesting conversation!