The Indomitable Cockroaches


It was yet again, another one of those days. The sun was shinning, the Yao Guai roamed the outskirts of Megaton; looking for their next meal, and people continued on their normal day. I sat quietly at the kitchen table, looking out the single window which looked out over the town center as Leni cheerfully cooked our breakfast. The smells of Mole Rat, and pre-war rations was enough to make you vomit, but it was something, and that something was worth eating if it gave you even the slightest of energy to get through the harsh day.

Leni and I, had been together for five months. We had met, while I worked as a caravan guard; here in the Capital Wasteland. Me and old Doc Hoff, who has since passed away due to a supposed Jet overdose, were traveling near Tenpenny Tower, when we heard the cry for help. Quickly, the Doc and I went to investigate the cries coming from the hills between Tenpenny Tower, and Megaton. When we got there, Leni and two other wastelanders were busy fending off a group of Raiders, who had killed their Brahmin and were now going for the finishing kill--them.


The Doc and I, quickly disposed of the Raiders, getting the jump on them before they could react to our presence. Since then, Leni and I have been close. We enjoy each others company, and know where one another are coming from. Both Leni and I, were born outside the Capital Wasteland; and were both born to a quiet mother, and a drunken father who beat us regularly.

Anyway, that day was yet again just another one of those days. It was one of those days, that not much was happening around the settlements, and with the people in those settlements; but things were definitely happening out in the dark, seedy, and treacherous wasteland. How I knew this, was from many years experience in living out in the wasteland, and in towns here and there. I was the only one I knew, who had this sensation; not even Leni ever felt it or anything like it. She just either felt, pleasure, happiness, sadness, or boredom; just like anyone else. I felt some of those, but sadness was not one of them. After seeing so much death and destruction over the years, my emotion of sadness has evaporated from my body.

But back to what I was saying. I didn’t know why this day was one of those days, but it was. Once Leni was done with breakfast, we both quietly talked with each other about typical couple things, most of all being Confessor Cromwell. He did not approve of us, mainly because we did things that he thought only two people who were married should do. We didn’t let it get to us, but it was something we often spoke with each other about. Neither Leni or I, were ready for something long term, and both were just going along for the ride as they say.

After breakfast, and chatting a bit more about random things. I got cleaned up, and left Leni to do her thing, at the house. We had both chipped in together, to pay for the lonely house, and we were lucky to get it too: Lucas Simms, had been a bit uneasy allowing us to buy it when so many others were held up in the Common House.

In the center of town, where the now disarmed atomic bomb from the prewar times rested, Confessor Cromwell stood standing in the radiated water; preaching on and on about many universes, and other things I did not care for. I was not a man, who wondered about much, I didn’t have the time. Sure I read, but I hadn’t finished a book in years due to work. In the rest of the town center, the Brass Lantern waited customers; Jenny Stahl waving over to me with a smile. She was a kind woman, and usually cut me in on some deals outside of town, most of which had to do with food.

As I made my way up the hill and out the main gate, Stockholm waved down to me. I waved back, and continued on my way. Neither of us had much to say to one another, which was fine by me. We never drank together, or did anything together, so I figured we had nothing in common. He probably thought the same thing, but you never know. On my way out of Megaton, a slight breeze came through the freeway over pass, and hills from the direction of Tenpenny Tower. It had the faint smell of Yao Guai, and I quickly picked up the pace towards Springvale. It was a bit of a downer, not being armed out in the wasteland, but luckily I had little to travel, and could be back home soon enough. That is, if work hadn’t kept me.

When I reached Springvale, I walked briskly towards an old house that was boarded up on all sides. The windows were covered with wooden boards, and other junk scavenged out in the wasteland. Even the back and front doors were boarded up. Before I reached the house, I turned around, looking behind and all around me; making sure no one was following me from Megaton, or someone who had decided to follow me from out in the wasteland. When I assured myself, that no one but me was out there, I hurried to the house; climbed the roof, and felt the semi-broken shingles for the ringed latch, hidden underneath two of them. Once I found it, I quickly opened it and slipped into small addict, closing it behind me. There was a ladder clearly in front of me, and light came up from inside the house. I quietly moved to the ladder, climbing down before I was greeted by two men.

“Hello Tom, glad you could finally make it.” The tallest of the two men said, holding out his hand. He had a grizzly beard, and spoke with a deep northern accent; similar to Moira’s accent. “We thought you’d be late, or not show up at all! But we’re glad you came, we have much work to begin doing, and we must stay on schedule.” I nodded, shaking his hand quick and firm.

“You’re right Jeff, we do have much to do; so lets get going!” Jeff smiled, and I followed behind. The second man smiled, and held out his hand to me as we walked. He identified himself as Henry. Jeff had come across Henry a month ago, and was showing him the ropes to our organization. He spoke in more of a southern accent, like one you’d hear from what used to be Georgia, or Alabama. He was a bit of a skinny guy, and you could tell he didn’t get out much because of his pale skin compared to me and Jeff’s.

When we walked into the kitchen, Jeff pulled out some keys that were all put together on one large aluminum ring. He shuffled through them, looking for the key to the basemant door that was behind the refrigerator. Soon enough, he found it, and the three of us moved the fridge out of the way. We closed the door behind us, and made our way down the dark staircase to another door. This door was much different than the door up the stairs. It was made of steel, and had a large “E” with stars circling around it, right in the middle of the large steel door. This time, I had to help Jeff by getting my pass-code card out, and swiping it in the card recognition slot. The door hissed as it slowly opened, making us step back a bit out of its way.

Lights stuttered, and then came on fully; revealing a basic room of desks separated by removable walls, and some broken computers on the desks. We made our way through the empty cubicles, once again coming to another steel door. This time, it was not so large, and it had gears on it. Jeff tapped in the code, and the door separated in half. The larger door with the “E” and stars circling around, closed as we stepped through the smaller door, which closed immediately behind us. The small hallway was lit by bright lights, not powered by electricity. Jeff snorted as he often did, when we reached the other end of the small hallway, and finally entered the actual facility. Inside the large room, men and women of different hair color, eye color, and height and weight walked by. Large computers, were busy calculating, processing, and being maintained by some of the men and women, as we moved through. Some were busy at smaller monitors, typing away information, and calculations. They all wore the same looking long white coat, and had some kind of writing utensil in the front pocket of their long coat’s.

Jeff lead us into one of the rooms, that was empty, Henry closing the door behind us and then taking a seat with the both of us. There was a small monitor on the table, and Jeff quickly got to typing in some information before looking back at me.


“Welcome back to your brothers, Tom. How have things been, undercover these last few years? I know you’ve met someone special, and you’re both living in Megaton together. Am I right?” Jeff asked looking at me, with his dark powerful eyes.

“Yeah, I have. She’s an all right kid, nothing really to her. Her story adds up with my false backstory, so why not keep up the lie, right.” I said with a bit of sarcasm. Jeff and Henry both smiled and laughed. “So what did you call me back for? Something big happening somewhere? Nothing big happening in any of the settlements, so somethings got to be happening out there in the wasteland. The Enclave isn’t one for pulling out an agent from the field, unless something big is happening-” Right then, Henry pulled his seat closer to me, and from underneath his jacket, he revealed a manila envelope that had “TOP SECRET,” stamped in red on it.

“Go ahead and see what’s inside, Tom. You’re right, something big is happening. And the higher ups want you in on it. Me and Henry here, are just your men behind the scenes. We’re the whisper in your ear, and the voice in your head telling you little things here and there; that only you are too know. What’s in that folder, is between only us three in this room. None of those people out there, know about this. Understand?” Jeff said typing some more into the monitor. I nodded, and could tell that Jeff wasn’t playing around. We had taken heavy losses after the destruction of Raven Rock, and our defeat at the Mobile Base Crawler. But we were still around to fight. Maybe not up front, and right in the face of the Brotherhood of Steel, but we could still give them trouble, in every other way possible.

I scanned through the papers and photos, that were inside the envelope; there were photos of the Pentagon, or as it was better know: The Citadel. There were marks that highlighted the defenses, and weak points in the buildings deteriorated structure. Since our defeat, the Brotherhood had come together, or at least as close together as was possible. Lyons was dead, he had died of a heat attack, so his daughter Sarah Lyons took control quickly before things possibly got out of hand. She sent messengers to their Western Brotherhood, informing them of their victory over us, and that they had began once again started on the original mission they had been sent to fulfill when she was just a little girl. The Outcast was wary of this, but eventually rejoined their brothers and sisters, back at the Citadel. They were the driving force behind the Capital Wasteland now. Super Mutants roaming the wasteland, and D.C. were almost completely extinct.

Sarah Lyons had, before her father’s death, gone on the offensive with every available soldier she could; and began cleaning up the D.C. Ruins and wasteland. There was hardly a place, the Super Mutants could go that the Brotherhood wouldn’t find and eradicate them for good. It was until we began helping the Super Mutants, through other wastelanders on a strictly survival friendship; that they began to hold their own, and their numbers stopped decreasing.

After reading through the papers, and getting the gist of what this new operation was all about, I looked up at Jeff and Henry; both were staring back at me intently. I gave them a look, that I was unsure of the operation, and not really sure if I wanted to be apart of it. Both of them picked up on it, and their faces began to sink. I turned around, looking at the door for a moment when I felt Jeff pulling the folder away. Right then, I turned and looked at them both with a pleased smile.

“I’m in.”

Well...The story has my attention so far. The title is a little misleading though.

The punctuation and grammar in this story needs a little work. In particular, your use of pauses (commas, semicolons and periods) seems off at times. I'll give some examples from the first two paragraphs.

In the second sentence, the semicolon after "Megaton" should be a comma. "Continued on their normal day" doesn't really make sense - technically, it should read "Continued on with their normal day." The comma after "Mole Rat" in the third sentence is redundant, and the "was" later in that sentence should be "were" (as it refers to a plural). In the second paragraph, the comma after "Leni and I" is unnecessary, and serves to break the sentence's flow. The comma after "We had met" is also redundant, and the following semicolon should probably be a comma. The "has" in the third sentence of the second paragraph should be "had", to fit with the tense used in the rest of the story... and later in that same sentence, the wording should be "when we had heard the cry for help". In the sentence after that, "went" should be "had gone". The rest of the sentence could be better phrased as follows: "to investigate the cries, which appeared to come from the hills between Tenpenny Tower and Megaton." Note that the unnecessary comma has been removed. The last part of the second paragraph doesn't really make anny sence, you may want to look at that.

I hope that helped. The story was otherwise very enjoyable to read, although I suggest you proofread the entire thing

Thanks. The title refers to the Enclave being like that of a Cockroach, where they're impossible to get rid of completely, but you can dwindle them down to just a few here and there. So don't take the title completely as so straight forward, it's just a metaphor for the Enclave.



Thanks, I'll look into that more. And I don't quite understand what you mean by the last part of the second paragraph? Do you mean this: "When we got there, Leni and two other wastelanders were busy fending off a group of Raiders, who had killed their Brahmin and were now going for the finish kill--them."

If you mean the two dashes, it's just meant as a break.

Ah, OK, I misread that. My bad You may want to change "finish kill" to "finishing kill", in that case.

As a side note, I really like the title.

Very enjoyable and I liked the flow of the story which had you thinking one thing and then suddenly turned in another direction. Please keep pushing your own particular style of writing and perfect it. As for titles, go with your feelings on that one. I liked the title and it drew me to reading your fanfic.

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That evening; I returned to Megaton with a bag full of Mole Rat, Cockroach, and other meats that inhabited the wasteland; which Jeff and Henry had given me to return with once our business was over with. No one in Megaton knew where I went, all of them assumed I had just been out in the wasteland, getting food to trade with the Brass Lantern, and Moira Brown.

After speaking with Simms about the wasteland, and how it was out there, I made my way back home to Leni. When I walked in, she was no where to be seen in the living room. I shrugged, and walked into the small kitchen area and put the meats in the fridge. I still had with me, the folder that Jeff and Henry had given to me about the operation. Everything we had begun to do, in the past would all start to pay off. Our secretive business with the Super Mutants, our shady deals with drug smugglers, constant harassment of Brotherhood patrols by Raiders, and so on; and so forth. Whatever kinda vice there was to be had in the Capital Wasteland, we were knee deep and deeper into it. The whole idea, was to destroy what the Brotherhood was trying to accomplish. It had worked somewhat, but it did not have quite the impact we were looking for. But this operation, I had no doubt in my mind would put everything the Brotherhood of Steel had worked for and done, in jeopardy.

I found Leni upstairs, doing some sewing and knitting. She was quite fond of both, and did them as something just to do and for fun. She smiled and got up from her chair, coming over and giving me a kind welcoming hug. I returned the gesture, and even gave her a couple of kisses. She seemed to be genuinely happy to see me. I had been out in the wasteland for longer periods of time before, and on my return she was overly excited to see me again; but she seemed a bit like we had been apart for several months.

“What is it?” I said looking at her with a smile. “You seem so...” I couldn’t finish the sentence, I didn’t want to say clingy, but it was all I could think of at the moment. So instead, I shrugged with a smile, and kissed her again gently.

“I’m just glad to have you back. You know I worry when you’re out there. I always will.” She said pulling in close to me. I smiled and kissed the top of her head, sitting her down beside me on the bed. I told her time after time, that nothing would happen to me. Her blonde golden locks, glistened in the light of the room. Her big sky blue eyes were never so beautiful, it was kinda hard for me to continue my act, just by looking at her.

After a moment of kissing and talking, she went downstairs to make some dinner. I was quite hungry, and hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. My stomach was rumbling, and the only thing I had to keep it quiet for the moment was my flask of whiskey. It was a prewar whiskey, and quite a generic brand back then from what I was told; but here in the Capital Wasteland, it was a rarity. I gently nursed the whiskey, before getting up and calling down to Leni.

“I’ll be in my office. Just call me when dinner is ready, I’ve got some things to work through; so knock first, please.”

“O.k., I will.” Came the reply from downstairs. I turned and walked into the room beside our bedroom, which I often used as my “office,” for my cover work; and my real work.

Quick enough, the door was closed, my desk cleared of everything but the manila folder, and me quietly rereading over the papers, and looking over the photos from our too few remaining Eye Bots. I ran my hand through my dark black hair, moving it out of the way of my eyes. The whole operation was quite large, much bigger than just the Capital Wasteland. There would be operations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Illinois, Michigan, and anywhere else the Brotherhood of Steel and their Allies stood. It was quite amazing, I had no idea we still had enough manpower for such an operation. Our numbers were much smaller than before, but we still had enough men and women for the smaller operations dealing with the drug smugglers, etc.

After an hour of looking it all over again, Leni called up to me. I was quite excited for this new operation, my part was nothing very special, but it was important; like all the others involved, everyone’s job in it was important. I closed everything up, put the folder away in my desk, and turned everything off that was already on. For the rest of the night, Leni and I sat together talking, drinking, and eating here and there. I wasn’t very interested in the conversations, my mind was mostly on the up coming operation, I had to meet with Jeff and Henry once again; this time in Tenpenny Tower.

It had been two years since Old Man Tenpenny had kicked the bucket. He was an alright guy, probably would have done good in the Enclave if he hadn’t been born of an inferior seed. His mindset was o.k., but his genetics were not. Nowadays, neither Mr. Burke; or that security guard ran Tenpenny Tower. The ghouls who had worked so hard to get in, had what they wanted. Now it was Roy Phillips, and his bunch of disgusting cronies running the place. It was not a good setting for an Enclave soldier like myself, but being as my disguise was a typically kind wastelander, I was inclined to act as such.

“Everything o.k. with you, hun?” Leni asked looking at me kinda worried. “You just kinda seem to be off somewhere else, tonight? Something happen out in the wasteland while you were out?”

“No.” I said looking at her eyes, “I’m sorry, it’s just work is kinda being a hassle. The deals I’m getting, aren’t really helping much. I think I might have to raise my price with Moira, and maybe a couple caps higher with the Stahl’s. Now what were you saying?” Leni smiled, and continued what she was saying, I could tell my on the fly lie had worked. She continued on, about some of the people in Megaton; I had no interest in the people, I was only using them. It was what being undercover was all about. If you didn’t use people, you were used yourself or worse; you were found out and either shot on the spot or tortured relentlessly by your captive. It all depended.

Later that night, when Leni had gone to bed, I was busy in my office once again reading over the operation. I wasn’t only excited, but I was quite eager to get a jump on the operation. Get things going now, rather than later. But I still had to meet with Jeff and Henry tomorrow, about our plan of action; which apparently was to go about to Paradise Falls, drug smugglers, gun dealers, and others in the wasteland and ruins of D.C., and gather them so we could start “informing” them of what to do.

I hardly slept that night, my mind raced with ideas of what we’d do to the Brotherhood. How this operation would effect the Brotherhood, and how I would be apart of this great operation. Somehow though, I did find the ability to sleep, though my dreams were a bit different from usual. Rather the typical randomness, my dreams seemed to be about the conquest of the Brotherhood. They were quite glorious and amazing, I could only hope that those dreams would be fulfilled.

Enjoyed the 'covert operation' feel of this story, the way it is plotted and already I am picking up hints that things might not go as the hero hopes or is that just me?

Your writing keeps me on edge wondering what will happen next.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks, glad to hear it. Hope you enjoy the rest that follows.

Well well Strangelove, a new fanfic, huh? As has been stated, your grammar could use some work for many of the same reasons as before.

However, on the other hand, I think your writing skills in general have improved, and I'm very much enjoying the length of your story here. Looks good; keep it up!

I get the feeling that our protagonist, I am reluctant to call him a hero, will have trouble disconnecting himself with his mate of "inferior seed".

I'm enjoying this a lot. Its definetly one of the fan fictions i've read recently that have had me hanging on every single word. Can't wait for more!

Thanks. I have been trying improving on my writing in general to how it flows, so now I'll have to start concentrating more on grammar.



I'm glad you're reluctant to call him a "hero". That's what I was kinda hoping for... Sort of making him an anti-hero, but still not qualified for that title either.




Well tomorrow, I should have up the next piece. So keep your eye out. :goodjob:

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The next morning, I did the basic routine I did every other morning: Get up, eat breakfast with Leni, get dressed, and depending on the day I would either go to work, or hang around Megaton. I spoke that morning with Leni, about going out again. I told her that the meat I had collected yesterday, was not enough for either Moira or the Stahls to give me a good amount of caps. She seemed a bit worried, that I was going out so soon, but agreed in the end.

"I'll be traveling towards Canterbury Commons. I'll probably spend a night or two when I get there, before I come back. Don't worry Leni, I'll be back in a couple of weeks or so." Leni began tearing up, she really didn't like saying goodbyes, even if it was to someone she knew would be coming back to her.

"Just don't get hurt out there. You know I can't stand death anymore, and yours would just ruin me. I haven't got the strength anymore, Tom. That's why we should just settle for a little job here in Megaton." I shook my head; she knew I wouldn't want a job here in Megaton. Working under Moira or even Moriarty, would send me over the deep end.

After saying our goodbyes, and holding each other for a moment, it was time for me to leave. I grabbed my two duffle bags. One was filled with food, knives, and other equipment that a hunter would need for his trip. The second was empty. It was supposed to be the one I gathered the meat and other food in; but it was only extra baggage.

When I walked out of the house, through the town center, and out the main gate, I started heading north east. There was yet again, a breeze coming from down where Tenpenny Tower was. My true destination. I walked up near Springvale, till I was out of sight of Stockholm, and anyone else that was watching from the front of Megaton. I began singing a song: The American National Anthem, which had once played through these streets; back in the days when President Eden, and the Enclave here on the East Coast was strong and vital. Now it was a ghost town, and hardly any Enclave were here, or anywhere. The only ones left in the Capital Wasteland, were the hundred or so down in that bunker underneath that house in Springvale. It was quite a sad realization.

When I entered Springvale, I quickly headed to the house. Henry had slipped in a special note, just for me, informing me that he and Jeff would leave me something special; in the back of the house, covered with a tarp. The letter didn't divulge or go into any more detail, other than it would give me an extra boost to reaching Tenpenny Tower sooner rather than later. I quickly found, what Henry was talking about. It was large under that tarp, and I immediately knew what it was. I rushed over, removing the tarp revealing, a motorcycle. It was in prime condition, and the parts, though used, seemed to be in good shape. I rolled it out from the house, and got on. It started a big rough, the engine making some choking sounds as it cleared dirt and dust that must have collected in it a bit. After a moment, the engine sounded clean and powerful. I put on the goggles that they had left me, and set off towards Tenpenny Tower.

The wind blew through my hair as I roared up the road, dodging cracks, holes, and junk left on the road from passing wastelanders. It had been years since vehicles in the Capital Wasteland had worked, but thanks to the Brotherhood of Steel, they had gotten some of them working. In the D.C. Ruins, where the GNR Radio building was; Three Dog and his new wife actually began a dealership on the main floor, in the building. The Brotherhood gathered the bikes and parts, put them together, and then sent them off to Three Dog who sold them to any wastelander with the caps. They didn't charge much, but not every wastelander could own a motorcycle.

Anyway, as I rode up and down the cracked and baked roads, I had a sudden feeling of freedom. In the distance, far off, almost out of sight, I could see Yao Guai running up the hills. To the other side, I could see Mole Rats burrowing into the ground like their ancestors had done before. This was the life, riding a motorcycle out in the middle of no where, wasn't so bad. At that moment, on that bike, I had absolutely no worries. Not even the excitement of the new operation could reach me while I was on the bike. It was just me, and me alone out there with the wild. It was an amazing feeling.

Later in the day, after riding nonstop through the wasteland, I pulled to the side of the road to take a break. When I got off, my legs felt numb and almost nonexistent. I collapsed to the ground, catching myself before I hit my face on the ground. I was kind of worried, not having any feeling in my legs but numbness. I took a quick scan of the area I was capable of seeing, when I suddenly heard a whooshing sound, I had not heard in a long while: The sound of a Vertibird's engines. I would have recognized that sound anywhere. I looked around trying to find it, but all I could see was blue sky and white clouds. The roar of the engines was still there, and I could hear it coming closer. I looked towards Tenpenny Tower, but saw nothing. I looked towards where Raven Rock once was, but there was nothing. Suddenly, right over my head the dust from off the ground kicked up and surrounded me as the low flying Vertibird flew over. They hadn't seen me, and continued on their way towards the direction of Little Lamplight.

The Vertibird though, was not one of the Enclave. On the sides of the engines, there was the mark of the Brotherhood. They had taken the remaining Vertibirds for themselves, and were now using them to patrol the wasteland, searching for Super Mutants, and any other hostile threat to wastelanders and them. I watched for a moment, as the feeling in my legs began to come back to me. The Vertibird was an amazing vehicle, and I reminisced back to when I was just a typical Enclave soldier, dropping into hostile areas at night, with nothing but a combat knife and silenced pistol to do some sort of covert operation. But those times were long gone, and nowadays I did not have the Vertibird to go in at night, or the man power to back me up if things got too out of hand.

After watching the Vertibird, and getting the feeling in my legs back, I got back on the bike and headed off towards Tenpenny Tower. Since the ghouls take over of the tower, changes had been made. The walls of the tower, were now spread out more. The little old prewar town surrounding Tenpenny Tower, was not sheltered behind the large makeshift walls; giving residents of the tower other places sleep. The little store, near the metro entrance was now a major trading hub for the ghouls. And the metro tunnels underneath, was now used incase of emergency. Roy Phillips and his cronies, had done quite well for themselves. I had no remorse for the zombies, they would have shot me right where I stood if they knew what I was and worked for. I found them disgusting and vile creatures. They may have been human once, but now they were nothing but the living dead. During the time of President Eden, it was quite fun going out into the wasteland, and snipe an unsuspecting ghoul or two while they tried searching for food. The "feral" ghouls, weren't as much fun to shoot because they were just rag dolls; but the "non-feral" ghouls were a treat. I had more than fifty dead ghouls under my belt, and it felt pretty good. But nowadays, I was forced to make friendly with them. Most wastelanders in the Capital Wasteland, were no longer "bigots," and accepted the ghouls for who and what they were. So I was forced to act as such, calling them kindly, and treating them like I would any normal human. Even the Brotherhood had settled down on the "bigotry," and were at times accepting only the best well trained ghouls into their force. It was quite disgusting actually.

As the day went on, and I continued my ride through the wasteland, stopping at the top of the hour or so to rest and get my legs back, Tenpenny Tower was soon in sight. The old Robot factory, was still there, but now surrounded like the old prewar town; by the extended walls of Tenpenny Tower. As I rode down the cracked and baked road, I passed the hills where Raiders once inhabited, and Leni and I had met for the first time. A smile came across my face, thinking about how she was. It wasn't hard for me to lie to her, nor was it a pain for me to do, but I wished I could just bring her into the Enclave. Make her one of us, make her into the true guiding American that she was capable of being. Like my old squad commander used to say, "In every putrid wastelander, there is an American, trying to get out!"

Soon, the walls of Tenpenny Tower began to grow larger and larger, until I was riding beside them, heading towards the East Gate which faced towards the hills and Megaton. The sentries on guard, eyed me as I rode up and shut the engine off.

"Welcome to Tenpenny Tower, are you here for pleasure or business?" One of the sentries asked. His face was a grey-ish yellow, and bits of skin peeled away as he spoke. The other ghoul just stood and watched, manning the gate controls. I looked at them both, their very presence was sickening to me. I was glad, that not only ghouls lived in Tenpenny Tower anymore.

"My business is my pleasure, so both." I said with a faked smile, and a friendly voice. "I've got some friends inside, who are waiting for me. Maybe you let them in? They were two men, like myself."

"I'm sorry, I don't remember. Maybe they came during the night? I've just began my watch duty, sir." Came the reply from the peeling skinned ghoul. "We'll let you in, just a moment." Quick enough, the second ghoul flipped a switch and the two large metal gates spread apart. I restarted the engine, and quickly rode in. The sun was already going down in the east, and I was sure that Jeff and Henry were here already. I would have hated to be have been there alone, waiting for the two of them.

When the gates closed behind me, a ghoul wearing an old Robo Co. jumpsuit came over. He smiled at me, and looked at my motorcycle for a moment. We shook hands; the feeling was quite uncomfortable, and he introduced himself as Abe.

"Hello Abe," I said getting off. "Mind telling me where I can park this thing for the night?"

"Well, I'll take it for you. I'm the head at the motor-pool, and all vehicles we get I take over to watch over, until the person leaves Tenpenny Tower." Abe said switching it off. "Your bike is in good shape, did you just recently buy it?" I nodded, smiling another fake smile before waving goodbye and hurrying to the tower.

Inside, calm relaxing music played, while ghoul and wastelander alike talked and went about the rest of their day. I looked around a moment, the walls had been fixed up, and the chandelier was brighter than ever. Jeff and Henry had mentioned, they meet me in the bar lounge. I walked around, finding a what seemed to be the bar lounge, with a Protectron manning the counter. I looked around, spotting Jeff and Henry sitting in the corner speaking with one another. I smiled, and moved over to the counter, ordering from the Protectron a solid whiskey. I pulled out some caps, and placed them on the counter for the robot, and walked over with my whiskey in hand; over to Jeff and Henry.

"So boys, looks like we've got ourselves a plan!" I said with excitement. Both of them leapt up, shocked to hear my voice so suddenly. "Don't get up for me boys, I'm only one man."

"[censored] you Tom," Jeff said sitting back down with a bit of a sour face. Henry smiled and held out his hand. "What took you so long? We've been waiting all day for you."

"It's good to see you again, Tom." Henry quickly said.

"You too, Henry," I replied shaking his hand before taking a seat. Jeff eyed us both with a bit of uncertainty; we both just smiled and waited for him as he searched for a paper inside his coat. I took a sip of whiskey as Jeff laid the paper out, and explained to us our entire plan.

"So Henry and I will keep to the shadows so to speak, while you'll be our eyes and ears-"

"Just like always, right Jeff." I said interrupting. He just nodded before continuing on.

"Like I said, you'll be our eyes and ears. The plan has changed a bit over night, but no worries, we've got it handled." Jeff looked around, and leaned in closer so no one could over hear us, just incase. "We need you to start talking with a man who goes by the name of, 'Nucleon.' Don't ask why he goes by that, we don't even know, but that's not important. Once you make contact with Nucleon, inform him that you're interested in making an arms shipment deal with him, out over in Rivet City. He shouldn't give you much of a hassle, he knows that someone is coming to meet with him already. Whatever you do, don't trust the bastard. He maybe on 'our side', but he's still a wastelander..." Jeff whispered the last part, as so none of the people around us could hear. "Now the arms shipment you're interested in dealing with, is nine crates. Two of which should have four disassembled Missile Launchers inside, while three of the nine will have disassembled Tesla Cannons. The rest is just small arms which don't really matter, but we can still use them." Right then, Henry interrupted with a question.

"Exactly how did this Nucleon, get his dirty hands on our Tesla Cannons?" Before Jeff could answer, I replied with my own answer.

"After President Eden fell, and the loss at the Crawler, most of what we had stored away was put on the market. We had no way of keeping the weaponry to ourselves, we were too disorganized and too few. We still are, but we have a better handle on things nowadays, unlike before." Henry nodded, and we both looked back at Jeff to continue.

"Right, anyway, Nucleon isn't selling them for cheap; but we'll give you the necessary funds to buy them right from him. Once you have, tell him that the shipment should be sent to this location, and left there. We'll have some other field op people take them later, and bring them to the bunker through the sewer plant near the river. We'd like to do it through the metro tunnels, but we all know how the Brotherhood keeps them well patrolled. Not even Raiders go down there. So we'll have to bring it through the sewer plant south of the Springvale Elementary." Jeff pointed out where the drop off area was, and how they'd be bringing the weapons into the bunker. We spoke some more about Nucleon, before continuing on with the rest of the plan.

"So once the weapons are taken care of, then Tom will head into the D.C. Ruins, right?" Henry asked, looking at me and Jeff.

"That's right. Once you've done the business with Nucleon, head into the D.C. Ruins and visit Vernon Square. Be careful though, Riley's Rangers base is located there, so you'll have to be sneaky about getting in. Probably best you do it during night. At night, their new Sentry Bots have a hard time seeing. Apparently from the intel we've gathered, their mechanic doesn't have the know how to fix their thermal imaging. So they see best during the day. The man you'll meet with there, his name is Oliver. He's another one of our field ops like you, and he's been given the order to keep watch on Riley's Rangers. He'll have more information for you when you get there. He's not alone, we've got a whole squad watching over the Rangers. They're mostly dressed in dingy wastelander clothes, and they often give the Rangers a bit of trouble, ambushing patrols and stealing supplies." Jeff smiled and looked directly at me before continuing. "We've got some old Eye Bot footage of them, if you'd like to see. They're jumping from broken ledge to broken ledge like it was nothing. It's quite entertaining hearing the Rangers shout, unknowing to what they are." The three of us chuckled, and then got back on track with the mission. "O.k., so once you've met up with Oliver; be sure to follow what he says, then meet me and Henry back at the bunker in Springvale. We'll probably be ready by then, so come back to us when you're done. Keep us informed though, when you've made the deal with Nucleon, get in contact with us by our 'Roaches' in either Rivet City, Paradise Falls, or anywhere in the D.C. Ruins themselves. Those 'Roaches' do good, they keep information flowing." Jeff paused and looked at Henry and I before continuing, "So anymore questions?" We both quickly shook our heads, and shook hands with one another. "Good. Welcome to Operation Whirlwind, gentlemen!" We all finished our drinks, patted each other on the back, and had a few laughs. Jeff handed me the necessary photos to identify Nucleon and Oliver, when I needed to make contact. Night had already come over the land, and I was too tired to go anywhere yet. Luckily Jeff had rented us a room, so we went up stairs hitting the beds as soon as we entered. Tomorrow I would begin my own little part of "Operation Whirlwind," it would be the biggest operation I had ever taken part in.

Vey good! Will the deal go as planned? Ahh! I cant wait!

Interesting and a little chilling considering the nature of the main character, his comrades, his organisation and what they intend to do. I am looking forward to more. :tops: :gun:

Glad you both are enjoying it. I'm currently working on the next piece right now, so it should be up sometime tomorrow. Keep reading, and keep watching for more.

I think the thing I am enjoying most about this Fan Fic is the description of the modern wasteland...
The story is very good also though. *wink*

Cant wait to keep reading.

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The next morning, Jeff and Henry were gone from the room. I laid there on my single cot, thinking over the mission plan one last time before I set out for Rivet City. It had been three years since I'd gone into the D.C. Ruins, or even near them really. Some of my work after the collapse, had been field operations out in the wasteland doing odd jobs with Jet and Psycho dealers; mostly helping them get it through the wasteland. Since those days seemed to be far behind me, I was much more excited for "Operation Whirlwind." If this operation worked, it would be a decisive blow to the Brotherhood of Steel, and their allies here in the Capital Wasteland, and abroad.

After getting cleaned up, eating, and double checking my plans, I headed back out into the wasteland on my motorcycle. The wind in my hair felt good, and the goggles on my face were doing the job. I wondered about Leni, and how she was doing while I was away. We never spoke about what she did while I was away; mainly because I had always figured she kept to herself, or spent time with Moira and Jenny, along with some other women closer to her age that lived in Megaton. But now was not the time for me to be thinking about her, or Megaton. I had to keep focused on the mission at hand. Reach Rivet City, meet with Nucleon and make the proper arrangements, before heading into the D.C. Ruins towards Vernon Square to meet with Oliver. I gave the motorcycle, a bit more throttle, quickly dodging the holes, cracks, and other obstacles that lay in my way on the road.

While the sun rose higher in the sky, and I took my twenty minute breaks to get the feeling in my legs back, I could see on the horizon coming from the direction of the Citadel, Brotherhood Vertibirds. They were patrolling around the Citadel, and closer to Megaton. They had never acted this way before, that I could remember, so I watched for a moment as the circled spread out, and made several loops around different areas. None of their guns fired, so I suspected that nothing hostile was shooting at them, or visible to them at the time. I began to hope, that there wouldn't be trouble when I reached Rivet City, and if there was; I was armed with only a measly Plasma Pistol that Jeff had left for me underneath my pillow.

As I took another break, close to the now uninhabited Vault 101, I could see the Vertibirds still circling where they had been before. I wondered what was up, and why on this day, of this week, the Brotherhood had to start acting so strange. Hopefully, when I met up with a "Roach" to inform Jeff, they would inform me of what was going on with the Brotherhood. The "Roaches" as they were called, were exceptional men and women in the Enclave. No one without previous knowledge, could know they were one. The information and duty the provided, was top notch among any other wasteland organization or military force. We had had "Roaches" for years, but most of their skills had never been fully utilized, until the collapse. President Eden, never used them because he put most of his faith with his Eye Bots. Nowadays, since we didn't have the ability to use Eye Bots as often as we had before, and most of which didn't actually work correctly, we put the "Roaches," to the very limits of their abilities to deceive, infiltrate, gather, and others that were needed to pull of something so long term.

Soon after watching the Vertibirds, I continued on down the roads, picking up the time I had lost during my twenty minute breaks. The engine of the motorcycle roared louder and louder, as I passed through little houses that made the sound of the engine echo. Raiders weren't to keen anymore to mess with wastelanders seeing how the Brotherhood kept them well in check. I have to admit, the Brotherhood of Steel stationed at the Citadel, did a fine job at keeping the place somewhat of a safe place; but it was the means that they did it, the lies that they told, and the deceiving that the did, that made it all intolerable to bare. "Out of Chaos, comes Peace and Security," is what Jeff and other Enclave soldiers like myself used to say when the fighting here in the Capital Wasteland, was at its highest. The basic meaning, was that though wars were raged and many died, in the end those lives lost would help bring a new more peaceful and secure society and place to live. The Brotherhood, was not like that. It may have seen so, but lies can easily be washed away to reveal the truth; and that is what we in the Enclave were here to do. Wash away the Brotherhood of Steel, their lies, and out of the chaos we would bring, we would make a new land... A new, America!

Later in the day, when the sun was past its peak, and began to get lower and lower, Rivet City's conning tower came into view. I was still a ways away, but by midday tomorrow, I would be waiting at that bridge, soon to meet up with Nucleon. As I rode around, bypassing Springvale and Megaton, I decided to take shelter inside what looked to be an abandoned house. The siding was torn away at places, and parts of the roof were torn away, leaving only the weak framing to face the elements. I rolled up to the front door, and shut off the engine of the motorcycle. The door was boarded up, but I pulled a couple of them off; enough so that I could open the door, and slip inside. Just incase, I readied my Plasma Pistol while I scanned the living room. I was confident, that if any wastelander or raider were to appear, I would not only get the jump on them, I would also be the first to shoot if necessary. After a moment of looking, I made my way into the kitchen. It was much bigger than the one back at home in Megaton, but it seemed to have been picked clean of anything valuable to sell at any vendor.

Suddenly, from the second floor, I heard the sound of something metallic fall to the ground, and clash with something else metallic. I turned around, but saw no one behind me. I listened carefully, looking up at the ceiling as I heard the sudden sound of light footsteps above me. My breath was calm, but my heart raced a mile a minute. I didn't dare try to move, or make my breathing known.

The footsteps continued around me, the creaking of the floor boards gave away their current place in whichever room was above me. It sounded like there was only one, but I couldn't say for sure; the footsteps continued off and on, when I spied a rusty kitchen knife laying on the kitchen counter. My eyes shot back and forth from the knife to the ceiling, to the ceiling back to the knife. I stepped lightly towards the knife, quickly grabbing it when in arms reach. The footsteps had changed direction, and were now moving away from me. Then, I noticed that there was more than just one. There were multiple people up stairs, but I was still unsure how many exactly. For all I knew, there was six or seven, maybe even more! The sound of the footsteps grew quieter and quieter, before I heard a voice come from the top of the stairs, that were just on the other side of the kitchen wall.

"Want something from the fridge, Mike?" The voice said in a rough sickly voice.

"Sure, but get Alice, and 'Reaper' something as well." Another voice said, this one was more childish almost. Just then, I realized I had no way of escape. The windows were boarded up, the only way was the front door, and if I tried, there was no doubt that the man at the top of the stairs would spot me. Whether he was armed, I was still unsure, and didn't want to take the chance of getting shot or stabbed while making a break for the door.

As the creaking of the stairs got louder, and the footsteps closer, I readied the knife in my hand. The blade of the knife facing away, allowing me a possible jab or slashing attack. I leaned close up against the wall, near the edge of the kitchen entrance, as the footsteps stopped right behind me, right at the bottom of the stairs. My heart quickened even more, and my lips began to get dry from the tension. I was at that moment, ready to just finish the man at the bottom of the stairs, but didn't want to risk being seen if someone came from upstairs to get him. I was a very cautious man, and very methodical with my plan of attacks, and the possibilities that could happen.

"Can't wait to get me some more Wastelander." The man said as he took his first couple of steps into the kitchen. I did a split second look of the man, and saw he was armed. His skin was very tan, and his hair was shaved on the sides, and the rest formed into a Mohawk. I quickly identified him as a raider, which gave me the split second to lunge at the man. Before he could react, only able to watch my eyes in shock and fear, as I brought the blade up the his throat, and made a deep clean cut across it. Blood spurted out wildly, I knew I had hit his major artery. He tried saying something, but it only made the blood spurt out faster. I quickly shot around him, catching him from behind before he fell and hit the table. His hands were occupied with holding his throat, as I took the weapon: a 10 mm pistol, and unloaded it; clip and chamber. Soon enough, he was dead. There was blood on my face, but I quickly wiped most of it off with a rag from inside my pocket. I dropped the knife, which landed on the torso of the dead raider. Blood was starting to collect around his head, as the blood still spurted out in small intervals. That moment, as I walked up the stairs, and down the hallway towards the room that was above the kitchen, I felt like nothing could hurt or get me. It was the first time in a long while, that I had killed a man, and the rush that I got from it was ten times better than any high a Jet or Psycho junkie could get. If it wasn't so lethal and costly, I would have recommended it to them any time of the day.

Outside the door, I leaned my ear close to hear what was going on inside. I could hear at least three voices. That added up to how many people I assumed were inside, from the little chat the dead raider downstairs had had with "Mike," who including Alice and "Reaper." I stepped back from the door, licking my dry lips as I stared down at the door knob. At that moment, my heart was beating at what I thought its maximum speed could be. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed, that my heart would burst out of my chest if it went any higher. As I took the door knob in hand, the voice of a woman, probably around Leni's age, spoke up. A man, not "Mike," replied as the sound of two separate voices laughed. I took it now, that there were four people inside the room. I had to judge by previous houses in the past, the rooms layout. I figured the bed was right in the middle of the room, if not on the far side from the door. I could tell that two of the voices, including the new one, was near the far side of the room. "Mike," was closer to the door, and the woman's voice was near him. Before I entered, I took a deep breath, and quickly turned the knob, bursting in with my Plasma Pistol ready.

The entire moment, was like slow motion. I had been lucky, and guessed right. A man I took as "Mike," was closest to the door, and so was the woman I took as "Alice." They were shocked to see me, and I could tell their reaction times were slowed by some kinda drug, as I fired two quick bursts of plasma into each one of them. I cleared from the doorway, the man sitting on the bed who I took as "Reaper," reached for broken looking rifle; but my reflexes were much faster, and I quickly put two bolts of plasma into him as well. The fourth person, another woman, quickly raised her arms in the air. She had the look of shock and awe on her face, that was, before I fired a well placed bolt of plasma into her head. The plasma burned through her skull, and through the others. I checked the bodies over, thinking the whole event over in my head. It had happened so fast, and without much thought to it either. I had just simple put: pointed at shot. The smell of the bodies was starting to get to me, so I quickly did a once over of the rest of the room before closing the door behind me. There was no more light shinning in through the cracks in the boards, so I figured the sun had already set and was gone.

I went back outside to the bike, gathered my things, and brought them back inside. The smell of the dead raider in the kitchen was starting to get to me as well, so I went upstairs and found the farthest room with a bed, from any of the bodies. I checked the bed, seeing how it felt. It wasn't the best bed, but it would have to do; so I laid my things at the side of the bed, placed my Plasma Pistol under my pillow, and quietly went to sleep on top of the blankets. Tomorrow I would reach Rivet City, and then my mission would really begin. Today felt like a kind of social visit and examination of the wasteland.... Or at least the end of it did.

Hoo-RAH, marine! :goodjob:

Feel the rush [censored]!

Glad you guys are enjoying it. The next installment should be ready by tomorrow!!
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The next morning, my journey to Rivet City was a bit bumpy. When I had awoken, the stench of the decaying bodies had reached my room, even though after waking up several times in the night to try and make sure it wouldn't happen, it did. The bodies of the dead raiders; who were all now piled up together in the kitchen on the ground floor, had reached me. Then to make things worse, the engine of the motorcycle began to sputter and I wasn't sure if it would start; luckily it did. So after waking up to a terrible stench, and the almost hopeless thought of ditching the motorcycle, I was once again given an obstacle. This time.... Super Mutants. It seemed that while traveling through the outskirts of the D.C. Ruins, some Super Mutants who were camping out for the time, wanted me for breakfast. Wearing nothing but typical wasteland attire, I was a bit stretched on how I could convince them that I was a "friend." Lucky for me, the ugly dumb bastards thought twice after I told them that if they did kill me, whole squads of Enclave and power armored soldiers, would come find them and kill them brutally.

And so, that was how my morning began. Once I had finally sighted the aircraft carrier, that Rivet City was, I gave all the throttle I could to the motorcycle, and reached the settlement within minutes. The settlement had changed since I had last seen it; which admittedly was when I was stationed at the Jefferson Memorial recuperating from the wastes, and watching over Rivet City with some of our power armored troops. Nowadays, Rivet City was much different. The council that once ran the settlement, was now disbanded and a man by the name of Chancellor Rico Hernandez was running the settlement with an iron fist. Not many liked him, but there was little they could do after the old Rivet City Security, had been replaced with Chancellor Hernandez's own goons who did their own forms of justice. In short, Rivet City had become somewhat of a chaotic mecca of vice and villainy, and there was no one; not even the Brotherhood of Steel who were already incompetent, could do anything about it. It was the perfect place for drug dealers, addicts, gun runners, sellers, and other low down scum to do business. It was also the perfect place for us in the Enclave, to operate south of the D.C. Ruins.

Rivet City had not only changed politically and socially, but also its borders. Rivet City, the main center and hub was still on the ancient aircraft carrier, but since a boom in wastelanders living in Rivet City had occurred, Tents, and other forms of shelter were made across the water, on the mainland. There was security walls to keep out the unwanted wildlife, that every so often seemed to creep up, but ended as either chunks spread out across the ground, or as someones meal. Rivet City Guards watched over the security walls, but most of the important people living in Rivet City, were on the ship, so Chancellor Hernandez hardly cared about those on the mainland. Maybe that's why it was so easy for me to just walk in, unannounced and unchecked by the guards on the mainland?

Anyway, that was how Rivet City was now: A chaotic mecca of vice and villainy. Everyone was suspicious of everyone, and the leader was just as corrupt as those living on the ship. One of the many reasons why we in the Enclave, used and liked Rivet City so much; not only because it was one of the easiest places in the Capital Wasteland to operate fairly unbeknown to anyone, but because it would be easy to topple once we were back to our fighting strength. It may have seemed like everything and everyone was in check, but being the Enclave, we knew how to topple seemingly controlled chaotic places.

So anyway, as I crossed over the bridge, entering the Rivet City Marketplace, I looked around for Nucleon who was in a crowd of dozens of different clothes and business ethics. I walked down the staircase, passing by gun dealers, drug dealers, and other merchants selling their wares. In the gun and drug crowds, I couldn't find anyone who resembled Nucleon. I looked around for more than fifteen minutes before deciding to take a minute and buy a drink. The caps I had taken off the dead raiders, should have added all up together to get me a couple drinks inside me before doing anything else.

The bartender was a nice guy, old, but it seemed that his daughter was doing most of the busy work, and he was stuck behind the counter serving patrons drinks. His face was kind looking, and his blonde hair was now full of grey hairs. He took a drag off his rotten cigarette before asking me what I'd like. I politely asked for a whiskey, straight up. He repeated the order, nodded, and went to get my drink. As I waited, I turned and looked into the different crowds of people, trying to eye Nucleon in the crowded sea of people either trying to get their fix or buy a new shinny gun. When the bartender returned, we spoke a bit about the kinds of deals on weapons I could get. I leaned in close to the old man, asking for Nucleon after not being able to eye him anywhere. The bartender was a bit weary of giving the information out, but soon told me that Nucleon was on the second deck, probably playing cards with some of his men. I thanked him for the information, and the drink before paying my due and heading up the stairs to the second deck.

When I reached the second deck, I quickly found the room Nucleon was in. The shouts of surprise and cheer echoed down the halls from the last room nearest the "common house" type room, that was in Rivet City. I knocked on the door, asking for Nucleon. The reply came with a quick insult involving my death, and their return to the card game. The door was already cracked open a bit, and in a fit of rage and security in a way; to show I wasn't full of [censored], I burst through the door, unholstered my Plasma Pistol, and with some quickly well placed shots, burned the cards Nucleon and his friends were holding in their hands. I held the Plasma Pistol still ready to fire, but with a smile on my face.

"I believe we have some business to do together, Nucleon." I said watching over the three men who sat shocked at my pistol skills. Nucleon had a rough face. He had several scars across his nose and cheeks, two of which cut through his beard where no hair grew. He was missing an eye I learned, and wore an eyepatch over it. Inside the eye socket, there was an old marble he had taken which fit for some odd reason. But without flinching, or double thinking on his thoughts or words, Nucleon turned and looked at me with a smile.

"Where'd you get that pistol, son?" He asked getting up. I looked at him, uncertain what he was up to.

"Bought it off some fool, before I killed him with it. I've gotten pretty good with it as you can see, so lets do business, okay?"

"Okay," he replied nodding and then looking at his men. "Get out, me and this kind gentleman have some business to do. Now get out!" The three men nodded and hurried out, closing the door shut behind them. We could hear their footsteps hurry down the hallway, as they pushed one another out of the way. I sat down beside Nucleon, putting away my pistol as we got down to business.

"So, you're the one I've been hearing about from some sad sap wastelander, huh?"

"That's right. I've come to buy some large weapon shipments from you, that interest me very much. I have the necessary caps, so money isn't a problem. It's whether you're true to your word or not?" I replied giving him a sharp look, as if I was trying to read his face.

"Don't worry about my word, I've never broken a deal yet that involves high amounts of caps. So why don't you tell me what you're looking for, and I might be able to help you out. I don't want to be here all day, and I'm sure you don't either. So lets get straight to it, shall we?" I was a bit amazed at Nucleon. For a despicable and mutant freak, he was quite the good business man.

"Fine with me!" I said leaning in closer to him. "I want four disassembled Missile Launchers. Good condition, I don't want them misfiring and blowing up or something like that. I also want about six Tesla Cannons as well. Now I know, that they're not that easy to come across, but since the Enclave's defeat, they've become much more recognized on the market. I also want some small arms weapons: typical Hunting Rifles, Assault Rifles, Machine-guns, and whatever else you can scrounge up." I took a breath, letting Nucleon get the order right. As he wrote my request, I could see in his eye he knew that he had exactly what I wanted. "I already know you have these, so there's no need to walk that road, acting like you don't. There should be a total of nine weapon crates, am I right?" Nucleon smiled and nodded. "Good, now I want the nine weapon crates sent to this location." I pulled out a map from my coat, and showed him a little place underneath an old freeway overpass. There was a little house that rested in between some high rocks, and was only accessible by a wooden bridge. Under the bridge, a trail passed under, but the only way to the little white house was over the bridge. Nucleon smiled, and shook his head in understanding. I knew that he knew exactly where I meant. We finished up with the money part of the deal, and he promised to have the shipment of weapons there within the week. He had the weapons already on the ship, all he had to do was organize him men and send them out. We shook hands, and went our separate ways. He headed to the staircases, that lead you to all the different decks, while I returned to the bartender and got myself another drink. Hopefully, one of the "Roaches" would meet with me soon, so I could inform him or her about the time.

Soon enough, my hope was fulfilled. I was drinking my sixth beer when the "Roach" who called himself "Marcus" approached me. He told me that he had a better place to speak, and it would be good for me to get some fresh air anyway. After walking out of the ship, and reaching the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, Marcus asked me for all the information.

"So when exactly is the weapons drop? How many did you get, and what amount of caps did you settle on? Jeff will be pleased that you got the deal sealed so quickly." Marcus said looking out over the D.C. Ruins, with his hands inside his pant's pockets.

"Nucleon said he'd have the weapon shipment delivered within the week. I gave him the location, and we settled on 2500 caps. He gave me the "friends" discount or something like that. I was just glad to get away from the freak!" I said looking over the D.C. Ruins as well. "And tell Jeff that I'll be heading to my second meet hopefully within two days. I figure getting through the ruins won't be as hard as it used to be, but you can never tell with falling building and crumbling debris that might block your route."

"I'll be sure to pass it on, but I won't be telling him personally. We've got to go through the proper channels you see. I tell one 'Roach,' who tells another 'Roach,' who tells another 'Roach,' and so on and so forth; until it reaches Jeff at the bunker."
I turned and looked at Marcus, holding out my hand in thanks. If there was anyone in this wasteland, that I could truly turn to and trust if there was no one else; it was the "Roaches." They were almost like an organization amongst themselves, and what information they had between one another, was never spoken to anyone but another "Roach."

"So I guess we're done here?" I said pulling my hand away. "It was nice chatting with you, Marcus. Be sure to get that information through. I don't want anything to happening, that could have been avoided." I said walking away, back inside the ship.

"Oh wait, there is one last thing." Marcus said hurrying over to me. "It's Leni..."

"What about her?" I asked, looking him in the eyes with seriousness.

"I just wanted to tell you, that maybe it would be best if you break it off with her? Your mission, it comes first before anything, you know that. And she might just get in the way, you know what I mean?" I stared at Marcus for a good minute, thinking on what he said. A breeze began to pick up as I turned to look out over the D.C. Ruins. The Washington Memorial, still standing tall beside the reflecting pool, still stood strong after all that had happened.

"This coming straight from you, or through the proper channels?" I said looking back at Marcus.

"Channels. Those in the bunker, like to keep a fair watch on a few field op guys like you. Some of the 'Roaches' just don't want the operation to go to [censored] because of some dame. Think it over, Tom. We'll know your answer when you're ready..."

That was the last time I ever spoke with Marcus. The next time I would see him, it would be under much different circumstances, which were not the best.

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The next day, was one of those days you didn't quite expect on your second day in the new Rivet City, but you knew was all to possible of happening. That something, was tightened security, lockdowns, red flashing and twirling lights, and Rivet City Goons running through the halls and all around the deck areas, some firing off weapons. I awoke to the sound of gunfire, and like others who were awaken by the gunfire and shouting, was wondering what was going on.

As I opened my cabin door, and yelled over to a Rivet City Goon who was busy keeping watch on the hallway, gunfire from two decks below quickly erupted and then went silent.

"What the hell is going on here? Why is there shooting?" I asked as if I was just another dumb wastelander.

"[censored] man, get back in your damn room. We've got a rebellion on our hands! Seems some market dealers sold some weapons to some people who weren't allowed weapons. Now we've got wastelanders like you running all around the ship, firing weapons and shooting at the Guard. Now get back in your [censored] room before I have to take you in, understand me?" I closed my door, locking it behind me. I grabbed my Plasma Pistol from where I always kept it, and got dressed in more fitting clothes. I had a variety of different combat gear, that I had bought at one of the market dealers. I had bought a black tactical vest, that was said to be bullet proof, tan kaki pants that I had attached two holsters to my hips with, and even a short double barreled shotgun that was mostly seen in Point Lookout, but had been brought up to be sold and bought. It was shorter in barrel length to the typical double barreled shotgun, but it still had some kick.

After getting ready and geared up, I unlocked my door and poked my head out to see if the guard was still there. I wondered why on all the days this could happen, why it had to be the day I was planning on heading into the D.C. Ruins. Was I being punished for some odd reason? What had I done to piss anyone off? All I had done was give information and bought some weapons that the Enclave had once owned. But for whatever reason this was happening, I had to get out of here. No Rivet City Goon or Rebel, was going to stop me from getting the hell out of town, and making my next meet.

I looked at the guard, his back was turned towards me and he seemed a bit anxious. I could tell, that he didn't like being on guard duty alone. Especially when there was shooting happening all around him, and he couldn't do anything but just stand and wait for the shooting and shouting to reach him.

More shooting and shouting came from above and below the current deck I was on, which gave me time to make my escape from the room and around the corner away from the guard. I could see that the hallways had been trashed even more so, and that a variety of bullets and lasers had been fired here. There were burns where laser fire had hit, and small to large holes where bullets and shotgun rounds had hit. I stepped carefully but also at a brisk pace. I was in no mood to be caught by either side, and preferred to get out alive and unscathed.

"HEY YOU!" A voice shouted from behind me. "YEAH YOU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOUR DOING, GET BACK IN YOUR CABIN!" I turned to see a Rivet City Guard, armed to the teeth with multiple knives, pistols, and not only a automatic rifle in his hands, but also a sawed-off shotgun strapped to his hip. I raised my hands, and walked over to him.

"Sorry, I just thought I'd help you guys out." His eyes looked me over several times, trying to see what I was all about. I stopped just three feet away or so, trying to calm him down with just motionlessness. He squinted his eyes, giving me another once over before letting down his guard. He freed his assault rifle, and reached out to cuff me when I unexpectedly grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm around and quickly unholstering my Plasma Pistol, I fired two hot green bolts into his stomach. He writhed in agony and pain, unable to do anything but drop to the floor and cry out for help. "Sorry pal, I've got more people to see and places to go."

"Oh my god, please help me! Oh my god, why did you do that-" Before he could finish, I fired a clean plasma bolt into his head, silencing him for good. While no one was around, I took the opportunity to strip the guard some weapons, and especially all his ammunition. I felt kinda bad for the guard, lying there dead in a collecting pool of his blood. But I didn't have time to feel sorry, I had to get the hell out of Rivet City before more guards or rebels came along.

Rather than taking the stairways down, I hurried up to the aircraft deck. Old rusted and broken down jets from the prewar era, were still around. Some had been stripped for parts and pieces; for use on the ship. Luckily for me, no one was fighting up top. Gunfire and shouting still echoed through the ship, and even down on the mainland where it seemed that Rivet City Goons were fending off rebel fighter, who had already taken control of the bridge, and cut off some guards still stuck on the mainland. I watched for a moment, seeing how the rebels took care of the guards still stuck on the mainland. It wasn't long, and it wasn't clean either. Several rebel men and woman had been shot down before they realized to rush the small group, and overwhelm them.

As the fighting continued, and I began to wonder why the hell I had come to the aircraft deck in the first place. It wasn't really safer, and all I had done was trap myself. Thoughts of being captured by either Rivet City Goons or Rebels, was enough to make me sick. What would Jeff or Henry think, if they heard back in the bunker, that I had been taken captive by a bunch of primitive wastelanders; who had nothing better to do than seemingly kill one another over land, food, and shelter; I would never heard the end of it! Especially from Jeff!

While I searched for a way off, looking over the side from time to time as the thought of just jumping, became more of an obvious decision, a large explosion erupted inside Rivet City; turning dozens of shouts into cries of terror and pain, while I was suddenly rocked and misstepped, falling off the side of the ship. I cried out, seemingly heading for the rocks below, but instead was lucky enough to avoid the rocks, and though I wouldn't exactly call it "safely hit the water" because I did black out, I would call it a better result that hitting the hard and jagged rocks that surrounded me.

When I awoke, my head was in a complete daze. The room around me spun like it never had before; even when I was drunk, it had never spun around so fast. I took a look around, the best I could, realizing I was on the floor of a small room of some kind, resting on a thick blanket. There wasn't much I could do, the strange room was something I had never seen before, or just couldn't recognize. Suddenly, from the far corner of the room, from where I was laying; some rustling came to. I tried looking to see what it was, but my vision was blurred and all I could see was nothing but a silhouette.

"Welcome to my home, you've taken quite the risk being in Rivet City while the rebellion was happening." The silhouette said to me. I couldn't tell if it was a man or woman, either way I was starting to get worried a bit. Had I been captured by the rebels? It didn't seem likely, but somewhere down the line of my black out, someone had picked me up and brought me here.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me? And another thing, where the hell am I?" I said in a curious yet strict tone. "I've got to get to Vernon Square, I've got business to attend to. I can't be sitting here all day," I added as I tried standing up. It was useless, I immediately collapsed to the floor from sudden dizziness. I closed my eyes, trying to get the sensation of being dizzy away.

"My name is Beirut. I'm a gun dealer and drug pusher for the rebels. They have something I want, and I have something they want. It's not what I do for a living, but it gets me the caps I need when I'm low, and need to make some quick."

"So what do you do for a living?" I asked sitting up slowly. I began to make out the man's face. He short scraggly brown hair, and dark eyes I couldn't tell the color of. His skin was tan, and I knew he had been out in the wasteland his entire life.

"Well, usually I'm a gun for hire. A mercenary if you will. I have no allegiance to any flag or group in the Capital Wasteland, or anywhere else. I sell guns and drugs to the rebels, because they wanted to flood the Rivet City Market with bad stuff.... Or more of it anyways, which somehow would end up with the Rivet City economy structure breaking down and crumbling; leaving the Chancellor and his goons with nothing but weapons and each other to blame." Beirut help stand me up, leading me to a small little table where he had some bowls of soup ready for the two of us.

"So how long have I been out?" I asked taking a sip of the soup. It wasn't half bad to be honest. Not only was Beirut a Mercenary, and an Anarchist, he was a fairly good cook as well.

"You were out for three days. I came across you, while you were being dragged off by a pair of Super Mutants, who were I suppose going to eat you for lunch. But they're long gone, and we're here in this dingy little Metro office room, eating soup." Beirut paused, sipping some of his soup, and then asked me some more questions. "What were you doing in Rivet City anyways? You're not apart of the Rivet City Guar, or the rebels; so what was your business there?"

I looked at him for a moment, then looked down at me soup. "My business is my business, all you need to know is that I have to reach Vernon Square. You know how to get there?" I asked.

"Sure I do, I know how to get everywhere in the D.C. Ruins. I can take you there if you like? You're not in the best shape to be making any traveling trips alone. I'll help you for free, too. Take it as a kind gesture from one wastelander to another."

"Thanks. Now let me ask you something?"

"Shoot!"

"Where did you get the name, "Beirut"? I mean it's not a bad name or anything, I've just never heard of it before? Where are you from?" Beirut smiled and ate more of his soup before answering.

"Well, my parents named me it after they found a piece of map, that showed only a small washed out settlement, and a large settlement called Beirut. I've never been, and I've tried finding it on maps I come across, but there's no where that I've been or found, that's called Beirut. My grandmother said it was once a large metropolitan of sorts, but had been long since destroyed; not by nuclear weapons, but by those living in Beirut. Apparently, the story says that the workers and aristocrats of Beirut broke into different groups, and fought each other none stop. Soon, the settlement was no longer worth fighting for, and each group walked away; never to be seen or heard from again."

"That's some story, Beirut. Now where are you from?"

"Here, but a bit north. Past what used to be the "Republic of Dave." It was a small settlement, but we did well with traders and caravaners."

We talked for the rest of the day, or night. I didn't know which. We talked about our adventures, and people we had met. The time was fine, but soon we had to rest. Beirut helped me back to my bed, and told me tomorrow we would head to Vernon Square. I quickly fell to sleep, feeling secure around Beirut. A man I had just met, and still knew little about.