That's good to hear, it seems to me that activity on these boards have slowed recently because many are out enjoying the holidays. It'll be nice to get a new chapter now

Ch. 12: The Job Ahead

Rivet City Flight Deck, 2275

"...Sure I'm crazy...Crazy in love I say! I say I'd care forever, and I mean forever! If I have to hold up the s-"

"Hey how's it-"

Milton let out a big scream, freaked out from getting caught singing to himself again. His screams scaring the living daylights out of Bentley.

"Damn! Will you relax man! I'm just checking up on you. Then you start screaming like I'm some [censored] damn super mutant! What the hell is wrong with you?! Well...Look...Anyway the boys on the night-shift said they saw you making rounds again last night. But to my memory, you did the day-shift yesterday, and the night-shift before that. That's three shifts in a row. When do you plan on falling asleep?"

Milton scratched his head and yawned. "Well I was close to getting there when you snuck up on me. Now seeing that the sun is coming up, I'll try again in twelve hours."

"You know that insomnia is going to kill you one of these days.", said Bentley in a concerned tone.

"Not before the cancer, my indigestion, the water, the food, the radiation, this tetanus infested ship, or those damn mirelurks."

"Didn't Doc Preston take care of the cancer already?"

"Oh, thats right. Scratch cancer off my death list."

Bentley laughed with Milton as he helped him out of the jet fighter that doubled as his room. Milton earned quite a reputation for doing that. But the way he saw it, they were lying around, they didn't belong to anyone, and the chairs were more comfortable than any naval cot on the ship.

"So what did Gary bring up for breakfast?"

"A huge pile of mirelurk cakes. Again! Still, he also brought something NOT made from something we shot. Some "aged" brahmin steak. Which is really just some leftover meat that his customers wouldn't eat, so he's giving it to us freeloading security officers"

"Its times like this that make me wonder if I should be content with getting paid in food. We'll just have to see if I can keep this down."

Bridge Tower was just as active as ever. Most of the security officers were still sleeping, and the rest were silently eating their breakfast. There were plenty of liquor bottles all over the table. The other officers claimed it made the beer and whiskey made the food go down easier. Personally, Milton couldn't stand the stuff. He didn't have anything against drinking, he just wasn't fond of the taste of two hundred year old liquor. It just seemed to taste past its prime for some reason.

Ironically, Doc Preston suggested that Milton mix in anything relatively strong into his water. Killed most of the bacteria in the water. Making it SLIGHTLY better to drink.

Milton went to the leaky faucet on the wall, and picked up an empty tin can off the shelf. Most people used the old coffee mugs, but those never get cleaned and are shared amongs all the officers. The faucet spat out this murky brown water into the can. Milton sighed in relief to see nothing solid in the water this time. Rivet City's water was really just river water that went through the ships derelict filtration system. It gets rid of some of the radioactive muk in the water, but it was years due for its last replacement.

Taking his usual seat next to Bentley, Milton began his morning ritual of arranging his utensils around his plate, and shaking all the liquor bottles within reach to find out what he'll add to the water. He found what he was looking for in an overturned vodka bottle, and poured the last dregs into his water cup. The last step of his ritual was complete after he popped a handful of Rad-X pills into his mouth. Just as the doctor ordered.

With Milton finally ready to eat, Bentley silently passed him a mirelurk cake. Milton declined and grabbed one of the brahmin steaks instead. He had been spoiled mirelurk cakes for every meal all week now. Any change of pace was welcome, even if it was just as spoiled as the usual stuff.

Taking one last look at hishttp://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/6/6c/Brahminsteak.jpg, Milton grabbed the over-sized knife and cut himself a piece. The steak looked and tasted barely cooked. Doing his best to ignore the chewy bits, Milton carried on some conversation with Bentley. But things got pretty tense when Commander Danvers came back from her night-shift.

"Milton! What the hell are you doing up?!" Her icy voice immediately made Milton spring up from his chair. "You should be asleep! You're a night-shift officer. That means you belong to me! Whenever you up during the daytime it means you take orders from both me and Harkness, and I'm sick of it!"

"Sorry mam! Just the insomnia! I'll get some sleep after I finish my meal."

"Fine. And you don't have to stand at attention whenever you're adressing me. Relax." Commander Danvers then went upstairs to her personal cot. Leaving everyone to go about their business.

"Didn't she give you crap for not standing at attention yesterday?", said a confused Bentley.

"Yes she did. Just dont bring it up, it would only piss her off more...I mean damn! Was she always like this. I've only been a security officer for six months. You've been here longer. Has she always been like that?"

"Well no, but she never had any authority until she was promoted to Commander. I think she's just pissed because her dad died and made Harkness the next Chief instead of her. I doubt she blames either of them, she's just putting that anger and dissapointment on you night-shift guys."

Milton shook his head in disbelief, and tried to forget about his problems in his food. Reluctantly, he grabbed his water can and took a swig with his eyes closed. The mud and vodka combined into a cocktail of horribble flavors on Milton's tongue. Making him cover his mouth as his body started rejecting what he put into it.

At the other end of the table, two other officers were silently putting caps on the table. Placing bets on whether or not Milton would puke his breakfast just now. They watched in anticipation for several moments until one of the officers moaned as Milton uncovered his mouth and recovered. He had just lost eight caps to his delighted collegue sitting across from him.

"So are you going to get some sleep?", asked Bentley.

"Since when did I do what Danvers tells me to do when she's in a hissy fit. I'll sleep when I damn well feel like it...or at least when I can. Do you just want to sit around the marketplace. I'm too tired to patrol a ship that is perfectly safe."

"I dont think you have the luxury to do that today.", said an officer looking at the terminal on the wall. "There's a message thats a few days old. It's adressed to you Milton. Says here you need to go to this weeks councill meeting."

"When the hell did that happen.?!"

"Dont you check the security logs? Everyone is supposed to check them at least once a day.", said the officer.

"Do YOU?!", asked Milton

"...No...But you should probably go there now. Their meeting is about to start."

Milton sighed and tossed his meal aside before leaving. Bentley made sure to wave goodbye to Milton as he closed the hatch behind him. The room was abuzz with pvssyr after Milton left. People who weren't part of the council were rarely ever called up. This either meant something really good, or something really bad for Milton.

The council room was deathly quiet as Milton entered the room. Doctor Li, Bannon, and the newly appointed Chief Harkness, stared at Milton, making him very uneasy.

"You're late.", said Doctor Li in an annoyed tone.

"I'm very sorry mam. My schedule has been...hectic at best.", said Milton nervously.

"It's okay.", said Harkness in an uncharacteristically friendly voice. "We've had plenty of delays that have been our own faults. I dont see how him being five minutes late is such a tragedy. Am I right Doctor Li...Bannon?"

The rest of the council looked almost embarressed after Harkness's comment. Milton looked at Harkness and gave a slight nod to show his appreciation. Harkness returned the nod, and gestured for Milton to sit on the empty chair. When Milton was comfortably seated, Harkness began the meeting.

"Milton, we called you here because you can help us with a serious problem. It goes beyond a security issue. The continued success of Rivet City is at stake."

"We rely heavily on raw materials and supplies that can never be provided by the average scavenger or merchant.", said Doctor Li. "Naturally we conserve as much as we can, but despite our best efforts we are finally running out. The labratory will soon be useless. And despite what you may think, that lab is what keeps this rig from becoming a gaggle of scwatters like any other shanty town."

"Not to mention we need materials just to keep this ship from sinking back into the Potomac.", interruptedd Harkness.

"I've used my connections to secure a lucrative trade agreement with many groups, but the most profitable has yet to be fufilled.", said Bannon in his usual sophisticated tone. "If successful, we wont be without for a very long time."

"Unfourtunately, the death of our last Security Chief caused serious delays. We've been in transition, and just when we're barely ready, the buyer becomes impatient. I'd be lieing to you if I said this had nothing to do for the whole reason we put you on the Security Force.

Milton leaned on the table and listened to what they were saying with the upmost interest. Things never seemed that bad around here, but then again he's only lived here for a year. He never knew what this place used to be like.

"Look Milton.", said Harkness in a concerned voice. "No one in the security force has nearly as much experience outside of here as you do. Most people living here haven't left in years. Some are just too scared to leave. That goes for most of our security force too. Now you would go scavenge out there all the time to make your living. You've even gone as far as to say you feel more at home out there than you do in here. And I cant trust something this important to someone who is going to lose it out there in the wastes. Can you do this for us? All of us?

"I see where you're going with this sir, and I dont have any problems with it if it helps Rivet City. There's just one thing. I cant be out there alone."

It was rather boring in the marketplace. Nothing was going on, and Bentley just sat in Gary's Galley. He was suprised when Milton suddenly sat next to him.

"Hey! Where did you come from? Scratch that, why do you look so happy?"

"I'm happy because you and me are going to Tenpenny Tower!"

I've always had my eye on this fan fic and now that I've found some time, I've been able to read the entire story. I do have to say that this is a job well done, the way you've been developing your character is amazing. There are a few minor, minor problems like an apostrophy missing in some words and other minor spelling mistakes. I also like the inclusion of pictures, it's different and different is good. While I would like to go further into depth I'm quite tired and I would like to see a few more chapters but so far so good, keep up the good work.

Just..amazing. Not everything you promised (No Action -_- ) but still damn good. Keep writing, because this is one of the small number of fanfics I actually ENJOY reading.

I edited a few problems with the last chapter. Too lazy to fix any typos, but I fixed the problem with the image I set up for that chapter.

And in regards to the post about there being action...Lets just say that was a rare instance of false advertising.

I expect the next chapter to be pretty long too, but they will be out in the wastes, so there might be some action, I dont know. :shrug: I dont have the whole chapter planned out in my head yet. I'm not sure how long it will take me to write it, but I'll do my best to finish and post it before I have to go back to college. I'll actually start working on it tonight.

P.S. I want to thank everyone for their comments. I was afraid I made that last chapter too boring, but I feel better now. :twirl:

Well I'm sure the promises would be kept in the next chapter, right? Anyway we all enjoy this fanfic so get your next chapter ready! It looks like Milton is ready for an upgrade in lifestyle. There is a small amount of grammatical errors and such but it does not detract from the story at all for me. Keep it up!

I would like to ask scholar if he is still keeping this going, as I have noticed that he has started RP'ing again. Dont forget about the people awaiting your newest chapter.

Nothing to worry about. I almost have the next chapter done on paper. The main reason for the delay is because I have been so selfishly spending time with my family. I know, I'm such a bad person.

Hey its okay. I understand the concern, but like I promised, there's going to be a new chapter before I'm shipped back to college.

Okay. I await you next entry. Now respong to my post in V. 21. Its a masterpiece of mine, methinks.

Good news! Before the day is up, the next chapter will be posted. Hooray!

Since there is going to be more action from now on, I thought I should make a combat profile for Milton. That way you can know what to expect, and I have something to keep in mind while writing the fight scenes. I just want you to guys to know that Milton will be no Lone Wanderer. He is very...vunerable.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. :
Strength- 3 (The guy is sick all the time. He doesn't exactly have a lot of muscle)
Perception- 6
Endurance- 4 (Once again, he's sick all the damn time, but if he didn't have a strong will to live he would've died a long time ago)
Charisma- 7 (You pick up a few people skills when both of your parents make a job out of working with people)
Intelligence- 8 (Sted's homeschooling and a natural curiosity for books nutured an unusually active mind)
Agility- 4 (You got to be healthy to run)
Luck- 4 (Milton's used up most of his good luck early in life. Still, he might have one lucky break left for his life.)

Dominant Skills:
Small Guns- Moderate; Milton has been using guns most of his life, but they've been mostly pistols and other one-handed weapons.
Explosives- High; Dennis was an expert at bombs and taught everything he knew to Milton. If he gets a grenade in his hands, run!
Speech- High; When he wants to, Milton can speak intelligently. He also has a knack for providing people with new incites.
Sneak- High; He couldn't have lived his whole life in D.C. without knowing how to hide.

I know it seems like he has a lot of skills, but as the story progresses, you're going to see Milton struggle with his short comings.

In my opinion this is better than a Real Book,you should get this published!

Well, it looks like one good hit on Milton from a super mutant and he's dead Its been a while since the last chapter and I am ready for the next update!

Ch.13: Can We Go Now!

Outside Rivet City Clinic, Night Before Trip

Milton was leaning on the wall, nervously tapping his feet as Bentley was getting his medical examination. He wasn't nervous for Bentley, it was just the examination that was freaking him out. No one visited Doc Preston more than he did, but that was because no one was nearly as sick as him. If the doctor found anything serious, he would be off the job. The council didn't need one of the guards to drop dead out in the wastes.

The doctor took the usual tests, and he took the usual x-rays. It was just another checkup. Yet every time the doctor paused as he looked over the results, Milton could barely breathe. A million different things could have been on that chart. An infection, a tumor, low white blood cell count, something was always wrong. What was it? Something must be wrong. Why was he hesitating?! Milton felt like he was going insane!

"Milton...", said Doc Preston in a solemn voice. "I'm afraid I have terrible news."

"Whats wrong with me doctor?", said Milton. His stomach getting tighter with every passing second.

"You have...severe insomnia, digestive problems, and an abnormally severe reaction to radiation exposure."

"......[censored] you...", said Milton as the doctor smiled and started laughing.

"You should've seen the look on your face! Ha Ha Ha Ha! Dont worry there's nothing new showing up. I will have to prescribe a double Rad-X ration for you though. You are sensitive to radiation. Though lord help me, I cant help you with that. Must be your genes. And while on the subject, I'll just administer your weekly rad-away now."

Milton closed his eyes and relaxed as the doctor stuck the needle in. Soon enough the rad-away was flowing in his veins. Many people have bad reactions to this stuff, but Milton actually liked it. The way he saw it, he was getting cleansed. The impurities in his body were being soaked up, compressed, and becoming only a piss away from being out of his body. The thought was relaxing to him, so much so that he almost fell asleep.

Milton was soon brought back to reality by the doctor yanking out the needle in a way that guaranteed pain.

"Ow! Damn! What was that for doc?"

"This isn't your room pal." The doctor then proceeded to wack Milton on the head with his clipboard before handing him a pill. "That will guarentee you fall asleep. I know you're dead tired, but you've stayed up before when you were ready to drop. I suggest you take it now. I can trust you with my life, but I cant trust you to sleep when you need to sleep. And before you groan about drinking it with water, I got somethng special for you."

Preston rummaged through his desk and pulled out a bottle of nuka-cola. Milton made an instant smile. Nuka-Cola was the only liquid substance on this earth that didn't make him gag. He never forgot his first nuka-cola. Now that was a fine day. Coming back to earth, Milton took the pill and followed it up with two huge gulps of soda.

"So are we done here doctor?"

"Yes we're done, but I'd hurry to that fighter jet of yours. The stuff I gave you is what I used to keep violent patients sedated. I know it's too strong, but I don't anything else to deal with your insomnia."

"I would've appreciated you telling me about that before I took it."

"Yes, but then you wouldn't have taken it."

"Right...Well I'm out of here."

Soon Milton found himself in his cockpit without any memory of how he got there. He figured it was doc's chems getting to work. That, or Milton was blacking out from his lack of sleep. He started taking off his security uniform and piled each part of it in the space behind his seat. In his underwear, Milton sealed the cockpit window and took a quick swig of his nuka-cola. There was no real point to sealing the cockpit. It just made him feel safe. With the nuka-cola done, Milton flicked off the electric lamp in his room and put his feet up on the flight controls.

The next morning, Bentley stood patiently on the drawbridge with Harkness. Much to their surprise, Milton was actually on time for once! He was clipping his combat armor on as he walked down the drawbridge.

"Well someone looks rested.", said Bentley.

"Yeah. Preston's chem knocked me right out. Slept like a-"

"Alright! Cut the friggin pvssyr! You got a job to do damnit!", said Harkness in an annoyed voice.

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

Harkness dumped a green ammo box on the old table behind him, and handed Milton and Bentley triple the normal issue of ammo.

"Do we really need this much ammo sir?", asked Bentley na?vely.

"We do.", said Milton as he loaded his SMG.

"Okay. This is going to be the rundown of the deal. You guys are going to follow the road up to the old war memorial. From there, you cross the bridge and head towards a building called Super Duper Mart. Just before you arrive there, you should run into a man by the name of Barker. He will be your guide the rest of the way. Keep an eye on him. From what I can tell, he's a merc. DONT trust him! If he starts leading you anywhere but west, take him out. His kind cant be trusted."

Milton took some offense to that. Dennis was a merc back in the day, but the chief didn't know that so he let it slide for mow.

"Now before you go, you both need to take this.", said Harkness as he handed them both lists of all the supplies they're supposed to get from the trade. "And for the love of god! Dont open any of the stuff you're shipping. They can tell, and the deal is off if they think anything has been tampered with! Just protect yourselves, protect the brahmin, and protect the goods.", said Harkness in a concerned voice.

"We'll get there. Dont you worry.", promised Milton as he saluted Harkness.

Down below, Crazy Wolfgang was preparing his brahmin for the trip. The council bought up everything he had, including his brahmin. They even hired him to make a cart to load all the supplies in.

"Ah, if it isn't Rivet City's local junk bug.", said Wolfgang with his strange smile as he shook Milton's hand.

"How's she looking Wolfgang?", asked Milton.

"Eulanda is strapped in and ready to go. She's a good brahmin. Just take care of her. This cart is going to make her slow and stick out. And now if you would excuse me, I have to go to my favorite little town, Megaton. A whole town made of scrap...beautiful!"

"Yeah...eh, take care now.", said Milton.

The goods were packed relatively quickly considering the amount they had. It would've taken three brahmin to carry this much stuff on their backs. A brahmin cart just made more sense.

The road to the Anchorage Memorial was unusually calm. Usually super mutants patrolled the area. Little did Milton or Bentley know, Bannon hired a group of mercs to storm the Jefferson Memorial. Dumb bastards didn't even ask for a down payment, and none of them would return to collect. With the wolves fed, the trip was a cakewalk.

Milton rushed the group through the memorial. It was too close to his old home for comfort. There were still things he wasn't ready to relive. At least, not yet.

After crossing the bridge, they had officially left the D.C. Ruins. The last time Milton was out here, it was the family trip to Megaton all those years ago. It felt strange to be in such an open place. And it made him feel vunerable.

As they were pushing through the hills between them and the Super Duper Mart, the brahmin started to panic. The two men didn't know why until they sensed a horrible rotting stench. After stopping the brahmin, they checked around. It didn't take long for them to find the source. A dead super mutant.

"Dear God! Is that what a super mutant smells like?! You ran into these things out in the ruins right? Milton?"

Milton was down on one knee. His gaze fixed upon the fallen abomination. It had been a while since he last saw one this close. He would see them from a distance on a daily basis. The mutants hovered around Rivet City all the time. Seemingly unable to let go of the fact that so many humans were nearby, despite not being able to reach them. But now, with one so close. That nightmarish scowl within view. Milton's old childhood nightmares were coming back.

"Well...Well...Well!", said a dirt coated man. "Look what we found. A couple of people overworking their poor brahmin."

"[censored]...", said Milton. "Raiders."

Nice Chapter

Understatement...of..the century. Also, If I'm not mistaken, bannon isnt telling them the whole truth about what they're carting.

Well to be honest, its felt like I've been writing a book. At first I just wanted to add a little extra character development, but then it just sort of got more and more detailed until it got to the point where Milton wont be the Crusader until chapter 20! This is pretty much going to be a Fallout Epic!

Well the good news is we'll have plenty of chapters to look forward to. Keep it up! Its good to see a new chapter again after a while.

I dont care how long it is, or how long between chapters, as long as you keep your qualaty of writing the same as has been so far.

Yup. Dito on that.

I just read it through in one go.. damn!

Now I'm off to improve my writing a million fold and stand in your shadow, maybe..


Andrew

I got some news for you guys. For almost a week now, my computer was infected with a nasty virus that was finally removed less than an hour ago! :brokencomputer: (Never thought I would get to use that emoticon)

The good news about this is that while the computer was out of commission I finished writing down TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS!!!! :celebration:

I'll post the first of the two chapters at my earliest convenience, and you can look forward to some action in that one.

Hurray you're back!

Also if you hurry you can help get the Rp moving again (no one else posted after me so it just got stuck there)

by motivating people to post again

Okay, here's the deal with me. I'm thinking of taking a SHORT break from the forum for a while. I emphasize SHORT. At the very most, till the end of March. I'm getting some new inspiration and I want to breath life into a very old and very personal project. It was my first ever shot at making a fan-fic that I extensively planned out and ran into writers block with. The very next thing I do after getting this writers block is pick this interesting looking game of the shelf. That game was Fallout 3.

Now before I go on this hiatus, I am going to post THREE count it THREE chapters!!! I am almost done writing the third chapter and it's a doozy. I haven't posted the two I've already finished mostly because I'm lazy

So I'll just keep you waiting until the end of the week.

Nice, this is about the only thing left keeping me on the forums, there's not much activity worth noting around here anymore

Wow things have changed since I've been gone...

Well I'm back from my break from Fallout and I feel ready to go. I dont know if any of my old readers are still around, but if you are then you'll be in for a lot of new chapters in the next few days.

Hey! You're back! I'm not sure about other people, but I'll be reading your new chapters with enthusiasm. Good to see you back.