I looked at James and lowered my voice, "It seems that we've come here for more of a reason than expected. It turns out the government has been talking to these yanks for a while now, I just read about our main objective, here have a look yourself," I muttered, tossing him the letter. I'd already memorized it so I didn't need it anymore,
Objective 1: Contact the Brotherhood of Steel near your drop location. They will be in the husk of the Pentagon.
Risk: Minimal
Objective 2: Head out to a place known as "Old Olney" to prove your worth to the Brotherhood.
Risk: Suicide Run
Objective 3: Retreat back to the Citadel, along the route raid a place known as "Paradise Falls".
Risk: Suicide Run
Objective 4: Head North-West until you find a place known as "Raven Rock" and when found eliminate the entire base.
Risk: Maximum
Objective 5: Secure a landing zone for the cargo plane in an airfield of some kind.
Risk: Average

I didn't like the fact that they'd actually put "Suicide Run" as a part of the risk... It scared me to think our government would try something so deadly.

(OOC: Bgursky59, already told you you were accepted right? Go ahead and jump in when you want.)

James

"I've heard stories about all these places from my Ma. The Citadel is supposed to be full of ex-Yank army guys, and they don't take to kindly to outsiders or something. Old Olney is filled with the most deadly mutated creatures you can find, Deathtalons or something. Paradise Falls is full of people who enslave others and sell 'em. Not many people have seen the inside of it and lived to tell the tale. And Raven Rock, well, if we survive the first few places then we only have a painful death at Raven Rock to look forward to. I dunno whats in there, my Mum refused to talk about it, but its something you don't survive. But, I don't see any other options. If we want to get back to Australia we have to do this [censored] for them. What are we going to tell the rest of the guys?"

I shook my head and cursed, "Well, we can just tell them I guess, if you want you can kid, or I can, it's up to you really. I just need to, I don't know, calm down, I thought I'd see her again..." I muttered, falling into my chair, I put my head in between my hands. I didn't look up but I muttered out, "James, what do you think we should do? Do you think there is any chance of us making it through this?" I sighed, "We're gonna have to do it to get back, but do we really have a chance..."

I looked up, "Come on James, let's go and tell them," I muttered to him, I stood up and walked out of the tent. Surprisngly I noticed what seemed to be everyone pretty much together, talking and laughing. I felt something get stuck in my throat, all these people, probably going to die... I looked at James and nodded, "Okay lads, I'm starting a briefing, everyone wanna come over here?" I yelled out, they started shambling over slowly.

I looked at James again and sighed, I took the piece of paper out of his hands, "Okay guys, I've read our objectives and I'm ready to tell you them. Listen carefully!" I yelled, clearing my throat, "Our first objective is to report to the Brotherhood of Steel in the Pentagon, minimal risk. Next we have to head out to Old Olney, which we have to clear out to prove our worth to the Brotherhood, risk is Suicide Run. Our third objective is to get back to the Brotherhood again but along the way we have to clear out a place known as Paradise Falls, risk is Suicide Run. Our fourth objective is to head North-West towards a place known as Raven Rock, we have to clear it out, risk is maximum. Our last objective is to secure a landing zone for the cargo plane, risk is average."

I looked out among the men, "To get back home we have to do all that, if you want more info about the places listen to James, James?" I said, motioning for him to speak.

James

"Alright listen up boys, I'm going to tell you a little bit of what to expect when we get to these places" he said before repeating what he had told Andy, "Now you no what we are up against. This is going to be the most dangerous mission you will ever go on. Hell, this is probably one of the most dangerous missions ever attempted in the history of man. But, we have to do it. If you want to get back to the place we call home, and if you want Australia to survive in the long run, we have to do this. I heard someone say this once, and it stuck with me forever. 'Who Dares Wins'. The motto of the Australian SAS. I think we are daring, do you agree? So who is going to win?"

I chuckled, "I'm daring a lot here and I intend to win, anyone else got the same idea?" I yelled out to the others, they looked nervous but I knew that humor and good taste would help their spirits.

She started laughing when he said it live to win, this reminded her of an old song she had heard. "...Till you die, till the light dies in your eyes. Day by day kicking all the way im not caving in, let another round begin LIVE TO WIIIIN!!!" she said theatrically.

Aj had come back from a short walk just before they were told what was was on the cards. He stepped forward to say what needed to be said after hearing about the brother hood of steel.

"Sir, I'm all up for getting into some strife, [censored], thats why we all came here. But what is this about the BoS? Are we reporting to those whimps now or something? I for one came out here to help my country, our country. Not to do some [censored] job for those Brotherhood losers. They have a lot of soldiers, all geared up in that stupid 'power armor' and they need to call on Australia to send a team of people, equivalant of the Australian SAS, with most only wearing leather and kevlar to protect us, that says a lot for the 'Brotherhood' then doesn't it?

He stopped for a split second to catch a breath, and continued.

"Bloody whimps is what they are, bloody little whimps! [censored], their army of metal soldiers with laser weapons is nothing compared to our little rag-tag team of patriotic Aussies with leather jackets and small caliber firearms, some of which you would find in any farmer's shed. I'm all for clearing these target locations, but I don't know if I can handle our team, your team captain, being ordered around by these Brotherhood of [censored] [censored]s who can't do anything for themselves.

Aj finished his rant, knowing he had probably said what everyone in the group was thinking. He was obviously furious at th idea of having the BoS sissies telling this team what to do. He let out a breath and sat down on his pack.

I looked at the soldier sternly, then I started laughing, I almost fell to the ground, I wiped a tear out of my eye, "My thoughts exactly, my thoughts exactly. These whimps have tech though, something that could really help us. Recently they did something with a water purifier, something to do with a GECK. They've got another one recently, if we do all this [censored] for them then they'll hand it over. Oh and if they don't? I'll be happy to let you shoot your way through, I'll be right behind you as well!" I muttered out, loud enough for everyone to hear.

I was deadly serious, if the Brotherhood didn't hand it over, then I know what I'd be doing...

James

James watched as he heard Andy and 'AJ' talk. A GECK. He knew a little about them, though this time not from his mother. Once he had stumbled upon a technicians lab and had found a wealth of knowledge about Pre-War tech there. There was a few mentions of some of the inner workings of the GECK, and he hadn't liked the sound of the way it was built. He still didn't.

"I know a bit about the GECK. Its very, very unstable. I don't know how we are going to get back to Australia if we get it from those dikes. And, from what I know of the Brotherhood, you shouldn't be calling them wimps. They are single handedly holding off the mutant invasion in the city, so I'd expect they wouldn't be able to head out and do this kind of stuff" he said before walking off. He was going to take a little walk, and see if he could find anything.

He noticed a few buildings not to far away, so he walked towards them. When he reached them he dropped down onto his knees and thanked God for what he saw before him.

A shop called, 'Felix's Fission Repairs'.

He ran in and noticed a lot of stuff was missing, but there was probably still enough for him to make his self-recharging Fission Battery. He grabbed a bunch of the equipment and carried it to a work table and pulled out his battery. He replaced some of the damaged stuff with better quality ones and got to work on installing the new equipment. He worked for ages in there and finally pulled together his dream. A self-recharging Fission Battery.

He called it the J9R Fission Battery. The J was for James', the 9 because it was his ninth prototype, and the R for recharging. He found a Protectron robot in the back of the building and quickly installed the battery, and pressed the power button for the robot.

It flickered for about ten seconds before finally starting up and proceeding to try and clean up the mess. He found the robots control panel and hacked it, telling it to drain the battery. It tried to do it for ten minutes before he finally stopped it, pulling out the J9R and heading outside. He walked back over to camp and found Andy quickly.

"Andy, I have just created something ten times more useful than a stupid GECK. I call it the J9R Fission Battery. Its self recharging, so it will never run out, though may overheat. If you can find a vehicle in good repair I can keep it running easy, providing the J9R keeps up its good performance." he chuckled. He realized this was probably the best day of his life, and even if he died on this trip he wouldn't mind, he had fulfilled his lifes purpose in his opinion.

I looked at James, I chuckled, then grinned, then full out laughed, "Good work James! This is the sort of initiative we want to see in soldiers!" I then patted him on the shoulder and my grin grew wider. I sighed, I looked around then moved a bit closer to him, "We're gonna be moving out soon, keep an eye on the men, just for one reason. I really don't want any deserters, we've had so many casualties already, the less men we have the worse we're off." I then walked away a bit, towards my tent.

I walked in and scrambled through my equipment, starting to pack it up, as I'd probably just be lugging it around all day I might as well get some practice. I stuffed it all into my pack and hefted it on my back, I walked out of the tent and did some endurance training with the pack on. It was heavy but it kept my burn up, I laughed as I reached the pain threshold, after that it all went into a numbness. I laughed, I didn't know what anyone else thought, I didn't care either.

Aj was sitting on his pack, once again playing his harmonica. But then again, in 'non-combat mode', if he's not in combat, then he would most likely be playing the harp, it was sort of an escape into a world where all there is is music, no rad roaches humping your leg, no raiders shooting at you just because they have nothing better to do than sign their own death warrant, it was just him and the music.

He was sitting there playing 'Piano Man', one of the first real songs his uncle had taught him. He heard James talking to Andy about his wonderful invention. And from what Aj overheard, it was one hell of a power module, self sustaining fission battery. Amazing, truly amazing. Aj's buggy back home ran off fission batteries, petrol and had a solar power pack, so the machine would operate on either of the three power sources, although the solar power cells were pretty useless at times as he only had a few small solar panels on the buggy so it didn't draw that much energy from the sun.

But one thing that Aj heard really stood out, the mention of finding a vehicle. Aj was looking for one when he went for his walk, and he was hoping to find one and request to use it to scout and do some recon. But his walk was short and he didn't really get much of a chance to go out, look for a vehicle that would suite the terrain and get it working. Aj was pretty damn good when it came to resurrecting a corpse of a vehicle. When he found his baby, his buggy, it was an old Manx beach buggy deserted in the middle of the Northern Territory, and all that was left of it was the chassis and the engine and drive train. It was a burnt out husk but now it is one hell of a machine, fast and agile, and could carry a lot of supplies, and a passenger as it had two seats. Back at the Army base, Aj and Perry would use it for recon or as a support vehicle, with a good old mount made to fit a FN Minimi light machine gun made it worthwhile taking a passenger out on runs. Oh how Aj looked forward to getting back with his buggy, Kate and the rest of his mates at the army base.

Aj stood up to go and talk to the captain about the whole vehicle idea.

Has everyone got bored of this already?

I think Francois is just busy at the moment so we will just have to wait, which is fine, there's no rush.

(OOC: Aussie's right, I've been having family problems. I apologies, anyone is allowed to change the story however they want. It doesn't matter me that much anymore, you can make whatever you want happen. I'll only give the RP this one nudge, then it's all yours. You can kill me if you want.)

IC:

As I looked at the ground I got up, I walked over towards nothing, looking at nothing, hearing nothing. I turned around, "Okay guys, we're going now, I mean now, right now, we're going to get this done, I don't want any casualties. Actually, James, your in charge, I'm sorry men. Something feels wrong with me, like I'm not even human anymore..." I sputtered out, "I'm sorry, I'm going, stay safe men, tell the superiors that I deserted."

I then turned around and walked into the water, falling headfirst into it, I took a great big gulp and I choked. My insides burned as the water ran through my body, my heart was on fire. I watched as I felt my strength dissapear, no one else was with me which was good. I felt my life fade away... Then return again, stronger, I looked at my skin, it wasn't skin anymore. It was a layer of hardened muscle and a mix of skin put into it. Even worse, it was yellow.

I roared and ran out into the Wastes, not returning to my men or the Brotherhood...

(OOC: The waters of life are infected with the FEV virus, Andy had a different reaction, turning into an overlord. Good luck with the RP, may you have a good time doing whatever the hell you want! If you want you can stumble across me, only thing I want is that he doesn't die easily)

(OOC: Wow that was random? Man, I hope your family stuff gets sorted out, I'll do my best with the RP I guess. Good luck)

James

James was shocked as he watched what happened to Andy. He saw his leader run off until he couldn't see him anymore, then he heard a roar and he was gone.

James looked back at the, no, now they were his men, and saw them all looking to him. He didn't know what to do. He had just been thrown to the wolves and he had to do something. He needed to get to the Citadel, they could help.

He looked around and noticed an old military truck to the left and noticed it was in pretty good condition. There was room for two in the front seats, and seats for about 20 more in the open air compartment of the back. At the very end of the back was a turret too, which looked to also be in near working condition.

"Men, I'm going to have to admit I'm pretty shocked. I don't know what happened, but I think we should get out of here, somethings wrong about this place. Get on that truck over there, hop in the back. Now." he said before heading over to the turret. He took out his gear and began fixing up the turret while the men watched his back. After about half an hour he had it fixed and it was ready to go.

"One of you hop on this turret, keep the truck covered while I fix this damn thing" he yelled before looking around at them. He needed someone to be his second in command now that he was the leader. He barely knew any of them, but in the circumstances he had to choose fast. AJ looked like he had a good head on him, he decided.

"AJ, watch after the boys, your my second in command. Screw up, and you'll be lucky to live, let alone keep the position" he said before heading up to the front of the truck.

An hour later he had re-worked the trucks engine, fixed some of the damaged components, and installed his battery. He thought it was good to go.

"AJ, head up to the passengers seat, the rest of you, buckle up. Where getting the hell outta here, watch out for enemies." he said as he sat down in his seat. He tried to switch on the engine, and after about ten seconds he was rewarded with the sound of the trucks engines starting up.

"Hell yeah!" he shouted before speeding out of the area. He thought he saw something large and yellow in the direction Andy had run off too, but it must have been his imagination.

Aj grinned at James, the team's new CO. Aj jumped into the passenger seat of the big truck and dropped his pack onto the floor of the cab at his feet. As the truck started moving he bent down in his seat and opened his pack, going through the large supply of ammunition he had brought for his weapons, specifically 5.56mm rounds for his F88 Austeyr.

Before leaving his home to go to the OGT HQ, Aj had to make a terrible decision. He could not take all his favorite weapons. He had brought his .22 rifle and F88, and unfortunately had to leave his other most favored gun at home, his FN Minimi 5.56mm light machine gun. Aj had to make a big sacrifice leaving this gun at home, it was used on his buggy on runs, and was still attached to it back at the OGT Base.

But when he couldn't bring the FN Minimi, he decided to compromise. He used some spare parts for the FN, and modified his F88 to take the 5.56mm belts from the FN and to spit not only the empty shells out, but also the little metal clips that kept the bullets together in a belt. So he now had a F88 Austeyr which acts as a FN Minimi light machine gun.

He rustled through his pack until he found what he was looking for, he laughed and removed the clip from his F88 and dropper it in his pack. He bent down to the pack and lifted out a metal box covered in dark green canvas, it was a belt of 5.56mm rounds. He sat up in his seat with the F88 and the box on his lap, he looked directly above him at a gunner's hatch in the roof of the truck cab and then looked at James to his left.

"Check this out sir, looks like we have a hole in the roof" He said smiling.

He attached the ammo box to the F88, switched the firing mode switch to auto and laughed an exited laugh, he stood up on his seat and threw the gunner's hatch open. Now, standing on the seat, with his F88 Austeyr light machine gun, he could see all around the outside of the vehicle via the swiveling hatch as the old truck bounced across the wasteland.

(OOC: Francois there's no need to apologise we understand that you can't be here. I hope things work out.)

IC: Matt

I was in shock Andy, our leader, was gone it was a bit hard to swallow. I sat in the truck and kept an eye out for the enemy. Scanning rooftops, ruined buildings and other potential ambush points. The truck was old and I was surprised it was even moving. As we rolled across the wasteland I thought about home and how it was going. I wondered how my family, the nomads, were going. It was hard to be away from home but it was for a good cause. Suddenly I saw something in an old building move. I pulled out my hand gun, it was further up, towards where we were heading.

"Hey guys did any of you see anything move in that building up ahead?"

(OOC: Thanks guys for understanding, I'll get a post in when I can. But M'heree is in charge of the RP now because I can't get on enough to keep it going.)

IC:

I wasn't human I was sure of that. I wasn't anything anymore, all I felt was pain and wonder at what had happened to me. I had heard stories of Super Mutants but I wasn't sure what the hell was true and what wasn't anymore. I knew I couldn't return to my men, I knew I couldn't even return to any humans without getting shot. I kept moving and somehow I caught up with a man, a Super Mutant was following him. He looked interesting, what I remembered as Power Armor covering his body, it looked different from what I'd heard, painted white.

I walked up to the man and the Mutant pulled out a giant weapon, I stopped and raised my hands, showing they were empty. I then raised my voice for the first time, "I'm sorry to intrude but I feel as though I'm not sure what's happened to me, I was wondering if..." I started, the man turned around and pulled off his helmet. He looked young but determined, I started my story, explaining everything from why I'd left to how I'd gotten just to this exact spot. He started his story and we sat down, it took a good 2 hours for him to stop talking...

After I'd heard what he'd done I got up and asked, "So, your the... Lone Wanderer is it? Well, it's nice to have met you I guess, if so I'd like to ask a favour of you?"
"Go ahead, Andy."
"Well, I'm not sure I can do anything important anymore. I'm not sure if I want to live, all I know is that I want to do something useful, may I aid you in your travels? My old squad are going to Old Olney, Paradise Falls and Raven Rock to clear out the areas so we can return to our Country with useful tech... Perhaps to make your life easier as what I've heard of you. I would be honoured to go with you and do something useful with my life."

Of course, he accepted, gave me a weapon and we head off. Not anywhere in particular, just everywhere and anywhere. I wondered what my old squad was doing, but now that was the past. I even wondered if I'd ever see them again, I hoped that it would be possible.

(OOC: Of course, I've hooked up with the Lone Wanderer, you can "Stumble" into him if you want. doesn't make a big difference, I wish you alll the best with the RP once again!)

James

James slowed when he heard Matts warning. He looked at the building up ahead and noticed movement in it too. He reached for the controls and found the button to turn on the large spotlight on the trucks cab. Just as he turned it on the large doors opened on the building and men started to poor out, screaming and wailing into the night that surrounded them.

They looked ghastly, like they had lost touch with humanity. Some had ragtag armor and rusty guns, some with scraps of clothes and makeshift melee weapons, but the one that stood out was at the front of the 50 or 60 men. His ancient body was covered in scars and what James could only guess was dried blood. His tufts of hair could only be described as wild, and his crooked teeth even worse. He wore nothing but a loin cloth and a belt running from his shoulder to his waist, which had several fingers dangling off of it. But the part that really stood out was his hands. No, they were better described as claws. They were rough, sharp and treacherous. If someone told James the man could rip through flesh with a halfhearted swipe, he would not doubt them in the slightest.

And then, the man looked up at James through the window of the truck and his eyes narrowed. He held up his hand and the men all fell silent.

He brought up one of his claws and pointed at James, then beckoned to him with a flick of his wrist.

James looked at him for a second and did the unexpected. He laughed.

The whole appearance and ploy was obviously meant to scare James into coming out, so they could kill him and send his men into disarray. The whole outfit of him was impractical at best, and he wouldn't be able to take much abuse, especially from the stuff the OGT guys were packing. He grabbed his M4, out of the view of the attackers and looked at the man in the eyes before bringing his gun up in one fluid motion and firing at him through a smashed whole in the front window.

And then he yelled to his men, "Open fire!!!!"

Matt

They poured out of the building, there were so many, they all had a crazed look about them. They appeared barbaric there was no way we would be able to talk our way out of this encounter. I watched as they surrounded the truck. There was a man who looked deranged beyond all belief he appeared to lead the group. As he raised his hand the crowd fell silent, he prompted James to fight, as he did I could have sworn I heard James laugh.

Suddenly a shot rang out and I heard the glass of the front window shatter. Then I heard James yell to open fire, I quickly armed myself with my Sawed-Off in one hand and my Colt 45 in the other. I just shot into the crowd not taking proper aim.

"Uh James I think we better get outta here." I casually mentioned.

My sawed-off was out in two shots. I dropped it and took proper aim with my Colt shooting anyone who got close to the truck. Adrenaline began to kick in I yelled.

"Yeah that's 7 down who else wants some?"

James

James knew that they wouldn't be able to stay and fight without taking losses. Unnecessary losses.

He reached for two grenades, pulling out both the pins he threw them to opposite sides of the crowd. He put his foot down on the pedal and accelerated through the middle, taking out many of the raiders. Just as they cleared the group he heard the explosions go off and the start of the chain gun on the back start up. He looked at one of the mirrors and saw not much. Most of them were dead. He had taken out a few with the trucks, tons had perished from the grenades and a lot more from the fire of the squad. The few that were left were injured, and the fewer that weren't were confused.

He continued driving for awhile until he grew tired, and he turned to AJ.

"AJ, you drive for a little while, I'm gonna head up back for a bit."

He heard AJ's grunt of acknowledgement and he stopped the truck, getting out and hopping onto the back with the rest of the squad. He sat next to Matt and pulled out his gear, deciding to start work on a second JR2 Battery.

Aj dropped into his seat from the gunner's hatch, unloaded the empty ammo box from his F88 and picked out a new box from his pack and loaded the light machine gun. He thanked himself for making the FN/F88 Light Machine Gun modifacation, it had already come in handy. He slid across the cab seat from his side to the driver's side and put his F88 LMG next to him, just incase he had to open it up on anything.

He put his foot down on the clutch pedal and turned the key. The truck started much easier this time round than it had the first time, it roared to life. Aj shifted the truck into first gear, slowley released the clutch while putting his foot down on the accelarator and the truck took off, spitting dirt out from the rear wheels.

"Hey guys, someone should get up here in the gunner's hatch as soon as the [censored] hits the fan" He yelled to the team in the back of the truck, over the loud noise from the truck's engine.

He saw an old highway off to the side, it looked better than the terrain he was driving on now so he decided to take the highway. He pulled the truck around and onto the cracked concrete of the road. The road was pretty good as far as he could see, so alteast they wouldn't have to worry about damaging the truck from bouncing over rough terrain, he just had to weave through old dead cars and trucks every now and then.

The truck picked up speed on the road, considering what had happened to the world, the road was is pretty decent shape. Every now and then Aj had to just ram straight through a car on the road, as he couldn't slow down to go around it, and sometimes the road had a few cars blocking it off, so there was only one way to get past a car when you can't go around it.

"Hold on to something everyone!! He yelled to his team in the back, and then the front of the big truck would collide with the side or the rear of a decayed car, throwing the car off the road with an ear splitting crash, not doing much damaged at all to the front of the massive machine. Damn it was a seriously heavy truck, sometimes it would just rip the car in two. Aj at the wheel, the truck kept bellowing along the old road in the dark.

(OOC: Just bringing this back to the front page again...)

James

When they pulled up at the giant gates of the Citadel hours later, James was beyond nervous. He jumped out of the truck and walked in front of it slowly.

When a soldier standing outside of the gates asked him who they were, James simply responded:

"The OGT." and he opened the gates for them. A.J drove into the part just beyond the gates and stopped the truck, before everyone got out.

"You can all go around and explore, learn about this place and get any equipment you need. Get back to the truck before sunset. I'm going to go speak with the leader, AJ your with me. Move out."

Aj jumped from the truck. He grabbed his F88 LMG, .22 rifle and his revolver, he didn't trust leaving his guns in the truck with all the BoS around. Who says they aren't thieves.

Aj went with James. They had to find the leader of the BoS. As they walked through the center courtyard of the Citadel, it seemed as though the BoS didn't have that much of a set-up. All there was in the courtyard was a makeshift shooting range, and some chairs and beds. Not very impressive at all.

There where a few dozen BoS recruits or 'initiates', most of which where standing around doing absolutely nothing at all. Some were even sitting and talking. 'Wow what a force to be reckoned with' Aj thought as he looked at the initiates, half of them looked as though they hadn't had a decent meal in a while.

Aj did find a bit of entertainment as he walked through the courtyard. He watched the initiates at the shooting range. They had the dummies set up only meters away, yet many of them missed. It made Aj laugh, what a waste of bullets.

He shook his head still laughing to himself, 'What a bunch of school kids' he thought, thats what these initiates resembled, school kids, training to be slaughtered. Aj continued to follow the Captain across the Citadel courtyard.