Why the hell is this a "lets play" instead of a game on? FT singleplayer blows, and its multiplayer is the best thing ever created.
It's a Let's Play because, in the spirit of the original Let's Play threads, I'm playing the game so you guys don't have to. there have already been a couple of folks who've said that they never finished the singleplayer because it got so damn tedious they couldn't make it all the way through. But yes, if you want to start up a Game On on Fallout Tactics Multiplayer, that would be freakin' awesome.
Thats when you turn on Real time combat and watch your entire team get slaughtered in a matter of seconds, because in no way did this game lend itself to real time at all.
Bright day
Does nobody remember the tutorial?
Real-time is good for flanking as enemies will get shot every time they leave cover, prompting them to stay put, while you machine gun wielding\grenade toting monster gets into the place for the mass murder...
There is an interesting trick I just discovered () that actually makes Real Time much more viable: if you press Enter at any time, the game immediately switches from Real Time to Turn Based: so, kind of like Baldur's Gate, you can walk your guys through the easy missions, then pseudo-pause action when you need to, give people more specific orders until you get past the rough patch. I'm going to try and play it that way in the next mission (drive the humvee through the goddamn city full of people trying to kill you) because the turn-based vehicle controls are kinda shitty.
So far this has been a brilliant thread, excellent writing quite entertaining. I've already finished fallout tactics more than once so I am not tempted to reinstall but I am really enjoying reading this.
From "An Initiate's History of the War of the Steel Plague"
Any study of the War of the Steel Plague must, sadly, acknowledge that the events that transpired were not only exacerbated by the Second Brotherhood, but, in many ways, caused by it. It is true that the motivations of the Brotherhood's leadership were, at the time, nothing less than the most noble: how can anyone regard the restoration of the Wasteland as anything but? And yet, in our attempt to save the world, we came close (so close) to destroying it forever. Perhaps the Conservatives who stayed behind would call the events that followed our just punishment as heretics: the unavoidable consequences of attempting to change this harsh new world instead of simply survive it. Perhaps the spirits of the dead would consider the cost they paid just and proper in light of the cause for which they died. Perhaps. Speculation as to what could have been is rarely fruitful. As a historian, one's motives must be limited to simply telling what has come before. Let others draw from the past what they will.
In early 2195, Brotherhood Paladins engaged in anti-raider operations recovered a chest containing many spools of computer tape, containing countless megabytes of data left over from before the Great War. It took many months of study to decipher the data: much of what could be gleaned was fragmentary and ambiguous, at best. Our scribes worked tirelessly day and night to delve into this treasure trove of information. What they discovered would shock even them.
It was well known that the government, in the years leading up to the Great War, constructed numerous Vaults for the avowed purpose of protecting a portion of the population to restore the nation's population after the war. What was not known was that the Vaults were never meant to save humanity. The scribes of that era had calculated the effects of nuclear war and discovered that, should one occur, humanity would be doomed in the long run. Even with the aid of highly advanced technology like the GECKs, the massive damage caused by nuclear holocaust would tear the heart out of the web of life. It would not take one generation. It may not even take ten. But, given time, there was a 99% chance that some cascade failure - some new plague, some radiation-borne sickness, some famine that would tip over the precarious balance - would destroy the world forever. Earth would become a true wasteland, and the last silent spring would arrive.
The Vaults were never intended to save the world. They were a social experiment on a large scale: a test of various social permutations and reclamation strategies in order to determine which would be most successful in both maintaining a healthy human population in isolation over a period of generations, then establishing a beachhead civilization upon arrival in a hostile new world. These different permutations would be studied, their successes and failures analyzed, and the data used to formulate mankind's long-term strategy for survival: relocation to another world through the use of a century-long journey in a generation-spanning starship, and the eventual establishment of an off-world colony on another planet.
But for observations to be made, observers would be needed. For this reason, the Vault Program constructed an enormous super vault, Vault 0, to act as the heart of the Vault Experiment. It would be from this great Vault that greatest minds of their time (and their descendants) would observe, study, and analyze the performance of the other Vaults. As the hub of the Vault Network, it would, of course, be provided with the most resources, the most sophisticated technology, the most secure of locations.
In short, it would be a treasure trove containing unheard-of riches, if only the Brotherhood could reach it.
The defenses at Vault 0 would be formidable; the Brotherhood had no idea what to expect, aside from the fact that the center of the Vault Network would, of course, be highly defended. Brotherhood Elders calculated that a vast army would be needed in order to carry out a mission of this magnitude. In 2197, the Brotherhood began an aggressive new campaign of recruitment among the tribals of the region. Brotherhood Squires were tasked to travel south to the tribal villages along the great river, forging alliances and recruiting fresh bodies in the Grand Army that would carry out this vital mission, as well as eliminating lesser threats that could distract us from the great task ahead.
And it was during this time, as the Brotherhood marshaled its forces and prepared for the task ahead of them, that the most unlikely of heroes would emerge from its ranks, a hero who would change the history of the Brotherhood forever, albeit at great cost to herself and to others. . .
(And here's the text of the actual chapter ending cutscene) Spoiler:
With your initiation now over the Brotherhood now reveals to you their highest objective, fragments of data, left over from before the great war show that the ancients spent many years constructing Vaults to house the survivors.
Recently acquired data however points to the creation of an enormous super Vault; this nucleus of the Vault Network was built to protect the greatest minds of the time and would be the spearhead of post war civilization. If the Brotherhood could find this vault and activate its systems, they would have access to technology resources previously undreamed of. As well as access to the ancients themselves but the journey to the calculated location of Vault 0 would be perilous. A large army and a vast area of operations would be required for a mission of this magnitude.
They planned to follow the roaring river to the south, forging alliances, gaining fresh recruits and, if necessary, eliminating aggressors. Bunkers will be established in each new region, to firmly establish a secure area of operations. When the Brotherhood's rule in the region is undisputed and their ranks are brimming with new recruits, the real campaign will begin, heading back towards the mountains.
From the journal of Cindilu Hu, Brotherhood of Steel Senior Squire
So, like, I decided it would be, like, totally not cool to kick my squad out on their butts, so I like, decided I'd keep them as it is, because, like, you know, everyone's been like totally awesome to me, so we're gonna be best friends forever and all. So anyway, I like, spent the whole day writing nice cards to everyone who wanted to join my squad, with little pink hearts on the envelopes and all so that they wouldn't feel bad. Some of them were kinda weirded out by that.
I guess I've still got a lot to get used to.
Anyway, the next morning, General Barnaky brought us all together and said that we were leaving this joint. We were all gonna move to Bunker Beta, in the south and start working from there which made me like totally sad, because I kinda liked it here Celsius was gonna come along, but Octavius was staying behind, which totally sucked. I made him a nice collage before we left, in pink paper with a picture of him and me forever, and the words "Best Friends Forever" spelled out in shell casings on top. He was kinda weirded out by that, too, but he tried to act like he liked it. He's such a sweetie.
Anyway, we were getting ready to head out when I noticed these mechanics sitting around playing poker, and they saw me and asked if I wanted to play, so I was all, sure, and they were all laughing and saying maybe they should make it strip poker instead, so I like, totally agreed and then they got really excited and pretty soon everyone was standing around ready to watch this rich brat totally lose her shirt.
I was raised on poker. Dad taught me never draw to an inside straight while I was still in diapers.
And that's how a bunch of Brotherhood of Steel mechanics had to travel south wearing only their boxers :3
On the way back, Rage said we should, like, drop by Rock Falls again and try something out, so we like, totally went back there and headed back through that minefield and over to the raider captain's base again.
I was a bit worried when Rage pulled out a big ol' stick of dynamite and put it on the safe door.
It didn't work. "Still locked up tighter than a fuckin' Hubologist's snatch," was how Rage put it. He seemed really annoyed. But he was happier afterwards when I gave him his new present.
Rage had a lot of fun using his new Ripper on people and stuff. "That's a waste of power, you know," Ice kept telling him.
"But it's a chainsaw, babe. No, it's more awesome than that. It's a goddamn knife that's a fucking chainsaw. The only thing cooler would be if it was attached to a gun. A gun that's also a knife that's a chainsaw. That shoots fucking swords."
"And yet, you keep making fun of my glove that shoots shotgun shells," Ice sneered.
"Hey, baby, there's awesome, and then there's just fucking ridiculous."
"Fuck you, Rage."
"Any time you want it, hon."
Those two are soooooo cute together.
Things weren't always so happy. One time, we came across a group of raiders who'd caught a couple of civilians outside their village. Things were. . . not good.
Stitch and I did what we could for them. They didn't make it. He was really upset by that.
Did you know that giant cockroaches eat their young? I didn't. That's like, totally weird.
Anyway, after a long trip out in the desert, we made it to Bunker Beta. Yay!! Clean sheets and showers for everyone!
We got there, and there was another mechanic who wanted to play strip poker with me.
I got a bunch of cool new stuff from him :3
Oh yeah, and there was this creepy guy hanging around Celcius' infirmary too, asking if I wanted to play liar's dice.
I'm not as good at dice as I am with cards, but I still totally beat him Saving and reloading helps, of course I tried to keep the scumming to a minimum, though.
After we took a shower and a nap and restocked on supplies, we went to see General Barnaky. He had two missions for us.
First, some guy needed some help moving a convoy of supplies.
Secondly, the Brotherhood needs some Fusion batteries to power our equipment.
Awesome LP. And a bit late to the party, but if you're going to switch up your squad, I suggest putting in Stevie. When I played, I had a lot of fun having her sneak up on people and Power Fisting them in the face/groin. Plus, she's cute looking.
Here we have creepy old guy and airheaded bimbo getting ready to set off on a journey of happiness and bunnies. This can only end well.
Stumpy now has his shotgun fist that will allow him to fist people better, and plenty of fletchette and buckshot rounds so that his fisting will be felt with great vigor.
Stumpy attempts to demonstrate the effectiveness of his fisting technique upon some random ghouls.
The ghouls don't respond well to being fisted, and proceed to murder poor Stumpy and then beat the shit out of his lady friend.
Let's try this again.
Hey, look! Beastlords! Surely Beastlords will understand the joy of a good fisting!
Guess not.
And thus ends the brief yet illustrious career of Stumpy Jones, Shotgun Puncher of the Wasteland. He will be sorely missed.
Stumpy now has his shotgun fist that will allow him to fist people better, and plenty of fletchette and buckshot rounds so that his fisting will be felt with great vigor.
From the Diary of Junior Knight Cindilu Hu, Brotherhood of Steel East
Dear Diary,
Today, for the first time, it occurred to me that someone could die. It's not that I haven't seen death before: I've certainly seen enough dead people that I'm not scared of dead bodies any more, and I've made a few of them dead myself. But today, for the first time, it occurred to me that one of my friends, one of the people under my command, could die.
I should explain.
We headed to Macomb first. Stitch said the warehouse could wait, but that Brotherhood distress call needed to be answered right away.
We got there in time to find this guy sitting there next to a Humvee, looking scared and tired. He smelled like he hadn't had a shower in weeks, and there was blood all over his armor, and he was wearing his left arm in a sling. He looked up at us as we arrived.
"It's about goddamn time some fucking backup showed up," he sighed. "All right, here it is: the original escort squad is pushing up mutated daisies. Everyone in this godforsaken town wants whats in these supply vehicles.
"It's not a pretty situation here, little girl. Every twenty feet is another shitty fucking roadblock that needs to be cleared. These people are vile, and little more than animals." He turned his head aside and spat on the ground. "So, yeah, shoot first, and watch your back."
"What's in these trucks that they want so bad?" Stitch asked.
"What isn't in these trucks?" Christian shook his head. "Ammo. Medicine. Food. Clothes. One truckload of supplies could supply one of their villages for a goddamn month. Of course they're gonna go after these things."
"Can't we just. . . give them some food and supplies?" I asked.
"We can't spare any. We're stretched thin as it is. Besides, we start giving shit away, everyone's gonna come after us looking for a handout, and there's not enough to go around. Not that I'd waste a single crumb on these filthy animals." He spit on the ground again.
"I. . . I still don't think. . . I mean, we have to try. Maybe we could work something out with them. . ."
"Shit, you be my guest. It's your head." He shook his head and stubbed his cigarette out on the ground. "Keys are in the ignition. I'm through with these fucking supply runs. I'm getting a transfer to something safe, like clearing mines. Good luck. See you back at the base."
He walked off. "Well, thanks for nothing, motherfucker," Rage shouted after him, but the guy didn't stop. "Well, shit. What the fuck do we do now?"
"We drive," Stitch said. "We finish the supply run and get the supplies to our outpost." He hopped in the driver's seat. "Fuck," he groaned.
"What is it?"
"It's a stickshift," Stitch sighed. "Anyone around here know how to drive stick?"
We all looked at each other. "Stitch," Rage sighed. "There are like, a dozen fucking cars in the entire Brotherhood motor pool. None of us have ever driven anything ever."
"Actually," I said, "that's not quite true."
Everyone turned and looked at me. "You know how to drive stick?" Stitch asked.
"Daddy taught me when I was fourteen," I admitted. "He used to take me joyriding out in his dune buggy."
"Great. Take the wheel. I'll ride shotgun."
"Why doesn't everyone get in?" I asked.
"Because we're still in a war-zone. You'll see soon enough," Stitch said.
And we did.
About a hundred yards down the road, someone had closed a gate across the road. "What's this?" I asked
"It's an ambush. Stay in the car," Stitch said. He hopped out and began walking, at a crouch, alongside the humvee, checking the roofs for enemies.
"TAKE EM OUT!" someone screamed, and then the firefight was on.
"CLEAR LEFT!" Mandy shouted.
"CLEAR RIGHT!" Rage replied. Everyone lowered their weapons. "Anyone hit?"
"We're good," Ice said. "Let's open up this gate and get out of here."
Stitch flipped a big switch, and an alcohol-powered generator started up, and the gate slowly opened.
"Shit!" Rage shouted. "We got hostiles!"
"Take em out!" Stitch shouted, then he suddenly fell down, grabbing his arm. "FUCK! MEDIC!"
"MAN DOWN!" Rage shouted. He took cover behind a building and started shooting his assault rifle at the rooftops. Mandy was dragging Stitch to safety, then there was a loud barking, and she looked up and saw a pack of wild dogs running straight towards them. She shot her assault rifle, and it jammed, and the dogs started to close in on them.
I did the first thing I could think of.
I used to have a puppy. He was a husky, or something, a big, grey dog with soft fur and liquid eyes. His name was Shadow. Dad bought him for my when I was ten, and I loved him more than anything.
For his third birthday, I bought Shadow a new collar with a tag on it. I had it made by one of the tribals who came by trading for beads and medicines. It was made out of a tin can, but it was still very pretty: it was heart-shaped, and ti had Shadow's name engraved on it on one side, and my name on the other. I put it on him and gave him a big hug, and he licked my face and barked.
The next day, I was playing with him outside the bunker. It was his favorite game of fetch with his favorite ball. I got bored of it and was sitting down under a tree. Shadow decided to go and chase a rabbit, when a Brotherhood soldier accidentally hit him with his humvee. It wasn't the soldier's fault: Shadow just ran into the road out of nowhere, and the soldier didn't have time to dodge him.
I saw Shadow fly about three feet, then the wheels ran over his ribcage, and the bones started crunching. I screamed and ran for him, but Daddy grabbed me and held me close to him. "Don't," he whispered. "Don't look at it, baby girl."
I heard the door open, and I heard the soldier cursing. I heard Shadow whining in pain. It was so loud. . . and Daddy was holding me so tight. He put his hands over my ears just as I heard a gun being cocked, but it didn't drown out the sound of the shotgun going off.
The rottweiler I ran over made the same sound when I hit him with the humvee and ran him over. He whined very loudly, and I could hear his paws scrabbling at the blacktop. I was crying as I put the car in reverse and backed over his head. Out the driver's side window, I could see another dog slowly limping away: I'd clipped that one with the back bumper when I fishtailed out, and he'd flown back a few feet, but he was still alive.
I saw Stitch get back to his feet and wave Mandy away. I saw Rage and Ice shooting at the men on the roofs.
Then one of the dogs leaped at the driver's side window and grabbed my arm.
I reacted instantly: the .45 went off before I knew I'd even drawn it. The dog's head exploded, and his brains scattered all over the street. I leaned out the door and threw up.
I was holding myself and crying when Rebecca called out to me. "Hu? Are you alive?"
"She's alive," Ice snapped. "I can hear her whining."
"Both of you just shut up!" Stitch shouted. "Ice, Rage, Becca, Mandy, clear the rest of the houses. Squad Leader, give me a hand here."
"Listen, INITIATE, I don't take orders from you," Rage shouted. "This bullshit mission is all. . ."
I don't know what happened next, but I think I acted like a bitch again. I don't think it worked as well this time, because I was clearly crying, but I screamed something at Rage, and he got really quiet. Actually, everyone got really quiet.
Then Rage shook his head. "I don't need to put up with this bullshit," he sneered. "Soon as I get back to the base, I'm out of your fucking squad, 'Senior Squire Hu.'" He turned around and walked away, leading the others towards the other houses. A few seconds later, I heard gunfire going off.
"Fucking asshole," Stitch sighed. "Don't worry about him, he just needs to get some of the mad out." His arm was hanging at his side funny, and I realized that the white bit sticking out of his uniform jacket was bone."
"Stitch. . ."
"Yeah, I know. One of those fuckheads busted up my arm pretty good," he sighed. "Help me out with this." He had his doctor's bag open, and he was rummaging through the bottles. "I'll need your help to splint up the arm while I treat myself for shock. Look for. . . it's a thingy. . . kind of like two pieces of wood. . . and a bandage."
I was finishing up with the bandages when I heard someone screaming.
Rage and the others were standing over a guy hiding behind a fence with a rifle in his hands. Everyone had their weapons raised, and people were yelling. "PUT THE GUN ON THE GROUND, MOTHERFUCKER!" Rage and Ice kept screaming. "PUT IT DOWN!"
"I DON'T WANT ANY TROUBLE!" the guy was yelling. He was shaking like a scared rabbit. "PLEASE, I JUST. . . I HAVEN'T HAD ANYTHING TO EAT IN DAYS! JUST GIVE ME SOMETHING TO EAT, AND I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE, I SWEAR! I'LL EVEN TELL YOU WHERE THE GATE KEY IS!"
"PUT THE FUCKING GUN ON THE GROUND NOW! PUT IT DOWN!" Rage shouted.
The guy screamed, and then someone else screamed, and I'm not sure who shot first, but then everyone opened fire.
The guy jerked around as the bullets hit his body. He was dead a hundred times over, but the sheer force of the bullets hitting him kept him from falling down. He jerked around like a rag doll a few times until he finally fell down, still twitching in a pool of his own blood.
"Holy shit, Rage!" Stitch yelled. "What was that for?"
"He was reaching for his gun! We were shooting in self-defense!" Rage insisted.
"Just. . . whatever. Fuck, now he'll never tell us where that key is," Stitch winced.
"We'll find it," Rage said. "Spread out and search the area, it's gotta be here somewhere."
Stitch found the key on a chest on a rooftop somewhere. We opened the gate and I was about to drive through when Stitch made me stop. "I don't like the looks of this," he said.
"That's a reinforced position if I've ever seen one. . . Rage, Ice, check it out."
Rage got in closer. I saw him sneak over to the side of the house, and glance over. He made a gesture over one shoulder. Rocket Launcher. "Fuck," Stitch whispered. "That's not good." He tapped on the windshield of the humvee. "Stay here. They can't see the car in the shadows. They won't open fire until they're sure of their shot.
They ran into a guy carrying a lot of grenades, too. Rage nearly took one to the face, but he was able to duck out of the way in time to not get killed. Mandy and Ice picked up the Raiders' weapons as Stitch patched up Rage's wounds.
"All right," Rage said. "Let's get going."
"Hang on," Stitch replied. "There's a library here that General Barnaky said we should check in on. There might be someone here with some pre-war knowledge we could use."
We crept into the library slowly. It was dark inside, and very quiet. Ice raised her hand to signal us to follow her when someone jumped down on us out of nowhere and started swinging a book at us.
"HOSTILES! Open fire!" Rage shouted.
"Stand down!" I shouted back. "It's a civilian!"
Philip (that was the librarian's name) was a decent guy after we managed to talk him down. It turns out some raiders stole his glasses, and now he couldn't see. He offered to help us out if we could get them back for him.
"Shit. This is what the Brotherhood has come to? Getting glasses back for nerds?" Rage sneered.
"If it'll help the Brotherhood, then it's a small price to pay," Stitch pointed out. Those two were clearly not getting along at all.
"Look, if we find them, we'll bring them back, if not, these supplies gotta get to the Brotherhood. That's our first priority," I said.
"That's fine," Phillip agreed. "It's just. . ." He hesitated.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, just. . . some of the civilians up ahead. They're not exactly friendly to the Brotherhood."
"We'll be fine," I said. "We can handle Raiders."
"That's not exactly what I meant," Phillip sighed, but he didn't say anything more, and we were running out of time.
The car engine was making funny noises, so Stitch and I did what we could to try and fix it. "It looks like the alcohol injectors were having some problems," he said, wiping grease off his good hand. "Maybe we can get someone back at the Brotherhood to take a look at it. Also, some of the door panels have bullet holes in them. Can't help that."
"Will it run?" I asked.
"It'll run. . . for now," Stitch agreed. "It's not perfect, but it'll muddle through, same as us."
Rage came back alone. "The girls found a gap in the wall, and they're moving ahead to scout the area," Rage said, leaning in through the passenger's side window.
"Why didn't you go with them?" I asked.
"Too fucking small for me. Ice's fat ass barely made it through as it is." He banged on the hood of the car. "I'll go open up the gate. Get ready."
When Rage opened the door, we could see Mandy, Ice, and Becca hiding behind sandbags, opening fire at some raiders holed up in an abandoned house. "Doesn't look good," Stitch admitted.
"Then let's do some rescuing." I gunned the engine.
We pulled up to the gap in the wall, and Stitch leaned over the driver's side to fire his AK one-handed, while I opened up with my .45. Some of the raiders returned fire, but their shots all hit the door of the Humvee. Using the car as cover, Stitch and the others were able to quickly eliminate the enemy.
The next part. . .
We were pulling up to an abandoned church when someone threw a grenade at us. "Hostiles!" Rage shouted. Everyone leaped out of the Humvee and returned fire.
The guy who fell off the roof wasn't wearing armor. He was wearing homemade clothes, and he was holding rocks. Right afterwards, a shower of big rocks were thrown at us, some of which hit the car. "Go home!" someone shouted at us from the roof. "Get the hell out of here, you Brotherhood fuckers! We don't want you here!"
"We're only trying to help!" I shouted back. "If. . ."
There was a lot of jeering, then people started throwing more rocks and stuff at us. "We don't need your help!" they shouted. "Get the hell out of our town!"
"Fuckers!" Rage opened up with a long burst from his assault rifle, and the civilians fled. "Shit. Fucking ungrateful assholes," he snarled.
Then people started shooting at us from inside the church.
Stitch and the others cleared out the church while I waited outside with the car: I wanted to help, but Stitch pointed out that we couldn't leave the supplies unattended, or someone might try to steal them. I sat out there waiting for the civilians to come back. They never did.
Spoiler:
About this time, three of our guys leveled.
There was some more fighting, and there was a minefield. Ice and Becca had figured out how to blow the mines by shooting them with their rifles, so I waited for them to clear the mines before I drove through.
Stitch found some glasses in a house that was filled with toxic waste. Mandy had taken a bullet to the leg, so everyone waited up for a big while Stitch patched her up. In the meantime, I decided to run back to the library and return Phillip's glasses to him.
Phillip seemed happy to get his glasses back, and he traded me a book for them. "You know," he said, as I was leaving, "Now that I get a closer look at you, that's a lot of scars. Did you light your face on fire and try to put it out with an ice pick?"
I pulled my gun on him. "Shut up," I said. "Just shut up before I accidentally shoot you in the head a bunch of times, then accidentally spit on your corpse. I've had a really bad day. I've been shot at by raiders. My friend's arm is broken. My squad is falling apart, and now you're making stupid jokes? I've had it."
Phillip got really quiet. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean it. . . it was just a joke. I read it in a joke book somewhere."
I holstered my gun. "Look," he said. "If you're ever back in Macomb, maybe we can meet up again. I can show you the sights. . . such as they are. It could be, you know, like a date."
"Sorry," I said, walking out of the library. "Hideous monsters like me don't date human beings. Besides, I might accidentally stab you with an ice pick trying to put out a fire." Fucking nerds.
The rest of the fight wasn't so bad. There was one more guy with a rocket launcher, but Ice and Rage were able to sneak around the back and kill him. There was another pack of dogs, but we shot them all.
We were coming up to the edge of the city when Stitch asked me if there was something wrong.
"I don't know," I said softly. "It's just. . . something doesn't feel right."
Stitch got really quiet. "Things were going too well, weren't they? Back at Bunker Alpha, things were simple. The raiders were the bad guys, and we were the good. We save the tribals, and they're grateful to us. But here. . ." He sighed. "Here, we're taking food out of their childrens' mouths, and they hate us for it. But what can we do?"
"I don't know," I sighed. "I wish there was something."
Rage pounded on the hood of the car. "We've got a bit of a problem," he said.
"Fuckers built a barricade. No door to open, and we can't go around. Looks like we're stuck."
Stitch shrugged. "Not necessarily. You got grenades?"
"Yeah, we got grenades. We got plenty of fucking grenades. Why do you ask?"
Stitch grinned. "Let's do some explosive demolitions."
The barricade exploded really awesomely. There were bits of wood and stuff everywhere. Stitch shot a rocket at it for good measure, then we drove through.
The drive back to the base was really quiet. We dropped off the supplies at the outpost then headed home.
Celsius, our medical officer, down-checked Stitch from field operations. "His arm isn't going to heal if he's still running around fighting raiders," the old man said. "I'm confining him to bed for three days, then light duty for a month until his arm heals. Sorry. You're gonna have to find a new field medic."
"I don't want a new field medic," I said. "I want Stitch."
"Sorry," Celsius said. He walked off to check on another patient.
Stitch seemed a bit amused. "It's no big deal," he said, waving at his arm in a cast. "It's just an arm. God gave me two of them."
"You're lucky it's not your head," Rebecca said. "You need to remember to duck more, Joaquim."
Stitch made a face. "I hate that name," he muttered. "Well, then. . . guess you'll have to find someone to replace me on the team. Who you gonna go with? Maybe that one Tribal. He seems to know his way around a medical bag, at least."
"You could have gotten killed," I said.
Both Stitch and Rebecca got really quiet. "Well. . . yes," Stitch said slowly. "We're soldiers. It kind of comes with the job."
"I almost got you killed," I said softly. "I've nearly gotten you killed lots of times. I shouldn't even be here."
Stitch and Becca got really quiet then. I got up and walked back to my room.
There was an older man wearing Elder's robes waiting for me when I got back to the barracks. "Senior Squire Hu," he said softly.
"Daddy."
"It's traditional," Dad said, "For a member of the Council of Elders to give the initiate their crest once they've become full members of the Brotherhood." He handed me a small wooden box. "Congratulations, Junior Knight Hu. Welcome to the Brotherhood."
There were a pair of small silver pins inside, in the shape of shields. My eyes filled with tears. "They made me a knight?" I whispered.
"I had to pull a few strings, yes. . . but they eventually saw things my way." He smiled. "Congratulations."
Bile rose in my throat. "I hate this. I hate. . . I HATE THIS!" I threw the box against the wall. "The only reason they even let me stay is because you're my dad! I shouldn't. . . I shouldn't even be here! What am I doing here!? I wanna go home. . . I wanna go home before I get someone killed. . . I just. . . I can't. . ."
"Junior Knight Hu! Ten-HUT!" Daddy snapped.
I was at attention before I knew what I was doing. "Now, you will listen to me, and you will listen good," Dad said, very slowly. "You will put aside this self-pitying attitude, and you will get off your damn ass and you will find yourself a new squad member. You will then go to Preoria and find those damn fusion batteries General Barnaky needs.
"You will not consider the certainty that soldiers under your command will die. And I say certainty because it is a certainty: there will be a time when you will have to order someone dead. It may be me. It may be Rebecca. It may be Rage. . . oh god, I hope it's Rage. . . but in any case, it will happen.
"You will not consider this certainty because you will not be able to command men if you do," he said. "You will not be able to spend the lives of your men if you love them too much, but you will not be able to lead them if you love them too little. So you will simply. . . continue. You will lead them. You will mourn them when they die. You will honor their sacrifice. But what you will not do is allow your edge to be blunted by sentimentality. Down that path lies nothing but defeat.
"I'll admit," he said, picking up the pins, "that when I first assigned you to active duty, I considered it little more than a punishment detail. I simply wanted you to see what the Knights do to protect your way of life: the way they protect you, the sacrifices they make. I certainly never expected you to succeed. But you have." He reached up to my lapel and pinned the first of the shields to my uniform blouse. "No initiate has ever exhibited quite the degree of success that you have. You have completed missions that senior Knights should have been assigned to complete, and you have carried your squad intact through long odds. The council agrees, and it's not just because you're my daughter. It's because you, as a soldier, have done great things. And you will continue to do great things, because you have it in you to become the finest Knight the Brotherhood has ever seen.
"You remind me," he said at last, "Of your grandmother." He stepped back and saluted me crisply. "I'll have to tell you about her some time: she was a strange woman, and very little like you physically, but something in your eyes definitely reminds me of her. She was never one to stand still for injustice, and she too, was never truly appreciated by those around her. But she did great things. . . even if so few in the Brotherhood now truly realize the debt they owe to her.
"You're dismissed. Go to Preoria. Get the damn cells for General Barnaky. And don't ever let me hear you speak down of yourself again. You are not an angel. You are not a brat. You are simply my daughter. . . and that is all there is to it.
"And that's all I need you to be."
He walked away, and left me sitting there alone on my bunk bed with my shields pinned to my collar, the sound of dripping water behind me. I wanted so much to jump out of my bed and run to him, to give him a hug and tell him I was sorry, that I would never disappoint him again. But I didn't. It wouldn't have been proper for a soldier to hug her commanding officer.
It wasn't until much later that I realized: that was the first time I really thought myself a soldier.
Spoiler:
So here it is: for RP purposes, Stitch is out of the squad for the next mission. Thoughts on a replacement? I've had votes before for Stevie and Stumpy. Thoughts?
I second Stevie. Not sure if she has ranks in First Aid/Doctor, though.
On another note, I'm playing the game through again, and I was wondering if there was a better way of swapping equipment than having someone dropping it on the ground and having someone else come pick it up. It's kinda annoying having to do that.
EDIT: She's decent at First Aid, but not Doctor. So if you need another dedicated medic, I guess go with Stitch.
Although, Spoiler:
I think this next mission could use a fast runner, so maybe Stevie would be a good choice
EDIT: Thanks for the advice on swapping equipment. Should make my life easier.
I second Stevie. Not sure if she has ranks in First Aid/Doctor, though.
On another note, I'm playing the game through again, and I was wondering if there was a better way of swapping equipment than having someone dropping it on the ground and having someone else come pick it up. It's kinda annoying having to do that.
EDIT: She's decent at First Aid, but not Doctor. So if you need another dedicated medic, I guess go with Stitch.
Although, Spoiler:
I think this next mission could use a fast runner, so maybe Stevie would be a good choice
You can pass equipment to any other squadmate you're close to by dragging it out of your inventory to their tab.
I hunger for moar update, but I remember some of the missions literally taking me hours and hours to wade through, so you've had a pretty respectable pace so far!
In Which We (really) Discuss the Possibility of Court-Martial Proceedings for Rage Wolcott
Spoiler:
FROM DEBRIEFING RECORDINGS OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL EAST
Voice 1 (male): Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. It's working. This is Paladin Lord Dekker, taking into evidence the statement of Knight Cindilu Hu in the case of Reginald "Rage" Wolcott. Please state your name and rank for the record, Knight Hu.
Voice 2 (female): Knight Cindilu Hu, Brotherhood of Steel, Squad Leader of Pink Bunny Squad.
Dekker: Pink Bunny Squad?
Hu: I like pink bunnies. Is that a problem?
Dekker: Not really, just. . . Pink Bunny Squad? Most squad names are animals like Lions or Dragons or Salamanders. Pink Bunny is a bit unusual.
Hu: Sir, with all due respect, is this interrogation probing into my tastes in squad mascots?
Dekker: No, no no, of course not. Please proceed, in your own words, to describe the events of 10 March, 2197.
Hu: First of all, you have to understand, it wasn't really Rage's fault. It was. . .
Dekker: Just the facts, Dame Knight. Please leave judgement to the court.
Hu: Yes, sir.
Hu: Well, Stitch got shot up, and I needed a new medic, so I went with this guy named Squire Keith Seven Arrows, this tribal from Brahmin Hills.
Dekker: And you feel you made the right choice?
Hu: Yes, sir. As much as it would have helped to have another scout, or another shooter, I like, needed someone who could do more than slap some bandages on people. Keith didn't shoot as well as Stitch, but he was definitely good at what he did, and I'd be happy he was there by the end.
So we started by going back toRock Falls: There was a safe there that we couldn't open, and Becca was, like, totally ready to try out her new lockpicks on them, so we headed over there.
We encountered light resistance along the way.
We totally shot them up from the car. Rage yelled "Drive-By, baby!" A lot.
Anyway, we got to Rock Falls, and Rebecca headed through the minefield.
She shot up the mines with her rifle, then she opened the safe.
Wasn't much inside, just some books and some rad-away, but I'd be totally glad we had that by the end.
Dekker: So you arrived in Preoria aware of the importance of your mission, and the need to maintain good relations with the tribal villages.
Hu: Yup! Like I told them: "Let's be, like, cool, guys, because, ya know, these people are good people and we could use the help."
Dekker: Succinctly put. Please go on.
Hu: The chief, Chief Chevron, was kind of a doofus, but he was nice enough, and he seemed happy to like, help out.
Dekker: Do you still hold to that opinion?
Hu: I dunno. Do I really have to answer that? It's hard to say.
Dekker: As you wish. Please go on.
Hu: Well, we headed north first, and we shot some bugs. Rage was, like, totally bitching about it, saying he didn't come all this way for no bug hunt, but, ya know, it was like, why not? We could spare the bullets, and all, and they were, like, radscorpions, we should kill them.
So we got to the stairs and I saw these plate thingies in the ground. They looked like some sort of automatic guns, which, like, kinda worried me, but the tribals said they didn't work, so it was all good.
We headed down the stairs, and like, there were dead bugs and tribals all over the place. It looks like the roaches and the scorpions totally got them. It was so gross.
So we, like, shot up a bunch of roaches and stuff.
We found the first fusion battery thingy in this blue-colored locker.
The roaches were giving us a problem. Like, the little ones weren't so bad, but the big ones would spit this stuff at you that burned your skin, and made you feel kinda grody. By the time we'd gotten a little ways in, like, Mandy and I were totally feeling like hurling.
Oh, and we found this weird thingy, too. Totally weird.
Anyway, the doors heading south were, like, locked, so I flipped this switch to see if it would open them, and then this creepy computer voice comes on.
I didn't like how it was talking about repairing turrets.
I didn't like this either.
So, like, there were these dish thingies in the ground kinda like the ones outside that would pop up automatic guns and totally shoot lasers at you, but they'd stay up for a few seconds, then go back down a bit, so we could usually wait for them to turn off before we moved past them. (Apparently, you can also give the turrets an overdose of Afterburner or Psycho to kill them, but that's too stupid for words, so I didn't even try.)
We killed a whole bunch of more bugs.
Ice found some Nuka-Cola.
And this weird knife-thing. (Are you bored yet? I was. After about twenty minutes of killing bugs and dodging turrets, I was bored as hell.)
Ice also nearly blew herself up trying to open up a desk.
Anyway, Rage was feeling kinda shitty by this time, because we'd been patching up his wounds quickly, and so Keith took a moment to do some real doctor-type stuff, then we killed a bunch more bugs and headed to the next area.
There was another set of locked doors, and I flipped the switch again.
Dekker: How did you respond?
Hu: I did the first thing I could think of: I flipped the switch the other way.
Dekker: In short, if you turned off the turrets downstairs, where your team was, the turrets up top, where the Tribals were, would activate.
Hu: Yeah. And that would, like, totally suck for them. And i kinda liked them, so I didn't want them to die. Anyway, I decided I'd stay there and work the switch for the rest of the team: maybe if I kept it from staying up longer than ten seconds, they could, like, move through without the tribals being in danger.
Dekker: You feel this was the right choice? For the commander to leave her squad to go into danger alone, and stay behind?
Hu: I was the most, like, expendable. Keith needed to be there to patch people up, and I wasn't as good at shooting as the others. So I was more useful flipping the switch. That's what I thought.
Dekker: I see. And what happened while the rest of the team moved on without you?
Hu: I dunno.
I guess they killed a bunch more roaches and bugs and stuff.
I know they found the other two fusion batteries we needed.
Anyway, Rage was totally pissed when they got back, cause Ice's arm was in a sling and she was obviously, like, in a lot of pain. There was blood all over the front of her uniform, too. I think one of the big roaches latched onto her arm and tore the muscles. Keith patched her up, but the arm was pretty badly mangled.
Dekker: Would you describe Initiate Wolcott's state of mind as distraught? Disturbed?
Hu: I dunno. I mean, he liked Ice, and he was obviously pissed she got hurt, but you know, Rage is Rage, and he says a lot of things he doesn't really mean.
Dekker: What kind of things?
Hu: . . . I don't remember.
Dekker: Please try.
Hu: . . . I dunno. Rage things. Like how he was going to find the tribals that led us down here and. . . ummmm. . .
Dekker: Go on?
Hu: Look, you gotta understand, it's just the way Rage talks. . .
Dekker: Please, just the facts.
Hu: *sighs* He said he was going to rape their faces with his rifle and blast his bullets out the back of their heads.
Dekker: I see.
Hu: Look, he didn't mean it, I'm sure, Rage is just. . .
Dekker: We'll take it under advisement. Please go on.
Hu: I flipped the switch again to let them back through, then we headed back through the base and headed upstairs.
I must have screwed up and left it on too long. . . there were some dead tribals when we came back up. I guess that's why I wasn't. . . paying close attention for the next part. I was kind of upset about that.
Dekker: I understand. Please continue, Knight Hu.
We went back to the Tribal Chieftain to apologize for killing his tribemates and leave, and he made fun of us. I wasn't paying close attention to what he said, something about a curse that would make our kids turn into monsters or something. He seemed to think it was really funny.
Rage just got really quiet then. Keith checked us over and confirmed we took some radiation, maybe from some of that green goo inside. Most of us were fine, but Rage (he'd gone deepest into the goo to get one of the batteries) had taken a heavy dose of rads. Plus, he'd taken some roach poison, and was feeling really sick.
Keith gave him a dose of Rad-Away, and the tribal chief gave us an extra fusion battery he had laying around. Rage got really quiet at that. "You mean you could have given us that one you had all along?" he said. "You mean I didn't have to wade through that green shit and we could have still had three batteries?"
"Well, yes!" the chieftain said, and he laughed. "But think, now you have four! Gods truly smile upon you."
Rage didn't have anything to say, he just shook his head. And then. . .
Dekker: Please go on.
Hu: Then we. . . we left. . . we went home. . .
Dekker: Are you sure that's all that happened?
Hu: . . . look, I don't really remember, okay? I was tired, and upset, it was kind of a blur. . .
Dekker: Are you certain? And the allegations that one of your squad members cold-bloodedly murdered the Chieftain of Preoria Village?
Hu: . . .
*** *** ***
"This is bullshit. . ."
"All right, let's go home. . . I'm sick of this stupid town. Like, oh my god, I could totally use a shower, I feel so gross."
". . . hang on a minute."
"Rage? What is it?"
"Left something behind. You guys start loading up without me, I'll catch up in a bit."
"All right, Rage. Hurry up."
. . .
"Rage?"
BANG!!! BANG BANG BANG!!!!!
"KIDS BORN WITH TAILS, HUH? STINK LIKE THE INSIDE OF A DEATHCLAW'S STINK-HOLE, HUH? MY FUCKING LADY NEARLY GOT HER ARM BLOWN OFF TRYING TO GET THIS FUCKING BATTERY, YOU TRIBAL PRICK!!! MY FUCKING KIDS ARE GONNA HAVE TWO HEADS THANKS TO YOUR FUCKING LAZY ASS!"
"Strange how they seem to worship these 'bats'. . . AAAAAAAGH!!!"
"TAKE THAT, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! THAT'LL TEACH YOU TO FUCK WITH RAGE!! I'LL FUCKING MURDER THE NEXT BONEHEAD WHO TRIES TO FUCK WITH ME! SPREAD THE FUCKING WORD!!"
"Oh my GOD, RAGE! Ice, grab him! Get him in the car! DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!!!!"
*** *** ***
Hu: What is there to say, sir? According to the General, the mission was a success. Any tribal casualties were a sad, tragic consequence of the surface guns accidentally firing due to the malfunctioning control system.
Dekker: And yet, there are tribal villagers who claim to have seen one of your squad members firing upon innocent, unarmed tribals with his AK-47 assault rifle.
Hu: . . .
Dekker: Please keep in mind that protecting your squad member would, implicity, condone his murderous actions. . . should they have occurred.
Chevron was kind of a dick, but hardly worth the ammo. A lengthy stay in the Box may be in order.
Also: those turrets are nearly blind at melee range, and can safely be torn apart with rippers and power fists. If there's two in a room then you'll need to engage both simultaneously. They carry an obscene amount of micro fusion cells apiece, way more than can be carried back to base in one go.
Oh god, how I had to work my ass off to keep my entire squad alive once those mutantfuckers start ripping loose with Browning Mk2's.
Regarding the sidenote: I'm still disappointed that Troika never got to develop the post apocalyptic game that they were planning. It was basically the Temple of Elemental Evil engine with destructible terrain and a proper RPG underneath. Ah Troika, I wish that your programming skills and Q&A had been as good as your enthusiasm for developing kickass RPG's. The PC RPG scene is so much bleaker after they went under.
Rage is a good soldier, so Cindy should save him. But she should make him realize that he owes her big time and next time he steps out of line, she's not going to be lenient. He should also have some kind of punishment detail, like having him carrying squad supplies and policing ammo and weapons. Or giving him the crappy assignments in missions.
Oddly enough, this reminds me that something like this happens in one of the X-Wing books.
12-14-2007, 08:45 AM
there have already been a couple of folks who've said that they never finished the singleplayer because it got so damn tedious they couldn't make it all the way through. But yes, if you want to start up a Game On on Fallout Tactics Multiplayer, that would be freakin' awesome.
Celsius was gonna come along, but Octavius was staying behind, which totally sucked. I made him a nice collage before we left, in pink paper with a picture of him and me forever, and the words "Best Friends Forever" spelled out in shell casings on top. He was kinda weirded out by that, too, but he tried to act like he liked it. He's such a sweetie.
Saving and reloading helps, of course 
