[closed] the only constant is change

[capcious]

Who: the Fallout AU crew
Setting: the Commonwealth
Summary: BoS things, institute things
Warnings: Fallout warnings, smut
Other: [original notes] [first post] [second post] [third post] [fourth post] [fifth post] [sixth post] [seventh post] [eighth post]

- minor timeskip to when the BoS has its feet under it again, shaun asks riley to go up and keep an eye on them and deacon goes with
- they get assigned to a BoS squad composed of AU versions of chancellery guards (paladin archimedes o'hallan, knight-captain anthony norris, lancer-sargeant alex reyes, knight riley reynolds, knight everett wynter, knight henry "hal" saller, aspirant 'jack' "deacon" 'priest')
- maybe some minor quests involving getting to know them, gotta get some solid Bonding going
- sarrith (sarah, secret enclave remnant) and sal's romeo and juliet romance
- that one quest where you get the nukes from the glowing sea for the BoS
- wynter's mistake and gradual ghoulification and the position it puts the squad in
- blind betrayal

- shaun announces ferran officially as his successor
- ferran dealing with the short institute quests that result from that
- shaun discovering ferran's a slut and trying to talk to him about it
- zetta freaking out bc they're spending all this time waiting for her to recover and dealing with the BoS, and not having the time to try to figure out a way to save shaun
- zetta, in general, driving shaun slowly up the wall because she's cooped up and needs to be kept occupied or else Bad Things Start Happening, why is this shaun's life, this was not what he was expecting at all
- ferran going on missions with x6-88 / house divided, warwick
- nathan and zay's one night stand with ferran becoming not a one night stand any more
- at some point we need to have nathan call deacon a mongrel to his face so zetta can go positively nuclear
- zay finding out nathan is taking buffout

- build towards the railroad and institute being on better terms (not *stable*, but they need to be in a position where they're willing to make an alliance at the battle for bunker hill and afterwards to take the BoS down)
- probably need to do a meeting with dez and carrington, bc jfc (and ferran being the next director makes it easier to make negotiations on the institute's behalf though shaun probably doesnt fully trust him with that wrt the railroad yet, shaun needs to see ferran make decisions that benefit the institute OVER the railroad for that)

- mass fusion happens before battle for bunker hill, lighting a fire under the brotherhood's ass (still use it as the faction cut-off point?)
- at the battle, brotherhood wins -- keeping them a legitimate threat and serving as the push for the institute and railroad to work together against them

[image] [lyrics]

well, oh, it seems you're a lot like me
you dug yourself into places you never thought you would be
but don't you fret, and don't you mind
the only constant is change,
and you never know what you'll find

yeah, tomorrow i might wake up nice and clean
and i might believe the things i said i didn't mean
and this might turn and wind up just the way we'd dreamed
and i might become the things i swore i'd always be

Comments

[gallifreynpcs]

Who said anything about leaving? [O'Hallan speaks.] Elder Maxson intends to establish a permanent Brotherhood presence here.

[inhonorof]

[Riley's hand tightens on Deacon's again, this time not out of comfort. If there's anyone who is supposed to try to negotiate with the Brotherhood on the behalf of the people of the Commonwealth, it's him. Riley is the General of the Minutemen. And the way Maxson treats him is suddenly political -- or, he realizes, has been political this whole time. How could he have been so stupid? Why is it this that reminds him that he has a duty? One that he's been neglecting because he's been wrapped up in everything happening at the Institute -- which is important, but... Riley isn't aware of the way he just paled, or the expression on his face like he might be ill.]

[gallifreynpcs]

And once the Brotherhood of Steel is secure and growing in both the Capitol and the Commonwealth, we'll be ready to take on the last bastion of the Enclave in Chicago.

[Wynter concludes while Deacon holds onto Riley's hand, stiff and tight-lipped.]

[inhonorof]

[Riley wants to press his nose against the side of Deacon's head and close his eyes, but he can't. Even if he didn't have appearances to keep, there's something else here he didn't know. He rubs his thumb over Deacon's knuckles like worrystones.] There's more Enclave? I didn't think there were survivors. [He wonders if Nathan knows.]

[gallifreynpcs]

We've found some old recordings and intercepted eyebot transmissions that the scribes say could indicate an Enclave presence in Chicago. It might just be that somebody left the radio on. Or it might be a small outpost that was abandoned by the main forces.

...Or it might be an army.

[Anthony's expression is grim. The Brotherhood's military capabilities have expanded by leaps and bounds over the last decade, incorporating Enclave gear into their own, like the vertibirds, reconstructing massive war vessels like the Prydwen and Liberty Prime. If there's another war between the Brotherhood and the Enclave, it may look a lot like a pre-War kind of war. And everyone knows where that ended.]

[inhonorof]

[So it still won't be safe for Nathan to try to make it out there. What would the travel even be like on foot? He can't imagine. ... that... that may be the best place to try to turn the conversation.] I wonder what Chicago is like, now.

[gallifreynpcs]

The Brotherhood tried to send scouts out that way a while back. We never heard back from them. [Anthony says soberly. O'Hallan adds:]

If the Enclave has an army out there, that would explain why.

[inhonorof]

[There are a lot of things besides the Enclave that could cause enough trouble for Brotherhood scouts. The Commonwealth alone has proven that. But Riley decides against it.] It has to be dangerous to travel all the way out there. I can't imagine how hard it'd be to go on such a long-range scouting mission like that. [DC isn't nearly as far from Boston as Chicago. There'd be even more of a fear that he'd never see any of the people he cared about again.]

[gallifreynpcs]

Extremely dangerous. DC to Boston is easy by wasteland standards. You follow the old 95 up the coast and you're golden. Caravans make the trip all the time. But Chicago...if you try to go south you run into the Appalachia mountains, if you go north you run into the Great Lakes. And the whole area around the old world city of Pittsburgh is a hellhole that makes the Commonwealth look like a resort. Part of the Midwest is just a massive radioactive dust bowl and there's said to be tornadoes that are miles wide.

[inhonorof]

[Riley thinks of the soldiers he met in Alaska who were from the Midwest and feels sick again. He drops his head back against the seat.] You used to be able to fly out there in three hours, [he says faintly.] We used to talk about taking a trip out there. The zoo and the museums were supposed to be amazing.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Anthony is silent for a moment out of respect for Riley's memories.]

I'm sorry.

[inhonorof]

[Riley shifts. He isn't sure if he meant to say that -- It kind of feels like the words fell out. But at Anthony's words, he forces himself to let go of the tension he's been holding in his shoulders.] Thank you. It's just... [Riley shakes his head.] Sorry. Sometimes, something comes up and just -- drive it home.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Anthony nods.]

It must be hard, waking up in that stasis pod in a broken world. I sometimes wonder what the people in charge were thinking back then, that made them think creating this was an okay choice.

[inhonorof]

I don't know, [Riley says softly.] There was just... a lot of fear. For a long time. Ever since I was a teenager, really. I don't know what finally did it, but something somewhere must've just... snapped, in the end. And the fear won out. I don't know if it was a conscious decision, or if it was reflexive, made out of that fear. It doesn't change anything. But... I don't know. It's hard for me to imagine it was on purpose.

[gallifreynpcs]

[O'Hallan breaks into the conversation.]

And that's precisely why the codex demands that we keep technology out of people's hands. The outcome of the Great War proves that they can't be trusted to behave rationally.

[inhonorof]

[Riley can just imagine all the things Zetta would have to say about this. One corner of his mouth twitches. To distract himself, he turns his head to kiss Deacon's temple.] How're you doing? [he asks as quietly as he can while still being heard over the vertibird.]

[ersatzeverything]

Fine. Totally not thinking about how we could fall out of the sky any second.

...

Damn. Now I'm thinking about it.

[But at least the focus he's putting towards keeping a handle on his fear is keeping him from talking back about all the Brotherhood bullshit he's hearing right now.]

[inhonorof]

I'm sorry, baby. [... apparently that's the word he's going to keep using when he knows Deacon's scared. That's probably not ideal right now. He kisses Deacon's temple again and squeezes his hand.] You're doing really good.

[ersatzeverything]

Man, I'll be glad when we're on the ground surrounded by a horde of pissed off muties. Because we'll be on the ground.

[inhonorof]

I know. [This time, Riley kisses under the arm of his sunglasses.] You'll probably have a chance to breathe before we go right into combat this time.

[ersatzeverything]

I'd seriously be okay if I didn't. Like, adrenaline? I've got plenty right here and right now. I could use a bit of fight or flight to burn it off, you know?

[inhonorof]

Well, maybe if we do get a moment before the fighting, you could do some laps or something. [Get some "flight" in in the absence of "fight."]

[gallifreynpcs]

[Alex Reyes calls back from the pilot's seat, keeping his eyes forward.]

I wasn't planning on dumping you right in the middle of a mutant camp but, hey, if you're feeling too lazy to walk I'll do it.

[inhonorof]

[Riley laughs.] Uh, that wasn't actually a suggestion.

[gallifreynpcs]

Good, 'cause I fucking hate cleaning up blood from my 'bird.

I'm gonna to a recon pass over of the area and then put us down about a mile away.