[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

[inhonorof]

Thank you, sir. [Riley hands him the piece of power armor -- a shoulder piece.] One bad encounter with those is enough for a lifetime.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal calls out from inside one of the trailers.]

I found an Old World holotape!

[inhonorof]

[Riley turns towards the trailer Hal's voice is coming from. And then it dawns on him that with Zetta's Pip-Boy, they could play it, so he heads on over.] Any labels?

[gallifreynpcs]

It's all faded out. I can't read it.

[He wipes at the label with the edge of his sleeve, trying to dislodge some of the grime, and peers at it.]

It says..."New..." Something. "A New" something. Maybe it's instructions for a prototype?

[inhonorof]

Here. [Riley holds his hand out.] I'll put it in the Pip-Boy and we can see what it says.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal hands it over eagerly.]

The scribes are going to love this.

[inhonorof]

[A voice begins to play from Zetta's Pip-Boy.] Storytime Simon here! Welcome back! And here it is, part two of "The New Squirrel". One night, a red squirrel appeared at the bottom of Ricky's oak tree and woke Ricky and his family. "Oh please help me." said the red squirrel. "I am lost and I have nowhere to go." The elders were quick to turn the red squirrel away, but Ricky scurried down the trunk of his tree and stood firm next to the Red Squirrel. He yelled up at the elder squirrels. "How could you turn him away? Just because he is from another tree? He needs our help!" Affected by Ricky's assuredness and determination, the elders agreed to take in the red squirrel. The red squirrel thanked Ricky for standing up for him. "You won't regret this." He said. End of holotape. Please insert holotape 3. [Riley is grinning by the end of it.] I'm pretty sure this isn't a schematic.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal's expression falls as soon as the first words of the recording are spoken.]

Yeah, definitely not.

..."Holotape 3?" Does that mean there's a holotape 1 somewhere?

[inhonorof]

Probably. Hopefully the rest are somewhere around here, maybe in the other trailers.

[gallifreynpcs]

If we find them all, we can have ourselves a bedtime story around the campfire. Almost like being a squire again.

[Hal grins at Riley.]

[inhonorof]

Guess we'd better get hunting, then. [It'll give him something to do until they bring the vertibird over, keep himself occupied. Squire... Wouldn't that mean -- ] So you grew up in the Brotherhood?

[gallifreynpcs]

In the old days, that was the only way to be part of the Brotherhood--to be born into it. Elder Lyons changed that. But my family's always been in the Brotherhood. They fought against the Enclave in California. Same with Everett and O'Hallan. But Alex and Anthony were recruited.

[inhonorof]

[Riley is thinking uncomfortably of Nathan, having been born and raised in the Enclave.] It's a good thing that he changed it, I think. It makes it more accessible to other people. [... which, Riley isn't entirely sure if that's a good thing with the way the Brotherhood currently is. But he thinks in the times of Elder Lyons, it was an incredibly good one, just based off of what he's heard.]

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal nods enthusiastically.]

That's what Elder Lyons thought. That if the Brotherhood was going to protect the Capitol it had to do it in partnership with the people of the Capitol.

...and also after the Outcasts left, we really needed more numbers. I mean, he was planning to do it anyway, but that sped up the timeline.

[inhonorof]

[... it's such a dramatic shift to what the Brotherhood is today. Riley's brow furrows.] What do you think about... the changes? To how things are now. [A beat.] You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

[gallifreynpcs]

Some compromises had to be made to bring the Outcasts back into the fold.

[Hal's lips tighten for a moment like he's physically trying to hold back words that he's not sure he should say. But he loses the battle.]

At the time, I didn't want the Brotherhood to compromise with them. But it was the only way to stop the killing. It was the right thing to do. We couldn't go on with brother killing brother.

[inhonorof]

[Riley feels some tension loosening in his shoulders, but all the same, he's still sighing.] You're probably right. There are just some things... [... no, wait. He... shouldn't say this. He shakes his head.] No... Nevermind. Don't worry about it.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal admires Elder Maxson, he really does. But...]

My father died fighting for Elder Lyons' ideals. But...it wasn't going to work if it tore us apart.

[inhonorof]

[Is it going to work now, when the Brotherhood is making enemies everywhere they look? When they're making enemies with nearly the entire Commonwealth? ... but. Riley doesn't know if that's the right thing to say. It probably isn't -- It isn't good for his cover, at the very least. He reaches over to gently place his hand on Hal's shoulder and give it a squeeze.] I'm sorry, [he says softly, for Hal's father.]

[gallifreynpcs]

[Before Hal can answer, Anthony pokes his head in the trailer door.]

What's the holotape you found? Anything good?

[inhonorof]

[Riley startles a little on reflex -- which, he's actually glad for, maybe strangely, but it means that since there's no danger, he's starting to grin, also on reflex. He doesn't think he'd be able to do that so easily otherwise.] Nah. Just some story someone recorded.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Anthony snorts a surprised laugh at that. Hal was so excited to find it, too.]

Sorry, Hal. Better luck next time.

[He pulls another holotape out of his pack and holds it out to Riley.]

I'm guessing that this is probably more domestic stuff, but can you check it out?

[inhonorof]

Yeah, no problem. [Riley reaches to accept it. As he goes through the motions of swapping out the other one, he... can't help but ask, which means he's about to embarrass himself. He sounds sheepish.] Vertibird on its way?

[gallifreynpcs]

Yeah, vertibird's on it's way. Jack decided not to take it. Uh...Alex said that they were going to race but I'm really not sure if he was being serious or not.

[inhonorof]

[Riley can't help but laugh.] I wouldn't doubt it, honestly. [He can just see it. They really didn't go too far, and they cleared the way between here and there, so Deacon has a safe path to follow. It'll be okay.]