[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]

Yes, sir. [Riley starts towards the door, but stops short once he gets close enough that the darkness at the low parts of the room is easier to see past. A fight happened here. A -- nasty one. There are scores of scorch marks from energy weapons all over the consoles, the walls, the floor -- and bullet holes, too. There still aren't any signs of synths, but -- ] Sir, I think I see something. In that corner over there. A body.

[gallifreynpcs]

[O'Hallan jogs towards Riley with the speed and mass of a charging rhino.]

Human?

[inhonorof]

Yeah. A man. He... I think he got caught in some kind of explosion. Plasma, maybe? [It's... not pretty. Riley isn't sure he wants to get closer.]

[gallifreynpcs]

So that's why it smells like shit in here. [Alex says.]

Probably some scavver that stepped on a mine.

[inhonorof]

[Riley stares at the body, brow furrowed. There's -- What's left of a head is... He can't look at it. But, the body -- The... clothing...] No... [He says quietly.] I think I... [He falls silent, doesn't finish what he was saying.]

[gallifreynpcs]

The armor is too good of quality for a scavenger. It looks more like a mercenary of some sort. A highly paid one.

[O'Hallan peers more closely at the ruined corpse.]

...there's some strange technology. We need to save it for the scribes to analyze.

[inhonorof]

[Let. The boy. Go. Riley feels... ... cold. He hurriedly steps away from the body, gravitating instinctively towards Deacon. He can't tell them. He can't tell them that's Kellogg, that that's the man who killed him. Because according to the story, he didn't get shot. A doppleganger did.]

[ersatzeverything]

[Deacon warned Riley as best he could with all these others around. But it's hard to hint "Hey, the body of the guy who killed you is decaying in here."

He steps up close to Riley, shoulder to shoulder.]

Whoever killed that guy must've been pretty pissed.

[He says it like he's talking to O'Hallan, but the words are meant for Riley. Yup, that's who you think it is. Yup, Zetta exploded his face for killing you and kidnapping Shaun.]

[inhonorof]

[The image of Zetta, that level of furious, feels far away right now. Riley shivers.] Did it suddenly get cold in here? [he asks faintly. Two of Codsworth's eyes are on him, the other watching O'Hallan and the body that strangely hasn't decayed as much as it should have by now.] Would sir perhaps like some water? [His arms spin and he reaches to retrieve water from his purifier, then opens it. Riley stares vacantly at the offered can for a moment before he registers that it's there.] Oh... yeah. Sure. [He doesn't really want it, but if Codsworth is offering it to him, it's probably a good idea for him to take it. He shifts to hold his rifle single-handedly so he can hold the water, hesitates, then takes a small sip.]

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal glances at the body. That's all he can manage.]

I think I'm going to be sick.

[inhonorof]

[On cue, Codsworth produces another can of purified water and offers it to Hal. Riley huddles closer to Deacon, beginning to tremble.]

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal takes the water gratefully and uses the task of opening the can as an excuse to wander further away from the body.

Everett takes Hal's place and crouches by the body.]

I'm going to need a knife to remove this tech. I wonder what it is? Enhancement implants?

[inhonorof]

[Kellogg's body is already mangled. He knows there's no way they're leaving the tech, but the thought of him being cut apart even more -- He... He can't. He edges farther away from them, Codsworth hovering along after him, very near.] Sir, perhaps you should sit down.

[gallifreynpcs]

This whole thing is weird.

[Anthony declares as he looks around at the damage in the room. Laser scorch marks, bullet scores, explosions... It's like there was an all out battle here, but there's only one body.]

[inhonorof]

[Riley slowly lowers himself into an office chair.] I'm... [Words.] I'm surprised the raiders didn't take this place over. [Now that he says it, he realizes it's true. This place is empty. Why have they left it alone? Why hasn't anything else moved in?]

[gallifreynpcs]

I can't figure out what happened here.

There was a hell of a fight, but...why? Raider or mutants or Gunners would have stayed, made this their base. It's like two groups came here, fought a giant battle, then fucked off to wherever and left just this guy.

[inhonorof]

[They can't tell them. This isn't something they should know. And the reason why Zetta went after Kellogg, is... Riley takes another sip from his water.] I don't know, [he says instead. But... Honestly, it's -- still true, to a degree. He doesn't know why Shaun cleaned up all the synths, but left Kellogg's body.]

[gallifreynpcs]

Maybe we'd know more if we knew who this merc fucker is. [Alex lightly kicks the corpse's leg.]

And who he worked for. Armor like that, and enhancement tech, that sure as fuck don't come cheap.

[inhonorof]

I don't know how we'd do that, [Riley says faintly.] Identifying him would be... [He doesn't have a face.]

[ersatzeverything]

And it's not like he's gonna be carrying around a driver's license.

[Deacon adds.]

[inhonorof]

[Riley doesn't think it'd hurt if the Brotherhood knew it's him. But the information in and of itself isn't the danger -- It's that they know who he is.]

[gallifreynpcs]

The armor is unusual. We can try identifying him by that. The scribes may have records. If they can pin point the origin of his tech that'll narrow it down too.

[Anthony frowns at all the "try"s in the sentence. Sure he likes mysteries but not during a mission. Not when his men's lives are at risk.]

[inhonorof]

Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'm sure it'll work out. [Institute technology is pretty unique. ... wait. Why did Shaun leave him here to be found, if he had this much tech in him?]

[gallifreynpcs]

Check the terminals. Whoever was here previously may have been using them. And download any Old World data onto holotapes.

[O'Hallan directs the order at Riley and Deacon. It gets them away from the body, but still doing something productive for the mission.]

[inhonorof]

Yes, sir. [Riley picks himself up out of the chair, briefly resting a hand on Codsworth's chassis when he hovers nearby to try and reassure him that he's alright, before moving to the first terminal he sees. It's distinctly an Institute model, which makes Riley's brow furrow. That's information he'll have to share for sake of his cover story. He reaches for the keyboard and wakes the terminal from its sleep mode. It isn't locked, and it introduces itself as Kellogg's terminal, and there's one entry titled "access log." Riley's blood runs cold. He glances at Deacon, eyes large and round.]