[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

[crowspy]

Knock knock, [Bellamy calls into the empty central command room. He should cut an unfamiliar figure to the others -- It's been years since he's seen most of them, to be fair, but considering the number of layers of clothing and armor he's wearing, and his gas mask... Yeah, he's really hoping he isn't gonna get shot at. His arms are tucked away in his layers, his hands stuck in the pockets of a ratty old hoodie. In his hoodie pocket is a pistol -- nice, small, easily concealed. Doesn't pack a big punch, but it doesn't need to.] Come on, there's no way I'm the first one here.

[bostoncrossing]

[Fortunately for Bellamy, Regan hasn't arrived yet, or else the chances of him being shot on sight would have risen exponentially. Instead, there's just Carrington in his dingy white lab coat, the pipe gun he'd carried with him for the journey left in his room. It's not that he trusts his old brothers-in-arms to not kill him, it's that if they decided to he'd be doomed and his tiny pistol wouldn't help him any.

He walks into the central command center from the room next door at the sound of someone's voice.]

Be grateful you didn't arrive last night.

Which one are you? [It was easier to remember who everyone was when they all had uniforms with name tags on them. Annoying to have to actually learn people's faces. It took him a little while to get the hang of it after they'd all scattered across the Commonwealth, so even if he could see the person's face he probably wouldn't have been able to match it to a name.]

[crowspy]

[Bellamy grins behind his mask.] Why? What happened last night? [For his question...] Bellamy. [It's the name he's been using on the radios for so long. Hell, it's the name he's been using in the wasteland, has been since his undercover days. But, just in case...] Or Yamamoto, if you have to be old-fashioned about it.

[bostoncrossing]

[Oh good, one of the more tolerable ones. Well, perhaps tolerable is stretching it. One of the less evil ones.]

Captain Lone was feeling amorous last night.

[crowspy]

[At that, Bellamy starts laughing -- a bubbling cackle that should definitely be familiar from the radios.] Towards you? Man, that's frickin' unfortunate. [A beat.] I probably would've paid to have seen that, though.

[bostoncrossing]

[Carrington's eyes widen in alarm.]

Not towards me. How did you come to that bird-brained conclusion? I walked in on the Captain and his companion. Unfortunately. I shudder to think what I would have walked in on had I been five minutes later.

[crowspy]

[Bellamy is unflapped by Singh's attitude.] Uh, 'cause I assumed you guys were the only ones here. Duh. "Companion," huh? [His curiousity has been thoroughly piqued, though. Within his pockets, he rubs his thumbs over the grooves in his pistol. If it was one of the group, Singh would've obviously named and shamed. Bellamy's head tilts to the side.] What's that supposed to mean?

[bostoncrossing]

He brought an Institute scientist with him. I don't know why. Aside from the obvious.

It concerns me that this meeting might be part of a strategy to pull us closer to the Institute.

[crowspy]

Huh. [Bellamy's lower lip twitches up in surprise. He tilts his head the other way thoughtfully. The Institute...] That'd be weird, [is what he says out loud.] I mean, sure, that's where the Cap'n's been set up, and the Brotherhood is here to kick over their sand castles, so there's that whole "enemy of my enemy" angle. [A beat.] But they don't seem like they'd be the types to go for it. It's not like we have a whole lot to offer the most technologically advanced group in the area. [What he privately thinks is that the Institute would be a gamble. They have no reason to trust them, even with Lone's ties there. And it doesn't seem like the Institute is exactly... pro Enclave-friendly agendas. He doesn't understand why Lone would suggest it.]

[bostoncrossing]

They recently lost their mercenary surface agent, and with the Brotherhood breathing down their necks, they may want to expand their surface capabilities.

[He's not going to explain how he knows about the Institute's personnel losses.]

I have no idea what the Institute's long-term goals are, so I can only speculate. But Lone bringing a stranger doesn't bode well.

[crowspy]

Where are they, anyway? It's... [He'd check his watch, if 1) he had one, and 2) if he wouldn't have to pull his arms out of the amorphous blob of his clothing to do so. Instead, he tilts his head one way then the other, in the fashion of someone making a vague gesture with their hand.] Y'know, a couple of hours before everyone else should be showing up. I really doubt Mr. Stickler is still asleep. [He pauses.] Actually, pointless question, never mind. Also: gross.

[bostoncrossing]

[Carrington doesn't want to answer Bellamy's question, he really doesn't. So he's glad when Bellamy rapidly comes up with the answer himself.]

Indeed.

I'm going to make myself some tea. Care for some? [Because being not evil and also not making Carrington explain where Captain Lone is deserves a reward in the form of a bit of basic politeness.]

[crowspy]

[Bellamy shrugs.] Sure, why not. [Gotta do something to kill the time. ... though, he's gonna have to take his mask off to actually drink the tea. Oh, well. There'll be plenty of time to put it back on before everyone shows up.]

[bostoncrossing]

[Carrington takes his time walking to the galley, making the tea, and drinking it. When he returns to the command center, his least favorite member of their odd little group is there. Lieutenant Williams is in his power armor, helmet under his arm. The Enclave insignia was scratched off long ago and it's painted now in streaks of red and black and decorated with barbed wire. On the chest piece graffiti spells out "ashes to ashes, dust to dust." He drops a Gatling laser on the floor near the door as he circles the room.]

[crowspy]

[Bellamy meanders after Singh, but doesn't stay matched with his sedate pace. The tea made for him ends up abandoned, half-empty, because his curiousity and restlessness predictably rear their heads. He putters around the rest of the facility, poking his head into different rooms, nosing about in anything left over on shelves and in containers. (He avoids the living quarters, though. Again: gross.) He putters back towards the command center when he hears a loud thudding sound. Oh, goody, he thinks.] Heyyyyyyy, Torvald, [he says instead, his arms magically appearing out from his layers as he spreads them wide as if welcoming a good friend. Even his voice is full of exaggerated joy.] Long time, no see! [It's a good thing he hasn't put his gas mask back on, after all.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

Touch me and I'll crack your skull like an egg, Yamamoto. [Torvald snarls, looking down at him from his armor enhanced height.]

[crowspy]

Oh, come on. It's like you don't know me at all. [Bellamy smiles beatifically and decidedly undeterred. Yeah, he wasn't gonna touch shit, my dude. Touching people isn't something he does. But the joke in this response is the fact that none of them know each other very well, outside of a couple of exceptions.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

And you don't know me, no matter how much you pretend, spy.

[With a hiss-stomp of each hydraulics powered step, Torvald walks to a corner of the room and exits his armor. The bulk and raw power of it is intoxicating, but it's impractical for indoors. The leather of his clothes is dyed dark. Even without the power armor he towers over the other two men in the room.]

[crowspy]

[Bellamy places one hand over his heart and drapes his wrist across his forehead, rocking back on his heels as if he's been struck.] Oh! How wounded am I! A fatal blow! I shall never recover! Remember me fondly, oh loyal compatriots! [This is why no one likes you, Bellamy.]

[bostoncrossing]

Remember, yes. As for the rest... ["Fondly" might be pushing it. ]

[crowspy]

[Bellamy falls back against the nearest desk, dropping onto his back on its top, legs flopping dramatically, wrist still firmly on his forehead.] Dead, defeated, gone forever, [he bemoans.] With not even a single person to grieve my loss!

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Two sets of footsteps in the hallway approaching the central command room.]

I'd miss you, Uncle Shouta.

[crowspy]

[And now, Bellamy springs back off the desk and onto his feet, placing both hands over his heart now.] At last! A single connection in this cruel world! [A beat. He breaks character to add:] And don't call me that.

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Sara grins.] Okay, Grandpappy Shouta.

[crowspy]

Okay, wow. I was gonna say it makes me feel old, but now I'm just offended. I'm not even going gray yet.