[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

[capcious]

[Zetta, very calmly, says,] Am I allowed to punch that one? I've about choked you, Nathan, and I've already punched you, Carrington, so it's only fair.

[falloutpslnpcs]

You'll have to get in line. [John growled. That's his daughter Torvald is casually talking about poisoning. Sara's a true wastelander more than any of the rest of them.]

[capcious]

I dunno, think you could beat me to it? I'd bet I'm faster.

[falloutpslnpcs]

Guys, no. I'm first. [Sara's gotten over her shock and now she's angry.]

[capcious]

Who are you, anyway? [Everyone else has been introduced, or they know them already, except for this girl and the man standing next to her. Father and daughter, maybe?]

[falloutpslnpcs]

I'm Sara.

Sergeant John Granite. Sara's my daughter. I'm a farmer now, and with the Minutemen, so even if you refuse all the rest of us you're stuck giving orders to me.

[capcious]

Congratulations, Riley, [Zetta tells him, and he flushes lightly.] Well, at least it's a relief to know that most of you think that whole genocide idea was fucking stupid. Even if it's mostly out of knowing how it'd apply to you. Can't really fault you for that. It would've been my reaction, too. [She won't say that it would've been her only reaction, once upon a time. It'd still be her first reaction, to be pissed on the behalf of herself her family. But there's no reason to let them know the gritty details of how her morality has shifted. (Thanks, Deacon.)] More moral outrage would've been good, though.

[falloutpslnpcs]

Over something that didn't happen ten years ago?

Of course genocide is bad, but the only one of us who actually worked towards that goal knowingly was apparently high-and-righteous Dr. Singh over there.

[Louis points his thumb at Singh, whose eyes widen at the accusation.]

I never worked on the F.E.V. I told you, my research was on the physiological effects of stealth technology.

Maybe. Or maybe you're lying.

[capcious]

It doesn't matter that it didn't happen or how long ago it didn't happen. It's the concept. I'm pretty sure fucking none of us, [she gestures to herself and her men,] want a group of people working for us who think it'd be perfectly fine if that project had succeeded, if it hadn't personally affected you. Our stance on that whole "fuck the mutants" thing ranges from vaguely indifferent [Ferran] to upset [Riley] to "I will knock your fucking teeth out" [herself and Deacon]. Nathan can tell you all about how much I've chewed his ass out for talking shit about ghouls and wastelanders. So, yeah, what you think about that thing that didn't happen ten years ago fucking matters. [Fight Her. And, Zetta can't believe she's about to do this... but:] Lay off him. Regardless of how involved he was in that, he's since been working his ass off for a cause fighting for people who can't do it themselves. [Not the entire time, she doesn't think, or else he'd probably know more about Deacon. She doesn't know when Carrington joined the Railroad. But he wouldn't be one of its leaders if he didn't hold his water in regards to synth liberation.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Carrington's eyebrows rise in shock at Zetta coming to his defense. He mouths a soft "thank you" although hardly any sound comes out.

Louis takes a deep breath and tries to answer her question.]

I like people. I like hearing their stories. I never wanted them all dead, mutations or not.

[capcious]

Good. [Zetta turns to Regan and Torvald, who are standing nearest to Louis, and raises her eyebrow expectantly. Might as well poll each of them to find out where they all stand.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Regan is still trying to make sense of this information in the context of the orders she'd been given and the things her commanding officers told her.]

I don't understand why Colonel Autumn didn't tell us if that was the mission.

[inhonorof]

They... [Riley speaks quietly, and he hesitates once he speaks up, but Zetta is looking at him, so it's too late, now. He shifts his weight uncertainly.] They didn't usually tell us much. Before the... Before everything happened. I was... in Alaska. They didn't -- [He hesitates again, his eyes darting to Zetta's face.] They didn't tell us everything about Psycho when they gave it to us. And that's... just one example. The soldiers who... who shot protestors after the annexation, I'm pretty sure they were told all kinds of things... to make those people sound dangerous. Anything to keep them aiming where they wanted. ... I'm sorry. I don't know if -- your command was like ours. But it... The history... is there.

[falloutpslnpcs]

They didn't need to lie to us. We were loyal. We obeyed our leaders.

[Regan has no moral issue with wiping out humanity, if she was commanded to do so to defend America.]

[inhonorof]

[More softly,] There were enough people who would've been upset that it would've gone badly if they were honest. [And he looks around them at the others. He doubts only they would've been upset. ... he hopes not.]

[ersatzeverything]

Word on the street was that there was someone who didn't like those orders back in D.C. Aaaaand was issuing his own orders instead. Yeah, that'd be your field commander, Colonel Spring--wait, wrong season--I mean Autumn. He was definitely an Autumn. Jewel tones all the way, pastels would not have been his color.

So, when your Commander-in-chief gives you one set of orders and your field commander gives you different orders, whose orders do you follow? Since you totally follow orders.

[capcious]

[God fucking bless Deacon, and the way he fucking ferrets out information and holds on to it forever. Zetta wants to reach out and touch him, but it's pure sentimentality, and she knows he doesn't need the support boost right now. (The positive reinforcement.) So she refocuses and watches Regan and Torvald closely.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Regan is perturbed by the information, but Torvald is angry.]

So that's why we lost. Our fucking commanders couldn't agree on a strategy.

[capcious]

[Zetta wants to say, "even if they did, you still would've been fucked. You can't base yourself off of fucking America and win. Or are you ignoring the fact that the US helped destroy the fucking world, too?" But... Now probably isn't the time to test that boundary. One potentially worldview-shattering scathing criticism at a time. Instead, she says,] Is that what you really want? For you to have won, and wiped the fucking surface and a number of your own goddamn people from existence? I'm not saying you guys didn't lose good people when the shit hit the fan, but do you fucking understand what you're saying when you say that?

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Louis watches Torvald unblinkingly. The siblings haven't been very close in years, but his own brother saying that he'd be acceptable collateral damage would be a bridge too far. He waits for Torvald's answer.

Torvald doesn't hesitate in his response.]

Eden would have pulled all our people back to safety before cleansing the surface.

Why are you upset anyway? You're all from the vault, pure human. Unmutated.

[Deacon raises his hand to disagree.]

[capcious]

[Torvald looms over her, but it doesn't stop Zetta from moving right up into his space. Her teeth are bared and her eyes flaring.] Because I'm not an idiotic self-absorbed piece of shit, [she snarls up into his face.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Voices start speaking at once, overlapping.]

Once more I'm astounded by your amazing diplomatic skills, Faraday. [Carrington says.]

Why the fuck should I care about mutants? [Torvald looms over Zetta.]

Torvald, please don't start a fight. [Louis steps a little closer to his brother.]

If Colonel Autumn disagreed with President Eden's plan, it was clearly a bad plan. You shouldn't be so quick to jump on board, Lieutenent. [Captain Lone feels like he's rapidly losing what control he had here.]

President Eden was the commander-in-chief. We had a duty to obey him. [Regan states.]

Christ Almighty... [John mutters to himself.]

Oh my God, shut up! [Sara shouts. The warring conversations trickle out.] Are you seriously going to have a serious talk about whether killing all wastelanders was a good plan or not? When you've all been wastelanders for the last ten years?

[capcious]

Why the fuck should you care? [Zetta picks up after Sara's shouting.] Are you fucking kidding me? You should give a shit because that's the state of the fucking world, you moron. [She'd let Sara's intervention do its work, but this has given her a platform and this is relevant. She doesn't move away from Torvald.] What is the fucking point of trying to keep shit pure? What is that going to fucking accomplish? Whether you like it or not, pure genetics don't do shit for you. Do you think being Pre-War has made our lives easier? Given us an edge? Made us better equipped to survive out here? It doesn't fucking matter. The best people I've met in my entire life are fucking wastelanders, you shithead. And your goddamn patriotism can go fuck itself because America is fucking dead. It blew itself up with the rest of the world, and good fucking riddance. Do you even know the amount of shit America put its own fucking people through? America shot unarmed, peaceful protestors in the fucking streets and told everyone else to celebrate it. America rounded up anyone who dared to speak out and put them in fucking concentration camps. America helped blow the fucking world up, and then it tried to kill everything that was left. Let it stay dead.

[timesbureaucrat]

[Torvald snarls and opens his mouth to shout back, but Nathan intervenes.]

Stand down, soldier! That's an order.

[And there's still enough training in Torvald that he replies with a brisk "Yes, sir" even while glaring balefully at Nathan.

Nathan ignores Torvald. The expression in his grey eyes is flat and bleak.]

Perhaps this wasn't a good idea.

[capcious]

[Zetta looks at Nathan in surprise as he shuts Torvald down -- and she sees the look in his eyes. ... and Torvald isn't the only one who stands down. She steps away from him, fist opening and closing repeatedly. Goddammit. She didn't mean to go off on a "fuck America" rant so soon. She intended to hold off on that until they figured everything else out, and she let herself get pissed. She wishes she could cross her arms.] Shit. Nathan, I'm sorry. [Her eyes aren't on him, away and down with something like shame. (Zay has given up resisting touching Nathan with all these other people in the room -- His hand is resting on the small of his back. He obviously needs the support.)]