[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

[reformedcriminal]

Clearly the people who run SRB need to be briefed on proper procedures for infiltration and undercover operations. Having a standard uniform for those misses the entire point.

[But he doesn't think that X6 looking a bit memorable will compromise this particular mission, so he doesn't press the issue.]

[coursers]

[Yeah, that'll go over well, X6 thinks to himself.

What he says is,] Coursers were not designed with undercover operations in mind.

[reformedcriminal]

Well, that's exactly what this mission is, designed for it or not. Short-term undercover anyway. I know long-term undercover is the purview of replacements and the like.

And I'm sure this isn't the first mission you or other coursers have carried out where it's ideal to keep a low profile.

[coursers]

By the time a courser is being sent in, diplomacy is no longer necessary. Very rarely, a courser has been sent to accompany personnel to the surface, but our roles in those cases are as bodyguards. When low profiles are necessary in our missions, we avoid contact as much as possible.

[reformedcriminal]

I'm talking about manipulation more than diplomacy. The Institute had a grand total of one person who was capable of both kicking ass and dealing with the human element. [Ferran brushes his fingers over the butt of Kellogg's gun.]

This is the advantage the Railroad has over you. And why they manage to be successful despite having absolutely no other advantage aside from that.

[coursers]

[Shit, is Reynolds trying to incite him to insubordination?

Luckily, before he has time to decide the best response, his enhanced hearing picks up scuttling.] There are mirelurks ahead, sir, [he informs, his tone still neutral -- mostly. There's a slight downturn of distaste to it, but if asked, the mirelurks are convenient scapegoats as well as a convenient distraction.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran's lips twitch in a faint smirk at X6's reaction. He can tell when somebody is trying to change the subject.]

As my bodyguard, I'm confident you'll handle them without difficulty.

[coursers]

[X6 pretends he didn't see that. It isn't as though he could do anything about it even if it was more obvious.

He draws his rifle and takes point wordlessly. He feels as though he has a point to make. Reynolds wasn't casting aspersions on the coursers' killing ability, he knows, but saying the Railroad is better than them in any way? He can't let that stand. Even if the only form of protest available to him is a demonstration.

(Besides, he can vent it out on these disgusting things.)

There: around the corner, the mirelurks. X6-88 is ready for them, and opens fire directly into the underbelly of the first available. Another rushes towards him, but he shoots out its lower legs with perfect precision, giving him time to ram the end of his rifle into the face of the first one, killing it. All done at superhuman speed.]

[reformedcriminal]

Well done, X6.

[And it really was. Coursers are terrifying in action. Beautiful, but terrifying.

And he probably shouldn't be encouraging perfect killing machines to add skills in manipulation, deception, and beguilement to their already deadly repertoire.]

At this rate, I'll never have a need to draw my pistol.

[coursers]

[X6-88 finishes the second mirelurk off with a point-blank shot to the face, and it rocks backwards onto its shell, legs twitching in the air before falling still.

Combat over, he returns to his battle ready position, both hands on his rifle. (... he should clean it off.)]

That's the idea, sir, [he answers Ferran's praise with a mild tone.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran could definitely get used to having a bodyguard.

But time now to focus on the mission at hand.]

Do you know this synth we're going to be speaking to? I expect he's going to be scared out of his wits when he sees a courser walking up.

[coursers]

I've read his file. [Which is to say: not personally. Coursers don't exactly socialize with other synths.] Is there anything you'd like to know?

[reformedcriminal]

What's his temperament? Is he prone to panic?

[coursers]

If he were, he wouldn't have been given this assignment. All replacement agents must be able to maintain their covers. [And they wouldn't be able to do that if they were prone to panicking.]

[reformedcriminal]

Good. That will make this mission easier.

Out of curiosity, how often do replacements go rogue?

[It would be easier for a replacement to vanish in the wasteland than it would be for the work crew escapees that the Railroad usually find. A replacement would already know how to navigate the wasteland and its communities.]

[coursers]

Extremely rarely. It has not happened in my time as a courser.

[reformedcriminal]

They must be carefully selected and trained. [Or conditioned to obedience.]

[coursers]

They are. [Trained, conditioned... X6 fails to see the difference.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Getting a read on X6 is impossible. Ferran doesn't think he's ever had this much trouble assessing a person before. X6 is good at hiding.]

I'll have to learn more about that at some point. The replacement procedures, that is.

So, this homestead we're travelling to, are we nearly there?

[coursers]

Once we pass Quincy, we will head northeast to a location that was called Nut Island Pre-War. That's where we'll find the homestead.

[reformedcriminal]

Hm, Nut Island, I remember it. I've been there before. Pre-War.

[Best not to tell X6 what he was doing there.]

Public parks and a sewage treatment plant, if I recall.

[coursers]

Yes, sir. The homestead is located at the sewage treatment plant. [X6-88 privately wonders if Reynolds was given a mission dossier and opted to ignore it. He does not believe Father would send him this unprepared.

Perhaps this is his kind of a performance test. But X6 suspects it is more likely that Reynolds really is this uninformed.

Disappointing. He does not understand why Father chose this one, instead of his mother. She is, after all, a scientist, and seems to have enough fight in her to make the surface cow to her. Even Father's true father would make more sense to X6, as a Pre-War soldier. But what do they truly know about this man? Whether he's truly competent? X6-88 believes that Father must have chosen him for a reason. But he simply doesn't see it.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran wrinkles his nose.]

What a lovely location for a home.

[Perhaps it's good for the plants? Ferran doesn't know the first thing about agriculture. He's always been a city boy. Fortunately, he doesn't need to give growing advise, just deliver some scienced-up seeds and make sure Warwick's cover remains secure.]

[coursers]

From what Dr. Holdren reports, it is beneficial to the experimental crop program, [X6 provides, his tone continuing to be perfectly neutral.]

[reformedcriminal]

I'm increasingly glad I'm not a farmer.

[Ferran spent enough of his younger years living in shitholes. He does not want to ever live in a literal shithole, even if it is good for crops.]

I'm surprised they don't have more problems with Gunners, being this close to Quincy.