[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]

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.

[coursers]

The smell keeps them away. [There's a beat of silence, as if that's all X6 is going to say, in a tone that's almost more deadpan than his usual.

But then he continues.] As I understand, the property holds little value to anyone other than farmers. The Gunners present a threat to trade more than to the family.

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran glances at X6 out of the corner of his eye. Was that...a joke? He's fairly sure it is.

But back to the matter at hand.]

So the Brotherhood of Steel are bigger bastards than even Gunners.

[coursers]

If anyone poses a threat to the Institute, it's the Brotherhood.

[Is that X6's way of expressing agreement? (Honestly, it is.)]

[reformedcriminal]

Does the Institute perform drills to prepare for possible emergency scenarios?

[He remembers the constant drills in his old office. He tried to schedule himself for fieldwork whenever they came up so he could avoid them. "Duck and cover" seemed especially pointless. And the drills for how to respond if the office were stormed by an angry mob of protesters was just depressing.

What might the Institute drill for? Fire? Blackouts? Escaped synth gorillas? They've never had a threat like the Brotherhood before.]

[coursers]

No, sir.

[X6-88 wonders where they would even evacuate to, if it came to it. There isn't anywhere on the surface that would be secure or large enough. But he isn't worried. The Brotherhood may be closest to posing a threat to the Institute, but he is certain they will not get the chance to be a threat. They'll be eliminated before that point.]

[reformedcriminal]

I may suggest it to the Director when we return, if only to train people in where to go in order to get out of your way, since I imagine that the coursers would run to the front lines in the event of a Brotherhood attack.

[coursers]

[ [X6-88 liked that.] ]

You are correct. Our objectives would be easier to carry out without scientists present in our line of fire.

[reformedcriminal]

With luck, such an situation will never come to pass, but better for everyone to be prepared, just in case, than to be caught flatfooted.

[Although Ferran completed ignored the "duck and cover" advice when the bombs fell. He had an actual proper shelter to get to. But he counts himself extremely fortunate that his office was never the site of large protests. In the drills, he'd been instructed to get his government-issued gun from the office safe and start shooting protesters if they breached the building. Riley would never have forgiven him.]

[coursers]

Luck isn't necessary. The Brotherhood will be removed before they can pose a true threat. [Spoken with utmost confidence.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran wishes he had that confidence. The Institute is formidable, but so is the Brotherhood. Coursers versus Brotherhood paladins would be a hell of a fight.]

Indeed.

[Saying anything else would imply that he doubts the coursers' competence. He doesn't, but he also doesn't think that victory is a sure thing. The Brotherhood are professional and well equipped. If they want to win they're going to have to work hard for it.

They're close to Quincy now, so Ferran keeps quiet and rests his hand on his pistol as he eyes the surrounding buildings for signs of movement.]

[coursers]

[X6-88 takes point again, rifle still out. He moves quietly through the urban rubble with an almost supernatural level of stealth.

With his sunglasses in place, it's difficult to tell where his eyes are, but behind them, they're scanning all around them. He knows where the Gunner patrol routes are, and knows where to avoid them and their lines of sight. He guides Reynolds through those paths, and though they spot Gunners on guard duty, they aren't spotted in turn.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Watching X6 at work, Ferran has to admit that coursers would make astonishing guerrilla fighters. Two or three working together could probably wipe out a whole Brotherhood squad in a surprise attack and then vanish.

He follows slightly behind X6 as they navigate through Quincy. Almost at the homestead now.]

[coursers]

[Once they are away from the Gunners territory, X6 becomes less rigid, and it's even noticeable, though just in small signs: he starts making sound as he walks again, holds his rifle a little lower, his shoulders untense, his chin tilts up.]

Not far now.

[reformedcriminal]

[X6 relaxing makes Ferran relax. If the courser's superior senses aren't detecting nearby threats than they're probably truly safe--or as safe as one gets in the wasteland.]

Good.

If anyone other than Warwick himself asks why we're here I'm going to tell them that we're interested in trade.