I opened my eyes, and for a tense moment I wondered why the ceiling of my home looked different.
Then the memories of yesterday evening filtered back in, and I sagged into the bed.
"Still in Fallout." I murmured to myself as I stared at the ceiling, before freezing as words popped up at the top left corner of my vision.
[You have slept for 6+ hours]
[Well rested perk applied for 12 hours]
Huh.
I wonder if I could…
"Console." I said quietly.
After a few seconds where nothing happened, I sighed, then with a small grunt, I pulled myself out of bed and checked the time on my Pip-boy.
[8:01 AM]
I spent a minute or so familiarizing myself with the Pip-boy and how to work it. The dial on the left of the screen allowed me to scroll through all the items I had, which was just the stuff that Doc Mitchell had given to me last night. The dial on the top of my hand had a small, analog circle pad on it with a button at the center, but it didn't do anything until I switched over to the world map. When I did that, a small orange diode on the glove lit up, and experimentally, I pushed the pad to the left, and the map cursor popped up on the screen.
"Hm. Always wondered how the map worked on these." I muttered as I moved the cursor around the map of the Mojave.
The map was much larger than in the game, but I expected that. There were no limitations of a game engine here, so it was actually the entire state of Nevada and a bit of eastern California, instead of the Fallout version. Interestingly, the map markers for the Northern Passage, the Mojave Drive-in, the Abandoned BoS bunker, and the Canyon Wreckage were listed, but not active, same as in the game.
I clicked the Items tab, then switched over to the apparel list. It was exactly the same as in the game, and since my clothes were all folded on the floor next to me, the list was empty. I looked down at my clothes, then reached down to pick up my hat. Once I grabbed it, I glanced at my Pip-boy, which still showed nothing, then back to the hat. Mentally, I commanded the hat to be stored in my inventory, and just like that, it disappeared from my hand.
No flash of light as it disappeared, no dissolving into motes of light that traveled into my hand. It was just in my hand one second, then gone the next. Then I checked the apparel list, and right at the top of the list -being the only apparel item I had- was the Desperado Cowboy Hat. I clicked on it with the button on my glove, and a small weight suddenly settled on my head.
"So that's how that works…" I muttered as I took the hat off and stared at it, before putting it back on.
I reached back down and stored the Lightweight Leather Armor, the leather duster, and the gun holster in my inventory, then I clicked on their icons in the apparel list, and right before my eyes, I was now clothed in all of it. The gun holster -a standard belt holster with space for extra rounds like a bandolier- was actually a separate item all on its own, and was snugly wrapped around my waist, along with a separate sheath for a Bowie Knife.
I stood up and rolled my shoulders, marveling at the fact I had gotten dressed in less than thirty seconds. After that, I switched over to my stats list.
My highest stats were Medicine and Repair at 39, instead of Science and Repair, which surprised me. My second highest was Speech, which was at 35. Everything else was averaging in the high teens to mid-twenties. To satisfy my curiosity, I switched to the perks list, and just as I expected, my skills were Trigger Discipline and Skilled.
But to my surprise, there was a third perk below them.
[Outsider]
[You are from a distant place, one so far removed from the reality of the Wasteland that you have Outsider information of the past and future, vague as it is through the screen you viewed them through. You have witnessed these events countless times from behind a screen, but now you will play your part, right in the Mojave Wasteland itself. Grants access to Pip-boy game mechanics. Allows for level headedness during combat]
…I guess that perk explains all of the weird things that happened last night and a few minutes ago then.
Another few clicks through the Pip-boy later, and my pistol was settled in its holster, loaded and with its safety engaged. I stretched, raising my arms above my head and bending backwards until a bunch of my vertebrae popped. I noticed that the broken 9mm submachine gun was sitting near me, and I wondered if I could repair it. So, I reached over and placed my hand on the gun, barely flinching when a prompt popped up in my vision.
[9mm Submachine gun; Broken]
[Repair skill required: 39/25]
I accepted, and the submachine gun disappeared like my clothes did. A glance at my Pip-boy showed that it was in my weapon list now, and I breathed a sigh of relief that weapon storage wouldn't be a problem as long as I managed my carry weight. Weirdly enough, I had a hunger, thirst, and sleep bar, but ammo had no weight, almost like I was in a weird mashup of normal and hardcore mode.
I shook my head at the strangeness that I seemed to keep finding myself in, and made my way into the kitchen, where Doc Mitchell was sipping a cup of coffee.
"Morning, Doc." I greeted.
"Good morning. Sleep well?" The old doctor replied as I grabbed an apple and started eating.
"Like a rock. I must have been more exhausted last night than I thought. I guess I'll head out in a little bit. Wouldn't want to overstay my welcome."
"Nonsense, you're welcome here at any time, Blitzkrieg. By the way, don't forget to talk to Sunny at the saloon to help you refresh your survival skills. You're welcome back at any time but try not to get killed anymore."
"No promises, doc. Oh, I fixed that 9mm submachine gun you had. Mind if I take it with me?"
"If you've fixed it, you can have it. I ain't got much use for that thing anymore, anyway."
"Thanks doc. I'll be back when I get shot."
After finishing my breakfast, I walked to the front door, and after a moment to prepare myself, I stepped outside into the Mojave. My eyes involuntarily closed under the glare of the sun, but they soon adjusted, and upon opening my eyes, I was welcomed by the sight of Goodsprings. It was larger than I expected, and more of the houses were intact with people living in them, but the general store and the Prospector Saloon were right next to each other, just like in the game.
I walked down the path to the road, but before I could start off to the saloon, I saw Victor, who was rolling along the road.
"Howdy partner! Might I say you're looking fit as a fiddle." The Securitron greeted as he stopped in front of me.
It was incredible to see an actual robot right in front of me, especially since he was actually real, and not a model in a game. I could even hear the sounds of his internal parts softly whirring inside of him. And his screen was in color, which surprised me. His 'face' was the same cowboy cartoon bust I remembered, red bandana and white ten-gallon hat and all.
"You're Victor, right? Thanks for pulling me out of that grave and getting me to Doc Mitchell." I said.
"Don't mention it! I'm always ready to lend a helping hand to a stranger in need."
"Do you happen to know who the men who attacked me were?" I asked.
"Can't say I'm familiar with the rascals. Some of the fine folks in town might be able to help you out with that."
"So, you're a Securitron, like the ones on the Strip?"
"Yep. 2060-B model. You see any of my brothers out there, you tell them Victor says 'Howdy'."
"Well, I'll see you later, I guess."
"Happy trails, partner!"
Victor backed up slightly, then traveled down the road, eventually passing the saloon and into the wasteland.
'Wait. Wasn't he supposed to stay in town until the 'tutorial' was completed?' I thought.
Frowning in confusion as the Securitron rolled away, I soon shook the thought out of my mind, then walked towards the saloon. I nodded my head in greeting to a few of the settlers that waved as I walked past them, until I finally reached the bar itself.
Unlike its game counterpart, the Prospector Saloon was larger, and the three motorcycles out front were actually parked beside the building and looked like they had actually been driven at one point. There were a couple of older folks sitting on the front porch, Easy Pete among them.
"Morning fellas." I greeted, getting a chorus of 'morning's in return as I opened the door and walked in.
As soon as I closed the door behind me, a dog suddenly jumped up onto my legs.
"Whoa there!" I yelped.
"Cheyanne!" A young voice exclaimed as the dog started sniffing my shirt.
I looked up to see Sunny Smiles blushing slightly as she jogged over, while I started petting the dog.
"Sorry about that. I don't know what got into her. She's usually really relaxed around strangers." Sunny said as she pulled the dog off me.
"Ah, it's fine. I know how dogs can be. I had a couple when I was a kid." I replied.
"So, you're the one that Doc Mitchell's been looking after for the last week, huh?"
"Yeah. Name's Blitzkrieg. Just call me Blitz. The Doc said you could help me refresh my skills on how to survive out in the desert?"
"Yeah, I guess there's a thing or two I could show you. Sounds like you need all the help you can get after what they done to you. Meet me outside, behind the saloon."
"Behind the saloon? I didn't know you were that kind of girl." I joked as we walked back to the door.
Sunny paused, blushing bright red.
"I didn't mean like that!" She exclaimed, making me laugh.
"Heh-heh. Sorry. I couldn't resist making a joke about that."
Despite her efforts, Sunny's face stayed slightly pink, and I was chuckling all the way outside. We soon reached the back of the saloon, where a small shooting gallery was set up facing the wilderness, instead of right at the back of the saloon. I was still occasionally chuckling until Sunny practically threw a Varmint Rifle, some ammo for it, and a back holster at me.
"I hope your aim is better than your humor. See if you can shoot those targets from here." Sunny said as I strapped the back holster to me and grabbed the rifle.
I loaded the rifle and kneeled down, where a crosshair popped up in the center of my vision. It went away when I aimed down the sights, though. So, I steadied myself, then glanced over at Sunny.
"How's this?" I asked.
"Looks pretty good. Start shooting." She replied.
I aimed, then fired a few times hitting the targets at the end of the range. My aim was pretty good, and I even hit dead center on one of them. After five shots, I reloaded and stood back up.
"How'd I do?" I asked.
"You did great, but I don't reckon you came to me to learn how to fight targets." Sunny said. "Tell you what. I gotta go chase the geckos away from our water supply anyway. Darn critters are attracted to it. Why don't you come along?"
"Might as well."
"Come on. It's just a few minutes southeast."
I holstered the rifle on my back, then together we started walking out of town.
–
The walk to the water supply was thankfully uneventful, and Sunny and I conversed while we walked.
"So, you've been to New Reno?" Sunny asked.
"Yeah. I've even seen Bruce Issac performing at the Shark Club." I replied.
Some memories from the old Courier have started to slot into my mind as we walked. It was mostly things I remembered the Courier saying when I played the game, along with some things that I never remembered even being mentioned in the source material, like the age of this body being younger than I expected.
Apparently, the old Courier -the one I inhabit at least- was born in central California around 2256, making this body twenty-five years old. Quite a bit younger than I expected, which means some age-related comments will probably never come to pass, like a certain one about impregnating a girl seventeen years ago in Minnesota.
Other than that, the old Courier started working as a ranch hand at a Brahmin farm at twelve, then moved on to being a courier at fifteen until I took over. His parents died from a raider attack when he was ten, which explains why he started working at eleven. Only child, so no siblings. A real blank slate besides how well traveled he is.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by Sunny pulling her rifle out, and an echo of some creature coming from behind a small butte.
"Hear that up on the ridge?" She asked, making me nod. "We've got some geckos to clear out. Bunch of little monsters is what they are."
"Got bit by them a lot?" I asked.
"Bad enough that I think the doc treats gecko bites more than anything else out here. Let's get a bit closer, we might be able to get the drop on them."
I pulled my own rifle out, and we both crept up the ridge until we saw the bipedal lizards in all their three-foot-tall glory.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Ready." Sunny replied.
My emotions leveled out completely, the nervousness I felt fading to nothing. I opened fire, blowing one gecko's head apart, while Sunny took her own shot, hitting one in the leg. The geckos charged at us, and I quickly fired a few more times, then pulled my pistol out and fired when one got too close, hitting it right in the chest and making it tumble down to where we were. Sunny fired one final time, and the last gecko fell to the ground dead.
"Nice going. I knew you'd get the hang of it. There's two more wells that still need clearing. If you come along, it'd be worth a few caps to me." Sunny said.
"Of course. We can even bring back the bodies for food too." I replied, nudging the body of one of the geckos I shot with my foot.
"Shouldn't take more than a few minutes, oh, and here's some more ammo in case you run out. I've got enough. I go see if the other wells are infested."
With our weapons reloaded, Sunny started walking away, Cheyenne following close behind. I glanced down at the Gecko body and poked it. A small prompt popped up in my vision, asking if I wanted to skin the gecko. I accepted, and the knowledge of how to skin animals flooded into my brain.
I kneeled down, pulled out the knife behind my gun holster, and started skinning the gecko. It only took around ten seconds for the entire thing to be donw, and when I stood up and holstered my knife, I had three pieces of gecko meat, two eggs, and a sizable piece of gecko hide.
Gunshots rang out in the distance, and I quickly stored it all in my inventory, then jogged off. Once I arrived, I saw Sunny firing as fast as she could while five geckos all advanced on her, while Cheyenne ripped one to shreds with her jaws. I pulled my submachine gun out and fired, blowing one's head off and drawing their attention. I sprayed 9mm bullets into the small group of geckos, bringing them all down one at a time. When my magazine ran dry, the last gecko fell to the ground, blood leaking from the multitude of holes it had in its body.
"Nice gun. Where did you get it?" Sunny asked.
"Doc Mitchell, he just gave it to me after I fixed it up. You said there were two more, right?"
"Yeah, that sounds like something the Doc would do. One more well after this. Come on."
We jogged over to the ridge, and Sunny stopped in shock. There was a settler surrounded by geckos barely keeping the lizards away with her butcher's knife.
"Hey!" I shouted, gaining the woman's attention. "Catch!"
I tossed my pistol at her, and the one fumbled for a moment before she had it in her hands. She fired, blowing one gecko's head off, while Sunny and I fired from the ridge, taking down gecko after gecko. There were a lot more of them than in the game, almost twice as many, but they all went down after one or two shots.
After a few more shots, the last couple of geckos flopped to the ground, and once she handed my gun back to me, the settler rested her arms on her knees as we approached.
"Holy shit… I am glad you two got here when you did." She said. "I just wanted to draw some water from the pipes, but then they just ran up on me. I know I'd be dead if you didn't show up."
"No problem, ma'am. Do you need to get to the doctor?" I asked.
"Probably. Those damn things got a few good bites in before y'all showed up. I'm gonna go on ahead and go there now. Thank you both, so much."
"Well that got a bit exciting at the end. Oh, by the way Blitz, here's a little spending money for helping me out." Sunny said, holding out a pouch.
I grabbed it, then pretended to put the pouch in my back pocket but stored it in my inventory instead.
[+50 bottle caps]
"Alright. Do you need any more freshening up your skills or do you think you've got it from here?" Sunny asked.
"I think I've got it."
"Alrighty then. I'm heading back to the saloon then. Hope I didn't miss anything good on the jukebox. I don't think Cheyenne would ever forgive me. Oh, by the way, do me a favor. Trudy -she's the bartender at the saloon and kind of the town mom- she loves meeting newcomers. She'd be mad at me if I didn't tell you to at least say hi to her."
"Alright. I'll talk to you later, Sunny."
"See ya."
Sunny and her dog walked off, and once she walked around a small butte, I pulled a cold Sunset Sarsaparilla I had gotten from Doc Mitchell's house out of my inventory, popped the lid off, and took a swig. The drink was still cold, which proved my theory that my inventory put things into stasis once they were placed there.
Sunny's a good girl, and quite a good shot compared to me, even with the assisted targeting that my Pip-boy has added to my vision. She does kind of look like one of my cousins from my old life though, so I'm going to avoid that whole can of worms and just be a friend to her.
Absent-mindedly, I pulled up my Pip-boy and tried to fast travel back to Goodsprings proper. But to my surprise, fast-travel didn't work, which I honestly should have expected. Interestingly, instead of pulling up a prompt asking if I wanted to fast travel, clicking on a marker pulled up relevant information about it instead.
[Goodsprings]
[Presence: Accepted]
[A small village in western Nevada, this town makes most of its caps through agricultural work, and provides a welcome respite to any weary traveler on I-15 that can't make it to the town of Primm]
[Notable locations: Goodsprings General, Prospector Saloon, Doc Mitchell's clinic]
[Personal note: Where I came back to life]
Interesting. And more in line with what an actual Pip-boy would display instead of a fast-travel prompt. Not too sure where that personal note came from though.
–
After a few minutes of jogging -didn't even break a sweat somehow, I blame the Outsider perk- I made it back to Goodsprings.
As soon as I walked back into the saloon, I was greeted by Joe Cobb angrily talking to Trudy.
"I'm done being nice. If you dirt farmers don't give Ringo up, I'm getting my boys and we're burning this town to the ground. Got it!" Joe angrily exclaimed.
"We'll keep that in mind. Now if you aren't going to buy something, get out." Trudy replied.
Cobb huffed, then stormed out, shoving me out of the way with his shoulder and a muttered 'outta my way bitch'. I glared at the back of his head, then walked over and sat down on a bar stool.
"Trudy right? I'm Blitz. Sunny said to say 'hello'." I greeted.
"Well, hello then." Trudy replied with a warm smile. "You've certainly caused a stir lately, haven't you? Glad to finally meet you, Blitz. Welcome to the Prospector Saloon."
[Quest Completed]
[Loot gained]
[50 XP]
[Level Up!]
My eye twitched, and the screen minimized before I responded.
"Who was that you were arguing with earlier?" I asked.
"Ah. Our little town got dragged into something we don't want anything to do with. About a week ago, this trader named Ringo came into town. Says he was the only survivor of a caravan attack. Said he needed somewhere to lie low for a while. So we set him up with a place he could stay for a while. We didn't expect anyone to actually come after him, though." She explained as she wiped the bar.
"Where's this Ringo guy at, then?" I asked.
"He's up at the old gas station on the hill."
[Quest Added]
[Ghost Town Gunfight]
"So, what are you going to do now?" I asked.
"Some of the others, like Sunny, will probably stand up for Ringo if he asks for it, which he hasn't. Personally, I hope he sneaks out one night and takes those damned Powder Gangers with him."
"Noted. …You know anything about the men who left me for dead at the graveyard?"
"I know they're a bunch of freeloaders who expected a few rounds on the house when they came through." Trudy gave me a smug grin then. "I got them to pay up though." Her expression changed to irritation as she glanced back at a radio sitting on the bar behind her. "'Course, one of the Khans did knock my radio to the floor 'by accident' and it hasn't' worked right since."
I looked at the radio, then back to Trudy. "Did they say where they were going?"
"Even though they were trying to keep it quiet, I could tell they were having an argument about it. The guy in the suit kept shushing them, though. Sounded like they came in through the north on I-15. I don't blame them for not wanting to go back that way. That whole stretch of interstate has become infested with critters that will just get mad if you shoot them. Merchants have started to avoid that whole place like it's radioactive. It probably is as far as I know. Anyway, if they wanted to head back north, they'd probably go east from Nipton and take highway 95 back up from Searchlight."
"Thanks for the info. Want me to take a look at your radio? I managed to fix up the submachine gun that Doc Mitchell gave me."
"Sure." I got up and walked around to look at the radio while Trudy kept talking. "The case is fine, but I think something on the inside broke when it hit the ground. There'd be some caps in it for you if you can get it working again. It's about the only way we can get information about the outside world, and Mr. New Vegas seems like such a gentleman."
[Broken Radio]
[Repair skill required: 39/20]
After a few moments of poking around in the back of it, I accepted the skill check, and the radio came back to life.
"Hey, you got it working! Here's the caps." Trudy said, handing me a small pouch of caps, which I stored in my 'back pocket'.
[+50 caps]
"Thanks for the caps. I'll be back later."
"Come back and have a drink soon."
"I intend to."
[Ghost Town Gunfight]
[Offer to help Ringo deal with the Powder Gangers]
I left the saloon, waving at Sunny as I went, and started walking towards the old gas station on the hill. Once I reached the station, I immediately walked over to the Sunset Sarsaparilla machine next to the door and took all three of the remaining bottles.
'These things are going to fry my dopamine receptors if I drink too many of them.' I thought as I stored them in my inventory, trying to get in the habit of putting things in my 'back pocket' instead of making them disappear into thin air.
Before I entered, the level up screen popped up in front of me. I spread my earned points across a few of my skills, bringing my highest, Medicine and Repair, up to 40. For my perks, I picked up Lady Killer, and I felt my mind rewire slightly, allowing me to be more persuasive to women, and hurt them more in combat.
With my skill points spent, and a new perk in my perk list, I opened the door to the gas station and walked inside. I instantly froze, however, when a pistol was pressed up against the side of my head. I glanced to the side to see that Ringo had hidden beside the doorway while I was approaching.
"That's far enough. Who are you and what do you want with me?" Ringo asked
"I'm not an enemy, if that's what you're asking. And I've already gotten shot in the head twice, I don't need a third bullet in my brain, so can you please lower the pistol." I replied.
"Ah. S-sorry. You're that guy that Doc Mitchell was healing, aren't you?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Uh. My bad."
Ringo pulled the pistol away from me, holstered it, then backed up to lean against the counter.
"Seems we've gotten off on the wrong hand. Want to play a hand of caravan?" He asked.
"No thanks, I could never learn how to play that game properly." I replied. "I'm actually here about Joe Cobb. You know him?"
"Yeah I know him. He doesn't seem so tough, though. I hear he's afraid I'll gun him down from one of the windows if he tries to come up here and get me, and he's right. The problem is all his friends though. Once I shoot Cobb, all of them will show up, and while I may be a good shot, there's no way I could handle all fifteen of them in a gunfight."
"Why are these guys even out to get you anyway?"
"They attacked my caravan while we were heading to our branch in New Vegas. Bastards didn't even give us an ultimatum, just started shooting at us as soon as we got in range. We put up a good fight, but as you can see, I was the only survivor. I figure they're out for revenge, since I put down about four of them on my own. I don't know what to do now, though. I have no chance against all fifteen of them on my own."
"Maybe I could help. I could probably get some of the townsfolk rounded up to help too."
"If you're sure, start with that girl at the saloon. I think her name's Sunny Smiles. She's the friendliest of the bunch. I'm gonna try to sneak into the saloon the back way after you leave."
"Got it."
I hurried out of the station and back down to the saloon, but once I got back to the building, I noticed that Cobb and his gang were starting to amass out by an old camper. My brow furrowed in concern, and I moved a bit faster to get into the saloon.
"Hey, Sunny." I greeted as I walked in.
"Hey Blitz. Sticking around for a while longer?" She asked.
"No time to chat, Sunny. Not to worry you, but it looks like Cobb is gathering up his gang out by one of the old campers. I'm helping Ringo take them down. You want in?"
"Say no more, I'm in."
"Just like that? This is a gang of fifteen escaped convicts we're walking about." I said, both brows raised in concern.
"Just like that, Blitz. I have a feeling that one way or another the Powder gangers will never leave Goodsprings alone, so we might as well fight them and get it over with."
"Good point. Cobb will never leave this town alone."
"You should probably talk to Trudy and see if you can get her to help. People look up to her around here, so if you can get her on our side, some of the folks in town will grab their guns and help. I doubt Easy Pete will ever give up his dynamite though, so we can't ask him for any. I think I might be able to grab some of that leather armor Chet got in his last shipment, but no promises. Doc might hand over some medical supplies if you make a good enough case, too."
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll talk to Trudy first."
"Planning on taking on Joe Cobb's gang?" Trudy asked, making me jump because I didn't hear her walk up.
"Fuck, where'd you come from?" I asked.
"The bar. Taking on Cobb's gang is a risk, but I suppose you have to do what you think is right."
"If you think that the Powder Gangers will leave Goodsprings alone if you hand over Ringo, you are dead wrong. They'll never leave this town alone as long as they can get away with it. Think you can get some of the townsfolk ready?"
[Speech check: 35/25]
"...Normally, I stay out of these sorts of things. But I can't help but agree. Let me have a word with a few of the folks and I'll help you round up this militia you're making."
The bartender walked off, and Sunny ran off to the General Store. I reloaded my rifle and checked over my pistol to make sure they were in good shape. While I was reading a programmer's digest that I had picked out from a small stack, Sunny came back in, visibly frustrated.
"Tight fisted know-it-all wouldn't know a good deal if it bit him right on his ass." She muttered.
"Bad luck with Chet?" I asked.
"Yep. No armor for us. Apparently giving over a few bits of leather armor is a 'thousand cap investment'."
I reached over and patted the girl on the shoulder.
"You did your best. I don't think I could have done it either. We'll just have to make do with what we have."
[Barter: 18]
Nope. I couldn't have done it either.
"I've got some folks rounded up." Trudy said as she walked up. "When's this thing starting?"
"I'm not sur-"
I was cut off by the sound of the back door slamming open and closed. Ringo came running in and practically sprinted up to us before stopping, visibly wheezing.
"Ah damn… I ain't run like that in a while." He said, before breathing deeply and standing up. "The Powder Gangers are coming. I spotted all fifteen of them walking towards the town."
"Damnit. Trudy, get the townsfolk that are helping in position. Sunny, come on." I ordered.
I ran outside and took cover behind a large boulder. A short distance away, I could see all fifteen Powder Gangers walking towards the town, all brandishing weapons. Thankfully, most of them had to get into melee range to do any damage. I pulled my rifle out and took aim, putting my crosshair dead center on one of the ganger's bare chests. I glanced behind me to see most of the townsfolk -around twenty-five to thirty settlers- either hiding behind a few rocks, or behind the buildings.
"Open fire!" I ordered, then took my shot.
The bullet impacted the Powder Ganger right in the left pec, making him drop his baseball bat and clutch his chest. Another bullet made him fall to the ground. The rest of the townsfolk opened fire, dropping four ganger's with their first volley. The Powder Gangers with guns fired back, and I jerked back into cover when my cover got hit.
I peeked back out and fired again, hitting one Ganger right in the head who was wielding a golf club. Sunny fired her rifle, and a Powder Ganger with a shotgun dropped his weapon while cradling his hand, which was now missing a few fingers. I put a bullet in his head, and the man went down.
A .357 round hit my cover, and I looked out to see Cobb aiming at me. I fired, but my bullet hit his vest, making him stumble back. One of the powder Gangers had gotten close enough to swing at me with a baseball bat at that point, he knocked my rifle out of my hands, leaving me without a weapon.
I retaliated by punching him right across the face, then again with my other fist. He tried to swing at me again, but I dodged and punched him right in the kidney, making him drop the bat and start swinging wildly at me with his fists. I blocked a punch from him, then held him back with one arm while I pulled my pistol out and blind fired a bunch of times right into his chest, killing him.
With the Ganger dead, I glanced over to see my rifle's barrel was bent, and I gritted my teeth. I tossed his body off of me and jogged out of cover. I fired my pistol twice, taking down another Ganger, and another volley of bullets took down four more. Then suddenly, someone tackled me to the ground. I rolled onto my back, and got punched in the face by someone invisible.
'Ah shit I forgot Cobb has a stealth boy!'
I blocked a punch from him, then punched out where I thought his head was. His weight left my stomach, so I must have hit something. Cobb's stealth boy ran out, and he became visible again.
"You son of a bitch! You should have stayed out of this, mailman!" Cobb roared.
Cobb tried to punch me, but I blocked his strike, then stomped on his foot. The man elbowed me in the ribs, making me stumble back, and when I tried to counter, a kick from him sent me to the ground. When I sat up, the man was retreating to what remained of his gang.
"Blitz, catch!" Sunny called out as I got to my feet.
I grabbed what Sunny threw at me, and it was a revolver. I had just pulled back the hammer and looked up at Cobb, when I noticed he had his own revolver pointed right at me, along with the other three with their shotguns. There wasn't enough time to gun them all down, and I'd be dead before I hit the ground. Strangely, just as Cobb grinned, the world just… slowed down.
I tilted my head in confusion, then turned to look at the settlers, who were also moving so extremely slowly. Only I seemed to be moving at normal speed, while everything else was moving in slow motion. The wires beneath my skin were faintly glowing a bluish color as well. I turned back to look at Cobb and raised my gun, then flinched slightly when something popped up in my vision.
[Welcome to VATS-OE]
[The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System - Outsider Edition]
[While VATS-OE is active, the world slows to a crawl, allowing you to take your time and plan out your shots to do the maximum damage possible to your target or targets. While using VATS-OE, your accuracy is increased by 15%, and allows you to mark which parts of your enemy you can shoot. You are even able to reveal opponents that are invisible!]
[However, the human mind has a limit on how much information it can process, so a limit of four VATS charges an hour and six seconds per VATS charge has been implemented to prevent mental and physical damage to the brain, so be sure to only use VATS-OE when necessary]
[VATS Time remaining: 5 seconds]
I have a timer for VATS? This feels like some sort of combination of VATS, Dead-Eye from Red Dead, and those time stopping gizmos from Cyberpunk. What are they called? Sandvestan or something?
No, no time to think. It's time to shoot.
I marked the heads of Cobb and his three remaining Gangers, and accepted my targets. Time sped back up, and my hands moved lightning fast as I fanned the revolver, shooting all four Gangers in the head. Silence followed the sound of the Powder Gangers hitting the dirt, until the cheers began.
"We did it!"
"Eat that ya criminals!"
"Drinks all around!"
[Quest Complete]
[Loot Gained]
[50XP]
"Well, that was something." I commented.
"It sure was, Blitz." Sunny responded. "Come on, drinks are on the house."
I draped an arm over Sunny's shoulder as we walked back to the saloon, where cheering could be heard from within.
"You did good, Sunny." I said. "Not everyone can stand up to a gang of felons and come out on top."
"Please, it was you who led the charge, you're the man of the hour. Just don't let it go to your head." She replied with a smirk.
"Don't worry, I wont. I reckon yall will be celebrating for a while?"
"Yeah, we probably will. What do you mean by that?"
"I'm actually planning on leaving soon, probably in the next hour or so."
That stopped Sunny right in her tracks.
"Wait, you're leaving now?" Sunny asked, seeming a bit bummed out that I was leaving.
"I have to. The people that stole my package are probably miles away by now, since I've been out for almost a week. There's a lot of caps riding on me completing this delivery, and I need the money." I replied as I activated the They Went That-a-Way quest on my Pip-boy.
"Well, you will come back, won't you?"
"Oh sure. I'll probably swing by a few times in the future. Chet has a good selection of supplies, and I feel like Trudy is going to threaten to drag me back if I don't swing by the saloon every once in a while."
"Well I hope you find those guys that shot you. Good luck."
I gave the girl a one armed hug. "Thanks, Sunny. I'll bring you something from New Vegas, if I get in."
Sunny smiled, then walked back into the saloon, leaving me to quickly loot the bodies of the Powder Gangers and shove all their weapons and ammo in my inventory.
–
After a quick trip to the General store to pick up a bit of ammo, and a half an hour to repair my Varmint Rifle and the revolver I got from Cobb's body, I made my way out of Goodsprings.
I was feeling pretty good about my journey. With VATS, along with the weird Gamer powers that came with my Pip-boy and Outsider perk, there was nowhere to go but up. Soon, I would be in New Vegas, talking to one of the most powerful men in the Mojave, Mr. House. I guess Victor was called back early by him, since I haven't seen the bot since he left town. Not to mention that a Securitron at full speed probably outpaces most humans at a full sprint.
I reached the edge of the town where the prompt asking me if I wanted to change anything would usually be, but to my moderate surprise, no prompt popped up asking me anything. I simply kept walking until the town had faded into the distance and the small buttes that dotted the landscape.
I checked the world map and sighed heavily when I saw that Primm was about twenty miles away, and at my current pace, I'd get there in about seven hours. I was already beginning to hate the lack of functioning vehicles in the wasteland, and could do nothing but voice my irritation.
"It's gonna be a long walk."
Blitzkrieg/ Blitz
Level: 2
XP: 311/550
SPECIAL Stats:
Strength: 5
Perception: 4
Endurance: 8
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 7
Agility: 6
Luck: 5
Skills:
Barter: 18
Energy Weapons: 18
Explosives: 18
Guns: 23
Lockpick: 18
Medicine: 40
Melee Weapons: 20
Repair: 45
Science: 30
Sneak: 22
Speech: 35
Survival: 26
Unarmed: 26
Perks:
Skilled: You're skilled, but not experienced. You gain +5 points to every skill, but you suffer -10% from experience gained from now on.
Trigger Discipline: While using Guns and Energy Weapons, you fire 20% more slowly but are 20% more accurate.
Lady Killer: In combat, you do +10% damage against female opponents. Outside of combat, you'll sometimes have access to unique dialogue options when dealing with the opposite sex.
Outsider: You are from a distant place, one so far removed from the reality of the Wasteland that you have Outsider information of the past and future, vague as it is through the screen you viewed them through. You have witnessed these events countless times from behind a screen, but now you will play your part, right in the Mojave Wasteland itself. Grants access to Pip-boy game mechanics. Allows for level headedness during combat.
