POV Rio
For the upcoming attack on Quincy and the Raiders near them, I decided to do some scouting myself. Part of this scouting had me passing near Neponset Park, which is where I found something I forgot about until now.
"Hello? Is someone out there?" says a voice coming from a refrigerator.
"Did... Did that fridge just speak?" Cait asked.
"Who's there? Let me out!" says the voice again.
I looked inside the fridge and saw what looked like a ghoul kid, but something about him seemed off.
"Let me open the door for you," I reply.
"Yes! It's been so long. The door is stuck. You're going to have to shoot it off," the kid says.
I don't shoot and instead use my magic to dislodge the door gently.
Clunk
"Thank you! Thank you so much. Everything's so different. I guess I was in there for a really long time. What do I do now?" the kid asked.
"Well, you could start by introducing yourself. I'll go first. I am Rio," I reply.
"Oh, my name is Billy. Billy Peabody. I... I used to live in Quincy, but... I don't know if my home is still there," Billy says sadly.
"Okay, we can go see if it is still there. It's possible your parents may still be there," I reply.
Cait looks at me a whispers.
"You realize that kids' been in there since the war, right?" Cait says while looking at Billy.
"I know, but I have a feeling we might find his parents, at the very least, we might be able to give him closure," I reply.
Cait sighs and shakes her head, but doesn't argue further. Quiet doesn't say anything either, but she seems to have the same doubts. We start walking towards Quincy, as it was just down the road a bit, and while I was here, I saw a military convoy with a suit of Power Armor. I took everything, and as I was making sure I didn't miss anything, I noticed someone approaching.
The man was dressed like a Gunner, and I could tell he was very nervous.
"Cute kid. Is he for sale?" the man asks.
"What? No. Did you seriously walk up to the Leader of the Minutemen and ask if you could buy a kid from me?" I ask somewhat befuddled.
"Uh... Yeah. I guess when someone says it out loud, it sounds pretty stupid," the man says.
I roll my eyes and give him a new hole in his forehead. His allies nearby hear the shot and come towards us, but I place several APCs and aim them at the slavers. They take one look and say 'nope' and start running away. I shoot a few, but several get away. Then I put the APCs back in my inventory, and we continue our journey. I keep my Hoshigan active the whole time, and from that, I see something that makes me stop.
'Is that?'
I rub my eyes even though I know it won't do anything, and sure enough, the thing is still there. It was a massive Radscorpion. Like a larger-than-a-house kind of size and not a small house. I did some quick calculations and determined it is roughly 500 feet long from stinger to mouth. And based on the nearby structures, I could guess that this was likely Vault 88 or the construction site for it.
"What's wrong?" Cait asks.
"Uh, just saw something pretty frightening," I say.
"You... What did you see?" Cait asks while looking around nervously.
"Don't worry, it's only below us. And larger than a house. Could eat a person in one bite," I reply, but keep walking.
Cait looks at the ground nervously and looks back at me.
"You're joking, right?" Cait asks.
"Nope," I reply.
Was I enjoying watching Cait tiptoe everywhere in fear of a monster? Yes. Was I going to tell her that the creature was too far away, and if it hadn't come out after all this time, it most likely won't do so now? Eventually.
We have to take a route that leads us uncomfortably close to Quincy, but thankfully, Billy's house was on the outskirts of the town. We still had to be careful to avoid the Gunner patrols. It also gave me the chance to get exact numbers on how many Gunners were stationed in Quincy. I counted 176. A sizeable number, still, but somewhat manageable. I would attack now, but I knew that the Gunners had a deal with the nearby Gangs. If the Minutemen attacked one of them, they would all come to assist the defender. But I had already made up a plan to deal with the Raiders. Delta Squad, MIMIC, and Captain Guto's men were all dealing with that now.
'I guess we can use that idea to help deal with that Radscorpian Queen, or maybe I should call it an Empress. Not sure how effective it would be.'
When we get to the Peabody House, I notice something odd about the house. It was in pretty decent condition, given its close proximity to Quincy.
'It kind of feels like the fake house we found around the Mirror.'
"Mom? Dad? Are you in there?" Billy yells.
"Billy? Billy!" yells Mrs. Peabody.
"Son? Is that really you?" asks Mr. Peabody.
"It's me. It's really me," Billy says happily.
"Oh my god! We thought you were dead," Mrs. Peabody says while hugging Billy.
"What happened to you? You're all burned up like me," Billy asks.
"We're ghouls, Billy," Mr. Peabody responds.
"Your dad and I don't care what you look like. We still love you," Mrs. Peabody says happily.
"I love you too, Mom. I've missed you guys. It's been so long," Billy says while all three start to glow.
"What... What's going on?" Mr. Peabody asks.
"I'm so confused. What's happening?" Mrs. Peabody asks.
"Mom, Dad, where are we going?" Billy asks.
"It doesn't matter. I'm here. We're together now. And will be forever," Mr. Peabody says while they hug each other, and the light intensifies.
We squint are eyes as they burst into light, and when the light fades, were are in a long destroyed house. The roof was almost completely gone, and several of the walls had severe damage.
"What the h*ll just happened?" Cait asks.
"I-I think we just helped them move on. I think they were dead for a long time. They must have been waiting since the war for their son to come home," I reply while wishing them a peaceful afterlife.
"Rest in peace," Quiet says.
Cait and I freeze.
"D-Did you just speak?" Cait asks.
Quiet nods.
"Holy crap, I thought you were mute! I mean, your name is literally Quiet," Cait says, completely shocked.
"Let's go. We should let this house be," I reply while smiling at Quiet.
We all agree and leave the House. We head to Poseidon Energy to rest a bit while I head out and cause some issues for the Quincy Gunners. I knew that there were a few nasty groups near Quincy, and I thought I could rile enough of them up to cause some issues. The first and easiest was the Super Mutants at the Wilson Atomatoys Factory. It was easy, as they seemed to worship the Giddy Up Buttercups. So all I had to do was show up under a basic illusion to get them to attack the Gunners for their divine Metal Pony God.
The hardest part was stopping myself from laughing as the Super Mutants screamed their war cries into the Quincy.
"We are the Big Metal Death Ponies!"
Before I sent the Super Mutants in, I made sure to steal some dangerous weapons from the Gunners. Specifically, the one Fatman they had. The next group I riled up was a Mirelurk Queen and the many, many Mirelurks in the various swamps and bogs of the Southern Commonwealth. They wouldn't be insanely dangerous, as many don't have ranged attacks, but with the sheer number I managed to corral, it was worth it. To corral the Mirelurks, I used my transformation to turn into the mutant Mirelurk Queen from Speactacle Island. That queen had a psychic control over weaker Mirelurks, which was exactly what I needed.
The watery area had a very respectable 397 Mirelurks of various types. With only one Queen, it was still not that dangerous, and I had no doubt the Gunners would be able to wipe out the Mireluirks, but that was okay. As long as I weakened them enough that I could quickly wipe out the survivors, get them to abandon Quincy, or request reinforcements, then I would consider this a success.
POV Captain Clint
The Super Mutants' attack was really odd. We had usually been a big enough threat that they kept their distance. At most, they would attack our troops if they strayed too close, but regardless, we dealt with them as best as we could. The real issue came next. I had ordered plenty of troops down from the roofs to clean up the mess as soon as we could to avoid drawing in any creatures. It seems we were too late, as a literal swarm of Mirelurks came rushing into Quincy.
BOOM
"We're out of explosives, sir!" Sgt Baker reported.
"What! How the hell are we out! I thought we had enough stockpiled to last against a Minutemen siege!?" I ask incredulously.
"Uh, I am not sure, sir! It could have been stolen or perhaps misplaced," Sgt Baker responds.
"Ugh! Fine, don't let those damn crabs get any farther. Where is Tess?" I ask.
"She is currently trying to keep the Queen distracted, sir!" Sgt Baker responds.
"Fine, send a runner to our allies. Ask if they want to send some help. I'll report this to HQ and see if they can send some additional supplies or troops," I reply.
"Yes, sir!" Sgt Baker says while running to do as I ordered.
'This is a god damn mess. Right as I got promoted, this pile of dung fell in my lap. I just hope the Minutemen don't decide to attack while we are weak.'
I get on the radio and call HQ, but the answer is the usual nonsense. They tell me to suck it up; no reinforcements are coming unless a Minutemen attack happens. I was annoyed, but I was confident that we could fend off the crabs. We had the high ground, and the crabs aren't the smartest. The real issue lay in the queen. That thing's acid spray can melt even Power Armor given enough time.
Crash
Another wall collapses, and I hear the screams of more men. I decided it was time I started shooting as well.
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Author's Note:
I changed the Kid in a Fridge quest as I thought that while technically possible, it doesn't make much sense for Billy to survive in that Fridge, at least not without going crazy or perhaps feral. And it is also unlikely that the Peabody family wouldn't have been found and enslaved by the Gunners when they took over Quincy. Let alone surviving for 200 years without anything happening. So instead, I changed them to be ghosts that were waiting to be reunited. As for Quincy, I realized that there are a lot of Mirelurks in the area, so using them would make sense. And it fits into the next chapter. Until next time, Ciao.