POV Rio
My journey home was not that bad. It turns out that the vast majority of the area being a dead wasteland reduces the number of people I run into. I only saw 1 group, and it was from a distance. It was a caravan that was trying its luck scavenging the ruins. It should be noted that, unlike other areas the Lich had destroyed, the East Coast still had a decent amount of intact structures. That doesn't mean a large amount of loot was left, as the Minutemen had already come through the area and looted what could be easily found. But we didn't find everything, so it was entirely possible to find some loot here and there. But the Deadlands cause an instinctual aversion to the living. And that's because staying here can cause all sorts of nasty side effects for living beings. If you're undead, though, this place is like the promised land.
Besides that one caravan, I hadn't seen anyone. And I didn't interact with the caravan as they seemed on edge, and a random cowboy appearing out of nowhere would likely scare them. Thus, I kept going. For the first week, I walked/ran through the Deadlands. Occasionally, I would make a stop to search a small town or city ruin for anything cool. I did get some unique loot every so often. The biggest highlight was the crater outside New York City. The reason being it was full of Children of Atom. Even though the crater wasn't radioactive, they still seemed to worship the area as if it were. In fact, I met someone I met a long time ago.
"Stop right there, stranger. You approach Atom's holy ground. Why? State your purpose, or be divided in his sight," Mother Isolde warns.
"Just passin'through. Heard about this place and decided to check out the ruins," I reply.
"Hmm, then you'd best move along. Many of the followers here do not take kindly to outsiders," Mother Isolde warns.
"Fair enough, I'll mosey along then, good day ma'am," I reply as I walk Northeast.
I don't stick around and move northeast. I needed to deal with an enemy that thought they could betray my friends and get away with it. I did take a peek at New Kowloon from a distance, but otherwise I ignored it. I then moved due North to Nuka World. When I scanned the Alliance members' minds, I learned that Preston had been captured thanks to the help of the Hubologists. They were my enemy, but that didn't mean they were the enemy of everyone related to me. But in this case, they sold out Preston and the Ghosts as soon as they could. I really dislike liars and deceivers. So they needed some old-fashioned Western justice.
The Hubologists had relocated their base to the old junkyard with the 'spaceship'. They had even reprogrammed some robots and animatronic Zetans to defend themselves. I could have sniped them from a distance, but that wasn't needed. I approached, and the Hubologists spotted me but didn't panic. Several members even came out to meet me.
"Welcome, stranger. We are hubologists. You may have heard of us," their leader says with a fake smile.
"I've heard of you folks," I reply.
"Are you a mercenary? If so, I'd like to hire you to help us. But oh, where are my manners? I'm Clara Hubbell," Clara says with a bigger smile.
"Hmm, well, I suppose I am a merc of sorts," I reply.
"I'll pay you 200 caps to bring back five spacesuits from the Vault-Tec display in the Galactic Zone. We need 10 sets, but we'll pay for extras," Clara replies with an enthusiastic tone.
"Hmm, sorry, no can do," I reply.
"Ah, really, perhaps we can pay 300 per suit. We can't do it on our own," Clara bargains.
"Price ain't the issue. See, I don't work for dishonest folks. Especially ones that sell out others for their own gain," I say firmly while staring them down.
"W-What? I-I don't know what you're talking about? In fact, I think it's time you leave," Clara says nervously.
"I ain't goin' nowhere, and neither are you," I saw while putting my hand over my holster.
(AN: You can play The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Main Theme) for some standoff music. )
They get nervous, and they also go to reach for their guns, but nobody draws yet. They were all sweating nervously, with Clara looking the most nervous, her face slick with sweat. I even heard her swallow nervously, and we all stared at each other. Then the tense atmosphere detonates as one of the Hubologists attempts to draw their laser pistol. But before he can even touch it, I have already drawn and opened fire.
Bang x 6
With six shots, six were instantly killed, each with a hole in their foreheads. I didn't even wait and pulled my second pistol to repeat the process as the Hubologists that I could kill had started drawing their guns. But as the first Hubologist had returned fire, I was already shooting off my next six shots, and another 6 were killed as I jumped to the side to avoid the return fire. Bullets and laser fire impacted where I had just been, and I quickly swapped to my lever-action rifle. I waited for a moment as they emptied their magazines, then, when they all stopped to reload, I popped out and rapid-fired 7 shots, killing 7, and then I moved again to avoid the attacks from the robots that came to assist their masters.
I left Clara as the last survivor. The reason was simple: she needed to be the last to live so she could see her entire group die one by one. The robots were no problem. I reloaded my pistols and used another 12 shots to disable all of them. Clara tried to make a run for it, so I grabbed my bowie knife and threw it, hitting her left leg and causing her to fall to the ground.
"Ahhhhh! Wait, no! Please don't kill me! We didn't want to betray the Minutemen; we were forced to give them up. If we didn't, they would kill us!" Clara said while trying to crawl away from me.
"Nice story, too bad it's a lie. I know you contacted the Alliance first. They didn't even know Preston and his men were in the area. But you let them know. All so you could claim this junkyard for yourself. And get a few thousand caps," I reply while approaching her with my rifle drawn.
Her eyes go wide, and she tries to draw her pistol, but I shoot it out of her hand.
"This is the end of the line for you and your entire group," I say and pull the knife from her leg, causing it to bleed profusely.
Her face goes pale, and she starts to shake as she mumbles about mercy and that it can't end like this. I sit by and reload my guns silently as she slowly bleeds out. Once I was sure she was dead, I grabbed her and the others' bodies and took them to an area where I lit them and let the bodies burn. Then I move to disable or destroy any remaining defenses. Once that was done, I left. I had completed the last thing I wanted to do, so I walked to the monorail. It would get me home pretty quickly, as it was still operational.
The Monorail ride was quiet and took around 30 minutes to arrive at the Nuka World Transit Center. I would have stuck around Nuka World longer, but there wasn't anything else to do. All the parks had already been cleared out and secured. Repairs weren't scheduled for a while, and besides that, the only other notable event was John-Caleb Bradberton. But we just took all the research data he had and left him with Sierra Petrovita to keep him company. I vaguely recalled that he requested assistance in getting a new body, but I could do that later if I felt like it. Making a synth body wouldn't be that hard.
'I should talk to Codsworth and let them know Father is going to die soon.'
Father had survived much longer than he should have originally, but he had reached the end and wouldn't last much longer. I didn't care for him, but I knew Codsworth still cared for Shaun. As such, the least I could do was allow Codsworth have some closure, as for the other members of the Institute, they were no threat, and I would just let them die peacefully in their sleep. Not that they had many members left. Just the doctor who recently passed away from a heart attack. Liam Binet, who was on the verge of one as well, due to all the stress he is under. X6-88, which has practically broken down from the damage of keeping an unstable reactor operational. Not to mention the memory wipes they had been subjected to. Letting them quietly pass away was the most I was willing to give them. They were still enemies, and I didn't trust any of them. That and it was about time I just end them once and for all and use the underground lab as a base. Or something.
'I suppose it could be a new HQ, especially once we get rid of the physical entrances. Or it could be a new research facility.'
When I reached the station, I was immediately stopped by several Minutemen who were confused and cautious about who I was. I told them I wasn't aware it was illegal to use the monorail.
"Uh, well, I guess it technically isn't, but the monorail should have been shut down, so we are just confused how you got it to both go to you and then come back," the squad leader responds.
"Fair point. But that doesn't matter as I think your superior is here," I reply.
"My what?" the squad leaders says, but the doors open and Uritca walks in and runs right towards me.
"All of you leave!" Urtica orders.
They all leave without hesitation, and when they are gone, Urtica kneels before me.
"H-How are you here? When I heard... I'm sorry we failed you," Urtica says rapidly while jumping from one thing to another.
"Relax, I will explain all once we get back to Sanctuary. We can't risk revealing that I escaped. As such, we must keep up the ruse. And I don't blame any of you. We were all caught by surprise, and admittedly, it was a fair loss. They were just more numerous and well-trained than us. There's no shame in losing to a superior foe," I reply while kneeling to eye level with Urtica.
"Okay, we need to get to HQ. It's the best place to have you talk with your friends. Or would you rather we go to Sanctuary?" Urtica asks.
"No, HQ is the best place. Everyone there is loyal, and the location is known to very few; my friends can come to me," I reply.
"Good then, should I call a pickup?" Urtica asks.
"Sure, but nothing too flashy. A simple ground vehicle will do. I think the highway was already repaired sufficiently," I reply.
They nod, and we start the trip to the MIMIC HQ in Lexington.