(no subject)

[camwyn]

H'okay. Ellen is currently in the middle of the Replicated Man plot with the aid of Rick Deckard. Don't know how long that'll run, as Deckard's player has RL all over him like a headcrab on an especially squishy skull, but it'll go through. Dad has managed to convince Madison Li that Project Purity can be revived at the old Memorial if it can be cleared of mutants, but the rest of her team's going to be something of an issue, so he's taking the opportunity to implement small-scale GECK-tech improvements in Rivet City's own water supply as a means of winning them over- and providing for Rivet City once he and Li's team head for the Memorial. Dad is also carrying on in private with Dr. Li because come on, it's been nineteen years since his wife died, seriously. Ellen does not know this and does not want to hear about it.

Anyway. The Memorial has to be cleared of mutants. This can be done with bar help, and it is going to have to be done before anyone will agree to leave Rivet City. The problem is that the Memorial then has to be kept clear of mutants, which will not be easy since the Brotherhood of Steel won't be available so far as Ellen knows. (With James back and his GECKtech improvements they'd probably do it if they could spare the men, but they're kinda stretched thin.) So Ellen's going to have to hire help, and she's going to have to do it out of her own pocket because Dad's going to need his cap supply to buy parts for the Project.

I'd like to have Ellen hire Reilly's Rangers for this. They've already been introduced via the rescue plot. We never actually see them mercenarying in the game aside from trying to fight free of the mutants; they're always at their HQ unless you get the random encounter where Donovan gives you a mini-nuke. The question then becomes where to get the money to do it. I'd like to start with a chunk of relatively easily acquired seed capital. Abraham Washington will pay to get the Declaration of Independence out of the National Archives. I'd like to do that as a plot- mutant battles above ground, robot battles below, and other ancient documents to be found even if only on microfiche.

I would also like to have the plot take a nasty turn and lead to an all-out bloodfest in the name of WHY WILL YOU PEOPLE NOT LEAVE ME ALONE. Most of the time people coming out of a quest like this just fast-travel back to the quest giver in-game. I don't plan on handwaving the trip back. I plan on having the Talons ambush Ellen and whoever's with her on their way out of the Archives. I'm still debating whether there's an option of having the only surviving Talon make off with her gear, or at least with her copy of the Declaration. Probably not, though. Talon Company really hates her guts and wants her dead. If they're close enough to get her stuff, they're close enough to kill her- she wouldn't put the Declaration anywhere it might get damaged, so it'd have to be in the center of her pack for safety's sake.

Anyway, the point is, Talon ambush. BIG Talon ambush. At which point it will occur to Ellen that if she settles in one place the Talons will just replace the mutants as an ongoing threat, or worse, supplement them. And while she needs to deal with Mr. Tenpenny hiring them in the first place, one of the recent Talons said that their commander put out a reward of his own. She might as well see about finding the Talon HQ and taking this fight to the commander.

Fort Bannister is crawling with mercenaries and guns and stuff, and it's not likely that any of them will have the sense to surrender, so it's gonna be a slaughterfest. Afterwards, as much of the equipment as possible is going to be loaded up onto pack brahmins and hauled to Canterbury Commons for sale to as many of the merchants as are willing to take it, with the guns getting dropped off for rewards at Regulator HQ and the ammo being toted along because Ellen needs it. There should be enough money and supplies there to keep the Rangers quite happy. It's just a question of having enough people on hand to gut an entire mercenary company in its headquarters.

After that we'll get everyone back to the Memorial and they'll start working there. Anna Holt will be disappointed at the pace of progress and will eventually buy into Enclave propaganda, possibly while Ellen is out doing something else. I know that the purifier is going to need an actual GECK, not just James' GECKtech improvements, but that won't be clear until the GECKtech's been given a chance to work and hasn't adequately pulled it off. Ellen will have to volunteer to try and find one, which will lead to Vault searchings ("Gary? Gaaaaaaaaaaaaary!") and possibly trips to Fort Constantine and/or the Nuka-Cola factory- I'll come up with an excuse for that. The option of making ALL THE NUKA-GRENADES IN THE WORLD springs to ... springs... to... mind...

you know, Talon Company would have a very, very bad day if Ellen and her friends showed up armed with enough Nuka-Grenades to light up New Jersey, wouldn't it? So there we go. Get the Declaration, go to the factory, AIEEE GIANT GLOWING ENEMY CRAB, bottle as much glowing blue goo as possible, make 'nades, go to Fort Bannister, sell stuff from Fort Bannister, hire mercenaries, clear out Memorial, start work on Memorial, go to Vault 108, go to Underworld for advice, go to Fort Constantine (maybe) or Tenpenny Tower (maybe), come back to Dad to check in. At which point hello, Colonel Autumn.

Sound reasonable?