POV Rio
I ended up finding some interesting loot from the museum. I found an RPG from the crashed Vertibird. I didn't have much ammo, but it was still very useful, should I need to deal with anything big and mean. I also ended up getting an idea that would need to wait for a bit. Besides that, I found an old rifle that I was really confused as to how it ended up in Boston. It was an StG 44. It had only a few rounds but otherwise was in decent condition. And after going into my inventory, it became pristine. But it was still a very odd discovery.
'Like, who would even carry such a rifle after all this time, and further, how did it stay undisturbed for over 200 years? Possibly even longer.'
Other than that discovery, the rest of the loot was mostly scrap and some ammo. Besides the greatest find that is. The Perception Bobblehead. At first, I didn't expect much. A 1-point increase in Perception is nice, but nothing too amazing. But instead of a small increase, I got a perk from going over the base limit for a stat.
Special Perk: I See You!
You now have access to improved magic eyes. You can use any of the following abilities with only a small mental exhaustion. 360-degree vision up to 2 km in all directions, even through obstacles and materials. You can focus on specific things or just see the entire area. Vastly improved dynamic vision. You can perceive the mana levels of others. You can perceive the mana nodes in a body. Your eyes can now be used as a magic focus. You can never be blinded or visually impaired.
The perk was quite useful. I was now able to see mana in others, which allowed me to tell if someone might be harder to defeat instantly. It wasn't the most accurate, as just because someone has a high mana capacity doesn't always mean they are powerful. For instance, Mama Murphy had a massive mana capacity, but she was not a real threat. Meanwhile, Preston has a fairly low mana capacity and would likely never be able to use magic. Same with the Longs.
As for the other abilities, the dynamic vision was nice but useless, as I couldn't physically respond fast enough to use it. The mana nodes were interesting, as there was a section about them in the tome. If I used some special techniques, I could cause all sorts of problems for enemies. But I discovered something useful. Synths have no mana. Like none at all, and they have no mana nodes either. It was a very useful perk as I could now instantly tell if someone was a synth or not. Thankfully, I could sense and see beings with my eyes, even if they have no mana, as the 2km 360 degree vision has no mana requirements, and I can see clearly as if I have X-Ray vision.
I did learn the hard way that it causes a massive migraine if I try to perceive everything in a 2km radius. I nearly passed out, but I was able to keep going. It was lucky that I didn't test it until much later, when everyone was settled in Sanctuary. Speaking of which, it was very amusing to see the looks on all of their faces when we arrived at Sanctuary.
They all craned their necks to look up at the over 20-foot walls.
"Whistle. Damn, that's one tall wall," Sturges comments.
"Indeed, and moreover, they're indestructible," I respond.
They all just look at me with raised eyebrows.
"That's not impossible. Everything can be broken eventually. Even if the walls are made of some very smooth concrete," Sturges responds with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Want me to prove it?" I say with a smirk.
They all nod, and I pull out the RPG, which makes them step back and look at me like I just did something impossible. Then I aim the RPG at the wall and fire.
BOOM
The rocket hits and does no damage. They all hurriedly walk over to inspect it, and one by one, they just look back at me with baffled looks.
"But, that... that shouldn't be possible. How? How did you do it?" Sturges asks with pleading eyes.
"Magic," I respond with a smile.
"Scoff. Please, you think we are a bunch of toddlers who still believe in fairy tales. Well, news flash, there is no Easter Bunny, there is no Tooth Fairy, and there is no Queen of England," Marcy Long bites back.
"I mean, that is all probably true. At least hopefully. But magic is real. See," I say while moving many things with my levitation.
"Wait, what do you mean, hopefully?" Preston asks.
I ignore his question, and so does everyone else, as they see me move several objects with magic. After some time, they all look towards Sturges, expecting a scientific explanation.
"What? Don't look at me. As far as I can tell, he ain't using any tech, so all I can say is that what he says is probably true," Sturges says while shrugging.
They just choose not to ask more questions, and I was fine with that. I knew they wouldn't believe it right away. But I then explained the benefits of being a settler in my settlement. Needless to say, they were both sceptical and very excited. I showed them around Sanctuary and got them settled in a house for now. They wanted to stick together for safety, and I can't blame them. After they were mostly settled, Preston asked me some questions and then gave me a quest.
Before I left for that quest, I experimented with the new perk and then gathered the supplies. That's when Codsworth approached me and asked if he could accompany me. I was a bit confused as to why he would want to, but when I heard his reasoning, I accepted it and let him come with me. Unlike in the game, I could have as many followers as I wanted, and no one could stop me.
The quest took us a bit east to a settlement called Tenpines Bluff. I was originally expecting them to send me far south to Lexington, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn they actually had an issue that made more sense. Just a short walk south was an abandoned train depot. It had a small horde of feral ghouls that had been wandering a bit close to the settlement, and they wanted me to wipe them out so they could sleep easier.
It was an easy quest. The ferals weren't that much of a threat in an open environment. So all I had to do was start sniping them. By the time they realized where I was, there were only 4 of them, and by the time they closed the distance, only one remained, and Dogmeat and Codsworth dealt with them easily enough. I let the settlers know, and before I left, I took a small detour to collect another settlement that I had plans for.
Just a little ways East was a settlement called Outpost Zimonja. It was an old radio tower controlled by a Raider gang led by a man named Boomer. I scouted the location and then got a most devious plan. For it to work, I had to wait until night.
POV Skinner the Raider
It was another quiet day, which was nice. Gary and I were taking our union-mandated Smoke break. Admittedly, we didn't know what the hell a union was, but hey, the book we found at our base said it was a thing all bosses have to give their workers. Speaking of our boss, he was a strange fellow, but I suppose most people are like that. We followed him because he was a pretty great leader. And it helps that he had a Fatman and a set of Power Armor.
It's thanks to him that most people steer clear of us and give us what we want when we ask.
"Hey, you hear the rumors?" Gary asks.
"Huh, what rumors?" I respond.
"Word is Ack-Ack, and her gang was wiped out," Gary says.
"No sh*t, really? The whole gang? Who did it? Was it Jared and his junkies?" I ask.
"No, the rumor says it was a rogue sentry bot," Gary says with an animated look.
"What? A sentry bot? It what? Just came out of nowhere, and Ack-Ack and her gang just couldn't stop it?" I retort while taking another huff of my cigarette.
"That's what the rumors say. Some scavengers tried to loot the place but found it completely looted of everything. No one knows who got to them first, but they all say that a destroyed sentry bot was found there," Gary says.
"Geez, well, good thing that would never happen to us. The boss would blow up that stupid bot. And shame about Ack-Ack, she was a looker. I admit I wanted to get a chance to try her out if we ever took out her gang," I say with a dirty smile.
"Yeah, me, hey, what's that?" Gary says while pointing into the darkness.
I squint my eyes and spot a faint blue glow in the distance. I rub my eyes and look at it, but it is still there.
"Huh? Not sure. Maybe it's the northern lights," I say with a straight face.
"Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the Country? Localized entirely in that small patch of light over there?" Gary says while giving me an Are you kidding me look.
"Yes," I respond calmly.
"Bullsh*t! Let's go ask the boss," Gary says while walking over to the Boss.
"Hey, Boss, we spotted something out there," Gary yells at Boomer.
"Huh? What did you see? Some animal or something?" Boomer asks.
We explain what we saw, and he then follows us to go look. A few others follow to see what the commotion is about. Then I notice something odd.
"Hey, Boss? Is the Mini Nuke supposed to be glowing like that?" I ask while pointing at the Mini Nuke loaded into the Fatman.
"Uh, no," Boomer says with confusion.
"Hey, Jimmy! Get over here!" I shout across the camp to Jimmy.
"What now, you pest?" Jimmy says while rubbing his eyes.
Jimmy is the one who does the day watch, but is also the smartest guy I know. At least when it comes to weapons.
"Is a Mini Nuke supposed to glow like that?" I ask him.
He looks at me like I am an idiot, and I just point at the Mini Nuke. he looks at it and looks completely befuddled.
"Huh, that's odd. I ain't ever heard of a Mini Nuke glowing blue before. Did someone spill some Nuka Quantum on it?" He asks.
Before I can tell him how stupid that would be, we all hear a click.
"Huh, what was tha..."
BOOOOOOM
POV Rio
I look at the mushroom cloud and don't wait, as I see Boomer managed to survive the point-blank Mini Nuke detonation. I get my sniper out and line up the shot for when he removes the heavily damaged helmet. Just as he removes it, the bullet is fired and a hole is made right between his eyes. He collapses, but I don't approach as the Mini Nuke did more damage to the Power Armor than Boomer likely realized.
BOOOM
The Power Armor's Fusion Core goes critical and blows up. I still wait as the raider and dog from the nearby guard post come running up the hill to see what happened. Two more shots and the Outpost is mine. The loot was okay, but nothing too crazy. The most interesting item was a perk magazine. It made me do + 5% damage at night. Other than that, I got a couple of Mini Nukes. Then, once it was looted, I made my journey back to Sanctuary. But on my way, I grabbed the set of power armor on the train just below Tenpines Bluff. I was lucky again and got a full set of T-51 Power Armor.
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Authors Note:
Fun fact, Gary's last name is Chalmers.