I sat there feeling befuddled at the lack of pain that wrecked my mind and body after every previous level up, but my confusion rapidly turned into relief.
Maybe I'm past the point of going through all those growing pains… God, I hope so.
Relieved to not have to go through another extreme bout of pain to increase my power, I swiftly digested the information my system was funneling into my head. And the moment it stopped, I got up off the couch and headed out the door and to the facilities located underground to get my gym sesh and training for the day out of the way.
...
After spending a number of hours there grinding away at improving my skills and various physical abilities, I started thinking about what I actually wanted to set out and accomplish today.
Well, I've already decided to put off hunting down equipment for the lab till tomorrow, so that can be marked off the list. Force field tech production won't be up and running today; hence, power armor upgrades for Amata and I will have to be put off for another day as well... Bummer.
I guess I could go and pick up Butch and the gang. I mean, I have spare power armor units for them, so they'll be more than safe in those suits if I have them join us now. Yeah, it really would be a good idea to have them join us early on in the development of my power base before things take off anymore than they have.
Okay, I'll add that to my schedule, but a little trip to and from the vault won't take up the entirety of the day, meaning I'm going to have to come up with some other things to do... We're pretty much running at full capacity when it comes to construction projects right now, so adding anything else to that area would be pretty much insane. I also don't feel like heading out and doing any major exploration today, seeing how Amata and my troops are going to require a day to fully recuperate from yesterday's strenuous activities.
I could pay Tenpenny Tower a visit to establish relations, I suppose, even though I won't be able to secure any food trade deals with them just yet. And any extra time I have on my hands after that I can divide between the metro tunnel unblocking below, which I'm sure will include encounters with hostile creatures of some sort beyond the blockages, and spending a bit of quality time with Amata.
Mm, that'll be enough work for one day but since it's going to be quite awhile until everyone starts waking up I think I'll make some headway on what I and the vault will be needing rather desperately in a second here, which is concrete and metal and tons of it. Guess I'll be working on expanding the number of arc furnaces and arc kilns until it's time to set out.
With my plans made, I left the locker room and got to work on raising Fort Dawn's production abilities once more in preparation of my and Vault 101's upcoming needs.
...
The hours flew on by as I fabricated and assembled one arc furnace and kiln after another alongside my tireless robots' help, and before I knew it, 10 new arc furnaces and 10 new arc kilns sat lined up in front of me.
This should provide ample production for now.
Satisfied with a job well done, I watched the industrial machines come online one after the next and my robots began utilizing the new and much improved production capacity. Finished with my work here, I proceeded upstairs to Amata and ate a nice, piping hot breakfast with the beaut who was still plenty sore and feeling the repercussions from all the shit we got up to yesterday.
"Well, since you need a day of rest, I'm going to head out and pick up Butch and the gang, since we now have the means of keeping them safe with the extra suits of power armor we have available."
"I'd love to come, but I'm going to have to sit this one out, unfortunately."
"Although I wish you could come too, I know you'll be better off healing up and getting prepared for the days to come because we're gonna be going pretty non-stop in a day or so here."
"Mm, there is a lot on our plate at the moment, and there is only more coming in the future." Amata agreed.
The two of us chatted away for a short while longer before it was time for me to join the forces I had arranged ahead of time downstairs. "Alright, it's about time I headed out. I'll see you when I get back."
"Haa... I'll see you later, dear." She said, obviously sad to see me depart.
I got up and was about to wander out the door and down the stairs, but the pretty young thing grabbed my attention and boldly planted a kiss on my lips.
Oh, is that what we're doing this early in the morning, huh.
She tried acting bashful after that brave little stunt she pulled, but I was having none of it, so I grabbed hold of Amata before she could flee with her cheeks red and gave her a taste of her own medicine, but a bit more aggressively. Her curvaceous but still developing body pressed against my own as I stole her lips this time around. I kept her lips sealed with my own for several seconds before I released her, and as soon as I did, she gasped for a breath of air.
"Good?" I asked the chick, who was sporting an even brighter shade of crimson upon her face.
"Mm... I don't know. How about we have another go?" She replied, trying her best to tempt me over that boundary I've been trying to keep us from crossing just yet.
I better cool things off before things go any further and I end up getting dragged under the sheets with her.
"As much as I would like to, that's not happening anytime soon, beautiful."
She deflated some at my playfulness but pepped back up when I gave her another quick peck.
"Okay, I'm actually leaving this time. See you later, Amata."
"Stay safe out there, Harold." The young, dark-haired, fair-skinned woman said last as I left to go further, progressing towards my goal of bringing humanity back from a bunch of mere warring groups to a human superpower, one that dominates this planet and even beyond.
Full of drive, I raced down the hall to the elevator and then to my mechanical forces, who'd been waiting for me below, following a short ride. I then threw on my loadout, joined up with them, and started leaving out the awaiting open bays. At the same time I was making my departure for the Capital Wasteland, I relayed my orders to my new enclave recruits and the ghouls and told those who got worn out from yesterday's excursion to take the day off and enjoy the base's amenities.
As I was receiving a load of cheers from the dining hall in response, I continued my stride out of the loading area and into the rear of the Fort Dawn with my trusty gauss minigun, Ravenger, ready to dispense hate and tear any who stand in my way to shreds. Sadly, the journey to Vault 101 didn't meet much resistance, so there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to gather Exp and raise a few of my skills.
*Sigh*
I was hoping we'd meet more enemies on the way, but I guess my previous stints on this route reduced the target-rich environment a bit too much... I suppose that means I'm gonna have to move up my plans for the Fairfax Ruins, so I can continue increasing my personal powers at a rapid pace. The Zetans and my other foes are not going to wait around and allow me to get stronger forever, especially when they learn of the threat I pose to them.
It would be foolish of me to think I can keep my powers hidden indefinitely when they've been observing humanity for at least a couple thousand years if not longer, so the chances of me staying off their radar is as close to zero as one can get. That said, I'll try my darndest to stay as low profile as I can for as long as I can get away with it. Though that will probably only last until I attempt to sneak my way aboard one of the Zetan motherships flying above Earth via that small crashed alien spaceship.
Hmm, now that I'm thinking of it, let me see if that ship has crash-landed there just yet.
Taking full advantage of my multiple thought processes and the many Bradley-Hercules satellites that acted as my eyes in the sky, I zoomed in on where that alien craft should be, but nothing was there... Yet.
Nothing, huh... Well, that's not surprising since we're currently off by a little less than 2 years from the events of Fallout 3, so maybe the ship will show up sometime around then... If it doesn't, I'll have to adjust my plans accordingly. But for now, I'll go with the presumption that it'll show up around the events of Fallout 3, and when it does, I'll have the area secured ahead of time, so I can get myself on the mothership.
As for what I'll do after that, I'll more than likely slaughter the Zetans that put up any sort of resistance, take control of the mothership for myself, fight off the other mothership if it shows up, gather whatever sort of intel I can from the ship and its passengers, and attempt to reverse engineer whatever I can and integrate into my own tech…
Alright, that's enough thinking about all that. Time to focus on the present instead of the distant future and give my father-in-law a ring, so he can send word down to the security uncles manning the vault door and I can get on with my pick of Butch and friends and my visit to Tenpenny Tower.
| Creatures Killed & EXP Gained |
Deathclaws (1) 2,250 Exp - Giant Radscorpions (3) 2,430 Exp - Giant Soldier Ants (10) 4,500 Exp - Giant Worker Ants (29) 6,525 Exp - Mole Rats (13) 1,170 - Radscorpions (7) 1,575 Exp - Total Exp 18,450
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Alright, you guys are all caught up now. As for when you can expect another chapter, I'll probably do another release for Fallout sometime soon... Hopefully. But maybe I won't, since I'm not all that excited to write it any longer, seeing how Fallout is getting the Disney treatment lately and going in a direction I dislike.
Also, I'm writing a new zombie multiverse fan fic where the MC travels from world to world completing various objectives and gaining ever-increasing power. It's being written in a different style from the rest of my works, and I find it a hell of a lot easier to write compared to this 1st person POV style I've been using for a while.
So I might end up rewriting Fallout Wastelander in that style if more people find it to be more enjoyable, or just giving Fallout another try but in that style and with a more vanilla start. I was thinking of basically starting the book right from when the Loner Wanderer leaves the cave entrance to Vault 101, but you guys let me know if that sounds interesting or not.
Having said that, my focus right now is mainly on writing my new zombie fic, which is sitting at nearly 10 chapters and 30,000 words, meaning it shouldn't be too much longer before we see that released.