Author's Note:
Double Release today to celebrate All Hallows Eve in Antarctica.
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POV Rio
We remained in Covenant for the night. While we were there, I decided to solve the mystery of how Deezer's Lemonade is made. When tasting the lemonade, I did taste a faint citrus flavor. But the answer was revealed by opening up Deezer's programming. From what I could tell, Deezer uses Mutfruits to create Sugar and Citric Acid, then he adds a dash of Tarberry for that extra sweet and sour contrast. Overall, the lemonade tasted great.
I also got the Idolized Perk for Covenant. It was called Intuition. It boosted my damage against Synths by 40% and made humans easier to persuade in dialogue. It was decent, nothing too great, as Synths are not as common anymore, and I was already very persuasive.
After staying the night, we left in the morning, heading south. Our target was Wattz Consumer Electronics for salvage. The trip was decently quick thanks to the lack of hostiles on the route. We also took this chance to clear out Tucker Memorial Bridge of traps and then created a checkpoint. The traps were kept for later. Most of it was oil and fuel, which had better uses. The mines, on the other hand, I could use.
As we crossed the bridge, I was a little surprised to see nothing of note. There was no massacred caravan, any traps, or an ambush. Which meant we could just walk right into Wattz Consumer Electronics. Inside, we found several robots guarding the area, including several Mr. Gutsys. Disabling them was easy. I snuck over to the control terminal and shut down all units. Then I started reprogramming them to follow the orders of registered Minutemen. Then I sent them to guard the newly created checkpoint. In total, we got 2 Mr. Gutsys, 5 Protectrons, 5 Mr. Handys, 7 Eyebots, 3 Stealth Boys, 1 Mini Nuke, hundreds of pounds of Robot Parts, and thousands of Fusion Cells.
I also found Total Hack issue #1, which gave additional knowledge on Protectron programming and how you can override it. I could do that already, but it was a nice collectible. The last item I found was odd. It was a note. The note itself just had some codes, but what really caught my eye was that it started a quest. The quest told me to collect some additional notes, and it would lead to a bunker.
'I will need to check that out later.'
After looting the place, we moved further south. We didn't get too far, as we stopped at a place called Mass Chemical for additional supplies. There wasn't much. Most had long since spoiled and were no longer recognized by the system. But there was enough loot. From there, we stopped and spotted two roadblocks. To our left were the Raiders of the BADTFL Regional Office, and to our right, a group of Super Mutants living in an old construction site.
"Hmm, what do you guys suggest?" I ask.
"Why not do what we usually do. Rile up one side and make it fight the other?" Piper asks.
"Because we can't send the Mutants into the BADTFL Regional Office, or else we might lose some important items stored there," Nick says.
"What about Cambridge Crater?" Cait offers.
We all look at her.
"Well, it's full of shamblers. We can use them to rile up the Super Mutants. Raiders are opportunists. If we make them think the Super Mutants are weakened and that they are sitting on a cache of Chems, then they will fight the Mutants on their own," Cait says.
We all look at her like she is a stranger.
"What?" Cait looks back at us.
"Wow, did Cait just give actually good advice? Is the Sun going to rise in the South now?" Piper asks.
"What do you mean by that!? I can have good ideas! I'm not an idiot!" Cait screams angrily back.
"Is she a Synth now? Or maybe... Delilah, is that you?" Piper continues.
"Why, you little!" Cait says while running at Piper.
We laugh as Piper runs away.
"The plan could work, but what about the Raiders in Monsignor Plaza?" Nick asks me while Piper and Cait are busy.
"Hmm, a turf war? Monsignor Plaza has 29 Raiders, and BADTFL has 22. If one moves, then the other will notice quickly. Or we could adjust the plan. Use the Super Mutants to attack the Raiders in Monsignor Plaza and then finish them off with the Ferals. Then the BADTFL Raiders will definitely send out quite a few men to take those places, or at least loot them. We can ambush those Raiders. When they don't come back, they will send more to investigate. We ambush them, and then by then there won't be many Raiders left," I suggest.
"Hmm, it should work, and if it doesn't, we can always fall back on a frontal assault," Nick says with a nod.
I leave to rile up the Super Mutants, which is easy, as they are as dumb as rocks and only think about food and killing. By the time I get back, I see Piper covered in dirt, and her hair is a mess. I chuckle, but stop when she gives me a death glare. I don't stay too long, as now I have to lead the Ferals to attack the Super Mutants. The Ferals don't require me to use my transformation ability, which is nice. The Raiders got massacred, but they at least took out a lot of Super Mutants before being killed.
The remaining 13 Super Mutants were celebrating when a horde of 40 Ferals came rushing in. To be honest, the Ferals weren't that impressive. If it weren't for the ambush, the Super Mutants would have won. Only 3 Ferals survived the encounter, and that was almost solely thanks to the Glowing One, who kept resurrecting the dead Ferals. The Glowing One was one of the three survivors, along with a Withered Feral and an Armored Feral. Armored Ferals were the worst to deal with, as they often had intact armor that made putting them down a nightmare. Combine that with increased Strength and a Glowing One always healing it, and you get a tricky opponent.
Now, for the last step, it was a pain to pull off. The Raiders needed to think it was a good idea to attack the Monsignor Plaza. The reason it was tricky was that I couldn't show myself, I didn't have any transformations left, Nick was too obvious, Piper and Cait are more likely to be captured and defiled than be listened to, and I don't have any easy mind control magic besides singing, but that is not very stealthy. So instead, I had to sneak around their base and whisper in their ears using their own voice, tricking them into thinking I was their subconscious.
It takes longer than I like, and I have one too many close calls, but eventually I convince enough to try their luck in Monsignor Plaza and the area in general. The first group sent is 12 strong, which was more than I expected, but it was more than welcome.
POV Craig the Raider
We enter the old shop that Griswold's Gang set up at, and we find lots of dead bodies, including Super Mutants.
Gulp
My hands get a little sweaty as we get further into the shop. We start seeing dead Ferals as well, and thankfully, they were torn to pieces, which meant they couldn't get back up.
Clunk
We all turn to the sound and wait for something to jump out, but after a few seconds, nothing comes. We all breathe a sigh of relief, but then I hear the screams of John. We all turn to see several Ferals running at us. They were too close, but we still opened fire. I shoot at the biggest one, but my gun jams. My eyes go wide, and I try to fix it as it claws through the others. After a while, I panic and drop my gun.
'F@ck this!'
I make a run for it. And abandon the others. I get far, and by the time I leave the shop, I no longer hear gunfire. I was tempted to head back, but I shook my head and figured my life was worth more. Suddenly, I felt some pain in my abdomen. I reach down and feel something warm.
'Did I p*ss myself?'
I look at my fingers and they are red. I don't get time to wonder what happened as my vision went dark.
POV Rio
I look at Nick, who looks bashful from missing his first shot. At least he got the second shot, but we were less than 20 feet away. I shook my head and moved the body out of the way so the other Raiders wouldn't spot anything off. Then I entered the mall and snuck around the 2 Raiders that survived the ambush. I took out two pistols and approached from behind.
Pop
They died before even hitting the ground. Then I started looting the place. I also installed the traps that I looted previously. By the time I was done, the second group of Raiders was approaching. It seemed like Sparta was smart enough not to come herself. The group was 6 strong. The Raiders entered, and I let them get farther in before enabling the traps. The first to die were two Raiders at the front that triggered a Flamer Trap. They were ignited and didn't last long. The others didn't seem to be fazed. They did hesitate when the next trap triggered, taking off another Raider's legs with Buckshot. Then, in their panic, they set off some makeshift bombs, killing one and maiming another. The last standing Raider started to run the way he came. That led him right into a Bear Trap. He still didn't give up and dragged his broken leg while trying to get out.
He spotted a tripwire and stepped over it, but I activated the trap manually. Which made a 30 lbs bag of cement fall on his head, killing him. The other maimed survivors were left to bleed out. I looted the corpses and moved to deal with Sparta and her few remaining members. It was easier to deal with them than it would be normally. Sparta and her members were waiting at the entrance to the BADTFL Regional Office. They were behind some sandbags, but it wouldn't be enough to survive. 4 Rounds from The General's Ghost killed them.