Fallout: Jump City (Open)

Rules of Fallout:
1. Three Day Skip is enforced. If you don't post after 3 days of it becoming your turn, you will be skipped. Your character will not be killed or maimed, but may be injured or knocked out.
2. No Powers. This thread is about normal, everyday humans stuck in a post-apocalyptic world. Of course, we will be facing mutant monsters, robots, and raiders, so bring a weapon.
3. Have fun.
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A single lamp-post provided light to the city block. Even the stars did not shine this night, sleeping behind a heavy blanket of clouds. Light caught on shards and bars of metal throughout the wasteland. Only skeletons of buildings remained in this part of town. Fortunately, this area was free of radiation, making this area safe to plunder. Piles of wood, concrete, and plastic concealed and preserved precious resources beneath. The occasional screech from some mutant monster provided the only sound.

This was Jump City, 2050.

Atop a pile of junk, a small girl scampered, trying to find something worth keeping. She wore an over-sized blue shirt, tucked in to her overalls. Paired with her winter boots, held together by duct-tape, she wasn't making a fashion statement. On her back, she had a bag of essential supplies, while a knife hung from her belt. In one hand, she held a crossbow. A cold breeze brought about a shiver, and she promised herself she'd grab a coat the next time she found one.

Her name was Jemmy, and she was 10 years old.

A sound. Someone was near. Jemmy spun around, bringing her crossbow up to aim at the intruder. What was it now? A mutant? A raider? Or a fellow scavenger like herself?

He came across another scavenger, but it was a very tiny girl. She turned around and pointed a crossbow at him, but he reflexively pumped his shotgun and pointed it at her at the same time.

"I'd be careful who you point that at, little girl. There are itchier trigger fingers than me. So let's put the weapons down. There's plenty of scavenging for the both of us."

He would start to lower the shotgun when she lowered the crossbow, so if she didn't, he would still have it pointed at her.

"But you're a little young to be out here all alone. Unless you have a partner circling around me right now...""

The man wore a mask over his mouth with some black paint under his eyes (For reasons). Covering this was some military grade orange-tint goggles, topped by some brown hair cut short. He had a black tactical suit on, with a side-arm on his leg and a rifle on his back.

Spoiler:

The classic standoff. It was a battle of wills. Would one of them break and lower their weapon? Or would both of them end up dead? For a while, everything seemed up in the air.

The stranger kept talking, wondering out loud if Jemmy had a partner circling around him, ready to strike. Jemmy pouted and lowered her crossbow. "No such luck." He had called himself a scavenger, and Jemmy believed him. Whether he was also something else remained to be seen. You could never really trust somebody in the wasteland. You could only make calculated risks. In Jemmy's eyes, everyone had secrets, evil secrets. But it was possible that this gun-heavy scavenger could be of use, at least until some monster inevitably killed him.

Jemmy looked the stranger up and down, stroking her chin. "But I am hiring. Tell me, who are you, and what are you good for?" He had been concerned about her having a partner, suggesting that he didn't have one himself. Did he have anything better to do than team up?

He found himself chuckling as the girl lowered her crossbow, lowering his shotgun along with it, carefully being cautious with her, but he found it nonetheless amusing when she said she didn't have a partner.

"Well, hey. Don't be so down. I'm not in the habit of killing little girls. I legitimately just want to get on with the scavenging for valuables. I only needed to make sure you weren't going to stick me with one of those nasty little things."

The girl seemed to contemplate in thought for a second, before saying she was hiring, and then asking him who he was and what he was good for. He blinked, chuckling again. For a man with the face of death (Or at least part of it), he sure had a sense of humor.

"Hiring. And delivered with such a straight face. You think you have the money to hire me?" He whistled. "But...I suppose you could call me Jack. That'll do for a name. What I'm good for...I couldn't tell you. All I do is scrounge for stuff to sell to the highest bidder. I'm not carrying these guns for no reason, though."

Jemmy grinned. "Jack, if I had money, then I wouldn't need to hire you. But don't worry, your skills are perfect for the position. You're hired, and you start immediately. I promise you, the reward will be quite...well...rewarding."

Jemmy opened her bag and pulled out a small vial filled with a thick green liquid. She waved her hand, beckoning Jack closer to her. "You know what this is? A piece of junk. But you know what I call it? The Emerald 5000 Liquid Battery. My selling price is high. Too high. 50 caps too high. Nobody in their right mind would ever buy it, and Bowler is, unfortunately, in his right mind. That's where you come in."

Jemmy put the battery down and theatrically threw her hands out to the sides. Her grin turned more and more sinister as she continued. "Now picture this. A stranger walks into Bowler's store. He looks tough. He's got guns coming out of his guns. He looks around for a while, and then demands to know if Bowler has an Emerald 5000 Liquid Battery. Bowler asks what the stranger would need with such a thing. The stranger says it's a secret, and offers to pay 100 caps if Bowler can get his fingers on an Emerald. He says he'll be back in a week and leaves. The next day, little Jemmy walks in, and tries to sell Bowler some junk. But the Emerald is not for sale. Oh no. She's got a buyer lined up who's going to pay her 40 caps. It was just a mistake that she let Bowler see it in the first place. Bowler's greed does him in, and he gives Jemmy 50 caps for the Emerald. Jemmy takes the money and leaves. Poor Bowler never sees her or the mysterious stranger again. We each walk away with 25 caps, in addition to any honest sales we get."

Jemmy frowned and narrowed her eyes, trying to judge if Jack had kept up with her 'story.' "You're the mysterious stranger, by the way. And the Emerald is just the beginning. With my mind and your mindless obedience, we can make a fortune scamming people."

There was the sound of running and frantic breathing, almost as if someone was being chased. It got closer until finally a young man of about 18 in New California Republic battle gear fell over a wall and into the area where the two swindlers were making plans. He tumbled down, but when he hit the bottom, he scrambled for his rifle. He began to take shots at the people chasing him, killing a few until he ran out of bullets. As soon as he ran dry, the people rushed down towards the young NCR private, their uniforms were unmistakable, black and red. They were Legionaries.... in the NCR mainland. The private got to his feet, but his leg seemed to be hurt and he had the gash of a machete in his left shoulder. He pulled out his pistol and fired a few shots before one of them managed to run up and tackle him to the ground. The Legionary raised his machete to deliver a killing blow.

Jack watched as the situation got more and more out of hand. Jemmy was acting crazier by the second, proposing they be partners for a huge scam that she had in mind. She even insulted him saying that he was mindlessly obedient. It was appalling. He was out here by himself, scavenging for himself, and she thought he was some kind of lackey.

Before he could even respond to that special kind of crazy, they suddenly came into a firefight, an NCR officer running toward them under trouble. He tripped as one of the Legionaries threw a spear, but they didn't expect him to trip and it landed a few feet further. Jack walked forward as a Legionary raised a machete to finish him off, reaching down and grabbing his combat knife before throwing it. He missed the Legionary, but it was a lucky shot and hit the machete, knocking it out of his hand.

The Legionary looked up just in time to get a spear in his face, after Jack picked it up and drove it into his skull.

He let the Legionary fall over the NCR officer; it would keep him protected from other bullets and things and allow Jack to take firm hold of his shotgun, pumping it, before blasting away at the Legionaries. He was advancing, but also walking sideways to a building quickly, making it harder to hit him as he sought the cover. When he got there he would reload, having shredded at least two Legionaries to pieces if they were lucky.

As Jemmy spoke, Jack seemed to get more and more grumpy. He wasn't liking something that she was saying. Jemmy tried to think while she kept talking about what it could possibly be. Did he not like the plan? With her brains and his muscle, she was sure they could make a killing on poor merchants. Maybe he didn't want to be dishonest? Yeah, that must be it.

"Hey, listen..." Wait, Jack was distracted. A second later, Jemmy heard it, too. Gunfire was coming closer. Some guy in NCR armor came stumbling into the area, chased by...Legion soldiers? What were they doing here? More importantly, where was an army of NCR troopers when you needed them?

Jemmy jumped into action, running away and hiding. She was small, fast, and nimble, so stealth came quite easy to her. As a result, as soon as the fight began, Jemmy vanished.

From the shadows, Jemmy would observe Jack in action. He was amazing. She had judged him right. The man was a murder machine, one that she needed to own. He had already taken out three Legionnaires.

Judging by the number of men chasing him, the NCR trooper wasn't too bad with a gun, either. After all, he had been able to mostly survive their onslaught.

A Legionnaire trooper came sneaking through a pile of rubble, trying to catch Jack by surprise by flanking him. He had a sub-machine gun, and if he had the chance, he would turn Jack and Mr. NCR into radio-active cheese. The man was sneaky, but he wasn't Jemmy-level sneaky. The little girl shot him in the neck with her crossbow from ten feet away. He fell over dead. He had never seen her coming. Jemmy helped herself to the handy little grenade on his belt. "Thank you."

Both sides had taken to cover, peaking around corners and over rubble to shoot at each other. Jemmy snuck around behind the Legionnaires, but still to the side of where Jack's bullets were flying. She pulled the pin on the grenade, tossed it into the crowd of enemies, and then ducked and covered her ears.

BOOM!

The Legionnaires that hadn't died from the blast were still covered in blood. They would be easy pickings for Jack.

Jack knelt down for a bit as he saw the grenade get lobbed into the oncoming Legionnaires, taking a bit of cover as it exploded and made a bloody mess. He dropped the shotgun, it falling to his side on its sling that he had it in. He didn't have time to reload. He pulled out his revolver, and took care of the rest of the Legionnaires, but only used the revolver when necessary, preferring to put a boot in their necks and temples.

One asked for mercy.

"Well, when you live by the sword..." Jack prompted, before silencing him. He blew smoke from the gun before reloading it, and then taking care of his shotgun as well. "I thought the NCR was more than capable of handling a few Legionnaires."

The NCR Trooper sat up, coughing. "Pvt. Makarov.... Invading force of Legion...... I need to get to the Military outpost right outside of New Jump....." He was having a hard time speaking, he reached for his bag and pulled out a case of syringes, "Empty.... Great...... 6 months into service and I'm already screwed...." Kris then thought about what happened, "My entire squad... Crucified..... I got away.... An entire forward outpost, 3 miles to the East......."

Jemmy considered the dying NCR Trooper's words. She had only heard a little about the Legion, and she didn't like what she had heard. Of course, she didn't care much for the NCR itself. She had never sworn her allegiance to anyone or anything, and certainly not to some bear on a flag. But given the choice, she would rather be around the people who didn't torture and murder people for fun.

If war came to Jump City, it would be bad for business, bad for Jemmy in just about every way. If the NCR mobilized a ton of soldiers and went running off to fight the Legion far, far away, though, everything would stay good. In fact, a distant war might make things better. With all the NCR Troopers fighting a war miles away, it would lighten up the local security.

Jemmy sighed. It couldn't be helped. She pulled a stimpack out of her bag and handed it to the NCR Trooper. The miracle drug of yesteryear should be enough to boost the man's healing process. Hopefully, it would be enough to make him able to walk and talk. That was all Jemmy needed him to do.

"Here," Jemmy said. "Don't waste it, your life I mean. Those stimpacks are expensive. I don't want to invest one in a losing cause." Jemmy was about to turn and leave, but an idea came to mind. Normally, she wanted to stay away from the NCR, but if she showed up at a big fort with one of their wounded soldiers, with stories of saving his life, they would be sure to reward her. At the very least, they'd let her stay and eat some free food.

She just had to sell it the right way. "You're pretty banged up. How about my associate and I escort you to your base? After all, it sounds like your mission is really important." She glanced at Jack as she said the next words, hoping the rock-brain would understand what she was implying. "You need to stop the Legion, at any cost."

The NCR ranger was dying, and trying to get out some last words when Jemmy handed him a stimpack, saying that she didn't want to invest one in a lost cause.

"You heard her, boy. Use it and get on your feet."

She offered for Jack and her to escort him to his base. He gave her a glance right back, and he wondered where the hell she got that condescending attitude from. His glance, however, was one of annoyance. She continued to sell her little spiel by saying tha the NCR needed to stop the Legion from coming to Jump, as if she cared.

How noble.

"Well, I certainly don't care. As long as I get to shoot a few more things to pieces along the way." After acknowledging the look he was 99% sure to get from either, he shrugged. "It's the little things."

Unfortunately for Jack, there were surprisingly few things to shoot on the first day of their escort mission. The wasteland was unnaturally quiet. Perhaps all the monsters could feel the change in the weather that was coming. By nightfall, dark clouds blocked out the stars. It was going to rain.

"And it's about time we get inside," Jemmy said, stating the obvious. "I seem to be missing my acid-proof umbrella. Fortunately, there's a nice motel pretty close here." The unlikely party rounded the corner of a pile of concrete to find a functioning neon sign. The 'Ocean View Inn' awaited them behind a heavy steel door.

The place had definitely seen better days. Everything was reinforced with metal plates or wooden boards. A thick smoke hung in the air, mixing with the aroma of burnt mole-rat meat. A display of guns and other pre-war tech sat on display for potential buyers, under the careful watch of several armed guards. In the corner, three slavers were enjoying some expensive drinks while their cargo attempted to sleep. Jemmy's opinion of a 'nice motel,' was very forgiving.

The bartender looked at the new arrivals with his one good eye. He laughed to himself. "A brat, a raider, and a Trooper walk into a bar."

Jemmy laughed back. "What's the punch line, bowler?"

"The punch line is I'm not buying any of your junk, Jemmy. If you want to make a living here, you've got to..."

"...Stay out of the rain, for one thing," Jemmy said, interrupting him. "How much for a room? For one?"

"For a brat like you? Two hundred caps."

Jemmy looked at Jack, then at Makarov, trying to decide if they could take the guards. There was no point in paying something if you could take it, especially when Bowler was being a jerk. Her feet were aching, it was now (as she could hear from the roof) raining death outside, and she didn't have the money to rent one of Bowler's crumby rooms. She looked to Jack, hoping he would provide some sort of solution.

Meanwhile, behood  the strange trio, a young man, only 17 years if age, but cloaked in an armored, sleeveless long coat,with intricate tribal markings dancing up his forearms from fingerless gloves, modified with steel plates walked into the inn.The worn hilt ofof a machete gladius poked from the coat, and the hood  attached to the coat, along with absteel mask designed to look like a skull, hid his identity.Amber eyes, the only ky things revealed by the mask, examined the room, cataloging threats. Throwing knifes clatter faintly as the stranger walks up behind the trio, waiting patiently for them to conclude their business.

BUMP