Lamplight Caverns

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

When the door from Milliways opens, it's on the interior of a dimly lit grey shack. Sundown is coming on hard and fast; what light there is in here slants through the western windows, falling on a figure in grey power armor with its back to the door. "Star Paladin Cross," Ellen says, "I'm back, and I brought my friend with me. I think we can go talk to Mayor MacCready now."

Comments

[basic_powers]

"Koh."

...Star Paladin Cross might want to know what the thing that looks like a miniature death claw is. Ofcourse he's not really attacking just...nosing about her feet and doing a grumbling sort of greeting before barking at her again.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I would back away if I were you, little fellow," says Cross. "I'm afraid I'm still radioactive. More contact won't be good for you."

Ellen hastily does her best to shoo the little raptor away.

[basic_powers]

"Winston, Heel."

A small boy in complete armor and a strange looking helmet appear quietly just to Ellen's right, speaking to the little beast before looking up at Star Paladin Cross.

"I don't think much'll hurt him, one time, he spent hours playing in a minefield."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Cross turns to glance at the boy, then nods once. "If you say so," she says. "I don't pretend to know everything. Especially not about the people Miss Park brings to help us. Has she told you about our situation?"

[basic_powers]

"You need me to play diplomat with some kids so you can use their decontamination stuff." Moon Shadow shrugs.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Cross nods. "More or less," she says. "My apologies. I realize this must be going far out of your way, but we had no other choice."

Well, technically they did. But neither Ellen nor Cross would consider any of the other options for long.

"Let's go and see if Maccready is still at the gates."

Ellen nods and leads the way out. The shack, it turns out, is a gate-house at the mouth of a downward sloping tunnel. There are lights set in the walls, a few of which even work, and a handrail along one side of the rough rock. As the tunnel grows wider, the lights grow more frequent and the slope evens out a bit; then the tunnel gives way to a cavern blocked by a wall of corrugated metal and a broad sign saying Welcome to Lamplight Caverns!

Oh, and the ten-year-old boy in helmet and heavy coat, up on the top half of the sign, squinting down the barrel of his assault rifle at the arriving figures. "Don't come another step closer or I'll blow your fucking heads off, mungos," he announces.

[basic_powers]

...Moon Shadow is going to just friggin' FACEPALM.

"Hey I dunno what you just called my friends, but they aren't mungos!"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"They're big," says the boy contemptuously. "You know. Grown-ups. Mungos. And they're not allowed in Little Lamplight."

[basic_powers]

"Urgh..."


"Look, one of them needs to use the decontamination room you guys have, could you just let them in for that?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Shyeah, right," says the boy. "Like that's all they're gonna do down here. The last mungos who got down here thought they were pretty hot shit too. We're not stupid."

[basic_powers]

...Okay, so it's going to be like that is it?

"...Now you listen here you turd-sucking, raw-donkey-ass-faced waste of armor and ammo, you let them in, or I'm going to climb up there and shove my tazer gauntlet so far up your ass, you're going to wake up tomorrow coughing up sparks!" He snarls back up at the kid at the gates. "I've kicked grownup bullies so hard they woke up wetting themselves so if you think your gun and your talk is gonna make me change my mind, you got another think coming!"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

We'd say Ellen is making a o__O face, but she's got her helmet on, and so does Cross. Dogmeat doesn't seem to care much, but he's Dogmeat. As for the boy-

"Wow," he says in an awed tone. "Now that's what I call a speech. Okay, yeah. Come on in. But I've got my eye on you."

[basic_powers]

Moon Shadow's just going to mutter under his breath about how everyone in Ellen's world is CRAZY. Winston meanwhile trots forward to growl at the boy at top of the fence as the gate rolls upward.

"Winston, Heel."

"....sorry about that, Ellen, he was just bein' a butt."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It's okay," Ellen answers. "Sometimes people don't listen and you have to be extra firm with them."

The cavern beyond is considerably larger than the wall with the gate in it would have led one to believe. Tunnels lead off to the left and the right, and there are lights strung across the open ceiling in several directions. A few children with weapons of their own are watching from the back side of the gate, their eyes wide; the boy in the helmet narrows his eyes at them and they look away.

There are offices- prefab Quonset hut-like things- along the cavern wall to the right. A girl in a worn green dress and off-white headband pokes her head out of the nearest one. "What's going on out here?" she calls. "RJ?"

"Lucy, we've got visitors. Mungos, and a new kid- what's your name, anyway?"

[basic_powers]

"Moon Shadow, and this is Winston, Ellen, and Paladin Cross." There's a nod to each subject in turn. "Paladin Cross is the one that needs the radiation decontamination the most."

The little black and gold beast barks at the kid in the helmet again, starting to trot over with a growl.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Okay, there you go," says the boy. "My name's RJ Maccready, and I'm the mayor down here. This is Lucy. She's our doctor. Don't go using up all her supplies or anything."

"Actually," says Ellen mildly, "I was going to pay in medical supplies. I've got some antibiotics and antiseptics, and some-"

"Did you say antibiotics?" says Lucy. "Like in the old days? For infections?"

Ellen nods.

"Wow. Okay, sure, I can help your friend here for some of those. If you've got enough of them I might even be convinced to sell you some of our cave fungus."

[basic_powers]

"Ellen, I'm going to wander around a bit... You call on the radio if you need me." He's just spotted Winston wandering off down a cave and he figures he better catch him quick before the cyber raptor decides someone's favorite teddy bear just insulted his family.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Probably for the best. There are a number of dogs around the place, and any one of them could probably take issue with the raptor if he got out of hand, and then there would be hell to pay after people found the dog.

For now, however, there are no conflicts worth mentioning. Just a very curious little ball o'rage trotting towards the tunnel with the sign reading SOUVENIRS.

[basic_powers]

"Winston! winston! ...I swear if you attack someone's dog I'm dragging you out of here and tying you to a car..." Moon Shadow calls quietly chasing after him into the tunnel.

"Anybody in here?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Just me," says a girl's voice. The girl who comes striding up looks to be about fourteen or so, certainly older than Maccready. She wears a pair of faded overalls over an indistinct grey shirt, and an ancient, decrepit policeman's cap is pushed back on her head. "You're new here. I already know everybody else. My name's Knock-Knock. Who're you?"

[basic_powers]

"Moon Shadow, I just got here with some friends who needed help with radiation decon." He's just going to dive and grab Winston's chain harness and hold onto it. "....your name's Knock-Knock?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Ooh, yeah, that's nasty stuff," says Knock-Knock. "Nice to meet you, Moon Shadow. Yeah, that was kinda... well, my twin brother, Nick? He collects all kinds of stuff and trades it to people sometimes. So folks started calling him Knick-Knack. And you can't really have twins named Knick-Knack and Sue, it sounds weird."

[basic_powers]

"...I can sorta see that. Hey, how come everyone here is kids?"

He noticed it, and someone like MacCready in charge, is kind of a tip off that this is a special kid of nuts.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It's always been like that," says Knock-Knock. "Ever since the War. We take in orphans and runaways and stuff, and people have to leave when they turn sixteen. Joseph could tell you more, if you really wanted to know. He's our teacher."

[basic_powers]

"I think I'd like to learn about that, could you show me how to get to him? My friends are staying with Lucy if you wanna go and say hi." And luckily, enough of his face shows through the helmet that Knock-Knock can see he's smiling.