Voodoo - Doctor's Visit

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Fawkes got Ellen the holotape recording from Miss Agatha, and a set of her written sheet music besides. Bahorel's, ah... philosophical... work came a little bit after that. They're really all that Ellen came to the Bar for this time around, so it's time to go back to the House of Franklin and give the good doctor his-

Well. They're all Ellen came to the Bar for. Ellen wasn't the only one who came through that door, though.

Time to find Voodoo and see what his situation is.

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shares a glance with Ellen, and leans forward more. This is starting to sound more and more like no ordinary warlord.

"So. Caesar. His Legion. Tell me about them."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Caesar is what happens when a man who really ought to know better takes it into his head that he, and he personally, can improve upon the failures of an outdated cultural model and use it to impose a vision of a wildly reactionary past on humanity in the name of surviving the future," says Dr. D. "Beginning with teaching squabbling tribals the doctrines of total war, cultural purging, and forced assimilation of the neighbors. I don't know how familiar with really old world history you are, but the man's turned the remains of eighty-six tribes into a grotesque parody of ancient Roman civilization in which all the free men are in the military, all the captured men are either enslaved or slaughtered, and all the women are used for soldiers' wives or concubines, assuming they're not priestesses of Mars or something like that."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo's quiet for a bit, rubbing his chin as he looks to the floor.

After what is probably a couple of seconds but feels like longer, he grunts, stands, and looks to Ellen.

"I'll talk to you later. Got an idea."

He nods to Dr. D. "Thanks for your time, Doc."

There are only so many places in the building for a tour group to go, and Voodoo finds the rest of the group walking through the archives, with Theodosia giving what seems to be a standard tour monologue.

"Hector, Al, Josepha, Kate." He waves them over. "Bring it in. Sorry, Theo - it'll be quick, promise."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods to Voodoo and turns her attention to Dr. D. "I think," she says, "that this may be a good time for me to clarify a few things of my own..."

The door closes behind Voodoo.

Theodosia breaks off her lecture mid-sentence when Voodoo arrives. "Of course, sir," she says, and does a very commendable curtsey. "I'll be here when you're done."

[boston_bruiser]

He nods, and waits until the four of them are front and center before he starts.

"Here's the plan. Originally, I was going to take you guys to D.C., try and figure out what to do from there."

He looks at each of them in turn, making sure of their attention before he utters the next sentence.

"Plan's changed. We've got an enemy, and a war."

"Some asshole named Caesar, out west," he continues. "Looking to conquer the whole region, and trying to conscript every able-bodied male into his Legion and enslaving the rest to do it. World seems like it'd be a better place with him gone. We're gonna try to do just that."

"I've never bullshitted you guys before. Ain't about to start now. I ain't got but a slight clue what's between D.C. and there, and only a vague idea of what's waiting for us in New Vegas. We move fast and we'll get there in two months at best. Lot can happen in two months. Could be we all die. Shit happens. Any of you want to back out and go your own way, now or in D.C., I'm okay with that. But once we start out for Vegas? We're committed."

A beat.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but - questions?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

They look at each other for a while. Eventually:

"I'll be honest," says Hector, "after what happened with the Weeds, any chance to bust some slaver heads is a good chance. Whoever they are."

"Seconded," murmurs Josepha. Kate just nods.

Al raises one hand. "Question," he says. "Are we still going to DC and then heading west, or are we just going to leave from here?"

[boston_bruiser]

"Still going to D.C.," Voodoo says. "Hopefully, we can get some training in with the Brotherhood guys, maybe even get some supplies and equipment. You guys are good, but if we wanna survive, we're gonna need to get used to working as a unit. That means range time, training exercises, you name it."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All right," says Al. "I can live with that. It's not like I had much else going for me anyway."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods. "Gotta run it by Paladin 101 first. She might have to run it by her superiors. I'll let you know what happens. That's all for now."

With that, he turns and walks back to where he hopes Dr. D and Ellen are still talking.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

They are. Although D is looking more than a little confused, and seems visibly relieved when Voodoo enters the room. "Thank you, Paladin," he says, "but I think that's enough for the moment- welcome back, sir, I hope all is well?"

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods. "Everything's fine. Just gonna need to talk to the Paladin here. Nothing serious."

He looks to Ellen. "I need some favors. The four people I brought with me? I need them trained and equipped - properly trained and equipped. What's the Brotherhood got to spare?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen considers. "The last time I checked with Quartermaster Durga, we had an inordinate amount of combat armor," she says. "Mostly from the hold of that alien ship. Apparently they kidnapped a lot of pre-War policemen and survivalists or something."

Dr. D blinks a few times at that. Ellen ignores him.

"We also have a fairly large store of conventional firearms- more than our Citadel garrison can use. Not everyone in Lacuna's willing to use guns larger than pistols, either, so most of the conventional weapons are going begging. I don't know that they'd be willing to give the stuff away, but I can probably get you permission to trade with Durga at a discounted rate just so she won't have to look after the things any more. You may also want to check in with a woman named Sonora Cruz- I'll give you a map to her location. She operates a bunch of Wasteland vigilantes and bounty hunters called the Regulators. I worked with them when I was first out of Vault 101. She pays bounties based on guns that get turned in; usually she sells them to Lucky Harith, but he only visits Regulator headquarters once a month, so if Durga hasn't got the stuff you want, you might catch Ms. Cruz in a good mood. As far as training goes I'm not sure how things stand with Paladin Gunny at the moment, but the garrison at Lacuna is doing its best to drill the people from the ship into a state where they can handle their own defenses properly. If you show up there with my say-so the garrison officer should be willing to bring your people on board for proper training, if only to give the Lacuna residents an example of how to do it right."

"Excuse me," says Dr. D, raising one finger. "Are you quite serious about this? Training and trading with outsiders?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"... are you sure you people are Brotherhood of Steel?"

[boston_bruiser]

"If they ain't, they've done a damn good job of foolin' me."

Then, to Ellen: "We'll need supplies, too. Enough to get us started out for New Vegas from D.C., at least - the more you can spare, the better."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Definitely Lacuna, then," says Ellen. "It's the primary distribution point for material recovered from the alien ship's hold, and there are regular aqua pura caravan visits. I'll give you a letter for the garrison chief; you'll get a good amount of food and chems to get you on your way, all of you."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods, then looks to Dr. D.

"You seem like the curious kind, Doc. Ain't you gonna ask?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that you're not assholes, honestly," says Dr. D.

[boston_bruiser]

"Take your time. It's a lot to get used to."

To Ellen:

"I'll see you in the rotunda."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Some time later Ellen emerges from the Staff Only hallway, rubbing at her face with both gloved hands. "If I never have to say 'no, really' again, it will be too soon," she mutters. "That's dealt with, though. Hey, Voodoo. Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

[boston_bruiser]

"Ain't nothin'," he says, hands in his pockets. "What'd Dr. D want to know?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Why we were on the East Coast at all, what orders we had from California, why we weren't sweeping through the House looking for tech and artifacts to round up and take back to the High Elders, things like that," says Ellen. "Corazon told me the Western Brotherhood was pretty doctrinaire, but I got the impression she only ever encountered one chapter. It's a little disheartening to hear what the others were like before-" She waves a hand vaguely.

"-well, I may be a bad Paladin for saying this, but the more he told me about the Western Brotherhood, the more I was kind of glad the only answer we got from Second Diana was 'shut up, if they hear you we'll all be killed'. She shifts uncomfortably and leans back against Ben's base before adding, "He also asked about the alien ship. I told him there was an alien vessel in orbit that had been kidnapping people from Earth since the days of Salem Village and he said 'fine, if you don't want to tell me something believable, just say so'."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shrugs. "Not much you can say. 'sides 'weird shit just happens around me'. Anyway. I think you can guess why I'm headed out west, so I ain't gonna spell it out less you ask. Know if you've got any brahmin to spare off the top of your head? Could come in handy, we pick up any supply caches or crew-served weapons."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I only brought one cow with me," Ellen says. "When you get to the Capital, head for Megaton before you go to the Citadel. There's a steer in my herd you can have. I'll give you a letter and some caps to give the people who've been looking after the cattle."

She pauses, and adds, "Also, you're really going to want to avoid the vicinity of Baltimore. I've never seen so many warning signs in my life."

[boston_bruiser]

"Like I didn't already. But thanks."