While it looked like John had simply been downing glass after glass of whiskey with an unnatural pace, he had actually paid close attention to the conversation the people were having on the other side of the bar. He pushed his empty glass away, stood up and wobbled to the others.

"So, what kind of expedition were you thinking of anyways?"

Carver stood up, and glanced back at Chek as he did so. The imposing Ghoul's expression was unreadable to most, but Carver could tell that he was interested in this proposal and that he better jump in quick. Carver nodded and sighed, slipping his hands in his pockets within his drifter jacket, striding over. All of this talk, accusations, and money squabbling. He was just about to speak when a Brotherhood of Steel Knight entered, and he blinked, taken aback a bit. Well, he'll be of good help. If anything he'll distract whatever is out there just as much as this curiously intelligent Super Mutant so I can get a clear shot.

"Either way." Carver said aloud to himself, and slipped in between the crowd and stood right before the woman proposing this venture. Disheveled hair, caramel skin, and 5 o'clock shadow made him seem like an up and coming bi-racial western movie character. He doubted anyone here had seen any actual movies though. "1,000 a piece is fine by me, ma'am. But if you can spare 1,150 for each, that sounds good too. No pressure though. I'll scavenge along the way. Same with my friend." he said, his thumb pointing backwards at Chek at the table.

"We'll be your guards, or mercenaries. Whatever the term is you want to use. I think you'll find both of us together makes for about 4 other men, or 3 and a half Super Mutants. Believe me, I did the math." he said with an amiable smile.

Victoria thought over for a moment. The proposal that the female wastelander made was valid. Victoria spoke up finally, "I am not despite enough to gather a group together that I would pay any amount for mere cannon fodder. I am willing to pay you what you have asked for because I do need a group. I cannot do this on my own with any efficiency."

Victoria's eyebot beeped impatiently. Victoria waved her hand and the eyebot departed and floated out the tavern with some urgency. Victoria looked around at all the volunteers, "The first task of this expedition is to establish an outpost on the edge of the Everglade jungles. If you want to stop there you may. However, the main task is to push South and locate the ruins of Vault 38. Any Local can tell you the myth of the Vault dwellers that first surveyed that Vault. They activated a GECK and now the Everglades are once more. However, it is wrong. It has gone beyond its intent. In the last 30 years over half of Florida has now become covered by its jungle. And it continues, I plan to stop it before it takes over everywhere." Victoria stopped herself and refocused, "That is a task for a later time. I need a group to go clear land from the monsters squatting on it. I leave tomorrow at dawn. Any more Questions?"

-------

Victoria's eyebot floated through the streets of New Hope till it came to a source of a radio signal that had gotten its attention. It stopped when it found Mr. Gutsy 5186. It beeped happily at the Mr. Gutsy while bobbing up and down in the air.

A great deal was happening in such a short time span, but that was to be expected when such an obviously important event was occurring. Others quickly agreed to joining Victoria, while a female quickly launched into negotiations mode. To Joshua's immense surprise, she argued that he should receive the most pay, pointing out his rocket launcher as an asset. The mutant would have gladly accepted the advertised 1,000 caps as the cause was worth it, in his mind. Finding their way to a vault which has caused the spread of dense, dangerous jungle, and putting an end to it? That sort of thing would make the land safer for everyone. Still, 1,300 for his services. He shot the woman an approving nod as a form of gratitude. Hopefully she truly thought he would be a good asset as an equal, rather than simply trying to take advantage by getting on the good side of the "big, scary mutant."

Meanwhile, the most bizarre looking... Person that Joshua had ever seen accepted Victoria's offer, calling her "birdie." He looked human, but he looked ghoul too. It was... Unsettling. Joshua had seen a lot in his 200 years, but never once had he come across something that was just so... He lacked any words to describe such a sight, thus he forced his mind away to focus on other matters.

The old hunter, whom he now knew to be named Elias Lewellyn, attempted to shame Joshua. The mutant completely ignored the old man. He was pleasantly surprised, however, that Lewellyn was actually putting in the effort to clean up the mess. That was something Joshua would never have thought he'd actually do. Perhaps they could reach an accord after all and work on friendly te-Aaaaand then the old man insulted not just Joshua, but all of mutant kind. Rage boiled through his blood as he restrained himself from blowing the old man into a million pieces, or smashing his head in with a brahmin femur. He could do it. He could get away with it, too. But if he did, he'd be regressing relationships between mutant kind and the others back. With this in mind, Joshua took a deep breath, and calmed himself. Just focus on how he's cleaning up the corpse, just like you were going to after securing your position in this group.

Focused so much on preventing his rage from boiling over, Joshua had nearly missed the other large, imposing figure in the room remove his clock and reveal himself to be Brotherhood. Paladin Lord Ezekiel Crane he called himself before looking ready to get into a fight, like just announcing himself was going to be enough to start a shootout or something. Get over yourself. That's what he wanted to say, but what he did say came about as a result of his curious nature. "What chapter are you from, Paladin Lord Crane?" he inquired in his deep, booming voice, attempting to be as cordial as possible.

Meanwhile, a human with a ghoul companion also volunteered for this expedition. He then made the most audacious boast Joshua had ever heard about the two of them being worth "three and a half super mutants." Joshua took exception to such a statement, but not for the reasons people might think. "That's crap and you know it. No individual is worth another, we all have different skills, personalities, and values... Besides, from what I've seen of my brothers in the area, it doesn't take very much to be their betters." He added that last bit with a small chuckle before taking another swing from his barrel of wine.

Unlike so many other places he had been, he didn't seem to attract any gunfire here. In his travels Ezekiel had been shot at least two or three times every time he walked into a town. Some people just didn't like the Brotherhood. As he relaxed slightly a super mutant approached carrying a barrel of something akin to wine like it was a teacup and said
"What chapter are you from, Paladin Lord Crane?"
Ezekiel was surprised that anyone at all this far south knew enough about the Brotherhood to ask that question, let alone a super mutant, but replied with only the slightest of pauses, turning to face the large figure.
"I'm originally from the Lost Hills chapter, and you must be from Mariposa."

Ezekiel had never known a super mutant to drink but he had never known that many super mutants that could say more than "You die now!" or "Kill!". The Brotherhood records on super mutants leave the subject of alcohol quite empty.

Victoria waited for a good while before speaking again, "Ok, I guess there is nothing else. I need to go make sure my beloved Eyebot is ok. People love to take puck shots at it when i am not around. I will depart tomorrow at Dawn. If you are not there, I will depart without you and I will not have to pay you. Anyways, the next round of drinks is on me if you have joined me."

Rusty chuckles, "Girl, you still owe me a new robot. But I will just add it to your tab."

Victoria finally got out of the stage and walked out the door without talking to anyone else.

Slag turned one of his three eyestalks to face the eyebot. As it only responded in a beep, he chose to respond in transmission instead. A much faster way to communicate than inefficient audio transmissions across acoustic waves that might be interpreted by the red commie menace. He rose to attention and saluted with his 6 point articulation pincer arm.

~I would admit I am surprised that the Red Witch is a robot, but then again, so am I. Gunner operative Mr. Gutsy identification number 5186, Reporting for duty, Ma'am! I am under final orders to report to you for further duties as my superior was relived of command. My previous duties involved engineering and repairing both energy weapons as well as the attempted restarting of fusion vehicles. It was belived to propose a serious tactical advantage.~

Joshua was slightly caught off guard by the paladin's answer, but wasn't terribly surprised by it. After all, he had made the journey all the way across the former USA from California to Florida. Why couldn't this paladin as well? Still, he looked to be on the young side for a human, so it was a little surprising he hadn't been born into the DC chapter. Before he could respond to the words of this Brotherhood soldier, the woman that had hired them gave a final address, stating that the next round was on her and where to meet, or be left behind. Joshua smiled quiet and content through the cheers that erupted from the gesture. She'd regret that promise. He would make sure of it.

"You're a long way from home, paladin lord Crane. You're right though, I came from Mariposa, though originally I lived in a vault. Both were a long long time ago. But enough reminiscing. We'll have plenty of time to talk when our group departs." Without another word, Joshua pushed passed the Brotherhood codenamed Omen and stopped at the bar, setting his barrel of wine down on the counter. He then spoke to Rusty with a smile. "Bartender. Another."

---

The next morning, Joshua sat at the edge of the meeting place. He had been here for many hours, and hadn't slept in all that time. Not that he didn't need to, but mutants required far less than humans did and he had had a pretty lazy day. Besides, sitting in one place, unmoving, it didn't eat up much energy, so as it was only a few minutes before dawn he felt quite refreshed and energetic. Joshua poured the last of his wine into his mouth, swallowed with a gulp, and set the barrel down gently on the ground. Alcohol resistance was another perk to being a super mutant, so thankfully his downing all that drink didn't inebriate him in the slightest. Of course, mutants weren't perfect, and Joshua was overcome with a sudden sense of urgency, that same one that affects all living creatures when they inevitably remember that what goes in must also come out.

The mutant stood, stretching his limbs out, then rushed over to the nearest structure he could find, then with a deep, heavy sigh, began to relieve himself.

Ezekiel nodded in response to the woman's final address and to the mutant taking his leave. Returning to the bar he grabbed a bottle of vodka, paid for by the woman of course, and left quietly to find a dark corner he could catch some sleep in. Dimming all of his equipment, he settled his armor in a more comfortable slouch and fell asleep within minutes.

The gentle sound of music bubbled up inside Ezekiel's helmet as it prodded him awake. After a short time, he bagan the rigorous field boot of his armor and dragged his armor out of the slouch he had slept in. After stretching out a little, he took stock of his surroundings and determining that he was alone, he decided to wash. Opening up his armor and peeling himself out the back of it took some effort after being inside of it for two days straight. He stripped off the bodysuit and began washing. A few minutes later after having done some extra stretching, he wiped out his suit and got back into the armor.

As he arrived at the meeting place, he heard the sound of a burst water valve and wondered what had happened. After a few moments he spotted the mutant next to some structure appearing to relieve himself and the puzzle was solved. Standing nearby he turned away and waited for the rest of the expedition to arrive.

Carver couldn't hide his smile at Joshua's response. He was making a joke, but the Super Mutant seemed to think he wasn't. He was more intelligent than the rest of his kin that Carver had met and survived against. He stood back from then on, listening to the Paladin and the Super Mutant converse, only ever seeing a Paladin once before near the southern parts of Old Georgia and very curious as to why one was here. The most knowledge he had about their Order was from stories and what Chek would tell him if he ever deigned to give stories of his time up north.

He agreed to meet in the morning, and he did exactly that. Of course, after he and his armored companion shared a free drink thanks to their business patron. "Looks like this is just a kill mission for the most part." Carver said to Chek. The Ghoul nodded, taking a swig of his drink. They didn't need to speak more of it. Both knew this was their specialty and they were glad to get a paying job for it. In the back of his head however, Carver was glad that they were going deeper into his old homeland. Maybe it hadn't been fucked up too much.

The next morning, Carver met the rising sun with a cool reserve. Chek stood vigil by him, his shotgun in his hands already and giving the other party members a leveled gaze. He was tall and muscled for a Ghoul, and always had other refugees wary when he walked by. Carver kind of enjoyed the looks Chek would get.

Sam cocked an eyebrow at the three who had interfered in her negotiations. The first one, some lab experiment of a creature looking half ghoulish and half human seemed to decline the extra caps for no particular reason. The insane hunter from before, possibly crazed from radiation sickness, argued for the original expense with a series of mission expenses despite the fact that it had already been apart of the deal and thus demanded less money on the whole. The third was possibly the worst, Carver was wishy washy and could go either way on the price. Sam mentally noted the three of them as morons, making plans to stay as far away from them as she could until the mission was done with. Someone who was poor with their caps did not have the survival instinct in place to keep themselves alive and put those around them in danger. She nodded at Victoria at the acceptance of her barter, despite her weakened position from the three dullards. She had expected some sort of counter offer, despite what this woman said it seemed that she truly was in desperate need of assistance to hand over so many credits for one excursion. The super mutant known as Joshua gave her a nod of respect due to her bartering on his behalf. Sam returned the gesture in kind, the mutant seemed to be quite capable, intelligent, and had smashed the glowing ghoul which had done quite a lot to alleviate her concerns. Besides it always paid to be friendly with the hulking behemoth carrying a rocket launch in a dangerous situation... possibly many social ones as well now that she thought about it.

She chatted around some with the locals about some of the previous expeditions that had entered Florida both before and after the GECK activated, but to no surprise found nothing about her family. There was nothing more she wished to say to her fellow volunteers until morning so went back into her room to works on repairing a minor issue in her rifle. Even though it was a small issue, those small degrees of care and preparation were often the difference between a successful scavenger and a dead scavenger. When she was completed, she slept for the rest of the night before heading to the meeting place. She gave the group a collected nod and knelt down to ensure that the contents of her pockets and bag were all secure and ready for her to transport comfortably while she waited for Victoria.

The old man after disappearing from the drinking establishment wakes up in his tent the next morning, which lies at the meeting place with three dead brahmin and one radscorpion husks decomposing outside of it, the old man sees the corpses after exiting the tent, almost tripping up over three sacks of brahmin and radscorpion meat next to a burnt out fire on the way to a stump.

"Was I drunk or having another episode?" Lewellyn groggily asks himself, just realising the others standing around the same area. "How long have you lot been there? We signed on to destroy a Gecko didn't we? Oh wait it was a GECK, found the place they tested those creation kits in five years ago... Utterly spectacular..." Lewellyn blurts out, taking a seat on the nearby stump while trying to remember what happened beyond the ghoul's head exploding. Ol' Com lies beside the stump, sleeping away with a teddy bear near him.

Eventually John made it to the area as well. He was certainly late, and his labcoat was covered in dried blood.

"What? You thought I wouldn't come?"

He had heard so much about these GECKs, the best of pre-war technology, and seeing the one device behind all these rumors and stories was something he couldn't leave behind.

Victoria's eyebot shook itself side to side to indicate it was not the red witch. It then sent a package of data to Slag explaining that the Red witch was about to undertake a mission. As an enclave operative, Slag should come along. Details about the Geck and where to meet up were included. Slag was on his own until morning when the group departed. Then the eyebot turned and floated away cheerfully.

---------------

Victoria awoke with a start. The feeling of something being wrong woke her from a fairly pleasant dream. If she had not gain enough to realize she was dreaming she might have not realized something was wrong. She looked over from her bed at the prewar alarm clock across the room. Its gears were stuck showing 2:34 am, but the first rays of daylight could be seen breaking the horizon. She gets up and walks over to the broken device. Without warning she grabs a bat and smashes the alarm clock into a thousand pieces. "Worthless piece of junk." Victoria exclaimed. Her eyebot beeped a scared sounding series of beeps. Victoria turned to it and smiled, "Oh you are fine. Though you are once again on alarm clock duty. Now, lets go prepare."

Victoria did a light jog from her room to the meeting place by the city gates. There was already a decent crowd. Victoria cursed under her breath. Some leader she was to be late to such an important meeting. She may just have lost the respect she might have gained from her initial hiring speech. She made it to the group and said, "Sorry, I am late. I had business to attend to. Now, we have a good long march south along the I-75. I hope you all are ready. We will spend a night under the stars and if all goes well we reach the place that is to be our outpost by noon tomorrow."

Joshua largely ignored the others as they appeared at the meeting place. Just as Lewellyn emerged from his tent, the large mutant buttoned up his pants again and stepped aside from the old pre-war power line pole he had been using to relieve himself. A fair amount of time later and the old drunkard that offered to heal people had arrived. Joshua ignored the human's inquiry and took a seat an equal distance away from all the others. A couple minutes later and their employer arrived, a little late.

"Sorry, I am late. I had business to attend to. Now, we have a good long march south along the I-75. I hope you all are ready. We will spend a night under the stars and if all goes well we reach the place that is to be our outpost by noon tomorrow."

"It's good you showed up when you did. We were about to hold you to your word and leave late arrivals behind. It would have been an interesting adventure, having nobody pay us and no idea where to go." Joshua let out a hearty laugh and stood up, slinging his Red Glare rocket launcher over his shoulder and readjusting his oversized backpack. Everything about his body language said that he was ready to go.

"Mutant, you ain't funny, I have heard a Protectron tell a better joke... then again I did see another one pleasure a man in the Commonwealth... How the hell he managed to smuggle it to the Commonwealth from New Vegas is a mystery better left a mystery." Lewellyn states, then dwells upon a weird day for him involving raiders, Fisto, a thief and the whole of Bunker Hill during a rad storm. "Anyway, no sense dwelling on a diplomatic disaster you are worse then Ol'Com here with waking up I bet Miss... Boss... Madame? What the hell do we call you again except Eyebot magnet?" Lewellyn asks, trying to focus on the present, then dwelling on what a Goodsprings resident had told a trader Lewellyn was having a pleasant conversation on over some scotch.

"Maybe witch instead? You managed to charm me into this from my own marvellous hunt... Read of a political figure called Mike Hunt in an advert now I'm reminded, he was up against a bloke called Dick Wraith and Wayne Kerr in old world politics..." Lewellyn drones on, going off in a tangent and just quietly going on about what he's read, heard and experienced.

"Sorry, I am late. I had business to attend to. Now, we have a good long march south along the I-75. I hope you all are ready. We will spend a night under the stars and if all goes well we reach the place that is to be our outpost by noon tomorrow." their employer said. Carver didn't blame her. He'd have slept in as well if he could. That was one of the few upsides to this crazy world he unfroze to. No real responsibilities other than surviving.

Unfortunately this time, surviving meant getting up at the crack of dawn. He did it however. Chek was right beside him, never seeming to get tired like always. Carver turned to his two fellows on this expedition, Lewellyn and the eloquent Super Mutant Joshua. They were bantering like always. It did him well to hear the geezer start spewing forth what must have been nonsense to everyone else. Well, it was half nonsense to him as well, but he recalled the names somewhat. Carver smiled to himself from the vague recollections his words brought forth. He'd take any nostalgia he could.

He unholstered his revolver and spun it expertly, clockwise, counter clockwise, sideways, clockwise, and then halted it mid spin to pull back and then release the hammer to its original position. "We ready to head on, or we got something to do here?"

Slag was grateful to the eyebot for the mass transmission, he would have to report that in the morning. For now he had some much needed R&R to use up, he approached a few shopkeepers and inquired about making a modification. He had the technique and the technology. But to repair or upgrade a limb meant operating with a hand behind his back, or at least on the table.

Next was the wonder of which to upgrade first; it was the answer to short, medium, or long range. Eventually he decided after a lengthy deliberation of at least 300 miliseconds to set a scatter beam to his later armament. It would allow him five beams of widening breadth which would guarantee better chances against faster opponents at a distance and more beams connecting at mid or close range. Multiple attacks at energy conservation won out today.

He paid for the services and left to seek a perch for the night where he would not be dismantled. With morning came a crowd, this did not interest him, what caught his attention was the familiar signal from last night and the eyebot that transmitted it. Slag floated over to the commoners and the uncommon that stood apart. Watching g the pistol erosion spin his weapon, he analyzed the bravado to mimic the actions with his attached armament. Where the human had 4 points of articulation, even the standard robco limb had six points with full 720 rotation.

"My my, what impressive displays there good Gutsy and... Boy I never caught your name in the pub although you probably caught mine from all that blundering... I blame the mutant for smashing that glowin' one's innards right in front'a me." Lewellyn bumbles, Ol'Com then awakens, going for a little walk around the clearing.

"Adorable little fella ain't he? Found him knawing on a Brotherhood Paladin's corpse, turns out a Mr Gutsy opened the tin can with a buzzsaw and enough patriotism to motivate an army, at least that's what the glorfied scavenger recorded... Fought with another mr gutsy over in some old base against the Brotherhood of Scavengers again... How long were you there mister tin can the almighty lord?" Lewellyn declares, completely unaware of the Paladin Lord standing in the same clearing up to the end where he then mocks Crane, going into more detail of the two battles with the goal in mind of both getting SLAG's appreciation and annoying The Paladin Lord to breaking point while attempting to get the fire going.