Korbanjaro

The Few that Dare (Marvel Inspired)

@Cyrania

Well shoot, then I'd be happy to toss in either one. Some rejiggering of the backstory for both, certainly (which wouldn't be too difficult - Replace a few secret organizations here and there and you've got all kinds of backstory to work with). So which would work better with the group?

- - - - -

So for Riot, he was part of a shadow government program to create enhanced law enforcement personnel specifically to deal with super-powered threats. The program's secondary objective, however, was to remove free will from the successful volunteers, to create unquestioning enforcers for the US government. Robert Carter (Riot) discovered the plot as the first batch of "Protectors" were successful, a batch of seven. He showed the other volunteers the evidence of what was happening, and started a revolt, though only two others believed him. Four directly sided with the government, and there was a skirmish, in which he believes he was the only survivor.

He was able to destroy the facility, getting away with a truck full of gear that he's been using to subtlely fight back against corruption and crime in the city.

- - - - -

Alter was a bit of a different story, as he was actually from a decent middle-class family, who was killed in a freak airline accident on the way back from Paris to the United States. Young Paul Phillips, or "Polo", was always a smart kid, always becoming good at whatever he set his mind to, at least until he felt that he'd mastered it and moved on. When his family was killed, he received a sizable inheritance from his parents' life insurance policies, but still finished his degree in electronics and bioengineering, though it was more for the sake of his family than for himself.

Later, he was approached by a shadowy organization and persuaded through his grief to work on something that "really mattered." Turns out, he was working to put super-powered people to use doing good, even if that was against their will. He utilized his abilities as a biotech to create numerous types of technology to help their missions, while still kind of questioning whether what he was doing was right. These included a Kill-Switch Protocol to keep the more dangerous "powers" in check, as well as a hard-light obstacle training simulator, or "HOT Room" for power training.

Eventually, he was shocked into a face-to-face confrontation with the actual evil that he was helping to perpetuate, and so he worked with several of the other powers to bring the organization to its knees, escaping into relative obscurity in the panic, and working to help others mostly behind the scenes.

- - - - -

Which of these would help to "fill the gaps" better?

The Few that Dare (Marvel Inspired)

Is the idea more of a "street level" group of characters, or are we talking more metahuman high-level characters?

I have two characters that I would love to play again, both in two superhero-esque stories that I'd really like to get into the mix again.

One was a tech-enhanced supercop as a kind of mix between Punisher, Dredd, Batman and Captain America that I called The Walking Riot.

The other was a biotech-able character named Alter who was kind of a Forge-style character with a bit of Iron Man thrown in.

Would either of those characters be workable in this story?

Fallout: Vancouver

Well, to be fair, he didn't have a ton to interact with. I hadn't had the time to put up my second character, so there was little for Galhaena to do but wait on us to resolve this battle.

Fallout: Vancouver

Hmm... Looks like things died off rather suddenly, didn't they?

Fallout: Vancouver

Abram explained who this "Enclave" was, and though Hudson smirked at the locals kicking their asses out of California, the idea of yet another group crowding their way into the wasteland with guns and power armor ticked all the wrong boxes for him.

The Enclave - Great. Another "kill-everybody-and-smile-at-you-for-the-honor-of-it" circus. Thought I'd left that shit behind.

Hudson had never much liked dealing with the "big dogs" of the wastes. The Brotherhood, NCR, the Khans - They were all the same to him. Bullies who took what they wanted, when they wanted, and damn whoever decided to get in the way. He'd fought for his freedom before, and he'd do it again. He wasn't about to let some group pop in with their plasma rifles and force their way into Vancouver. Even if he had to blow their little magic base down there back into its own crater all by his lonesome.

He sighed - his own bluster wasn't going to take care of this. He'd need help, and when it came to dealing with big guns, you needed big guns of your own.

While it'd taken a little time to earn their trust, Hudson was actually rather chummy with the Tinsui these days. He'd become one of their go-to scouts, especially down in the southern borders, and the fact that the ISD knew him by name for his various tech deliveries surely meant he was "part of the team," didn't it?

Noticing the cigarette in Abram's mouth, he almost asked for one just to calm his nerves. Not that he'd ever actually smoked before, but he'd heard that was what the things were for, right?

"Anyway," said Abram, taking another drag. "If they're here, and you're working for the Imperials in the area, they'll want to know."

"True enough," replied Hudson. "And I want to get paid." Abram nodded.

"We should get to that scouting station as soon as we can."

"It'll be a trip, but not too bad. Probably four days. Not sure if there's going to be much hunting along the way."

Seeming to consider this, Abram breathed some smoke out into the wind. After a moment, he seemed to make his decision.

"We'll have to camp out once it gets dark, though..." He glanced back at the path the two had just come from, and Hudson followed his eyes.

"But we should be far enough out that the Enclave won't see us."

Hudson agreed, picking up his pack, but keeping the damaged transmitter. Salvage was salvage, after all.

"So much for getting my hands on a plasma rifle," he sighed and chuckled, picking up his rifle. "Alright. Let's get moving while there's still light out."

Fallout: Vancouver

Normally, Hudson would be making jokes, but when automatic fire was shredding everything just molecules over his head, his ability to snark was significantly reduced. Instead, his focus was just on making himself, and by extension, Abram, sink as completely into the frozen Earth as possible. He silently cursed himself for even getting into this kind of predicament.

Five hundred caps really isn't worth all this, is it?

Just as suddenly as it began, the turrets wound down. The mechanical whirring slowed, and finally there was mostly silence across the valley. It took a moment for Hudson to realize that he probably wasn't going to die here, and so he risked a look, peering out over the berm.

The guns had moved back into a stationary position, and it looked like the coast was finally clear.

Hudson's impromptu mattress groaned.

"Well shit, Hudson..." The ghoul grumbled, pushing the merc off of himself and rolling out of the non-unimpressive indentation they'd made in the dirt. "At least buy a guy some dinner first."

"Come on Abram," Hudson grinned, pulling up to a crouch and picking up his rifle. "I thought you ghouls liked rough foreplay."

They both glanced about, making sure not to be spotted, and Abrams took the lead, making his way further up above the valley, staying in the brush.

"So what are you doing here?" Asked Hudson in a hushed tone. The ghoul turned back, a bit of chiding in his voice.

"How about we get out of here, then you tell me just what the hell's going on, eh?"

Hudson nodded.

The two continued further, eventually making their way out of what they assumed was the facility's attack range, before finally standing up. Hudson placed his pack and rifle on the ground and stretched his back, swearing he could hear a snap or two as a couple of his vertebrae clicked themselves back into place.

"You know, you're not a comfortable body pillow," said Hudson, twisting his torso and rolling his neck. In doing so, he glanced at his pack.

Right through the transmitter was a shiny silvered slag hole, evidence of a plasma round which had blasted clean through it.

Damn it!

He turned to Abram.

"So, I'll be honest - I don't know what's going on down there. I'm here on Imperial freelance, only. They wanted some southland scouts at five-hundred caps for a two-week contract. Whoever these magic pop-up facility assholes are, I'm sure the Tinsui would pay even more to know they're here, but..."

He indicated the slagged transmitter.

"But with the transmitter busted, the closest Imperial scouting station is about fifty miles north of here."

Hudson turned back to Abram.

"Did you get the same job? Or are you on the Coalition for this one?"

Fallout: Vancouver

@Kingfisher

My thought was to create an Imperial officer of sufficient, but not too superior rank, who actually harbors a secret infatuation with Galhaena, which he is personally ashamed of. He was initially sent as an ambassador to the Coalition, and is known in the organization, but is very rigid, traditional, and strict, and his personal feelings seem to be causing him problems, considering she continues to try manipulating him.

I believe such a character could provide some unique insights into the Imperial attitude, and would give us an "in" later that would be more "insider" than the perspectives Hudson could give when he reports back.

Speaking of which...

@Catchphrase@Kingfisher@Lord Coake@Legion-114

I was thinking about this last night, actually, noticing where the characters were set, and the reason I bring up an Imperial character is just because it seems to be one of the last "pieces" to fill in to understand our primary setting and groups.

Each character so far provides a unique and useful perspective to explore things, especially as we go forward:

Galhaena is Coalition leadership, which as a moderately-sized organization is useful in displaying their cunning and capability, especially in garnering the respect of other, larger factions. Exploring how such an upstart "trading company" was able to take over much of the caravan industry in the Vancouver wastes is very interesting.

Abram provides the long-history outsider perspective, as a character who was alive before the Enclave officially existed as it is now, and has seen these other factions grow out of practically nothing. He'd be able to comment on the Coalition's creation, on the Empire's increased presence, and who the Enclave is and what they stand for, even possibly talking about how they are just like (or are nothing like) the former United States.

Hudson was designed chiefly as the "new guy on the block" kind of character, somewhat fish-out-of-water-like. I wanted to give him some history to work with, but he's not really from around here, and so it makes sense to have him there as the outsider, not quite understanding some things, making social faux pas, yet being just useful enough to keep around and not just shoot outright.

Similarly, Bluey offers a far-outside perspective as a raider, which is unique, considering we rarely get much backstory and understanding of raider culture outside of the little loading-screen snippets talking about how they just kill whatever, whenever, for whatever reason. Gaining a broader understanding of "raider culture" and how they interact with other groups could be quite interesting. Plus, the idea of a raider actually talking and speaking to "normals" instead of just attacking on-sight is fascinating.

Col. Davis seems like a good lead in to the Enclave mindset, but considering his high status, his perspective is going to be as a career man who is firmly entrenched in the organization. That will certainly prove to be useful in providing exposition about what the Enclave is doing (I mean, you need that kind of character if you want to boot up Irons or have a magical pop-up military facility), but deep dogma can sometimes be a little impenetrable, which is why:

I believe there needs to be an Enclave soldier character. I would root for either the soldier who was recently shot and carried back to base, or the one who carried the former. Here's my reasoning:

An Enclave soldier is definitely "in" the organization, but is also not as indoctrinated. He has the potential to become disillusioned with what they're doing up here, especially if he was just shot. It lets us explore the Enclave as more than just a dogmatic pro-Good Ol' USA organization, and casts a cynical eye on things. It seems like the kind of character that would be useful in humanizing some of the Enclave troops instead of just making them drones to be shot.

Anyway, just my thoughts.

Fallout: Vancouver

@Legion-114

I keep checking back. Hudson's kinda stuck until Abram responds. You know, unless he's just the strong, silent type. Lol.

Though, @Kingfisher, I was thinking of starting up an Imperial specific character to dig into that perspective. What kind of character might help to bring Ms. Galhaena into the narrative more?

Fallout: Vancouver

Things went to hell well before Hudson could get into position. The raiders had pounced on the soldiers as soon as they'd reached the ruse, and suddenly blasts of plasma and dying screams echoed across the canyon. Still, though, Hudson peered around one of the buildings, searching for a moment to snatch something of value. He'd rather not leave this kind of engagement empty-handed.

The unmistakable "crack" of a hunting rifle caught his attention as a bullet pierced through the leg of one of the soldiers, sending him to the ground. Hudson leaned hard into the wall at his right, and started to scan, looking for a giveaway. It had to be a sniper, obviously, but if it was shooting at the soldiers, likely not one of their allies.

Or, just a really bad shot. Even in mortal danger, Hudson couldn't help himself.

He kept his eye on the other side of the valley, but still couldn't spot where the shot had come from.

CRACK! Another shot, and this time, a raider fell, a large chunk of his neck missing as the body twitched on the ground. Hudson kept his scan, and then he saw it.

The glint.

On the other side of the town valley, about three hundred or so yards off, Hudson noticed that some foliage was built up, hiding the shooter. He pulled his scope to his eye, and noticed, behind the scrub and snow, a shape was going through the well-rehearsed motions of reloading the rifle. He knew that the bolt-actions took a little time, and so prayed he had enough.

Hoping the shooter was using one of the popular hunting rifles, Hudson bolted along the far building and brush, moving quickly, but trying not to catch attention. With the main skirmish drawing attention, he should rather easily go unnoticed.

He kept up his sprint, avoiding the deeper drifts as much as he could, finally making his way to the other side of the valley, hopefully out of the sniper's notice. He turned back quickly, seeing that two of the Enclave soldiers were holding holding off the flank as the other, uninjured one had tossed the first with a leg wound over his shoulder in a fire carry, and was hoofing it back to the main building.

I'll have to loot the raiders if I want to get anything, here.

Shaking his head quickly, he continued his way up the valley side, and quietly approached the impromptu sniper's nest from behind, having slung back his rifle and pulled Fiona from her holster. The sounds of battle and blasts were still echoing, and so his footsteps seemed not even to make a sound.

He peered inside, but there was no one there. There was the imprint of a body in the snow, as if someone had recently been set there, but it looked like he'd moved on. Hudson noticed the tracks, and followed slowly, right into some scrub foliage a ways off. There, in the trees, he finally saw him.

Abram.

He'd had dealings with the infamous ghoul hunter a few times over the years. Sometimes they were on the same side. Sometimes, they weren't. This time, Abrams hadn't shot at him yet, so Hudson hoped it hadn't just been a lack of opportunity. But if he was taking pot shots at the soldiers, it seemed the two might end up being on the same side of this particular conflict.

Creeping up, Hudson kept his pistol aimed ahead, hoping to get into a better position before giving himself away.

But as he approached, a cacophony of grinding sounds came from the pop-up complex in front of them, and Hudson risked a glance to see numerous bristling turrets twisting into place, with twelve or so of them aiming directly at both Abram and himself.

Aw, hell.

"Get down!" Hudson shouted as he rushed forward, tackling Abram to the ground. The space above them as they landed behind a berm was perforated by laser fire.

Fallout: Vancouver

@Legion-114 How is he an AI?

@Catchphrase

President Eden was an AI created as a monitoring system for Raven Rock, who eventually became self-aware. Only the Autumn family (technically a Scientist named Autumn and his son, Augustus), even knew that the President was actually an AI.

Depending on the choices made during Fallout 3, the player can convince the AI to destroy itself, but most people throughout the former US who even knew about Eden would assume that he was a real person. The reality, though is that Eden is/was an AI.

I assume that Legion is operating under the assumption that Eden was "killed" at Raven Rock, considering that our story here takes place either around or just following the events of F3 in 2277.

And, by that extension, Irons essentially has "rebooted" the president using this facility's technology, I assume.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/John_Henry_Eden