Donald's shrill, exact-replica-of-the-cartoon voice yells out, "Yes, fine, sit down. What are we dealing with here exactly?"
Hogan's lawyer steps forward and presents his case, essentially pointing out that there were witnesses that heard Marcus and EH-RK make threats against him in Mickey's presence, and that the guards caught Badger tailing him with a weapon on hand, which he tried to hide and blatantly lied about. He talks up Mickey being a mastermind of this entire assassination plot, and even accuses him of adopting their great leader's name to throw people off of his intents.
("Evidence" vs Badger = Caught tailing, concealed weapon on person, lied to guards)
= Total 22 (5 successes)
("Evidence" vs EH-RK = Threatened in front of guards)
(2 successes)
("Evidence" vs Marcus = Threatened in front of civilians)
(1 success)
("Evidence" vs Mickey = Associated with all involved and with them in the bar)
(0 successes)
"Me and Cray not really know what happen, but Badger good guy. Always help others and stuff. Uh...Not believe he really try to kill ghoul, though heard ghoul once kill people in Vault," she said while on the stand, really unsure what kind of help she could give.
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As Thomas walks in, he has to admit, 'Wow, that guy's lawyer has a -really- nice suit.'
He sits down and waits for the prosecution to finish his remarks, then rises and begins.
"Honorable Donald, in the case of the Kingdom versus unit EH-RK, I call the arresting guard to the stand.
Now, sir, you claim that this security unit made threats of bodily harm against the defendant, correct?"
"*assent*"
"Would it be accurate to say that it sounded like these so-called threats were against them because they were communists or communist-sympathizers?"
"*assent*"
"Well, to me, this sounds like a political argument. It seems like this obvious protocol-droid was simply engaging in civil political discourse!
It seems, to me, that were you to say to me, that the intent was not to actually "destroy" the person, but to "destroy" any political agreement they had with the communist political theory! Would you agree sir?"
"*negative*"
"Oh really? Then what physical harm did the robot cause?"
"*negative*"
"Hrmmmm. So it seems, to me, that if no physical harm was -actually- caused, then you have NO EVIDENCE that it was NOT a political question!
Or perhaps, YOU are an agent of MICKEY!"
other lawyer: "Objection!"
"I withdraw the question. Are you, sir, a Communist!?"
coutroom: *gasp* *gasp*
other lawyer: "Objection!"
"I'll rephrase! Are you, sir, a Communist sympathizer that wants to "redistribute" the Kingdom and GIVE IT TO THE GHOULS OUTSIDE THOSE GATES, SIR?!"
courtroom: *gasp* *shocked outrage* *gasp*
other lawyer: "OBJECTION! OBJECTION!"
"I withdraw the question! The Communist agent of Mickey Mouse is excused!"
= 13 3 successes!
"In the case of the Kingdom vs. Marcus 'Big Papa' Edwards I call the arresting Secutron THX-1138."
Now, please describe the crimes of physical aggression perpetrated by the accused."
"*negative*"
"Oh really? Please describe the bodily harm caused by the accused."
"*negative*"
"Oh really? Please describe the monetary amount it will take to repair the criminal damage caused by the accused."
"*negative*"
"Oh really? Huh. Please state, for the record, the first words stated by the accused when you arrived on scene and the arrest was made."
*
I am Senior Knight Marcus Edwards from the Brotherhood and I am not resisting!
*
"Hmmm. So we have here a scenario where no damage has been done, no monetary injuries can be pointed to, and he calmly submitted to arrest when you showed up.
Very well, please play the recording of the evidence of the crime for which he was accused."
"*data does not exist. This unit was not on scene when alleged incident happened*"
"Huh. So we have no evidence of a crime that did not happen. Naturally. Dismissed!"
= 2 successes
"In the case The Kingdom vs. Mickey (not the mouse) we call *some random witness*"
"Now, for the court I would just like to state witness designation Tango, three, shoes, green, pole, Zulu, fourteen, Nuremburg, flat screen, Tango.
Now, sir, can you state for the record your name? And your age? And what your were doing at the bar?"
"*recreation*"
"Are were you eating at the bar?"
"*affirmative*"
"Did that hearty repast includes adult beverages?"
"*affirmative"*
"And how many servings of adult beverages did you have?"*
"*some number greater than zero*"
"Wow. So much? Would you say that it is normal for you to drink heavily?"
"*negative*"
"Fair enough. Can you tell us, exactly, what you had for breakfast yesterday?"
"*indecisive answer*"
And lunch? And dinner? And what did you do directly before you want to the bar? And after? Tell us exactly!"
"*indecisive answer* *includes some number of consumed eggs*"
"Well which is it? Two eggs or three? How can you expect this sacred court to take your testimony seriously if you can not remember so important a detail as your most important meal?"
"*indecisive answer*"
"I'll make it easier! Not FIVE MINUTES AGO I gave you a witness designation. WHAT WAS THAT DESIGNATION?"
"*Answer that is in no way accurate*"
"HOW CAN YOU EXPECT US TO TAKE YOUR WORDS SERIOUSLY WHEN YOU CAN NOT REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED FIVE MINUTES AGO?
This extremely forgetful alcoholic is excused!"
= 1 success
"In the case of The Kingdom vs. "Badger" Bloom, I call the arresting officer, Dale.
Good morning sir. Now, in your own words, describe the arresting incident."
"*some stuff including falling down on a log*"
"Very well. Now, at what point during what you just described did you administer medical aid in the form of a stimpack, to the accused?"
"*it happened later, at the jail*"
"Ah? So, you found it not necessary to administer medical aid right away, but instead waited, until later. Is that correct?"
"*affirmative*"
"Did you wait until later because you wanted Badger to learn his lesson...AFTER YOU BEAT HIM TO DEATH!"
Courtroom: *gasp* *gasp*
other lawyer: "Objection!"
"I withdraw the question. Sir, is it standard practice for you to mercilessly beat INNOCENT, UNARMED CIVILIANS?!"
other lawyer: "Objection!"
"I withdraw the question! Sir, can you describe the weapon your partner Dale uses?"
"*gatling laser*"
"So it looks like a bunch of small, 9mm barrels tied together in parallel, with those barrels being 12.5 millimeters apart?"
"*affirmative*"
"Would you say that most logs are made out of metal?"
other lawyer: "Objection!"
"Honorable Donald, I WILL show that this is relevant! Now answer the question!"
"*negative*"
"Would you say that most logs are made with machine-like precision?"
"*negative*"
"Would you say that there are a great plethora of logs scattered about The Kingdom's monorail line? I should hope not, otherwise you cast the Honorable Donald as a poor caretaker of trains!"
"*ummmmmmm*"
"You you say that THIS," Thomas runs over to Badger and turns him around. He lifts his hair so all can see two neat parallel bruises running with machine-like straightness, "was CAUSED BY A LOG?"
"*ummmmmmm*"
"This looks more like the barrel of a gatling laser! Is it standard practice for you to beat unarmed civilians!?"
"*was not unarmed. Had a pocket knife*"
"Oh? You, a trained operative in metal armor with a chainsword and gatling laser, felt threatened by this small man with a POCKET KNIFE? Are the Honorable Donald's guard normally so sensitive? Or ARE you just in cahoot with Harold in a massive plot to make DONALD look bad and are REALLY AN AGENT OF MICKEY!"
courtroom: *gasp* *gasp*
other lawyer: "Objection! Objection!"
"I withdraw the question! This sadist agent of Mickey is dismissed!"
= 17! 4 successes!
The magistrate takes all of this information in and disappears to process.
= Total 26
The picture of Donald reappears, and speaks up again. "I have logged into the audiofeed of the radio system of the Senior Knight's power armor, since he's Brotherhood of Steel. I explained the situation to their envoy here, and they gave me his functional override, and I have to say, from eavesdropping on this conversation, it seems pretty clear that this Hogan Jobs was provoking these young men, goading them if you would, into trouble. I have no proof he committed any of the murders he's accused of, but then, I'm not a courtroom, I'm a magistrate, and I can do what I want. Hogan Jobs is therefore banished from the Kingdom, never to enter it's grounds again. His monthly pass is revoked without refund, and he is to be escorted from the grounds immediately, and put on notice that upon return, he will be shot on sight."
The crowd of witnesses gasps, and Hogan looks infuriated. "You bastards! I'll..." he stops himself, noticing the people watching, and shakes his head. "I'll leave quietly, then."
The guards escort Hogan out of the holding area.
Donald speaks up. "These men are to be returned their equipment, in its entirety, and given a month's pass for compensation. However, this doesn't excuse the minor crimes that were committed by the robot and Bloom. Bloom attempted to conceal weaponry upon demand of it's turnover, and the robot model EH-RK did verbally threaten people in front of guards. The war is over, and communism alone is no longer excuse to get away with this kind of stuff. They will be fined 500 caps each. If unable to pay, they will forfeit their month's pass they were granted for recompense, and shall owe the remnant on credit, to be collected by bounty hunters if not paid in full within one week."
You hear some flabbergasted squawking. "The guard formerly known as Dale is to be stripped of his position and citizenship revoked. A new citizen shall be elevated to the title of 'Dale' in the Rescue Rangers."
Dale growls, takes off his mouse ears, throws them on the ground, and kicks them across the room, muttering and walking after Jobs.
The screen blinks and the Donald picture now looks annoyed. "I'm done with this mess. Stop wasting my time with idiocy. Next time, hack the power armor's feed and handle this yourselves."
The screen blanks out, the holding cells open up, and the PipBoys all blink status back to "Neutral" for Kingdom/Island.
Chip raises an eyebrow and walks over to the group. "Sorry about that, guys...I hope everything is square. I was just doing my job. I didn't tell Dale...er...just Steve, now, I guess...I didn't tell him to do that stuff to Badger."
"Roland, you beautiful bastard, I could kiss you. Exceptionally done." Mickey claps the man on the back in congratulations.
He then turned to Chip. "You want to make it up to us? Hogan Jobs keeps trophies. Wherever he's been staying at, go there right now. And I mean right now. Don't let him take a thing before you take a look at it. He admitted to killing 15 people since being up here. And he alluded to some of them being children this time. Don't think he did that back in the Vault, but it fits. He always went after the weak, sickly or unwanted. A child in the Vault would be noticed, but here up top? Hard to say. Please, I beg of you. Go."
Chip nods and taps the side of his helmet, and orders a few securitrons to search the tents Hogan was staying at.
"Strange, though, nobody has gone missing around here. At least, not citizens or people with registered passes."
|
Marcus grins throughout Roland's exposition, and he evn sheds a single patriotic tear and claps at the conclussion.
When Mickey advices Chip, the Knight puts a serious face and says "We should follow him now. Were he a human instead of a ghoul, I'd be sure he would get eaten as soon as he left the Island... but we can't count on that. Letting him simply leave would be irresponsible, we need to put an end to him. Now."
"Strange, though, nobody has gone missing around here. At least, not citizens or people with registered passes."
"I think he said he did his killing in the Wastes. But even if he did take a few here, he'd make sure his targets wouldn't be missed. It's his way. And they'd look like accidents. He's a tech genius. Folks wouldn't be missing. They'd be an "unfortunate tragic accident". Something that wouldn't get looked at too hard. Any of this ringing a bell for you? Think hard."
"Dale, you f@+!er, you just made my list...", he thinks- but this time he's smart enough not to say.
"'Troublemaker.' Yup, Ma was right about that much. Right about a lot of things..."
Ma always said the Bloom Boys are born with a middle finger raised, ready to raise Hell from minute one (except Mitch, of course, everyone *loves* Mitchell). Jim and Rusty instigating fights on Movie Night when they think someone's moving in on their moonshine sales, Johnny (she never did take to calling him Badger) getting into all sorts of places he wasn't supposed to, then acting like it's a game when he's caught. And don't even talk about the crap Blake got up to, f+@@ing 65 year old child that he was. At her most exasperated, she would look up at the ceiling past the vault walls, past the insulating earth, past the radiation and straight up to God. And she would say, "You couldn't give me ONE girl? Just one?"
Even Mitch's goldfish, she'd jab a finger at it and say,"I bet you're a f++$ing man too, aren't you?"
And Pop, Clancy, he would always say,"I'm right here, baby, we can try for a girl any time!" and his brother would chuckle like an idiot. But she was just so tired, tired of being pregnant, tired of Clancy and his b#!!$@#~ and the whole family's stubborn insistence on being a menace. Sick of feeling like she has to apologize for the lot of them, of not being able to get away. She'd almost welcome being called for the Lottery, even if she slapped Johnny silly for his fool plan to get kicked out.
Time came Ma wouldn't get outta bed and when she did, she never even got worked up anymore. At first it seemed like a blessing, but after a day or two, Badger was dying to get chewed out.
"Look, I nicked one of Mr. Rone's girly magazines! I got six tickets this month! I'm gonna put an old syringe on the Overseer's chair next time they bring me in!"
"... Honey I'm tired, don't take other peoples' stuff. Women ain't like that in real life anyways."
"Thinking I might trash some of the life support systems, see if they send us all outside. Sure would be awful..."
"Run along, all right, you're giving me a headache."
And that would be it. She'd just lay down or sit in her chair, facing the wall, away from everybody. In his mind, Badger can still see here there back in 22. Maybe she figures he's already dead, damn fool got his wish. Was she even more miserable when he was gone in the morning? Or did she shrug and roll over?
Badger really didn't know which was worse.
As the trial wound down, Aeryicka just looked around at everybody. Completely out of her depth, she slowly made her way to Tom and listened in in the various conversations. Getting Badger's attention, she held out the caps she just got and said, "Here, help pay off debt."
Badger rubs the tender lump on the back of his head.
"What'd I say? Best lawyer in the Wasteland! We gotta get you some business cards, man."
"No hard feelings, Chip- I know you just did your job. Dale can eat a.... well, I'll settle with Old Dale another time."
He sighs. "All right, gotta pay the Mouse. How much does the month pass get redeemed for toward that 500 cap fine?"
As the trial wound down, Aeryicka just looked around at everybody. Completely out of her depth, she slowly made her way to Tom and listened in in the various conversations. Getting Badger's attention, she held out the caps she just got and said, "Here, help pay off debt."
"You sure? Thanks, kid... well, thanks Aeryicka. How's ol' Cray holding up?"
"Too crowded, needs bigger space to move in," Aeryicka said, though you can't tell if she was talking about Cray or herself with her nervous gestures.
"Hmmm. A surprisingly fair justice system, here. I'm impressed."
Spencer offered to stay behind at the van with the gear while the others went to court. "Someone has to make sure nobody messes with our stuff, right?" While there, he just sits on the hood, whistling a few old tunes and keeping eyes and ears open.
EH remains stoically silent throughout the "trial". He is really confused these humans think he would willingly submit to any "justice" they decided upon.
Statement: Senior Knight Marcus, I was willing to decapitate the Duck faced Magistrate for you if you required it. Unfortunately this one's words won the day. EH stares at Roland, if he had facial features he would be scowling.
Spencer notices, while keeping an eye out for trouble, Hogan and the ranger formerly known as Dale being escorted to the monorail out of town by a guard and several securitrons. It seems like Hogan and now-Steve are commiserating over something while they go.
Chip meanwhile shakes his head at Badger. "You don't understand. Giving up the pass gives you the opportunity to pay on credit. They're very serious about making money here. I know, it seems rough, but you have to understand, keeping a vault-level society underground with pre-war safety and health and technology...that doesn't pay for itself, you know? Look, I...I can foot about half the bill myself. I feel bad about what happened to you, man. And now I gotta find a new Dale. It's gonna take a long time to find a proper apprentice - we haven't had a citizen young enough to train up right in a while. None...none of your crew is under 16, are they? I know a loophole that can get kids a citizenship if they pass a few tests. It'll apprentice them right into the system. I mean, they'll be in debt up to their eyeballs, because technically they have a loan for the citizenship, and working until they die for the kingdom because interest rates don't play around, but seriously, it doesn't get much more safe than this. I need someone I can trust, and you guys seem like good folks."
Spencer leans over a little on the hood, and pauses in his whistling for a moment as he picks up a bit of conversation from the pair. At first he frowns at their words, but then he breaks into another grin and resumes whistling--and hops off the van and strolls over their way, going at a slow pace so he gets there just after they're off.
"Pardon me, officer, but does this monorail have more than one stop? I was hoping to catch a word with those gentlemen, but since they're already on their way I'll just have to catch up with them."
"No, it just heads on out of town to the west side of the ruins, heading towards Tampa and such."
"Well thanks. Does it cost anything to ride?" If so, Spencer then asks if a guard would be able to mark on a map where the monorail lets off, and thanks them for their time.
"Just 20 caps, unless you have a day pass or more, and then it's included." He then marks the map for Spencer.
Query: Human Spencer Collin, would you like for me to track the Communist Hogan? It would be my pleasure to crush his skull beneath my servomotors.
Marcus steps up and tells Badger "Don't worry, I'll pay for it. You followed him cuz I tell ya." as he hears Chip explain the kids-for-rent plan that Kingdom has.
"I made my own damn choice, man. I wanted to see where they were takin' that prick. But if you spot me the fine, I'll pay you back soon as we make some caps."
Spencer notices, while keeping an eye out for trouble, Hogan and the ranger formerly known as Dale being escorted to the monorail out of town by a guard and several securitrons. It seems like Hogan and now-Steve are commiserating over something while they go.
** spoiler omitted **
Chip meanwhile shakes his head at Badger. "You don't understand. Giving up the pass gives you the opportunity to pay on credit. They're very serious about making money here. I know, it seems rough, but you have to understand, keeping a vault-level society underground with pre-war safety and health and technology...that doesn't pay for itself, you know? Look, I...I can foot about half the bill myself. I feel bad about what happened to you, man. And now I gotta find a new Dale. It's gonna take a long time to find a proper apprentice - we haven't had a citizen young enough to train up right in a while. None...none of your crew is under 16, are they? I know a loophole that can get kids a citizenship if they pass a few tests. It'll apprentice them right into the system. I mean, they'll be in debt up to their eyeballs, because technically they have a loan for the citizenship, and working until they die for the kingdom because interest rates don't play around, but seriously, it doesn't get much more safe than this. I need someone I can trust, and you guys seem like good folks."
Badger appears frustrated, but it's mostly because he can't be as mad at Chip as he wants to be.
"Marcus said he'd take care of it, so don't worry about it. I guess with the stimpak we're pretty much square, man."He looks to Thomas.
"Timmy would probably have an interest in being New Dale someday, right? Though... giving a kid that idolized Kristophe some pull like that might not be great..."
"Ready to leave, not want he sold to strange place," Aeryicka said, shuddering at the thought of being forced to work here, regardless of any relative safety.
"Bringing that delinquent here would result in a guard no better than the one we just drove off. And that's assuming he could even make it through the training without doing something to get kicked out." Fitz says, having taken an intense dislike to the child in a short period of time.
"We should nip this problem with Steve and Hogan in the bud before it becomes one, I think. We have too many enemies in the wastes to let ones who hold a PERSONAL grudge against us go free, and the thought of Hogan continuing his killing spree unsettles me."
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Thomas makes a settling motion at Badger. "The child is quite fine where he is and I would not fix that which was not broken. Oh my! You said Timmy, not Jimmy. Ya, okay, no. Right now he's with a primitive society that knows how to raise warriors and deal with an over flow of machismo. To take him out of that and put him in a mercantile society that wants to give him a laser gatling...'twould be bad.
At any rate, I can't see how perusing Hogan and Dale/Steve does us any favors. We might burn a lot of resources chasing them, and then for negligible gain. Maybe we'll never see them again. Maybe some super mutants will take care of them for us.
Look, a lot of things are hostile to us, but eliminating some others might actually have a chance of profit.
There is not much money in revenge.
But I find myself outvoted, so if that is your plan, I'll gladly tag along."
All things considered, the party seems to desire to go after Hogan and Steve before they get too far, so they head back to the ferry and take it west across the lake to where the monorail drops off, pile in the van, and drive to the drop-off point.
They don't seem to see either of them, but there are a few wastelanders hanging around the relative safety of the monorail depot (there's about three guards and a handful of securitrons watching this location) that might know a thing or two, if someone persuasive enough were to get them to talk.
It's obvious when you start asking the guards, they don't want to talk about the locations of Steve, him formerly being one of their own...the ones on this area seem to have some loyalty and are unwilling to bend.
"No one wants Hogan dead more than me. But I don't want to risk our lives stupidly either. I say we track him a bit, but no more than a couple days. If we don't catch up or lose the trail we -- we move on," the big man finishes with a sigh.
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After the first opening salvo of questions, Tom starts working on the guard that he thinks might be most malleable.
"Hey, look, I know what you're trying to do, and it's admirable. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably do the same thing. But let's not kid ourselves; we're men of honor. And men of honor have a certain code, in that if someone has a beef with us, we just want to step outside, and take care of it.
That's all we're trying to do. We just wanna catch up with these guys and hash it out, in the open. It's our ass that's kicked, or it's theirs, doesn't really matter. But they deserve their shot to work out their issues, just like we deserve ours.
And that ghoul, what the f%%+ do you owe him? You really wanna go to bed tonight knowing that you let a ghoul who likes to murder pretty girls get away?
We just wanna know where they are. Leave the rest up to fate."
The guards seem to remain tight-lipped at Thomas's line of questioning, and don't really seem open at all, but as Thomas is questioning one of them, one of the women wastelanders, overhearing the interrogation, quietly waves Thomas over to her.
She looks around, and raises a head, and when she's sure nobody is listening, she whispers to him. "That ghoul murdered girls? Oh geeze. He seemed slimy, talking to that big guy, but...geeze. The big guy said he's heading northwest to some vault somewhere. Said he had connections with 'the real government' or something like that. Not sure what he meant."
She shakes her head. "The two of them exchanged information on Pipboys to contact one another. That big guy, you said his name was Steve, or Dale, or something? He had a radio, and said he was gonna contact the ghoul, who joined up on a caravan heading to Tampa. I knew he was slimy, but Tampa. They're traveling by Brahmin wagon, so I guess in that vehicle you have you could catch them in an hour or so, but trade to Tampa is real dangerous, so they're pretty armed, and might think you're raiders if you run up all sudden like."
If Thomas tries to offer her any cash, she shakes her head and insists she has a daughter, and wouldn't want anything to happen to her (though she will take offers of food).
Once Tom relays the information or Badger overhears them, the stocky troublemaker starts thinking aloud.
"Well, our guy is a smart one so it makes sense he's gonna fall in with some more mean hombres. And we're on our way to Tampa as-is, so we might just wanna catch up with him in the city and play it cool for now. Lay low and let him think he's gotten away and try to catch up before he can plan any more "accidents"?"
"And I mean, Old Dale/Steve... you think he's going to find where the mutants were getting reinforcements, Tom? Like maybe he's hooking up with them? Another Vault out there, brimming with mutants and rapists and s@#$- figures that fascist would be down for it. But we can settle up with him later, I would say. Could be he doesn't even make it north..."
"If we can catch up with him before that, it would be best I think. Perhaps the caravaneers would turn him over to us if we explained the situation? But then again, he may have wormed his way into their confidence by then. Hmmm."
"Yes, perhaps it IS best to let him get to Tampa. We'd planned to cut a swathe through the Raiders in any case, and rushing off after him seems a poor idea. And it will give me time to properly modify my arm..."
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Marcus goes slightly pale at the mention of the "true government" "No... this can't be..." and as soon as the first shock passes he desperately tries to broadcast a radio comm to the base or any nearby Brotherhood patrol that the rest of the team can overhear "This is Senior Knight Marcus Edwards to any and all Brotherhood Members. I have found rumours of a vault somewhere northwest of Kingdom in which there may be Enclave operatives. I repeat, Northwest of Kingdom there is a vault which may home Enclave operstives. All brothers and sisters please keep alert when travelling through the zone, I will follow the clue as soon as possible. Senior Knight over."
The big man then sits on any nearby debris and removing his helmet lights up a cigarette
"Of all things I didn't want in this region, the "true gov'ment" is the worst. As you all are vaulties you sure don't know nothing about 'em, but trust me... you are better that way." continues Papa as he finish the cigarette and throws it to the ground. He looks over to the northwest and puts the helmet back on "We better hurry and catch up with dirty Hogan, I'd rather finish old bussiness before any new s#*% hits the fan."
Aeryicka was lost as all the older men started debating the best way to get at the ghoul. Finally, after watching them all bicker like the old women in the vault, she said, "We know where he goes. We hunt like great predator, stalk and wait by water hole. Running and hiding mean nothing if destination is known."
After Papa reported in to any listening Brotherhood, she cocked her head and asked, "What is Enclave?"
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Papa, under his helmet, smiles at Aeryicka "Long before the Great War there were already evil men. Some of 'em had power and control over others... after the bombs fell those that were part of the Army and survived were divided. One group wanted to preserve the knowledge and technology for those that would come after them, to protect and serve the people that survived. Those were the founders of the Brotherhood of Steel." he makes a dramatic pause as he meshes with the girl's hair.
"But others saw on the nuclear mayhem weakness and a chance to rule. They formed an army to oppress and control. They were and are a bunch of backwards fascists that see people as things to play with. And we gotta fight The Man, you dig?"
"Those bastards never surrendered. They are the Enclave. All along the Waste they have been fought against. By the Hood and by Wasters. I heard tales of vaulties fightin' 'em too. And they keep comin... they keep trying to impose their way of view and rule over all. If they are that "true government" -and they love callin' 'emselves that- I won't rest till they are driven before me."
Query: Knight Marcus, would you classify these Enclave as Fascists or Communists? If unable to respond in the affirmative could you perhaps delegate percentages of each, so that I might adjust my targeting specifications. EHRK stares at Marcus with his single glowing eye
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Thomas ears uncharacteristically perk up at the robot's question. "Actually, I'd like to field that, my overly eager robo-friend. Technically, both Fascists and Communists are far left-wing forms of governing philosophies. While it can be said that Communists are different from Socialists which are different from Fascists, all of them are communal, state-run, totalitarian regimes which are in direct contradiction to the Libertarian ideals of our founding fathers.
Just saying."
Spencer chuckles darkly, having been mostly quiet thus far beyond telling the group--in somewhat ambiguous terms--about Hogan and Steve leaving town, and wanting to track them. "Maybe they're Commie Fascist Socialist dictators. The worst kind." He squats down for a moment, then stands again. "As for our friend Mister Jobs, I'd like to get him as soon as possible. If he signed on with merchants, then I'm sure they'll be happy to know we killed a son of a b*tch murderer in their midst. And I'd rather know we've done some good and put a bad man in the ground sooner than later. Hell, just get us close enough I can pick him off from the roof of the van and I'll be happy, unless Mickey wants to do the honors."
"I had my moment for vengeance, and it cost a lot of folks their lives. No. This has to be justice. We take him out. Period. No frills."
