Anyway...the story continues in Chapter One: Team Certain Death in 'The Caravan Massacre Aftermath' The grim dawn brings the five survivors of the caravan massacre out of their hideouts. Jonah Travis, his dog companion Rocco, the wee man Arthur Nogardeep, the shaman Josiah Sawbones and the green mutant giant Vat69. The group quickly survey the smoking remains of the caravan site and then forage for any weapons & provisions that they can find. Party pecking order (as such) is soon established after a small disagreement between Arthur and Vat69 on the politically incorrect use of the words 'shut yer face you ugly green bastad!' by the wee man. The green mutant responds to this vocal barb by wrapping his iron bar around the face of Mr Nogardeep. This soon resolves the issue. The order of party rank is set as thus: Rocco, Vat69, Jonah, Arthur & finally Josiah. Team Certain Death then decide to continue travelling southwards on the assumption that they must be closer to their intended destination than travelling weeks back across the baking desert to Blood Town. A team which consists of 3 hardened Outdoorsmen make good headway through the burning desert. Water is found in cactii, which then leads to a rash of cactii headgear to ward off the mid-day sun. During their travels, Jonah is stunned in hearing of the concept of 'setting watches' during rest periods, Rocco is stunned when his canine brain discovers that his sense of smell as gone AWOL since meeting the green mutant Vat69 and Josiah the Shaman is stunned on how cruel the other team members can be, by making his keep pace even though he has a broken leg! The team's travels lead them across another burnt out caravan site. This one however, looks like the work of Ripper Clan Raiders. More items are scavenged here and a copy of 'Cat's Paw Issue 1' is most prized by the tracker Jonah Travis. Eventually, the terrain opens out into a vast plateau which extends for miles in every southerly direction. The team continue their relentless trek without pause...the pain and suffering of Josiah falling on deaf ears. After a couple of days on the plateau, a small settlement is spied in the distance by the team. A scouting of sorts is in order and who better to perform such a task than the broken legged shaman Josiah Sawbones. The crippled figure sets off across the wilderness under the cover of the midday sun. After 2 hours of patient crawling the shaman looks across from his hiding place at 3 buildings. 2 livable abodes and one small shack. These cluster around a rope bridge which is suspended over a chasm which sunders the plateau in two. The shaman's breath catches in this throat when he makes out the numerous humans clad in Ripper Clan armour that stand guard over the bridge. Josiah reaches for his communicator to report his findings...and winces... with a sob the shaman painfully crawls back to the remainder of the party and *then* reports on what he's found. An attack plan needs to be thought out and as the brains of the outfit is currently playing a dog...it is left to Jonah, Arthur and Vat69 to formulate it. Obviously such an attack plan will be low on subtley and intrigue and high on pain and extreme violence. Team Certain Death sneak up to the Raider camp under cover of darkness. Jonah, Josiah & Arthur suceed in their stealthly approach and take up sniping positions near the bridge. Rocco lies next to Jonah, his tongue awagging while his eyes&ears scan the Raider camp for any signs that the Ripper guards are aware of their prescence...Vat69 makes his way towards the small shack that the team deduce must be a toilet..the reasoning being that being downwind of the toilet will mask the foul odur of the green mutant... Crunch Crunch Crunch...while his smell is masked, the sounds from his size 16s are not..2 Ripper Guards hear the noise and head in Vat69's direction to investigate. Immediately Rocco the dog bolts upright and issues a thunderous bark...Josiah shoots, Jonah shoots, Arthur shoots and Vat69 charges the 2 startled Ripper guards. Crossbows tang & pipe rifles fire in the twilight and numerous Ripper guards pitch to the desert floor. Vat69 lays into 2 Ripper guards with his trusty bit of lead piping, the melee is both brutal and bloody...but once the dust clears and sounds of THUD! Aaaargh! THUD! Crack! THUD! Crunch! subside, it is the bleeding form of the green giant that emerges out of the gloom. More Rippers appear and Rocco the Dog goes into 'Savage Snarling Death' mode. The large and unusually proportioned dog streaks though the Ripper camp in a blur sending Ripper bodily parts in all directions. The human trio by the bridge decide to charge the sole remaining guard at the bridge as more Raider reinforcements begin to appear out of the buildings. The bridge guard raises his crossbow and fires at the onrushing trio. Arthur Nogardeep screams and pitchs violently into the dirt as the raider bolt shatters a bone in his right leg. Josiah & Jonah however reach the guard and quickly overpower him. Team Certain Death then run, hobble and bound over the bridge as a pack of Raiders give chase...crossbow bolts whizz all about them in the darkness. The last man over the bridge, the hobbling diminitive form of Arthur Nogardeep draws his knife and begins to slash at the ropes holding up the bridge. In short order, the material gives way and the rope bridge pitches backwards towards the raider camp. Arthur then scurries after his campanions as the Rippers shout curses and insults from across the chasm. After a little first aid and recuperation, the team continue their trek south. Another day in the hot desert brings the team together with another caravan heading south. After an uneasy standoff, Jonah explains the situation and offers himself and the rest of the team as guards for the caravan. The Caravan Master agrees after some haggling on pay and conditions but eventually Team Certain Death and the caravan head south together. Chapter Two: Team Vault The members of Team Vault (Alex(DaveG), Buster(PhilM) & B.O.X. (PhilJ) arrive at a briefing room in Vault 18 to get their 'hook' for living in the Fallout Universe. Basically it's time to leave the Vault, supplies are dwindling, remote sensors indicate background radiation levels have fallen to acceptable thresholds and it's time to get the G.E.C.K. out... ...however preliminary investigation and scouting activities performed by Vault 18's Special Forces Division suggest a BIG problem..Vault 18 lies smack bang in the middle of terrority 'terrorized' by the RIPPER Clan of Raiders. The scouts have already found the remains of Vault 17 and 16, sacked by Raider assaults... ...but all is not lost..a suitable valley has been located nearby that has natural barriers on all sides and only one solitary entrance... ..now to deploy the G.E.C.K. inside this valley and then move the entire Vault community (& equipment) to this new location without attracting the attention of the Ripper Scout packs will be nigh impossible. Even with the superior technology available to the Vault Dwellers, the Rippers have the man power to simply overpower any defenses that could be erected at the Valley entrance in the short time available before the activities of the Vault are detected by the Ripper packs. This is where the PCs come in...8-)...their mission (which they HAVE accepted) is to execute 'Operation: Illusionary Shield'. The Vault 18's AI mainframe computer has proffered the idea that if a suitable holographic projection could be displayed over the entrance to the secret valley, then this would allow the Vault community to build sizable, bunkered defenses that could resist anything that the low Tech Rippers could throw at them. So essentially, an illusion to deceive Raiders eyes whilst the valley is made impervious to assault...and the team's mission is...find this 'List of Parts' to build the Holographic Projector! (aka the bit in Beneath the Planet of the Apes 'The Forbidden Zone' illusionary thingy 8-) DM) The Vault 18 mainframe predicts a 73% possibility of sucess if the the team head south (away from Ripper Clan lands). The Vault Overseer agrees partly because everything scouted northwards leads towards the Ripper powerbase (Blood Town). So Team Vault set off, Alex Mantilla, a Male Tech Sergeant, Buster Sprocket, a Technician 3rd Class and B.O.X. (essentially a Robot CPU which can detect the presence of high tech gear within a 5 mile radius, its weighs 20 lbs and is carried by Buster..much to his chargrin). The Tech Trio are supported by a crack team of 5 (yes f-i-v-e) members of Vault 18's Crack Security Division, the legendary 'Red Shirts'...8-)..The 8 man team set off on their do-or-die-trying mission. After travelling for several days over a barren, inhospitable terrain the team settle down for a rest in a canyon complex. Here they are attacked by a RIPPER scouting pack..and shooting ensues..with casualites on both sides (Red Shirts mainly and the discovery that Alex Mantilla is in fact female!). The Caravan currently guarded by Team Certain Death (TCD) pick up the sound of shooting in the canyon complex and the Caravan Leader instructs TCD to check it out. Chapter Three: Team Certain Death V Team Vault V Ripper Clan Raiders Outnumbered, Team Vault form a rough circle and give the Ripper pack as good as it gets...humanity at it best, killing in the hot midday sun. Scores of Rippers fall for every Vault Dweller downed, as the better weaponry of Team Vault makes itself felt. Team Certain Death arrives on the scene. They spy the diminishing circle of strange blue clothed humans, surrounding by the larger circle of Ripper Clan raiders. They look at each other and discuss their options. A quick show of hands/paws settles the issue in favour of 'It's got nothing to do with us..so lets go back and report'. The shaman Josiah Sawbones hears the sound of a strange, enrapturing voice drift towards him..he stops and then turns to stare at the combatants...his senses are drawn to the nearest blue clothed human and then hypnotically to the large calibre gleaming shiny rifle he holds in this hands...thought processes within the shaman's brain are put on temporary hold..Josiah heads towards the blue clothed human with the shining rifle like a moth drawn to a nightlight... As the rest of Team Certain Death are about to head back to the caravan and report their findings their senses register that a) a wave of deep rumbling sound heading towards the firefight on the canyon floor. b) more Ripper guards (with dogs) heading in their direction and c) the disappearance of the hobbling shaman. Battle is truely joined as 3 large and cobbled together monster sand buggies drive down towards the melee. Team Vault & Team Certain Death are pitted against a Raider Mobile Hunting pack and in Josiah's case against the blue clothed human with the R-I-F-L-E! Dust from above disturbs the mediative trance of the ghoul, Agolo Griould. It watches the specks of dust settle on it's leafy exterior. It's face lifts upwards to witness the Raider shadows pass across the skylights of its abode...Hmmmmmm...... Back in the canyon....VIOLENCE!...Ripper raiders being shot, stabbed, bludgeoned & ripped apart, Vault Dweller 'Red Shirts' being incinerated by flame throwers, Monster dune buggies crashing and exploding in spectacular rolling fireballs..... Josiah has HIS shining Rifle..but also stands in front of a world of hurt... namely 4 raiders AND THEIR DOGS converging on his position. The shaman's knows his fate and decides to go out like a man...he runs like a bastad towards any kind of cover...as he lands headfirst in a patch of tumbleweed bushes, Josiah glimpses a rolling fireball buggy crash straight into the approaching pack of raiders. Man, dog and buggy disappear within the inferno. The Ghoul Agolo Griould launches himself at a passing Raider buggy and clambers aboard. The shambling entity then easily overcomes the Raider operating the flamethrower using the elements of surprise and disbelief. The raider looks at the plant monstrousity in abject terror as his life blood is suffocated out of him by the unwielding tendril around his neck. Rocco the dog, stands arm in mouth and sniffs the strange oily scent in the breeze..wow his sense of smell has returned! After determining that no more raiders require his personal attention, the stocky mutt ambles towards his master tail awagging. The remaining members of Team Vault, Buster, Alex, B.O.X. and a blinded security guard retreat to a cluster of boulders to make their valiant last stand. Buster hides behind the armour plated B.O.X.and fires his 10mm pistol like a man possessed....Alex Mantilla looks down at the two bumps on her chest and feels the lack of a bulge between her legs and then...fires her pistol like a he-woman possessed...the B.O.X. blinks a final angry salvo of dark red LEDs at the world before shutting himself down for the night. The bullets begin to richochet off it's armoured sides. The Ghoul Agolo Griould is thrown violently fowards as the dune buggy he is currently riding crashes into something..the force of the impact severs the head of the raider that was held by the ghoul's tendrils. Before he can regain his footing, the buggy then accelerates violently backwards ..sending the ghoul flying in the opposite direction. The ghoul pitches off the roof of the monster buggy and frantically grabs for a handhold...his tendrils wrap around something solid and the ghoul holds on! Vat69 emerges out of a stationary & now bloody buggy interior and immediately dives aside as another buggy crashes into it. The mutant then rolls neatly to one side (carefully so as not to damage his broken left arm) and rises to his feet in one fluid movement. He then watches the Raider driver put the buggy into reverse for another attempt to squash him....the mutant swifty runs around to the side and hurls himself at the buggy. His suffers a hard impact on the buggy's moving exterior, a little stunned the mutant's one good arm nevertheless lashes forth to try and gain a handhold...his frantically grasping fingers find nothing and the dazed mutant falls heavily to the ground... The buggy driver continues his reverse and then feels a bump under him followed by a torturous scream...in another dimesion, in a leafy surburb called Slough... Rod sits at a table with his head in his hands......the mutant known as Vat-69s bellows in agony as a big buggy tire rolls over his already broken left arm... ..there is a nasty schwelch sound.... The remaining buggy comes to a halt as smoke begins to pours out of its engine compartment. The raider driver seeing that the battle is lost, flicks a switch and then high tails it outta there. Within moments the buggy explodes into another fireball as petrol & firethrower fuel ignite in a oily fury. The battle ends. Time passes...cue sad slow music..cue slow mo shots of bruised, battered and limbless player characters...a thick dark smoke cloud hangs heavily over the canyon. The unscathed figure of Jonah Travis wanders around the battlefield to check on the status of his companions. He wanders past the scene of Josiah Sawbones amputating the shattered arm of the withering mutant Vat69...he staggers pass the modern art sculture 'A Farewell to Limbs' created by Rocco the Dog..he salutes the small form of Arthur Nogardeep, who gives a wry smile in return, as the wee man continues his plundering of the fallen. Eventaully the caravan plods into the canyon and after a quick assessment the caravan master decides that it is best if they make tracks away from this site as soon as possible. The thick black smoke issuing from the burning buggy wrecks can only alert more Ripper packs. The caravan and Team Certain Death (and surprisingly the remaining quartet of Team Vault) travel well into the night to put as much distance between themselves and the scene of the raider battle...Rocco occassionally senses that something is amiss...but his investigations always lead to some desert bush, which still possesses his scent so nothing to worry about. At around mindnight the caravan arrives at the Village of Arroyo, and the caravan master instructs everyone to rest and get some sleep. He states that the village marks the end of the Ripper Clan terrority and that they are now relatively safe from attacks. FIN