New Vegas - Nicholas Adventures

Nicholas' journal – Entry 1

Family was attacked coming in to the area outside of New Vegas. Strange people in some kind of leather skirts and spears. But they also used guns and lasers. They slaughtered the entire caravan and left me for dead. Both legs broken, and laying still under a body until they left.

With both legs broken I had to crawl to a nearby camp, where the NCR seemed less than eager to help. Only because I had the 75 caps did their doctor even look at my legs. No food or water and none to be sold so I had to steal some. Not my greatest moment and I'm sure my family wouldn't be happy, but... they may not be alive. I didn't take the time to search the wreckage for each body before I went for help.

I did go back though, and most of the bodies were gone. Probably taken by those horrid cat things or the coyotes. Either way, not much left there. While I was looking another patrol from those leather clad idiots came by and I had to run. I guess they didn't like the idea of running in the heat so I managed to shake them. From there I caught a ride to Good Springs, the place my family was headed.

No sign of my family in Good Springs, and I took so long to get there that if they had lived they would have been there already. Unless those legion guys enslaved them. I heard they do that, on my ride over. Some Roman history wannabes. Horrid people.

So after looking around Good springs and hanging out for a while, I finally packed up, sold what I could scavenge then made my way down the road towards the NCR outpost to ask for help. On the way I found a small pair of casinos thick with the raiders and thugs and the NCR sitting across a big ditch made by some road underpass just... sitting there. I asked them for help and the NCR basically said to me no, you do whatever we are too few to do anything.

So far the only folks to help me out have been the people of Good Springs and they didn't do much, and some guys calling themselves the powder gangers. Not sure what they were about but some shot at me, some didn't. I was able to steal some food and supplies from one of their camps when no one was there.  Again, not happy about it but...

So I got a laser pistol from one of the dead bodies I found from a fight between that group, the Powder Gangers and some other gang that seems to call themselves the jaguars or something silly like that. In any case I took what I could from those bodies and that is what I sold in Good Springs, but I kept the laser pistol. Good thing too. I had to fight my way to the Vic and Vance casino, I think that was the name, but the sign was so broken who knows.

I was hoping to find help but I had to kill a few of those gang guys and even rescued the deputy. He was more than useless and they were asking for a sheriff. They had a robot around and I had found an old magazine that said how to flip the right switches to change it to a law bot, and so with some of that... now they have a sheriff and the town is gang free. Then this guy Steve asks if I want to help him rebuild the second casino...

Now I'm not sure why he'd ask a kid but I get the feeling out here in the wastes near New Vegas, someone my age isn't really seen as a kid so much as a guy who can hide better, stay unseen but carries less. So I guess that is for the best as they seem to be treating me as an adult, for the most part. Anyway, I said I'd help him, not like the NCR camp was going anywhere and the NCR seems pretty useless so far.

Anyway phase one meant I had to go back to the previously gang infested casino and find some old blue prints then find a sheriff. Well, the blueprints were easy to find and I already had gotten them a sheriff so I figure all is good. Only now he wants me to go get him some lights all the way from right near down town New Vegas, and there's no caravan headed /that/ way now. And the short cut is apparently infested with powder gangers, who now don't like me quite as much I fear after I killed those guys at the casino, and some kind of monsters, if the people of Good Springs were to be believed.

Anyway, so I decided to go down to the NCR outpots to see if I could find a caravan going to New Vegas... and what do I find? A dozen of the jaguar gang guys sitting there just outside of the NCR camp across from the casinos doing some kind of initiation I guess. I mean they couldn't have been more than 100 feet from the NCR and even after I had to use dynamite they never came out to even look let alone help. It was a hard fight, and I got pretty beat up, but the gangers all are dead or ran away. I had to head back to the casino though, got to rest up, getting to that NCR outpost is going to be harder than I thought... hope things improve.

Sure hope someone in my family lived...

Nicholas' Journal – Entry 2

I made it to the NCR outpost, but had to fight through a few groups of gangers. Looks like the powder gangers were fighting with some new gang called the jackals, and neither side was playing nice. I was going to avoid them but... food was low and I need any ammo I can get so I tried to wait until they were done fighting then took out the two that were left. Was a mess...

The Jackals seem to be making some kind of old road side police station their home, found them living with those big mantis bug things, right in the same rooms. Wonder if they had them as some kind of strange pet. They also had some settler in a jail cell, but they left him as food for the mantis guys. I took care of the mantis, and the two Jackals inside. They were new recruits or something compared to those outside.... but still messy and I'm not liking all this death. Or... well, wasn't but then things got worse.

So as I said, I was heading to the NCR I made my way past a highway full of broken down cars and trucks, and rusted out, with some minor hidden supplies, but I couldn't help think that all this rusted metal, they could build walls or at least clear the road for caravans but no, they just sit there rusting and wearing away in this horrible sandy wind that keeps whipping up. Trying to travel at night helps some but not enough.

I finally made it to the NCR Mojave outpost, and was pretty banged up. I was eager to find a doctor, only to find that in the entire NCR outpost there wasn't a single doctor. It was a way station for people all over, had barracks, had a bar, had places for caravans to rest, but not a single doctor or medic!! I couldn't believe it! I tried to get some rest, asked for help, but as usual the NCR was useless.

In fact one of them asked /me/ to help /her/! Something about a town called Nipton and some smoke. Boy was that a mistake, but more on that later. First I had to head all the way back to Good Springs as it was the only place I knew for sure had a doctor, and even he charged. But it was better than having my hand rot away cause I didn't get it fixed up right. So... after a long walk back to Good Springs I decided to try to go see the mess in Nipton.

I got side tracked by a race track! Well, what was left of one, only it was infested with ants the size of a brahman! Found some old sacks which were likely left because no one wanted to fight the ants. To be honest I regretted stumbling across them by the time I was done but at least they didn't throw dynamite at me or anything. And as long as the wind kept down a bit I could see them coming pretty easy.

That's when everything turned south. Not actually south but I was trying to get back from the race track to the road to Nipton. The roads tend to be a /tad/ safer from what I can tell. So that was my plan. I even saw a building or two, or at least the ruins of them, near the road like a rest stop or something.

From this point on I can only describe that I am going to call the Nipton Massacre. As I got close to the house remains, I heard gun fire. I tried to sneak up and got shot at! I was already out in the open as I came in from the sand flats of the race track. So the only way to get cover was to get closer to the buildings. I tried to hide and listen but someone spotted me. I got shot a few times and saw lots of people shooting at each other just as a sand storm came up.

Seeing someone in the sand and dust I shot, only to realize I just shot an NCR ranger! Or... well, an NCR something or other! Fortunately I don't think he saw me and I know I didn't take him down, but... well, he didn't live. No one did, other than me at that Nipton Road rest stop. I almost died, ended up throwing down a few land mines and running so that when they followed me they blew up, but even then it was /really/ close going. By my count there were Powder Gangers, Jackal Gangers, Legion Raiders and NCR troops all fighting at this one spot. They mostly killed each other but I was really hurt bad.

 I tried to rest, but my body was so banged up, it was worse than the legion left me for dead as, only this time I was alive cause well, I was the only one who survived! I took what I could from some bodies, but I couldn't carry much with how hurt I was. And none of them had medical supplies on them. Not a one! I was about to stagger back to Good Springs, again the only place with a decent doctor who would work on me (yeah he charged but what can you do?) when some woman comes up and starts babbling about did I see that guy who tried to kill her and how he must have been after something or other... star bottle caps.

I was so out of it I basically told her to go away, and she started to, then turned and yelled something about how I would learn my lesson... and fired on me. Here I am, not really able to stand, beaten up, bleeding out and she turns to fire on me. I'm not sure how I lived. But I manged to get a shot on her and crawl around one of the building walls. Then I used a grenade I got from one of the bodies I had just searched and managed to just barely take her out, or... well, I don't know, I think I barely hit her with the grenade but that's not really an 'almost' thing. Cause if you hit you /really/ hit.

Anyway, she had some stupid star caps, I took those then headed back to Good Springs.

I had to rest there a bit but finally made my way back, the bodies were gone, probably those stupid ants or something ate them, but after that I made my way up to Nipton itself.

There outside Nipton was some Powder Ganger who spotted me and started to wave and jump around. Worried he was trying to alert other gangers, I shot him before I could get too close to him. He didn't even have a gun, just some lottery ticket. The town was in flames, bodies everywhere and I could see at one end of the town some legion guys. So I carefully picked my way around town to get a look.

I managed to find a good spot and... using that rifle Sunny gave me I picked the Legion guys off one by one. By the time they spotted me only a few were left and I took them out before they could get to me. I hope my sister saw that from heaven and smiled... I had to think, this one is for you sis. After seeing what these guys do to their prisoners I kinda hope she's dead and not a slave. If she is a slave and suffering? I'm gonna find a way to have a word with that stupid Ceaser guy one way or another, mark my word.

So with all the legion dead, I approached the town hall to see what was going on, and if anyone was alive? Only to have some big wig legion guy come out and tell me he would leave me alive to tell the world what had happened there to scare people of the legion... Apparently he missed me killing a dozen of his men and the few attack dogs. He didn't seem to realize he was the last one left standing.

He insulted me, told me I was basically too pathetic and that all will suffer at the hands of the Legion, then simply turned his back and walked away.

I feel bad for what I did next. I mean, I don't really feel /bad/ but I do? It's hard to explain but I was so angry, so mad.... And he just turned his back, like I was trash, not even worth a bullet? Well, let's put it this way, he won't be reporting back to the Legion anytime soon. Maybe that will be a lesson to the Legion for a change.
Still, I can't help but wonder, what the heck is the NCR doing out here?  I found nearly a dozen of the NCR guys dead in some crude hotel, and when I went back to the Mojave NCR outpost to tell them what happened they were shocked the Legion were this far in from the river but... seemed like they weren't going to do anything about it.

So there they sit at the outpost, not moving the cars to build defenses, not scouting to find the Legion and those scouts they did send out got in a three way fight with the Legion and 2 other gangs and not one lived. What is going on here? How can this be the way of New Vegas? Someone has to bring order here, and clearly the Legion are too brutal and the NCR are too... lazy? Apathetic? I don't even know. And I wouldn't leave any of this to the gangs, not one seems sane. Too much Jet or something?

So... after I heal up in Good Springs, yet again, I plan on heading out and seeing what is past Nipton. Someone some where has to be doing /something/ to make this a better place. Someone has to have the fire power to stop the Legion and the gangs or something!?

Nicholas' Journal – Entry 3

After some rest in Good Springs I stopped by Prim on my way back to Nipton and beyond. There I found an old eye-bot that was broken. I was able to tinker with it and now I guess I have a bit of a friend. A boy and his bot? Not quite a perfect story but he seems friendly and has a laser. Also he seems pretty good at helping me spot threats so I am glad to have him. His name is ED-E or something. I wish I knew more about him, maybe I'll figure out more later.

After that visit to Prim and my trip to Nipton with little happening I tried the road out of Nipton towards New Vegas. Or at least I think it is the road. Only it was through a narrow canyon. I was suspicious and kept an eye out.

Thanks to ED-E I was able to spot a few gangers laying in wait before they saw me. I used a varmint rifle and tried to pick off a couple. I didn't kill them but got their attention. They came down a ridge and I lost track of them, only to hear them yell as they were taken out by some huge wild Brahman, I think, from the sound. I didn't go look and they didn't show up again.

The road was land mined and there were other snipers out there. After a lot of back and forth and a car blowing up and nearly killing me I finally was safe, for the moment. ED-E did a lot of the work though to be fair. I got hurt pretty early on. I guess the bot is really going to help a lot.

After the gangers were taken care of I tried to move on, only to spot a group of Legion Assassins, who not only were on patrol but when they spotted me they charged and even seemed to know who I was. Maybe someone in Nipton got away and told them?

Anyway, I'm worried cause they kept showing up over and over. I had to retreat all the way back to the Mojave outpost of the NCR. The Legion was willing to come to the base of the hill there but not up it, guess they still have /some/ fear of the NCR. But it kept me kinda bottled up. I asked the NCR for help but all I got was a job to go kill some ants? Left me scratching my head.

So I went to take care of the ants and there were the Legion assassins, still trying to get to me. I did what I could but we had multiple encounters. I got the bad end each time. But finally they stumbled into the very ants I was told to take out... my luck! With them distracted by the ants I was able to finally take the few that lived through that out. There was even a note on one of them with instructions to kill /me/.

I guess killing all those legion guys at Nipton was a bad idea. I mean, not so much a bad idea as bad that they know. If they keep sending kill squads after me I don't know what I'll do. I can't face them one on one, at least not yet.

Still I got rid of the ants, the immediate Legion threat is over and I hope to move past Nipton finally in the coming days. ED-E and I are trying to get as ready as we can, I need better weapons and armor if I'm going to survive. I only hope I can make it to the next big town. I need to find out more about the Legion and what the NCR is and isn't doing. There has to be /someone/ who can help me....

Nicholas' Journal – Entry 4

So been a bit since I wrote... had to check where I left off.

I wound up back at Good Springs and thought I'd try to help Sunny and her dog out, and when I found out that someone there might need help and Sunny wanted to help them, I offered to gather the town folk together. Seems some caravan guy was being hunted by the powder gangers. So... we put up some defenses and waited for them to come.

Six gangers showed up, and I thought things went pretty well. I was fine, no one else got hurt but the six attackers, only... then I found Sunny and the dog to the side of the road in a ditch. Turns out she ran up ahead and one of the sticks of dynamite must have landed right in her lap. I was pretty upset about the whole thing. I made sure no one else was hurt but... decided to get out of Good Springs right then.

Plus now I'm really starting to dislike the powder ganger guys.

After that I decided I'd try to get past Nipton again, figuring maybe the guys there, the legion patrols would be gone. I didn't make it more than 100 yards down the road from Nipton before another legion raid showed up. I avoided them mostly then got down the road another 300 yards maybe before I heard gun fire. I used my scope to see what I could see and...

Well, let's just say the NCR may /claim/ they have the legion in check? But they don't. Not even close. Three guys were at a sand bag blockade and something like a dozen legion tore them apart. I managed to snipe off a few from a distance and thought I was safe, sneaking up to see what I could find on the bodies of the dead, cause I was running low on ammo.

That's when ED-E pointed out a huge group of Legion guys. That dozen I was talking about, in a compound just around the bend on the road. They had some kind of camp and they must have spotted ED-E. A Flying eyebot is hard to miss I suppose. Anyway, by the time that was over I was half dead but a lot of legion folk were twice that. Which is to say I don't think any escaped this time... or hope not.

I managed to spot a caravan just past that point, although how they got by the legion I'll never know. Maybe they bribed their way past? The caravan did hit a patrol of /something/. I never got a good look cause the mercs with the caravan basically blew whoever it was to bits.

I did some light trading with the guys, mostly for medical supplies then tried to follow them down the road. Yet ANOTHER legion patrol spotted us but with the mercs I was able to stay out of the main line of fire.

Found a place called Ranger Camp Charlie just off the road then, looked like NCR, flags and all. Walled place for a change, figured it might be safe, but as I ran around inside the walls looking all I found were empty cots and left over things like they /had/ been there but were gone now.

One building was intact and inside was some NCR guy. I figure he must have been insane now, looking back, cause he kept saying the other NCR guys were just out on patrol. I hadn't seen a single patrol of NCR, but a lot of Legion. He kept saying how the rangers were out on the road between that camp and a place called NoVac.

I just left the guy, and tried to get to NoVac. Believe it or not I could see NoVac from the top of one of the old rusted out cars inside the wall of the camp. So I figured if the NCR rangers were patrolling that bit, we'd be fine, ED-E and I.

Well, 4 more Legion guys attacked me before I could get to NoVac. That's how bad it is. Saw no sign of NCR troops but got to NoVac and even had the caps for a hotel room, with running water and everything! A chance to rest at last I figure.

So I go talk to one of the guys who might have spotted say legion guys with slaves (like my family) or something and he says he'll help me if I help him, seems some ghouls had set up shop in an old rocket launch place down the road from NoVac. It was away from the river so I hoped that meant no Legion over that way.

Found a lot of dead bodies on my way to the ruins, then found some ghouls wandering outside. I had a scope on my varmint rifle and picked them off one by one from afar before heading into the building.

Inside I found some idiot talking to me on an intercom. Telling me to go find him somewhere in the building. Didn't mention there were ghouls all over the place. Finally found him only to discover that more ghouls were upstairs! Only these ghouls were able to talk, and act normal. Never met a 'normal' ghoul before. Was really weird, like some kind of cult following some ghoul who glowed brightly.

Turns out the ghouls were trying to get on some rockets to go /somewhere/. Something about a promised land. Only some NightKin had moved into the basement. He called them demons but later I found out they are called nightkin. Some huge brutes, blue and can turn invisible I guess. Anyway I'm gonna shorten this cause basically I had to clear all them out, and then the ghouls said they needed things before they could leave.

So I was off to find some fuel and some old scavenged parts for them... and finally they left. In the rockets no less... so I go back to NoVac to tell the guy and what does he say? He says he knows some guys who might know something, but they are down in a place called Boulder City. Can't be the real one cause that's in Colorado, I remember that from school back home.

Anyway, I was a bit annoyed and then found some guy in town there, if you can call it a town, an old retired ranger, who wanted me to go back and check on outpost Charlie, the one with that one insane guy?

So I wander back to talk to him, figuring I already cleared out the legion. Ha! Two more patrols attacked me. Without ED-E I'd have been dead for sure. We get to the outpost and find several NCR guys dead inside, with traps /everywhere/. I took what I could and made for the hills. As I was leaving two NCR guys just walk down the road happy as you please, ignore me and head into the outpost. Deciding I didn't want them to think I did it or anything I made for NoVac to tell the old Ranger. He wasn't happy but... gave me some caps for my troubles.

Yeah, so a lot going on....

Nicholas' Journal – Entry 5

So I decided to continue down the road from NoVac, there was some big strange buildings on the left of the road down a bit so I headed over there, anything to keep me from the river side of the road. There I found something called the Posiden energy company. May be spelling that wrong. Anyway, more NCR people than I have seen anywhere other than the Mojave Outpost all standing around guarding this place and complaining how so many were called to other forts. I'm thinking that can't be right, this was the biggest fighting force I'd seen so far!

Anyway, turns out the NCR knows me well enough they let me in to poke around. Found some moron thinking he was a big scientist and some guy who worked for something called the Followers of the Apocalypse. Anyway turns out the place is this big solar power thing. And the records there talked about some kind of super weapon. The guy from the FoA, short hand, asked if I could fix things up so more power went all over but the weapon wouldn't work.

Also there were notes about two other 'military' complexes nearby. So I marked those on my map. May go looking there later.

So I go into the 'highly dangerous' main building to try to fix the power tower. A bunch of robots and turrets but ED-E and some plasma grenades that were laying around made short work of /that/ group.

Fixed up the tower, sent the power all over, and made it so the weapon wouldn't work. Not sure what it would do but didn't sound good whatever it was. And I doubt I would have been able or let allowed to control it so better no one has it. Odds are if they found out about it the Legion would storm the place and then those idiots would use it against New Vegas. Which would be bad if I ever got there!!!

So...

Leaving the power place I tried to get back to the main road. I found the Jaugar gang main hideout, the hard way. And just as I cut down the last of those outside I get hit by a Legion assassin squad!! I took them out too. I'm losing count of the number I've killed. I think this is a bad thing.

Anyway, I was pretty messed up, so I saw a gas station and tried to get down there. Looked like some prospectors through my scope so I hoped they would have water or bandages or something... I get down there and what happens? Yet ANOTHER legion assassin squad!?! This time they really beat me up. And... ED-E blew up. I tried to save him, but he wasn't just broken but blew up. He saved me so many times, I guess I never thought he would just... go pop like a balloon at some point. The Legion were dead and I managed to crawl inside the gas station for the night, used some stimpaks and a doctor's bag and wished the day would just go away.

I miss ED-E.

Nicholas' Journal – Entry 6

Another bright day in the desert. I have to say it looks a lot less friendly without ED-E at my side. I looked over the scrap in the bright light of day, and there's no way I can fix him. I'm sorry ED-E.

I moved on, following what that guy in NoVac said about Boulder City, and found it, surrounded by scorpions but that's not so bad compared to the Legion. Turns out the city was some big site of a fight between the Legion and NCR and the NCR won. Better yet the NCR has a base there so the Legion wasn't going to attack me.

I tracked down where the guys might be that knew something about the guys who attacked my family. Turns out my dad was carrying a chip of some kind. Now there is some confusion cause everyone seems to think /I/ was the one carrying it. Maybe they figured that someone gave it to a kid thinking it would be safe? I dunno. But I found out that a guy named Benny might be involved and that he was over in New Vegas.

Got all this info from some guys who were like tribal guys? Only not so sure. Anyway, I helped talk down a bad situation between them and the NCR, and then the NCR says they have to kill the guys anyway. I talked the officer into letting them go. We had a deal in good faith after all!! Stupid NCR.

So trying to get from Boulder City to New Vegas I run into some woman with a power fist thing and wearing a hooded robe. She's awful talkative and... after a while asks if she can join me. Now I'm not so sure at first but after losing ED-E I really need someone to travel with. It's hard traveling alone.

So together we headed to New Vegas as best as we could. Found the NCR in a big fight with some group called the Fiends. Veronica, turns out she's with something called the Brotherhood, knew the fiends, said they were a particularly bad group of gang guys who used a LOT of chems and drugs.

So that was fun. Not really but... yeah. Anyway. Let the NCR do most of the dirty work on that.

Then just outside of the outside of the outside of New Vegas I find a gun shop and factory. Bot locked in a bullet proof box and all kinds of strangeness but he's able to sell me some ammo and things. Gotta come back there, something called the Gun Runners? If I had more caps I could have really stocked up.

Then I made it into the real outskirts of New Vegas, and what do I see? Homeless people on the street, a crazed guy attacks me out of the blue with a knife? A few shops that sell weapons and stuff but nothing like what the Gun Runners had. Found the FoA head quarters too, a bunch of doctors and stuff. Might try to talk to them more later.

I finally made my way to the front gate of New Vegas, figuring I could go inside and talk around to see if anyone knew anything about my family. But... turns out some huge bots blocked the way and killed anyone who got too close to the door without showing a lot of caps. I think I have enough but saw a group to one side of the gate, so went to talk to them. Turns out it was a bunch of the FoA guys helping some of the homeless people in what they call Freeside?

Guess they aren't so bad after all... maybe I should try to help them more.

So not sure, go back and help the FoA? Try to get into New Vegas? Or try to find that bunker place we read about in the power station. Cause I have a hunch that might be where the brotherhood are hiding out, and that means Veronica might be able to get me an in. And I hear they have all kinds of really high tech armor and weapons and to be honest? I'm feeling like I could really use something like that right now.