A ghoul in a well tailored suit ushers me and Goris into the main meeting room in the Oklahoma state capital. The name of the city is 'First People's Junction', which… Honestly sounds a bit Canadian to me. Referring to the pre-European inhabitants of America as 'First People' is a Canadian thing, isn't it? The former state capital Oklahoma City was hit by Chinese nuclear weapons during the Great War and… The population of the area is around twenty thousand now, but in the immediate aftermath of the War when people in this region were trying to work out where they were going to start rebuilding it would have been far too dangerous. There was a Vault to the north of here, but it was one of the experiment ones and only a small fraction of those inside survived.
Anyone care to give us newbies a
brief rundown on Vaults? I know they were large-scale, long-occupancy bomb-shelters but that's about it...
The four people I'm here to meet stand as I enter. General George Harrison is a ghoul. He was a Adjutant General in the Oklahoma National Guard before the War and as far as my sources have been able to tell he's spent most of the intervening period at the head of a ghoul war band picking fights with everyone for the sake of having something to do. He's wearing a battered and faded field uniform, and given his general mental state there's a good chance that it's the one he died in.
...There are actual zombies wandering about? And some
keep their human intellect? This world gets stranger and stranger...
Ms. Lushanya Harjo is wearing a well tailored riff on what I imagine was the traditional garb of one of the Great Plains Federation tribes. She herself was the leader of the Chicasaw-Muscogee Coalition and ran a casino prior to General Harrison conquering the Federation a little over a year ago. Now she still runs a casino but works directly for the President, so I guess the only real change is that her office moved slightly down the hall. Her husband, know to the people of the region as 'Mr. Entertainment', sits next to her. His suit is an exquisite replica of pre-war fashion and his… Somehow still independent people called 'The Tubeheads' inhabit the land just to the south of here. They're famous for their skills as entertainers and electronic engineers and they somehow managed to convince both Oklahoma and Texas to guarantee their independence.
They must have
amazing diplomacy stats in-game...
And the woman at the head of the table and focus of General Harrison's barely audible muttering, President Nguyen. She served as his field commander for years until his decision to go to war with the Chicasaw-Muscogee Coalition prompted her to quit. When he decided to hold an election after the war they remembered her opposition and elected her instead of him, much to his apparent surprise.
It should be noted that the ghouls here follow his orders because they don't have any better ideas, not because they think he's particularly clever.
After all, if it ain't broke, why fix it. I'm guessing he still holds the military position because of that.
"Madam President, Ms Harjo, Mister Entertainment, General Harrison."
President Nguyen leans across the table to shake my hand.
"Are you allowed to call me that?"
Well, until they unite with other reformed nations, they're still individual countries...
"I still call the leader of the New California Republic President Kimball. So unless Grant Hayes wins the next election I'm probably alright calling state leaders 'President' rather than 'Governor'."
She nods, then sits back down as Ms. Harjo takes my hand.
I'm guessing Hayes has opinions on the title, or about Krono?
"Mister Krono. Welcome to Oklahoma."
"It's good to be here, Ms Harjo. Or is it Missus Entertainment?"
That's quite a mouthful. But if you think about it, it's appropriate, given her status as a Casino owner... That
would have to be a major form of entertainment out here...
Her husband smiles with.. worryingly white teeth as she shakes her head.
"No, we kept our names. I'm happy to leave the studio to my husband."
I'm guessing they're fake. Unless there's some nigh-magical old tech he's using for dental care...
Who is the next to take my hand, clasping it in both of his and smiling warmly. Something I've noticed about the strange little tribes who focus on one aspect of old world culture; they get almost supernaturally good at it. The Tubeheads -even just regular townspeople- are strangely charismatic, the Hangdogs can command dogs better than any dog trainer I've ever seen, the people of Two Sun are amazing drivers and I hear there's a bunch of weirdoes in Roswell with actual psychic powers.
It's as if each tribe has its own kind of psychic powers...
Or the developers wanted them to be
outstanding at their chosen quirky specialisation...
"And speaking of my studio, is there any chance you'll have time to drop by later?"
"I'd be delighted to. I know how slow news travels these days, and I'd be happy to update your viewers on current affairs."
That would be amusing. An OL interview, but through a post-apocalyptic lens...
I turn to General Harrison, ready to shake his hand as well. But his attention is focused on the robe-shrouded Goris.
"The hell 're you supposed to be?"
Boy, I can't
imagine why his people voted him out, if this is his typical attitude...
"This is Goris. He's my cultural attaché."
His hood nods. "This is my third time in Oklahoma. You once had an entire machine gun platoon try and kill me."
And from context, it sounds like that's not as big a threat as it might be, given
Zombies.
General Harrison nods. "Did it work?"
"They successfully tried. And Miss Harjo, I seem to recall that I had the pleasure of meeting your grandfather. Very few hotels are prepared to accommodate people like me and I remember his hospitality fondly."
Bet that's one hell of a family yarn... Likely every descendant knows it by heart...
"Grandpa didn't ever mention having a super mutant guest. The only-." She blinks, his eyes widening. "No."
President Nguyen raises her eyebrows. "Anya?"
"Grandpa had a crazy story about a… Talking Deathclaw who stayed in the hotel after defending a caravan from some raiders."
Oh, yeah, Goris is the local equivalent of a dragon, isn't he?
Goris extends his right fore claw our of his sleeve and pushes back his hood.
"The bed was the wrong shape for me, but the food and service were excellent."
Cue panicked screaming in 3... 2...
President Nguyen and Ms. Harjo freeze, something which Goris has told me only makes Deathclaws lose interest if someone else doesn't, because they're all intelligent enough to know that it's the people who haven't frozen that you need to attack first.
Mr. Entertainment grins, his eyes lighting up in excitement. "Do you have an agent, Mister Goris?"
...To be fair, I doubt
anything would flap him. You could have Krona float in as a zombie and he'd probably ask if he could
sing...
"I'm afraid that I'm not interested in a career in entertainment. Though I am happy to give interviews… Just so long as there isn't a live audience."
"No?"
Too much tempting, tasty flesh in one place?
Goris shuffles bashfully.
"I get nervous when people stare at me."
I can just imagine him becoming the star of a cartoon series in-universe... He's adorable.
Ms. Harjo is just staring. "You're a Talking Deathclaw."
"I prefer 'Intelligent Deathclaw'."
After all, talking can be mimicked. Just look at all those cats and dogs...
"I thought your species were myths."
"We are. We're also real. Like the
wendigos of Appalachia. Though we taste better."
Yes, as if the deep woods
wasn't terrifying enough...
President Nguygen takes a deep breath and forces herself to relax.
"While I'm sure this will make for a fascinating interview, that isn't why you wanted to meet with us."
Indeed, the byplay is
fascinating but... Business, please.
I nod. "True." I pull a map out of my robe and telekinetically lay it flat on the table between us. My best understanding of the current borders of the nations of the wasteland are marked on it, as well as major troop deployments. It's fairly accurate as far as the Legion is concerned, but there's more guesswork in Shale's Army territory than I really like. "This is the current state of play. I'm confident that the forces the NCR has at its disposal will be sufficient for pushing back the Legion forces along our border. As far as they're concerned, all we really want you to do is to keep doing what you're doing now; fortifying your border with Lanius and presenting a threat in being."
And I bet it looks like the ingame map from Old World Blues?
Assuming that's what
prior pics of the locations involved were generated from...
"You're really that confident?"
I pull out a holotape and side it over.
"A recording of our last battle. It turns out that football jerseys don't stop machinegun fire. Plus, I am psychic."
Wow, no wonder the Legion relies on numbers. I'm betting they'll eventually win any war of attrition. Because it doesn't really matter how much better your soldiers are trained or equipped when they can throw away ten soldiers to kill one of yours and still come out with
less wastage.
She nods as General Harrison grabs the tape. "We have psychics, too. And they think they know why Lanius's forces haven't advanced further east."
"Because he wants Santa Ana to weaken Texas first?"
And then someone else swoops in on the exhausted armies. It's a tactic as old as time.
"The Chained Choir don't think it's that simple. They've been getting almost constant premonitions of doom. They think that something is being born in Los, and that it will '
consume the world'. My own spies in Lanius's forces say that they aren't advancing because they're under constant attack by super mutants." She points to the map. "Lanius had an army here. Where is it now?"
"I don't know. And I think I need to talk to the Choir in person."
Good thing they're not an
invisible choir... Krono isn't
nearly as hard to kill as Paragon OL is... Also, that video...
What. Just...
What.
