Memoirs of a New Vegas Bitch, Part 9

A more boring update. In fact, I'd almost call it a shopping trip update, which is rarely that enthralling, but since I didn't really buy anything, we can consider it more foreshadowing, or something.



Round the corner, and the tower that marks New Vegas is clear for all to see. We won't be getting lost, thats for sure.

I'm walking right past a semi-important location, a highway bridge with some interesting characters dotted around, but I decided not to bother with them this time. Perhaps at a later stage.




Not much to see as the land flattens out, a few rusty shacks, and this railway depot with a building in the middle.



Hello....



Not much, but an interesting find. I have to wonder if someones in this building now.



Hmm...Guess so.






Oh christ, I found a bunch of Hero Doctors. Guh. I almost feel ill.



Ok, geniuses, how are you going to save everyone in the wasteland when you have no medical supplies and no food? Is that why you're ok with having just one guard? Because you don't even have anything to steal?

Gah, I'm getting out of here before the Kindness Radiation starts to mutate me.

Down the road, I find a little 'whistlestop cafe', made up of two stalls and a campfire. You'd think they'd at least break into the boarded-up house behind them for shelter, but apparently no, they're happy to use it as an oversized billboard (of which there are no lack of proper ones).




Yeah, I'm already overpacked with tins of pork'n'beans, I think I'd rather have something that goes bang in a different way.



Ok. Anyone else of use, or are they all inside the city walls?



Swell. Here, take all this shitty NCR money I've had in my back pocket, I'll need the caps far more than that stuff. And what about you, Ms Lupe?




Uh, yeah, I'll be fine, I've picked up enough water to keep me going. And besides, I'd need to know your supply...




I keep forgetting that most people have a crippling fear of walking more than half a mile from their huts.

But yeah, I guess thats a legitimate source, but you do wonder if its something in the water that makes the NCR into such pussies.

She says a few more things, about the big water shipments being handled by the Crimson Caravan Company,  there being drugged-up tribals called Fiends operating out of a local vault (huge shock), and the NCR having a big base in a nearby airport, but none of it seems relevant when I'm this close to Benny and his date with 2 lovely curvaceous lead slugs. So I hit the road again.

On my last playthrough, I ended up in a shootout with Legion Assassins here, and Fitz got gunned down in the crossfire. Lupe ran for cover, then when I'd killed all the Legion, she walked right back to her stall, completely ignoring the body of her business partner and possible lover, lying headless 5 feet away. I do wonder about the AI in this game, at times.




The local billboards boast of coming attractions. It seems New Vegas caters to both kinds of classy.



Oh boy, I can't wait to get there.



Hmm, heres an odd walled-off fortress. Wonder if theres anything worth it inside.



Not the most impressive place, but theres life, of a sort. Lets see what this NCR mook has to say.




Oh right, I heard something about there being an entry fee or something. Well, I'll deal with that later. After I see if this is as bad a shithole as he makes it sound.



Er, I'm not sure I have any ghouls in the family, at least not on my mothers side....But general info on the place would be nice.





You're their doctor? I'm not sure I'd want a doctor who can barely feel pain and doesn't have as many functioning organs as I do....



Oh, those guys...Well, I guess its certainly...noble, in a way. Like a white knight, tilting at windmills.



Yeah, well some of us try to be better than that.

Geh, lessee whats inside the Buildings that aren't just part of the barricade.



This is apparently where they ...just leave guns lying around to take.





Along with ammo. And anti-addiction medication. And drugs to take to get addicted all over again.
.
.
.
Yoink!

I get into the next room and apparently the clock has just hit wake-up time for the residents AI schedule, because they all get up in perfect synchronisation. Its more than a little creepy.




Huh, you're the only one dressed in something other than rags, you must be important. Or just better at living around here, which is an uncommon skill.



Eh....if you make your living helping people 'win a little cash', then I figure I'll be better off not trying my luck just yet.



Somehow I doubt that.



The others have nothing to say, being alternately rude and dismissive of me, despite most of them looking like they're a square meal and a hit of jet away from committing suicide.




I decide to speed this process along by stealing all the food and drugs in the building. Its only going to waste here.

Rebound is a wierd drug thats supposed to boost your rate of regaining Action Points, but is apparently misprogrammed and simply adds a small amount instead. One to sell, I think.




As I wander through the place and take everything, which the dazed occupants either not noticing me or not caring, I find one desk without the usual stoner detritus all over it. Inside I find a collection of novelty playing cards, including several which look like they've been marked subtely. I guess thats how Keith makes his living.

This desk is the one thing in this building thats marked as owned, making it stand out like a sore thumb.
Finding these cards is supposed to trigger a sidequest where you show them to Captain Parker outside and he goes to arrest Keith, netting you a small reward, but the trigger is twitchy, and the dialogue option didn't show up for me. I guess I was supposed to ask Parker if anything wierd was going on first, but again, Latooni does not care.
I still take all the cards, even though they're basically useless to me. Thats roleplaying, children.


So far this place was been full of useful items and terrible people. It might be worth checking out this tent as well.



Tell me if you're worth talking to, for one.



Why'd you come out of California and the protection of the NCR's elite soldiers?




Oh boy, I gotta hear this. For the gristly details if nothing else.



With an imposing man like you, with your 200-year-old rusty rifle and 3 rounds of ammo, wearing  a whole 3 layers of cotton? I'm surprised they came within a mile of you! But then again, you were apparently taking the scenic route, they might have tried to take you by surprise as you went sightseeing.




I'm including this screen to make it crystal clear the game did not give me an option to just keep mocking him and/or walk away laughing.


So, if an enterprising young woman, seeking compensation for some heroics of a more practical nature, were to go looking for them, where might she want to go?



Hey, I'm sure the NCR is doing everything they can. Its just that thats a shockingly limited amount.





Eh, if I'm ever in the area, I guess.



In the meantime, I have to do my part in purifying the wasteland, by making sure that the withdrawal symptoms and malnutrition I'm engineering don't get solved by modern medicine.

One last building to check, looks like they keep most of the food here.



What a thing to find behind a locked door. Not that I can blame the girl, seeing how this park turned out.



Yeah, these delicious drugs need to go to a better cause.



Ah nuts, now I have a souvenir to remember this place. Goddammit.



Well, we're definitely still in NCR territory, even this close to the city.



They even have farmers here, using all the water they've been pumping. They really are serious about expanding into here...or they would be if they could actually protect their claim.



Ah-hah!! Civilisation at last!!!



Ok. I've heard good things about you people, I'd like to know more about who you are.




Ooh, nice!! Any chance of a tour of the factory? Maybe some free samples?




Rats. Still, makes sense, can't blame them for being logical.



I'd just like to take a moment to point out this fourth-wall-breaking piece of kit. After many complaints of companions getting lost or stuck in world geometry or simply dissappearing, and being unable to be dismissed so you can get others, Bethesda patched in two special terminals that let you completely reset companions so you can find them again or get new ones. They were placed in the two locations in the game players were expected to visit the most: The special Lucky 38 player accomodation, and here, the most important store in the game.




Ok...So you're in this seperate shack, disconnected from the actual factory, and have to do everything through these double-airlocks in the side?



I suppose...Man, they take security serious around here. Well, lets see the goodies...



Ah, a classic to start with. The best way to drop anything organic from half a mile away. But its heavy, has big recoil, and expensive rounds, even if I could afford it.



Nice. Low Recoil, high rate of fire, and modding options.



Oh wow...I think I just found evidence for a loving god.



While I'm not sure I would ever use such a thing, its existence should be noted.



A moddable version of the revolver I found before. Good to note, I suppose.



While this Brush Gun isn't all that impressive, I do love the name. A shot of .45 solves all your ills.



This one is also awesome.




Hmm, I think I'll take a few jars of powder and primer, in case I need to make some proper bullets at some stage. And I'll give myself a stash of .45 ammo, just to start with. I'll have to get more before I use the revolver fulltime though.



They also sell silencers for 10mm pistols like this one, which is worth noting. The silenced .22 I've been using does work well from stealth....but if I'm not putting a round in the back of someones head, they barely feel it sometimes. If I got this, I could have firepower and stealth...but its a fair chunk of my money right now.



Eh, I'm sure I'll be back here later anyway. For now, the way into the non-ruined city seems to be here.



Well, maybe I should have said 'less-ruined'.

Theres a few people around, drunks, and playing children, and this guy:



I'm not a man, and I severely doubt you have anything I need. But I'll take a look, I guess.



Wait, you brew your own jet, and then name it after yourself? And then you charge less for it than for the real stuff? Man, you are the worst drug dealer. I'll go back to taking 200-year-old stuff I found in ruined buildings.

Theres a store behind him. Not sure I'd trust a store that lets incompetent traders mooch outside their front window, but I've learnt to lower my standards lately.



Eh, then I probably ain't going to be shopping here long. But I will ask you about this Freeside place, and what's happening here? Like, who is this 'King' fellow I heard about on the Radio?

Just a note, I haven't been using the Pip-Boy radio, which makes travel kinda lonely without its eclectic mix of 50s classics, but I have heard Mr. New Vegas's news broadcasts in a few locations, so she knows about the King.




(Or maybe I was too busy recovering from shot in the head to do research on this shithole, either or)



Okay, he's the gang boss around here. What about this 'Silver Rush' place?




Bleh. Energy weapons...Not my thing, so I'll probably just avoid them. What about the Atomic Wrangler? Think I remember it from a billboard.




Eh, sound like decent businesspeople.

And what about you? I see rubber dinosaurs, nuka-cola, and scrap metal here, what do you really sell?



....Yeah, you're useless to me. I'm going to talk to the other guy.



Awesome!! Hows business for you?



Omertas? Whats up with them?



Eh, I guess it might be wierd, can't really comment. But anyway, what guns have you got? You must have something special.



Er, no, definitely not.

It apparently takes 30 Speech to be able to say No convincingly enough, even if you're being 100% truthful. He might be a touch paranoid.





Oh-hoh!!! Secret Gun Dungeons!! My opinion of this place just went way up!!



Oh, why is my heart a-flutter?



Ooh, he's got a nice batch of C4 to buy...but I don't see any Detonators on his list. Can't really use one without the other, unfortunately.



This is way too impractical to use, but dammit, its a cool idea.



Ok, this one? I have to come back for. It might kick like a mule, sure, and it uses rare ammo, but that thing looks like death on a stick.

I mean, what else am I going to spend that kind of money on? I've got drugs, and hookers aren't that expensive.



Anyway, can't buy anything right now, I think, so I step outside, and Boone immediately starts shooting at two very stupid thugs who are running at us brandishing knives. I join in the merry education.



One dies quickly, the other limps away with half a clip in his leg. C'mere you, I need an example, this town needs to know not to mess with me.



Hah!!

Naturally, these desperate idiots had nothing on them but their rags and shivs. Like 90% of the people here, I guess. We're the only people around with anything to steal...Guess thats a good thing, but I'd rather stand out for better reasons.

Anyway, Freeside stands before us, and beyond that, the New Vegas Strip, the Tops Casino, and Benny.

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I'm really running with this idea of Latooni as a gun nut, amn't I? That wasn't really the intent when I started, but I guess when I decide to focus on a skill, I go the whole hog and make it a character trait. But paying attention to the gun stats is making me realise a few things, namely that while Latoonis limited strength means many weapons will be difficult to use, there will be options for her. But conversely, some of the big ones like hunting rifles and That Gun will never be optimal for her unless I up her strength and take a special perk. I would still like to focus on the 'Stealth Pistol' approach, so we'll have to see if upgrading to Teen Rambo is feasible.


In any case, we can do this next section of the game in a number of ways. We can charge on ahead, disregarding the shithole of Freeside. We can choose to fuck around here, seeing the sights and messing them up somewhat. Or we can blow all our caps on random stuff we saw at the Vendors and find ourselves forced to fuck around a while to earn money. My inclination is the first, for RP reasons, but we are a little behind on XP and there are interesting plots in Freeside, even if not all of them fit a naughtier character.


As always, let me know what you think. I'll listen to any and all mad whims you guys come up with.


Also, do we want the Lucky 38 room before we go to the Tops? Or will we do without the games favored player accomodation in favor of the spoils of victory?