UESP Forums

"No, no," Kelly said, "This is a good thing, Yates. We need a leader to climb the ranks. Someone with a rear end we can kiss." He craned his neck to see the screen more clearly, carefully contemplating his choice.

"This is pretty damn ridiculous, the way they expect us to make make our votes. Well, anyway, I'm voting for Merill. She's less experienced with this crap, so she should also be less of a pain in the ass." Kelly scrawled his answer on a scrap of paper from his small notebook (which he used as a navigational and organizational tool), passing the slip onwards, towards the front of the crowd, as many others wered doing.

"Should find its way to the front."

In about half an hour, all the votes were passed up. In another hour or so, the Ghouls were called back into the Main Chamber. A picture of Merill and Dane was on the screen.

"I am pleased to announce..." The Head Diplomat started, "That for her recent good deeds, Merrill Venice will be the first new President in over 10 years." Even though Patterson had been President for a total of 80 years. Ghouls, due to their long lives, were allowed to run again every 15 years, and Patterson had been elected the most times out of any previous Ghoul.

Mostly cheers came from the crowd, as Merrill ascended onto the stage, boos followed as Dane came up next. He snatched the microphone away and shouted to the crowd, "This is unjust! Our government dictates that the Vice President takes over if the President is unable." Boos and nasty words were called up from the crowd.

"Security." Merrill called. Before they could reach him, Dane pulled out a .44 revolver from his pocket.

"I will not let this happen!" Were his last words as he went down in a blaze of fire, taking down one other Ghoul Guard that jumped in front of Merrill. The Guards quickly dragged the bodies away, and signaled for Merill to proceed with a speech. Now, though, they erected a bulletproof glass in front of her.

"It appears that Dane was working with Patterson. You, my fellow Republicans, were right to elect me. I am honored."

The crowd cheered, as a security guard came up Merrill whispered something in her ear. After listening to what he had to say, she turned and faced the crowd.

"Everyone return to their rooms in an orderly fashion. Guards are at the entrance and we are going into Code Green, we've practiced this. The GYP are here."

Yates sighed. "I knew this was going to happen."
He turned to look at Kelly and Mars.
"So what will it be? Fight or flight?"

John quietly watched the ghouls and GYP. He pulled his assault rifle out and loaded it, just in case.

Lenka had planned this carefully. He was risking much by trying this, but if he didn't, the Securitrons may eventually find and slaughter him.

Slowly, Lenka approached the edge of the crowd. He picked out a large muscular man who was wearing a grimy suit much like his. He kicked the man in the back with all of his strength. The man stumbled forward away from the crowd. To others, it looked like he was running away.

"LOOK!!!" Lenka shouted to the Securitroms, pointing his finger at the man. "He's running away! Shoot him!"

If the Securitrons mistook the man for Lenka and fired at him, it would give Lenka and his henchmen enough time to slip away from the crowd without being noticed.

An envoy of GYP troopers were outside the entrance to the cavern. Within minutes, Merrill Venice was rushed to the entrance to meet with their leader.

"We demand to meet President Patterson." Said the woman in charge.
Merrill shook her head. "He is no longer in charge." She said plainly. "I am."

The GYP Officer blinked. "Why? What happened?" She asked.

"That is none of your business, officer." Merrill said curtly.
The Officer nodded, giving up the point. "We need to discuss the bomb in Clark."

"Why do you suspect it was us?" Merrill asked.
"We have sent patrols to the Rippers and Khans as well." The Officer answered. "Now, did you have anything to do with the bomb, Miss President?"

Merrill sighed. There was no point in lying to protect Patterson after his escape, not well known to the public.

"I know who did it. Nobody with the Republic." Merrill said plainly.
"Who might that be, ma'am?" The officer asked, concealing her anxiousness.

"A man, who lives east of here." Was all Merrill said.

Before the officer replied, a group of Ghouls seemed to appear behind the GYP. They were wearing the official guard armor.

"Are these your men, Miss President?" The officer asked, eying the Ghouls.
Merrill felt a rush of fear. Those were the Ghouls that escorted Patterson out of the Cavern. "I suggest you open fire on them. They are wanted and dangerous terrorists." Merrill said quietly.

With that, gunfire went off, but not from the GYP. The terrorist Ghouls got in a gunfight with the GYP envoy.

Many dozen Ghouls tried to peek outside from the Cavern, but the guards did not waver. "No leaving the Cavern." One said.

_____

A Sentry Bot quickly fired a round of shots at the innocent man, who quickly died.

Jorey saw the whole thing, but before he could scream out "That's wasn't him!" He was grabbed from behind by a Securitron. He looked to his side, and saw Keran and Jets were grabbed as well.

"Doctor Hamlon wants you taken into custody." Was all it said.

Yates walked up to the crowded cavern entrance, hearing lots of gunfire.
Wanting to get out badly to see what was going on, he started shoving through the crowd up to one of the guards at the entrance.
"What the hell is going on out there!?" He yelled.

Adi tailed behind the visitors with her pistol always at the ready. Two of her raiding party walked ahead to show them Papa Khan's tent. Instead, they outside of a building that served as a grocery store pre-war.

"Head in there and wait for a while." she said coldly to them. "Papa Khan will be with you as soon as possible."

Kelly stood near Yates.

"Who knows. Maybe they figured out that we set off that bomb. Well, not we, but Patterson."

Night falls, as Steve reaches his shack.."Good.."said in his mind. He entered in his shack...nothing was changed inside....searching in his backpack he brings out some cans....he opens 2 of them.....on gives it to his dog."Here boy , eat"...the dog approaches the can and stars eating, waving his tail....Then Steve stars eating starts eating too...after he finishes he lays down in his bed....thinking....."I'm going to travel to Muir tomorrow....maybe i can find out what exactly happen today in Clark" said Steve to himself....he switches out the light and falls in a deep sleep...

Yates hesitated for a moment, he really wanted to find out what was happening.
"What's going on outside?!" He yelled toward the guards for a second time while trying to get even closer to the entrance, hand near his holster, just as a pre-caution.

The Guards pushed the Ghouls back. "Make room!" They shouted. After a long firefight, an eerie silence followed. Then, friendly Ghouls carried the GYP officer in, who was shot badly. She must have been the only GYP survivor. The Giant Sequoia symbol on her armor was covered with blood.

Merrill, luckily still alive, ran in after them. "Patterson's men. She addressed the crowd. "They opened fire on the GYP."

_____

Papa Khan came out of his room, wearing his armor awkwardly. Three woman wearing nightwear came scurrying out after him and into the camp. "What do you want?" He asked rudely. "You have no right being here."

"I realize. We wanted to discuss the bombing in Clark." Answered the Old GYP Officer.

Papa Khan did not respond for some time. "Leave." He finally said.

"What?" The Officer asked, taken aback.

"You insult me and my clan in our home, by suggesting we had something to do with it. Now. Leave."

The GYP Officer shook his head. "I am no suggesting you had anything to do with it, but that you may know something."

"I SAID LEAVE!" Papa Khan screamed, pulled out his pistol and shot the top of the tent in a warning. The GYP pulled out their weapons and aimed them at Papa Khan.

As planned, Lenka and his henchmen used the distraction as an oppurtunity to escape. They slowly slipped through the crowd without drawing attention to themselves.

"Stay together." Lenka whispered. He and his men disappeared into an alleyway, using it as a passage to the next street. "We'll head back to the encampment." He paused and chuckled. "Stupid University."

Hearing the gunfire from inside, Adi burst into the meeting point with her pistol ready. She found her tribe leader in an armed stalemate with their visitors.

"Well, this is awkward," she calmly murmered, never taking her sights away from the groin of their leader for a second. "I suppose you're planning on shooting Papa and then demanding we let you out, huh? If you don't want to waste any resources wiping us out for good, then I suggest you lower that gun, because holding it up for ten seconds longer will start a war."

"A war where we have more than five times your forces." The Old Man answered calmly. "Kill us now and the entirety of the Great Khans will die with us. You cannot last in a war against us.'

"You think any of us care about getting wiped out?" Adi replied harshly. "Look around you. We're on the path to destruction as it is. I'm sure some people will gladly speed up on travelling down that path if it means harming the people who wronged us. And guess what: you're wronging us right now, and my gun is aimed firmly at your balls. So if you want to be able to walk out of this settlement with all parts of your anatomy attached, I suggest you pull your head down from the clouds and co-operate."

"You know very well you brought your situation upon yourself." The Old Man answered steadily. "You warred with the Rippers and destroyed yourself. Whatever happened after that is not our fault."

Papa Khan was noticeably uncomfortable at the mention of the Rippers. Ari just let the name smack her in the face without showing any emotion. "Again, you're dancing around the question. I'm interested to know: are you interested in leaving this tent with your manly honour intact, or not?"

Yates was distracted at staring at the bloodied GYP officer, almost appearing to look interested at how beat up she was.
He suddenly snapped back into reality when he heard Merill's voice.
"Damn, why the hell are they still following his orders?" He asked himself.

"The real question is this: Do you want your clan to survive and live to take revenge on the Rippers? Or die now and finally have them win, after nearly four decades of fighting?" The Officer asked.