In which Jessie’s alliance becomes even more sinister.
Upon first contact, and after heated debate, a pact was formed. Jessie’s cultist and her recently assembled army of raiders would assist the Instituete in their scientific study of the wastelands, in return for aid in the ongoing war against the Brotherhood of Steel, and an agreement of future non-interference. The Institute would go on to establish two research posts on the surface as reports from the Kingdom and their raider allies revealed curiosities worth studying.
Author’s Note: though not shown in any screenshots, the Somerville settlement is guarded by a synth in raised ‘Vault’ security stations and designed with numerous construction lights to reflect its status as a makeshift camp. Its pressure ‘prefab’ hut is of complex design, with a ‘decontamination’ area and two doors to simulate airlocks. Getting this all in a 2×2.5 square was quite a feat but it serves its purpose: you really feel bad for the scientists stationed here as they have virtually no living space.
Due to health concerns, the Sommerville staff reside in a pressurized hut built from old Vault-Tec modules. Institute personnel assigned to this location are not permitted to exit the hut without a fully pressurized suit to avoid contamination.
Though the pressurized environment is cramped, the Institute attempts to provide its employees with comfortable living quarters. Personal belongings are allowed for research staff stationed at the location for more than three weeks – the usual rotation is three months.
Author’s Note: This was a tricky settlement to build. I originally wanted the elevator to run right down to the digsite. When that proved impossible, I wanted a tower built around the elevator. I had one problem though: local geometry and my obsessive need for ‘airlocked’ decontamination areas; every entrance needed two door segments. As a result, I built a pathway leading down, and the elevator leading to the lab. That is seal one, with a second seal leading to the living area. There’s another pair of seals outside, by the sloping corridors that lead up the living area (not depicted). Coastal cottage is hard to build at to say the least but that little cave was too good an oppertunity to pass up.
Due to its remote location, the Anomaly site features an advanced broadcast tower to relay daily reports to the Institute, and a heavily fortified perimeter. The site is also considerably larger than the Institute planned, but due to the project’s importance and its geographic situation, a larger construction was deemed necessary.
The laboratory overlooks the digsite, allowing a senior researcher to monitor the work efforts in the chasm below. The freight elevator installed here allows the unusually heavy samples recovered from the artifact to be brought into a semi-sterile environment for examination.
New staff arriving at the Anomaly site are required to undergo decontamination procedures before ascending to the raised living quarters. A second, similar, procedure must be undertaken before entering the laboratory and descending to the digsite itself.
Fully pressurized and unusually elaborate for a surface mission, the Anomaly project’s living quarters are almost like being back in the Institute. Or at least similar to a vault. Long-term staff assigned to the location have found the accomodations more than sufficient, according to latest reports.
Jessie started out as one idea that morphed into another, and morphed again. I tried a lot of variations over the course of her story and I’m not even remotely done. I still have to build up the Mechanist’s lair and tweak a few more locations to my needs. I did however learn a lot about Fallout 4. Most importantly, I realized why whe game is so great for free-form roleplaying. Again. I also found a few mods that really heightened my experience without breaking the base game’s feeling.
Most notably however, my character and her story evolved dynamically as I explored the DLCs. From Raider to Inquisitor of Atom, to a driving force behind the politics of the Commonwealth (at least in headcanon). But it wasn’t just the roleplay evolution that had me hooked. I started out with a raider char. Gimped by gear. Through headcanon, that evolved into a much greater and truly powerful character. Despite bad initial skill allocation, Fallout’s perk system allowed me to adapt, and the latest inception of Jessie is truly a force to be reckoned with, and still in no way overpowered.
She carries a stockless, shortened homemade rifle for close engagements, a long-barreled radium rifle with the explosive prefix as a sniper rifle, and a Disciple knife for silent infiltration (often executed at night, with night vision engaged). It feels just like the commando Jessie was trained to become, able to adapt to any situation – and backed up with Atom’s raw power embodied in Atomico. The story wasn’t just a bit of headcanon played out, but an evolution of gameplay and story based on events as they transpired – from raider boss to Inquisitor of Atom, to highly skilled commando in the Institute’s employ. Originally I just wanted a throwaway, evil raider char with no excuses. What I got was a full fledged roleplay that isn’t over.
Gotta say: I’m looking forward to what comes next. Because this has been awesome so far. Hands down the best RP since… well, a long time.