Escape Vault 99: A Dungeonalia Inspired Fallout Adventure

Main Quest: Escape Vault 99

[COMPLETED] Discover the Secrets of Vault 99
[COMPLETED] (Optional) Find and Search the Overseer’s Terminal for Information
[COMPLETED] (Optional) Find and Persuade a Vault Dweller to Give you Information

Shellshocked from what they had just learned, Lucie, Leeland and John exited Frederick’s office through the unopened door. The terminal had revealed a map of the vault so they knew in which direction to head, [the Overseer’s Office room card allows for a successful computer hack to reveal the next 3 sections of the vault. In this case a corridor, a reactor room and a utility room], but John resolved to come with them for the next part of the journey. He knew the way and also wanted to find a way to help Kate. There was an outside chance that a Vault 99 resident may have returned with news of a safe place where she could get medical assistance.

John led the way into the corridor. It was unoccupied, but there was a computer terminal in the corner. It was beyond John’s ability to hack, so he shouted to Leeland that his skills would be required and then moved to open the opposite door in the corridor. He opened the door and peered into the reactor room. There were two protectrons patrolling inside!

“Er, guys..” called John. “We have a problem. Two protectrons and they are hostile.”

Lucie recalled their previous close shave with just one protectron. “Oh no, how are we going to get past those?”

“There might be a way,” suggested John. “Protectron protocols can be controlled via computer terminals. My guess is that the terminal in this corridor might have a command to take them off hostile mode. We’ll have to do it quickly before they spot us, but with Leeland’s computer skills it might be possible”. [In the video games, in vaults, there are usually options to change the protocols of any robots or turrets. Finding a terminal can be an alternative to fighting the robots off. Indeed, turning robots to your side can actually help you against other enemies within, so this can often be a good plan. So I introduced that as an option here for a true Fallout experience!]

“I’m closer,” said Lucie. “Let me try”.

Lucie stepped into the corridor and across to the terminal, taking care not to become visible to the protectrons through the open reactor room door. She was no slouch with computers, but without the level of expertise of Leelend her attempts to gain access were unsuccessful.

“I’m coming,” called Leeland. “John, don’t move, one sudden movement and they’ll see you.”

Leeland joined Lucie at the terminal and after a couple of attempts was able to gain access. There was indeed a protectron control, and he was able to change their protocols from ‘hostile’ to ‘friendly’. There was an option to shut them down, but ‘friendly’ meant that they might be of some use in keeping any nearby critters at bay.

As a bonus the terminal also opened a nearby safe, and Leeland picked up a silencer mod for a gun. They all entered the reactor room that had been made safe, and searching it revealed a stimpak and a Radaway. They passed the stimpak to John to clear the woulds that he was carrying from their earlier fight. The Radaway was pocketed for future use.

They moved through to the utility room. In it were a number of crates which the crew searched, but they were all empty.

“We’re close to the exit now,” said John. “Anything useful in here would have been looted.”

The next room was a residential room, completely unoccupied, and again completely empty. [One of the searchables revealed a Danger card but Leeland passed a skill check and was therefore unharmed].

“The entrance room is through here,” said John. “We should be careful, the door is open, anything could be inside.”

Anything indeed. As the crew peered in, they could see the hulking shape of a huge monster just inside the vault door. [Deathclaw Matriarch!] It seemed occupied with something in the corner, and hadn’t seen them yet, but it looked impossibly dangerous. It must have been 8 or 9 feet tall, with claws on each hand that were as long as a human forearm!

“Holy…”

John silently pointed to some piles of crates within the room. They could take cover behind those before the Deathclaw saw them, and see if weight of fire could bring it down before it could close the distance to them. John ran first and got behind the nearest crates, and readied his gun [took a Prepare action]. Lucie came next, taking position behind another set of crates.

“I’ve got a shot”, whispered Lucie.

“No, wait for me,” replied Leeland. “Let’s all fire at the same time.” But it was too late, Lucie took a shot. Her aim was true but the bullet bounced harmlessly off of the creature’s scaly hide. The Deathclaw reared up in surprise and turned its head towards the source of the attack. Wow it was ugly. To the crew’s surprise, the creature’s response was to retreat back further into the room. [Its AI roll resulted in the ‘Fall Back’ action].

Back in the reactor room, the Protectrons responded to the sound of gunfire. They exited their patrol routines and started moving through the utility room, towards the residential room and on the way to the entrance..

Leeland rushed into the entrance room and joined Lucie at her shoulder. The Deathclaw was starting to make some very angry noises. He decided to take a shot while it was still seemingly confused by what was going on. It was a tough shot into cover, and it missed.

Lucie fired twice again, proving a much better shot than Leeland she hit both times. One of the shots bounced off in the same way her first attempt did, but the other shot found a fleshy part and actually seemed to hurt the monster. [The critical meter on Lucie’s rifle was charged and the shot did extra damage and gained an armour break. Even with the Deathclaw’s huge armour value, one damage crept through].

The Deathclaw again seemed surprised by the attack and initially shrunk back again. It was definitely now realising that it was under attack and its attention was fully turned onto the crew. It moved forward cautiously, staying in some cover behind the partition in the room. It seemed intelligent. It knew it needed to protect itself until it got in range to make a charge. John and Leeland fired but to no avail. There was no way they were going to bring it down before it closed the distance to them. Their vault suits would be no match for those claws. The crew each looked at each other in desperation. John saw Leeland and Lucie look at each other and mouth some words which he could not quite make out. From their faces it looked like a loving goodbye… He teared up at the sight. He thought of the life he’d led, and the future he’d never see..

The Deathclaw threw its arms wide and set to launch into a charge. The crew braced themselves for impact. However, just as the creature was about to move, it was distracted by movement out of the corner of its eye. The protectrons had arrived! They bimbled in towards the Deathclaw, firing from their hand lasers. The lasers didn’t appear to be causing much damage but the robots had grabbed the creature’s attention. It let out a huge roar which struck fear into the hearts of the humans in the room, but the robots were unphased. [Deathclaw Roar is actually a ‘weapon’ the Deathclaw is equipped with, but it only works on humans!]. The robots bravely placed themselves between the Deathclaw and the crew. Their weapons were not powerful enough to bring the creature down, but they might be able to hold it for enough time for the crew to get some more shots at it.

Buoyed by the protections appearance, and Lucie’s earlier success with her rifle, the crew redoubled their efforts. They fired with everything they had. Yes, there was a chance they would hit the plucky robots instead, but it was a chance they had to take. This was their only hope.

The Deathclaw charged the lead protectron, and with one swipe of its mighty claw it took a huge chunk out of the robot’s metal torso. Sparks flew everywhere but the robot was not down. [3 of its 7 health taken with that one swipe!]

The crew all opened fire and sent a hail of bullets towards the Deathclaw. They aimed high to reduce the risk of hitting the protectrons and the plan was working. Yes, a lot of shots missed the creature, but only one hit the robots. The creature was wailing loudly and flailing its claws wildly. But still the protectrons held, gamely firing their lasers and not letting the Deathclaw past. Gradually shots found their way home, and the creature was taking damage. The Deathclaw howled in frustration, but still the protectrons held.

“Aim for the chest!” Shouted John. “It’s bleeding!”

The shots rained in as the protectrons held the monster back. At last it stumbled, it fell, and then with a final thrash of its tail, it went completely still.

For the longest time, the crew stayed rooted to the spot, weapons raised, in case the Deathclaw wasn’t completely finished. But as the blood continued to pool around it, and its tongue lolled from its jaws, they gained confidence that the ordeal was over.

Finally, they had an opportunity to look up at the open door and contemplate leaving. They could actually see the world outside. It was, as they expected, a wasteland. But it would be home now. Leeland and Lucie climbed the ramp to the open door, hand in hand. They were about to see sunlight for, as they now knew, the first time in two hundred years.

Leeland took one last look behind before he and Lucie stepped through the door.

“Shit,” he thought. “I’ll tell Lucie about that later… a LOT later…”

THE END

Main Quest: To be continued…

[COMPLETED] Escape Vault 99
[COMPLETED] Discover the Secrets of Vault 99
[COMPLETED] (Optional) Find and Search the Overseer’s Terminal for Information
[COMPLETED] (Optional) Find and Persuade a Vault Dweller to Give you Information