Fallout: (Nuclear)Winter Is Coming

My adrenaline was wearing off. But I kept running.

I didn't even stop to check my rewards and kept going.

With the speed demon mutation I'm fast af boi.

All jokes aside, I really need to stop for a second.

We were currently halfway back to Sanctuary, just north of Covenant.. But my energy levels were low and I was running on fumes.

I pulled out a Survival Syringe and injected it into my side.

I instantly felt refreshed except for the fatigue from lack of sleep.

We had passed Malden and I didnt want to linger in the area. I already saw a patrol of super mutants and had to swat some bloodbugs that tried to stab me with thier noses.

'I wanna go home. I was wrong. I should have stayed in the vault and had babies with Sav.' I thought sarcastically.

I now had the energy to keep running after a simple injection. I really envy Rosie who can just float and move quickly without tiring.

It only took 3 hours of running to cross the map east to west. It wasn't a linear path since I avoided any dangerous areas that I could but it was still much faster than the 8 hour caravan travel speed.

I was finally passing around Sanctuary and close to my vault. I had decided on my way here that I would build a personal air vehicle.

There are problems with that but maybe I can come up with a solution.

It was close to noon by the time we made it back to the vault. I checked, double checked, and triple checked with VATS to make sure I didn't get followed.

I lowered Rosie down and then cleared the traces around the hatch and locked it behind me.

The vault door opened and I felt instant relief when I got inside and closed the door behind me.

I plopped down on the floor and just laid there replaying the entire excursion in my head.

'It's alot different than I thought.'

I honestly felt I got extremely lucky to succeed in this quest.

The sheer distance I had to cover while avoiding encounters was the most difficult part of it all.

At any time, my luck could have failed and we could have been wiped out.

If I had fought those mercenaries head on, even with Tank, I would have died. And yes, even with the power armor I would not have won.

They were trained, geared and coordinated and most were ghouls.

The plan was simple yet effective even with all the close calls and unknown variables I still succeeded.

But I am able to see the mistakes I made and learn from them.

Which is important because I will definitely face much more dangerous obstacles in the future.

After I finished taking a knee, I got up and dragged myself to my suite.

Alfred welcomed me back and offered me refreshments but I refused.

I just wanted to take a hot shower and sleep.

I washed my body and then toweled off. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a handsome man with bloodshot baggy eyes.

"I really need to rest..."

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I passed out.

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Status

Frank Winter, 18 (+50)

Lvl: 28

S-6

P-5

E-7

C-9

I-17

A-9^10

L-5^7

Perks: Swift Learner, Hard Bargain, Educated, Lady Killer, Advanced Science, Advanced Robotics, Advanced Chemist, Adamantium Skeleton, Action Boy, Gunslinger, Field Medic, Advanced Hacker, Rad Resistance, Gun Nut,

Perk Points: 10

Mutations: Healing Factor, Speed Demon, Marsupial,

Equipment: 12.7mm pistol x1, Explosive☆ 12.7mm pistol (The Fuckbringer), T-45 Power Armor, Chinese Stealth Armor,

Augments: "PHOENIX" Monocyte Breeder Implant,

Caps: 13,458

I woke up feeling good as new other than feeling a bit hungry. I opened my menu to check yesterday's gains from completing the quest.

I had leveled up to 28 when I completed my quest. I recouped the cap loss from the stealth suit purchase and leveled up 3 times.

Not bad at all.

I placed one special point into Agility, since I see the benefit of having more AP when running away and using VATS.

I also think Luck played a large role in my success so to I gave it 2 points bringing it up to a good 7.

I'm still not sure if there's an upper cap to special attributes but my intelligence had long surpassed the cap of 15 from F76.

For my perk points, I'm still deciding how to spend them.

The quest this time, I was able to identify some flaws like not being as sneaky as I could have been. I haven't taken the [Sneak] perk yet which could have given me knowledge of how to sneak more efficiently.

I also wanted to save points for when the Expert level perks open up at level 50.

Master level perks dont open up until level 80 which will probably take awhile to reach I think.

If I had master level robotics and hacking I probably could have completely reprogrammed the sentry bot to be my permanent underling.

I was only able to control it through tricks and it wasn't perfect.

Oh well. I could dwell for days on what I could have done and it wouldn't change anything.

It was late at night after I woke up, not that it matters in the vault.

Alfred whipped me up some canned beef stew which left me feeling full and satisfied and then I went to my lab to claim my reward.

I had unlocked the Perfected Mysterious Serum and want to make it as soon as possible.

I had gotten 7 Infected Blood Packs from Parsons as well as 8 regular Mysterious Serums.

I went over to my chem bench and opened the crafting menu. I scrolled down until I found the item I was looking for.

[Perfected Mysterious Serum - Acid x1, Plastic x1, Pure Cobalt Flux x1, Infected Blood Pack x1.]

I had everything I needed already assembled. With a mental click of a button, the materials blended together and then what was left was a syringe filled with dark red liquid.

I gulped before raising the needle to my forearm.

Once injected, I would stop aging forever. Being that I was in my prime, it was also the right time to use it.

I would also get a natural radiation regeneration and rad resistance. My body would naturally filter out rads over time giving me a much higher survivability in the wasteland.

I pushed the needle into my arm and I immediately felt a burning sensation make it's way up my arm and into my head and chest.

I fell to the ground and began silently writhing in agony, as if my blood was boiling.

After a few minutes of torment, I lay there listless as calm started to return to me.

When it was over, I didnt feel much different.

But I noticed my status changed to show the new effects.

Status

Frank Winter, 18 (+50)

Lvl: 28

S-6

P-5

E-7

C-9

I-17

A-10

L-7

Perks: Swift Learner, Hard Bargain, Educated, Lady Killer, Advanced Science, Advanced Robotics, Advanced Chemist, Adamantium Skeleton, Action Boy, Gunslinger, Field Medic, Advanced Hacker, Rad Resistance, Gun Nut,

Perk Points: 10

Mutations: Healing Factor, Speed Demon, Marsupial, Timeless, Rad-ical,

Equipment: 12.7mm pistol x1, Explosive☆ 12.7mm pistol (The Fuckbringer), T-45 Power Armor, Chinese Stealth Armor,

Augments: "PHOENIX" Monocyte Breeder Implant,

Caps: 13,458

I had two new mutations as a result of taking the serum. Timeless and Rad-ical. Those represented the eternal youth and the radiation regeneration/resist from the serum.

'Hell yeah. I am getting closer to immortality. I would still like to improve my healing factor further and improve my other senses. '

There were options in the shop to further upgrade myself but I lacked the caps for that.

Instead I turned my attention back to my available perk points.

"Let's see... Advance Gunslinger 3 points... hmm... Rad-Child 3 points. Now that's a good perk. Oh this one too!"

I had made a few selections. And picked some exceptional perks available to me.

[Advanced Gunslinger] is an obvious choice. I get more skill related knowledge and experience.

[Rad Child] Consume 100 Rads to rapidly heal wounds. Another stack to rad regeneration and my healing factor.

'With this I AM A GOD! MUAHAHAHA!'

*COUGH*

I couldnt help but get giddy. I really like living so anything that helps me do that is a necessity.

The other two perks I acquired were [Dodgy] and [Sneak].

Dodgy was a good one that acted sort of like a knock off ultra instinct. In the game, you would avoid thirty percent of damage at the cost of AP.

The [Dodgy] in the system makes it so I avoid attacks instinctively 30% of the time at the cost of AP.

Meaning thirty percent of the time when I'm attacked my body will move on it's own to avoid injury as long as I still have AP.

30% might not seem reliable but it could make all the difference in staying alive and surviving a battle.

Sneak, on the other hand, gave me knowledge on techniques to move quietly and avoid being detected in the first place. Since this is just the first rank, I only spent one point on it.

With my time in the lab done, I went over the the Server room to work on my next plan which will take me away from the vault again.