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Jan. 29th, 2012 02:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aintlikethatnowPLAYER INFO
Name: fm
Main Journal: daedra
Contact Info: fuckthatnoise [plurk], ontheletter [aim]
Played Characters: n/a
AC Reminders: fuckthatnoise [plurk]
CHARACTER INFO
Name: 'Derrick Goodman' (The Courier)
Age: 39
Species: human
Series: Fallout: New Vegas
OU/AU: AU
Canon Point: shortly before the second battle of Hoover Dam
History:
Broken-Arrow was born in what was once Oklahoma, in the pre-War Plains Commonwealth. He lived as a tribal with his clan who were, for the most part, one large extended family connected by blood and marriage. Broken-Arrow was mostly content with their semi-nomadic lifestyle until his teenage years when he began to grow dissatisfied. He was interested in the way other people lived and felt a growing restlessness in himself, but didn't consider acting on it until after he met Doc Good-Man.
Doctor Richard Bonhomme ('Good-Man' being both an alias for safety's sake and easier for many of his patients to pronounce) was a wasteland surgeon - a doctor who traveled from place to place providing medical services to individuals and communities for a small fee. Broken-Arrow's tribe was one of many that the doctor checked in on and traded with, and from the time Arrow was fourteen he began interacting with the doctor whenever they crossed paths.
Slowly, the doctor taught Arrow (and some of the other tribe members, but they're not important here) how to speak English, even to read and write a little. As the years passed, this knowledge became more and more precious as Broken-Arrow's tribe began to suffer. They were not always the 'keep to ourselves' clan that many other tribes were, but believed in raiding both other clans and even small towns and settlements for supplies when needed. This, you might imagine, couldn't go on forever without retribution.
By the time he was eighteen, Arrow's tribe was only a fraction the size it had once been. Many members were dead, and some had even left to travel as far away as possible to start over and have a chance at a peaceful living. With his people dying out, and seeing no further future in staying, the next time Doc Good-Man stopped in to check on everyone, Broken-Arrow spoke to him privately. He asked him for information about where someone like him could find work, a place to trade, and, oh yeah - he was going to need a less 'tribal' sounding name.
Derrick Goodman spent the next twenty years taking on all sorts of jobs including: mercenary, bounty hunter, caravan guard, and, perhaps most importantly, courier. It was on October 11, 2281, while in the middle of what was supposed to be a simple delivery to the New Vegas strip, that Derrick was tied up, robbed of his package, and then shot in the head. Twice. Luckily for everyone's favorite courier, there just so happened to be a Securitron nearby. When the men who attacked Derrick left, the robot dug him up and carried him down from the graveyard and to the local doctor in the town of Goodsprings.
Miraculously, under Doc Mitchell's care, Derrick recovered and regained consciousness eight days later (at eight in the morning, no less!). Needless to say, he was pretty pissed. Derrick spent the day in Goodsprings helping out the locals (and one not-local) and getting back on his feet before setting off in the direction the men who attacked him were said to be going in: towards the town of Primm.
Once in Primm, our intrepid hero got roped into killing some escaped convicts that had taken the whole town hostage. In doing so, he saved the life of the town's deputy, who was then more than happy to provide further information on the men Derrick was chasing: he now needed to head to the city of Novac, by way of the city of Nipton.
It was pretty obvious, the closer he got, that something was very, very wrong in Nipton. The smoke trails could be seen for miles off, and the smell of roasting flesh was almost overpowering. Add to that the sight of several crucified bodies lined up along the city streets, and you have the setting for Derrick's first up close and personal meeting with a representative of Caesar's Legion.
Not stupid enough to try and take on a squad of legionaries over a town full of people that were long dead by then anyway, Derrick kept his meeting civil and scavenged through some of the abandoned buildings until the other men had cleared out. Giving them distance, Derrick continued along the road until he reached the town of Novac, a small place with a big green dino.
In Novac, Derrick was told some of the men conversed with one of the town's snipers, Manny Vargas, and even stayed the night. Naturally, it's never as easy as simply asking someone for information, and the courier got caught up in killing Nightkin and helping ghouls fix some rockets before Manny would give him the information he needed.
The info led Derrick to Boulder City where, according to Manny, 'Benny' (the man who shot him) was supposed to pay the Great Khan members (the men who attacked him) for their help in stealing the Platinum Chip (the package). Initially it seemed like Boulder City might be Derrick's lucky break - the Great Khan members had run into some New California Republic soldiers and there had been fighting. By the time he'd arrived, the Khans were holed up inside two buildings and were keeping two NCR hostages. Derrick got cleared to go into the buildings and try to negotiate with the Khans for the release of the prisoners. While talking to their leader, Derrick learned that Benny took off for New Vegas, leaving his hired help without payment. Satisfied enough with knowing where to finally find his target, the courier took some time to convince the Khans to let the hostages go as a good faith gesture. In return, he convinced the officer in charge of the soldiers to escort the Khans safely out of NCR territory.
Back on the road again, Derrick headed to the New Vegas strip. He made his way into the Tops casino and had a chat with one of Benny's fellow "Chairmen", Swank. Apparently, Swank had had no idea that his boss was trying to screw over the man the Chip actually belonged to - the proprietor of New Vegas, Mr. House. He agreed to help Derrick out by calling Benny up to his suite where the courier could then ambush him. And ambush he did. He made sure to end Benny's life the same way the scammer had tried to end his - on his knees, and with two to the head. With Benny dead, and the Chip back in hand, all Derrick had to do now was deliver it to the Lucky 38, where Mr. House was waiting.
In the Lucky 38, House paid Derrick for the Platinum Chip's delivery, but also had another job offer for him. He wanted Derrick to work with him to rid New Vegas, and the Mojave, of both the NCR's forces and the Legion in order to preserve the city as the shining jewel of the past it was without interference from anyone. Derrick's response was, essentially, for Mr. House to fuck off. He liked the Mojave, sure, but its war was none of his business, and neither was the fate of the city. In the hopes that the whole mess would have sorted itself out by the time he got back, Derrick followed a radio broadcast requesting anyone with a Pip-Boy to join a caravan group heading up into Utah.
The caravan group, 'Happy Trails', was searching for the city of New Canaan, a religious community that it had traded with in years past before falling on hard times and losing touch. The group made it into Utah alright, but before they could find any trace of New Canaan they were ambushed and wiped out by a raiding party of tribal warriors. Except for Derrick, of course, who was helped in the fight against the raiders by another tribal who afterwards introduced himself as Follows-Chalk. He belonged to a different tribe, one opposed to the ones who had attacked the caravan, and agreed to take Derrick to meet their leader. The hope was that their leader, Joshua, could help the courier get out of Utah and back to the Mojave, if nothing else.
Nothing is ever simple. 'Joshua' as it turned out, was Joshua Graham, former Legate of Caesar's Legion. Though now he was nothing more than a New Canaanite, having been fired (quite literally) from his position in the Legion. He agreed to help the courier return to the Mojave, but first Derrick would have to help the Dead Horses (Follows-Chalk's tribe) and the Sorrows, a second tribe Joshua and fellow New Canaanite Daniel were looking after. The White-Legs, the enemy of New Canaan, had managed to destroy the city and were coming next for Zion, the Sorrows' home. Joshua, being a man of war, wanted the tribes to fight for the land but Daniel, a man of care and words, wanted them to run for the safety of a new home elsewhere. The two had been deadlocked for some time, and the tribes looked to their teachers for the answer, so the choice was left to only third party readily available: Derrick.
He never was much for backing down from a challenge.
Decision made, Derrick did everything he could to help the tribes prepare for the upcoming battle, such as wiping out parties of White-Leg scouts, and disarming traps their enemies had set up to slow the warriors of the Horses and Sorrows down. When the final battle came, he and Joshua Graham came together to exterminate the White-Leg threat in Zion. When the Sorrows' home was safe once again, at least from outside threats, Daniel and Graham did as promised, and helped Derrick return to the Mojave Wasteland.
Unfortunately, things in the wastes had not settled themselves at all. Thankfully, there's never been a shortage of work to be found or things to be investigated - case in point, a new radio signal picked up by Derrick's Pip-Boy inviting him to the 'Sierra Madre'.
Derrick had heard about the Sierra Madre, the City of Gold, filled with old world treasures ripe for the taking, but he'd never expected to have a chance to check into it for himself. He followed the signal to what appeared to be an old, abandoned bunker. Inside, he could actually hear the broadcast without his Pip-Boy's radio and followed it towards what looked like an old pre-War transmitter until... he was hit with a cloud of knockout gas and passed out.
When Derrick woke up, he was without his weapons, his armor, his supplies - his everything, basically! He was standing in front of a fountain, wearing a bomb collar, and being addressed by the projection of an old man's face. This was how Derrick met Elijah. Elijah wanted what was inside the Sierra Madre casino and had gone to retrieve it, but had become trapped inside part of the building during a previous attempt. It was dangerous, and difficult, to get the doors to the casino to open again, and so Elijah had found an easy solution: kidnap people, rig up some collars to make their all of heads explode if they disobey, and make them do it for him!
Utterly unable to refuse, Derrick, Christine, Dog (God), and Dean Domino were stuck working with each other to overcome nearly unkillable mutated human enemies, toxic air, and security holograms that were bound and determined to prove that not being real people did not make them any less hazardous to the team's health. They managed, though some hours Derrick truly wondered how.
Inside the Sierra Madre casino, the team was knocked out (yeah, again) and split up, this time by casino security thinking that they were guests. Elijah had hoped that opening the doors and getting the casino basically running would be enough to get him to the heart of it, and what he was after. It wasn't. The very collars he put on the team to make them work together were now interfering with some of the casinos systems. He sends you, under continued threat of death (of course) to either recalibrate your companions collars, or use the collars to kill them.
The second suggestion was never an option to our dear courier and, one by one, he found his former teammates and fixed the problem in a non-fatal fashion. Now, he just had to deal with Elijah. With Christine's help, Derrick got past the last obstacles in the casino and down to the vault at the very heart of the Sierra Madre itself. There, he and Elijah fought, a battle that ended in the old man's death. It also, however, ended with the vault section of the casino beginning to fall apart - and the activation of the courier's explosive collar.
Derrick ran like hell and managed to get far enough out of range to be safe from losing his head. He made his way slowly back to the fountain where he had first arrived, but didn't find anyone else there or along the way. Either his companions had died, or they'd already gotten out ahead of him. He waited a little while, just to be sure, but then turned his own back on the Madre and let it all go.
Back in the Mojave once more, Derrick started to get the craziest feeling that the damn place wasn't going to let him just leave until he did what he could for it. He knew it was ridiculous, but the more he thought about it.. Well, maybe the Mojave wasn't his home, but Zion hadn't been either. If he could somehow do something to help resolve the conflict, then maybe he should.
Finally curious about what Benny, who it was clear had had no intentions to support either the NCR or the Legion, had been planning to do with the Chip, Derrick went back to the Tops. He searched Benny's suite and found answers in the form of a re-programmed Securitron named Yes-Man: Benny had been planning to damn both sides, knock Mr. House out of the game, and take New Vegas for himself. An independent New Vegas - an independent Mojave. It had sort of a nice ring to it.
It was going to be a long shot - a high risk, high return gamble - but, as far as Derrick was concerned, it was the only hand that made any sense to play. He started by taking Yes-Man's suggestion to get to know the various tribes and groups in and around New Vegas better: the Boomers, the Great Khans, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Omertas, and the White Gloves. One by one he began to meet with them all to determine what sort of people they were and whether they would support an independent New Vegas. It was while he was in the middle of helping the Brotherhood of Steel with something, in order to earn their trust, that Derrick was whisked away to the Big Empty.
Or, rather, the Big MT.
It was a complete accident - he had been out running the errand when he picked up a weird signal late at night on his Pip-Boy. (By now, you might be thinking, this guy must have learned his lesson!) Cautiously, oh so cautiously, Derrick followed the signal, but there were no bunkers, no caravans, no nothing even dangerous looking. There was a pile of weird tech sitting in the middle of a drive-in theatre and projecting the grainy image of an eyeball on the screen. Thinking he could dismantle the tech and bring it back for the Brotherhood to take a look at, Derrick touched it...
..and when he woke up, he was without a brain, a heart, or a spine. Fun!
The Think Tank, the scientists in charge of Big Mountain (and here the words 'in charge of' are used rather loosely), were just as surprised to have to meet Derrick as he was to meet them. The lobotomites that had come before him hadn't turned out to be quite so... cognizant! Derrick very much just wanted his body parts back and to leave the mountain. Was that possible? No, no it wasn't. You see, Dr. Mobius, the Think Tank's arch-nemesis(!!) was in possession of the courier's brain and, one way or another (even the Think Tank themselves weren't sure) putting back any of the other organs might not be possible without the brain!
So Derrick set off to explore Big Mountain and find a way into Dr. Mobius' FORBIDDEN ZONE (which wasn't easy, seeing as it was, you know, FORBIDDEN). Along the way he met a robo-dog, a stealth-suit, and several talking appliances which... yeah, okay, he may have flirted with the light switches, but only a bit!
It took battling a ginormous robot scorpion, but eventually Derrick was able to recover his brain and meet with Dr. Mobius. Mobius, as it turned out, had, essentially, lobotomized his friends - the Think Tank - long ago when he realized how dangerous and unethical many of their experiments were. He kept them locked away up on the Big Mountain, safe away from the Mojave and the Mojave safe away from them. After learning this, it wasn't as if Derrick could go and hurt the guy! Robot. Thing. Nor the others in the Think Tank who did have good intentions! But often simply took them too far. He returned to the Think Tank's auto-doc with his brain and had it, his heart, and his spine restored. Shortly thereafter, he left to return to the war in the Mojave, but only after being gifted the Transportalponder! Which would always allow him to return.
Back in the Mojave, Derrick spent much of his time wrapping up his errands to establish links with the other groups in the area. He also spent time harassing the Legion, forming and upgrading his own army of Securitron robots, and working himself into good standing with an organization called The Followers of the Apocalypse - intelligent do-gooders who provide medical assistance and education to any and all willing to learn.
When talk about the NCR calling in reinforcements in the form of its veteran ranger troops, and talk of the Legion sending for more men from Arizona, began to become commonplace, Derrick knew the war would be coming to a head soon. It was then that he decided to wrap up one last piece of unfinished business.
Months ago in Primm, Derrick had first heard mention of the man, the original courier six, who was supposed to carry the Platinum Chip to Vegas instead of him. But the man turned the job down when he saw Derrick's name next down the list of couriers. At first Derrick had simply written it off and not paid it any mind, but over the course of his (mis)adventures in the wastes, mention of the man, and his name - Ulysses - kept cropping up. So when the short and simple note containing a set of co-ordinates, and the words 'Courier Six - Ulysses', reached him, Derrick packed light and set off for them. With a little luck, he'd settle his business with the other man and be back in time to help win the fight.
In the first area of the Divide, an old world missile silo, Derrick was joined by an eyebot named ED-E. With ED-E's help, the courier was able to get past doors that would have otherwise kept him from moving forward. The eyebot was also good in a fight, which came in handy against the security 'bots still active in the silo. Not to mention against the Marked Men, whom he met along the road ahead.
The Marked Men were former Legionaries and NCR soldiers alike who had been turned into ghouls during the Divide's first storm some time back. They had been driven mostly mad by the combination of the storm tearing away their flesh while the intense radiation changed them and kept them alive at the same time. It made them tough to kill, and they were numerous on the way to the duo's next destination: a collapsed overpass tunnel.
No safer than outside had been (more dangerous, even) the tunnel was inhabited by strange, almost humanoid creatures that burrowed into and out of the ground. They attacked Derrick and ED-E in packs, harassing them and then disappearing back into the ground if the two started to successfully bring any of them down. Between the attacks and being underground (not a strong point of Derrick's), there were a few close calls, but the pair managed to come out of the overpass tunnel and onto The High Road.
Using ED-E to communicate with the courier, Ulysses instructed Derrick to continue along the High Road. He spoke cryptically, peppering his instructions and the answers to Derrick's questions with hints to a history the two of them shared, although for the life of him, Derrick couldn't place the voice he was hearing. When the other man refused to speak further unless Derrick kept moving forward, he and ED-E did just that.
They faced opposition from more Marked Men and deathclaws, but the courier and his robot powered through them all and pressed on. They passed a rest station (more Marked Men, more deathclaws), and to the Ashton Silo Control Station, where they were forced to launch a nuclear warhead before they could open the doorway. Inside, they rode a lift down and were attacked by their most favorite enemy - more of the strange tunneling things. Outside of the lift, and having passed through the eerily dark Cave of Abaddon, ED-E and Derrick arrived at the roof of a building called the Boxwood Hotel. Here, things went bad.
Ulysses again spoke to Derrick through ED-E, but this time, he dismissed the courier, told him that he was no longer needed. He was going to take ED-E, break him down, use him for what he was always intended to- wake the 'giants' living in the Divide. Use them to create another hellhole on Earth in the Mojave. Derrick tried to prevent Ulysses from taking the little eyebot, but Ulysses possessed command overrides and, now that ED-E was in range, there was no way to stop the 'bot from being commanded to go to Ulysses.
Pissed, and honestly worried (Ulysses didn't strike him as the type to make threats without something to back it up), Derrick continued forward through the Divide on his own. He moved as fast as he could while still fighting off Marked Men and the occasional deathclaws on his own. It was slow going, much slower than ED-E's trip, but Derrick kept pushing forward until he finally reached 'Meridian Temple'.
Once in the Temple, Derrick managed to track down and recover his little buddy. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop Ulysses from using ED-E to prepare six nuclear missiles for launch. Afraid he didn't have long before the missiles would launch, Derrick kept his conversation with Ulysses short - the ensuing fight was more to his style.
With Ulysses (and his back up - you guessed it! More Marked Men!) dead, Derrick rushed to the main console. He could make some sense of it - enough that if he wanted to fire the missiles at either the Legion, the NCR, or both, he could. But he didn't. Far from capable enough to stop the missiles from launching altogether on his own, Derrick turned to ED-E to help. The little eyebot confirmed, through voice recordings from his creator, that he could indeed stop the launch! but it would likely result in his destruction. Derrick asked his friend if that was something he was willing to do; ED-E said yes.
The eyebot went to work right away, decrypting the abort code and stopping the launch. Derrick had planned to stay with ED-E but, as the eyebot worked, things in Meridian Temple began to blow all to pieces. Trusting ED-E to stop the launch, Derrick made for the exit.. but didn't make it in time to avoid being killed as the Temple was destroyed all around him.
Personality:
Intelligent but mostly uneducated, Derrick is not the man that always has a plan but he is the man who usually finds a way out of a bad situation - whether with wits or by firing enough bullets. He doesn't devalue the power of words but believes that actions, many times, speak volumes louder. He is generally honest and straightforward, rarely having the patience to keep up with charades. He is kind, even caring (in a rough sort of way), but few people's idea of a gentleman.
Foul-mouthed and uncouth, Derrick is a very informal sort of person. He has little in the way of manners but will respect people he feels deserve as much. This respect manifests in a variety of ways, from addressing you as sir/ma'am, to looking you in the eye when he ends your life.
Derrick has a long memory but has also learned the importance of letting things go. Yesterday's enemy could be tomorrow's ally, after all. It's unwise to mistake this flexibility for a trusting, gullible nature - nobody survives in the wastes as long as Derrick has without watching their backs. While he is easy to become acquainted with, his association is not the same as his trust and confidence. However, the few people who can call themselves his friends have a fierce protector and a ready companion for life.
Daring, and somewhat reckless, Derrick enjoys challenges and taking risks. He's not foolish enough to do something obviously self-destructive (well, not without a really good reason!) but he's happy taking on tasks that others find daunting. This doesn't mean he won't complain when something goes wrong, of course, but often times his associates find that, although complaining about the twenty guys shooting at them, Derrick will go into the fray with a fierce grin.
Finally, though age has mellowed him out some and allowed him to become more easy-going in general, Derrick is not a pushover and he is not always kind. He can, in fact, be quite ruthless. Mercy in the wastes is a luxury, and it's not always one that he can afford to give out freely. Derrick is more likely to forgive attacks against only himself. If he finds you a threat to something, or someone, important to him however, he won't hesitate to put a stop to that threat permanently.
Powers:
Derrick is pretty good at unarmed combat but excels at using melee weapons and conventional firearms. He's a quick draw and a rapid reload, and generally knows where to strike to do some serious damage. He's also somewhat proficient at moving silently and stealthily. Not really a super power, granted, but when it helps you put a round through somebody's head because they never saw you coming, it's pretty much worth mentioning.
Derrick has received several cybernetic implants during the course of his adventures in the Mojave. They break down as follows:
Reflex booster- exactly what it says on the tin. Reflexes are boosted quickening reaction times.
Nociception regulator - Regulates nociceptor activity to delay or dull sensations of pain, allowing the person to keep functioning longer despite even grave injuries.
Logic Co-processor- enhances the cerebral cortex. Co-processes for it. Allows for faster and more efficient thinking/recall/etc.
Optics Enhancer- ... enhances optics, heightening perception.
Hypertrophy Accelerator- boosts the receiver's adrenal glands and aids in increasing muscle mass quickly.
Nemean Sub-Dermal Armor- bolsters skin cells with iron in order to make the receiver somewhat more difficult to damage.
Phoenix Monocyte Breeder- speeds up cell regeneration to help heal injuries faster than normal.
GRX Implant- sub-dermal injector that releases a non-addictive chemical substance into the body. The substance alters the user's perception and sense of time aiding in fights, primarily.
Implant C-13- aids in targeting multiple (relatively) small and fast moving targets, making it easier to hit them where it counts and do more damage. Primarily useful against mutated winged insects.
Implant M-5- enhances muscle use in the legs, allowing for faster speeds while crouching.
Implant Y-3- the advanced tech that makes up this implant removes most radiation taken in when drinking from an irradiated water source.
Implant Y-7- helps the body derive more nutrients and energy from all consumed foods.
Finally, advanced technologies remain in Derrick's head, heart, and torso from when his brain, heart, and spine were removed and replaced entirely with tech. These leftover bits of tech do the following: head can never be 'crippled' (aka, non-fatal head injuries are less severe), he is slightly more resistant to addictive chemicals of all kinds (10% more, specifically), he is considerably more resistant to poison (50% more), robots are somewhat confused by the tech where only human organs should be lowering their abilities to target critically (-25% critical hit chance), healing items effects are boosted (+50%), and, finally, strength and threshold for damage have increased (+2 strength, and +3 DT total).
Due to a lifetime of exposure to radiation (and coming from a family line who have all spent their lifetimes exposed to radiation), Derrick's DNA is a bit mutated. He doesn't have tentacles or anything crazy, but he does get rather interesting, especially when he's irradiated: during the day (while the sun is out - generally from 6am to 6pm) Derrick slowly regenerates health and is capable of slightly better acts of strength. In irradiated areas, Derrick is able to move and attack faster, as well as become slightly harder to damage. This only applies to irradiated areas, however, as the radiation builds up in Derrick's body, he heals injuries more quickly and that effect continues even after leaving the area - so long as the rads stay in him. He still suffers from the effects of the radiation poisoning, but wounds close up without medical assistance. Radiation poisoning usually isn't ever a permanent issue as, overnight as he sleeps, Derrick's body slowly purges any accumulated rads (approximately 100 a night). Finally, the bones in his limbs are tougher to break than the average person's.
Weaknesses:
Despite the machinery in him, and some of the crazy things his body can do, Derrick is still human. Hit him enough, shoot him in the right place (or enough times) and he will die. He possesses no 'super powers', no magic, and no skills that are truly supernatural in nature. He's a badass, sure, but he's still just a badass human being, with all the intrinsic frailties that entails.
Derrick is also a sucker for the people that become important to him. While he becomes a friendly acquaintance easily it takes something more for him to call someone a friend, and with good reason - that person becomes a massive chink in his normally 'couldn't give a shit' attitude. He is also something of a daredevil, being the type to take jobs and such with ridiculous odds, so long as the reason is good and/or the pay is great. It's always worked out in his favor before, but one of these days it's bound to not.
Possessions:
worn:
- the armor/outfit he's wearing
- rucksack
- the platinum chip (in pocket)
- a PipBoy 3000 (worn on left arm)
- 'li'l devil' (12.7mm pistol, holstered on leg)
- 'medicine stick' (brush gun, on a strap, hangs off shoulder)
- 'sleepytyme' (10mm smg, holstered on the right)
- 'Blood-Nap' (bowie knife, in boot)
- a broad machete (attached to bag, outside)
in bag:
- pair of knuckle dusters
- a change of clothes
- bedroll
- a few food/drink items
- ammo
- a plastic t-rex toy
- several bobbypins
- rebreather
- a medical bag with an assortment of chems (drugs) and
first aid items
- an engraved cigarette lighter
- various small keycards and a keyring with...keys
- a small leather bag of bottlecaps
- weapon repair kit
- a (note)book and a couple of pens
- Big Mountain Transportalponder!(teleport gun that takes the user to and from Big MT. Obviously not going to work here, but Derrick carries it everywhere with him so it would be on his person.)
Seems like a lot, but this is pretty heavily dumbed down from what the courier can actually carry in game (baaw, realism rears its ugly head). But let me know if something isn't acceptable?
Marking Location: Neck
Miscellaneous: So I know AU characters don't have to remember their death! Just thought I'd state for the record that Derrick will not. He'll think he made it out in time and went off back to the Mojave.
First Person:
[Derrick's first reaction upon finding himself in Meridian is to sigh and sling his rucksack off his back.]
Ah. 'portalponder must've hit on somethin'.
[He digs through it for a moment, pulls out his Transportalponder!, and presses the trigger. Nothing happens.]
.. the hell?
[He tries again, this time looking around himself.]
Can't be the signal. Damn thing's never outta range; not on the mountain. [He walks a few feet over, and tries it one more time, only to be met with the same degree of success.]
Well, shit, then this can't be the mountain. Who the fuck else would wanna snatch me up, right?
[He checks his Pip-Boy, and sees it's no longer working. He tries adjusting the dials, even resetting it, but gets nothing.]
Fuck! [Angry now, he starts to talk in shouts as he walks back to his bag and shoves the Transportalponder! inside again.] Whoever's game this is is gonna get my boot up their ass if they don't come out and introduce themselves here in the next minute!
I don't have time for games! This shit wasn't cute the first two times and it ain't doin' it for me now! You want somethin', you get your ass out here and tell me what! ... and Dr. Mobius, I swear, if this is your shit again, I'm gonna dismantle you this time. Don't test me; I'll do it!
Third Person:
"Shit! ED-E, cover!"
Derrick scrambled behind the nearest building as the Marked Man up ahead began to fire off rockets. It must have salvaged launcher from the bunkers, or the silo, maybe. Either way, it was a pain in the ass.
Derrick glanced over to make sure ED-E had found something suitable to get behind (he had) then slid the rifle off his shoulder. He was fond of the gun not only for its firepower and reliability but for the thought its creator had put into the design. The symbol, the feathers, the leather.. Derrick was never ashamed to tell people he was technically a tribal, even if he no longer lived like one. The gun's design, corny as he knew it would sound if he ever said as much out loud, sort of made him feel like a small part of his past had caught up with his present. He ran his finger over some of the beads.
ED-E's loud beeping jolted Derrick from his thoughts, and he cursed himself for getting distracted as he noticed the distinct lack of rockets crashing into things. The Man was reloading, and now was the perfect time to take a shot if the courier had any plans to.
"Alright, you son of a bitch..." He lined up a shot- "Let's see how you like a little lead, huh?" -and fired off two bullets, right into the skinless head. There was blood in the air and the Man fell back onto the roof of the ruined building he had been perched on.
"Think that killed him?" Derrick grinned. ED-E made a curious sounding beeping noise, and zoomed forward to go check. Derrick slung the rifle back over his shoulder and drew his pistol before following after. He cleared the street and began scavenging in the first floor of the building, trusting ED-E to have come back down if the Man up top wasn't dead after all.
"Hey, little man! Come check this out! Got us some whiskey, and some scrap electronics! I say we find a nice little body parts-less corner and settle us down for the night. I can drink a little, and you can-"
The sound that came from the entranceway was not ED-E. It was another Man, red and skinless as the last, but in Legion attire this time. "Aw, shit. Okay, okay. You first, ugly. Then the whiskey." Derrick raised his pistol and began firing.
Name: fm
Main Journal: daedra
Contact Info: fuckthatnoise [plurk], ontheletter [aim]
Played Characters: n/a
AC Reminders: fuckthatnoise [plurk]
CHARACTER INFO
Name: 'Derrick Goodman' (The Courier)
Age: 39
Species: human
Series: Fallout: New Vegas
OU/AU: AU
Canon Point: shortly before the second battle of Hoover Dam
History:
Broken-Arrow was born in what was once Oklahoma, in the pre-War Plains Commonwealth. He lived as a tribal with his clan who were, for the most part, one large extended family connected by blood and marriage. Broken-Arrow was mostly content with their semi-nomadic lifestyle until his teenage years when he began to grow dissatisfied. He was interested in the way other people lived and felt a growing restlessness in himself, but didn't consider acting on it until after he met Doc Good-Man.
Doctor Richard Bonhomme ('Good-Man' being both an alias for safety's sake and easier for many of his patients to pronounce) was a wasteland surgeon - a doctor who traveled from place to place providing medical services to individuals and communities for a small fee. Broken-Arrow's tribe was one of many that the doctor checked in on and traded with, and from the time Arrow was fourteen he began interacting with the doctor whenever they crossed paths.
Slowly, the doctor taught Arrow (and some of the other tribe members, but they're not important here) how to speak English, even to read and write a little. As the years passed, this knowledge became more and more precious as Broken-Arrow's tribe began to suffer. They were not always the 'keep to ourselves' clan that many other tribes were, but believed in raiding both other clans and even small towns and settlements for supplies when needed. This, you might imagine, couldn't go on forever without retribution.
By the time he was eighteen, Arrow's tribe was only a fraction the size it had once been. Many members were dead, and some had even left to travel as far away as possible to start over and have a chance at a peaceful living. With his people dying out, and seeing no further future in staying, the next time Doc Good-Man stopped in to check on everyone, Broken-Arrow spoke to him privately. He asked him for information about where someone like him could find work, a place to trade, and, oh yeah - he was going to need a less 'tribal' sounding name.
Derrick Goodman spent the next twenty years taking on all sorts of jobs including: mercenary, bounty hunter, caravan guard, and, perhaps most importantly, courier. It was on October 11, 2281, while in the middle of what was supposed to be a simple delivery to the New Vegas strip, that Derrick was tied up, robbed of his package, and then shot in the head. Twice. Luckily for everyone's favorite courier, there just so happened to be a Securitron nearby. When the men who attacked Derrick left, the robot dug him up and carried him down from the graveyard and to the local doctor in the town of Goodsprings.
Miraculously, under Doc Mitchell's care, Derrick recovered and regained consciousness eight days later (at eight in the morning, no less!). Needless to say, he was pretty pissed. Derrick spent the day in Goodsprings helping out the locals (and one not-local) and getting back on his feet before setting off in the direction the men who attacked him were said to be going in: towards the town of Primm.
Once in Primm, our intrepid hero got roped into killing some escaped convicts that had taken the whole town hostage. In doing so, he saved the life of the town's deputy, who was then more than happy to provide further information on the men Derrick was chasing: he now needed to head to the city of Novac, by way of the city of Nipton.
It was pretty obvious, the closer he got, that something was very, very wrong in Nipton. The smoke trails could be seen for miles off, and the smell of roasting flesh was almost overpowering. Add to that the sight of several crucified bodies lined up along the city streets, and you have the setting for Derrick's first up close and personal meeting with a representative of Caesar's Legion.
Not stupid enough to try and take on a squad of legionaries over a town full of people that were long dead by then anyway, Derrick kept his meeting civil and scavenged through some of the abandoned buildings until the other men had cleared out. Giving them distance, Derrick continued along the road until he reached the town of Novac, a small place with a big green dino.
In Novac, Derrick was told some of the men conversed with one of the town's snipers, Manny Vargas, and even stayed the night. Naturally, it's never as easy as simply asking someone for information, and the courier got caught up in killing Nightkin and helping ghouls fix some rockets before Manny would give him the information he needed.
The info led Derrick to Boulder City where, according to Manny, 'Benny' (the man who shot him) was supposed to pay the Great Khan members (the men who attacked him) for their help in stealing the Platinum Chip (the package). Initially it seemed like Boulder City might be Derrick's lucky break - the Great Khan members had run into some New California Republic soldiers and there had been fighting. By the time he'd arrived, the Khans were holed up inside two buildings and were keeping two NCR hostages. Derrick got cleared to go into the buildings and try to negotiate with the Khans for the release of the prisoners. While talking to their leader, Derrick learned that Benny took off for New Vegas, leaving his hired help without payment. Satisfied enough with knowing where to finally find his target, the courier took some time to convince the Khans to let the hostages go as a good faith gesture. In return, he convinced the officer in charge of the soldiers to escort the Khans safely out of NCR territory.
Back on the road again, Derrick headed to the New Vegas strip. He made his way into the Tops casino and had a chat with one of Benny's fellow "Chairmen", Swank. Apparently, Swank had had no idea that his boss was trying to screw over the man the Chip actually belonged to - the proprietor of New Vegas, Mr. House. He agreed to help Derrick out by calling Benny up to his suite where the courier could then ambush him. And ambush he did. He made sure to end Benny's life the same way the scammer had tried to end his - on his knees, and with two to the head. With Benny dead, and the Chip back in hand, all Derrick had to do now was deliver it to the Lucky 38, where Mr. House was waiting.
In the Lucky 38, House paid Derrick for the Platinum Chip's delivery, but also had another job offer for him. He wanted Derrick to work with him to rid New Vegas, and the Mojave, of both the NCR's forces and the Legion in order to preserve the city as the shining jewel of the past it was without interference from anyone. Derrick's response was, essentially, for Mr. House to fuck off. He liked the Mojave, sure, but its war was none of his business, and neither was the fate of the city. In the hopes that the whole mess would have sorted itself out by the time he got back, Derrick followed a radio broadcast requesting anyone with a Pip-Boy to join a caravan group heading up into Utah.
The caravan group, 'Happy Trails', was searching for the city of New Canaan, a religious community that it had traded with in years past before falling on hard times and losing touch. The group made it into Utah alright, but before they could find any trace of New Canaan they were ambushed and wiped out by a raiding party of tribal warriors. Except for Derrick, of course, who was helped in the fight against the raiders by another tribal who afterwards introduced himself as Follows-Chalk. He belonged to a different tribe, one opposed to the ones who had attacked the caravan, and agreed to take Derrick to meet their leader. The hope was that their leader, Joshua, could help the courier get out of Utah and back to the Mojave, if nothing else.
Nothing is ever simple. 'Joshua' as it turned out, was Joshua Graham, former Legate of Caesar's Legion. Though now he was nothing more than a New Canaanite, having been fired (quite literally) from his position in the Legion. He agreed to help the courier return to the Mojave, but first Derrick would have to help the Dead Horses (Follows-Chalk's tribe) and the Sorrows, a second tribe Joshua and fellow New Canaanite Daniel were looking after. The White-Legs, the enemy of New Canaan, had managed to destroy the city and were coming next for Zion, the Sorrows' home. Joshua, being a man of war, wanted the tribes to fight for the land but Daniel, a man of care and words, wanted them to run for the safety of a new home elsewhere. The two had been deadlocked for some time, and the tribes looked to their teachers for the answer, so the choice was left to only third party readily available: Derrick.
He never was much for backing down from a challenge.
Decision made, Derrick did everything he could to help the tribes prepare for the upcoming battle, such as wiping out parties of White-Leg scouts, and disarming traps their enemies had set up to slow the warriors of the Horses and Sorrows down. When the final battle came, he and Joshua Graham came together to exterminate the White-Leg threat in Zion. When the Sorrows' home was safe once again, at least from outside threats, Daniel and Graham did as promised, and helped Derrick return to the Mojave Wasteland.
Unfortunately, things in the wastes had not settled themselves at all. Thankfully, there's never been a shortage of work to be found or things to be investigated - case in point, a new radio signal picked up by Derrick's Pip-Boy inviting him to the 'Sierra Madre'.
Derrick had heard about the Sierra Madre, the City of Gold, filled with old world treasures ripe for the taking, but he'd never expected to have a chance to check into it for himself. He followed the signal to what appeared to be an old, abandoned bunker. Inside, he could actually hear the broadcast without his Pip-Boy's radio and followed it towards what looked like an old pre-War transmitter until... he was hit with a cloud of knockout gas and passed out.
When Derrick woke up, he was without his weapons, his armor, his supplies - his everything, basically! He was standing in front of a fountain, wearing a bomb collar, and being addressed by the projection of an old man's face. This was how Derrick met Elijah. Elijah wanted what was inside the Sierra Madre casino and had gone to retrieve it, but had become trapped inside part of the building during a previous attempt. It was dangerous, and difficult, to get the doors to the casino to open again, and so Elijah had found an easy solution: kidnap people, rig up some collars to make their all of heads explode if they disobey, and make them do it for him!
Utterly unable to refuse, Derrick, Christine, Dog (God), and Dean Domino were stuck working with each other to overcome nearly unkillable mutated human enemies, toxic air, and security holograms that were bound and determined to prove that not being real people did not make them any less hazardous to the team's health. They managed, though some hours Derrick truly wondered how.
Inside the Sierra Madre casino, the team was knocked out (yeah, again) and split up, this time by casino security thinking that they were guests. Elijah had hoped that opening the doors and getting the casino basically running would be enough to get him to the heart of it, and what he was after. It wasn't. The very collars he put on the team to make them work together were now interfering with some of the casinos systems. He sends you, under continued threat of death (of course) to either recalibrate your companions collars, or use the collars to kill them.
The second suggestion was never an option to our dear courier and, one by one, he found his former teammates and fixed the problem in a non-fatal fashion. Now, he just had to deal with Elijah. With Christine's help, Derrick got past the last obstacles in the casino and down to the vault at the very heart of the Sierra Madre itself. There, he and Elijah fought, a battle that ended in the old man's death. It also, however, ended with the vault section of the casino beginning to fall apart - and the activation of the courier's explosive collar.
Derrick ran like hell and managed to get far enough out of range to be safe from losing his head. He made his way slowly back to the fountain where he had first arrived, but didn't find anyone else there or along the way. Either his companions had died, or they'd already gotten out ahead of him. He waited a little while, just to be sure, but then turned his own back on the Madre and let it all go.
Back in the Mojave once more, Derrick started to get the craziest feeling that the damn place wasn't going to let him just leave until he did what he could for it. He knew it was ridiculous, but the more he thought about it.. Well, maybe the Mojave wasn't his home, but Zion hadn't been either. If he could somehow do something to help resolve the conflict, then maybe he should.
Finally curious about what Benny, who it was clear had had no intentions to support either the NCR or the Legion, had been planning to do with the Chip, Derrick went back to the Tops. He searched Benny's suite and found answers in the form of a re-programmed Securitron named Yes-Man: Benny had been planning to damn both sides, knock Mr. House out of the game, and take New Vegas for himself. An independent New Vegas - an independent Mojave. It had sort of a nice ring to it.
It was going to be a long shot - a high risk, high return gamble - but, as far as Derrick was concerned, it was the only hand that made any sense to play. He started by taking Yes-Man's suggestion to get to know the various tribes and groups in and around New Vegas better: the Boomers, the Great Khans, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Omertas, and the White Gloves. One by one he began to meet with them all to determine what sort of people they were and whether they would support an independent New Vegas. It was while he was in the middle of helping the Brotherhood of Steel with something, in order to earn their trust, that Derrick was whisked away to the Big Empty.
Or, rather, the Big MT.
It was a complete accident - he had been out running the errand when he picked up a weird signal late at night on his Pip-Boy. (By now, you might be thinking, this guy must have learned his lesson!) Cautiously, oh so cautiously, Derrick followed the signal, but there were no bunkers, no caravans, no nothing even dangerous looking. There was a pile of weird tech sitting in the middle of a drive-in theatre and projecting the grainy image of an eyeball on the screen. Thinking he could dismantle the tech and bring it back for the Brotherhood to take a look at, Derrick touched it...
..and when he woke up, he was without a brain, a heart, or a spine. Fun!
The Think Tank, the scientists in charge of Big Mountain (and here the words 'in charge of' are used rather loosely), were just as surprised to have to meet Derrick as he was to meet them. The lobotomites that had come before him hadn't turned out to be quite so... cognizant! Derrick very much just wanted his body parts back and to leave the mountain. Was that possible? No, no it wasn't. You see, Dr. Mobius, the Think Tank's arch-nemesis(!!) was in possession of the courier's brain and, one way or another (even the Think Tank themselves weren't sure) putting back any of the other organs might not be possible without the brain!
So Derrick set off to explore Big Mountain and find a way into Dr. Mobius' FORBIDDEN ZONE (which wasn't easy, seeing as it was, you know, FORBIDDEN). Along the way he met a robo-dog, a stealth-suit, and several talking appliances which... yeah, okay, he may have flirted with the light switches, but only a bit!
It took battling a ginormous robot scorpion, but eventually Derrick was able to recover his brain and meet with Dr. Mobius. Mobius, as it turned out, had, essentially, lobotomized his friends - the Think Tank - long ago when he realized how dangerous and unethical many of their experiments were. He kept them locked away up on the Big Mountain, safe away from the Mojave and the Mojave safe away from them. After learning this, it wasn't as if Derrick could go and hurt the guy! Robot. Thing. Nor the others in the Think Tank who did have good intentions! But often simply took them too far. He returned to the Think Tank's auto-doc with his brain and had it, his heart, and his spine restored. Shortly thereafter, he left to return to the war in the Mojave, but only after being gifted the Transportalponder! Which would always allow him to return.
Back in the Mojave, Derrick spent much of his time wrapping up his errands to establish links with the other groups in the area. He also spent time harassing the Legion, forming and upgrading his own army of Securitron robots, and working himself into good standing with an organization called The Followers of the Apocalypse - intelligent do-gooders who provide medical assistance and education to any and all willing to learn.
When talk about the NCR calling in reinforcements in the form of its veteran ranger troops, and talk of the Legion sending for more men from Arizona, began to become commonplace, Derrick knew the war would be coming to a head soon. It was then that he decided to wrap up one last piece of unfinished business.
Months ago in Primm, Derrick had first heard mention of the man, the original courier six, who was supposed to carry the Platinum Chip to Vegas instead of him. But the man turned the job down when he saw Derrick's name next down the list of couriers. At first Derrick had simply written it off and not paid it any mind, but over the course of his (mis)adventures in the wastes, mention of the man, and his name - Ulysses - kept cropping up. So when the short and simple note containing a set of co-ordinates, and the words 'Courier Six - Ulysses', reached him, Derrick packed light and set off for them. With a little luck, he'd settle his business with the other man and be back in time to help win the fight.
In the first area of the Divide, an old world missile silo, Derrick was joined by an eyebot named ED-E. With ED-E's help, the courier was able to get past doors that would have otherwise kept him from moving forward. The eyebot was also good in a fight, which came in handy against the security 'bots still active in the silo. Not to mention against the Marked Men, whom he met along the road ahead.
The Marked Men were former Legionaries and NCR soldiers alike who had been turned into ghouls during the Divide's first storm some time back. They had been driven mostly mad by the combination of the storm tearing away their flesh while the intense radiation changed them and kept them alive at the same time. It made them tough to kill, and they were numerous on the way to the duo's next destination: a collapsed overpass tunnel.
No safer than outside had been (more dangerous, even) the tunnel was inhabited by strange, almost humanoid creatures that burrowed into and out of the ground. They attacked Derrick and ED-E in packs, harassing them and then disappearing back into the ground if the two started to successfully bring any of them down. Between the attacks and being underground (not a strong point of Derrick's), there were a few close calls, but the pair managed to come out of the overpass tunnel and onto The High Road.
Using ED-E to communicate with the courier, Ulysses instructed Derrick to continue along the High Road. He spoke cryptically, peppering his instructions and the answers to Derrick's questions with hints to a history the two of them shared, although for the life of him, Derrick couldn't place the voice he was hearing. When the other man refused to speak further unless Derrick kept moving forward, he and ED-E did just that.
They faced opposition from more Marked Men and deathclaws, but the courier and his robot powered through them all and pressed on. They passed a rest station (more Marked Men, more deathclaws), and to the Ashton Silo Control Station, where they were forced to launch a nuclear warhead before they could open the doorway. Inside, they rode a lift down and were attacked by their most favorite enemy - more of the strange tunneling things. Outside of the lift, and having passed through the eerily dark Cave of Abaddon, ED-E and Derrick arrived at the roof of a building called the Boxwood Hotel. Here, things went bad.
Ulysses again spoke to Derrick through ED-E, but this time, he dismissed the courier, told him that he was no longer needed. He was going to take ED-E, break him down, use him for what he was always intended to- wake the 'giants' living in the Divide. Use them to create another hellhole on Earth in the Mojave. Derrick tried to prevent Ulysses from taking the little eyebot, but Ulysses possessed command overrides and, now that ED-E was in range, there was no way to stop the 'bot from being commanded to go to Ulysses.
Pissed, and honestly worried (Ulysses didn't strike him as the type to make threats without something to back it up), Derrick continued forward through the Divide on his own. He moved as fast as he could while still fighting off Marked Men and the occasional deathclaws on his own. It was slow going, much slower than ED-E's trip, but Derrick kept pushing forward until he finally reached 'Meridian Temple'.
Once in the Temple, Derrick managed to track down and recover his little buddy. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop Ulysses from using ED-E to prepare six nuclear missiles for launch. Afraid he didn't have long before the missiles would launch, Derrick kept his conversation with Ulysses short - the ensuing fight was more to his style.
With Ulysses (and his back up - you guessed it! More Marked Men!) dead, Derrick rushed to the main console. He could make some sense of it - enough that if he wanted to fire the missiles at either the Legion, the NCR, or both, he could. But he didn't. Far from capable enough to stop the missiles from launching altogether on his own, Derrick turned to ED-E to help. The little eyebot confirmed, through voice recordings from his creator, that he could indeed stop the launch! but it would likely result in his destruction. Derrick asked his friend if that was something he was willing to do; ED-E said yes.
The eyebot went to work right away, decrypting the abort code and stopping the launch. Derrick had planned to stay with ED-E but, as the eyebot worked, things in Meridian Temple began to blow all to pieces. Trusting ED-E to stop the launch, Derrick made for the exit.. but didn't make it in time to avoid being killed as the Temple was destroyed all around him.
Personality:
Intelligent but mostly uneducated, Derrick is not the man that always has a plan but he is the man who usually finds a way out of a bad situation - whether with wits or by firing enough bullets. He doesn't devalue the power of words but believes that actions, many times, speak volumes louder. He is generally honest and straightforward, rarely having the patience to keep up with charades. He is kind, even caring (in a rough sort of way), but few people's idea of a gentleman.
Foul-mouthed and uncouth, Derrick is a very informal sort of person. He has little in the way of manners but will respect people he feels deserve as much. This respect manifests in a variety of ways, from addressing you as sir/ma'am, to looking you in the eye when he ends your life.
Derrick has a long memory but has also learned the importance of letting things go. Yesterday's enemy could be tomorrow's ally, after all. It's unwise to mistake this flexibility for a trusting, gullible nature - nobody survives in the wastes as long as Derrick has without watching their backs. While he is easy to become acquainted with, his association is not the same as his trust and confidence. However, the few people who can call themselves his friends have a fierce protector and a ready companion for life.
Daring, and somewhat reckless, Derrick enjoys challenges and taking risks. He's not foolish enough to do something obviously self-destructive (well, not without a really good reason!) but he's happy taking on tasks that others find daunting. This doesn't mean he won't complain when something goes wrong, of course, but often times his associates find that, although complaining about the twenty guys shooting at them, Derrick will go into the fray with a fierce grin.
Finally, though age has mellowed him out some and allowed him to become more easy-going in general, Derrick is not a pushover and he is not always kind. He can, in fact, be quite ruthless. Mercy in the wastes is a luxury, and it's not always one that he can afford to give out freely. Derrick is more likely to forgive attacks against only himself. If he finds you a threat to something, or someone, important to him however, he won't hesitate to put a stop to that threat permanently.
Powers:
Derrick is pretty good at unarmed combat but excels at using melee weapons and conventional firearms. He's a quick draw and a rapid reload, and generally knows where to strike to do some serious damage. He's also somewhat proficient at moving silently and stealthily. Not really a super power, granted, but when it helps you put a round through somebody's head because they never saw you coming, it's pretty much worth mentioning.
Derrick has received several cybernetic implants during the course of his adventures in the Mojave. They break down as follows:
Reflex booster- exactly what it says on the tin. Reflexes are boosted quickening reaction times.
Nociception regulator - Regulates nociceptor activity to delay or dull sensations of pain, allowing the person to keep functioning longer despite even grave injuries.
Logic Co-processor- enhances the cerebral cortex. Co-processes for it. Allows for faster and more efficient thinking/recall/etc.
Optics Enhancer- ... enhances optics, heightening perception.
Hypertrophy Accelerator- boosts the receiver's adrenal glands and aids in increasing muscle mass quickly.
Nemean Sub-Dermal Armor- bolsters skin cells with iron in order to make the receiver somewhat more difficult to damage.
Phoenix Monocyte Breeder- speeds up cell regeneration to help heal injuries faster than normal.
GRX Implant- sub-dermal injector that releases a non-addictive chemical substance into the body. The substance alters the user's perception and sense of time aiding in fights, primarily.
Implant C-13- aids in targeting multiple (relatively) small and fast moving targets, making it easier to hit them where it counts and do more damage. Primarily useful against mutated winged insects.
Implant M-5- enhances muscle use in the legs, allowing for faster speeds while crouching.
Implant Y-3- the advanced tech that makes up this implant removes most radiation taken in when drinking from an irradiated water source.
Implant Y-7- helps the body derive more nutrients and energy from all consumed foods.
Finally, advanced technologies remain in Derrick's head, heart, and torso from when his brain, heart, and spine were removed and replaced entirely with tech. These leftover bits of tech do the following: head can never be 'crippled' (aka, non-fatal head injuries are less severe), he is slightly more resistant to addictive chemicals of all kinds (10% more, specifically), he is considerably more resistant to poison (50% more), robots are somewhat confused by the tech where only human organs should be lowering their abilities to target critically (-25% critical hit chance), healing items effects are boosted (+50%), and, finally, strength and threshold for damage have increased (+2 strength, and +3 DT total).
Due to a lifetime of exposure to radiation (and coming from a family line who have all spent their lifetimes exposed to radiation), Derrick's DNA is a bit mutated. He doesn't have tentacles or anything crazy, but he does get rather interesting, especially when he's irradiated: during the day (while the sun is out - generally from 6am to 6pm) Derrick slowly regenerates health and is capable of slightly better acts of strength. In irradiated areas, Derrick is able to move and attack faster, as well as become slightly harder to damage. This only applies to irradiated areas, however, as the radiation builds up in Derrick's body, he heals injuries more quickly and that effect continues even after leaving the area - so long as the rads stay in him. He still suffers from the effects of the radiation poisoning, but wounds close up without medical assistance. Radiation poisoning usually isn't ever a permanent issue as, overnight as he sleeps, Derrick's body slowly purges any accumulated rads (approximately 100 a night). Finally, the bones in his limbs are tougher to break than the average person's.
Weaknesses:
Despite the machinery in him, and some of the crazy things his body can do, Derrick is still human. Hit him enough, shoot him in the right place (or enough times) and he will die. He possesses no 'super powers', no magic, and no skills that are truly supernatural in nature. He's a badass, sure, but he's still just a badass human being, with all the intrinsic frailties that entails.
Derrick is also a sucker for the people that become important to him. While he becomes a friendly acquaintance easily it takes something more for him to call someone a friend, and with good reason - that person becomes a massive chink in his normally 'couldn't give a shit' attitude. He is also something of a daredevil, being the type to take jobs and such with ridiculous odds, so long as the reason is good and/or the pay is great. It's always worked out in his favor before, but one of these days it's bound to not.
Possessions:
worn:
- the armor/outfit he's wearing
- rucksack
- the platinum chip (in pocket)
- a PipBoy 3000 (worn on left arm)
- 'li'l devil' (12.7mm pistol, holstered on leg)
- 'medicine stick' (brush gun, on a strap, hangs off shoulder)
- 'sleepytyme' (10mm smg, holstered on the right)
- 'Blood-Nap' (bowie knife, in boot)
- a broad machete (attached to bag, outside)
in bag:
- pair of knuckle dusters
- a change of clothes
- bedroll
- a few food/drink items
- ammo
- a plastic t-rex toy
- several bobbypins
- rebreather
- a medical bag with an assortment of chems (drugs) and
first aid items
- an engraved cigarette lighter
- various small keycards and a keyring with...keys
- a small leather bag of bottlecaps
- weapon repair kit
- a (note)book and a couple of pens
- Big Mountain Transportalponder!(teleport gun that takes the user to and from Big MT. Obviously not going to work here, but Derrick carries it everywhere with him so it would be on his person.)
Seems like a lot, but this is pretty heavily dumbed down from what the courier can actually carry in game (baaw, realism rears its ugly head). But let me know if something isn't acceptable?
Marking Location: Neck
Miscellaneous: So I know AU characters don't have to remember their death! Just thought I'd state for the record that Derrick will not. He'll think he made it out in time and went off back to the Mojave.
First Person:
[Derrick's first reaction upon finding himself in Meridian is to sigh and sling his rucksack off his back.]
Ah. 'portalponder must've hit on somethin'.
[He digs through it for a moment, pulls out his Transportalponder!, and presses the trigger. Nothing happens.]
.. the hell?
[He tries again, this time looking around himself.]
Can't be the signal. Damn thing's never outta range; not on the mountain. [He walks a few feet over, and tries it one more time, only to be met with the same degree of success.]
Well, shit, then this can't be the mountain. Who the fuck else would wanna snatch me up, right?
[He checks his Pip-Boy, and sees it's no longer working. He tries adjusting the dials, even resetting it, but gets nothing.]
Fuck! [Angry now, he starts to talk in shouts as he walks back to his bag and shoves the Transportalponder! inside again.] Whoever's game this is is gonna get my boot up their ass if they don't come out and introduce themselves here in the next minute!
I don't have time for games! This shit wasn't cute the first two times and it ain't doin' it for me now! You want somethin', you get your ass out here and tell me what! ... and Dr. Mobius, I swear, if this is your shit again, I'm gonna dismantle you this time. Don't test me; I'll do it!
Third Person:
"Shit! ED-E, cover!"
Derrick scrambled behind the nearest building as the Marked Man up ahead began to fire off rockets. It must have salvaged launcher from the bunkers, or the silo, maybe. Either way, it was a pain in the ass.
Derrick glanced over to make sure ED-E had found something suitable to get behind (he had) then slid the rifle off his shoulder. He was fond of the gun not only for its firepower and reliability but for the thought its creator had put into the design. The symbol, the feathers, the leather.. Derrick was never ashamed to tell people he was technically a tribal, even if he no longer lived like one. The gun's design, corny as he knew it would sound if he ever said as much out loud, sort of made him feel like a small part of his past had caught up with his present. He ran his finger over some of the beads.
ED-E's loud beeping jolted Derrick from his thoughts, and he cursed himself for getting distracted as he noticed the distinct lack of rockets crashing into things. The Man was reloading, and now was the perfect time to take a shot if the courier had any plans to.
"Alright, you son of a bitch..." He lined up a shot- "Let's see how you like a little lead, huh?" -and fired off two bullets, right into the skinless head. There was blood in the air and the Man fell back onto the roof of the ruined building he had been perched on.
"Think that killed him?" Derrick grinned. ED-E made a curious sounding beeping noise, and zoomed forward to go check. Derrick slung the rifle back over his shoulder and drew his pistol before following after. He cleared the street and began scavenging in the first floor of the building, trusting ED-E to have come back down if the Man up top wasn't dead after all.
"Hey, little man! Come check this out! Got us some whiskey, and some scrap electronics! I say we find a nice little body parts-less corner and settle us down for the night. I can drink a little, and you can-"
The sound that came from the entranceway was not ED-E. It was another Man, red and skinless as the last, but in Legion attire this time. "Aw, shit. Okay, okay. You first, ugly. Then the whiskey." Derrick raised his pistol and began firing.
