A New Eden

A New Eden is the third main story quest

Quest Objectives

 * Stop the spread of the flesh fruit through the Commonwealth.
 * Storm the USS Germination and find a cure to the flesh fruit sickness.
 * Defend the USS Germination from invasion by the Last Son of Atom’s followers.

Scene One: Strange Fruit
As the player characters explore the ruins of Boston Harbor, they view a small Minutemen campsite nested in an alley on the horizon. Described as little more than a collection of large tents, on the opposite side of the alleyway sits a large freighter vessel beached in Boston Harbor, the USS Germination. As the players approach the campsite, they are see a dozen Minutemen sitting around a campfire and roasting an unknown purple fruit which the player characters don't recognise. Upon noticing the presence of the player characters, the jolliest among them, a scout named Reese welcomes them with offers of fresh food, and warnings them that a blizzard is coming. The other Minutemen around the campfire may offer the player characters some of this strange fruit in exchange for stories of combat or their travels. After some time, the player characters travel further and either inform settlements of a new source of food, report Reese's unit as safe to the Minutemen, or other actions. Attempting to enter the USS Germination at this time by any means fails, and the player characters are politely turned away.

After being urged by a Minuteman scout named Susan Hailey to return to the campsite and help deal with a catastrophe, the player characters notice a foul rotting odor filling the air on their arrival. Reese and the other Minutemen have begun to change; developing large purple bruise-like splotches, having puss weeping out of their eyes, and exhibiting a soft purple glow. Reese's voice has also changed, becoming far more raspy. The Minutemen are eager plead for the player characters' help in curing their illness, but also stare at them in a way that implies a hungry longing. After some investigation, the player characters uncover that the Minutemen had traded some of the unknown fruit to a nearby settlement, and also that a man named Dr. Yarrow on board the USS Germination was the one who had given the Minutemen the supplies of fruit, and they were planning to raid the Germination in order to uncover the cause of their mysterious illness. The player characters can then chose to take the time to warn the settlement that the supply of fruit was sent to, or they can aid the Minutemen in storming the USS Germination.

Scene Two: Aboard the Starving Ship
If the player characters chose to storm the ship immediately instead of leaving to track down the traded fruit, Reese hands the characters climbing gear to aid in their entering the large ship. The Minutemen climb up first and begin their attack on the Mutated Mariners inhabiting the top deck. If the players instead tracked down the traded fruit, Reese's assault on the ship fails and they are forced to flee, leaving their climbing equipment behind. Dr. Yarrow was preparing for an attack however, and the top deck is crewed by many mutated mariners, who immediately fire upon any trespassers. The Top Side is covered predominantly with an orchard of trees which grow the unusual fruit, which can be harvested if the player characters wish.

Upon descending down into the upper hold, the players encounter five more mutated mariners feasting on the corpses of Dr. Yarrow's captives. After either killing or avoiding the mariners, the players descend even further to below decks, a maze of stairs, corridors, lights, and rooms. Upon discovering the door to Dr. Yarrow's office, the player characters find the door unlocked, and on entering the room are confronted by Dr Yarrow himself. Upon seeing others in the room, Dr. Yarrow grins and his eyes bulge, as he aims his Syringer at the player characters. A fight ensues, as an alarm begins to sound throughout the ship thanks to Yarrow pressing a switch located on the bottom of his desk, which the player characters can discover and turn off if perceptive enough. Yarrow's alarm also alerts the Last Son of Atom's soldiers, who begin to mobilize for the Germination. Once Yarrow is defeated, his office may be searched, and documents on the Flesh Fruit, as well as records of cure attempts for Famished Fever, and more can be discovered.

Also in the office is a large, electrified double-door which leads to "The Hoard", the ships whole supply of flesh fruit. Inside, the player characters learn the fruit's true nature, that it is grown from a fungus that is placed beneath the eyelids of corpses, which are then buried. If Yarrow survived the fight, he pleads for his life and offers to help the player characters develop a cure for the Famished Fever. He does not protest or fight, as he only wishes to do something to correct his mistakes. If Yarrow is not left alive, the player characters can instead attempt to create a cure by following Dr Yarrow's notes, potentially even creating spray-based cure which can then be applied to the flesh fruit itself, making the large food source safe for consumption.

Scene Three: Siegebreak
Once the player characters begin to leave the ship however, it is revealed that the Last Son of Atom's soldiers have arrived, with a fierce tamed Yao Guai in-tow. The leader of the soldiers, a man named Brother Scrapjaw, issues a warning that the USS Germination is now property of the Children of Atom, and that resistance will not be tolerated. His intention is to secure the vessel and kill Dr Yarrow in order to repurpose the ship into a permanent stronghold for the group. It is impossible to reason with Scrapjaw, and if the Minutemen remain alive & on-board, they will refuse to yield. Should the player characters submit to his demands, they will be escorted off the ship and allowed to leave peacefully, however if they refuse, the soldiers begin to open fire, and a battle ensues.

Should the players either repel or successfully combat the Atomite forces, Brother Scrapjaw will order a retreat and falls back towards Boston. He will go on to be bitter about his defeat, and will attempt to get revenge on the player characters in future quests. However victory means that the players control the ship, and potentially a major food source if a cure was developed.

The Fallout
In the event that Dr. Yarrow survived the Atomite attack, the player characters will be allowed to decide his fate, and if the player characters found a cure to Famished Fever, they can go on to distribute it to those affected, such as the Reese's Minutemen and the settlement they sold fruit to. Player characters who found a sprayable cure could also begin shipping out supplies of treated flesh fruit to nearby settlements and cities, helping to alleviate ongoing food shortages in the Commonwealth, and granting 1 rank of reputation to any settlement that receives a shipment. If they failed to treat the fruit though, or failed to deliver it to a settlement in need, the settlements in question will have their food supplies and denizen outlook decrease by one, and if the supplies or outlook drop to zero, they become ghost towns (With the exception of Diamond City and Goodneighbor). If the Atomites succeeded in their assault, or the player characters were forced to flee the ship for any reason, the ship becomes property of the Last Son of Atom's sect, who kill any residents that were unable to escape. The USS Germination becomes their main base of operations, and the Last Son's followers treat the flesh fruit in order to consume it themselves. The ship can be reclaimed at a later time, though with incredibly heavy resistance. Or, if Reese's Minutemen were forced to flee, they are eventually captured by Atomites and forced by the Last Son to join the church in exchange for a cure to Famished Fever, becoming brainwashed members of his cult. They blame the player characters for abandoning them.

Enemies

 * Mutated mariner
 * Dr. Yarrow
 * Children of Atom Fanatic
 * Yao Guai
 * Brother Scrapjaw