Community:Fanfiction/Camilla on Ice

Camilla on Ice is a work in progress fanfiction by RurinGas.

Background
This story concerns the Svetlo & Co. Water Concern and begins in Appalachia during 2110.

Prologue
Camilla stood at the Water Concern's roundtable, pouring over the mass of papers strewn about the table. The other members of Svetlo & Co Water Concern's leadership muttering among themselves, waiting for her input. Eventually, Camilla sat down and sighed, massaging her temples.

"So." she said "What is this crackpot scheme you lot have thought up?"

One of the men at the table, a mohawked man named Seb, spoke up. "We've uncovered a Vault ma'am, just off Mount Pleasant." he said "The number on the front appears to be 113"

Camilla put her feet up on the table and reclined in her chair, her interest waning

"Yeah, yeah..." she said "So what? Water production is holding, and last week's raid on that little settlement they were trying to set up off of Berkley Springs gave us enough reserves..." Camilla then turned and glared at Seb "Why the fuck would I want to risk fucking with that pre-war Vault-tec mad science bullshit?"

There was a pause, all the other raiders at the table held their breath, fearing that intervening would lead to their deaths. Seb took a deep breath to compose himself before answering "Well, the door indicates that this one hasnt been opened, meaning everything inside is probably intact." There was a pause, Camilla still looked at Seb expectantly. Seb continued.

''"All Vault-tec Vaults come with an advanced water purification system, if we could rip one out of a Vault and bring it back here, We'd be selling the purest water available for miles, and we wouldn't have to rely on these scrap water pumps. We'd never have to worry about the water production again."

Silence filled the room once again. Camilla closed her eyes in thought. "A Vault's worth of water *would* bring in a lot of caps... And we'd be spending a lot less on pump maintenance..."

Camilla reopened her eyes, and sat upright "It's a worthy idea... but I don't like the idea of entering a Vault totally blind. Send out a party, see if there's anything in Vault-Tec Headquarters about Vault 113."

Another raider, a woman with patchy hair with metal, talon-like fingernails named Therese, chimed in. "I took the liberty of having a chat with our friends in Paradise Falls, after a little trade of merchandise, they ripped out the hard drive of some server at Vault-Tec HQ. Mitnik hooked it up to the terminal here, and it seems to be all the information they had on record about Vault 113."

Camilla turned to Therese and nodded in approval "I'm impressed, I'll have to add a bonus to your next pay, what did it say?"

Therese pulled some assorted papers and a holotape out of her pocket ''"Not very much, I'm afraid. It's not clear if the data was censored or just degraded over time, We've compressed the information onto this holotape for your personal review"

Camilla inserted the holotape into her Pip-Boy, she'd looted it off the corpse of one of the many wide-eyed and naïve Vault dwellers flooding into the wasteland as of late.

"Not much is there..." Camilla said, scanning the file, flicking buttons on her Pip-Boy to scroll up and down the file.

Therese rifled through the papers she had "Regrettably not, however I think they show well enough that we have nothing to fear from that Vault."

Camilla stopped scrolling her Pip-Boy and glared at Therese, who quickly cleared her throat and added "However it might be wise to send out a larger crew, just to be careful"

Therese looked toward Camilla expectantly, as did Seb and the others sat at the table. Camilla sighed and lowered her Pip-Boy "No..." she said, exacerbated "I'll head up a standard-sized team myself. I'd like to make sure first-hand that we don't fuck up..."

Camilla stood up, "Seb, Assemble a crew for me. Therese, ask Max to get us a Fat Man. I'm going to pull my Power Armor out of storage. I don't want to risk getting that close to The Pitt without being armed to the teeth..." she said "The rest of you; hold the fort, maintain operations..."

Chapter 1 - The First Step
Camilla began her final preparations. After a week of whittling down options, she had decided on a team of 3 others to accompany her. Camilla herself was going to take point in her set of T-60 Power Armor, behind her would be Therese who would serve as muscle, followed by Seb who would impart his knowledge as an ex-Vault Dweller, and finally Mitnik who would impart technical knowledge. The plan was to arrive at Vault 113, locate the water purifier within the Vault, and set up a temporary base there for Camilla, Seb, and Mitnik to appraise and dismantle the purifier, with Therese guarding them against any threats, after which they would purchase a Pack Brahmin, and use it to bring the supplies back. But first, they had to arrive there.

"...so make sure not to miss that.. Oh, and we have a meeting with Crater planned next Wednesday, they're not a hard crowd to please, just assure them their deliveries are coming on time and give them a chem or two in tribute if you have to." Said Camilla, finishing a long list of instructions to be performed in her absence.

Max nodded in response "Consider it done." he said, in his usual, almost serpent-like tone.

Camilla, finally assured that she had left the Water Concern in safe hands, stepped into her Power Armor. It was as uncomfortable as ever, the once soft cushioning that rested against her body had long since worn away over centuries of neglect after the war, leaving only the uncomfortable metal of the chassis to sit against her skin. It was a small price to pay for protection, she thought. The three waved their goodbyes and walked the small distance south to the main road, before heading due west towards Crater. Camilla had considered walking as-the-crow-flies towards Mount Pleasant, however she decided it would be safer to head from Crater to Mount Pleasant, considering the lands outside of the Appalachian Wasteland were uncharted, and walking through uncharted territory close to The Pitt was effectively asking to be attacked by some heretofore unknown mutant abomination. It was not long after departing, that the group found themselves at the Red Rocket Mega Stop.

Camilla stopped. "Wait..." she muttered, gesturing silently at the others to keep back and look. Over on the horizon, A lone sentry turret was scanning the area.

"Someone must've set up shop at the Mega Stop again..." whispered Seb, squinting to see if he could get a closer look.

"Yep... We should do a little reconnaissance, a base this close to home could be bad news for the bus-" began Camilla, before getting cut off by a single bullet pinging off her Power Armor's right arm.

"My reconnaissance says they're not friendly" said Therese, putting her hip flask away and assuming her characteristic bestial combat stance.

Seb drew his rifle and gave an annoyed sigh "Wouldn't be the first person we've killed for being in our way...".

Mitnik stayed back, taking cover behind a nearby hunk of rubble, examining the area on his Pip-Boy for any possible edge he could give his comrades. Therese ran up towards the Mega Stop, identifying and attacking the group of enemies head-on. Seb was a short distance behind, firing his Plasma rifle from a medium range. Camilla was at a range, using her Lever-action rifle to take precise shots at anyone behind Therese who might otherwise get a lucky shot on her. Mitnick lowered his Pip-Boy and picked up his radio.

"Camilla!" he said, his voice ringing out through the internal speakers in Camilla's power armor. "There's still fuel in the centremost pump, take a shot at it!"

Camilla smirked "You never fail me, Mitnik." she said, as she chambered a round and took a knee to steady her aim.

Therese was about to weave between the fuel pumps, she would take the shot once Therese passed by them, and the enemies followed her. Camilla removed her Power Armor Helmet to take a hit of Jet, and held her breath. Time slowed to a crawl and she witnessed Therese sprint past the fuel pumps. Camilla stared intensely. A little more, a little more, a little mo-NOW. Camilla squeezed down on the trigger, the gunshot echoing out as the bullet soared through the air, making a direct hit on the fuel pump. The explosion erupted out, blossoming out like a flower as the fire consumed the remaining enemies in one fell swoop.

Camilla lowered her rifle as the Jet wore off, blurring her vision and giving her a brief but shooting headache. She winced as she reflexively pressed against her temples.

"You alright Therese?" she said, regaining her composure, "Didn't singe you did I?"

Therese stretched in response "Hm? Oh yeah sure, think I chipped a nail back there." she said, mockingly. Camilla gave a wry smile as she rose to her feet.

"Well, maybe someone at Crater is selling a nail file." she joked. Therese scoffed, and Seb rolled his eyes

"If you're going to be like this the whole journey, I fear for my sanity" he said, half-jokingly, as he holstered his Rifle and motioned at them to keep moving.

The team continued down the main road, snaking around a small cliff and passing by the Sunnytop Ski Lodge. In due time, they arrived at the most difficult part of this leg of their journey; the Palace of the Winding Path. Not because of any hostiles or rads, but because of one, large and sheer cliff-face. Each member of the team had devised their own way of traversing this obstacle. Camilla would simply rely on the hydraulics in her Power Armor's legs to cushion the fall, she had make sure to quadruple check the functionality and load-baring capacity of the hydraulics before departing, and was confident it would work. Seb would carefully climb down, being familiar with the hobby of rock-climbing from his days in the Vault, which had numerous rock climbing walls he would frequent every so often for his mandatory 30 minutes of daily exercise. Mitnik had bought a very torn-down Mr. Handy in his rucksack, the Handy lacked a large amount of it's internal AI circuitry, but was still fully capable, meaning Mitnik could use the Handy's thruster to offset gravity and gently hover down while holding him. Therese would simply use her unique nails as ice-picks, breaking through and hooking into the rock-face bit-by-bit as she moved down the cliff. The whole process went off without issue; Camilla's Power Armor successfully cushioned the fall with only minor pain and no serious injuries, allowing her to touch ground in Toxic Valley before anyone else. After a short period, Mitnik floated down, his Mr Handy proved more unruly than planned, attempting to skew off to one side or the other, but was nonetheless successful. Therese arrived next, her metal-composite nails covered in sweat and rock dust, but intact. Lastly, Seb meandered his way down the cliff and onto the ground, his "slow and steady" approach resulting in zero hiccups, minus the speed. The group could hear the Dick Shale monologue about Philippi Battlefield Cemetery in the distance, the button stuck presumably after years of blood and soot glued it down. They took a quick breather and drank some of the rations of purifier water they had bought, before taking the short path north, and arriving at Crater.

This wasn't Camilla's first visit at Crater, not by a long shot, and the same applied for the rest of the group. Some raiders walked upto Camilla and inquired as to the time the next water shipment would arrive, but she just dismissed them. The group agreed to take an hour to restock their ammo and other personal supplies, and to meet back up at the entrance to the Crater core to depart for Uniontown. Camilla stocked up her .45 rounds and took to patching up her Power Armor, purchasing miscellaneous supplies from junk merchants to do so. Mitnik purchased a bulk stock of blank holotapes scavenged from Sugar Grove. Therese called in a few favours and had her nails imbued with Ultracite, which would give her already razor-sharp nails a deadly, radioactive edge. Seb simply purchased small items from each store as an excuse to strike up conversation and ingratiate himself with the store owners. After an hour, the four met up and, saying their goodbyes, left the Appalachian Wasteland for uncharted regions.

Next stop; Uniontown.

Chapter 2 - Rolling Up to Town
The journey further north, while short, was gruelling. It seemed to the group almost as if the sky was beginning to shift from it's somewhat-clear blue to a muddy rust orange, the diseased sky a sure sign that they were starting to encroach on lands surrounding The Pitt. Camilla put her Power Armor helmet back on in response to this, and the others either slipped on gas masks or wrapped bandanas around their face. Feral Ghouls in these uncharted areas were plentiful, many of them laying prone for presumably decades, lurching up once they sensed motion. Defeating them was far from a challenging task, Therese was able to swipe them away using her claws as they went, and the others were able to take shots at them without even having to stop moving, their combined efforts cutting a swathe through the hoards of almost-dead. There didn't encounter any other life, the uncharted expanse being too risky for any settlers or traders to traverse, and those that did hadn't lasted long. It was when they began to encroach on the outskirts of Uniontown, their first checkpoint, that the ghouls started to thin out. The group decided to rest up a moment before going any further, and decided to dip into a nearby pre-war building, an old roller rink evidentially, judging by the old sign outside reading "Shawnessy Skating". The group opened the door to see a very simple roller rink taking up a majority of the inside, with a small section directly infront of the door containing seats and tables to be used by spectators or skaters eating a quick lunch.

"Looks like a birthday party..." said Camilla, exiting her Power Armor and stretching, before pointing towards a table on the end of the seating area. It was surrounded by the deflated remains of cheap, foil balloons with lettering on that had almost been lost completely to age, but could still be read "Happy 4th Birthday Jean". The table itself was adorned with presents and pizza boxes, the cardboard in both long since turning limp from age and moisture, leaving them also looking rather deflated. But what stole the show was a 3-teired cake sitting in the middle of the table, even after all the decades since the Great War, the advanced preservatives and additives in the cake had kept it looking as if the Great War was just yesterday.

"Ooh, hello..." said Seb, pulling his bandana down and eying up the cake, he seemed like he was just about to help himself when Mitnik spoke up.

"W-Wait!" he said "We're probably not gonna see anything so perfectly preserved in our lives, we should ration it, the food here might last us the whole trip." Seb scowled at Mitnik, angry that he'd stopped him from digging in.

"And how exactly do you suppose we transport a whole cake, huh?" spat Seb, straightening up and puffing out his chest, clearly attempting to intimidate Mitnik. There was a tense silence for a moment, before a Super Sledge slammed down cleanly between the two.

"IF... You two are both finished..." said Camilla through gritted teeth, pulling her Super Sledge back up before taking a breath "...We'll sell it in Uniontown. Caps are easier to carry, and it's always good to have more." Camilla shot a glare at Seb "That is an order."

There was another brief, though even more tense silence, before Seb begrudgingly accepted and walked away from the cake to instead rifle through some of the old bags and suitcases left by Pre-war skaters. Camilla turned to Therese, who up until now had remained silent the whole time. She had zoned out, staring bullets into one of the foil balloons on the ground.

"...Uh... Therese...?" said Camilla, waving her hand in order to try and rouse Therese's attention. Therese blinked and shook her head, snapping out of it.

"S-Sorry... Its just that... these balloons... My s-" began Therese, before stopping herself and changing topic, she pointed to the cake. "How are we gonna transport that thing? We might be pretty close to Uniontown, but it's still a walk away."

It was then when Mitnik spoke up "We can use the Handy I've got in my backpack. It's how we're going to bring the purifier back home, so its gyroscopic controls and load bearing capacity are more than upto scratch for a cake. " he said, before turning to Camilla "If we do though, I'll need some caps to purchase more fuel for the thing, or it'll run out before we make it back with the purifier."

Camilla gave a thumbs up, and tossed Mitnik a small bag of caps. "Didn't your toy nearly flip the wrong way round when you were descending that cliff?" questioned Seb, eyeing up Mitnik as he took the Handy out of his backpack and began turning it on.

"That was because I was hanging off one one side. Humans move in little ways that throw off balance at the best of times. In terms of the purifier and this cake, I'm certain if I secure it properly then it'll stay perfectly upright" explained Mitnik, flicking switches on his Pip-Boy as he performed a calibration routine.

While Mitnik was calibrating the Handy, Camilla and Therese looked around the roller rink to see if there was anything else worth looting, only to turn up emptyhanded. The group still stayed there for a small time though, to rest up and eat after getting through the worst of the Ghouls on the path to Uniontown. They were just about an hour or so away from Uniontown, where they would put up for the night and restock. What they would find there however, would lead them on a tangent that would have implications spanning hundreds of years...