Atomica #3 (Part 1)

ISSUE 3: THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPER-DUPER MART! (Part 1)

Bright and early, Allison set out to work on the first chapter of the Wasteland Survival Guide. As soon as she was out of view of Megaton's walls, Atomica converted her suit back into combat mode. It was just in the nick of time too, as a poor starved wild dog attacked. Its carcass attracted a giant mutated insect, which proved no great difficulty either.

Rats, roaches and flies... seems the old books were right about them doing just fine after a nuclear war.

The Super-Duper Mart was remarkably undamaged, and her suit indicated there were people nearby. As she approached, her suspicions proved correct.

Rats, Roaches, Flies.. and Raiders.

Cracking her knuckles, Atomica took a deep breath, strode forward... and ducked as automatic weapons fire whizzed past her visor.

A man screamed and ran past her, dressed in merchant togs. Two raiders with assault rifles were firing at him.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?”

“ATOMICA!”

At that moment, an Enclave Eyebot drifted around the corner playing Yankee Doodle, of all things.

Atomica leapt forward, taking the gun out of the closest one's hand with a snap kick. Bullets impacted her shoulder from the other, stinging as the suit fabric failed to contain all the kinetic force.

A handstand flip placed her between the two. She converted it to a leg sweep, taking the armed raider off balance. Her own bullets swiftly ended the life of the first in a burst of poetic staccato justice. Ending the sweep, she converted the motion into a thigh press around the last raider's neck. At the moment she felt the wet snap of the raider's neck through her pelvic bone, the Eyebot's cheery tune ended.

The President began to speak, something about Baseball. There was a skip, a pause, and the message changed, the eyebot looking right at her.

He spoke of the Enclave's enemies. The Raiders, of course. The Brotherhood of Steel.. and the Outcasts. The slavers in Paradise Falls. And how America needed heroes more than ever.

“But a hero without sanction is a vigilante. Captain Cosmos fought his never ending battle under the flag of the United States Space Administration's Space Rangers. Manta-Man stood with his peers in the Legion of Justice and Decency. Vault Boy proudly carried his badge as Vault-Tec's liaison to the Pentagon. Even Hell's Chain Gang obeyed the direct orders of the President, as shown in their Fourth Of July Giant-Sized 2076 Tricentnnial 100 Page Special. Its a new world, with new challenges out there, my fellow Americans. A new world that needs new heroes. Heroes that know to do the right thing, and report for duty at Raven Rock as soon as possible.”

The eyebot drifted away after The President signed off, playing The Battle Hymn Of The Republic.

Not a chance. Raven Rock... Good to know. Brotherhood of Steel.. Outcasts.. Paradise Falls.. So much work for one hero to do. Its getting time to find the others.

Securing the raiders for Allison to scav (RECLAIM!) later, she saw to the poor trader they had set upon.

The man was feverish, delirious. Babbling about greenery, the wasteland blooming. He was bleeding profusely from a head wound inflicted by his assailants. Before she could so much as get a stimpack out, he collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.

Poor devil. One more innocent victim of the pestilence infesting this land.

His belongings included a note and a strange article of clothing. A hood.. A hood that appeared to be made with freshly harvested barks a and leaves!

Does something like the Arboretum still exist? I'll have to figure out where New York Avenue used to be. I wonder why it was New York Avenue, when this was Washington DC... Then again, there used to be a Washington Street in New York City. Pre-War folk were confusing.

She entered the Super-Duper Mart, not needing her armour to tell her it was detecting more inside.

Just like cockroaches.