~The Scarlet Plus-Fours Fallout: New Vegas Picture Diary~

Starring Gracie Cutesman-Pieworthy

Fallout: New Vegas is one of the Fallout games, set in and around a city called New Vegas, which developed from Las Vegas after much of the surrounding America was destroyed in a nuclear war. It's a special game to a lot of Fallout fans, with characters and stories that feel human, different paths you can take through the main storyline, and a powerful, melancholy, yet beautiful atmosphere.

Since taking screenshots is such fun, I've started a new SSLP, which should eventually cover a whole game of Fallout: New Vegas and some of the expansion packs. I'm playing as a certified Charming Young Lady, complete with silver tongue, plasma weaponry, spiked knuckledusters and many bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla. I hope you like it.

Chapter 2: There's Fun for All the Family in Beautiful, Historic Primm

Gracie was delighted; she was going to Primm today, a wonderful holiday town with two casinos, a roller coaster, a museum and a garage, and even the Mojave Express office where she'd been given that strange poker chip. She spent a few minutes doing her make-up, then she was on her way.

"I can't seem to do much about the green tint around my mouth. A scarf, possibly...?" --Gracie

One of the mods I'm using is "A World of Pain", which adds all manner of new dungeons and enemy types to Fallout: New Vegas. I'm also using "A World of (Less) Pain", a mod for a mod which disables A World of Pain's more excessive dungeons. Even with the patch, there were a new mine, a cigarette factory and an arms dealer right next to Goodsprings.

Gracie decided to investigate the abandoned cigarette factory, since it what on the way to Primm. She spent half an hour tiptoeing through the tunnels, shooting geckoes and being chased by geckoes, until finally she emerged with a newfound appreciation for fresh air.

And twenty fresh gecko chops.

With her packed lunch secured, Gracie made her way to Primm. Most of the road signs had lasted since before the apocalypse, so finding her way there was simple enough.

"Bison Steve... Were there really bison back then in charge of casinoes?" --Gracie

Primm turned out not to be the holiday paradise Gracie was hoping for. (Why was she hoping for a holiday paradise? Who knows.) The wealthy side of town, with the casinoes and shops, was overrun by escaped prisoners. The other side of town, past the shacks and piles of rubble, was home to an NCR platoon keeping an eye on the road. Just the road, not the other half of the town.

Gracie soon had to take matters into her own hands, and spent a few minutes punching her way across Primm. She stumbled into the Vikki and Vance Casino, where a handful of townspeople were sheltering from the... you know. Everything.

Foreground: Vikki and Vance's famous car, in which they did many a crime
Background: A Sunset Sarsaparilla vending machine, still as good as new

Gracie soon found Johnson Nash (husband to Ruby Nash), the manager of the local Mojave Express branch. She told him everything she remembered about her delivery mission and getting shot, and asked about what to do next.

"...Since, presumably, I work for you. Is there a form I should write for lost deliveries?"

Johnson chuckled. "Nope, no form, but you don't get paid until the client's paid us for the package. Was a pretty strange job, all things considered - did you know there were six of you, all carrying something different?"

"Why, I had no idea." Gracie blinked in confusion. "Were all those parcels just a small metal trinket for somebody in New Vegas?"

"That they were. You ask me, somebody wanted to confuse his business rivals, and make it tricky to steal one particular thing..." Johnson pondered. "As for the other thing, you're more of a freelance deliverywoman, not contracted with the Mojave Express. You did do some jobs for us in the past, but there's not going to be much work in Primm for a while now."

"Because of the...?"

"Escaped convicts, yep. There's no goods moving through Primm since they murdered the sheriff," sighed Johnson. "We still have Deputy Beagle, but until there's an actual sheriff again..."

"These convicts," Gracie said thoughtfully. "They'd be from a prison operated by the New California Republic, wouldn't they? Much like the Powder Gangers. It seems to me," she declared, standing up, "that this Republic ought to be cleaning up its mess. See you in a bit!"

Gracie climbed up the roller coaster to sneak into the Bison Steve hotel and/or casino, where Deputy Beagle had last been seen. The casino and/or hotel was a stronghold for the rebel convicts, but Gracie was very light on her feet, and managed to sneak in unbothered.

Do you come here often?

In a weird turn of events, an NCR soldier was there, and he helped Gracie fight her way through the second floor. I think the game was being strange that morning, since you don't normally have an assistant for the Bison Steve. Gracie was glad of his help anyway, and together they shot or fatally punched nearly ten convicts!

"I do wonder how these people came to be imprisoned," Gracie said to herself, wiping blood off her knuckles with a frilly pink handkerchief. "Were they all murderers, robbers and whatnot, happy jump back into a life of mayhem and violence? Do they have a leader, a grand plan for Primm and this hotel? It feels as though they're here simply for me to punch, with the justification that they're criminals - Bad People, in other words - who attacked the town first."

The NCR soldier scoffed. "Lady, you sound like a real riot at parties."

"What was that?" Gracie asked in honeyed tones, toying with a grenade she'd picked up.

"N-nothing, nothing! Jeez, how do I always get the crazy ones...?"

"Damn this cramp in my shoulder..." --Deputy Beagle

Sadly, the soldier perished on the way. Happily, Gracie found Deputy Beagle, untied him, and nothing interesting happened while she escorted him to safety.

"This dress won't suffice for long walks, but since the outpost is nearby, I do belive I'll leave it on." --Gracie

Gracie had picked up a free dress somewhere in the hotel and/or casino. She changed into it before her trip to the Mojave Outpost, where hopefully there would be an NCR army bigwig she could talk to.

Gracie found her way to the Mojave Outpost, definitely not having been chased and nearly eaten by radscorpions on the way. She talked Major Knight into sending some soldiers to defend Primm, which wasn't especially hard. She also met Cass, an angry, melancholy woman who seemed to be stranded in the Mojave Outpost.

"Damn it, I know the screenshot didn't do my eye properly!" --Rose of Sharon Cassidy

Apparently, Cass owned a caravan company, and despite not having a caravan, she legally was a caravan. For this reason, she wasn't allowed to leave until the roads were safe for caravans. Gracie consoled Cass and, feeling glad she was not a caravan herself, made her way back to Primm.

With more soldiers to work with, the NCR detachment at Primm agreed to appoint their own sheriff, and take responsibility for protecting the town.

"This is good news for Primm. As well as turning back the tide on those Powder Gangers, we'll be able to keep the town safe from wild animals, raiders and things like that," said Major Knight, not pictured.

"Yaaay!" cheered several Primm residents, also not pictured.

"Splendid!" cheered Gracie.

"Furthermore, now that you're living in NCR territory, each of you will be eligible to pay taxes," Major Knight continued. "Our regulations on gambling, outlaw-themed museums, delivery companies, elevated roads and salad naming conventions will also apply. For the forseeable future, Chicken Caesar Salad will be renamed as Chicken California Salad!"

"Y... yaaay?" the townspeople said cautiously.

"Oh, well," sighed Gracie. "At least they're being good sports about me borrowing a helmet."