Part 26: Red Christmas

Update 26: Red Christmas



Andrew didn't seem surprised to see me, but he was very grateful for the cash. At least this time I was serious about not being able to afford $10,000.



Nobody likes to hear the words "trial and error" in regards to major surgery, but I have a feeling the Auto-Doc was the major contributor. Luckily he didn't get any of the really important nerve endings.



By the time we got back to New Reno it was early morning on the pre-War holiday of Christmas. To this day, December 25th of 2241 is still referred to as the "Red Christmas" or "Bloody Christmas."



We started our day off by going to meet with the Salvatores to go on one of their secret transactions. They just wanted us to look big and mean, and with Marcus and Sulik we had an advantage in that area.



The Salvatores were trading raw materials, including drug components, to a bunch of people who looked strangely familiar. It took a second to place it, but the machine behind them helped… we'd seen something just like it crashed near Klamath. A non-berserk version of the robot we'd killed in Klamath started loading the cargo and we were released to walk back on our own.



Boss Salvatore offered me a chance to become a member of his crime family in order to shut me up about what happened in the desert, and didn't take my refusal well.



His guards rushed in to express his displeasure, and the air rushed in to the giant hole I shot into his face with my new pistol to express mine.



I also got to wipe that smug look off of Mason's face. I took his sunglasses as a memento, as well as all their laser pistols. They were worth a lot, and they also weren't something we could leave lying around for anybody to find and start using.

Mason's sunglasses are a special item that boost your Charisma by a point if you put them in one of your two item slots.



Downstairs the rest of Salvatore's men were waiting for us, although it took them a fatal few seconds to respond once we came barreling down the stairs. It was over quickly enough that most of the patrons were still having their drinks when we finished.



After popping a few stimpacks into those of us who'd taken a few hits, it was time to go next door to Bishop's casino.



I stopped in to pay a visit to Angela...



And then to her mother. Gotta say that the guys were pretty damn patient to stay waiting at the feet of the stairs. I hoped they weren't getting too friendly with the guards down there, because it would have been a brief friendship.



The whole point of the exercise was to get both of them out of the firing line, safely passed out in their own rooms.



It was a good thing, since Bishop had finally reached his breaking point about waiting for me to finish killing Roger Westin.



In retrospect, that was definitely a mistake on his part. It was quite a shootout in that small room, but nobody came up to check on the noise. This probably wasn't the first time that an employee had been fired.



Once I came down stairs the party started. The poor bastards guarding the stairs were surrounded and barely had time to realize that they were now unemployed before they were dead.



Before going downstairs, there's a secret item hidden away in the pool table. The Magic 8 Ball will give you advice, and if you have a very high luck stat will actually tell you a few secrets. Unfortunately I can't show it off on this play through, since our luck isn't high enough..



Downstairs was a bit messier. There were a lot more bystanders, and a few of them ended up getting shot or shooting by accident. Sulik and Cassidy might have gotten a bit confused about who was actually working for Bishop, and somehow nobody shot that damn comedian.



Over at the Desperado Big Jesus was waiting for news of Salvatore's death, not knowing that we'd decided to go wholesale.



"He is dead. Your family is avenged, Señor Mordino."

"No matter how many of your family members he killed."

"I'm just glad this isn't my jurisdiction."

"So I have heard. You have done… well. My faith in you is not misplaced. Here is… your payment. Five hundred… chips. And… armor and a weapon you may find… useful."

"Yeah, thanks, now before we say anything else...

"Your success… pleases me. I would welcome you into the Family Mordino. Will you join our family? Your strength shall be… our strength."

"Umm… listen, I can't join the Mordinos. But don't get me wrong, Big Jesus; it was a pleasure working with you."



"What the fuck is wrong with you people? You want some of THIS *Fatman?!* You want some of Luke?!! Then COME GET SOME, YOU FAT SON OF A BITCH!"



A blurry, bloody few minutes later the top floor of the Desperado reeked of blood and gunpowder. We were the only ones standing, but we needed a few minutes of medical treatment. The Mordinos favored submachine guns, and for everybody without combat armor, dermal implants, and boxing experience those hurt.

"You everyone wonder sometimes if there's not more bad people in the world than bullets?"

"Nope."



Another level! A few more points into Energy Weapons and some Science, and we're done. As a note, 15 was the level cap in Fallout.



Big Jesus was armed to the teeth and had a jacket that looked awfully familiar. I wasn't sure who Balthas from Modoc had been selling to, but his work hadn't been good enough this time.



Downstairs, Little Jesus made the classic mistake of bringing a knife to a gun fight. There's a reason you're not supposed to do that, but he didn't get a chance to learn from his mistake. He survived the first shot, amazingly enough, but not the second.



The place cleared out pretty quickly after that. The way that the Mordinos were so free with their submachine guns resulted in more than a few extra casualties.



I took Little Jesus' knife as a memento. It was a custom piece that wasn't easy to miss.

It also does more damage than any other non-powered knife in the game.



After that, we went and paid a visit to the Wright Family to talk about the Army Base. I figured that they'd take a decent amount of time to loot the place, and we'd be able to get in there before anybody else did.



After killing three quarters of the gangsters in New Reno, they called me the Coffinmaker. Why did I do it? I think it might have been a combination of disgust at Bishop's request, or maybe I just realized that once I started with the Salvatores there was no point in stopping. It could have been that the trigger was killing Frog Morton, because once you've killed one person to make the world a better place it starts to seem like a better idea every time you meet another asshole. Even now I'm not sure if I feel bad about it.



Unfortunately, they didn't include a fedora once I joined the Wright Family, and there aren't many hat makers in the wasteland these days.