Freedom of the Broken Hills

Written by: Scotty the Great

Well, it all began in Vault City, when I spoke to this guy Vic knew. He was a pretty nice guy named Ed, and told me about different places I could visit. I was very interested in this, being the traveling guy that I am. One of the places he told me specifically caught my interest, it was a place called the Broken Hills. It was a mining community run by super mutants to the south.

I took a moment just then to think about the stories of my ancestor, the Original Vault Dweller. I remember hearing from Hakunin the stories of a great evil that arose to the far south, and how the Vault Dweller fought this evil and was victorious, and in doing so saved the world. I remember about how I was told that the Vault Dweller was almost destroyed by the mutants and the Master, but was able to overcome it all. I remember how the Vault Dweller lost all of those that strode through the desert with him to this hideous evil.

Revenge started to surge through me. How could mutants be ruling a town?! I had to do something about it! I wasn't going to just stand by while my fellow man endured the cruelty of the mutants!

I quickly rushed to my car with my army. Well, not actually an army. It was just me, an annoying pest that I shoot at when he gets in the way named Myron, a trader I rescued from the Slavers in the Den named Vic, a ghoul that I recruited from Gecko named Lenny, and a former bar tender named Cassidy. A long time ago while wandering the desert on the way to NCR, we decided to call ourselves an army. It was Myron's idea, and probably the only idea he had that actually caught on.

We climbed in the car, me in the drivers seat of course, and took off. I never thought the car could go so fast, but my fellow man was in trouble! My reckless driving had a slight consequence, though. When I pulled into Broken Hills, I failed to see the ghoul standing in the way. I slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. The ghoul was already under my front bumper. I quickly got out, and went to the aid of the ghoul, who I quickly found out was named Lumpy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" I exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, of course." He replied. Although it was sarcasm, it still bothered me. Me and my army took hold of the car and was able to lift it high enough for Lumpy to maneuver his way out of there. He said his thanks and went on his way.

I decided to do some searching around the town next, and came upon the first Super Mutant I have ever seen in my life. He was hideous! His face was twisted and his mouth was huge and filled with yellow, rotting teeth. His eyes seemed to burn with the lights of a damned creature, ready to burn in the depths of hell. Now I knew what the Vault Dweller had been up against. Now I knew what the evil looked like, and that the evil did corrupt everything it touched. The town was falling apart. It was a regular dump!

I managed to greet the beast with a meek hello. I found out that his name was Marcus. He told me this bullshit story about how he was friends with a knight from the Brotherhood of Steel named Jacob, and how they became friends and built the town. I knew it was nothing but a huge lie. How could any of it have been true?

I wandered around the town, trying everything I could to avoid the super mutants. I kept my Plasma Rifle within close reach, just in case one of them tried anything. I asked around town about the mutants, but most of them seemed unsure of what to say. It was almost as if they were scared of the mutants.

I eventually stumbled into a nice little shack that was owned by a guy named Jacob. He was named after the Jacob from the BoS. I didn't have to bring up the topic of the Super Mutants to him. Instead, he opened the conversation by asking me what I thought of them.

"I hate them! Super Mutants are the vile scum of the Earth, and the reason that humanity will never be the same!" My statements were a bit strong, but I spoke the truth.

"Good, good," Jacob replied. "I was hoping you would say that."

It was then that I became suspicious of him. "Why?"

"Well, I share your viewpoints of the Mutants." He paused for a moment and stared at me, as if trying to make a mental decision about whether I was trustworthy. After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, he asked me a question. "Did you talk to Marcus? Did he tell you the story about how this place was built?"

"Yeah," I told him. "But I think it's nothing but a pile of shit."

"You're right," he said. He caught me off-guard. Apparently I had started to believe the lame story about the towns' creation. "Broken Hills was founded by Jacob. He was never friends with Marcus, and never even knew him until he marched in with his army to take this place over. At the time of the takeover, most of the people in charge were old, too old to fight, too old to be victorious. The savage Mutants took over the town. They killed all of those that opposed them, and forced the rest of the town to live in fear of them."

"That's what I though!" I exclaimed. "Why don't you stop them?"

"Don't you think we're trying to?" Jacob quickly shot back. "I mean, we hate being slaves to them! All we want is to be free again!" There was another pause, and once again Jacob stared intently at me. "Do you want to help us?"

"Sure!" How could I refuse an opportunity like this? This was everything the Vault Dweller fought so hard for!

"Okay, good," Jacob said. He motioned me and my army closer to him. We leaned in closer to listen as Jacob whispered what he had in mind. "Some of my friends, Manson and Franc, were captured by the Super Mutants because they tried to rebel. The mutants surprisingly didn't kill them. Instead, they put 'me in jail. If you could free them, it would be the first step in freeing this town of the evil. Are you up to the challenge?"

"Of course!" I said in an excited whisper. "But don't call it a challenge. I know how to handle myself, and these guys won't be a challenge at all."

"Ok, good. I like your confidence. Just go to the jail to the north of here, free them, and then report back to me," Jacob said.

"Will do," I agreed. "You can count on me."

I waited until night before proceeding to the jail. If things got rough, I wanted to finish it as quickly as possible without stirring any suspicion from the other town folks.

A few hours went by after sunset before I decided to make my move. My army followed me closely as I entered the jail. There were only three Mutant guards there. I talked to the one closest to the cell door where Manson and Franc were being held. I told him to let the prisoners go or else. The damned mutant smiled in reply as he raised his Minigun.

At that moment I knew it was on! I reached quickly for my Plasma Rifle and loudly whispered to my men "Let's do this!" Cassidy grabbed his Sniper Rifle, Vic got out his Combat Shotgun, Myron reached for his Plasma Pistol, and Lenny took out his 14mm Pistol.

The mutant turned his head and waved his hand, signaling for the other two to get ready. Before the motion was complete, I raised my Rifle and began aiming for the eyes. This was one of my favorite tricks, because almost every hit is critical, and one hit usually kills anything.

I had my Rifle ready for when he turned his head back. The instant he did, I pulled the trigger. The shot of plasma found it's mark in the eyes, and the sound of the shot was followed by the sweet sound of a mutant burning in pain and dying.

The other two mutants just finished drawing their weapons when Cassidy took his shot. Using an aimed shot to the left leg, Cassidy was able to take down the mutant that was closest to him. Myron then saw an opportunity and fired a shot right to the mighty mutant's groin. A circle of blood flowed out from under the mutant, and we all knew that there was only one left.

Just as I lifted my head, I saw that the last mutant had a Flame Thrower. He quickly aimed and fired it at me. I usually don't take that much damage because of my Power Armor, but that damned mutant got lucky with a critical shot. I knew that the end was near.

Vic noticed that I was in trouble, and quickly set his Shotgun to burst mode. He raised it quickly to his shoulder and fired. It was a direct and damaging hit to the mutant, but it wasn't enough to finish him off. I was struggling to raise my weapon, but I realized it was too late. The mutant had already taken aim, and a smile was spread across his face.

Then, at the last moment, Lenny fired. Lenny never much good at combat, but when he knew it was up to him, he always got the job done. That was true for this time as well. The side of the mutant exploded off of his body from the impact, and the giant fell to the floor. The battle was over.

I quickly used a Super Stimpak to heal me back to full health. I then turned my attention back to the jailbreak. The locks on the doors were no match for my skill, and in no time the job was done.

Before I knew it, I was receiving thanks from Jacob, and discussing a way to finish off the mutants completely.

"I have an idea that will work, but I need your help," Jacob began. He must've known how eager I was to send the mutants back to hell that he didn't even wait for my response. "I can arrange it so that all of the mutants are in the mine at the same time. All you have to do is rig an explosive device right by the entrance once they're inside. Then, just blow up the entrance, trapping them inside. It's that simple."

"Ok, let's do it then!" I exclaimed eagerly.

The next day, Marcus came over to talk with Jacob about the murder and jailbreak the other night. I was hiding in the back room of Jacob's house because I would probably be a suspect, being new in town and all. I heard Marcus say that Jacob had to be behind it cause it was his friends that were in jail. Jacob did some quick talking and said that he knew nothing about it.

"All I know is sometime last night Manson and Franc arrived back here. They told me about how they escaped, how some people wearing high-tech armor and calling themselves the Enclave came in and wasted your men," Jacob said. There was a long period of silence as Marcus tried to make sense of it all.

"Okay, I believe you," Marcus replied at last. The concern and worry in his voice startled me, but I didn't pay much attention to it. "Did they say where they were going?"

"Yeah, according to Manson and Franc, they planned to hide inside the mine," Jacob replied. "Then, once the mutant miners enter, they planned to put waste to them as well."

"Thanks for the info," Marcus said quickly. His footsteps were hasty as he left the building. A little while later Jacob informed me that the trap was set. He gave me the explosive device and sent me on my way.

I followed Marcus and the rest of the Super Mutants over to the mine at a far distance, making sure that none of them could see me. A few minutes after they went inside, I made my move. Rushing over to the entrance, I placed explosives on the top and the sides of the mine, just like Jacob instructed. Then, I attached some rope to each fuse of each explosive, connecting them in the middle. I then took the rope outside the mine a ways. Cassidy was busy dumping Rat Gut Beer all over the rope. He told me that it was the most flammable alcohol available to the wastes, and seeing how he was a former bartender, who was I to argue?

Once the trap was set, I lit the rope. Cassidy was right, the rope burned more quickly than anything I ever saw before. In no time, I heard the explosion of the bombs, the fall of the rocks, and the screams of the Super Mutants. I knew that the reign of terror in Broken Hills has ended, and that I would've made the Vault Dweller very proud.