FTS: Bear Down, Session Two

 When we last left off, the party was still in Vault 25, having sought shelter with the surprisingly pleasant mole-men in blue.

Once again, we begin with a group of ragtag exiles -

• Ayre Fisher, gruff and violent, former Vault technician. Less than enthused about the development of recent events, all things considered, but holding it together with grit and gusto.
• Dr. Valencia Romero, charming and prodigal, a former Vault doctor. Unsteady and shaken in this new world, but at least the food in Vault 25 is good.
• Tancy Valdez, weird and waifish, formerly a junior member of Vault Security. Presently in the throes of religious revelation after speaking with a Legion priestess for several hours.

  

  There is beauty in these hills.

We begin with the party departing from the safety of Vault 25 - almost as soon as they are free from the ears of their blind hosts, Tancy attempts to convince the others that they need to visit the priestess' father, Tribune Messala, to inform him of his daughter's survival; this is less a practical measure than a moral one, though she cannily argues that the proximity of Vault 25 to Two Sun makes its eventual discovery an almost-certainty, something the others ultimately concede on. In the end, they resolve to travel south with the intention of seeking out a meeting with the Tribune and securing a scavenging license.

Their travels are largely uneventful, and the group manages to get a meeting with a local bureaucrat without too much difficulty - unfortunately, Censor Scipio is a less-than-cooperative man. Tancy requests that he arrange an urgent meeting with the Tribune, but, not wanting to risk angering a high-ranking official, the Censor refuses until they make it worthwhile for him. He's only willing to grant a license to those he trusts, which is more shorthand for the fact that he has problems he needs solved. He presents the party with a few options - clearing out an infestation of bugs, hunting down bootleggers, or identifying the source of a new narcotic - and they ultimately settle on clearing the bugs, venturing to the botanical garden.

Upon arriving, they find that the bugs are a bit scarier than they first expected - giant wasps with orange wings, buzzing about angrily, surrounded by the bloated bodies of those who'd previously attempted to get a license doing this job. They bicker for a bit, Tancy ultimately deciding to venture forth, a decision ridiculed by Dr. Romero, who mockingly asks whether she'll be protected by prayer. Apparently, Tancy is, as the swarming cazadores simply ignore her, leaving the good doctor rather gobsmacked.

Evil fucking wasps.

Within the old botanical garden where the bugs have made their nests, Tancy is met with a small group of escaped slaves and tribespeople, sheltering from the Legion amidst the cazadores, which they control using harvested pheromones. The girl negotiates with them for a short time, eventually suggesting that they shield themselves with swarms of cazadores, highlights a route out of the city, and agrees to get them a pack animal to carry their things.

This leads the group to the west of the city, to the brahmin feedlot, a sizable expanse where brahmin and giant javelina are kept for both food and trading purposes; slaves shovel shit and plant matter, merchants trade, and locals hurry on as quickly as possible. They are able to cut a deal with a local merchant, buying his javelina, but as they get ready to go, Dr. Romero notices that some of the slaves are carrying manure into a nearby building, rather than the fertilizer carts; the party quickly goes to investigate, but is rebuffed by an armed and grouchy man at the door. With some discussion, they decide that this is probably an operation growing cannabis - they're wrong, but when legionaries raid the building on their tip later tonight, the jet production lab they find is close enough.

They return the pig to the escaped slaves, smearing it in pheromones to avoid it being stung to death immediately, and the leader of the group gives them a quick rundown on their method for controlling the cazadores. Seeing as the slaves plan to be gone by morning, they return to Censor Scipio, reporting both their suspicions about the drug lab and that the bugs will be gone in the morning. Amused, and having taken down their names, he offers them a small advance on their payment for the work done, then tells them to come back tomorrow morning - if their work bears fruit, he'll give the scavenging license, the rest of their payment, and a letter of introduction for the tribune.

That evening, they decide to spend their night at Five Points Markets, the restaurant and hostel with the best omelettes in town; the food there proves delicious, and the party amuses themselves with the drink available. There is a sizable coffee trade in Two Sun these days, Two Sun having long been the Legion's gateway for the delicious drink, and Dr. Romero exposits at length about her love for it, much to the others' amusement. Ayre and Tancy both enjoy local sodas - Brazen Bull Orange and Mesquite soda, respectively. Comparing the bottles, the orange soda has a dancing bull, while the mesquite has the stern face of Caesar.

Tancy ultimately departs from the restaurant, doing a wide circuit in the central plaza to ask if anyone knows of a married couple with the last name Valdez, one that likely arrived in the area about twenty years ago. While Valdez is a relatively common last name, she's struck with incredible luck when speaking with an older stall keeper - he used to be somewhat acquainted with a couple by that name about a decade back, noting that they were a bit more well-spoken than the usual tenant farmer in Marana. Tancy takes the revelation that her birth parents may well be alive and well elsewhere rather poorly - abandonment never feels good, after all.

Back in the restaurant, the remaining duo is approached by a smooth-talking young woman from the bar - they clock her as being Vault-like, though she casually brushes off their inquiries and settles in with them, flirting lightly with Dr. Romero as she turns them over for information. Offering her name as Hastings, she expresses sympathy for their banishment, then fairly legitimate outrage upon learning that they are a doctor and engineer respectively, noting that such is an inexcusable waste of talent. From there, she offers them a job - retrieving a small shipment of hers from a garage in the outer city, then dropping it off at a secure point - simple, easy, and worth a very generous amount of caps if they can get it done quickly and quietly. They question her a bit more, and she promises more information on her employers and perhaps even a more permanent place of safety if they can get this done for her, before paying for their drinks and bouncing.

Good food, good drinks, good company?

Tancy returns, and the others opt to keep her mostly in the dark about the job, retiring to bed before too terribly long after that. Tancy, afraid of the dark, fashions the mesquite bottles into a makeshift night-light using a candle she purchased in the market, the stern face of Caesar cast as a shadow against the wall of the room. The others are... less than enthused about this, but nobody actually does anything about it.

In the morning, they are quick to retrieve their license, payment, and letter of introduction, the Censor thanking them quite happily for their work as he sends them on their way. Before they leave, he cautions them that the Prefect of the city, a brutal war hero by the name of Claudius, rarely has much tolerance for the presence of 'unbound women,' something that gives the all-lady group good reason for concern.

Still, they strike on, reaching the latifundia without overmuch difficulty - hundreds of slaves work in the nearby fields, bound to the Prefect's whim, though there is some tension in the plaza before what used to be the San Xavier Mission; it seems that the tribune's forces have encamped there, the local guards less than enthused about the presence of a hundred-or-so veteran soldiers on their doorstep. The letter of introduction sees them admitted to the latifundia, at least, though they are stopped again at the door to the prefect's main hall - they are all women, and he typically does not allow their sort in his presence. Fortunately, the frumentarii that they met previously intercede, overruling the door guard and seeing them into the room.

When they enter, the Prefect and Tribune are arguing - Cladius wants Messala to march his forces southeast to fight a group called the Brotherhood, where they're entrenched at the old Titan missile silo, but the tribune remains stubbornly set on remaining entrenched within the city proper. Upon being introduced, Tancy informs the tribune that she has information of note for his presence in the city, and, recognizing the prompt for discretion, he calls for her to walk with him.

The man listens carefully as she recounts her experiences - his questions are rare, but incisive, and any doubts he might have had evaporate when she offers up the ring alongside the message from his daughter. Tancy manages to persuade him not to march on Vault 25 immediately, mainly by gesturing towards the GECK, noting that securing the desired components would probably be sufficient for an exchange, and the GECK working at full efficiency would likely benefit the Legion as well, particularly if the molemen are tamed. In the end, Messala inquires what she would desire as reward for her work here, to which Tancy informs him that she only desires to travel with him back to Flagstaff so that she might seek membership among the priestesses.

The tribune is legitimately befuddled, interrogating that urge a touch more before ultimately deciding that it's an acceptable outcome, praising her sense of civic duty. Tancy is invited back to the feasting hall, much to the dismay of Claudius, where Messala focuses most of his attention on her, evidently interested in getting to know his latest acquisition a little bit better. 

Quiet affairs in the Prefect's latifundia.

 

Meanwhile, Ayrie and Romero have been taken aside by Caeso, the frumentarii offering them air conditioning and finger food in a side room. They talk for a bit about the nature of the Legion, the old fox answering questions patiently, before a younger man enters the room, dressed in the same uniform that Caeso now wears. 

While much changed from when they last saw him, this supposed Antonious is none other than the young Kyle Weyland, a boy exiled at age 16 after playing a prank on the overseer; the man before them is harder now, but cringes visibly when Romero excitedly calls him Vile Kyle. She and Ayre taunt him somewhat, mocking his outfit, at which point he attempts to regain control of the situation by threatening their home Vault, attempting to conscript them for a plot against the Prefect, but they utterly refuse to play ball, even when he offers a boon for their trouble. Evidently irritated by the attempt at strongarming, Ayrie leverages her terrifying presence, threatening to wring the necks of both of them if they don't back off.

Sensing that she might be serious, the meeting ends awkwardly, and it isn't long at all before they are rejoined by Tancy, now well fed and quite happy with her burgeoning relationship with the tribune. The session ends as they are joined by a beleaguered Caeso, the backup they were promised in the search for the necessary GECK components.