AUTHOR: Elizabeth E. Carter (aka Eli…pronounced Elly)

TITLE: Low Tech

SERIES: Fall Out 3

CATEGORY: Adventure

PAIRING: FLW / Sarah Lyons (sort-of. pre-romance)

RATING: M for language

SPOILER ALERT: The game as a whole.

DISCLAIMER: Bethesda owns all things Fallout, no copywrite infringement intended this is for entertainment only. Thank you Bethesda for a great series. Liaran's (my LW) personality is mine.

Warning: unbetaed (anyone want the job?)

AN: There are so very few fLW out there and those that are pair her with her stalwart ghoul manservant. I'm not one for necrophilia even though I like Charon well enough for a 'minion' but not for romances. I write Femslash. Eventually I will pair my fLW up with Sarah Lyons. And yes my fLW had had a relationship with Amata. Also I'm putting in the ability to use cooking fires and loading benches as well as a few other perks from New Vegas and FO4 like jury rigging, mad bomber and the like. Even to play Caravan and of course the Silver Shroud comics. And Dogmeat's police harness is a mod from FO4…for another Dogmeat.

AN2: I have the game for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One but also on Steam though I can't run it for some reason on my laptop, so I just use counsels. However I looked at some mods for FO3 regardless (I use loads for FO4 but only after I won it legitimately 2x) like a larger home in Megatown, including 3rd story that has a bathroom, a 2nd bedroom and work / storeroom. (It's more like Lucas Sims home) water from the sink no longer give rads as there is a water purifier in the town that Walter keeps running with the help of the LW brining him scrap metal all the time.

FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3

Just within ear shot Lyons heard Jennings snap at the Waster who had boldly approached him, telling her he was a little busy saving her ass right now.

The redhead snorted. "I did pretty well on my own. Thank you very much."

Reddin however had another approach. "You don't need to worry we're the best outfit in the whole Brotherhood of Steel. Just watch what we do to these uglies."

Sarah had to make the Waster push off. "Look I don't know who you are but you don't belong here." Lyons supported her XO's assessment. The civilian was a liability on the field. Best she know it now. "The super mutants have overrun our brothers at the Galaxy News Radio building, we're here to back them up." the Sentinel said looking at the thin waif of a wastelander. The girl was going to get herself killed. "You can tag along if you like but keep your head down and try not to do anything….stupid."

The redhead snorted. "Yeah well, I'm good at avoiding stupid things but thanks for the assist. When Moriarty sent me out this way he never mentioned it was overrun by mutants."

Sarah nearly rolled her eyes in contempt. Damn wastelanders! Gods "You been living under a rock this whole time? This is DC. The entire place is crawling with super mutants. Now if you will excuse me..." the scorn was thick in the Sentinel's voice.

"Actually yeah I have been living under a rock, well a mountain. Liaran from Vault 101." the redhead said as politely as possible, if only to slap the blonde in the face with it. She was very quickly losing patience with the tin-canned blonde as she was with most in the Wasteland that had forgotten how to be civil to one another. Not that the Vault was much better. Blondie was a contender.

"So who in the hell are you guys anyway. I've seen that symbol on your shoulder a few times in the old subway tunnels. No mere merc gang obviously." Liaran pressed unwilling to be shoved aside "You some sort of Wasteland standing army? I didn't think the Wastes had such a thing."

A Vault Dweller and an educated one…that explained a few things. Lyons softened her tone becoming a little more conversational. "The name is Sarah Lyons, Sentinel and Squad Commander of the Lyons Pride with the Brotherhood of Steel. Don't worry; we're on your side. At least I hope so. We're not a standing army as you might think it is.

"We do our best to hold back the super mutants in this area. But when civilians stumble into our sights, that gets a bit difficult doesn't it?" the condemnation was back in the last few words.

The girl didn't flinch at the dig nor become defensive as Lyons thought would be the case. In the same genteel voice the Vault Dweller posed a very familiar question. "So you guys looking for recruits?"

Sarah wanted to scoff. A lot of Wasters wanted to join up with the Brotherhood for several reasons, some seeking security, others wanting to get their hands on power armor and energy weapons. It wasn't going to happen. "That's a negative. We've got too many local conscripts as it is. Most are untrained and too damned trigger happy for their own good." she gestured to the helmeted female ahead of them. "Our Initiate Reddin is a sterling example."

"Humph. Okay fine." leather clad shoulders shrugged nonchalantly. "So what's this about GNR? I was sent to go see some guy calling himself Three-Dog. Guess he fancies himself some sort of Cerberus." Which she didn't add was how weird that would be considering there was a Mr. Gutsy in the ghouls' Underworld that was called Cerberus.

Sarah looked deep into the other woman's blue eyes. The reference to an ancient Greek mythology was utterly unexpected by Sarah. She was careful however not to allow it so show on her face. There was a lot more to this Waster than met the eye. Then again she did come from a Vault; no doubt they educated their inhabitants.

Why would a Vaultie need to go see Three Dog for? "There aren't a lot of safe places in the ruins right now. Galaxy News Radio is our sort of port in the storm. Unfortunately the building has been hit pretty hard lately, we're their back up. So if there aren't any more questions we really need to be moving right now." Take the god damn hint kid and go away.

Liaran nodded. "I need to move myself. Oh and um nice conversing with someone oh so polite and loquacious. Seems to be a great lack of it out here in the Wasteland." she looked behind her to the male waiting impatiently then decisively back to Lyons. "Seems everyone tends to have a stick wedge very far up their backsides. Ether that or they are contestants in 'who can be the biggest asshole in the Wastes competition'."

Sarah hid a smirk of slight amusement. The Vault-kid had a sharp wit that was for sure. Something Sarah actually admired in people. "Watch yourself out there"

The redhead nodded. "Come on Dogmeat. You heard what the nice Sentinel said we better not do anything stupid. We don't have clunky armor, we'll do the smart thing and snipe the muties. We've done this dance before. We can do it again."

The dog woofed in response, its tail wagging enthusiastically.

"Good boy." the girl cheered. "Who's going to tear the throat out of nasty muties? Is it you boy? Is it you?"

The dog was practically dancing on its paws.

Sarah watched as the Vaultie reached into a shoulder pack and withdrew two stealth boys. One she affixed to the police harness she had strapped on the dog's back the other she slid into the breast pocket of the leather duster she was wearing. The Duster Sarah realized were the sort worn by the Regulators. The Wastlands' self proclaimed law enforcement as for the harness the dog was wearing, the kid must have picked one the old police-dog harness in one of the derelict police stations. Again: smart. And if the kid was indeed a Regulator and didn't simply pick one up off a dead body, that was nothing to scoff at. The Regulators were a hard bunch of mercs, especially since their prime targets were Raiders and Slavers.

As for stealth boys…. the Sentinel had to admit it had never occurred to her use a stealth boy on a hound before. In truth it was a clever tactic. Not that it would last long; as soon as the dog attacked his enemies it would deactivate. But it did give a small element of surprise and it was a way to keep one's head down. Smart.

"There all set. The Frankenstines won't know what tagged them until you got'em by the daddy bags, boy. Well that is if they have daddy bags." Another animated woof and a very smug look on the Vaultie's face as she eyed Lyons.

Having a civilian in the getting in the way of the firering solutions as a bad idea even if she was cloaked, but there was a way to control the girl and her mutt and thus the situation at least marginally. "You can follow us as far as the GNR building. But keep your head down if you don't want it blown off." Lyons told the redhead.

Jennings quickly reigned in the jittery initiate. "Reddin on me. No need to rush into things blindingly. Keep your eyes open. Spot your target and keep in cover."

"Yes sir." the girl said eagerly trying to prove she was no fool or some pathetic Waster like that skinny redhead.

Down the alleyway Lyons recognized one of her brothers: Knight Captain Colvin "What's the situation?" the Sentinel asked him upon their approach.

"All clear Sentinel. Five mutants released from their torment the rest are keeping their heads down."

"Good. Jennings?

There was a pause as he checked his HUD "I got nothing."

Colvin looked to the Vault Dweller who was a few paces behind. "A new recruit?"

Sarah shook her head. "Just a stray we picked up. One that blundered into a nest of uglies over on 42nd."

"Welcome." Colvin greeted cordially which caused the redhead to return a quizzical expression as if she was attempting to figure out if the man was being genuine or sarcastic especially after her parting comment about politeness lacking out in the Wastes.

Lyons turned her back on the Vaultie to issue orders to her squad. "Alright the usual drill. Reddin, you just do whatever Paladin Vargas tells you and keep your mouth shut."

"Yes ma'am." came a swift reply.

Sarah thought about giving orders to the Vault Dweller but she was no where to be seen. It was very likely the kid had engaged the stealth boys. Smart and dumb. The uglies wouldn't spot her but then neither would the Pride; she could be fucked-friendly. Well it was her gamble; it wasn't Sarah's job to keep the dammed Waster's safe from her own stupidity.

The Pride cleared the old bombed out school swiftly. The uglies had fallen, a good number of them Sarah was surprised to discover had been mauled to death, quite a number of them had suffered headshot wounds from.302 and .44 mag. rounds. The kid might have crawled up from under a rock but she was a crack shot. It helped of course that as least for a short time she and her hound had been cloaked.

Looking around for the telltale sight of a red mane. Oh there she was-up on the second floor swiftly looting the corpses of the fallen uglies, quickly pocketing any ammunition, chems or caps the mutants had on them. She even dismantled couple of their hunting rifles and stuffed them in the backpack she was carrying, perhaps to sell or as salvage to maintain her own weapons. It was a good tactical move. Before the bombs fell looting the dead might have been taboo but now out here in the Wastes it could very well mean another day of survival or going without. Don't waste what you can use or sell. It was the unofficial code to the Wasteland.

He might not look like much but the dog (German Shepard off shoot—no question) had been a good war hound apparently. The gray and white with mismatched eyes was happily tearing in to a chuck of radroach meat one of the muties had had on him with great fervor. Radroach meat probably tasted marginally better on the dog's pallet then ugly meat. Then again dogs ate their own vomit so there was no judging.

For a moment the area was secure. Reddin was with Vargas asking him how she preformed. Sarah couldn't help but compare the initiate with the Vaultie's dog. Both wanted to be petted and told they did a good job. Lyons drew the line at rubbing bellies however.

"Okay the outpost is just to the left of us. Colvin you're the eyes. Vargas, Reddin secure this building."

They move through the building with in a staggered approach with swift military precision. Though some more then others. The young initiate seemed all too eager to prove she was more then worthy of being a member of the Pride.

"Yeah? Yeah you want some of this!?" Reddin cried out taunting the muties.

"Eyes out people. Movement from the east Colvin belted out.

"….come on Lyons Pride needs me and you know it. All that crap about me just posting guard duty at the Citadel is such bullshit you'll see." Reddin fired a couple of celebrity rounds into the sky gaining the XO's contempt.

"Yeah yeah we'll see." he wasn't impressed. Sarah knew from her long association with the man that he didn't see much of a difference in the initiate then he did the Vaultie.

Reddin let off a couple more rounds, whooping which caused even the Vaultie to shake her head chidingly at the other girl's antics.

"Now cut that out you're wasting ammo." Jennings scolded. He sounded almost embarrassed.

"Ah come on sir, we just kicked their asses." Reddin protested like a petulant child.

"We need to sweep the area. You think those uglies were the only ones in D.C.? You take the East side, I'll take the West."

"Okay okay." Reddin was still eager, full of post battle adrenaline.

"Once we're inside, then we'll celebrate." Jennings added.

"Now you're talking." The initiate moved off to follow orders.

Something thundered. It sounded like a hundred howitzers going off at once.

"What the hell is that?" Reddin cried out rushing towards the sound.

"No Reddin pull back! Pull Back!" Jennings ordered. "Behemoth!"

The indicate was frozen. Her feet unwilling to move.

"REDDIN!"

Even as the words were out of his mouth a whole line of cars exploded including the jackknifed fuel truck exploded in a blaze of hellfire. Their rusted husks effortlessly shoved away like cobwebs. Reddin was dead.

"Concentrate firepower. " Lyons ordered her men. But it was the Vaultie that got there first. "Get the Fat-Man! We're going to keep him busy!"

The Fat-Man was in poor condition. The girl took one look at it and shook her head and dropped it. Sprinting like a coward towards the old school building still carrying one of the mini nukes with her, she all but left the field of battle.

God damn Vaultie! Reddin was braver! This was why you never relied on civvies. To think the Vaultie actually asked about recruitment.

"Colvin get the Fat-Man!" Sarah reissued the order to one she knew she could rely on. He was closest. Goddamn cowered waster… The Sentinel saw him pick it up and shake his head.

"Fuck!" Colvin barked out the curse. "The trigger mechanism is broken. There's no way to fire it."

" INCOMING! FIRE IN THE HOLE!" The voice of the Vaultie bellowed out.

Sarah whipped her head around and looked up the shattered bones of the school to see the Vaultie the slit ends of her duster flaring out behind her like the wings of a crow. She had sprinted from one of the windows and landed on the back of the Behemoth, holding on to the cage the creature had strapped there. In her hand she had the mini nuke and attacked to it were several tin-canisters, homemade grenades but the look of it. All strung together by duct tape.

The girl was a genius!

The behemoth roared spinning in circles like a dog casing its own tale trying to get the puny human off its back. It didn't take long before the redhead was dislodged or rather she jumped 'ship.' As she leapt pulling the string binding the cluster grenades making them go live.

One

Two

Three.

The girl had just managed to take refuge behind a broken wall of the school before the makeshift bomb exploded.

Not orange but a brilliant electric blue, expanding outward like plasma fire. It was spectacular. Brilliant. Effective. What was the behemoth mutant was now showers of blood, offal and meat.

Sarah had to admit she was extremely impressed. Innovative, imaginative, adaptable, intelligent: perfect material to become a Sentinel. If only this girl had been born of the Brotherhood. Maybe a word to her father…he was amenable to the Wasters, especially if they showed promise. Yes just the right words to Father and this Liaran of Vault 101 could be allowed in on an honorary capacity. Sarah knew one thing this Vaultie girl was someone to watch.

"Unlikely adventures require unlikely tools." The girl tossed over her shoulder as she walked into the studio dusting herself off.

FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3~ FO3

Months went on and Three Dog couldn't stop singing the Vaultie's praises. He kept calling her the Lone Wonderer. According to Three Dog, the Lone Wonderer was plucky, daring and some sort of Hero of the Wastes doing allsorts of things like saving a kid from fire ants in Grayditch, to finding some ancient Stradivarius violin for some old woman to recovering the actual Declaration of Independence, amongst a number of other activities.

According to Scribe Yearling, Liaran had even agreed to recover pre-war books for the Brotherhood. For a hefty finder's fee of course. The Vaultie freed slaves and helped them set up at the Lincoln Memorial. She was the prime researcher and co-author of the Wasteland Survival Guide which was treasure trove of knowledge. Some of it was indeed very high-brow, but it was prime tome of information of how to survive the Wastelands. So much so that Sarah's father had the book reprinted so that it was given to every member of the Brotherhood. He even had made contacts with the Mohave Curriers to deliver a crate of the books back to the NCR. Even the Commonwealth dipped into their pockets and had several crates of the book delivered to their main settlement of Diamond City.

And Liaran even aided the Outcasts. And for the life of her, Sarah couldn't figure out why or how that even came to pass. Considering the Outcasts despised aiding Wasters, it was why they left Brotherhood in the first place. But they accepted Liaran as an ally. Apparently the Lone Wander as she was now called on to bring back the Outcasts tech: everything from Enclave power armour to laser weapons even down to sensor modules and all for ammo, Rad-X, Radaway, or Stimpacks. She had even helped them recover some sort of lost tech in a bunker by going through some sort of prewar simulator.

The Outcasts did something unprecedented; they actually shared their tech with her-first choice of prime weaponry and armour! That was unheard of! Yet the Lone Wanderer hadn't joined their ranks any more than she had joined the ranks of the Brotherhood. Liaran was the Lone Wanderer for a reason.

The more Sarah heard of Liaran the more intrigued she became. The more she wanted to meet her again. Truly talk to her. This woman Three Dog was describing was not the bright-eyed bumbling albeit very lucky and very optimistic noob Sarah had met nearly a year ago.

Just who was this young woman?

Sarah loved a good mystery, what she loved most was solving them. She was going to solve this Liaran.