“And you brought your family,” Friday said, looking over her shoulder in relief as an entire Legion squad and their Veteran Decanus threw themselves from the side of the dam, avoiding the swipes of four juvenile deathclaws and an enraged alpha female. “There must be…I dunno, twenty or more of you guys? You brought your whole family, didn’t you? And look at yourself! All fwuffy and handsome! Oh I’ve missed you so much, you stupid deathclaw.”
Fluffy continued to rub up against her, practically lifting her off the ground with his massive head.
“Well,” she smiled, “wanna go see Lily, boy? She’s missed you terrible.”
The deathclaw backed up and stood, looking delighted at the mention of his foster-mother’s name. To anyone but the Courier, this would have caused instant panic, but she only smiled wider. Friday patted him affectionately on the shoulder and then they walked off the dam together, with the somehow-fitting cries of death and destruction echoing all around them like a victory anthem.
And here, it is told, The Ballad of Fluffy the Deathclaw reaches its end. For many, it is not known what occurred after ‘That Damn Deathclaw Dam Disaster’, as Legate Vulpes Inculta so vocally tells his troops, nor is it recorded how many Republic men and women were indiscriminately chomped in the heat of the fray. (It’s war after all, Oliver told his remaining officers. Did you expect gift baskets?) But to those few who hear the fable, to those few that make it all the way to the NCR capitol of Shady Sands, there is something that always gives them pause.
In the square next to the Vault Dweller statue, there is another. It is carved of rock pulled directly from the granite on which Caesar’s tent once sat, and chipped into the likeness of a twelve-foot alpha male deathclaw, sitting on his haunches next to the much smaller chiseled form of a cybernetic dog. It’s said by many Veteran Rangers there are deathclaw bones buried beneath, though nobody has bothered to check, partially out of respect and more often disbelief.
But for those who venture close enough, there is also a tiny bronze plaque embedded at the base, a plaque with only five words.
The Ballad of Fluffy the Deathclaw and his Reluctant Messiah of Doom (1g/1)
Fluffy continued to rub up against her, practically lifting her off the ground with his massive head.
“Well,” she smiled, “wanna go see Lily, boy? She’s missed you terrible.”
The deathclaw backed up and stood, looking delighted at the mention of his foster-mother’s name. To anyone but the Courier, this would have caused instant panic, but she only smiled wider. Friday patted him affectionately on the shoulder and then they walked off the dam together, with the somehow-fitting cries of death and destruction echoing all around them like a victory anthem.
And here, it is told, The Ballad of Fluffy the Deathclaw reaches its end. For many, it is not known what occurred after ‘That Damn Deathclaw Dam Disaster’, as Legate Vulpes Inculta so vocally tells his troops, nor is it recorded how many Republic men and women were indiscriminately chomped in the heat of the fray. (It’s war after all, Oliver told his remaining officers. Did you expect gift baskets?) But to those few who hear the fable, to those few that make it all the way to the NCR capitol of Shady Sands, there is something that always gives them pause.
In the square next to the Vault Dweller statue, there is another. It is carved of rock pulled directly from the granite on which Caesar’s tent once sat, and chipped into the likeness of a twelve-foot alpha male deathclaw, sitting on his haunches next to the much smaller chiseled form of a cybernetic dog. It’s said by many Veteran Rangers there are deathclaw bones buried beneath, though nobody has bothered to check, partially out of respect and more often disbelief.
But for those who venture close enough, there is also a tiny bronze plaque embedded at the base, a plaque with only five words.
And though it is only a sentence, it is enough.