There he stood, the ultimate contrast to his surroundings. The bright "101" on the back of his jumpsuit obscured by a thick leather strap and a high powered rifle slung across his shoulder. His eyes scanned the rubble, his fingers twitching over the SMG strapped to his right leg. He moved forward, head snapping between the ruined buildings of DC, his ghoul companion not far behind.
"Super Mutants!"
Suddenly there was chaos. He gritted his teeth when he could not find the voice's origin amidst the debris.
"Charon, 3 right," he said calmly to the ghoul behind him. He ignored the bullets that zipped past him and brought the barrel of his sniper rifle to bare. Counting off each second in his head, he never rushed, never jerked the pull of the trigger.
1: He savored the kick of the rifle as the first monster went down, headless.
2: The second target was Charon's, the hole in the mutants chest courtesy of his shotgun.
3: Cross hair centered on the head of the third, he pulled the trigger to late, as his target fell to a laser blast.
3 seconds, three dead muties. He smirked and turned towards the source of laser. A blonde woman stood among the ruins of the building, her grimy power armor the same color as the concrete behind her. She walked towards him, laser rifle trained on his head.
"What the hell do you think your doing this deep in the ruins, Civie?"
"Looking for someone. The GNR building around here?"
She ignored him, switching targets when she caught sight of the rather large ghoul standing at his flank.
"Do I look like a Super Mutant, smoothskin?" Charon growled in response to the gun's glare.
"Does it matter?" replied the woman.
"Charon, down. Hey lady, answer my question," said the wanderer, standing between his servant and the rather hostile woman.
She lowered her gun, and her eyes narrowed.
"You don't wanna go to Galaxy News Radio. Super Mutants are crawling all over the only way there, and our forces are being overrun as we speak,"
"And who the hell would your forces be?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"The brotherhood of steel, that's who," she stated.
"Riiiight. Whatever," the man rolled his eyes in disbelief.
What is up with all the cults out here?
He moved forward at a brisk pace, ignoring the laser rifle that once again was pointed at him.
"Hey, civilian, wait!" the woman chased after him, annoyed by the man's indifference. Remaining completely oblivious to the woman's calls, he advanced in to the ruined building she had come from.
The hallway(or what had been a hallway at one time) was occupied by more armor clad wastelanders, all huddled around the far corner of the right wall.
"I said wai-" her voice caught in her throat as she felt something grasp her shoulder. On pure instinct, she twirled, digging her rifle in to the torso of the ghoul standing behind her.
"He ain't listenin', smoothskin," she gritted her teeth as the abomination spoke.
"Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't pull the trigger, you zombie bastard," she ground out.
"Cause then I'd pull the trigger," the man holding a 10mm pistol to back of the woman's skull grinned as she lowered her weapon. His grin only widened as he heard the telltale sounds of guns being cocked behind him. His grip on the gun loosened, and he allowed it to dangle form his index finger.
"You're dead, wastelander," said a voice behind him. The man turned and slowly put his hands up.
"Alright, alright you win," he said, still grinning.
"Drop the gun," commanded one of the men. He complied, idly letting the pistol slip off his finger. It didn't leave his grasp long however:
His eyes narrowed at sudden hulk of yellowish green that appeared from around the corner, and in the blink of an eye, The man crouched, catching his weapon on the way down. In less than a second, the man acquired his target, and fired.
The man who had told him drop his weapon became bathed and blood, turning to see a super mutant with a hole between his eyes.
"What the hell!?" he yelped. He turned, only to see his companions tense, and about to attack.
"Hold your fire!" he screamed. His men stood straight up, backs stiff as planks, weapons lowered in confusion, at the command.
The crouching simply stood, smile still plastered on his face. The blonde behind him slack jawed in amazement.
"Who the hell... who are you?" she finally forced out.
He turned his head slowly so he could respond, careful to keep an eye on the baffled men in front of him.
"Gareth," he stated simply.