It all went thru her mind like it was unfolding right before her eyes. The moment she fell from her icy tomb, only to walk the desolate landscape all alone. In search for her lost son, the lives she has taken. Her only purpose after her second awakening was to get the only person she cared about. The moment she drove her knife into the face of Kellogg, her sons' kidnapper and husbands' killer. Her and the band of minutemen who stormed the walls of that old fortress, killing mirelurks and almost getting eaten by a giant monstrosity that was their queen. Nothing could prepare her for the fact that her son was responsible for all those synthetic beings roaming the commonwealth, tearing it apart.
After her initial shock of what was told to her, she abandoned it all. She walked away from helping people. She walked away from searching for answers. She just wandered the wastes, fighting anyone who came across her path. She no longer cared about anything other than food, sleep and violence. Violence had become her past time.
"Bbbzzzztt" the speakers cracked to life, and the sound forced Valeria out of her deep trip down memory lane. She was sitting in a corner of the car because it seemed forever since she had even took a long rest. She stood up, and looked out of the windows to behold a wondrous yet depressing sight.
"Welcome to Nuka world…" the intercom speakers rang out within the confines of the rail car. The womans' voice on the intercom was automated, and it sounded so monotone, Valeria blanked it out while she took in the sights the car window had to offer. Off in the distance, she could see a giant man made mountain of steel and plastic. "Fizztop Mountain. The largest structure in Nuka world…" she heard the intercom say as she pondered the sight.
Just as she began to feel as though this may be a waste of time, she caught the sight that made her change her mind almost instantly. A dead tree with branches springing out in all directions, had grotesque ornaments hanging from its many extremities. She saw at least four bodies hanging from their necks from the withering branches with metal spikes all around the trunk. She would be lying to herself if she said that she didn't find the scene a bit… enticing. Almost challenging her to come and see.
"Bzzztttt" the womans' voice on the speakers of the intercom was cut off with electrical static, and the sound broke Valeria's gaze away from the hanging tree. There was silence for a mere second before a mans voice spoke thru the speakers. This time, it was done in real time.
"Well now. Looks like Harvey brought in another sucker. I can't believe that old sob story still works." Valeria began to listen to the mans' voice as she turned her attention to the speakers. Her body anticipating something foul, and she knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant welcome talk.
"listen up!" the man on the speaker shouted to her. "Names Porter Gage, and you've walked into a death trap. That story about Harvey and his family is a lie. You are going to die here." Menacing as it appeared to her, all she could think about was seeing what was in store for her. What did he mean by all of this? "But, if you happen to make it past all the death traps, I have an interesting offer for you. Make it to the end, and I'll make it worth your while." After those words, the speakers cut to static, and she was alone in the trail car once again, pondering on what she was told.
"Death traps huh?! Sounds like an excellent night out if I say so myself." Valeria speaks to herself as she picks up her back pack, sporting a wide grin. The car is coming up to a train station, and she was titillating with anticipation for what was to come next.
"Ding" the door from the train car swings open, and Valeria steps into a station looked worse for wear. She looks around to see if she can find anything that would tell her was going on, and she happens to come across a working terminal that sat on a counter. She pushed a bleached skeleton that sat on a stool in front of the computer, and she proceeded to sit. She activated the computer, and the screen came to life. What she was expecting was far less than what she received.
"There is no hope. You're going to die!" The screen on the terminal presented the message of lost hope. Hoping to possibly scare the sole survivor, but Valeria actually felt more excited to the prospect of it all.
Valeria found a side door near the end of the hall, and she proceeded to walk down its steps that was littered with debris. Just as she walked down the first step, a voice over a loud intercom rang out all around her.
"Holy shit! Looks like we got ourselves another victim for the gauntlet." A mans' voice spoke to her, and seemed as excited as she was. She decided to make sure her .44 magnum had all six rounds in the cylinder, and she slung her hunting rifle along her side. She had a feeling this would all be close quarters fights. Assuming she was actually going to fight someone or something.
"And she off" spoke the man when she turned the door handle at the bottom of the stairs, and stepped into the dark and dank room, only imagining what's in store for her.
She crouched around the corner and peered out into the lightless room, not being able to see anything. She took a few steps forward, and saw a body lying on the floor with an upturned table next to it. It was a man, and had quit a few bullet holes in his torso and head. Just as she pieced it together, the sound of winding gears and clicks rang out in the room. She saw glowing lights peek out through out the dark corridor, and before she knew it, gunfire sparked out towards her. She took cover as the bullets whizzed past her, and she barely was able to get behind a broken down wall.
"Well shit." Valeria spat to herself, trying to catch her breathe. "I should have guess these jokers would do something like this." Waiting for the turrets that were all over the place to give up on their target. After waiting a few seconds, the whining of the machines gave way to more silence, obviously disappointing someone above.
"Jeez. If this scaver moves any slower, we are all going to die of boredom." The mans' voice made Valeria even more upset besides the situation. She wanted a fight, not to face a barrage of turret and laser fire.
Valeria decided to humor the man. She ran out of cover, jumping over a turned over table, and ran toward the other end of the hall. The familiar sound of gears winding up queued her that it was time. She pulled out her pistol, and squeezed off a round into the closest turret that was housed in a shopping cart. The round flew toward the metal contraption, striking it with such force, the gears and housing blew apart in a hail of metal and fire.
Valeria paused for a mere second before realizing the side turrets along the other side of the wall, and took cover behind a desk with a cash register. Just as she skid to get behind the desk, and rounds from the turrets chewed up the register, totally demolishing the metal box. She waited a few seconds, allowing the machines to halt their relentless onslaught of bullets and energy. The deaf silence told her that it was good to move again, and she sprang up from her cover, firing off two rounds. Two rounds flew toward two separate machines, and the force of the impact destroyed them both.
Valeria took the opportunity of the less bullets firing toward her, and jolted herself toward the door, diving into the wooden frame. As she did, the door gave way, and collapsed into splinters of wood and metal.
"Well I'll be. Looks like the scaver can dodge some bullets, but let's see how she fairs in the next round." The intercom in the next room sprang to life, and Valeria's excitement turned into anger at his voice.
Valeria was a master of stealth, and she had a feeling that it would have its advantages in this upcoming trials. She looked around the room, and spotted a flame thrower rigged up at the corner. She giggled to herself at the prospect of being burned to death.
"What the irony huh?! Frozen for 200 years, just to get burned to death." She spoke to herself as she stepped past the trip wire that ran to the contraption. The rest of the room was filled with trip wires and death traps, but she noticed that on the right side of the room, there was a door that lead upstairs. She slowly maneuvered her way around the contraptions, and stood before the door, quickly picking the lock open.
"Geez, so I guess the fresh meat knows how to pick a lock. It won't help her in the long run though." The very sound of the mans' voice brought her blood to a boil. To think, her struggling was becoming spectacle. A part of her hated the idea, yet another part seemed to get enjoy her struggling was becoming spectacle. A part of her hated the idea, yet another part seemed to get enjoyment. Confused as to why she even bothered.
As Valeria creeped up the stairway, she caught a glimpse that made her anxious, yet excited all the same. A pile of bodies and parts were put in a pile in the middle of a room, and was littered with barrels that where labeled with radioactive waste. She huffed at the notion, and she quickly looked around to find a way past this test.
"Uh oh! Hopefully someone brought their rad away, or they are going to get roasted like a squirrel on a stick." The voice rang out again, enticing Valeria to move even faster. She runs past the haunting display of mutilated bodies that littered the floor, and found a locked door, smashing it while the force of her booted foot.
As the door flew open, Valeria was meet with three doors, all labeled from one to three. She appeared to halt for a mere second before the silence was broken by her antagonize.
"Well look here. Looks like the scaver has a choice to make. One door leads to further pain, and the other two, to instant death. The outcome will be the same, just some quicker than others." Valeria rolled her eyes at the notion of picking doors. She grew tired of these pointless games, but she decided to humor her audience even further.
She opened the door that was on the far left, and a corridor appeared, leading down a path of broken concrete and wood. She followed the trail until it came to a metal door, and appeared to be sunken thru the dirt a little bit. She forced the door open, and was met with the familiar scent of stale and dust. A computer sat on a desk near the entrance, and she examined it, opening the contents of the terminal. She saw that defense turrets were active, not wanting to be jerked around even more, she decided to turn them off.
"Aww. Looks like our contestant doesn't like to have a little fun." The man was becoming even more irritating to Valeria, she swore that she will find this man, and drive her knife into his face. She responded to the mans' recent outburst with a well-known gesture of giving him the one finger salute.
Just as Valeria flipped the man off, she proceeded down the dark concrete corridor, and saw that there were crates full of turrets set up on both sides of the wall. She let out a deep breathe once she saw this, and then looked in the middle of the room. A monkey whined up, and before it could clang its bell, she throw her knife at its head. As the monkeys head fell to the floor, she walked over to the now headless monkey, retrieving her blade.
She passed by the door that was on the right of the room, and was met with a old wooden walk way. The walkway was very thin, and Valeria was keen to performing feats such as this. After all, she did quite a bit of cross training and mountain climbing during her days of lawyer school. She looked on toward the pathway on the other side of the walkway, and began to step across, making sure to not lose her balance. This however, didn't go as well as she hoped.
A few feet away from the end of the walkway, one plank gave way, and she tumbled down into the murky waters below. She landed on her feet with a loud splash, and she knew that she wasn't alone down there. Just as she stood up from the initial impact, out of the dirty water sprang a large mirelurk hunter. Its thick carapace glistening from the water, and its eyes glowing deep blue from the light.
"Shit. I have shellfish early in the morning." Valeri cursed to herself as the creature sprang up, taking her into its sights. Within moments, the beast pounced on her, outreaching a giant claw toward the lady in the wet vault suit. She quickly reached for her pistol, but the mirelurk swiped her aside, making her loose her firearm.
"I better not have lost that you walking pile of…" before Valeria could finish her sentence, the creature lunged at her again, and she was forced to flip backward to avoid from being crushed. With anger in her eyes, and heat emanating from her face, she pulled out her knife in retaliation. She has had enough of all of these games, and she ran full speed toward the watery beast. She dodged a giant meaty claw, and slid toward its body, driving her blade deep in the mouth of the mirelurk. Valeria held on to the knife for a few more seconds before ripping the blade from its meaty housing. Forcing the mirelurks' motionless body to the wet floor.
Valeria could see a rock carved path leading up to the rooms above, so she reached into the water to grab her .44 to followed it up. She cursed to herself for expecting an actual fight with these raiders. Coming across another door, Valeria prayed that this is the last door she had to open for now. Sadly, she was met with a locked door behind her, and the sound of hiss air. As if she was hearing air passing through a broken pipe or valve.
"Oh boy. Looks like our scaver is in trouble." Valeria had almost forgotten all about that irritating voice, grunting to herself from the mere sound of his voice as he spoke. "Will she make it out in time, or will she choke to death on them fumes? Let's find out." The announcer spoke with excitement at the prospect of the sole survivor choking to death from nauseous fumes, but Valeria knew she wouldn't die before ringing that mans' neck first.
Valeria's lungs began to fill with gas, and she couldn't help but to cough, knowing that she had to get out of this room fast. She ran to the nearest terminal that was housed behind a metal grate fence, and turned it on. Just as the terminal sprang to life, and began to begin its initial process, she heard rustling in the corner of the room. Out of the corner sprang a giant radroach. The biggest she has ever seen, and it was glowing from radiation.
The monstrous roach leaped at her in an instant, but Valeria countered with her fists. She punched the roach clean in the head, and stomped on it as it was dazed, crushing its head to a grotesque oblivion. She turned to the terminal once again, and unlocked the door on the other side of the room, not noticing the dead radroach's body was churning and moving. Just as she looked away from the computer, she caught a glimpse of the giant roach bursting into pieces as three little roaches sprung free from their bloody prison.
The little mutated monstrosities attacked Valeria, and she quickly dispatched the first roach. The other two were closing in, and quickly brought her foot down on the second one. The third bit her in the arm, and that made her even more upset. Valeria grabbed ahold of one of its wings, and ripped it out of its backside. She decided to leave it there as
Valeria walked out of the door. This time, the door led to outside, and once again she breathed fresh air. She reveled in the feel of the fresh air filling her lungs, and the cool breeze sweeping over her. Sadly for her, the fresh feeling wouldn't last long before the sound of a most familiar voice brought her back to reality.
"Looks like our scaver made it to the homestretch." The mans' voice forced a grimace on Valerias face, and a flash of anger ripped throughout her mind. She rolled her eyes as the man continued on. "Audience participation is allowed, so gout there and show what you got." As the man spoke those words, Valeria heard the sound of gates being opened and people cheering. The prospect of possibly fighting face to face with another person made her excited as well.
As the intercom went silent, Valeria squashed what appeared to be a mutated ant. Several were crawling toward her, but she merely swatted them away. She found herself in a warehouse with broken down bumper cars and teapots. All appeared to have been worse for wear, from all things considering. A metal door led to the outside of the wide open building, and she proceeded to open, only to be underneath a wire cage again.
Valeria ran around the corridor, and came upon a room with a giant Nuka cola mascot, smiling at her with rigged grenades strewn around the room. Cautiously, she began to navigate through the booby-traps, but after a few seconds in, she began to come under fire from above the wire cage that housed her. Her steps became frantic while avoiding tripping wire, and dodging weapon fire at the same time. The raiders above shooting off rounds with laughter, trying to get their kill in during this twisted game. Valeria managed to get past the trapped room, run past a barrage of bullets, and kicked open a door leading to inside a bumper car ring.
As Valeria slams the door shut behind her, she is met with a wide bumper car ring with broken cars all around. She can hear chanting in the distance, as if a mob of blood thirst crazies were waiting for a kill. She proceeded up the ladder well t see where she can go to next, and she saw a man sporting a peculiar set of power armor square in the middle of the ring.
There were two men talking to each other, and Valeria tried to listen to what they were saying, only to be interrupted by the man in the power armor. "What? Is that a vault suit? I'm surprise that someone from those vaults came make it this far." The man spoke to her in a light British accent. He pointed toward her, and told her what was going to happen next. "You're going to go into the locker room, get all nice and presentable, and then I'm going to paint these walls with your brains."
Valeria, excited that she's actually going to be able to fight someone, smirked and grunted at the notion of "getting presentable". She said to herself that she has everything she needs to smother that asshats' face, and she relished the thought of separating his head from the rest of his body. Making him suffer before the end. She points toward the man in the giant suit, and gives the man a wink before proceeding to the door that opened for her, leading her down to a filled locker room packed with all kinds of weapons and ammunition.
Valeria surveys the room, looking to see what she can find. On the opposite site of the room from her, she hears a voice on an intercom. She prayed that it wasn't the man turd that kept pissing her off this whole time.
"Hey you. Come over here by the wall. I got a proposition for you." Valeria listened, and heading over the radio, hitting the button to call back.
"First, my names Valeria, and for the second, what the hell is this place?" Valeria spoke, spitting with anger. Her face grimaced with hate, her eye brows furled and her mouth clamped into a sneer.
"What this place is isn't a concern. If you want to get out alive, you'll have to listen to everything I say. This game is rigged. I stashed a water pistol in one of the lockers. Use it. It may seem strange, but I promise you, it'll make you win." The man spoke with haste, hoping not to stall so much time. Valeria looked around for this water gun, and found it in a locker. At first, she thought the man was crazy, but something was going on, and she decided to play the game.
"So this man is a cheat huh?! Sounds like a typical raider." Valeria, after retrieving this water gun, she spoke to the man behind the intercom. "So, I'll just shoot him with this water, and he'll go down just like that? I'm guessing this is going to go really well, or it'll go really bad." Valeria wanted reassurance from all of this.
"You do what I told you, you'll walk out of here alive, and just make sure to put on a show." As the man mentioned the word show, Valeria sported a wide grin and malice in her eyes.
"Oh believe me. I'll put on a show. I'll guarantee it." She finished the conversation with a wide grin, and walked away from the intercom, imagining what is laid out for her.
Valeria placed her hands on the metal door that led to the main area of the ring, and she could feel the rumbling of the crowd, and hear the chants for blood. She took a deep breathe, and she gently pushed the door open. She was met with random lights, crowds of raiders, and the large man in a power suit. She listened as the man spurred the crowd on.
"Raiders! Have you come here for blood?" the man roared, and his voice was meet with the crowd cheering for blood. The noise was deafening, and Valeria could only hear the muffling of the various raiders cheering. She spaced out, imagining the blood to be spilled in the near future. She promised herself that before this day was over, she will have that mans' intestines strewn across the floor.
Her concentration was interrupted with the sound of the man talking to her directly. "And you." The man points to her with his metallic gauntlet, making sure he has her attention. "Are you ready to die?" after those words, her heart began to race, and she couldn't hold back a smile. One of the two is going to die here, and it will not be her.
The door between Valeria and the man sprang open, and the battle had begun. Valeria immediately ran out, and took cover behind one of the bumper cars. The cars face smiling at her with its clown makeup and obnoxious grin. The man in power armor began to fire off rounds from his automatic rifle, trying to get some bullets to get her to move.
Valeria, holding onto a water pistol shaped as a coke rocket, and she looked around to find a way closer without being shredded with the hail of bullets flying toward her. She looked up toward the walls, and saw people screaming for blood. She knew she had to move now.
Valeria's agility helped her dodge the hail of fire, weaving in and out as the man sprayed bullets in her direction. She came to car closer to the man, and she took aim with thirst zapper. She felt silly using a water gun in a fire fight, but if what the man said was true, the electric currents that lit the mans' armor would turn against him. She squeezed the plastic trigger, and water jetted out, splashing the man.
The water came into contact with the metal coils, and the man screamed as his suit shorted out. Valeria knew this was her chance to do damage to this over armored idiot. She ran to the man as he was being shocked, and took her knife out, pulling away a piece of his leg armor that protected him. The large piece hit the floor with a clank, and she took her attention toward the mans' left arm. She dug her knife into the elbow region, and snapped off a large piece of metal and coils from his frame. She knew she had be fast in case he got back to power.
Piece by piece, Valeria pulled the mans armor apart with needle point precision. The man screamed out, but regained himself after the initial shocks subsided. He pulled his rifle back up, and took aim to fire at his attacker. he wasn't quick enough. Valeria, after pulling most of the mans' armor away, quickly ducked out of the hulking mans range. She pulled a bottle full of alcohol out of her bag, put a rag in the bottle, and lit it on fire. She threw a Molotov cocktail at the man, and the man went up in flames as the bottle shattered all over him.
As the man was ablaze, Valeria took aim to the mans' leg with her .44 magnum. She squeezed off a shot, and the bullet ripped through the his knee cap, shattering it on impact. The pain caused the man to scream out in agony, and Valeria walked around him to take aim at the mans arm. She fired off a second shot, ripping out the mans' left elbow. Doing this caused the crowd to fall silent, and the man was still ablaze, the fires slowly dying down.
Valeria looked up at the shocked crowd of riders as she holsters her .44, and brings out her long bowing knife. With a giant grin and excitement in her eyes, she kneeled down next to the hulking man who continued to cry out in pain. She dug her knife edge into the lining surrounding the neck that held his helmet to his torso, and she ripped it off. His head now exposed to the world and her, she straddled the heavy armor while her knees held his arms down.
Slowly and precisely, Valeria dug and her blades fine edge through the mans' face, slowly carving through the skin in a circle. From the bottom of his ears to the bottom of his chin, she dug deep, not letting the man go. She brought her blade out, only to dig it back into the mans' skull, smiling as his cries echoed throughout the ring. With a strong hand, she grabbed at the bottom of the mans face where she cut, and yanked the skin forward, totally skinning the mans faceoff.
From the spectacle just witnessed, Valeria stood there with the partial face skin from the man. Out in the crowd, she heard one person cheer, and the rest followed suite. The ring roared in a frenzy, and Valeria could only look on with a smile, reveling in her recent kill.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our new overboss. Welcome her in." a voice rang out over the crowd, and Valeria was eager to hear about what will happen next. She held onto the mess of skin that was the mans face, and peered through the crowd. She began to think of the possibilities, smiling all the while.