Chapter Two-
A Good Deal
"I knew that this would turn out to be a fun contract!" Steve yelled. He spun around and unloaded both pistols into the first deathclaw with ease. It shrugged the bullets off, and charged the small raider group.
They stood in a line, firing on the four deathclaws. The first deathclaw reached Steve in a few long strides; it raised its massive arms and brought them down like two sledgehammers.
Steve moved swiftly, dashing and rolling to the side to avoid the killing blow. He then dropped both of the clips and slid a fresh pair in, slamming the slides home.
"Jericho, boil me some eggs!" Steve screamed over to his raider-captain.
Jericho nodded and threw a couple grenades in the air, and into Steve's hands, and then turned to tell the others what to do. Steve turned his head from the other raiders back to the first deathclaw, it immediately charged him. He held one of the grenades in his hand, curled his finger around the small metallic ring, and pulled the pin from it. He waited for the deathclaw to gain a few more yards, and he opened his palm and let the grenade drop to the ground. He dove behind a nearby rock for cover.
The grenade detonated with a loud explosion, and he felt the shockwave ripple through the air. He then popped out from behind the rock and swung his two pistols toward the deathclaw, their sights aimed at the massive beast. It had lost its legs from the explosion, and was attempting to crawl towards him.
He fired several times, fracturing its forehead like a delicate china dish, its movement then became still. Steve stood and watched the last breath exhale from the deathclaw's lungs. Several more gunshots erupted in the valley, and then the weapons became silent. When the last gunshot had echoed through the valley and faded away, Steve regrouped everyone and surveyed the damage.
"What's the word, Jericho?" He asked. He was seated on the ground, with his back against the cliff. He silently watched as his men looted the dead corpses, and took trophies from the fallen deathclaws. Jericho crouched beside him in the shade of the cliff.
"Three men are dead, the rest appear to be uninjured. What should be our next move?" The aging raider asked him. Steve used his knee for support as he stood, then he rounded all of the raiders into a single group.
"Today was a success, good job men." He addressed them all at once.
Several men in the small circle smiled and cheered. Steve waited for their cheering to die down, and continued to speak then.
"Our mission is not complete yet, however, we must now meet with Talon Company in Rivet City and regroup there." He told them. They gathered up any other loot that was available, and set off towards the massive ship.
Steve and Jericho led the group, marching in front of the other raiders as they made their way across the wastes. Jericho repeatedly wiped his head with a small rag that he kept on his belt.
"Can I ask you something, Steve?" Jericho broke the silence that hung over the small party.
Steve reached into his duster pocket and took a gold plated cigar case out. It swung open silently at the click of a button, and he retrieved two cigarettes. He then closed the case, placing it back into his duster.
"Fire your question rifle at me." He answered. He extended a hand over to Jericho, offering a cigarette to him. He accepted it, rested it between his lips, and thanked Steve. They walked a couple more yards before Jericho asked his question. They had now entered an urban area, and proceeded down the cracked street.
"Why are we trying so hard to capture this guy alive? The snots in lamplight want them dead." He asked as they turned left at an intersection.
Steve retrieved his familiar Vault-Tech brand lighter from his right pocket. He clicked it open and used the flame to light his cigarette, and then he lit Jericho's. He flipped it closed again, and looked at the lighter that he held in his palm. He noticed how perfect it still was, not even a scratch on it.
It also had the familiar Vault-Tech logo carved into its front, and the stainless steel metal reflected the sunlight that hung above them as they walked. Jericho was watching him, and waiting for his answer. Steve placed the lighter back into the pocket of his duster.
"Little lamplight wasn't the only client that paid us for this job." He told the other raider. He glanced over at Jericho to wait for his response.
They climbed another small set of stairs, as they continued onwards to Rivet City. Jericho thought for a minute about what Steve had told him. The raider-captain scratched the back of his neck as he thought.
"Well who wants him alive so badly?" Jericho questioned him. Annoyance was very noticeable in his voice. Steve heard it when Jericho spoke. He patted his old friend on the back.
"Don't worry about that, just think of all the caps we're getting from this! Ten thousand from each group, I can't be the only one that thinks that's good for a single job." Steve excitedly told him. They walked down some more stairs and exited the empty settlement.
The sun began to set several hours later. They had crossed several miles and decided to set their camp in an abandoned garage when the light had begun to decline. One of the raiders had started a miniature fire, and was fanning the flame to help it grow. Steve sat on a dirty chair, the fabric that once covered it was peeling off and ripped.
"Get that fire going! Any longer and my earlobes will freeze and fall off!" Steve told the raider.
The man glanced up at Steve, and then fanned the fire quicker. The other raiders were relaxing in their own ways. Several were sitting in a circle on the ground, playing a Pre-War card game known as blackjack. Steve watched with interest as one of the men suddenly slapped his cards down and smiled, obviously having won the game.
Jericho appeared in the room, emerging from a nearby doorway. He walked past their game, pulled a chair next to Steve, and sat down. The fire had grown larger, and was slowly warming the damp room. After a couple minutes of silence had passed between them, Jericho tapped Steve on the shoulder.
"About the second group paying us, its The Enclave right?" Jericho asked the raider-commander that sat next to him. Steve pulled a small end table in front of him, and placed his two pistols on top of it.
"You are correct, old friend." He answered, looking over to his comrade.
He took his two guns apart, carefully setting each component into individual piles on the table. The guns were then cleaned and oiled using an old rag and some Super-Duper Mart brand gun oil.
"Believe it or not, our friend that controls deathclaws was once an Enclave officer." Steve told him, while he shined one of the guns.
Jericho's eyes grew larger for a second. He, once again, scratched the back of his neck while in thought. Steve didn't look over at him, but continued to shine and clean his guns. When he was satisfied of their new condition they were put back together, and replaced in their holsters.
"So what happened? Why would they hire raiders to capture him, they hate us." Jericho mumbled, almost to himself. Steve heard cheering from the card game, and smiled.
"There are two reasons why they hired us." Steve said, turning his head from the card game to Jericho.
"One, they don't want to waste their soldiers trying to capture a dangerous traitor." He said. Jericho grunted and shook his head in response. The Enclave had always been cowards.
"Two, if they tried to capture him, he would simply make their own deathclaw kill its owners. Their best weapon becomes their worst weakness. After slaughtering half of The Enclave's military in that same way, he named himself 'Blackclaw'. I find the name original and snazzy." Steve explained. He took a drink of some bottled water.
They sat for several more minutes and listened to Galaxy News Radio in silence. Once the song had ended, Three Dog announced the news.
"Listen to this kiddos, I've got some fresh news for your wondering minds." The DJ said. Jericho rolled his eyes.
"Recently a Brotherhood survey team was sent out to, you guessed it, survey the land up north by Old Olney." He said. Steve leaned forwards and turned the volume up several clicks.
"Now what they found might surprise you children, it sure as hell surprised Ol' Three Dog. Apparently, the town known for its insanely large number of deathclaws is abandoned." He said. More of the raiders were turning around from their cards to listen.
He continued "So tell me this, how does the largest nesting ground of deathclaws have no deathclaws?" Steve gazed off into space as he thought, and several moments passed before Jericho shook him from his daydream with a question.
"Do you think it's him? Has Blackclaw taken all of the Old Olney deathclaws?" Jericho asked. He nervously scratched his wrist while he waited for Steve's response.
"I don't know, and we won't be sure until we meet up with Talon Company. I had them trail him when he ran during our meeting." Steve said, looking up from his trance over at Jericho. He nodded to himself.
Steve then decided that it was time for everyone to get to sleep. He switched off the radio, and curled up on the cold mattress that lay on the ground for bedding. They had a big day tomorrow.
They woke early the next morning and set off immediately, approaching Rivet City around ten o'clock. The sun was slowly making its way across the sky. They quickly moved behind a pile of rubble and waited for Talon Company.
They didn't wait long. Ten members of Talon Comp came silently up the stairs leading to the train tunnels to meet them. Steve shook hands with their leader, Agony, and coordinated the plan. It was simple, Agony had removed the sniper lookouts on the landing deck, and the bridge operator; meaning the bridge would stay accessible until they could all cross.
Talon Comp would sneak into the ship, undetected, and get into positions where they could easily ambush the guards that would respond when Steve attacked. With no resistance from the guard, Steve was to lock down the market, and slaughter everyone in it. Once there, they would discuss the next move.
Steve readily agreed to the strategy, and waited for the signal from Agony and his mercs. Ten minutes passed before they received the signal, a flare was shot into the atmosphere from the landing deck.
Of course while it was nearly noon, the flare was hard to spot with the sunlight. Luckily, Jericho happened to be glancing up and noticed it.
"Alright men, this is why they call us raiders!" Steve said, running from the rubble, up the ramp, and across the bridge with his raiding party closely following.
He burst through the door with a smooth kick. He noticed that they were on the residence deck, and smiled inwardly to himself.
"What a brilliant way to be noticed." He whispered quietly. He charged his pistols, and approached the metal door of the Living Quarters.
