Look out at the wasteland. Look at the savages
A whole week passed with little spectacle since Belarus' visit from the Neutral Shelters. Little reply and reaction came from the secluded groups. Those who wanted to fight had already joined them. As was expected, many had said. Belarus kept their words from getting to her.
Then, Dome #35 responded.
Located closer to the center of Old France, Dome #35 was too far and too close to unknown territory. Why bother risking a visit just to make some contacts? Somehow though, one of her devices had been passed over there. And what their support came with was quite a happy surprise.
An electromagnetic pulser.
This device could apparently deliver pulses of electromagnetic disturbances lasting up to weeks, knocking out certain electronic devices within its range. Placed in just the right place, it would be powerful enough to permanently take down the Empire's continental electronic network. Every Kuma-bot, I.C.U droid, building security systems and whatever else the empire had would be shut down. There would be little defense against a takeover.
Unfortunately, the weapon did come with some conditions. One of these was a request that the Liberators send representatives to the Neutral Shelter to talk in person. Their leader also wanted a nation to come to pick up the weapon. Several members of the Liberators were suspicious, so they sent her. Just in case there were extra plans.
"You know, you don't have to play with your weapons. You might not even need to use them so there's nothing to be nervous about," India said.
"I am bored," she corrected, not even bothering to look beside her.
They were all seated in the back of a large grey van. It had been modified to have more seats, but cushions themselves were hard to come by. so most of them sat around on the ground. Three nations and six humans were in the car. The extra two nation additions had to argue their way in. Belarus had scoffed at them.
The pale nation leaned back. Her knife cartwheeled in the air as it had before. She grabbed at it. She tossed it again.
India shook his head and turned his attention back to the closest window. Belarus shrugged. She looked over to brunet across from her. Australia continued double checking the communication system that they would leave at the shelter. The more ties, the better. Meanwhile, some of the humans were playing cards.
As more hours ticked by, the van suddenly swerved to the left. They yelled in complaint at the driver. No response. One of them got up to check up on her, clinging to whatever they could to maintain balance, while the van continued on its path. Their driver and their co-driver were bleeding from the neck. Clear sniper shot.
"Down!" shouted Australia.
Everyone ducked from the windows. Australia booted up a sensory device. India crawled into the driver's seat. He moved away the corpses as best he could, green disgust on his face, and took control of the car. There was a jolt that sent everyone backwards as it sped up. Belarus eyed one of the machine guns in the vehicle and gave a side-glance to the door. She absentmindedly listened to the conversations of the group.
"How many?" one of the humans asked while she cocked her gun.
Australia frowned, "I'm gettin' 8 heat signals. Accordin' to this, we're in an abandoned city." He looked up at the group, "This isn't Gang-Tribe territory, is it?"
"No," One of the men said as they crossed their arms. "Must be raiders. Well, we do have two rocket launchers. I'm sure sending one out will scare them away."
"And tell them exactly what kind of loot they can get from us? Not a chance!" Another human protested.
"Somethin' is closin' in quick. Gotta get wea- WHOA! India, a warnin' next time will ya?"
"Sorry! Massive crater!"
Whoosh! Not wanting to waste another minute, Belarus slid the side door open. She balanced the machine gun on to the floor and fed it its ammo belt. The tires of the car created a small dusty fog and she narrowed her eyes to keep the dirt away. As the dust cleared, she could see who she was facing. The woman smiled.
"Belarus, No!"
"Not Raiders," She replied curtly and sent out the barrage of bullets.
Within seconds, the first dying screeches were heard, next came the bursts of radioactive green. Blobs of radiated goo exploded and the car was tilted away, just enough to avoid the mess. Exposure to the blobs, zombie-like organisms of living creatures mutated by nuclear waste, didn't threaten radioactive poisoning, but it was a nightmare to clean up. She pulled the side door closed.
"So, where were we?" She said to the group with a cool face and leaned back against the seats.
India frowned as he spoke, "You're lucky those were just blobs. A raider would have fired first."
She readjusted the ammo belt without a word.
Australia joined in with a collected tone, "Well, we're luckier that she did somethin' about it. Better report this as blob-sightin' region, get it in the Liberator's database."
A human coughed, "um, but those blobs couldn't have shot the driver..."
BOOM! India slammed the brakes before the car could fall into the fire of the explosion. The sudden jolt tossed everyone forward on to their faces.
"The blobs were a distraction…" India whispered..
Australia crawled to the front, "Shit! They're usin' the area to trap us."
Fifteen humans stepped through the explosion. No distinctive markings. These were definitely a new group. As more of the dust cloud disappeared they realized that they had entered an abandoned city. A few buildings in the area still stood, tall enough for a sniper to camp. Stupid move.
However, only the two nations in the front could be seen through the windshield. The rest of the group remained ducked over to prevent their opponents from knowing their numbers. Surprise was still on their side, but they had to use it wisely.
"Stop, or ram through?" India whispered, settling his hand on the gears.
"They've got explosions," Australia muttered. He frowned as he squinted at the group ahead. "I think they want to say somethin' to us…" He rolled down one of the windows.
"-et out of the car and you just might live!" One of the humans across of the car cried out.
"You wouldn't want to mess with us! We are already in a terrible mood!" Another human added. Belarus widened her eye slightly as she recognized that voice. it was someone from that rowdy anti-nation human group from a week ago.
A human noticed her reaction, "Know them?"
She shrugged, "A nomad group got rejected at one of the Neutral Shelters from last week. Seems like they went back to their lifestyle. Very anti-nation."
The human beside her grinned, "So in other words, give them hell."
Belarus didn't answer.
Australia calmly took charge, "India, step on the pedal, swerve off on the right." Australia didn't bother turning around. "Two of you, blow those buildings down. There's a good chance we'll get all the snipers down."
India hesitated as he reached for the controls, "But-"
He retorted back louder but still not breaking to the point of yelling, "We don't have time to argue about the value of life. Them or us, now go!"
With a face that looked like it was swallowing down disgust, the order was followed. The sounds of explosions and screams, like a symphony's climax with a little too much brass and symbols, filled their ears. The clinking of the bullets rained onto the vehicle but by swerving, it was all focused on the bulletproof door.
There were angered shouts from their enemies, but the Liberators were well-trained, better than any nomadic raider group. Raiders were survivors, but they developed caution. Liberators treated every outing as a suicide mission, they trained to remain collected. They opened the door and fired before the amateurs could even cock their guns or raise their own missiles.
"Ru-" Gah! The raider's voice was cut off by bullet. A row of the raiders was cut down.
Belarus didn't bother with her automatic. After the initial counter-strike, she jumped straight out for the group. It was mostly just a few cowering stragglers left anyways.
Swish! She danced in between them. Another twirl, another dip, another blind spot exploited. Her blade cut necks with accuracy and grace, as if she were a painter drawing arcs on a canvas except her paint was of deep crimson-red. A lifeless doll expression kept painted on her face. Her eyelashes dropped low to keep herself from making eye-contact with her enemies.
Except for one, the vocal man from earlier. His words were garbled by his blood but they were distinct. Determined, he fought to stare at her.
"Fuck you... nations."
Cursing us until his dying breath, how pointless. How many does that make it now?
The hacks and groans soon faded away into the drenched ground and the empty clouded sky. The young woman stood up straight and sprinted back into the car, while others were getting out to loot the bodies. They all replenished their ammo, armed up again, then headed on their way. The male nations took over driving duty with Belarus ready to fire from the side. For the rest of the trip, no one felt like playing cards or telling jokes.
The chime of a small metal object rang. The silver-haired woman felt Australia glance back at her from his seat. She stared at the offending blade on the floor. She could have sworn she saw something in that reflection.
"Nat?" she heard him say.
She quickly scowled and picked up the knife to put into her hidden pack. "Nothing," She replied.
Dome #35 was a sight to behold. Unlike the Neutral Shelters close-by to them with simplistic designs, this shelter was extravagant. Its design along the sides was made up of metal scales, welded all across and around. Dull canary-yellow orbs dotted across the glass roof the building. A polished shine gleamed around its edges. Belarus was surprised that the Empire hadn't already taken over this place, from the look of its evident value.
When they drove up to the door, a snaking camera slid out of the door and poked at the Driver's window.
"State your business," a digitized voice demanded.
India cleared his throat and rolled it down, "We are Liberator representatives."
"Ah, hold on for a moment."
And then suddenly, the ground below them opened up. They dropped a couple feet before a metal landing plate caught them half-way and lowered them to the ground. With shock etched on most of their faces, it was no surprise why their greeter, an old woman with grey streaks in her brown braided hair, laughed upon sight of them.
"Sorry, sorry. Your expressions were just-" An old woman went on as she guided the group through a large underground tunnel. Their van was parked on the platform for later.
"No worries. A little warnin' would've been nice though," the brunet laughed.
The woman flashed a small frown, "You see, we don't get a lot of visitors around here."
"Not into tradin'?"
"No, no. We're self-sufficient here."
"Self-sufficient? You mean, you can grow things down here?"
She nodded, "Whatever else we need, we get from the other Neutral Shelters...and even they don't like to come around this part. But that's what we get for being surrounded by Rad-pools."
"Rad-pools?"
"Nuclear waste residue," the woman explained. "The old animals of this land have long been mutated, forever stuck to follow their remembered patterns. Good thing the birds were dead before then." She shook her head, "Oh listen to this old woman ramble. We're almost at the inventor's home."
"So, tell us about this inventor," India asked.
She hummed, "The Inventor is... an odd fellow but I think you'll understand that more when you meet him.
Belarus and her group found their jaws dropping as they exited the tunnel to a large open space. There were actual streets in the space and the houses, though not as pristine or as large as a house in the empire, were better than most homes out there. They all appeared sturdy and some were even decorated. Two-story buildings didn't seem to be an oddity around here. Above them the walls of the underground became further away. Light shone down on them, as if there was an actual open sky looking down. Children were playing. While it wasn't a recreation of the past like the empire's designs, it was humble and very human.
Ordinary people talked, laughed and walked around. Not a sign of a single droid or screen watching over them. They were free, and there were so many of them. People smiled not with the sad expression in their eyes, weighed down by the harsh truth of the wasteland that killed you in the inside, as it was in most shelters, but genuinely happy and hopeful.
Belarus could feel the corners of her lips lift a little.
A man behind her spoke, "I am surprised the Empire has not taken this place."
The woman nodded again, leading them down another turn, "That's why we're underground. Keeps the empire out of our hair. Anybody trying to peer from the top will see an abandoned city."
"So, the top is also a decoy?"
"Something like that," She replied. She stopped before a run-down brick house. The front pathway was decked out with wired sculptures. "The Inventor will be in there. After you talk with them, our leader has invited you to a dinner. You may also choose to stay for a while. We already have guest rooms set up for you to rest before your journey back."
"Dinner? Guest Rooms? " Australia grinned, "Most alliances we make are sealed with just a simple handshake."
"Well," the woman looked at Belarus, "this nation made a compelling argument, and it has caused a bit of a spark."
Minutes later, they knocked on the door of the Inventor's home.