"In a gun fight...you need to take your time in a hurry."
-Wyatt Earp
There is a mountain range in southern New York to the west of the Hudson river. In fact, this is the same mountain range a certain regulator named James Vanderbraun grew up in. The Enclave agent had done his research after running into the man. Regardless, this mountain range, once called the "Catskills," always had the stories of the bizarre and the supernatural surrounding them. In fact, the original natives that lived in the area believed that this particular mountain range was where earth touched the sky. Even Henry Hudson and his band of explorers claimed that there were strange happenings when they passed through the area. More than one legend or tall tale came from this sleepy if peculiar area.
Agent Daniel Siaga wondered if he was experiencing one of those events that would eventually birth a legend.
It had been a year since the Enclave agent was tasked with the mission to seek out and capture a missing girl who had been an experiment in the research department. This time, his mission came from a joint concern from both the research and the military branch of the Enclave.
He was really starting to wish that he could just go back to recovering misplaced Enclave property.
The man knew that something was wrong the moment he was told he would be briefed and equipped en route to the drop off location. On the books, there was a rule that even in a circumstance like this, you could simply refuse the mission before the landing. Unfortunately, usually by that time you knew too much so the operators would have no choice but to exterminate you and make sure your body disappeared. Darn his high performance record.
He especially knew something was wrong when he was given what had been a requisitioned Chinese stealth suit, this one camouflaged to the dull tan and brown that matched most of the wastes in former New York for when he had not activated the stealth fields. They were even so nice to give it extra ballistic padding (which was also alarming) and what really got him sweating was when the commanding officer explained that special systems were plugged into the suit. In other words, Daniel had been given an armored and stealthed up biological suit.
The silenced weapon that had been nicknamed "Infiltrator" rifles with a collapsible stock, silenced sniper rifle and a combat knife simply nailed the coffin shut. Daniel knew he was being sent on one of those mission that just might kill you.
Even his instructions were vague. He was to go through the communities and head north while remaining undetected. Strange readings had been picked up on the Enclave's sensors, readings that, although the commanding officer did not specify what, did not make sense to their scientist.
Daniel was to figure out what was going on.
Crouching, his stealth fields up, Daniel sneaked into what had once been a small community of wastelanders. He knew there was something immediately wrong with the place and that was the simple fact that there was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. No people, no noise, no signs of struggle, no blood, fires, smoke, embers, ash. Nothing.
Scratch that, he just found a body.
Daniel stepped over the corpse that was lying face down. Now it was time to figure out what caused this. Stepping down towards the main street, he nearly jumped out of his skin by the macabre sight that greeted him. It appeared that most of the former inhabitants had collapsed and died right out there in the community center, their swollen bodies rotting under the overcast skies. Still keeping out of sight, Daniel crept up to a building and slowly pushed the door aside while keeping his infiltrator shouldered.
All the occupants were dead.
The agent let his mind work furiously. There were no bullet holes, no signs of struggle. People normally did not just die like this for no reason and yet some of the bodies seemed to be in strange positions, as if the people had been in great agony just before they died. He came up to the bodies in the community square again and got a closer look.
Red, bloodied blisters had formed all over their skin. Some of them had trails of black, coagulated blood that dried around their mouths. It was a rather horrifying sight. Young mothers clutched their dead babies while adult men rotted next to the corpses of their elders. All of them were pock marked and spotted with those grotesque red blisters.
Daniel swung around in alarm when he heard a noise. He was immediately greeted by the sight of a deathclaw at the end of the street, nibbling at one of the corpses. Daniel could feel sweat trickling down his forehead as he himself no longer dared to breathe. Had that monster sensed his presence despite the stealth field? Daniel kept his infiltrator locked and his finger ready to pull the trigger.
And then, quite suddenly, the deathclaw dropped dead.
A dark thought crossing through his mind, Daniel rushed up to inspect the deceased creature. He was horrified by what he saw. The monster was also covered in the red spots. This was a disease, an illness that did not know the bounds between species but killed humans and animals alike. Daniel belatedly noticed that even the Brhamin were dead.
Daniel activated his transmitter and whispered a radioed transmission.
"Command, this is Delta Sierra, I'm reporting what looks like a disease in the area. I'm suggesting you send a team from R&D to inspect my current location. Delta Sierra moving north, over."
"Roger Delta Sierra, transmission logged and teams will be readied. How hot is the area? Would you suggest armed escorts? Over." Command asked.
"Negative, Command. There's nothing living in the area. Over."
–
Mark, Cindy and Norad the Mr. Gutsy stood outside the House, staring at the imposing building towering over them. For Mark, he could not help but admire the beacon of humanity that presided over all the other ruins of New York City. In a way, it was kind of a marvel that the skyscraper still was intact after all these years, especially after surviving the blast of the Great War. Unfortunately, he had become accustomed to it. The House especially lost its luster after his group leader, Leslie, was killed there a year ago.
Cindy on the other hand had never seen it before. Most of the buildings she had seen barely breached five stories. This thing just went on up forever. Trying to hide the feeling of being rather small, the former raider busied herself sorting all the equipment she had on her. Sticks of dynamite with rudimentary arrowheads ran along her waist in her ammo belt. The arrowheads were made less to kill and more to simply stick to flesh or objects when they hit. Raider sadism is a hard stain to get rid of. Of course, she still carried her trusty SMG though it could certainly use a little cleaning sometime.
"Your directives now, commanding officer?" Norad asked. Mark cast a mildly amused glance at the robot.
"Well, Adam and the others were so nice as to simply give us a map and tell us that everything has been quiet for awhile. If we find anything, they had no clue about it themselves." Mark stated.
"Correct but this does not give us a plan of attack, sir." Norad complained.
"I know. We'll rest a bit here and ask the people around if they've heard of any trouble or things of that nature." Mark explained.
"You think they have a place where I could get a good drink?" Cindy asked.
"Carl mentioned 'The View.' We'll look there first." Mark said, leading them towards the building.
"Another glorious day in this man's army!" Norad chirped.
–
The late morning sun felt mildly pleasant as the five regulators and the rat walked along the west bank of the Hudson river. Julia had learned that usually the men traveled in a single file line and quickly fell into her own place in the formation. Usually, Adam led the way followed immediately by Carl, the larger, imposing giant seemed to block out all the others behind him. Julia walked behind Carl followed by James and then Sven who had to carry the heaviest equipment.
Carl continued in stride behind Adam as they walked along the muddy riverbank, the sun's light casting a cascade of broken and shattered flashes over the Hudson's surface. The giant could not help but watch the water. A smile crossed his face though his eyes betrayed a small bit of wonder in them.
"Is it just me or does it seem like the water is clearing?" Carl asked.
"Looks normal to me." Adam replied. One had to recall that normal looking water had a completely different meaning two hundred years after the earth was baptized in an atomic apocalypse. Mud, lack of clarity, discoloration due to other impurities and the sting of radiation were the usual ailments to just about any drop of water you could find out there. Water purifiers came at a heavy premium.
"I don't know. It does not seem as dark and muddy as it usually is." Carl shrugged.
"Well, I won't argue with you Carl, you're the fisherman." Adam replied. In all reality, Adam wasn't sure what Carl was talking about but he didn't much care to discuss it.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The rat shrieked in fright and immediately scrambled under the crevice underneath a rock while the regulators all promptly hit the dirt. Having done that, they all scattered to find more substantial cover. Bracing himself behind a boulder, Adam looked around.
"You see anything, James?" the former assassin demanded. James darted his scoped rifle around. He didn't like the situation, with the bright sun anyone could spot the flashing of the scope's glass.
"Not getting anything. The gunshot sounds too distant." James replied.
"I didn't see anything land." Sven reported in regards to any signs of a bullet landing near them.
"Then that means if there's a sniper watching us, he's a lousy shot." Carl added.
"Guys, listen. Doesn't that sound like more of them?" Julia asked. The men listened harder. Adam furrowed his brows in concentration. There indeed was more gunfire...and occasionally there was a lower noise that sounded like...a plasma rifle.
"Oh crap!" Adam screeched, suddenly leaving his cover and running as fast as he could back on their original direction.
"What's going on?" Sven asked.
"Guys, we're too close to the shack! Someone is attacking the shack! We got to help Francis!" Adam yelled. The realization hit all of them at once. The regulators readied their weapons and desperately tried to keep up. The rat meanwhile stayed in his hole.
The Regulator center of operations in the Hudson valley area was housed in a small stone building covered with sheet metal in place of a roof. Adam never asked, but he was certain Francis had thrown all those stones on top of each other himself sometime back in the day. The old man kept watch over it most of the time, having hit that age where arthritis was probably a more biting enemy he wanted to deal with rather than raiders.
River pirates ranked right up there with raiders.
Francis Garret glanced out the window that overlooked the river. The bloody pirates had simply beached their ship at full broadside right along his shack and were peppering the stone building with rifle fire. The older man took a few potshots with his plasma rifle, spitting green fire through the air before diving back behind cover. He suddenly heard a fusillade of additional firepower joining the fight. The moment he saw one of the pirates simply lose a head, he almost allowed a smile to come across his face. Instead, he simply took a drag from his cigarette.
"About time they got here." the old man grumbled. He suddenly heard the front door burst open followed by two strangers dashing into the room. The lead one carried a sledgehammer while the one behind carried a front heavy machete.
"You gonna die, grandpa!" the guy with the hammer roared before charging Francis. The old regulator, still crouched, waited till the last moment before sidestepping into his attacker. In doing so, he used the man's momentum to flip him over his back and onto the floor, stunning the pirate. The machete wielder chose that moment to pounce. Being a lot more agile than he looked, Francis caught the machete handle in his open left hand and then slammed the butt of his pistol grip into the man's face while pulling the blade out of his grasp. As soon as his attacker hit the ground, he viciously stomped on his wind pipe before slamming the machete onto the head of the second man who was just getting up. Taking another drag, Francis noticed that the gunfire had abruptly stopped. He decided to take a moment.
"Francis!" he heard someone yell. Good to know the guys actually might care for him more than just dispensing caps.
No sooner had Francis spat out the butt of the cigarette did Adam and his crew suddenly file into the building. Adam, his SMG still out, glanced over at the two dead bodies laying on the floor.
"Not bad, old man." Adam complimented.
"Pretty darn good if you ask me. What took you so long?" Francis grunted, loading another microfusion cell into his rifle.
"Well, we didn't expect you to be attacked." Adam replied.
"Admittedly, neither did I in this case. You get them all?" Francis inquired. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of James' rifle going off.
"Now we did." James replied, the body of a pirate falling off the ship and into the river.
"Nice shot." Sven nodded.
"And I see you're all here. Nice rifle by the way, miss." Francis stated, glancing at Julia's own plasma rifle.
"Thank you." Julia smiled. The old man looked over at James.
"Good to know you recognized a keeper. As smart as you are, you never were good figuring women out." Francis commented.
"Some might argue all men are." James grumbled.
"Well, after that brothel incident I figured you'd-"
"Could we not talk about that?" James interrupted.
"Very well. Carl, nice to see you got an upgrade over that bullet hose. Did you also get a new hammer?" Francis asked.
"Yes sir." Carl grinned.
"Very good. Sven, are you still psychotic?" Francis finished his interrogation.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Sven grinned a little too brightly.
"Getting worse, indeed. Anyway, enough chatter. I suppose you want to know why I had you dragged out of the city." Francis muttered, starting to gather his ammunition and some supplies in a bag.
"How many caps to be had?" Adam immediately asked.
"Always your first question. Truth be told, a lot, but there will also be a lot of dangers." Francis replied.
"Well, what do you want us to do?" Adam inquired.
"In case you had not noticed, the Hudson is coming to life. The water quality is getting better. It's still irradiated of course but not as bad as it used to be. Trading and settlements are springing up everywhere but with them, the river pirates are getting worse." Francis explained.
"You want us to go clear out the Hudson?" Carl asked, a brow raised. That certainly would be a daunting task.
"Yes and no. Get a ship or jump ferries. Go along the communities and scout out the areas. I expect a full report. Tell me how many communities there are and where the shipping routes are going. I'm going to need a better idea on where to send my regulators and how many to send." Francis explained, topping off his bag.
"Where are you going?" James asked.
"Oh yes, seeing how this shack is compromised, I'm going to be house sitting for you, or rather, Vault sitting. Keep an ear on your radio tuned to my frequency. I'll be sending orders through there. I'll also have the caravan office at the House start parceling out the bounties. I've done it once before."Francis replied, throwing his bag over a shoulder while his shifted his plasma rifle more comfortably in his hand.
"Won't you need an escort back?" Julia asked.
"I've been wandering these wastes all my life, miss. I think I can handle a short hike back. I'm going to need your password." Francis informed as Adam scribbled the information on a scrap paper.
"Hey...so you're going to give us a boat to do this? It'll get really expensive to jump ferries." Carl stated cautiously. Francis gave him a blank look.
"Do I look like I'm in the ship collecting business, boy?" Francis demanded sarcastically. However, the other regulators noticed a light come on in his head.
"Wait, I can give you something else, much better perhaps." Francis admitted, going back over to his desk to fish something out of the drawers. He returned with five individual pieces of cloth.
"Stitch these to your dusters. Word has gotten around about the Liberators. Who knows, maybe a specific marker might give you an easy pass." Francis muttered, handing each of them a simple embroidered silver cloth that was stylized into the shape of an "L." The older man then boldly made his exit.
"Oh wait, looks like I did give you a ship." Francis suddenly remarked just as he stepped out the door.
"Where?" Adam asked.
"Right there." Francis pointed towards the still beached ship that had belonged to the river pirates.
"But how are we going to run that thing?" Adam called. Francis didn't answer and simply continued down the river. The regulators all watched in silence as Francis' silhouette disappeared on the horizon.
"Sven..." Adam started.
"Yes?"
"Put out the fires that you started on our ship." Adam ordered, referring to the burning bodies of some of the pirates still on deck.
–
Mark and Cindy stepped up to the counter at The View, Norad hovering quietly behind them. It was during those still hours of the afternoon where things died down a bit before dinner time. Upon sitting down, they were greeted by May, the hostess of the view, a stout Asian woman with a thick accent and slightly imperfect English. Still, she was friendly in her own way and kept the place running with firm efficiency.
"What can I get you?" May asked.
"I'll have a Yao Guai steak." Mark answered.
"Bottle of Vodka and some molerat meat." Cindy stated.
"Be back shortly." May announced and scurried off to the kitchen. The regulators sat in silence while Norad continued to hold a vigil behind them.
"So when do we start asking?" Cindy asked.
"Right now, just stick with listening." Mark replied.
"Listening?"
"Yes. Overhearing." Mark clarified. The two jumped when a tire iron slammed on the counter. Mark and Cindy found themselves glancing up to a rather disgruntled looking wastelander, his left arm grotesquely bent at an odd angle.
"Y-you're...the raider that did this to me!" the man growled, his eyes going wild at Cindy. Cindy seemed to shrink a size.
"I...uh...don't know what you're talking about..." Cindy lied, her big light blue eyes shying away from the man. She had indeed recognized him.
"You're the one that broke my arm! And then you slammed a crowbar through it! I can no longer use this arm!" the man screamed.
"Sir, I'm going to ask you to back away and calm down." Mark ordered.
"She is not a regulator! She is a raider! This witch ruined the only arm I'm going to get in life!" the hysterical man ranted.
"There is no need for violence." Mark asserted. He saw Norad activate his flamethrower.
"Norad, stand down!" Mark ordered.
"She ruined me, now I'm going to ruin her, the stupid-" there was the ring of glass shattering and the crippled man fell flat out on the floor. A very shocked Cindy and Mark found themselves staring at May who held a broken wine bottle.
"He will pay very, very expensive broken property tax. And bad manners tax. No discount for you two, though. And could you please eat outside?" May asked, handing them their food.
Mark, Cindy and the robot quietly made their way towards the exit. Mark was at least glad that May had not blamed them for the incident. Trying to keep a low profile, Mark brushed by a patron that was still sitting in a chair. He tried to keep it casual when the man gently took his arm.
"If you're looking for work, Regulator, there's been some strange things going on near the Iron Lady down in the bay. It's south-east of here."
"Why are you telling me this?" Mark asked.
"Don't get me wrong. You regulators, you're the good guys. But strange things tend to happen when you men in the green coats hang around too long. If anything, the Supervisor starts to get more ornery." the man admitted. Mark simply nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind."
–
Dusk had fallen and the Liberators were still moored on the beach. Julia had finally finished stitching the "L" insignia on their sleeves but the men had hit a major problem with the ship. Simply put, the boat, a simple transport vessel with two decks underneath its main one, was firmly stuck into the mud. Carl was the only one with any amount of maritime experience.
"So what are we going to do with this giant paperweight?" James demanded sarcastically.
"Don't call her that, she'll be a beauty...once we get her off this mud." Carl scolded. Adam, who had been deep in thought for awhile, finally spoke up.
"I have an idea." Adam announced. Everyone, including the rat, looked at him.
"What we'll do is sell her off to the nearest passing caravan. We'll give them a mildly discounted price in exchange that they'll ferry us on our mission. When we're done, they can keep it as we won't need it anymore." Adam offered. The others seemed to nod their approval.
"That sounds good." Julia agreed.
"Now all we need to do is wait for a passing caravan...with the right sailing experience." James murmured. They all stood around for a moment, the silence only broken by the sound of the water flowing pass them in the darkening air.
"Well...a caravan has to pass by...eventually..." James muttered.
"Should I light a signal fire?" Sven asked.
"No." Adam replied quickly.
"You know...I'm going to pray for this one." Carl announced before another round of silence settled.
"You got a word from God yet, preacher?" Adam asked in mild sarcasm.
"Right now, I'm going with 'Wait.'" Carl replied.
