I'm pretty unsure about how this chapter'll go. Well, we'll see. I do not own Fallout or its characters, ideas, ect. If you have a criticism or critique, please leave a review. Special thanks to The Enclave Assassin, Kenny ZeWolf, mercyspace, DeathDealerInc.; CrimTheSoleSurvivor and LobsterMonster420 for submitting OCs. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

God bless, JPLegends


CHAPTER SEVEN: They've Got Robots

Austin, Greene, Alison, and Bryson continued down a staircase past the common area they just cleared out. Considering the fact that everything was going pretty good at the moment, things could have been going better. Austin has about two barrels left for his minigun, one of which already inside the massive gun and probably more than half empty. Bryson is injured, which is a pretty good deal considering the fact that he and Greene nearly died in a battle a little bit ago. And Austin and Alison were practically getting their asses handed to them in the fight. All it took was pure luck and Austin found power armor, which is not doing so good either. The armor has taken so much damage already, and the chestplate has taken the brunt of the punishment. It's practically liquid steel with how heated it was and it's been ripped to shreds. While walking down the cobblestone staircase, Austin stripped the chestplate and stored it on his back. It's broken, but it may be of use later. And he still has the chassis for armor. It's weaker, but still stupid strong.

The staircase down was narrow, forcing Austin's allies to funnel behind him. Its cobblestone stairs and walls were only lit by torches on the walls. The lights on the ceiling did not seem to be working. They make their way out of the staircase (much to Bryson's relief), and fine themselves in a wine cellar. It is still lit with torches and the walls are lined with large barrels as far as the eyes will go. Austin bangs at the barrel. It's empty.

"Shame," Greene says. "I'd love to taste some old world wine."

"Probably irradiated as hell." Austin retorts. Alison and Greene snort.

"Think that bothers him?" Alison asks. Austin forgot for a second that Greene was a ghoul…somehow.

"Touché." Austin says. They head down the hall lined with barrels, and right in the middle is another hall cutting down the center. Cutting off from this line of tunneling are more lines on either side, Austin inferred for storing even more wine. But dead in the center was a centrum, circular and made with a finer stone. In the middle of the large centrum as a massive, orange tank. It reached the top of the ten foot ceiling, and managed to take up a large eight foot by ten foot space. This must be the tank for refueling the flamers.

'Flamers…'

"Um, have you guys seen any super mutants with flamers?" Austin asks. Greene, Alison, and Bryson look pretty taken aback by the question.

"Yeah, I…wait…no, I…huh," Greene says. "Can't say I ever have…" He looks perplexed, which is interesting on a ghoul's face. They're eyes are sunk in, their noses are completely gone and are replaced by holes, they are bald, green skinned and wrinkled. So, Greene looked like a mummy trying to be aristocratic. Kind of reminded him of Mayor Hancock back in Goodneighbor…

"There are reports of country sides being torched, completely decimated via fire," Bryson says. "We know they have flamers. But I don't think there have ever been any reported battles where the Spear have actually had flamers in conflict."

"So, what's the tank for?" Austin asks.

"I don't want to stick around to find out," Alison says, walking past Austin. "Let's get this operation done and get out." Nobody argued. But something still nagged in the back of Austin's head. He feels like if entire country sides have been scorched to inhabitable wastelands, then they should know what's causing it. Alison set up a pentagonal explosive on the tank, punching in a few buttons and stepping back.

"It's set up," Alison confirms. "It can be remotely detonated. Let's bounce."

"You aren't going anywhere."

Everyone spun in the direction of the gruff, gravelly voice. Austin prepared his minigun, pointing it in the direction of the intruder. And so did everyone else. What they found was bizarre. In front of them- at the end of one of the halls headed off from the side of the centrum- was two Assaultrons and an Eyebot. The hairs on the back of Austin's neck stood up. This is what we back in America call bad news. These are both robots originally commissioned by RobCo back in the Old United States, and was sent out to nations all over the world. Eyebots are domestic robots, not that threatening. They were originally purposed for radio broadcasts. Assaultrons meanwhile are pure military robots, meant to serve on the battlefield. They could certainly do that, as they have a staggering melee attack and an eye laser attack. And those lasers are never ever supposed to be underestimated.

Assaultrons have a female looking chassis with militant looking frames. The heads were separated into two, with one robotic eye that glows red. Their hands are three fingered, long prongs. Used to stab and impale when they aren't blowing things up with their lasers. The models Austin had ever seen were green and had a star on the left side of the chest. These were painted with faded blue paint, with a dull crown on the left chest. The Eyebot was spherical, with a grille covering its speaker. It is hovering in the air with small rockets in the back. This Eyebot is bright green instead of the usual grey. There was also something odd about all of the robots. Odd as in, they looked like they had been slapped back together. Rebuilt. Some of the parts were entirely new, like shielding on the Assaultrons's chests.

The Eyebot hovered forward as the Assaultrons stood there, staring with absolutely no motion. It floated a few inches away from Austin's face, hovering silently. Austin kept his weapon on the Assaultron on the left. The singular red eye looked at him and twitched up and down, left and right. It was checking him out.

'Nothing can never be simple.'

"I have spent four hundred ninety-three days on my campaign to render the rats of Great Britain extinct and yet here you are," the voice continues. "Four insects, slaughtering my slaves inside one of my own bases. And you, standing there in my armor. This has never happened again. Who may you be?" Austin felt a trickle of sweat spill down his head.

"I'm Austin," Austin says, trying to sound tough and failing. "I'm a drifter. I'm new in town. I'm fucking up your shit and stealing your crap. And you are?" The voice on the other side grunts.

"I am Yu Wan Bazai," The voice says. "You simpletons know me as "Yuwen"."

"If you're so tough, then why did you send a messenger bot with bodyguards?" Greene says. He was much better at sounding intimidating than Austin. It makes sense because Greene's voice is naturally raspy and growly. Then again, Austin is in a suit of power armor and he still manages to sound like a bitch.

"I'm well aware that I cannot beat four soldiers, one with a gauss cannon and another in power armor, knave," Yuwen says. "And since you have managed to kill an absurd amount of my slaves, I have sent some more competent combatants to dispatch you."

"Robots?" Alison asks, her voice quavering. Everyone seems to have the same idea about the Assaultrons as Austin.

"Precisely." Yuwen says. The Eyebot floats up farther into the air, as the Assaultrons take fighting positions, their hands spinning in anticipation.

"Engaging." They say in their robotic, feminine voice in perfect unison. They both charge toward Austin, ready to strike at his armor and rip him to shreds. Austin, being a man of action, takes his minigun and promptly swings it at the nearest Assaultron. The one that sees it coming ducks out of the way, and the other one circles around the group. Austin hears gunfire, aware that Greene and Alison have taken the liberty of taking pot shots at the circling robot. The Assaultron that ducked out of the way charges into Austin, easily pushing him backwards. Austin staggers, not expecting the strength of the Assaultron to be that great. The Assaultron, seeing another opening, lunges forward and strikes at Austin with its spikes for hands. Austin blocks it with his forearm, and a plate in the armor gets crunched. Austin is yet again pushed back by the strength.

"These machines have no fear of death, no self-preservation protocol, and no other instinct other than to fight," Yuwen narrates, his Eyebot hovering above the action. "And best of all, they are completely expendable." Austin suddenly realizes the reason Yuwen sent Assaultrons instead of any other robot. They charge their eye lasers the entire time while they fight, and contact with the tank will make the entire castle go sky high.

"Kill them fast!" Austin shouts. He gets on his feet and readies himself for the next attack. The Assaultron charges forward, striking out with its left hand, rotating like a drill. Austin weaves out of the way and charges into the Assaultron, throwing all of his weight against it. Austin feels the awkward crash of metal against metal, and hears the sound of a metal crunching as it compresses. The Assaultron staggers back, its head twitching as if it is unsure of what just happened. Then, a bolt of blue energy spikes it on its chest, sparking and crashing hard into the robot. Bryson steps by with his gauss rifle, ready to unload another shot into the already confused Assaultron. Austin notices that this robot's eye is glowing vibrantly red. You can barely see the eye with how much light it's producing. Bryson then unloads six more gauss shots into the Assaultron, which staggers back with every hit and sparks like nobody's business. Bryson begins to reload, and Austin takes the opportunity to kick at the wounded and confused robot.

Behind him, Greene and Alison were trying their best to land a solid shot on their Assaultron. Unfortunately, the bot keeps ducking and weaving to avoid the fire and doing astonishingly well. At one point, it turns while moving and punches at Alison, effectively nailing her in the stomach. Alison screams in pain, as blood spurts on the floor and robot. The Assaultron continues charging the weapon.

"Accept your death," Yuwen says. "Rest easy knowing that you will be dispatched with minimal effort. That your attack was just a ping on the radar at the moment. And after you have been expunged, I will take the island for my own. Take comfort in knowing nothing you can do will stop me." Austin couldn't help but think that this was the most helpful advice on Earth.

Austin's foot drives into the Assaultron, which loses its balance and falls over. Before it can get up, Austin aims his minigun at the bot, and lets loose a volley of bullets into the robot. First it only starts to chink the armor, but within seconds, it proceeds to rip and tear into the robotic pieces until robot carcass is left. The Assaultron lets loose a scream of static before it's eye goes dark and it becomes motionless. An average person would have assumed that was the end of the fight, but Austin knew better. Assaultrons explode after they die, and if the tank or Alison's explosive gets caught in the blast, it's curtains for the group. Austin- being a thinker- grabs the dead Assaultron by the leg and hurls it as far down the hall way as it will go. It goes an easy twenty feet before exploding into orange flames. The deafening blast shakes the room, and Greene and Alison are so startled they fall over. Austin gets a really loud and obnoxious ringing in his ears.

"The insects have disposed of an Assaultron," Yuwen says. "Impressive." He failed to sound impressed.

At this point, the remaining Assaultron had red energy flowing to its eye through the divided four plates on the robot's face, meaning it is dangerously close to firing. Bryson, realizing what is about to happen, charges the Assaultron and tackles it. There is a clang of metal, and Bryson actually manages to make the Assaultron stagger. Bryson pushes hard, managing to make it stagger more. Austin takes the opportunity to also charge into it, and seeing this, Bryson backs away from the confused Assaultron. And the robot- being around two hundred twenty pounds and Austin's power armor being around five hundred forty- topples over. The feminine bot lands on its stomach and looks up at the fuel tank, preparing to fire. Austin takes his foot and rams the Assaultron's head into the ground. The head laser goes off with a loud crack with the robot's head two inches from the ground, and it ricochets, conducting onto the robot's head and making it explode in red energy. Austin takes the body of the Assaultron and chucks it down another hallway, and it explodes dramatically.

"I would be shocked by your display," Yuwen says. "Unfortunately, your fate is sealed."

"What do you mean," Greene says, sounding annoyed. "We just killed your bots."

"A lesson in Darwinism is in order," Yuwen says. "The stronger creature always survives." Austin feels the ground shake and hears the sound of rotating gears and loud, locomotive engines. He turns toward the source of the noise to find…

"Shi-TAKE COVER!"

A large- larger than normal- Sentry Bot was headed down the wine cellars from the opposite way they came in. The thing is truly massive, since Sentry Bots typically stand at about nine feet tall and this one is about twelve. It's spider-like, three legs rolled toward them quickly and as Austin and the gang took cover behind the fuel tank, Austin got a good look at the bot. It looked haphazardly thrown together, reassembled by the Spear with harsh edges and brutal weapons. Instead of twin chainguns on its hands, it had two weapons. On its left hand, it held a laser gatling gun that was already spinning fast. On its left, it had a large flamer with a massive, red tank. In a garbled, static filled voice, it roars:

"ALERT: HOSTILES DETECTED. NUMBER: FIVE. LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED FOR ALL NEARBY UNITS. ALERT: EXPLOSIVES DETECTED. CAUTION IS ADVISED."

Of course, while it said this, it fired its gatling gun at Austin's group's general direction. And the group was hiding behind the flamer tank. Multiple laser bolts connected with the tank, but it only resulted in a few light burns on the tank. It flanked around the side, ready to mow them down. But it stopped a little bit away and kept firing at the tank, keeping the group suppressed.

"Didn't it just say not to fire at the tank?!" Greene screamed over the sound of machinery and lasers firing.

"Lasers can only melt steel in large moderation," Alison says, pointing to Austin's exposed chassis. "Flamer fuel simply can't melt it."

"Look upon the crown jewel of my army," Yuwen's voice says. "Look upon the Purifier, enacting the Scorched Earth policy of old war. It will be the end of your pathetic campai…"

Yuwen's speech is interrupted by Alison firing her assault rifle at the Eyebot, making it explode. Austin- although thankful that the Spear's leader was finally shut up- was busy studying the Purifier. It didn't move all that much, although it clearly wanted the four of them dead. But what was even more perplexing was the Purifier's head. It was still a head shape with a grille, but instead of a red light, the bot had a yellow lens behind the grille. This bizarre design choice by the Spear was doubled by the fact that the Purifier disobeyed Sentry Bot protocall- and its own speech- by staying in one spot and suppressing the group. Usually Sentry Bots try to murder their opponents as fast as possible with their stupid level of maneuverability. But it just stood there, firing at the group behind cover.

And then it moved.

Austin panicked immediately and said, "Move! Go!" Bryson, Greene, and Alison immediately ran away from the tank as Austin started firing his minigun at the robot. The Purifier did something weird- it lifted its laser gatling gun to its head, covering the grille. And the flamer fired up in a brilliant splash of orange and red. Austin, when faced with being set on fire, does the only natural thing. Scream. He keeps firing his minigun while stumbling back, the flamer still firing at him. Austin, realizing the Purifier is following him, aims his minigun at the Purifier's leg. The leg takes a beating, and eventually a plate is forced off with an expulsion of steam. Sparks fly everywhere, and the Purifier staggers. It stops try to light Austin on fire- already being successful- and tries to move. The multi-faceted wheel on the end of the leg happens to be jammed, and the Purifier has trouble moving. Austin takes the opportunity to keep backing up, still firing rounds into the robot's body and legs. After five seconds of backing up and firing, the minigun starts clicking.

Austin swears, and runs to regroup with the rest of the group, who are huddled behind the start of a hallway leading into more wine storage containers. He reloads his minigun. This is his last drum. He looks back at the Purifier, which is moving spastically, trying to get its injured leg behind him. Then, it stopped moving and its laser gatling gun protruded a long, steel wire looking object. It proceeded to start welding its leg.

"We have to get past it," Bryson says. "We'll never beat it in this place."

"That tunnel behind it looks like a direct way out of the castle," Alison says. "It must be a deployment tunnel for the Purifier."

"Aim for the head," Austin says. "There's something different about it. It protected the lens inside the grille when I fired at it. You did see that right?"

"What could be inside it?" Bryson asks.

"Who cares," Greene, ever the idealist, says. "Shoot it!"

Everyone emerges from cover, firing at the Purifier's head. The Purifier, in the middle of repairing its leg, staggers backwards. It attempts to fire its gatling gun in the direction of where the danger is coming from, but only succeeds at hitting the walls and shattering wine barrels. In about seven seconds, a burst of fire emerges from the grille and the smoke starts protruding from the head.

"BE ADVISED: COMMUNICATION WITH HEADQUARTERS HAS BEEN INTERUPTED," The Purifier roars. "CAUTION: IMMEDIATE LINE OF SIGHT HAS BEEN COMPREMISED. SWITCHING TO TARGET CARD."

'Roman. It must be speaking roman.' Austin thinks.

They keep firing at the Purifier, as it struggles to keep moving. Surprisingly, it actually manages to straighten itself out. It begins firing at the group more precisely than before, which forces them to take cover back behind the fuel tank. The Purifier moves around them again to flank, but Austin makes the group move around the tank quickly. They keep firing at the Sentry, Austin closer than the rest so he can absorb the blunt of the flamer attacks. Austin hated every second of being on fire. It heated up his armor, and he ended up getting even worse burns on his skin. But he toughed it out. All he had to do was keep firing. The group was already in between the direct exit out of the castle and the Purifier, and all it took was the Purifier to enter it's cool down period.

After two minutes and the armor on Austin's left arm and right leg breaking, the Purifier started backing away. And then, it lowered its upper body and exposed its fusion cores, venting hot steam out of its back with a sinister hisssssss. Austin saw the opportunity and boldly yelled, "RUN AWAY!" The four started bolting down the dirt carved tunnel that the Purifier came from. He knew the cool down period was enough time to give them a head start down the tunnel, but it wasn't enough to make them escape the castle completely. They would have to run as fast as possible.

Austin knew the tunnel was long, but he didn't expect it to be as long as it really is. There was a solid three minutes of sprinting, and they didn't look like they were anywhere close to the exit. Austin was starting to run out of breath, sweat running down his brow and his legs wobbling inside the armor. Alison and Greene were looking relatively okay, which made since. They've been fighting a war for…however long Yuwen said they were fighting, and were conditioned to fight like soldiers. Bryson, although being a solider of caliber more than Greene and Alison, had a laser wound. He was not looking in too good of shape, and he was clutching onto his rib. While running, Bryson- out of nowhere- toppled onto the ground, unconscious.

"Bryson!" Austin yelled. He went to pick him up, and effectively felt the ground start shaking. Austin swore. If they spend any more time trying to carry an unconscious body, then the Sentry will catch up and kill them. But if they keep running, Bryson will be killed by the Purifier and will be eviscerated by the fire in the explosion. There is no time, considering Austin can already feel the Purifier on its way. And considering the fact that there was no cover in this narrow hallway, staying around would certainly kill them.

"Shit," Greene says. "We have to go."

"Nice try," Austin says, picking up Bryson. "I'm not leaving Bryson behind." Bryson was shockingly heavy. It probably had to do with the fact that the guy is already two hundred and seventy pounds of man muscle with multiple weapons and heavy tools strapped on top.

"We waste time, we die," Greene says. "It kills me to have to leave Bryson behind, but we don't have a choice."

"We always have a choice." Austin says. He could barely keep Bryson on his shoulders.

"I'm with Austin." Alison says. Her face flushed faintly, but her face remained stoic and determined.

"I'm not going to leave one of our own behind," Austin says. "We came this far, we can keep going. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let a thrown together Sentry Bot built by mutants who's first instinct is to kill." Austin could see Greene's face falter. Alison's face lit up.

'Alison loved that.'

"Damn it!" Greene said twice. Once because he could see the Purifier a little down the hall. The second time because the Purifier started firing at the team. Alison, thinking fast, threw a device at the Purifier. Austin dropped to his knee, taking laser bolts to the chest and spraying bullets from the minigun in the Purifier's general direction. Greene fired his laser shotgun in a similar manner. When the Purifier rolled over Alison's device, the hall exploded in a hail of shrapnel and fire. The force brought the ceiling down on top of the Purifier, but even then, Austin knew that wouldn't stop the beast for long. They started running away, with an extra head start. Greene and Alison occasionally looked over their shoulders to see if the machine was following them. They never saw anything, but Austin could feel something on their heels.

Two minutes later, they exited a tunnel. There were treads where the Purifier had entered and exited the tunnel over and over, and they found themselves at the bottom of a muddy hill. They ran up the hill and looked back behind them. The hills completely covered the tunnel they just came out of, and the castle was several dozen yards away. Alison, being smart, pulled out a detonator and pressed the button on it. It made a satisfying clicking sound, then a beep, and then the castle went up in flames in a massive roar. The ceiling was blown off, towers were toppled over, and some pieces of wall went flying in every direction. In mere seconds, the castle was little except ruins, smoke, and blazing fire that glowed bright red- sometimes blue. The red, warm glow irradiated the team's faces, but Austin ruined the brief moment of the team basking in their impossible victory:

"It's not over," Austin said. "We have to hide."


Wow. That was… a bit long. But hey, it was worth it!