Chapter 9: Luck
The spinning barrels of the mini gun slowed and quietened down in a short span of time, allowing an eerie and deathly silence to settle in straight away. The battle for Black Mountain was over. The trio regrouping at the edge of the mountain side, peering down to see the super mutant Behemoth laying motionless with it's body blanketed by the soil that had separated from the impact of the fall. Dana sighed as she shut her eyes for a short time, while a sly laugh slipped from Don's mouth displaying a symptom of the adrenaline that pulsed through his veins. The Mojave appeared blissful in the stretch of space that it rested on, the mountain side view was something to be marveled about despite what had taken place there. Smoke clouds climbed up from the mountainside with small lit fires burning at the edges of scattered spots around the area. Ramos stood among his knights as the sun light hit them once a cloud had passed across it's reach, meeting eyes with the trio as they stood at the edge of mountain still. Don signaled down to him, a gesture that was met with one alike in response as the two men expressed their approval of each other's prowess. The two of them stared briefly, before Ramos nodded to his followers as they marched back the way they came. Dana was not sure of what to make of their actions, "Are they leaving?" She asked Don as her voice almost broke to which he smiled calmly.
"Only for a little while. They lost a lot of people today, Ramos is the kind to bring news to people in person." He uttered as he stepped away from the edge, strolling a few steps towards the road. Dana turned, looking at the back of his dirtied torso. "I don't know what this was to them. Just a fight?" She spoke, stepping forward to catch up. "No Dana, it's been meaning to happen." Don replied as he performed his routine of treating his heightened nerves with a gulp of whiskey, even extending it with another. "Don't worry. Those boys will come back, there's too much stuff here for them to ignore. Speaking of which, we should have a look at it ourselves. While we still can." Dana bit her lip a little, fighting back against her inner thoughts that played the what if game within her head. "Sure. While we can." The T-800 marched along with them, showing little signs of damage or pain as he returned to the armory as where Don and Dana sought refuge inside the overturned satellite. Dana rested in the comfort of a wooden chair, as where Don sat himself against the surface of a desk to elevate his feet. "Hey Dana..." He uttered, catching her attention shortly after. "That was some Grognak shit you pulled today." His words caused a brief exchange of laughter, her smile radiating on her dirtied face. "Thanks. I had no idea if that was gonna work." She replied as sat forward slightly, resting her arms on her legs. "That old man of yours missed out. At this point Dana, I don't even know if you'd ever need to go back." Don complimented as he smiled. Dana looked slightly uneasy at him, "It'd be a story huh? Dad would think I'd be bullshitting if I told him, it takes a lot to get something through to that man."
Don blinked a couple of times, adjusting himself slightly as he began to imagine to himself. "He must have been tough like you said, because I don't know many people who have as much guts as you." Dana grinned warmly, nodding in a gentle motion to show her appreciation. "He couldn't have been that bad, could he?" Don curiously spoke, giving Dana time to collect her words. "No. It's funny, I think there was only one time I'd ever see my dad smile. One day out of the whole year, when it was his little girl's birthday. I realize now that it wasn't just for me, it was for himself too. Guess it rounded him off you know? A reminder. He'd always make sure I'd be working hard every day but I'd always remember how dedicated he was when it came to my birthday. Like this time when I got to watch my first movie. Everybody got dressed up for it, had all the kids in suits and dresses and they had their hair all done up. The adults they were dressed like ushers, you know? My dad made me get a ticket, like it was a movie theater..." Dana spoke as her eyes glowed in the light of the day, Don smiling calmly as he listened to her. "I don't actually remember watching the movie a lot, because my dad was smiling. And it was like, seeing something that didn't make sense but you settled for it because it was different. I used to look forward to the next one just to see that, see dad smiling for a change." She uttered as she relived the experience all over, reaching into her vault suit to retrieve a holotape. Don didn't say anything, he was too drawn into her story to speak.
"Dad gave me this after the party, he said it was from my mom before she died. But, I never had the nerve to listen to it before." Dana spoke, almost as if she were to be confessing. "Why not?" Don asked gently as he sat up a little. "He just...had this look in his eye, you know? Like he was about to tell me something I didn't want to hear, it was bad enough that I'd get punished for asking about her. This time, it just felt like I was going to see for myself why he would. Get those answers all at once." Dana uttered, sadness growing on her face, "Or. Maybe it was her memorial?" Don spoke kindly, Dana meeting eyes with his. "Or...maybe. Maybe it was all he had of her, and he saw her in you at last. Didn't need it anymore, he's got Dana to remind him." Don said with a careful but tender tone. Dana silently scoffed, looking at the holotape in between her fingers. "Look, you don't have to do this now. And I'm not gonna ask what got you here, but maybe you don't know how lucky you are Dana. Must confess, I'm a little envious." Don said with a charmed grin, Dana frowned a little smugly. "Don't get all sweet on me now, Don. Luck doesn't stick with me very long." She replied as stretched her arm a little as she lent back. "You wanna see luck Dana?" He said rhetorically, standing himself up as he unbuttoned the lower section of his shirt before pulling up to reveal his lower stomach. Dana leaned forward as her eyes immediately spotted the gashing scar across his stomach, her jaw lowered as she was slightly horrified by it. "That is an odd sign of luck Don." She remarked sarcastically. "To you maybe, but to me? It makes a nice clear reminder of what luck really is." Don spoke as he lowered his shirt down, buttoning it back up to be level again. "But that kind of wound is lucky believe it or not, a deathclaw could rip through a brahmin in a couple of seconds. Luck had it that the one that was coming for me, would only get that much on me but that wasn't the worst part. Hearing your own guts hit the dirt, that really sets some perspective in for ya." Don explained as he lost track of his breathes, holding his stomach lightly with his hand.
"Are you kidding?" Dana spoke with shock, Don shook his head a little. "Of course the damn thing was dead by the time I realized he got me, but good god almighty I won't ever forget looking down to see that. But the worst part was picking it all up and getting to the closest town, shit I couldn't tell if it was two minutes or two hours. Was losing my damn mind just thinking about it, bleeding so damn bad. But, when I did get to town that's when luck up and left me. The place didn't have a single doctor to help me, ended up sewing myself back together." Don said as he chuckled a little, glancing at his feet as he finished speaking. Dana paused for a few moments, wrapping her head around the experience that was shared with her. Nearby steps approached the doorway, as the T-800 came into view bearing an arsenal on his person as numerous guns were packed into the duffel bag in his hand. Don grinned a little at the site of him, before hearing hearing something land between the Terminator's feet. Don felt the air in his lungs get stolen, as the device at the T-800 was a pulse grenade. "Get down!" He screamed as he leaped away from him, causing Dana to jump from her chair before the grenade detonated. The electrical blast sent the two of them away from the Terminator, who had been stumbled back from it but was clearly suffering effects immediately. His head shook and jolted, the pulse charge causing a major electrical disturbance within his power core as his systems began to shut down and error. Several rounds of automatic gunfire struck against the terminator, causing him to fall onto his back with a loud thud. Don and Dana groaned quietly as the satellite cracked apart from the trauma of the grenade, their eyes snapping up as it broke apart to crash down atop of them. A heavy surface of metal had pinned against them, a cough of dust filled clouds swallowing them up. Don and Dana choked as it invaded their lungs, their eyes blinded by it's thick presence. The two of them were badly disorientated, not even aware of the twenty of so figures that rushed in before them. They then at last gazed upon the strangers, men in cloaked red leather armor without a single one of them wearing headgear that revealed their faces. Don grunted as he tried to get himself free, but he was struck across his face by a boot. Dana yelled as she too struggled to get free, the weight of the debris was too much to grant her freedom. But the strangers gave her the same greeting, rendering her unconscious as they laid lifeless against the dirt.
The T-2500 had been clear from the ruins of Helios one, venturing onward in it's primary form killing any traders who were unfortunate to become targets of interest. A trail of bodies slain simply for the purposes of taking firearms followed the Prototype, as it stood before another long abandoned building: The Repconn Headquarters. The Prototype strolled in systematic rhythm, watching the otherworldly robots as they pranced across from the ground without a care. The Tour guide bot approached him, it's mechanical eye extending before it spoke in monotone projection. "Welcome sir, to the REPCONN HEADQUARTERS. Would you like to participate in a free tour of the facility?" The Prototype was eerie in his stare, observing with keen detail of the robot before him. "Affirmative." He replied calmly, "Very well, right this way." The Tour guide responded as it swiveled it's body around in smooth animation as it began to lead him into the building. Darkness and odorless air welcomed as they entered inside, as a occurring as it could be in the wasteland. The Tour guide initiated it's recited script or programmed dialogue as it led the Terminator throughout the structure without disturbance, even as the other Mr Handy Robots discovered the machine that walked among them. The Prototype was able to see with pure observation on the differences between the time lines, and as the tour went on it began to reassess it's original approach to it's objective. Upon further delving, it was able to run a scan of the programming and CPU usage of the robot guide and began to take measures to see that it's mission would be back on track. "Security override, enter subcommand level Green. Initiate memory reboot, and execute command IHGGH021304." The Prototype spoke as it's eyes darted onto the Tour guide, halting it as emitted a brief blooping sound as it's hardware systems began to reconfigure. "How may I help you?" The Tour Guide spoke as it awaited further instruction, "Brief me on the current saved history files you have on your memory storage, I require all data on this time line's record of events." The Prototype commanded with a tone that matched the Tour guide's, watching as it led him further into the building in which to reveal the long troubling history of the wasteland and it's time before the great war. But as the Terminator was about start catching up with the times, the same could not be said for the counter one that was elsewhere in the Mojave.
