Chapter 9-Strength
No Ones POV
The group took shelter behind rubble as gunfire rained down all the around them. Each of them where firing back at the Raiders with their long range guns, but none of them could land a killing blow, split between to rubble piles, Lolita shouted above the fire.
"We need to fall back!" Jack then yelled.
"How?! There's no cover!" They could her Fortune laughing over the gunfire.
Lolita grinded her jaw in frustration, her mind raced but she couldn't see a way out. Then, the gunfire stopped when Miko's voice shouted out.
"Fortune, I have a prospect!" The Raider's looked to Fortune who looked pleasantly surprised.
"Who said that, stand and show yourself!" She called out, slowly Miko came out even with Arcee and Jack's protest.
Miko smirked, a gleam in her eye, she looked to the others with a small nod, the silent message was received when they realized she had a hand on her shotgun and axe.
Fortune stepped forward standing over Miko, "You have my attention, what is it?"
"For someone named Fortune, you are certainly unfortunate to have met us." She was confused for a moment before Miko slipped into a low battle stance before pulling her weapons and firing, the scatter shot crossed her torso and head and she fell back howling in pain.
Before the Raiders could react with almost unnatural speed she threw the axe into the head of one and firing another shot taking the head of the closest Raider. The gunfire then rocketed past her as the rest of the gang took out the rest of the Raiders.
Clenching her wounds, Fortune stood unsteadily. She looked at the bloody room, then at Miko with the approaching humans, robot and cybertronians behind her. Miko was covered in blood, Fortune's blood and some of the Raider's as well, there was a glint of familiarity she recognized.
Ambition and Strength, the same as her's, she smiled.
"Very good, girl. You might make a good Raider, if you didn't have such...poor company, I'm afraid this is when we part ways, but not before karma have it's taste of flesh."
Quicker then they could react she had pulled a pistol and fired, Miko tried to dodge out of the way but it was too late.
Pain bloomed in her shoulder as the shot when straight through it, she fell to the ground screaming in pain as Fortune made her escape. The rest of the gang quickly came to her aid.
"MIKO!" Jack held her as Lolita pushed the cybertronians out of the way and taking out a stimpack and thrusting it near the wound, she screamed again but soon the pain subsided.
The wound, while not fully healed stopped bleeding and stitched up for the most part, bandages were still applied.
"Alright, she should be okay, we really need to get back to the Vault though." Lolita said, "Can you walk?"
Miko nodded her head but still had Jack helping her along the way as the quickly made their way back to the Vault, just as the Sun disappeared from the horizon.
Jack's POV
It had been three days since we had returned, Lolita had returned to her body and was madly working to get all the pieces together for the body. In the meantime Miko was still recovering, Knockout was researching the hell out of what materials Lolita had on the wastes while Arcee trained.
As for me, I sat in my room, unable to rest a muscle. I had barely slept the last few days. I didn't want to sleep, the nightmares were constant. After having witnessed Miko's injury and the fact they came near death two times to many, it had my mind racing in unwanted ways.
The guilt was always there, festering beneath my skin, it welled even more now with the events the past day.
I held my head, the headache seemed to like a jackhammer.
Then something clinked onto the floor from under the bed, I looked to see a box underneath the bed and a spring that had fallen onto it.
I took the box and opened it to find several strings with two vials on them, a label on each of them read the following.
"Psychobuff?" I asked the open air, I quickly turned to my Pipboy and researched this stuff, it turned out to be a enhancer of strength and a reducer of pain, physical and mental.
This is it, a answer to the pain, the guilt that was so deep and so dark I didn't know if I could redeem myself. This will help them, screw it if it's a drug, it is for the betterment of the group, it will bring me my redemption that I want.
I took a syringe, and slammed it down into my exposed arm, and finally I felt like had the power to accomplish all that I had set out to do.
Unknown POV
He could only hear whispers, voices familiar and new around him. He could feel that something was wrong, he was dipping in and out. Something wanted to pull him into an abyss, but he always managed to hold out against the black tide.
Many times it told him to give up, to let him be consumed, to relax.
But he knew if he did, it mean death and he wasn't ready to die just yet.
Suddenly, he could hear the sounds of machinery and tools, some sounds he was used to, someone was building something and the amount of time it took meant it was delicate and important.
Then, a new voice came, not the black tide that only sought his destruction.
"It is alright, come, be whole once more, be more than what you were. Come and see the new world you will know to be a second homeā¦."
It was a strong female voice, soft and caring like someone begging a loved one to come back from the brink of death's grasp.
And with determination, he opened his eyes.
Thus, he was reborn.
