Chapter Nine

Tigress awoke to find she had a blanket thrown over her. She assumed David threw it over her while she was sleeping. However, David was not...

"Finally managed to pry yourself from your pillow, I see?" David asked. Tigress looked over to see him walking up with wood. She smiled at his comment.

"Haven't slept that well in a while," she commented.

"Well, you'll sleep better when we get where we're going," David said, putting the wood on the fire and getting tools ready for cooking.

"Speaking of which... where are we going?" Tigress asked. "All I know is we're headed to Vegas."

David smiled. "We're going to the only place I actually call home in this desolate wasteland," he answered.

"And given that, before we met, you ordinarily played the Lone Gunman, I assume it isn't actually in the city itself?" Tigress surmised.

"Nothing gets by you, does it?" he chuckled. "No, my home is in the Vegas region, but not in the city itself; it's on the outskirts, between Red Rock Canyon and a destroyed town called Bonnie Springs."

"And I imagine that because your home houses the temporal gateway that'll take me home, you have your home hidden from sight?" Tigress guessed.

"Indeed – the house itself is a personal underground vault, like the ones built before the apocalypse that allowed so many to survive – but this one was built to accommodate a family or otherwise small band of people," David explained.

"And this one in particular you yourself commissioned?" Tigress asked.

"Nope," David responded. "Inherited it from the unfortunate owner about a year after the bombs fell."

"I hope you didn't kill him for it," Tigress said.

"Kill him? Hell no – he was already dead," David stated, "He or she – couldn't tell because there wasn't much left of their corpse – never made it to that personal vault. They died from the radiation halfway to the vault. In their handwritten last will, they left the deed and rights to the first person who found it... finders-keepers kind of thing, didn't want the vault to waste away."

"And you were the first person to find it, because you were immune to radiation and therefore could survive where others could not," Tigress concluded, "When did the Temporal Gateway come into play?"

"Oh, I'd say... ten? Twelve years later? I don't remember, but it started as a project of boredom that turned into an effort to prevent the tragedy that befell this world," David responded, handing Tigress a bowl of soup. "But, as we both know, I now am shifting that priority to getting you home."

"What about you?" Tigress asked. "What will you do once I'm gone?"

"Me?" David responded. "Well... I'll figure it out."

"You don't sound very confident," Tigress said. She paused, noticing David's tone, and added, "In fact, you seem upset about it."

David sighed. "Tigress," he said, "You're the first long-term company I've had in many years. Surely it comes as no surprise that I've grown, shall we say, attached to you?"

Tigress placed a gentle hand on David's cheek. "David," she responded, "If you wanted me to stay, why did you never ask?"

"Because you don't belong here, as hard as it is for me to admit that," David stated. "You belong with Shifu, with Tai Lung, Po... your family, your friends. I can't – and won't – deny you your home and family."

"Even Shifu would understand if I wanted to stay with you," Tigress said. "Just as you won't deny me my family, I won't deprive you of my company. I can't just leave you here."

"You can," David stated, "You must."

"And let you suffer here alone?" Tigress asked. "I won't let you wander the wastes by yourself, just as you had done for over two centuries. After all you've been through, don't you think you've suffered enough?"

David was silent, but eventually requested, "At least let me give it some thought; never did I foresee that you'd want to remain in this hell, even with me at your side. I... I didn't think..."

Tigress frowned. "You didn't think... what?" she asked.

"It's... complicated," David answered. "But we can't discuss it now... not until we hit 'Vegas."

Right then and there, in the silence between them, Tigress saw something in David's eyes that made her heart ache – a subtle, heartfelt longing. She had her suspicions, but she put them away – for now – to focus on the current task; getting through Pittsburgh and to the air force base on the other side, wherein lay the Vertibird that would carry them to their next destination, wherever that was.

David drove the jeep to a garage just inside Pittsburgh, where he laid traps and then vanished with Tigress into the city depths.

"Keep your head on a swivel," David told Tigress, "Ashur's raider troops are everywhere."

"Ashur?" Tigress repeated the name. "Regional Warlord?"

"One of several across America. What sets Ashur apart from the others is that, unlike most regional warlords, he is in command of an entire city, complete with slaves, hideous mutations, and a massive industry that's worked by the slaves, to say nothing about his growing army of raiders," David explained.

"Oh, please tell me we're gonna cap his ass, too," Tigress chuckled.

David laughed quietly. "Good god, girl – you're getting to be just like me," he said.

Tigress smiled broadly. "The unfortunate byproduct of an American companion's influence, comrade," she told him.

David chuckled. "Well, to answer your question, we may have to drill Ashur, if either it becomes a part of the mission profile or the motherfucker gets between us and the Vertibird."

"So, if it's us two against an army of raiders and a warlord... how do we get by them?" Tigress asked.

"We'll have to talk to Midea or Wernher," David responded. "Even though we're far better equipped than those moronic raiders jacked up on god-only-knows how many chems, I'm not going to risk you in a running gunfight. We'll need to act with subtlety. Speaking of which..." David paused to activate his PCD, and Tigress did the same. They then moved deeper into the city, taking care to avoid the raider sentries goose-stepping here and there. They crossed a mined bridge, avoiding the mines and disarming those that were in their path, and finally made it to a gated checkpoint, beyond which was the entrance to a walled-off area of downtown Pittsburgh. And manning that checkpoint was a fire team of raiders, all dressed in typical raider attire.

Tigress wondered why they bothered – far more often than not, their usual attire was useless, not covering their bodies enough to prevent – or even mitigate – any fatal damage. She raised her raptor to fire, but David gently pushed the weapon down. "We don't want to alert the raiders of our presence," he whispered.

"That's the only way through," Tigress said.

"I beg to differ," David said, indicating a nearby grate.

How convenient, Tigress thought as she followed David, crawling through the grate after him. She followed him through the confined space, and finally coming out in a sludge-covered, small room with a sewer grate in the ceiling. David crawled up the ladder to that grate, then carefully lifted the grate and peered around. He then shut the grate and told Tigress in a hushed tone, "It's clear – come on, before any raiders show up!"

Tigress quickly ascended the ladder, and followed David out of the sewer and into the city proper. Tigress found herself in a massive pit in the ground that looked as though it had been caused by an explosion. She and David quickly cleared it and moved into a nearby alley, and not a moment too soon – no sooner than when they entered that alley did a band of slaves and three raider guards appear in the area, the slaves working around the pit, digging, welding, and cutting, while the guards watched from the edges.

David led Tigress into what appeared to be a town square, where they took up positions on in a dark alcove near a doorway. Shortly afterward, an avian woman with a cotton hat came up, looked around, and opened the door to head inside. Tigress and David quickly hurried inside, and Tigress was surprised to see the woman shut the door as normally as possible, then turn around and exclaimed in a very hushed tone,

"David, what the hell are you doing here?! You're gonna get the both of us... kill..." She paused upon seeing Tigress. "David... is... is that...?"

"Yep," David answered. "Midea, meet Master Tigress."

"Well, regardless, you two shouldn't be here!" Midea told them.

"Why not?" Tigress asked, "What's wrong?"

"Rumor has it, Ashur got a communique from the Enclave – there's a price on both your heads!" Midea responded. "If the guards knew you were in here, they'd kill all three of us! What are you doing here?"

"I came here to pick up the tee-dee-are," David answered. "Does it remain unfound?"

"Yeah, that thing remains unfound, but Ashur's men found your research station, and they've ransacked the place – Wernher believes they're developing some form of serum to give them your powers!" Midea said. "If they perfect it, we won't stand a chance! You've got to help us!"

Tigress was conflicted and confused; not only was she facing a moral dilemma, but she had no clue what this "tee-dee-are" was and how it was supposed to help them. So she voiced her belief: "David, we can't let Ashur's people develop that serum, it's not right."

"I'd be inclined to agree," David agreed. "How long ago was the station ransacked?"

"About a week ago, why?" Midea asked.

"So chances are, they haven't gotten very far in terms of development," David said. "Where is it being developed?"

"In the lab in Ashur's palace," Midea replied. "Please – we need your help, both of you!"

"Where's Wernher?" Tigress inquired.

"Dead," Midea answered. "He was at the research station when Ashur's men ransacked it. He was caught totally off-guard. Now all the slaves are looking to me."

There was a pause before David said, "Very well. I came here to pack a few things, but I'll be damned if we're gonna leave this place in worse shape than I first found it in. If you can get the strongest slaves you have, I can get them armed and equipped."

Midea looked shocked. "I thought you said we weren't ready to handle the weapons you've developed?" she stated.

"There is such a thing as not being ready for them," David said, his face bearing a look of anger that wasn't there before, "And then there is having no other option. Gather your best and have them meet me in the steel yard." He looked to Tigress, motioned his head, and he and Tigress re-engaged their cloaking devices and followed Midea out. Once they were clear of the door, Tigress followed David into a steel mill, where they moved through the dimly-lit mill, following the painted arrows to the steel yard entrance, where a lone raider stood beset by a dozen slaves.

"... what, you scabs are gathering ingots in groups now? Bullshit," he growled.

"But we're serious – individually, we don't stand a chance against the Trogs. In a group, however, we-" one of the slaves explained hesitantly.

The guard drew a holstered sidearm, but didn't aim it at any of the slaves gathered before him. "You motherfuckers are gonna tell me what you're really doing here, or the first shot goes into someone's face!" he spat.

David apparently had enough. He stood up fully and de-cloaked. "You want the truth, asshole? Fine. These slaves are under my command. Drop the gun, or your ass gets capped."

Tigress de-cloaked next to David, and the raider looked shocked. He visibly shuddered, dropped his weapon, and put his hands up. "Well, uh... don't let me stop you," he said with a nervous chuckle.

One of the slaves was about to pick up the dropped weapon when another slave slapped his arm gently. "Don't bother," she said, "We're getting better stuff where we're going."

"That's right," David growled more to the guard than the slave who'd just spoken. "Tell the other raiders or don't, it matters not. You fuck with us, you'll get what's coming to you. Got it?"

The guard nodded, and David, Tigress, and the slaves headed into the steel yard. As soon as they were in the even darker area, Tigress posed a question to David:

"David... what's a tee-dee-are?" she asked.

"TDR – Thermal Disruptor Rifle," David answered. "Insurance policy in the event that I ran out of depleted-uranium ammo for my weapons, to say nothing of how it's a much-easier-to-manufacture – not to mention safer for those not immune to radiation – alternative to depleted-uranium rounds. Fires high-energy pulses that'll burn right through even the best power armor."

Tigress mentally shrugged to herself as she and David escorted the slaves to a dilapidated warehouse, where David threw a switch, and immediately, a vast hoard of armor and weapons were immediately visible. The armor looked to fit the same pattern as Tigress and David's Advanced Dragonskin armor – a full-body suit – but with a different layout.

"Gear up, people," David told the slaves. As the slaves rushed over to get into the armor and choose a weapon, Tigress leaned closer to David.

"Pet project for this region?" she whispered to him, "Build weapons and armor for the slaves to take on Ashur's army?"

"More or less," David answered without looking away from the slaves. "The weapons and armor were materialized from an old game I played as a kid."

Tigress looked surprised. "You can do that?" David didn't answer as he walked over to a crate and opened it, revealing what looked to be a scaled-up 12.7mm Submachine gun. Upon a closer look, Tigress noticed that, while it merely looked like such an SMG, it was considerably different, with a medium-short range scope, added stock integrated with the weapon's frame, a combat sensor, heat sink, and a different loading port. David picked up a small device that Tigress assumed was the power cell and loaded it into the port, and the gun came to life. He then dematerialized multiple other cells, then reached into the crate to retrieve a second weapon – the same one he had. He tossed it to Tigress, along with a belt of power cells.

"These are the Thermal Disruptor Rifles," he told her. "The power cells last for approximately 150 shots, so shoot wisely."

Tigress quickly dematerialized her Raptor and readied the TDR she had just received, and when she turned her attention to the slaves gearing up, she noticed they were armored up and ready to move. David pointed to two of them and said, "You two – escort the other slaves here, get them geared up and ready. Keep escorting slaves here until this place is dry of equipment and ammo. The rest of you, on me. We're going to Ashur's palace and putting that rat bastard down."

The slaves whooped in excitement, and followed Tigress and David out of the warehouse and back the way they came. But right as the door to the mill was visible, it opened and a team of raiders came through. One of them spotted Tigress, David and the squad of slaves and started shooting, where Tigress observed that the slaves' new armor had energy shields of their own, as it flared when one of them was hit. The slaves were quick to raise their weapons and hose the raiders with bullets. The raiders, wearing their typical armor, dropped dead inside of a few seconds. While the two slaves David spoke to earlier went about gathering other slaves and getting them to the makeshift armory, Tigress, David, and their squad went about clearing out the mill of raiders before moving into uptown.

And as she drilled one raider after the other, she was surprised at how effective her new TDR was. Firing the weapon only made a metallic ticking sound, making it unusually quiet for a weapon as deadly as it was, and it fired like an automatic assault rifle, making it that much deadlier. The thermal disruptor bolts burned through raiders like paper, and their armor might as well have been just as useless. Faced with rebelling slaves armed and equipped with weapons and armor far superior to their own, the raiders stood little chance against the rebels. Perhaps it was orders from Ashur, and perhaps they thought it wise, but the Raiders chose to fall back to Ashur's palace. Tigress and David led the rebels to Haven – Ashur's palace – slaughtering the raiders as they went. The rebel slaves were especially adamant over killing every last raider they saw.

When they came upon the lab, they were confronted by none other than Ashur himself. "So," he growled, "You're the ones who armed my workers and set them against me."

"You set your 'workers' against yourself, asswipe – when a slaver forces lives that aren't his into servitude, rebellion is all but inevitable," David said. "And I owe you for Wernher, you psychopath."

"Wernher was a traitor – he endangered my city," Ashur said. "And you... I've heard of you. Twinblade and Master Tigress. The Enclave put a massive bounty on your head; one I will collect on unless you call off this uprising."

"You seem to overestimate your chances, moron," Tigress told him. "Look around you. The troops behind you are all you've got left; all of your others have been shot dead by the people you call 'workers' but treat as slaves. And you've yet to put a dent in our numbers, whereas we've almost completely wiped you out; face it, Ashur – you're staring down superior numbers and firepower combined with a united will for freedom!"

"You can't defeat a people like that," David added. "They'd rather die than be slaves to people like you!"

"So be it," Ashur sighed. He drew his weapon, but David was faster on the trigger, as he raised his TDR and fired a short burst, mortally wounding Ashur, and the slaves drilled the raiders. The gunfight lasted no more than a couple minutes. While the raiders and Slaves fought it out in Haven, Tigress and David pursued Ashur into the palace and to the lab. There, amongst the various computers and experiments, Ashur laid bleeding. But, still, he desired to fight, and fired a pistol at David, hitting nothing but the energy shield. David raised his weapon and fired, putting a single bolt in Ashur's head.

"That's for Wernher, you son of a bitch," he muttered. Looking around, he stood, then started for the exit. "Let Midea and the slaves have this lab," he told a now-arriving squad of rebels. "The research here could possibly save lives."

"So now it's off to the Vertibird?" Tigress asked.

"Now that I have what I came here for and we've set the slaves of Pittsburgh free... definitely," David answered.

As David and Tigress moved through the city, Tigress asked, "Wernher was your friend, wasn't he?"

"One of the few friends that were scientists; he was the one that discovered transferring my immunities to others was possible," David affirmed. "I think he'd be proud to know he was right."

Not a word was said between Tigress and David until they arrived at the air force base, where Tigress and David found the Vertibird – in just as pristine a condition as David suggested – and lifted off. Tigress strapped in to the copilot's seat, but let David do the flying as she drifted off to sleep...