I seriously had to retype this scene about four times before I find the right ending. I'll give further notes at the bottom, but for now, sit back and enjoy the ride ;)
"Surrender your weapons." Harkness calls out to the group. Several of the guards have unholstered their assault rifles and have them trained on the Mercenaries.
Ginny has had her revolver out since they started walking through the tunnels. Mirza and Leon are without arms, but Barnaby and Palmer have their Shanxi and Laser Rifle out respectively. Siobhan has swiftly moved into a fighting stance. Vincent holds his hands up and decides to figure out what exactly Harkness is playing at.
"High treason? You paid us to clear the tunnels and deliver a trade agreement to Underworld. Since when is following orders defined as treason?" Let's see how good Harkness is at this game.
To his credit the Chief's face remains stoic. "What a convenient cover story. I'm sure Dr. Li will be thrilled to hear that we have trade established with Underworld." Harkness deadpanned.
"You sent me out yourself-" Palmer began to say, confusion creeping into his voice.
Harkness held his hand up. "I gave you no such order. You deserted your post in order to negotiate with the enemy."
Palmer's eyes widen in shock. It's the first time Vincent has seen Palmer so utterly caught off guard.
Several of the Rivet City Security Guards glance at each other uncomfortably. That does not surprise Vincent. According to everything he has seen, Palmer has a sterling track record; his loyalty is unquestionable, not to mention absurd. Harkness merely smiles.
"Your acting is commendable, but I'm not going to fall for your antics. Ever since your tragic loss, you've shown signs of mental instability. You're performance has slackened. Tell me, how long did it take for you to break up little miss monster's bar fight the other night? Fifteen minutes, Twenty? You're slipping in your professional life Palmer-"
"I was on the bridge! We didn't get called until the fight was well under way!" Palmer defends himself wildly. He isn't going down without a fight. Verbally at least.
Harkness shakes his head. "I don't care about your excuses. You have proven to be an unreliable officer of the law. Now you've left your post and teamed up with a bunch of criminals. I should have seen this coming sooner. All of your actions have been mired by the death of your whore daughter."
Both Palmer and Leon look ready to rip Harkness' head from its shoulders.
"And if images speak louder than words, tell me gentlemen, just who is that standing next to Officer Palmer?" Harkness points damningly at Doctor Barnaby.
Doctor Barnaby raises his eyebrow at Harkness. Several other officers looked disgusted, as if they had just realized that there was a ghoul in their midst. Other officers took this as a cue to draw their weapons.
The air tensed further. Vincent had to keep things cool before they all got caught in the crossfire.
"Dr. Albert Barnaby is with our group Chief. He joined up with us as we left Underworld."
"Also convenient, Underworld wants to spy on us, so they send a spy."
Barnaby sneers at Harkness. "Damn it captain, I'm a doctor not a spy!"
"My station is Chief, not Captain. Of course that wouldn't mean anything to an uneducated monster such as yourself."
The Doctor shook his head. "Of course such a reference would pass over your head. What can I say though, you are only human." Barnaby's gaze never leaves the Chief. Vincent watches as something unfolds on Harkness' face. It's not quite apprehension, but it's a cloud of disbelief. Something has affected Harkness, caused him to not think properly. Now he is shouting at Palmer:
"You would have me removed from my station, and give Rivet City over to these things?! Unacceptable. I KNOW YOUR GAME PALMER! You want me gone so you can rule in my place. It is what you have always wanted from me! Ever since you've started on the Security forces you've worked to upend me!"
Harkness' voice is strained, and Vincent can swear he hears something wrong with the man's voice.
Palmer looks dejected and lost. "All I have ever wanted is to serve my city. I have wanted nothing more in life."
"Chief? What do you want us to do?" An officer asks to his Chief, who is still staring at Barnaby with that expression on his face.
Harkness begins to regain his composure. "I… Need you to handcuff the prisoners so that they may be tried for crimes against Rivet City."
The officer nods than signals to his men. The officers take a step closer to the group.
Ginny's grip tightens on her revolver.
"Don't do it." Leon whispers.
Vincent thinks that this is the end. He has left Lazarus alone in Megaton, and his friend will never know what has become of him.
The officers move closer, not stopping for a second.
"Chief?" One of the officers who has hung back is staring at the Landward tower concernedly.
"Chief?!" The man asks again, panic evident in his voice. Vincent looks past the man and his own eyes widen.
Harkness hisses at him to be quiet without even looking at him. Other officers turn to look and freeze up.
The officer points, Harkness turns around to see a dozen mutants racing up the hill towards the Landward tower. They roar in terrifying synchronization before opening fire on the towers inhabitants.
Harkness' eyes widen as half of his officers stop what they are doing and race towards the tower.
The other half are at a stand-still: They want to follow their commanding officer, but they aren't about to leave their home under attack.
Palmer doesn't give them the chance. With a forward motion he rams the butt of his gun into the nearest officer's face before shouting. "NO FATALITIES!" to the rest of the mercenaries.
Ginny and Barnaby redirect their aim and begin kneecapping guards.
Harkness draws his pistol only to have Siobhan kick it out of his hands. A missile strikes the landward tower, causing a massive explosion to deafen the background.
The remaining guards are racing back towards Rivet City, save for those that were shot by Ginny and Barnaby. Harkness moves to punch Siobhan but she slaps away his fist before delivering a jaw shattering right hook to his face. Harkness is knocked out for the count.
Vincent screams for the group to run for the ferry, which is docked just past the tower. They do not hesitate.
Palmer and the six mercenaries make a break for it, racing past Mutants and Guards alike. Leon, Siobhan and Vincent reach the ferry first, with Ginny and Mirza right behind them. Barnaby is purposefully avoiding the battle by racing around the fighting, while Palmer is walking through the middle of the fighting, occasionally doling out punishment to whichever mutant gets near him.
A singular guard and the Gusty are on the ferry. The guard raises her gun only to have Ginny shoot it out of her hands. The Gutsy's pilot light ignites and its eye sensors narrow.
"Patton needs a fresh clip!" Mirza shouts at the top of his lungs.
The Gutsy's pilot light extinguishes and it races forward, demanding to find Chief Harkness. Siobhan helpfully kicks the gutsy in the face, which ends with a destroyed Gutsy. The Guard raises her hands, after seeing one girl disarm her with a pistol from ten feet away and another kick a robot to death.
"Nice work!" Leon says to the two of them. Mirza blushes while Siobhan grins.
"Start the boat!" Vincent yells. Ginny levels the revolver at the female guard's head, wherein the guard complies and turns the boat on.
Barnaby climbs into the ferry, while Palmer is just now approaching the dock.
"PALMER! GET IN THE DAMN BOAT!" Vincent yells at him. Palmer looks dazed, and turns back to look at the carnage surrounding the Landward tower: a dozen guards are down and the mutants are pressing on the tower, which is on fire. As he watches, the bridge retracts and Rivet City abandons the men who are fighting so hard to save it. Palmer let's an audible sigh pass through his body before turning around and facing Vincent.
He runs towards the Ferry and jumps in as it pushes off from the dock.
The group spends the rest of the boat ride in silence, the sounds of battle growing softer as the Ferry moves away from Rivet City and back to the rest of the world.
So yes, here is the progression of Deus Ex Machinas:
1. Lazarus shows up. Would make no sense given the current plot.
2. Mister Burke Shows up. Makes less sense than #1, but I had a whole thread written out for it. It ended up just making a giant Mexican Standoff though,
3. The group gets imprisoned but Ginny breaks them out with her mad lockpicking skills. I thought this was fairly weak and hard to justfiy, since the only way off of the ship is through a retractable bridge controlled on a different part of the ship.
4. Teo and the BoS show up. This one was patently ridiculous, but if you really want to see more of Teo, well you are in luck. In fact, you are really really in luck because pretty much every faction in the Capital Wasteland gets a shout out, and the more porminant ones contribute members to the Cowboys. You'll see my darlings, oh you shall see :D
Speaking of, please review my story. I like reading reviews and interacting with you guys, but if you don't review then I can't make the story better. And that makes me a saaaaaad panda. So please do your civic duty and go review! I'm not opposed to taking story suggestions and then giving credit to the reviewers who post them ;)
But in all seriousness, thank for reading! :)