OoO( 36 )OoO
Simms had turned the light on and much to his horror, he found Nova strung up against a wall completely nude with many welts on her back, legs, and stomach. From the shape of them, it looked like the Irishman had taken a leather belt to her and was beating her senseless. The woman had a dirty rag tied around her head that was acting like a gag, keeping her silent, as he abused her at his leisure.
Lucas immediately sprung forward and cut the woman down, who had been anchored to the ceiling by her hands with a pair of ropes. As soon as she was free, she collapsed to the floor, where Simms checked to make sure she was still breathing. The man held his fingers next to her jugular, a move he'd seen John and Doc Church use a few times to check someone's pulse. He immediately sighed in relief as he felt her heartbeat thud against his fingers.
Drawing his weapon, the sheriff walked back out into the room and was about to blow Moriarty away, but stopped, the memory of executing the raider before he had all the information still fresh in his mind. Putting the pistol away he jerked the half conscious man to his feet, then punched him again, sending him over the counter. "You sick son of a bitch…" he said as he walked around the counter, where Gob was just staring at the two. Looking up at the bartender, he nodded towards the office. "Get her to Doc Church." he said.
The ghoul, not arguing a bit, jumped the counter and fetched the unconscious woman. On top of the large bruising and welts courtesy of the leather belt, she had one eye swollen shut and her lip was busted open. Gob picked her up, then carried her out of the Saloon. Lana stood with her weapon still aimed at the barman, who was now clenching his jaw with one hand. Simms glared at him, then smiled widely. Lana looked at him curiously. "You look like you just had a brilliant idea." she said.
Simms nodded. "Knight McGyle, let's take our business elsewhere." he said with a chuckle and walked for the door.
She looked at him incredulously. "You're letting him go?" she asked.
"Oh hell no. I'm gonna have a talk with Stockholm, and make sure that anyone who leaves this establishment gets their head taken off with a sniper round." he said, looking around at all the customers who had stuck around. Lucas stared each one in the eye. "You heard me." Immediately, there was a clamoring of rushed feet as the remainder of the customers, as well as the new hiree Rose, scrambled out the door.
"An' what the hell ya think that's gonna do? Ya jes gonna keep me locked up here me entire life?" asked the man as he finally stood to his feet again.
Lucas smiled, grabbed his hat and placed it on his head. "That's a negative. We'll be keeping you and your lap dogs right here until a certain someone gets back to town." he said, then turned towards the door, knowing the barman's face was now contorted into a mask of horror. "I'll let him decide what to do with you." said the Sheriff.
Moriarty crossed his arms as he let out a small, knowing smirk. "Lotta good that'll do ya. He's probably strung up himself by now."
Lucas gave turned and gave him a death glare, which wiped the look off his face. "And Judas rears his ugly head…" said the Sheriff, reaching down and taking the revolver from his side. Moriarty's smile vanished again. "If I were you, I'd use these next couple of hours...days...however long it takes him to get back to pray to whatever god you believe in." he said, turning to Lana. You and me are going to close the door behind us. I want you to make sure that anyone who comes out of here before I talk to Stockholm receives a new hole in their cranium." he said.
"You got it." she said, flashing the men who she had already shot a quick smile. The redhaired woman followed him out the door and stayed there waiting until the Sheriff returned.
"He's got his instructions. And I'll even post Billy out back in case Colin decides to try and sneak out the back at night. I know he'd be more than happy to put him in his place." said Lucas as he leaned over the railing.
Lana leaned over it as well, confident in the sniper's ability to watch their back. "So what's this about? You're the sheriff, shouldn't you be dealing out the justice?" she asked.
He nodded. "This is about more than justice. This is about retribution." said the man as he stood to his feet. "As you have probably noticed, I'm pretty bad at making examples. Sure, I right wrongs, but the problem is that I arrest people, I put them in a holding cell. Sometimes, if they threaten others, I even fire my weapon. But only then. My kind of justice is pretty old fashioned." he said, turning to her as he pulled a cigarette out of his duster and lit it. "Which works just fine for thieves and delinquents. But for people like him, that requires a touch I'm just not able to give."
"So, you want him to suffer like she did?" asked Lana. As Simms nodded, she felt herself look at him in a new light. Her respect for him just doubled.
"Unfortunately, I'm not the man to do it. But there is someone who not only hates Moriarty, but is somewhat of a professional at dealing out wasteland justice in these parts." he said with a smile. "And I consider it an extra bonus that Colin is probably pissing himself right now, and probably will be until the day John finally comes back." he said, getting a chuckle out of her.
"Oh yeah. Maybe we should have taken their guns so that they can't take the easy way out." she said. But the sheriff shrugged.
"If that's how they wanna play it, then they can explain themselves to God. But until they sit in front of God himself, I'll let the Archangel decide how to deal with them."
OoOoO
Almost two hours had passed since the beginning of the radstorm, and since the torture had begun. The leader of the raiders sat in a chair, smiling at the work of art he had in front of him. It had been a long time since he was able to actually practice his long honed skills of torture, and the target this time was a piece of cake to practice on due to his ability to rejuvenate after receiving injuries. That just made this more fun.
He sat in the chair, staring at the now unconscious gunman while he puffed heavily on a cigar. The power armored man had been there to watch the entire time, savoring every scream that had come out of the vigilante vault dweller's mouth. He flexed his still sore hand as he watched the lost son's leader and father show the goody bastard a level of pain he never knew existed. As the storm raged outside, sending waves of radioactive energy flashing across the horizon, he looked down at the mohawked man. "How long can we keep doing this?" he asked curiously.
"If we want to really prove a point, as long as his regeneration keeps up. I could literally turn him into a work of modern fucking art, only to have his body restore him to normal afterwards. If you want him dead, then I'd recommend just taking his head off." said the raider as he turned and eyed Magnus. "That comes when I'm finished." he said commandingly.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to interrupt your fun." said the mercenary in an amused tone. "But he's resourceful. So don't give him an inch, because he'll exploit every centimeter of it." remarked the man before returning to the room outside the chamber. Looking at the two men standing next to the window, he spoke up. "What's the status?"
"It's raging pretty hard. Probably gonna go on for another hour or two. But until then any kind of visuals we have are shot." said one of the watchers.
"It's no big deal. We may be locked in here, but that means anyone out there is shit out of luck. So no interruptions." said the power armored figure as he stepped up to the window, grinning for the first time since the little shit in the other room nearly killed him nearly a year ago.
OoOoO
"Spread out! Even if we have rad protection, lightning is still a very real threat!" shouted the commander of the Lyon's Pride as they stomped through the storm that left a haze in the air, making it hard to see. Currently, her and her group barreled through the storm and out of the DC ruins, meeting up with a small band of mercenaries in their own green colored armor. They had had a bit of a standoff at first, but when they recognized each other, the hostilities ceased.
"Sarah?" shouted a female through a thick set of armor and headgear to protect her from radiation. She had a giant of a man next to her who looked like he was struggling in his suit, and three others behind her, one with a heavy pack, one with a monstrous minigun, and the third with an assault rifle.
Due to the wind howling madly, kicking up sand and dust alike to numb their senses while assaulting them with radiation at the same time, the sentinel wasn't about to hear anything she said. Reaching up, she tapped on the side of her helmet, getting an understanding nod from the woman. "Can you hear me?" she asked.
The woman nodded. "I hear ya. You're Sarah right? From the GNR building?"
"Yeah, good to see you again. We've got the location pinpointed to the north. It's in a ruined complex known as Bethesda." said the sentinel as she addressed the other two. "From the sound of one of the men talking, they have Enclave voice distortion. Which likely means power armor. And if it is the Enclave we're dealing with, then we need you to stick behind us and fire from the shadows." said the woman, her eyes gazing over at the shorter figure with the minigun as if expecting her to say something. She was not disappointed.
"I ain't hiding behind some pansy in fancy armor!" growled Brick over the frequency.
"Quiet Brick! You'll follow orders!" snapped Reilly. Brick looked over at her and there was an audible sigh over the radio band.
"Alright. You're the boss." she said, looking away disgruntled.
"I apologize. I don't mean to offend you, but Enclave have plasma weapons that would melt straight through your armor and radiation suits. We at least have some protection against it with ours. If it turns out I was wrong, and there was no Enclave, feel free to go nuts." said Sarah, eye rolling at the woman's eagerness.
"I gotcha." said Brick, slightly less irritated than before.
"How did you get the location?" asked Reilly.
Sarah reached down and patted the small robot on her side, which was currently in self-repair mode. "Seems like he had a little backup. He showed us the location of the broadcast signal. Now, we've gotta move fast. I don't know how much longer he'll be able to hold out against them, or if they'll just kill him when they're done. So let's get moving." Getting a nod from all of the Rangers, the two teams charged forth through the stormy sand and dust towards the skyscrapers on the horizon.
The Rangers naturally fell behind, as they weren't assisted by power armor. But they were still within viewing distance of each other. Reilly had a shotgun in her hands that she had covered with a small blanket to prevent it from getting clogged with sand. The same could be said of the others weapons in her party, except for Butcher who had only his large med pack on his back. Both parties knew that whatever was happening to the gunman on the other side of that radio was likely going to require some heavy doses of medication at the very least to fix.
"Hey...you guys know what's going on with this sand? Radstorms aren't supposed to have this much wind." said the engineer, Donovan, as they trudged against the gale-like winds.
"I don't know. We usually only get a green haze. I'm not sure where all this is coming from…" said Knight Captain Colvin, who was one of the Pride's best sharpshooters as his heavy armor brushed off the wind and sand like it was a warm breeze.
"Unlucky break? A sandstorm and radstorm at the same time?" asked Sentinel Lyon's second in command, a stoic man by the name of Paladin Vargas.
"What else could it be?" asked Reilly as she fell in behind Sarah to get a bit of shielding from the armored woman.
"I don't know about unlucky…" said a playful voice with an exotic accent.
Sarah stopped immediately. That voice had come over the radio, meaning that someone else was contacting them. It was likely the second party she had contacted at the request of Liberty. "Identify yourself." she commanded.
"The name is Sonora Cruz. The storm you are experiencing is our doing. We will meet you at the front door, until then, this sand is covering you from being seen." she said.
Sarah cocked an eyebrow curiously. "You're making a sandstorm?" she asked.
"We'll explain later. For now, we'll meet you at the location. There are three areas of the ruins that we need to worry about, so when we get there, we'll have to split up." replied the voice as well.
The sentinel looked around, trying to see someone through the clouds of sand that were swirling around them all, but it was useless. And thanks to the radiation from the radstorm, their normally useful enhanced sound and visual tracking systems were thrown off completely. So no matter how hard she searched, she was blinded by the blanket of the sandstorm. "Alright, keep moving forward." said the sentinel in irritation to the rest of the party.
OoOoO
Magnus, who had been staring at the window for a bit, returned to the other room when he heard the screaming continue. He watched as the raider administered tortures that even made his own, hate-filled stomach turn. But he didn't look away. He smiled at every second he could hear that glorious screaming. So long he had waited for this moment.
The screaming then stopped, and the gunman's head hung between his shoulders, his entire body weight now resting on his arms as his legs had given out long ago. The chains that had held him were no closer to breaking than they had been before, and the raider boss had taken some extra measures to make sure he didn't get away from his prison. However, despite the endless pain, torture, and beatings he had taken over the last couple of hours, the wanderer still managed to lift his head and grin.
"Come on big guy. Why not take a shot at me yourself?" he asked the power armored man. Magnus stood there and said nothing. "Ha…" choked out John as he attempted to chuckle. "Figured you'd be the bitch of this operation."
"You can continue to run your mouth all you like John. But I'm not going to play your childish games. My only goal here is to watch you suffer, and watch you die." said the man.
"Jesus...didn't know Talon Company had such a hardon over me." said John, desperate to extend his limited break.
"Talon Company does want you dead. But they'd never authorize torture. Too much of a waste of resources." said the man, who then looked directly into John's eyes with the yellow insect-like eyes of the armored helmet. "No, this here…" he said, pointing to John. "This is personal."
The gunman eyed the man curiously. "And what did I do to you to deserve such attention?" he asked curiously.
The power armored figure just laughed behind the helmet. "You know, this entire time I'd been content with just watching you slowly die. But now it occurs to me that I can actually burn you even more before your death." said the man as he reached up and hit the pressure release on the armored helmet. Reaching up with both hands this time, he removed the helmet and stared at the gunman with a death glare.
John stared at the man for a long moment. Immediately, he picked up something familiar about the man. Something yanking at the back of his mind. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, then looked at the man again. His hair was nothing but stubble right now, so he couldn't tell with that. On his face was a scar that slashed across his crooked nose, and one of his eyes was milky white. He didn't look that old, maybe in his mid-to-late twenties. And his face seemed to be permanently locked into a mean scowl.
Something snapped in John's mind. Long ago, he thought the same thing about someone he wasn't particularly fond of. But the last time he had seen the man, he'd put a bullet into his face. He looked at the scaring across the man's features, and knew immediately who he was looking at. "Officer Mack…" he said, wide eyed as he failed to say anything further.
The man chuckled. "Well well, he does remember me." said the figure as he smiled up at John. "Been a long time kid. Last time you and I saw each other, you put a bullet into my head, no questions asked." he said, then looked the wanderer up and down. "Sorry if I don't return the favor." he said, amused.
Immediately, John's mind warped back to the time when he pulled the trigger and shot the vault Security Chief through his visor. It was when he crossed the doorway behind all their backs and was about to escape. Then that shriek, that mind shattering, soul numbing scream. It had come from Amata, and he turned to see Officer Mack laughing and prodding her with the tip of his stun baton. He glared at the man. "You deserved what you got. As a matter of fact, you deserved more. But it looks like I didn't finish the job."
"That's right." said the officer as he looked at the gunman, an idea popping into his head. "And because you couldn't finish the job, guess what happened to that lovely little Amata." he said with a sneer. John's eyes widened as he ground his teeth.
"You didn't touch her!" he shouted, jerking at the chains.
Steven Mack stepped closer, his face warping into an expression of lunacy. "I killed her John! I fucked her senseless, then put a bullet into her head, just like you did to me!" he shouted. "All because you couldn't finish me off!" he finished, then reached up and backhanded the wanderer with his gauntleted hand.
It was a long moment of silence before anything happened. But when it did, they all looked at their leader nervously. John began to shake violently as he stared at the man with his nuclear green eyes. Mack stepped back and looked at the raider, who waved him off. "He's secure. Not going nowhere." said the man.
The gunman began yelling in pain again, but this time it was mixed with fury as he bent every ounce of his strength to his will. The ceiling above him that held the chains began to groan with strain as he yelled like he had never yelled before. "I...will...kill...you…!" shouted the gunman as the ceiling began to crack violently. Mack backed up more as the raider leader jumped to his feet.
"Hit him with the stunners!" shouted the man urgently as the chain tore out a piece of the ceiling. The guards behind John fired their weapons again, the needle like appendages sticking into his side and back. Suddenly, the gunman's body would no longer respond as it was flooded with electricity again. After two full minutes of electricity ravaging his body, he hung by the chains again. The raider leader looked over at the Talon mercenary with daggers in his eyes, and a voice full of venom. "Never give him a fucking inch. Remember that?" he asked.
Mack, who had broke a sweat when he saw the ceiling start giving way, glared at the leader. "If he was secure, that wouldn't have been an issue." he said, reaching up and wiping away the sweat from his brow. "That's what the backup was for anyway, so stop glaring at me. We're stuck here in the middle of a sandstorm with him, so if you want either of us to live then keep him down."
The raider boss looked at Mack with a glare, then back at John. "Reload your weapons in case he decides to try again." said the older man as he picked up another knife.
Despite his current injuries, and the sudden shock, John spoke again. "Did you say there was a sandstorm outside?" he asked, looking up at Mack.
The former vault security chief smirked. "That's right. That means no help for poor little John." he said. But his smile vanished quickly as John started laughing.
Shaking his head, the gunman just looked up at the traitor and smiled maniacally. "You have no idea how fucked you are…" he said between gasping breaths.
OoOoO
When they finally arrived at the derelict buildings, the three groups congregated together to plan. Sonora, who apparently knew these buildings fairly well, devised a plan where they separated and conquered each of the three buildings, which she labeled Bethesda West, Bethesda East, and Bethesda Underworks. The Underworks consisted of a ruined metro station that laid beneath the two office buildings, connecting to both of them. The Underworks however, were filled with ghouls of all kinds.
"It's unlikely that the raiders used the Underworks in order to store him. They'd likely have a huge clearing job to do. But these tunnels lead up to both of the buildings allowing us a very unique distraction." she said, looking up at them through a gasmask like cover on her face. "Is anyone here skilled in stealth?" she asked, looking at the three as the tall dark-skinned man chanted behind her.
Reilly raised her hand, as well as the Brotherhood Knight known as Knight Captain Gallows. They both looked at him questioningly. The man just chuckled jovially at their confused looks. "Special kind of armor. Completely silent, although it's not as tough as the normal stuff. But it helps when you're trying to sneak around." he said as he reached down and pressed a few buttons on his wrist mounted device. All the sudden, his armored form vanished as a blanket of invisibility covered him.
Sonora smirked. "Good enough." she said as she looked at Reilly and the Knight Captain. "You two are going to split up and break open the underworks inside both of the buildings. If you see enemy units, dodge them and open the Underworks. The ghouls will hopefully do most of the work for us." she said.
"Unless we're dealing with Enclave." remarked Sarah as the Regulator looked up at her. "Over the radio, there was someone speaking with voice distortion commonly used by the Enclave. If it's not Enclave in there, then someone is wearing their armor."
"One-oh-one happened to mention a man he was tailin' a scoundrel wearing a set of stolen power armor." remarked Belle from Sonora's side. Sarah was close enough to hear her through the suit.
Sarah just nodded at the comment. "Well, that makes more sense. Just be careful. That armor is dangerous." she said as she made sure her laser rifle was ready to fire. "Once the ghouls are loose, we wait for them to distract those inside, then take up defensive formations and take out whoever is left." she said. Turning to her second, she nodded. "Vargas, take Colvin and Glade with you. You'll be hitting the second building with the Regulators. Reilly and I will take Dusk and Kodiak, and we already have a heavy weapons specialist." remarked the sentinel as she looked over at Brick.
Brick pounded her chest proudly. "Damn right you do!" she said.
"Let's get going. We don't know how long he'll be able to hold out." said the commander as she all looked at them. "Move out."
OoOoO
Author's Note: I would just like to thank everyone who offered to help with getting my game back up and running again. As it turns out, I had to uninstall Steam entirely, then redownload it, and reinstall all the games as well. Whatever Win10 did to break it, that seemed to fix. So yay! I have my game back now! :D As such, this chapter came a few days after I'd have liked simply because I got my game back and am trying to catch up to where I'm at now in the story. But don't worry, I've already thoroughly studied the ruins of the next chapter, and intend to have it out pretty soon. So no long wait for that.
Also, I'd like to mention one thing. I have a particular reviewer on here who I've been chatting with because his beliefs and morals counter my own in regards to how people in the wasteland should be acting. I won't mention his name, as he's already been blocked, but I implore the rest of you that if you don't like how I write my characters, and how they react to morally questionable situations, then this really isn't the story for you, and please move on. Anyone messaging me with insults to my intelligence, my writing, or my morality simply because my characters choose not to be assholes in the wastes will get the perpetrator blocked. And to the rest of you, thank you all for being awesome and supportive. It means the world to me. Until next chapter, see you space cowboys.