Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well. What is the mysterious radio broadcast Damian has picked up, and what will he discover? Let's find out.
Damian climbed the hill on which the factory overlooked Minefield. The imposing brick structure was surrounded by a rust-ridden wire fence. Damian approached one of the signs hanging from the fence.
"MDPL-13 Power Plant
Property of the State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Colombia
Forbidden Entry "
Damian looked up to the sky. The plant was small in comparison to other buildings or monuments in the Capital Wasteland, but because of its elevated position and the three chimneys that rose to the sky, the plant was one of the main landmarks of the region, and had to offer an overview of the entire Wasteland.
The road from the plant meandered between hills and dead trees and was littered with destroyed vehicles. On his right, Damian could see a landscape where small farms were scattered and the ruins of a small town.
The radio message continued to run in a loop. As Damian listened to it, he could see that it was the same sentence, repeated over and over again in a dialect he did not understand. He first thought of Chinese, remembering his lessons in U.S. History in the Vault, where he had learned about Chinese small groups disrupting key parts of the country. Thinking back to the few times he had heard about the Chinese in the Anchorage simulation, he concluded that the message he had just picked up could very well be an old pre-war message from a Chinese terrorist group, but he had to check where the signal was coming from before he could be sure.
The frequency appeared to be coming from the top of a hill. Damian turned off the road and began to climb the small slope. When he reached the top, his Pip-Boy sizzled quietly, and he saw the pointer of his Geiger counter move very little. Damian kept going and arrived on the other side of the hill. He lowered his rifle and stood still, stunned by what he saw.
A gray device was stuck in the ground against the rock face of the hill. About the size of the Enclave's flying machines, it was big oval object. The front was slightly recessed and consisted of a large semi-circular glass. The glass was broken and inside, Damian could see a chair and several small consoles, probably computers.
He had never seen anything like this before. He just stood there, admiring this strange device.
"Damn..." Damian whispered. "It looks like... An alien ship..."
Damian descended the slope that separated him from the aircraft. His hypothesis was confirmed when he saw a body in a small hollow just below the cockpit of the UFO. About a head and a half less than him, the body was encased in a grey suit, wearing orange boots and had its head covered by a helmet which was cracked and stained from the inside with a green liquid.
Damian stood there, fascinated by his discovery. He cautiously approached the corpse and noticed his hands. As hands, the corpse had three long tapered fingers, ending in what looked like a suction cup. Damian knelt beside the body and a smile appeared on his face. He had before him proof of life outside the Earth, proof that beyond the sky there was an extraterrestrial race and that the universe was inhabited.
A little buzzing sounded in Damian's ears. He looked at his Pip-Boy and saw that the radio message had stopped and that instead, only static was occupying the frequency. Damian saw a slight movement in his peripheral vision. He turned his head and saw a small pebble, slowly rising from the ground. Damian saw others, moving and rising towards the sky all around him.
He suddenly felt very light. He lowered his head and saw that he, too, was beginning to lift off the ground. He looked around him and noticed the halo of blue light that was beginning to envelop him. Damian didn't understand what was happening to him until it was too late. He lost control of his body. He tried to wave his arms to make up for something, but all he could do was float gently several inches off the ground. He was rising higher and higher in the air. He turned around and could see the Capital Wasteland stretching beneath his feet. The halo of light completely enveloped him, and his vision became increasingly blurred just before he lost consciousness.
Damian slowly opened his eyes. There was a large white lamp above him, and he heard strange noises all around him. Whistling and clicking noises. Three figures appeared above him. The light blinded him too much to distinguish the three individuals properly. All he could see was the shape of their head, oval, the skull stretching backwards. They had a fairly long neck and large arms ending in hands with three thin tentacles.
Damian tried to move, but all strength in his body had disappeared. The figures continued talking for a few moments, until four metal tentacles appeared next to them. Each tentacle ended with a strange instrument, a metal cone or a large needle. One of the tentacles slowly approached Damian. It passed close to his face and descended towards his belly. The next second, Damian felt an unbearable pain in his stomach.
He opened his mouth and screamed, tears rising to his eyes. The three silhouettes looked at each other and one of them grabbed a small transparent rectangular object and imitated what looked like someone typing on a keyboard. The pain continued. It overran Damian. He lost consciousness.
Damian woke up with a start. He casted frantic glances around him. He was in an oval room with no ceiling. The walls and floor were made of metal and a strange grey-blue veil was used as a door. Damian heard a voice beside him. An African American woman, with a shaved head, wearing a leather outfit, was leaning next to him.
"Well old chap, it's about time," she said. "I was beginning to think your brain was fried."
Damian tried to talk. He felt a sharp pain in his head, as if someone was pounding his brain with a hammer.
"Headache?" asked the woman with a small smile. "Don't worry, it will pass in a few minutes."
Damian blinked several times and continued to cast dazed and panicky glances around him. He was cold and as he lowered his head, he noticed that he wasn't wearing his armor anymore and that he only had a T-shirt, his shorts and his Pip-Boy.
"You made an impression on them. At least they left me my pants."
"What... What… What is that... Are those aliens?"
The woman let out a chuckle. She helped Damian get on his feet.
"It's crazy, right? You think you've seen it all and bang, something even more crazy happens."
Damian put his hands on his belly. He remembered the crashed ship and the blue light taking it off into the sky, then the pain that had passed through it. He felt a small scar near his belly button and observed the rest of his body.
He moved closer to what served as a door to the room. He could see through it, but his vision was blurred, as if that mysterious veil was distorting what was on the other side. Damian approached his hand. He felt a slight electric current through his fingers.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the woman said. "This stuff will give you a good jolt that will knock you out for a long time."
Damian removed his hand and returned to the center of the cell. He rubbed his arms to try to keep warm.
"What do you think they want from us?" he asked.
"No idea," the woman replied immediately. I don't understand a fuckin word of what they're saying and I've forgotten half the things they've done to me, and it's probably better that way."
Damian heard crying and wailing a little further on, probably in another cell.
"We're not alone here," said the woman. "Sometimes they bring people, sometimes they pick them up and bring them back a few hours later... Or not. And I don't want to know what they do to them, either way."
"Have you been here with me for a long time?" Damian asked.
"Hey kid, this is MY little piece of heaven here," said the woman grinning. "It's you who's here with me, not the other way around. And to answer you, they dropped you off about an hour ago. Me, I lost track of time."
The woman sighed and crossed her arms.
"Well, since you're stuck with me, we might as well get to know each other," said Damian.
"My name is Somah, if you must know," the woman answered.
"Damian."
"I just saw your Pip-Boy. How did they get you? Did they come down to your Vault for you on purpose?"
"No, I ran into one of their crashed ships in the Wastes and the next thing I know I was here."
Damian looked again at the electric field blocking the exit from their cell.
"You wouldn't have any idea how to get out of there, I suppose."
A slight smirk appeared on Somah's face.
"I've been thinking about it for a little while, but..."
She left her sentence hanging and looked up.
"What?" Damian asked, raising his head in turn.
He heard a slight metallic squeaking sound. Somah looked at Damian, a look of panic on her face.
"Against the wall! Quickly!" she cried.
Somah leaned against the wall of the cell behind her and Damian imitated her. The woman's eyes were looking at where the ceiling of the cell was supposed to be. Up there, Damian saw a large rail that seemed to cross where they were. The squeaking intensified and Damian saw a giant metal clamp pass over them. The huge grapple went past their cell and he heard Somah breathe a sigh of relief.
The grapple stopped. Damian heard it drop and a few seconds later, a scream sounded. The grappling hook went over their cell, taking with it a man hanging by his leg who was struggling and crying for help.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Damian asked.
"What, you've never seen 'The Claw'?" Somah said sarcastically.
The man's cries stopped abruptly.
"Listen," said Somah. "I don't know where they've taken this guy or what they're going to do to him, but better him than us. We've got to get out of here or we'll end up the same way."
"If you have an idea, I'm all hear," said Damian, keeping his eyes fixed on the rail.
"They're watching us, you know. You see that red thing moving on the wall?"
Damian looked down. On the wall of the cell, clinging to a small rail, a sphere with a red lens was slowly sliding and seemed to follow the movements of the two captives.
"Call me crazy, but that thing looks like an eye and I bet that because of it, they are watching us. Then we might as well give them a show."
"I'm listening," said Damian who was beginning to understand what Somah had in mind.
"If we're still alive, it's because they want us to be, so if I ever try to kill you by hitting you, they'll show up and stop it."
"So, you want us to fight, and once they're here, we take action?"
"That's the plan, yes," said Somah.
Damian thought for a few seconds.
"What if you're wrong? What if we're together just so they can watch the fight?"
"I'll make sure to hold my punches. I need you as much as you need me."
"So, let's say this works. Once we're out there, what do we do?"
Somah shrugged.
"I don't know, but it's better than waiting and doing nothing."
Damian took a deep breath. He discreetly looked at the camera in their cell and then at the electric field.
"What you're afraid of hitting a woman?" asked Somah. "Cut that gallantry bullshit will ya? We have to get out of here, fast."
"All right, let's go," Damian said a bit upset.
Damian had barely finished his sentence when he was punched in the jaw. He stumbled and took a few steps back.
""Hold my blows.'. Yeah sure," he thought, massaging his open lip.
"Come on you pussy! Show me what you got!"
Damian grimaced. It had to look like their fight was real, but Somah was probably overdoing it. Damian wiped the blood off his lip and threw himself into the fray. He threw his fist into Somah's cheek and held it back at the last moment, just touching her face. Somah stepped back and pretended to be stunned before counterattacking.
After a few seconds, Damian was cornered against the wall of the cell facing the electric field. On the other side, he could see two small figures watching them. Somah continued to strike, purposely missing some of her punches.
Damian saw the electric field disappear and the two aliens entered the cell. They were equipped with small grey sticks, ending with a small blue diode surrounded by a grid.
"Now!" Damian shouted.
Somah turned around and threw her fist in the alien's face. Damian dodged the second alien's bludgeon and disarmed him with great ease. He wasn't a very muscular or strong man, but these creatures had even less strength than he did.
The diode at the end of the stick was actually an electric field. Damian struck the alien with a horizontal movement, which squealed and bent forward, before Damian knocked him out of the fight with a knee to the face. The young man turned around and saw Somah, who had also retrieved one of those electric batons, hit the alien in the face with the weapon. The creature's skull dug in a few inches before it collapsed to the ground.
"Come on, let's go!"
They left the cell and arrived in a long corridor. The corridor was lined with these small electric fields, about ten of them, indicating to Damian that there were probably as many cells like theirs around them.
"We should get the other people locked in here out," Damian said as he approached what looked like a light switch.
He heard a metallic hiss and turned his head. At the end of the corridor to his right, a door had just opened and two other aliens were rushing towards them. Damian jumped back and dodged a bludgeon shot. He gave the alien a blow and it staggered. Somah kicked the alien which was thrown against the electric field. It convulsed and its body began to smoke. The alien squealed and collapsed face down.
The second alien started to run away but Somah caught it and killed it by crushing its skull under the electric baton.
The cells were mostly empty. Damian found only the body of a man in an Enclave uniform and a woman. She was wearing an outfit similar to that of the Rivet City Guards and was sitting on the floor.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," Damian said as he approached her.
The woman remained motionless. Damian was about to grab her by the arm when he noticed that her eyes were slightly backward and glassy, that a thin stream of slime was dripping from her lips and that she had two circular burn scars on her temples. The woman spoke unintelligible words, closer to an infant's babbling than real words.
"Nothing can be done for her," Somah said. "Let's get out of here before more of these little bastards show up."
Damian left the woman to her fate, not without regrets, and headed for the door the aliens had come through. They arrived in a large room with what looked like chairs and computer consoles. Somah approached one of the doors and tried to open it while Damian searched the room. Large rectangular consoles, emitting blue lights, were all over the room. What most intrigued Damian, apart from the general appearance of everything around him, were the blue circles that turned and floated in the air in front of the console. Damian carefully moved his hand forward and it passed through. He felt a slight electric tingling and saw the hairs on the back of his hand slowly standing up. A holographic projection. Damian had vaguely heard about it in a book in the Vault.
"Damn, that door's jammed," Somah spat.
Damian looked in her direction. The woman palpated the wall looking for a switch but found nothing.
"There's an airlock there," Damian said.
They went through the airlock and through the door at the end that slid open when they arrived. Another block of cells lay ahead of them. Damian walked forward and heard a small voice.
"Hey, hello!"
He looked at Somah, who was looking in all directions. At least he hadn't dreamt about that voice.
"A little further to your right!"
Damian saw that the voice came from behind the electric field of a cell. He and Somah approached and saw a small human figure on the other side. It was a little girl with blond hair. She was wearing a blue tarnished and torn skirt and a white jacket with pink sleeves.
"Are you running away? Hey, you want me to show you the rest of the ship? I know it very well!" cried the little girl locked up.
"Who... Who are you?" Somah asked.
"My name's Sally and I'm 11 years old. So, you want me to show you the ship?"
"This place is dangerous. It's best that you stay here until..."
Sally cut Damian off by shaking her head.
"If you go off on your own, you're going to get lost and this place is, like, super big!"
"Sure, kid, let the adults handle the thing, we'll come back for you later," said Somah.
Somah signaled Damian to follow her. He thought of the woman from Rivet City, lobotomized in her cell and looked at the little girl.
"Sally, isn't it?" Damian asked.
The little girl nodded her head.
"My name is Damian, and this is Somah. Tell us, how long have you been here?"
"Oh, I don't know. It's been a long time since I've been here with them. I arrived with my family when the bombs fell."
"The bombs? Wait, can you tell me when you were born?" Damian asked.
"April 15, 2066, why?"
Damian and Somah looked at each other stunned.
"That's impossible," Somah whispered. "Were you born before the Great War?"
"All I know is that I've been on the ship for a very long time so I've been able to explore it many times, but every time the aliens caught me, they put me here or in a closet where it's very cold."
"How do we get you out of here?" Damian asked.
"See that thing over there?"
As best she could, Sally pointed down the hall. A strange cylindrical device was stuck in the floor, connected by cables to three small pylons and a switch. Sally explained to them how to activate the device, as a child would, by imitating sound effects and making grand gestures.
"Once the things are out of the ground, they have to be pushed down quickly and then you have to move away quickly."
"Okay, wait a minute."
Damian walked away with Somah towards the device. It reminded him of a generator and if its destruction was going to disable the electric camps then it was a power source. Damian pressed the switch in front of him and the center of the generator began to whistle and come out of the ground, in a noise similar to the one Sally described. A large black cylinder with yellow lights slowly rose from the center of the generator, while from the three pylons, three small translucent tubes appeared, and white mist came out of the openings.
"Well, let's see if it works," Somah whispered. "Do you really trust that kid?"
"We're all stuck here, aren't we?"
Somah shrugged and put her hands on one of the tubes and pulled them out immediately.
"Fuck me! This thing is fucking cold!"
Damian, who was still wearing only his underwear, could feel the temperature suddenly drop as he approached. He hit one of the tubes and it broke. The generator began to rumble.
"I like your style," Somah said with a smile.
She broke the tube in front of her and the third one. The generator roared louder and louder. Damian and Somah walked away. They hid against a wall and heard a bang. The generator was destroyed, and the next moment the electric fields in the cells disappeared and an alarm began to sound. Sally jumped out of her cell and walked to the large room with the door locked. Damian and Somah followed her and when they arrived at the door, Sally leaned against the wall and tore off a small grate before slipping inside.
"Huh? But where's she going?" Somah exclaimed.
Damian called the little girl but got no answer.
"Great, and now what?"
Somah looked around, nervous and angry. The door whistled and opened. Sally stood on the other side, a triumphant smile on her face.
"I told you I knew the ship!"
"Okay, now where are we going, Sally?" Damian asked.
The little girl pointed to the corridor behind her.
"We have to get to the big central engine and then I could show you the rest of the ship from there, but first we have to go through the engine room."
"All right, we'll follow you."
They advanced into the corridor. To his left Damian noticed a small room with shelves and large white and grey boxes emitting blue light. Intrigued he entered. It was a storage room. All the clothes, personal effects and weapons of the alien captives were in there.
"Jackpot," Somah smiled, opening one of the boxes and grabbing a 12-gauge shotgun.
Damian found his bag and armor, which he quickly put on.
"Here," he said, handing out a box of cakes to Somah and Sally. "It's not much, but it'll be better than fighting on an empty stomach."
The girls ate their meager share and Damian finished strapping on his holster for his gun. He frenetically searched the rest of the trunks but found nothing else. He had managed to retrieve all his belongings, even the mine he had taken from Minefield. Damian grumbled when he saw the neutralized explosive, thinking that he would never have been in this situation if Moira had never asked him to bring a mine to her.
Equipped, they left the room. Suddenly, a blue ray passed close between them and crashed into the wall. A small group of aliens headed towards them, some with batons, others with energy weapons. Damian grabbed Sally by the waist and lifted her off the ground. He rushed to the first door he could find and walked through it. He looked over his shoulder but did not see Somah. Damian fired a few rounds of ammunition at the aliens. Somah was still out of his sight. He cursed and let the door close before firing at what must have been the control box. He heard the aliens knocking against the door which refused to open.
He turned around. They were in a different part of the ship where long pipes were running down the walls. The place was bathed in an orange light and it was very hot.
"That's the boiler room," Sally said. "There are lots of steam pipes here and further on is the engine room. I know how to get across, but it's going to be hard for you."
"What do you mean?" Damian asked.
"You're too big for the pipes."
Damian looked at the little girl who showed him a ventilation grid.
"Okay, Sally. Do you think you can hide in those vents and guide me?"
"Yes, I can do that," the little girl answered.
Damian gave her a reassuring smile. The aliens now intended to kill them, and it was certain that they would not care that Sally was a little girl. He watched the girl go down the vent and heard her whisper that everything was all right.
"All right, you have to go straight ahead and then left."
Damian prepared his rifle and began to move into the maze of corridors in the boiler room.
We just started the Mothership Zeta DLC. I tried my best not to put a sci-fi reference in every dialogue. Initially, it would have been the first DLC to enter in the main story, as Operation Anchorage was to arrive later in the story, but I did not found any credible reason or way to put it in the story.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Until next time.
