Without further ado, Chapter 10.
Oh, by the by the items Jackson purchased from the Combes were: Destroyer's right leg, and Overseer's left and right armguard
'Thinking'
"Talking"
Curtain Call
Their wait wasn't long as not even an hour later the Overseer walked up to them and said their outer Geiger Counters were showing normal outside. The group said their thanks and headed outside the Vault. Once outside they found that not only was the storm gone, at least from the immediate area, but there was a woman outside with a Brahmin to boot. First impression, she seemed to be a bit off her rocker, but upon seeing Jackson she introduced herself as Cricket, a merchant. Deciding to see what she had Jackson took a look. Selecting a missile launcher, plasma pistol, combat shotgun, some fusion cells, missiles, plasma cartridges, and some railway spikes, Cricket claimed that it was a bargain, Jackson was about to finish up when he saw a submachine gun. Asking about it Cricket introduced it as the 'Spray n' Pray' and so Jackson decided to take it along with a little more than three hundred rounds of ammo for it. All in all that cost him almost four thousand caps and Cricket seemed happy about that. After she left Preston spoke up, "She's a chem addict," he said making Jackson look at him, "You can tell by her appearance and voice."
Saying nothing back to him about that Jackson instead said, "Might as well look out for the kids cat, she said it didn't like to go far so lets check the reservoir first." Heading over to the reservoir they couldn't find the cat at first, however Zee managed to spot it near some buildings laying in the sunlight. Approaching the cat Jackson spoke to it, "Ashes, go home. Erin misses you." The cat decided to get up and slowly make its way to the vault when they could hear the familiar growling of feral ghouls approaching them. Sure enough eight feral ghouls ran towards them from a nearby street and the cat didn't seem to move any quicker. Shooting at the ferals with his new combat shotgun, who by some stroke of luck managed to dodge the bullets, Jackson turned to Dogmeat and said, "Dogmeat return Ashes to Erin!" The dog seemed to understand what his master wanted and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck by his teeth, much to the cats dismay and hightailed it back towards the vault. One of the ferals headed after Dogmeat and Ashes but Jackson saw this and managed to put two shotgun rounds into its body killing it. The remaining seven ferals were quickly gunned down by the group and after the last one fell near Jackson's feet he noticed something on its body. Kneeling down to get a better view Jackson saw something that made him gasp.
"What is it?" Cindy asked her new boyfriend.
Jackson hung his head in response as he said, "It's Mrs. Donohue." His response made Cindy gasp as well, "I can tell by the necklace she couldn't resist showing off every day. And if that's Mrs. Donohue," he said moving to a feral that had on the tattered remains of a black suit, "This was her husband Mr. Donohue," before moving to two more ferals with wedding rings still on their fingers like the Donohue's did, "Then this must be Mr. and Mrs. Sumner," before moving to two more ferals with rings on their fingers, "and this was Mr. and Mrs. Parker," he said about the ghoul with the brown sweater remains, "lastly this must be Mrs. Rosa and her boy. Guess now we know what Codsworth meant about wearing his Halloween costume early," as he approached the last two one of which had on the remains of a pink dress and the last one was smaller than the others.
Cindy and Jackson both had tears forming in their eyes as Zee spoke up, "Did I miss something?" she said. She was wearing the armor items Jackson bought in Vault 81 for additional protection.
"We knew them," Jackson replied, "Two hundred years ago back when they were like us."
"Cryogenics?" Zee asked out loud, "I see. That would explain some things."
"What?" Cindy asked making Zee realize she was speaking out loud.
"Oh, nothing," she said as innocently as she could. At this point Dogmeat returned from Vault 81 and had rejoined them. However it was time to split up again.
"Cindy, you and Dogmeat head back to Oberland Station to link up with Codsworth and see how progress is coming along. The rest of us will continue onward," hearing no objections to that Jackson, Preston and Zee headed south around the reservoir while Cindy and Dogmeat headed Northwest.
As the group headed south Preston took a look to the Northeast and said, "Looks like the Radstorm is staying over Diamond City," looking over as well Jackson could still see it in the sky but there was almost no wind pushing it anywhere, "We may need to come back at a later time."
Jackson sighed but he knew that Preston had a point. "Agreed," he said pulling up his Pip-boy, "Lets head south a bit and then east. That way we can see how large this storm is and go from there." Heading around the reservoir and up a hill they continued south for a minute or two before heading eastbound. Keeping a wide berth around what looked like a raider encampment near them they managed to get through without being seen. Continuing eastbound they reached an area where they could see the storms edge.
"Looks like it stretches to around the Commons," Preston said, "That's not a safe place to be at any time."
"We'll have to keep heading eastward then," Jackson said. The group continued eastbound passing a railroad station, which Jackson marked on his Pip-boy for later, and over a bridge courtesy of the train tracks. A feat that was made difficult on two fronts; one being the railcar in the middle of the bridge, and two were the two Deathclaws roaming around underneath it. When the two stopped and sniffed the air Jackson thought they were done for as he had no power armor and his minigun didn't have enough ammunition in it for one Deathclaw, let alone two. Fortunately luck seemed to be on the humans/aliens side as the two ran off to the south in pursuit of something. Jackson breathed a sigh of relief as he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Continuing eastwards following the tracks and past a warehouse they stopped when the railroad abruptly ended at a crater that made Jackson's built in Geiger counter on his Pip-boy start to go off. Deciding to go around to the south they came across what looked like a scrapyard of some kind. Entering through a hole in the fence they made it to a blue container when they heard a deep voice say 'What was that?' and they hid. Preston being the closest to the edge took a peak around the edge and ducked back quickly saying, "We've got a super mutant master on top of a makeshift lookout nest. Looks like he's in some heavy duty armor and toting a mean looking minigun with him."
"K," Jackson said to him, "What's the play here? I've never dealt with these things before."
"Neither have I," Zee added in.
"One of us will need to distract him while the others circle around. His head is unprotected so a few shots will kill him."
"I'll distract him," Jackson said making the other two look at him, "What? You two are better suited at stealth right now and besides I think this is a good place to test out that 'Spray n' Pray' Cricket sold me. She said it would be useful against out here."
"It's probably not wise to listen to someone whose only interest is getting her next fix," Preston said, "But we'll do it your way General."
"Ok," Jackson said storing his combat shotgun and atomizing his Spray n' Pray, "Start heading over there now and I'll get his attention."
As Preston and Zee headed to their spot Jackson popped out of cover and fired at the super mutant yelling, "Hey ugly! Over here!" The rounds exploded on impact with the super mutant master making it stumble a bit but it managed to correct itself and opened fire with its minigun forcing Jackson to take cover. A few seconds later he heard the super mutant grunt in pain as Jackson head Preston and Zee's weapons fire. However it wasn't enough to down the super mutant who then fired on Preston and Zee's position. Fortunately for Jackson that meant the mutant had forgotten about him and with the help of VATS managed to put several rounds from the Spray n' Pray into the mutants head causing it to explode when the last round hit.
Preston rushed over to his position with his weapon ready and after several seconds of nothing happening he put his weapon away and said, "Looks like he was the only one. Good thing too we might not have survived more."
"Yeah," Jackson said, "Lets take a look around and see what we can find." Jackson decided to check out the area where the super mutant came from and after atomizing the minigun into his Pip-boy, and Jackson had to admit the blades and barbed wire on the barrel did make it look mean, he headed further up into the lookout nest and found a mini nuke in a refrigerator and a set of arm guards that definitely wouldn't fit Jackson. Storing them anyway he headed back down and regrouped with the others. "Find anything?" he asked when they got near.
"I found a fusion core," Preston said, "As well as a bottlecap mine," he finished handing them to Jackson.
"I think I found something over here," Zee said and the three made their way to an overturned train car. "There's a door in the ground there but I can't open it."
Jackson hopped into the train car and he saw an electric cable leading away from the door making him think it was electronic, "I think we need to follow the wire." Following the wire they managed to find a circuit breaker and Jackson flipped it making the machine turn on and a lot of noise came out of it. But it seemed to still be working so the three of them headed back to the overturned train car and before going into the hole Jackson said to Zee, "Stay out here just in case someone shows up." The alien nodded and Jackson and Preston went into the bunker Jackson first.
When Preston got down the ladder he said, "Good lord, that reeks." This made Jackson turn around and he pointed at the two skeletons on the mattress behind Preston then to the two graves further down. "Oh," Preston said, "I didn't know."
Jackson said nothing and took a look around and quickly something on a table caught his eye. It looked like a rifle thrown together with various mechanical parts. Finding the ammunition insertion point on top of it he found that it took the railway spikes he got from Cricket as ammo. Loading in ten spikes, since that was all it took, and finding nothing else of value to take he and Preston headed back out. Once out they noticed that Zee was nowhere to be found. Hoping down from the train car they heard a beeping sound getting closer to them before Preston yelled out 'Suicider!' while pointing to Jackson's right. Jackson turned and saw another super mutant running at them with a mini nuke in hand and that was what was beeping. Taking aim with his new railway rifle he aimed and scored a headshot on the super mutant and the force of the spike was enough to take its head clean off and impale it on a nearby train car. Thankfully the beeping had stopped as well and Jackson took the now inactive mini nuke and placed it in the Pip-boy.
Zee turned the corner on the opposite side from where the mutant came from and said, "Is it dead?" Getting a nod from Jackson she continued, "Oh good. It wouldn't stop chasing me and I was afraid to shoot at it as I might have hit the explosive. Thank you for killing it for me," she said, "Oh, and while it was chasing me I think I found something useful. Follow please."
Heading out of the scrapyard Jackson and Preston followed Zee south a little bit and saw a military checkpoint with a full set of T-51b power armor without the fusion core. He quickly gave the suit a once-over and saw that both arms had been equipped with tesla bracers, the left leg had an overdrive function that Jackson learned from his dad would affect both legs and the right leg had what Jackson could guess was a vent for making a bigger impact when landing. Lastly the torso was set up with tesla coils to hurt anyone that had gotten close. It was very tricked out for a military power armor, at least that's what Jackson guessed from the paint job. Popping in the fusion core he opened up the suit and hopped in. The suit seemed to be fully functioning and in working order. Zee then spoke up again, "Did I do good?" she asked.
"Oh yeah," Jackson said, "You did very good." This seemed to make Zee happy as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Or at least the Zetan equivalent. Jackson also noted that both Preston and Zees bodies were highlighted in red meaning there was a targeting computer installed. That's when Jackson picked up something on the radio and tuned into it. "Help. Or Mayday, or whatever it is one says on a radio. My name is Rex Goodman. I'm being held prisoner on the top of Trinity Tower. I think the super mutants plan on eating me soon. I'm setting this to repeat. Oh shit! Got to sign off. One of the super mutants is coming."
Jackson looked at Preston and asked, "Where is Trinity Tower and how far?"
Preston said "About twenty minutes north northwest if we hurry. I take it you want to try and help him?" The group had already broken into a run at this point and getting a confirmation from Jackson he continued, "Well that power armor and spike thrower are going to make a huge difference at least. Hope it's enough."
Twenty minutes later they arrived at the ground floor of Trinity Tower and by some miracle weren't spotted at what looked like a super mutant checkpoint. Jackson took a quick peek through a door and saw two super mutants and what looked like a mutated hound on the ground floor. After giving instructions to Zee Jackson took aim at the two super mutants while Zee dealt with the dog. With three shots, two to the head of one of the mutants and the dog while the third shot hit the mutant in the heart pinning it to a wall. After the last one died Jackson saw and stored some more of that large armor on a counter as they heard a voice over the loudspeakers, "Ha! Another human come to rescue Rex," the next one seemed to be directed at Jackson, "He is weak. Kill him!"
"Well they know we're here now..." Preston said.
"We still have the element of surprise on our side," Jackson said making Preston look at him disbelievingly, "Just not as much as before," he added.
"Uh huh," Preston said unconvinced.
After climbing up the flight of stairs Zee had a question, "Why are there bags of human parts everywhere?"
Preston was the one to answer, "That's their food storage."
"But why would they put human- Oh!" she said in realization, "I was hoping that man we heard was exaggerating when he said they would eat him."
"To be honest so was I," Jackson said, "But all evidence to the contrary," he said poking his railway rifle against one of the meat bags.
The three then stepped into the elevator and rode it as far as it would go. On the way up the voice from before spoke up again, "You only kill the weakest of us. It only makes us stronger. If they cannot kill one puny human, they are less than nothing." Arriving as far as they could go Jackson stepped off first and the voice spoke up once again, "You fight well for a human. Now die like one. My warriors are waiting for you." Hearing something to his right Jackson turned and saw two super mutants, one on each floor and with the help of VATS scored two quick headshots. However since his weapon was not quiet this alerted the rest of the super mutants in the area as one arrived on the second floor and one of their dogs on the ground one. Jackson brought his fist back and struck the dog in the head while Preston and Zee killed the one on the second floor after it had gotten a couple of shots in on Jackson, not that the bullets did anything to his power armor. Heading through the door the hound came out of and then to his left Jackson went down a floor and to his right killing another super mutant in a room to his right with his gun before it could react. Heading further straight he came across a locked door and after cracking the locked door open he saw another piece to the armor, this time for the legs on top of a safe he then cracked open. Inside were missiles and a strange gun that appeared to be a radio dish. Atomizing it for later Jackson soon discovered this room was a dead end and headed back the way he came. Once back in the ground floor Jackson went up the stairs and was met with a hail of bullets from his left. After shooting the super mutant twice and killing it Jackson checked out the room and found some medical supplies, ammunition and a more heavy duty set of the armor that, upon looking at the dead super mutant with armor on him, was meant for them.
Mentally shrugging his shoulders he stored it in his Pip-boy and moved on to the door across the hallway and he was back where he started, albeit on the upper level. Checking the room to his right for any hostiles he instead found a safe that was more advanced then he was used to but gave it a shot regardless. After a couple of tries and as many bobby pins he managed to get the safe open revealing some bottle caps and more ammunition including half a dozen missiles and some rounds that fit in the strange weapon. Leaving the room and turning right Jackson was met with a mixture of a sharp and blunt object on his left side. Turning it was a super mutant with a board with buzzsaws on it. Jackson dropped his railway rifle temporarily and began beating on the super mutant who was originally stunned by the tesla coils when it hit Jackson and was now involved in a one sided beatdown courtesy of Jackson's electrified fists. After a finishing blow to the head killed it Jackson heard another super mutant approach and picked up his railway rifle from the ground just in time to hit the super mutant above him in VATS killing him. Heading up the ramp made from the destroyed floor above Jackson heard the voice yet again, "Human, you fight almost as good as a super mutant. Maybe we will put you in the cage with Strong and Rex."
Ignoring it Jackson instead headed into the next room and onto the next elevator. Upon arriving at the top floor Jackson could hear the wind outside and could feel the rain that must've started up after they rode the elevator as a good chunk of the wall on the other side of the elevator on the second floor was gone. Seeing yet another piece of super mutant armor on a counter Jackson stored it in his Pip-boy as he heard a noise from above. Turning around and firing he managed to hit a super mutant in the head which caused the other super mutants to be on alert. Hiding in an alcove Jackson could hear the super mutants giving up after finding nothing. Jackson took this moment to head up the stairs and when he got to the top a door opened on his right and Jackson turned and fired hitting the super mutant in the chest and the momentum causing him to fall through the open outer wall and to its death. Turning around Jackson headed up the stairs as far as they would go and found two more super mutants who Jackson quickly dispatched with a chest shot on the one on the same floor as him and a headshot on the one above him. Heading up the next flight of stairs a super mutant came out of a closed door and was dispatched by Zee with a headshot that turned him into... well Jackson didn't know but he was certainly liquified. Passing through the door the super mutant came from and turning right Jackson heard a minigun speed up and quickly took a step back. It wouldn't have mattered anyway as the shots were nowhere near his original position. Stepping forwards and looking right he saw a super mutant wielding the minigun that shot at him. "Human," the super mutant said, "You fight well. Or rather, your weapon fight well. You cower behind it."
"Look at the damage I've already done," Jackson said, "If you want to be next then keep talking."
"Human talk big with powerful gun. Not talk so big without it. Human weak without it," the mutant said, "Or maybe human is strong after all. Now chance to prove it to Strong," it continued, "Fight Fist," the mutant now revealed as Fist said, "No weapons. Only fists."
"How do I know this isn't a trick of some kind?" Jackson asked. In response Fist threw his minigun towards the group making it land close to the door they entered from. In addition the mutant also threw down its ammunition from its back and held its arms up in a 'does this answer your question?' pose. Jackson in response atomized his railway rifle into his Pip-boy and began approaching Fist.
Preston however grabbed Jackson by the arm making him turn to him, "Are you sure this is a good idea General? I don't trust him."
"Neither do I," Jackson said, "But it's this or be torn apart by his minigun. Even my power armor wouldn't have stood up to all the ammunition he carried." Jackson escaped Preston's grasp and headed forward but not before saying, "Besides if he does try anything I've got you two watching my back. I'm in good hands."
Jackson made his way to the top floor where Fist had already backed up from the entrance. With the rain coming down on both of them the super mutant brought both his hands into a 'come get some' motion which made Jackson run towards him. Jumping into the air and surprising Fist a little Jackson landed a Superman punch on Fist with his left making the mutant spin a little. However the mutant wasn't down for the count, that would be too easy. The mutant swung his own fist at Jackson and caught him with a right hook. Swinging his other fist this time Jackson managed to bring his right arm up in a block and deliver a quick jab to Fists midsection. Knocking the wind out of Fist briefly Jackson tried to follow up with a right hook of his own but Fist managed to catch it and throw him over his shoulder and almost off the building. Thankfully Jackson managed to grab hold of some metal and slow himself down enough. Fist jumped and tried to land on top of Jackson to gain an advantage but Jackson brought both his feet up and they caught Fist in his midsection and kicked him back against the side of the building. Getting up Jackson rushed at Fist and slammed him into the wall again. The super mutant however managed to grab both of Jackson's arms where the tesla braces were and gave him a headbutt. Stumbling backwards a bit Jackson shook his head and saw his arms were sparking a bit. "Oh no. No more shocks," Fist taunted him.
"Don't need them to beat you," Jackson said as Fist swung at him again with a left hook. Jackson ducked and gave him three quick but powerful jabs to the stomach. Fist though hooked his arms where Jackson's armpits were and began to pull upwards making Jackson cry out in pain. Jackson somehow managed to strike Fists left arm hard enough that he lost his grip on Jackson's right arm and Jackson gave Fist an uppercut for his trouble before following up with his own headbutt. Trying a right jab Jackson hit only air as Fist dodged to his right and hit Jackson in his midsection. As luck would have it that area wasn't as protected as the rest on him and Jackson felt that more as he groaned in pain. Fist followed up with two more jabs to the same area making Jackson groan again but as Fist went for a third Jackson caught his right hand with his left and twisted it to the left making the mutant cry out in pain before Jackson delivered a hard blow to him with his own right making Fist fall backwards and end up on his hands and knees. Jackson approached him and tried a right jab but this time Fist caught his fist as he stood up and swung at Jackson who caught it in return. Now with fingers interlocked the two attempted to outmuscle the other and push them back. Neither one gave an inch however but Jackson twisted his left arm unlocking it from Fists and before Fist could react gave him an uppercut that stunned him so Jackson followed up quickly with a powerful right hook that knocked Fist to the ground again.
The super mutant seemed to be down for the fight as he said, "No more. Not kill Fist. Take Rex and Strong," as he held up his hand to Jackson from his hands and knees, "Here. Take key to Rex cage," he said tossing Jackson something with his right hand.
That something turned out to be a pulse grenade that went off shortly after Jackson caught it. Under normal circumstances it would hurt like hell but he'd still be ready to fight shortly in his power armor. However with the damage Fist did to his tesla braces that meant the pulse grenade was directly affecting the power armors circuitry. In layman's terms: the damage done to his suit effectively turned the grenade into a smaller version of the Chinese Pulse Field that was set up in Anchorage prior to the year 2077. Jackson started to panic and in his panic hit the release switch to get out of the armor. The armor opened up and Jackson fell out and looking back up to the power armor he saw it had stayed open. The resulting series of events had short circuited the power armor leaving it inoperable. Fist though grabbed the power armor and tossed it aside while he advanced on Jackson and stabbed him in the stomach with a board. Jackson cried out in agony as the board didn't kill him due to missing the vitals but it still hurt like hell. "Stupid human," Fist said to him, "Not so strong without suit and weapon. Now you make like all little humans. And die!" he continued twisting the board.
"General!" Preston called out. He and Zee readied their weapons but Fist hauled Jackson up between them by the board and kept him there.
"Uh uh uh," Fist said to them, "Shoot Fist and you shoot human." This stopped Preston and Zee from firing as there was no way to get a clear shot due to the confined space. Fist looked Jackson in the eye and said to him not noticing what Jackson's hands were doing, "So human. Any last words?"
"Yeah, seven of them," he replied as his hand found what it was looking for.
"Oh?" Fist said surprised, "What are they?"
Jackson closed his eyes before reopening them in a dramatic fashion, "You should have gone for the head."
These were the last words Fist would hear as the sound of a train's whistle occurred as Fists head went flying towards the ceiling and was stuck there by a railroad spike. Fists body collapsed onto Jackson's making the board snap in the process. Preston and Zee were quick to get the headless body of Fist off him and get a good look at him. The board though shorter was still in his abdomen so before they could get it out they needed medical supplies. Thankfully Jackson had picked up some earlier in the tower and after Jackson atomized it for them they went to work. Well Preston did most of it and Zee helped out where needed. Getting the board out, his abdomen treated with medical alcohol, bandaged up and three stimpacks given, Jackson was cursing up a storm the entire time about the pain and... well curses. After he was all patched up Jackson attempted to stand and while Preston said it wasn't a good idea Jackson replied with 'The rest of the super mutants aren't going to wait for me. Besides the stimpacks will have fixed me up by the time we reach the bottom anyway'. Heading over to the now defunct power armor Jackson quickly atomized the head, torso, arms and legs into his Pip-boy. After all the frame may be shot but the pieces are still good.
After doing so he approached the cage where Rex and Strong were, "Oh thank heavens. I though both we and you were done for," the human said, "Quickly! Get us out of here."
The super mutant in the cage then spoke up, "More of my brothers will be here soon. They know a human is attacking the tower."
Jackson took a deep breath, which given his injuries was painful to do, and said, "The super mutant too?"
Rex spoke up in the mutants defense, "Yes, him too. He's harmless," he said before looking at Strong and back to Jackson, "Well, actually, he's far from harmless, but he won't hurt us. Trust me."
Jackson was about to say how ludicrous this sounded when the super mutant in the cage spoke up, "Strong will not hurt human if human rescues Strong and Rex."
Jackson pondered this for a second before saying, "Do you know where the key is? I'm in no condition right now to try picking the lock."
"Yes," Rex said, "It's in that chest over there with the super mutant armor on it," he finished pointing to a green chest to the left of the cage. Jackson atomized the super mutant armor into his Pip-boy and rummaged around the chest and found the key. Unlocking the cage Rex spoke again, "Follow Strong. He knows the best way down off of this cursed tower." Before Jackson started heading there he noticed another bobblehead in the cage along with a copy of a scene from Macbeth.
Taking both he exited the cage and headed over to where Strong was, "Go to Lift. Go fast, humans." Once on the lift Jackson hit the button and the lift descended just as three super mutants arrived at the cage. Fortunately they didn't see or notice the lift.
As the lift descended Rex spoke up, "So, that whole milk of human kindness thing. That's from Macbeth. I thought I could civilize these savages by teaching it to them. Strong here believes it is the secret to human power. So he wants us to help him find it," as the lift continued down he continued, "I shall uplift our spirits by quoting from the Bard. Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow. Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt," he continued as Jackson and Zee saw two super mutants on the trip down and fired at them, killing them both before they could react, "So wise so young, they say do never live long," he continued as the lift descended, "Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course," the lift stopped at a floor still far above the ground, "It's stopping. Why is it stopping? We're all going to die, aren't we?"
"Heart of a Lion this one," Jackson said to Preston under his breath. The group of now five stepped off the lift with Strong leading the group and headed down the stairs through a door to their left. At the bottom there were two more super mutants and Strong and Preston were able to dispatch them quickly. They got onto the next lift and Jackson decided to switch out his railway rifle, which only had a couple more rounds in it, for his missile launcher. It proved a good idea when there were several super mutants that saw them descend and started shooting at them. About four shots from Jackson's missile launcher, as well as several more from Zee's alien blaster pistol and Preston's laser musket downed all the super mutants they saw. A feat that was proven tricky when the lift stopped momentarily before descending again.
The lift continued down uninterrupted and once it had reached its destination Rex spoke up again, "Are we there? Are we finally down?"
Strong apparently had enough and said, "Rex human talk too much," before stepping off the lift and heading left. The rest of the group followed him around the outside of the building and back into it before heading down a broken floor and down two flights of stairs back to the ground floor of the building.
Once down on the bottom floor Rex spoke to Jackson, "Many thanks for that timely rescue."
"Yeah," Jackson said voice dripping with sarcasm, "I just love rescuing idiots."
Rex looked a little sheepish as he spoke, "I suppose that barb was justified. I did act foolishly. In any event, I'm quite grateful. I'd like you to have this," he said handing Jackson a red suit, "Now if you'll excuse me, I think it's time I left this awful place. I'm returning to WRVR and resuming my career in radio."
As Rex left the building Strong turned to Jackson and spoke, "Human help Strong find milk of human kindness?"
Jackson wasn't sure what to say really. He knew that the 'milk of human kindness' that Strong was after wasn't a real thing but at the same time he could help Strong discover how to be kind on his own. Maybe that would help the super mutants out in the long run. Hey a man could dream couldn't he? "Of course. I'll help you," he said to Strong, "But first why do you want to find this milk of human kindness?"
"Milk is secret to humans. Mack Beth say milk make humans strong. Stronger than super mutants," he replied, "Strong find milk. Drink milk. Make super mutants stronger than humans," Ah... now this made sense... well more sense than it did a while ago anyway, "Human beat Fist. That mean human drank from milk. Now you help find that milk again."
"Alright," Jackson replied, "We'll find the milk of human kindness together then." Jackson then realized something, "But before we do, you need an upgrade."
And with that Strong now officially joins the crew. Now with a heavy hitter on his side, pun not intended, things should be smoother.
At least in theory, anyways.
Also it seems Jackson has a new scar for Cindy to yell at him for. That'll be fun for him.
And before I sign off, here's your Zoid.
(V)_(;,;)_(V)
