CHAPTER 18: FORGOTTEN WAR MACHINES.

"It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are." -Clive James.

Blackness. That's the only thing that filled Asimov's vision. Lines of code started to scroll across his point of view, the system reboot was being initiated. But by what source?

"Okay...I think I got it..." a scrambled voice was picked up by his audio receivers.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" the new voice became more clear. This time he identified it as Doug's.

"I've worked on machines in my Vault. I can handle this..." now Asimov identified the first voice as Louis.

"Louis, why does your Pip-Boy screen say self-destruct activated?" Joe asked next.

"I got it! I got it! I got it!" he tried to hide his panicky voice but failed.

Asimov's reboot system finally kicked in. His vision turned back on, everything was a mess of colored pixels that slowly gained contrast and shapes until he saw the seven wanderers looking at him. Louis unplugged his Pip-Boy cable from Asimov's chest, the Vault dweller managed to pry the top left section open, looking for any means to reactivate him.

The modified Assaultron slowly sat up, they carried him back into Garry's shop and laid him on the counter. Asimov stepped back down on the floor and headed towards the door to scan area and found the whole town in complete chaos. People were checking around to assess the damage. Nobody was killed by the Rust Devils, but there was still many injured from being assaulted or lung damage from the smoke. Guards were posted at the ruined gate with workers already fixing it up as best they could. Some were still pulling out shrapnel embedded in the walls.

Asimov didn't need to process that Inez was taken. "The Rust Devils...they took her..."

"We know..." Louis sighed. "We couldn't stop them."

"How long was I shutdown?..."

"About two hours." Chloe answered before rubbing the side of her head. "That weird device they had knocked the shit out of us. We've only gotten back on our feet awhile ago."

"I felt so numb and about to puke. What was that thing?" Victoria spoke. Still felling tingly in her hands and feet.

"That was a riot suppression gun. Or a RSG." Joe answered with a groan. "It's meant to make people lose control of their bodies so they could be easy to arrest. If memory serves, it was a Vault-Tec thing."

"Sounds about right." Louis looked back to Asimov. "Do you know where they took her? Do you have anything at all that we can use?"

Asimov checked his data for a moment. "No. We have never even encountered these people before."

"I might be able to help with that..." Garry walked up to them, looking a lot better than before. "We managed to kill five of those bastards. Two of them thanks to Asimov. But one of them survived a gunshot wound at his side."

Asimov perked up to that information. "Where is he?" his visor started to glow red.

"Hold your horses. The town guards are having a chat with him." Garry stopped him before he marched off. "You know people are only okay with you because Inez was around. But if you go off all killer robot on that man, there's no telling how they will react."

"We need answers, and we need them now!" Asimov's robotic tone changed to more urgent.

"I'll have a talk with him." the shop owner slowly smiled. "Don't forget, I'm one of the people that run this town. And for good reason because I keep the water purification system working."

Asimov finally cooled down, so to speak, at his words. "Alright. Do what you need to do."

Garry nodded in response before turning back to the group. "If you guys really want to help Inez, then meet me back at my shop. I will only need a few minutes."

The wanderers and Asimov walked back to Garry's shop and waited outside. Several minutes later they heard someone shouting and turned to see Garry dragging the surviving Rust Devil by his shoulder strap. He was stripped of all his armor with a bandage wrapped around his stomach with a smug of red at the side. The Rust Devil cursed at him and tried to get away, but his injuries and the town guards roughing him up badly made him too weak to flee without being easily caught.

"Let me go, asshole! Let me the fuck go!"

Garry paid the man no mind and dragged him over to the manhole sized pit near his shop. Before the Rust Devil knew it, he was slung towards it and forced to stand on the opening with only his toes barely keeping him from falling in.

"Hey, what the fuck is this?! Let me go! Please don't drop me down there!" the Rust Devil quivered in fear before glancing down the deep hole.

"Then you better tell us where you bastards took Inez before I lose my grip!" Garry warned, his fingers loosening to make his point.

The Rust Devil yelled with fear and flailed his arms around for balance and taking great care to keep his knees stiff. "Like I would tell you! If my boss finds out I snitched, he'll order our bots to rip me to pieces!"

Asimov finally stepped in and grabbed his other shoulder strap. The Rust Devil was now looking into the red visor of the Assaultron. "Not unless I do it first! Now talk! Because I have more than just laser guns in my arms!"

The Rust Devil's eyes wandered to the hole below him. Either way he was in no position to argue. "Alright! I'll talk! I don't even like our leader anyway. The guy's a fucking nut job."

"Then talk!" Garry spat.

"We came from an old military facility that we've been living in for the past few months! It's called Fort Metalstar, and it's filled with all kinds of prewar tech! And with all the RobCo factories scattered around, we've gotten all kinds of robots to tinker with!" the Rust Devil caught his breath. "The fort is about a six hour walk from here! But you guys will never get in! We have all kinds of bots on guard and around fifty Rust Devils to boot! So no matter what you do, old man, they'll kill you all! So give up on the girl!"

Garry turned to Asimov and gave him the nod to let go. "We'll see about that, you fuck! But you won't be around to see what happens."

Gravity sent the Rust Devil falling straight down the hole. His attempts to grab something failed immensely before hitting the bottom. A crunch sound echoed, followed by a howling scream. The man had broken a leg or two upon impact with bits of shrapnel and concrete cutting him.

"I told you everything I knew! You can't do this!" his voice called up.

The shopkeeper pulled out a grenade from his pocket and pulled the pin. "I don't make deals with Raider scum like you! Just because you add a title doesn't make you any less of a waste of human life!" he shouted down the hole before dropping it in.

In moments the grenade hit the bottom. "What the fuck is- oh, god, noooo!" was the last thing the Rust Devil screamed before it went off, sending dust flying out like the countless other bombs that went off in it before. Everyone almost couldn't believe what they just suddenly saw.

"Whoa! Brutal!" Doug broke the silence amongst them.

Asimov and Garry quickly passed the group and entered the shop. They soon followed and watched the two dig around in the backroom until Garry came back and placed a map of the area on the counter.

"Let's see..." his fingers traced around on the old paper. "We're over here in Downsville, so Fort Metalstar is...here! In Roscoe!" Garry tapped his finger on the map that showed the location on the outskirts.

Asimov analyzed it, loading the route into his data. "He was telling the truth, on foot it will take about six hours. I will start heading there now."

"Hold on a second," Garry held his hand up. "I'm coming too. No offense, but a robot fighting a bunch of people that work with tech is like a prewar cow fighting a slaughterhouse."

"They had me off guard with that trap. I will not make that error again."

Their attention was suddenly drawn by items put on the counter with a clatter. Louis picked out several clips for his assault rifle. "Which is why we're gonna be the ones to go rescue her." he answered the question on their minds. "You stay here and help fix this town up."

Everyone else was picking up ammo and grenades, as much as they could carry.

Doug grabbed a box of shotgun shells. "Once Louis makes up his mind there's pretty much no stopping him." he decided not to bother arguing with the Vault dweller. Plus, he wanted payback for being sucker punched by the Rust Devils and their prewar weapon

Victoria strapped an extra quiver on her back. "And we owe Inez for fixing our weapons."

"Oh, sure, just pilfer all my stuff..." Garry frowned at how casual they were being.

"Hey, you said it, not me..." Joe gladly took a box of hunting rifle ammo.

Chloe found some plasma cartridges in the back. "We'll just do what Asimov's doing. Pay you back with all their stuff."

"I too want to help Inez." Wayland spoke loudly. "She screamed because she was happy to see my minigun. Not because I am a Super Mutant."

Cavall started wagging his tail and barked. The large dog always seemed to understand what they were doing or planning.

"Why are you all doing this? You don't even know her and you're risking your lives to help her?" it baffled Garry that these complete strangers would go out of their way to help someone.

"Because someone has to." Louis answered and slung the rifle. "I won't stand idle as people like those Rust Devils do what they want to others."

"And he'll die if someone isn't watching his ass all the time." Doug interjected, his voice deadpanned as ever.

"I can't allow you all to do this. Inez is my responsibility." Asimov declined them. "She wouldn't want you to do this just for her."

"Even so, you're going up against impossible odds." Louis quickly got between him and the door, despite knowing he couldn't physically stop him. "All I ask is that you calculate your chances with our help."

Asimov turned his ocular lens to the wanderers and quietly scanned them. His processor analyzed their physics and the weapons they carried before coming up with a calculation. But the readout only increased his chances by a small percentage based on what they were told about the fort.

"I can't guarantee your safety." the Assaultron cooly warned. "This will be a dangerous task for all of you."

Louis threw his hands up with a smile. "Dangerous tasks is what we do..."

The group finally began their trek with Asimov leading, the best route to take was displayed in the top right corner from his point of view when he scanned the map image. Garry stood outside his shop and watch them shrink away in the distance. Worry and fear still plagued his mind, this could very well be the last time he sees Inez and Asimov, along with the strange people that wandered into the town of Trader's Haven.

Once they found a road, everyone picked up the pace to make up for lost time. But they won't be able to reach the fort before nighttime. The sun was already going down in the distance, which meant they would have to find shelter and wait till morning. But each moment still left Inez at the mercy of the Rust Devils.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

The fort soon came into view, the Rust Devils approached it cheering and alerting the other members on guard duty. The ones that stayed welcomed them back like heroes returning from a dangerous mission.

Inez had woken up more than halfway through the return. Needless to say, she gave them hell. Once she regained consciousness, her knee quickly slammed into the chest of the one that carried her. Even with his armor, the wind was knocked right out of him. And as soon as her feet hit the ground, she tried to run. But Inez was only able to get a few feet before being tackled and grabbed, to which she kicked and threw her fists wildly. The one that carried her received a busted lip and black eye for the trouble until they tied her wrists behind her back and gagged her with a cloth.

"Took you guys long enough to get back. You know the boss is waiting." a Rust Devil with grease painted around his eyes and cheeks said to the returning members.

The one that lead the squad stepped forward. He stroked the goatee on his chin. "The bitch woke up halfway back." he answered as the ones who held Inez forced her to her knees. She kept cursing at them through her gag. "She better be worth it. We lost about five of our people when we attacked that town."

"Take it up with the boss if you got a problem..." the grease eyed Rust Devil kneeled down in front of Inez and grabbed her chin. "Our boss has been waiting for you for a long time..."

Inez showed no fear and just yelled as best she could with the gag muffling her voice. She was roughly pulled back up and forcibly pushed forward. The building of Fort Metalstar was soon towering over her. The concrete building had crumbled heavily from age, all of its windows were cracked and shattered with tons of chunks broken off everywhere. The high fence was the only thing left around the perimeter that offered protection from intruders. The concrete sign near the front that displayed its name had been vandalized, the name 'Metalstar' was crossed off by spray paint with a new writing above that now called it 'Fort Rust Devils' in crude spelling and their symbol off to the side.

She was pushed inside the fort entrance, her eyes slowly looked over the place to get her bearings if or when the opportunity to get away came. The rooms that she saw were the typical mess of a Raider hovel, but with the Rust Devils it was a mess of technology, robot parts, and tools with people at workstations building their next bots for destruction. Everything else of value or worth had been taken away or just thrown out and burned for fun.

Inez was taken out the back entrance, two Assaultrons stood at the sides of the door as guards. Her thoughts went to Asimov, she didn't know what happened to him during the attack. All she remembered was being knocked out by the strange weapon and waking up in the middle of nowhere and being carried like a prize.

They were now moving towards a hangar at the center of the fort grounds. Inez looked around again, the fence stood strong and impossible to climb over with the barbed wire at the top and robots patrolling on a programmed route. Finally she was lead through the open hangar doors where several more Rust Devils stood. All their eyes turned to her, the usually rowdy Raiders went quiet and stopped what they were doing as her mouth gag was taken out.

Inez stood a few feet from the new group of Rust Devils. She heard about the horrible things Raiders do to people, murder and rape, hoisting their victim's bodies up on hooks or heads on spikes just for sick kicks. And the Rust Devils were still no different than the common ones.

"So what's next? You sick bastards gonna have your way with me?!" she twisted her arms, the ropes still tight around her wrists. "Because if that's the reason, it's pretty sad you had to go to such trouble!"

The Rust Devils didn't take that insult well. Their clamoring began back up, some of them even brandished their blunt weapons. But before they did anything, a loud metal clank made them stop. Everyone's attention turned towards the source of the noise as another metal clank echoed in the hangar again.

On the catwalk stood the leader of the Rust Devils, a man with a deranged grin on his tanned face. The right side of his head near the eye had a nasty burn scar that left it black and craggily. From the neck down he wore metal armor made from robots like the others. But his was far more sophisticated in design and custom fitted for each part of his body, leaving only a few areas exposed at sides and back of the joints. Welded on his back armor was a set of 'wings' like the Assaultrons they modified called Gorgons. On his crotch was the faceplate of a Assaultron fashioned into a lewd codpiece.

Inez instantly thought he was poorly compensating.

The leader held a metal bat with spikes welded onto it. He struck the catwalk rails yet again, causing another echo. "At long last, the elusive Inez finally gracing our...humble...home..." he headed for the stairs leading down.

In moments he was right in front of her, his eyes leering all over her body while walking in slow, nerve-racking circles.

"So you're the ringleader in this circus?" Inez scoffed with a straight face. "Just one crazy thing after another with you people."

"Oooh! A sharp tongue!" he got closer to her face, she could smell the booze and grime. "I like that. A lot."

"Just tell me what you want, you sick fuck!" she spat in his face.

The leader pulled his head back and grinned. "Yes! Straight to business! I love that!" he grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him before giving his people an order. "You guys can go back to your shit. I can handle this."

The second in command Rust Devil spoke up. "Boss, maybe a few of us should stay with you. She's a lot more trouble than you think..."

The leader sighed in annoyance. "Fine, Gears, you and about..." he pointed his finger towards the group. "Three of you watch the girl..."

"Gears?..." Inez frowned.

"If we are to live the robotic way, then we must embrace the robotic way." he tugged her uncomfortably close to his body. "And that includes going by names that involve parts and tools. Speaking of which, I am Spark! For I am the spark that will ignite our place in the history of the Wasteland!"

Every word was over dramatic, like something out of a bad stage play.

"Are you high right now?..." Inez tried to pull away.

Spark reached up to grab her shoulder firmly. "Not yet. And just to warn you, I have been told I can get a little...unstable...when I'm high on chems."

The Rust Devil leader began herding her towards the dark end of the room. It was a section where more toolboxes and robot parts carelessly thrown into open crates. Once they stood a few feet from the dark corner, Spark let Inez's shoulder go. But the other four Rust Devils stayed close with eyes locked on.

Spark walked in strides with a merry smile. He stepped in front of a workbench and picked up a power switch laying on it. He raised his finger up and slowly pressed the button, the cable connected to it lead right into the dark corner.

"You know what I love about all the tech from the prewar era?" he turned his head, a crooked grin spread on it. "People kept finding new ways to kill each other and wage war! And when we found these beauties...let's just say...I was so fucking hard!"

The lights clicked on, revealing the surprise he had been waiting to show.

Sentry Bots. But not like the ones that are seen across the Wasteland. From small to big, from business security to military grade, these ones easily stood above them all. The ten Sentry Bots were far more advanced than any other. Both shoulders had six shot missile launchers compartments, three high powered laser guns on the right arms in a triangular pattern with a cannon in the center. On the left arms was ten barrel missile launchers with a compartment to reload from the inside. At the center of the chests was small barrel cannons that could extend a few feet for better range. The tripod legs were monstrous, heavy and reinforced with tracks that could ground rocks into dust. They were more like boring drills. Near the kneecaps of all three legs housed short gun barrels with the same caliber of a mounted gun on a military vehicle, the armored legs held the ammo inside. Just below the chest cannons was what looked like a spear head with prongs, the small opening around it seemed to house a coiled chain. The ten Sentry Bots were indeed models that no one has ever seen before, they were built for intense warfare.

"What in the name of god are these things?..."Inez's face went a shade paler.

"These, my dear!" Spark threw the light switch down on the table. "Are known as the Prime Sentry Bot models! They are the first and only of their kind! These poor babies never got to see combat..." he sighed as if it was a true tragedy.

"Good! I'm glad they never got used!" Inez spit towards the silent machines. "Sentry Bots are already dangerous enough, these things are mechanical monsters!"

"That's right! That is so right!" Spark moved back towards her with a pointed finger. "And that is why you are here! You will fix them, and bring them back to life! With these things, we can rule a vast amount of land!"

Inez's teeth gritted with anger behind her lips. "I don't understand, you people are the Rust Devils. Fixing machines is what you do. I don't see why I'm needed. If this is your idea of recruiting me, you can blow it out your ass!"

"My, you are sharp..." he slowly licked his cracked lips. "And you're right. We should be able to fix these things up. But the sad truth is, we've lost a lot of our engineers over the years. The Rust Devils have expanded too far and too fast. We're all over the place, and that includes the people that fix the bots. More than third of our people here were normal Raiders before I allowed them to join. They may carry our name, but they are just here to fill the ranks."

"And I'm guessing you're not much of a engineer yourself?..." her voice was practically dripping with disappointment.

"I'm more of the idea man." he gave his bat a playful twirl. "My older brother was the mechanical genius before he went off and left me in charge so he could set down a stake in Boston or something. He was supposed to send for us...but that was quite a few years ago. I assume he's dead at this point..." he sighed and hanged his shoulders limply. But he soon perked up like flipping a switch. "Oh, well! Life goes on!"

"Quite the sob story. But I'm still not going to help you..." Inez spoke defiant.

"Ah, yes, so set on saying no..." Spark walked back up close, almost in her face. "But see, the thing is, I know about you. I know you came from across the border. I know you came from the outskirts of Mexico City, I know you and your parents were apart of a large group that traveled the country fixing up prewar tech so people could have power and clean water and security! And meh, meh, meh, bleh!" his tongue stuck out during his childish rambling.

If Inez could, she'd bash his face in with a large wrench.

"I also know your folks had you stay behind in that town over five years ago with that glorified Assaultron. It would be a real shame if my people and robots burned Trader's Haven to the ground..." his grin was worthy of a demon.

"You sick bastard!" Inez threw caution to the wind and tried to jump him, despite her arms tied behind her back. She would have to settle with smashing his head in with her forehead. But Gears quickly came up from behind and grabbed her arms and held her back. "Once Asimov gets here, we're gonna tear this place apart! You fucking pig!"

"I'm afraid your bot won't be coming at all..." Gears spoke in her ear.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" she tried to turn her head to face him.

"Oh, that means you guys used it! I knew it would work." Spark cackled at her confusion. "You see, we made a little device with a powerful magnet and electric surge module. It's powerful enough to short out even your Assaultron for good!"

"It's too bad you were unconscious. We buried it in the ground and waited until your bot got close enough." Gears let her arms go before giving them a warning squeeze. "I watched as your friend was hit by tens of thousands of volts until collapsing to the ground. So it's no more than junk at this point."

It felt like a sledgehammer hit her gut. She was the only one capable of fixing him up. It felt like her chances were fading by the minute. "No! That can't be true!"

"Sorry, but it is. So forget your old friend and the robot." Gears showed no emotions to his words.

Spark started clapping his hands and laughed. "Wow! All these emotions running high! It's almost like one of those prewar soap operas!" he looked up to a wall cloak at the end of the room. "And look at the time! It's getting late. We'll pick this up in the morning. I still have so much to tell you!..."

The Rust Devil leader grabbed her arm again and pulled roughly. She was taken to the back room that looked like a holding cell. Inez wondered why a military hangar would need such a thing. They stopped at the last cell as Spark opened the metal bars before untying her wrists and firmly pushed her in.

"Rest well my dear. Tomorrow you make our history..." Spark slammed the cell door shut.

Inez slowly turned on her heel and looked him in the eyes. "I'm only gonna say this once. The very second your back is turned, the very second your guard is down, I will end you and everything that goes on in this awful place!"

Instead of taking her threats to heart, Spark just smiled again. "Ooh! You keep talking like that and I might get super hard!" he replied, giving his Assaultron codpiece a jiggle. "I look forward to it! Sleep well! I'll have someone bring you food later! And don't worry, the toilet works too. I think..."

The two Rust Devils walked off, leaving the young Hispanic woman alone. Inez wanted to scream and bang against the old cell doors. Do anything to escape, but even if she could she would only be caught again. There was no way they would let her get away after all this time. She sat down on the lumpy prison mattress, sighed in defeat at feeling so helpless. Asimov and her had been inseparable ever since she was a child. Ever since she and her parents fixed him up when he was pretty much scrap. And if they truly damaged him in a way that only she could fix, then escape had now become impossible from deep within the den of the Rust Devils.