CHAPTER 20: INFILTRATION.
The gate behind the group slammed shut and locked, signaling they couldn't leave now. The place was a mess of dry ground, dead shrubs and trees that once stood elegant and maintained as decoration for the fort. All around them was Rust Devils lazily going about their business. If they actually had anything to do. A few Protectrons and Mister Handy bots roamed the perimeter of the fence, they passed a slow moving Assaultron that looked like it was on the verge of breaking down. It turned its head to them for a few moments before moving on, to their relief.
"These Rust Devils really don't seem all that different from regular Raiders." Louis whispered to them.
"I've noticed." Doug nodded to him. "I don't know much about these types, but I expected a little more."
"People don't hear this often, but Raiders switch teams all the time." Chloe informed them. "A lot of Raiders usually group up, or merge with another. Some also join others if their old team suffers heavy losses. Loyalty amongst Raiders is a bad joke in the grand scope of it."
"That makes a ton of sense..." Louis shook his head.
"So it's possible these guys are just normal Raiders that joined." Doug looked to a group drinking near the hangar. "They seem really unenthusiastic about all the tech here."
"That might explain the reason they took Inez." the Vault dweller contemplated. "They don't have the technical knowledge and skills to do the work."
"But there's still some bots wandering around." Doug turned to the passing Mister Gutsy. "So some of these guys have to be the real deal."
"We should spread out to not draw attention." Chloe said to them. "Find Inez, see what they're doing with her, and figure out a way to stop it."
"Right, increase our chances of finding her quicker. I'll head for the hangar to see if Inez is there." the Vault dweller volunteered before heading off.
"And I'll see where their weapons and ammo are and try to find a way to sabotage them." Doug said next. "That way if this goes south, it will be a lot easier with less of them armed."
"Then I'll scout around to see just how many people and robots are around. It's best to have an idea on their numbers." Chloe nodded in response.
The three began their separate searches around the base, it was best not loiter around or make eye contact for long in case some of the Rust Devils realize they weren't one of them.
Doug approached the back of the fort building and looked it over, a number of people hanged around at the entrance. One man had his back against the crack covered wall with a bottle of vodka in hand and looked on the verge of passing out. He entered the wide opening and spotted two more Assaultrons standing guard at the entrance sides and made sure to take note of them.
Music from an old radio filled Doug's ears, the sound was filled with static that came in and out. Some Rust Devils danced to the tune of prewar music while others sat around on salvaged couches and drinking heavily. A round table had a poker game going on with stacks of caps in the middle. Doug figured this place might be where the weapons were being stored, most likely in the back. He continued on, even took a fresh beer from a working fridge and popped the cap and made a slight opening in his scarf to drink as he went down the east section.
()()()()()()()()
Chloe went around to the other side of the hangar to scout the grounds. She had only seen a few entrances, all guarded. She hoped Louis was having a better shot at getting in. It was then she saw something near the wall at the middle section of the hangar. A military tent that spanned around fifty feet across and fifteen feet wide. The faded green tent with countless patch works was made into a living space for more than a few dozen or so Rust Devils. The inside had walled off flaps and messy cots for each room. Chloe searched in the back, but only found more messy cots and was about to turn away before hearing footsteps coming up from behind her.
Her heart began to beat, was she already found out? So many thoughts raced through her mind on what could happen as she suddenly felt a hand placed on her head.
"Hey, Wheels, back so soon?..." a woman's voice asked.
Chloe slowly turned her head, the bandanna and helmet covered most of her face from view. But she still needed to tread carefully and choose her words wisely. "Um, a few Deathclaws were in the area. So we came back..."
"Damn, I hate those ugly ass freaks." the woman said while taking her hand away. "Well, no matter. Wanna get some drinks?"
Chloe took a step away. "Uh, maybe another time. I got things to do..."
The Rust Devil frowned in confusion. "What? You never miss a chance to knock back a few!" she stepped around to look in her eyes and noticed right away. "Wait a damn minute! You're not-"
Chloe's elbow went flying and hit the woman right in the jaw and sent her reeling back in dizzying pain. The Synth spun around and wrapped her arm around the woman's neck and placed a hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream. The two collapsed to the ground, the Rust Devil struggled and tried to call out as Chloe's hold only got tighter.
The voices of two other Rust Devils was heard just outside the tent, they talked and mostly argued with each other about meaningless things. The woman tried everything to alert them, to which Chloe locked her legs in place with hers and held tight. The seconds slowly passed, her struggle got weaker and sluggish, fear written across her face as everything started to go black.
"I'm sorry." Chloe whispered sympathetically. She had killed people before, but never in cold blood like this.
Finally, the woman went limp and passed on. Chloe cautiously moved her arms away in case she wasn't fully gone, the Rust Devils outside the tent finally left. She got up and dragged the woman to the messy cot, it was a good thing she killed without spilling blood. That way no one would be alerted of something going on in the fort. With effort, Chloe curled the woman's body up as much as possible and stuffed her under the cot while pulling out the duffle bags and used them to hide the body. She adjusted the blankets on the cot by making them hang over the sides for better coverage until she was sure the body wouldn't be found anytime soon.
No point in staying around. The tent had nothing to offer, so she left to check out the back of the hangar.
()()()()()()()()
Inez was slowly back at work on fixing the next Sentry Bot, sitting at the top of the stepladder with tools in hands, working methodically. The actions of Spark senselessly killing one of his own still rattled her. How he stabbed that man without a second thought just because they let a Pip-Boy get away. The body was still lying on the floor in a pool of his drying blood, the images of the stabbing and his screams wouldn't leave her mind.
Her train of thought were interrupted by the sounds of metal footsteps clanking down the stairs of the upper floor. Spark came down from his living area, most of the blood had been cleaned off, especially his face. But dry specks of blood was still on his armor, poorly wiped away.
"Hey! Why is that asshole still on the floor?!" Spark pointed to the corpse once known as Oilslick.
The few Rust Devils standing around looked to each other in confusion. "Uh...you didn't tell us to take care of him." one of them spoke.
"Idiots! Do I have to tell you when to get rid of a body?!" Spark stomped his foot on the metal step. "Do you need me to tell you when to take a shit?! Or when to shoot someone?! Or when to drink and fuck?! You know what, scratch that, you don't need me for that! Now get his ass out of here before the body starts rotting! Or I'll kill you two and let the ones who know when to get rid of a body come and drag yours away!"
The two Rust Devils panicked and almost slammed into each other. They rushed to the body and grabbed the arms and legs and dragged him off with a trail of blood left behind.
Spark huffed deeply and reached the floor. "Honestly, sometimes I think I'm the only one who knows anything here..."
Gears rolled his eyes and scoffed, still keeping his focus on fixing the terminal system.
The Rust Devil leader came up to Inez and watched her work. She knew right away he was standing at the foot of the stepladder, smiling at her work, making a cold shiver go down her spine again. She ignored him and kept working, the sixth Sentry Bot was almost complete.
"You know, I'm sorry if I scared you earlier..." Spark suddenly said.
Inez gripped the wrench she held very tightly. All she needed was a clear shot to strike him.
"But it's hard to keep the rabble in check. Truth be told, Gears is one of the few I can count on here. The others are just...filler. I mean it's like they need someone to constantly hold their hands! I need geniuses on my team! Geniuses that work their magic on fixing these magnificent robots!" Spark curled his fingers dramatically.
Inez ignored him and came down from the stepladder. "I need to get some tools from the table. Or the floor." she shoved passed him.
She stood in front of the table picking out things, and mostly picking them up before Spark's hands crept onto her shoulders and held firmly.
"I was also talking about you, ya know..." the Rust Devil leader whispered into her ear. "You would look great in our armor. We can do so many things together."
The thought of wearing their armor made her want to hurl all over the place. She spun around on her heel to face him. "I will never join you people! I'm here to fix your bots and nothing more, you goddamned animal!"
"Now, Inez, who else will fix them?" Spark spoke with a tsk. "You honestly didn't think I would just let you leave, right?..."
"And you should know I will never stay!" Inez slammed her palm on the table.
The Rust Devil grinned and stepped back. He paced around in front of her before placing a hand on the burn scar at the side of his face. "Let me tell you how I got this burn. When I was a kid, I played with a toy my older brother found. And all of a sudden he grabbed me and got a blowtorch and burned the side of my face for what felt like hours. Even now I still remember the smell of my burning flesh and my screams."
"Oh, god! Where are you going with this?" Inez's face cringed in disgust.
"The point is I never hesitate to punish those who disappoint me. If anyone steps out of line, they will suffer how I see fit!" his eye near the scar twitched. "In other words, you're one of us! No matter what!"
"That still doesn't explain the point of your brother burning you..."
Spark placed a few fingers to his chin. "Hmm. I guess it doesn't have much to do with my burn. No matter! You're stuck with us! Now get back to work! I want those Sentry Bots up and running by the end of the day!"
Spark walked off with a playful wave and back to his shelf of odd collections, leaving Inez alone at the table. She sighed and kneeled to pick up the tools scattered all over the place. As she grabbed a screwdriver, her eyes spotted a rectangular module and almost gasped. It was one of the pieces she needed to overload the Sentry Bot's system. With haste, she put it in the pocket of her jumpsuit and continued picking up tools along with more parts and stuffed them as best she could into the other pockets.
Inez casually stood back up and went back to the Sentry Bot before Gears noticed something was off. Once back up the stepladder and out of Gears' line of view, Inez slowly pulled out the module and started installing it in. If she fitted in just right, the module will cause the power regulation to cycle a feedback that would overload its core. But to do so the Sentry Bot would need to be on and activate its cool down. Yet another problem to deal with.
Louis entered the hangar through a side entrance. He felt it were best not to go through the front entrance in case some of the other Rust Devils figured him out. Once again he fixed his Eyebot helmet, it was starting to annoy him and there was an unpleasant smell he began to take notice. The Vault dweller looked around for a moment until the sound of a wrench cranking caught his ear and turned to the source. It took all his self control to not call out and run towards Inez. Now was the time to be cool and approach this one step at a time.
He quietly walked over and stood below Inez, she hadn't notice him and was deep in her work. Most of her upper body was inside the open back of the Sentry Bot.
"Psst. Psst! Hey, Inez!" Louis loudly whispered.
The mechanic stopped working and turned to him. A deadly scowl came across her face. "What the fuck do you want?"
"Not so loud!" Louis held his hands up. "It's me, Louis! The Vault guy!" he slowly lifted his helmet just enough to show his face.
Inez almost dropped her tools into the opening. "Louis?! What the hell are you doing here? Better yet, how did you get that armor?!" she could barely keep her voice above a whisper.
"It's not just me, Doug and Chloe are here too looking for ways to get you out." he pulled the helmet back down. "The rest are waiting for a signal to help you get away. I even reactivated Asimov before we came."
Tears pricked at the sides of Inez's eyes. "Asimov...is okay? They told me they destroyed him..."
"Not to worry. I used my Pip-Boy to reboot him. He's pretty much okay."
She wiped the tears away with her sleeve. "I don't know how I could ever repay you. But even so, I can't leave yet. They have me fixing these Sentry Bots. They're like no other models I've seen before."
Louis lifted his helmet again to get a better look at the unique models, and it shocked him deeply. The amount of weapons alone put military ones to shame. "What are these?! I've never seen these models, even in books!"
"They're some kind of new model that were made before the war. These are the only ten in existence. And they've never even been activated before. And the leader of these Rust Devils wants to use them."
Louis couldn't help but fell small and pitiful in their presence. Fighting a Sentry Bot was no small task, the one he and Doug fought was a military model on the verge of breaking down. And even that one had them against the ropes. "These things can't be activated. They will cause nothing but suffering."
Inez held up a new part. "I'm in the process of rigging this one to explode. But it needs to be activated and do its cool down sequence that will cause a feedback in its core. But this is the only one I could work on. The other five are ready and waiting, and they've been watching me almost none stop."
Louis sighed in his helmet. "Shit. Do you think this one's powerful enough to take the others with it?"
"Maybe. These models are more advanced than normal. I even had a look at the cores, if I had to guess, the yield would be like that of a mini nuke or two." she started going back to work.
"Hmm. That might be our only choice. We figured they were using you for something, but this is more than I could have imagined."
"Believe me, I felt the same way." Inez started placing the regulator receiver in.
"I need to get in touch with everyone else. They have no idea what's-"
"Hey, you! What are you doing here?!" Gears suddenly appeared before them. "Why are you standing in front of the girl?!"
Louis quickly tried to think of an answer, but he worried that his voice could give him away.
"He's watching me, why else would he be here?" Inez answered for him. "Aren't you guys supposed to keep an eye on me?..."
Gears grumbled and turned away. "Don't get smart with me, girl. Spark can't watch you every minute of every day..."
The two waited until he was out of range so they could speak freely. "He's charming, huh?" Louis scoffed.
"This place is a den of maniacs, the last thing on my mind would be 'charming'." Inez replied.
"Obviously. And time is getting shorter with each passing minute." Louis crossed his arms and tried to think of an escape. "I may have underestimated the situation. I've put everyone in danger like an idiot."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I was willing to sacrifice myself before you came." Inez's tone changed to more confident. "If you can get in, then we can get out. We just need the right moment."
"I just hope Chloe and Doug are doing better then me. They're scouting the grounds as we speak..."
()()()()()()()()()()
Doug watched three Rust Devils leave a large room in the middle of the hall that was once a barracks for the fort soldiers. They switched out their guns for new ones and some ammo. He figured that was the armory and went to take a look as soon as the others were gone. With caution he came up to the door and grabbed the metal latch and turned to open. Slowly he stepped in cautiously, figuring there might be other Rust Devils inside. But no one was inside except for the wall of firearms and old wooden tables of ammo and grenades on them.
Doug looked over the room that was more cramped then he thought. His eyes fell on the back end and found the riot gear laying on the table. The strange device that knocked them out sat on the table in an almost mocking manner that annoyed him to no end. Doug placed the old shotgun he took on the table and picked up a better and sleeker one with a clip for the ammo. Yet he desired to have his handy sawed-off back soon.
Doug turned his attention back to the riot gear weapons on the table and placed his beer bottle down and picked up the grenade launcher with a sleeve of smoke grenades lying next to it. He cracked it open and started loading the black cylinders into the openings one at a time, figuring they could use it.
"What are you doing in here?!"
Doug jerked from a booming voice and the door slamming shut, he almost dropped the grenade launcher to the floor. Before the Rust Devil could say anything else, he turned around to face the tall man in rubber tubing armor coming up to him. The back of Doug's waist bumped into the table and caused everything on it to shake ominously.
"Uh, what aren't I doing, right?" he tried to act casual and placed a hand on the table. The man frowned in response. "That is...I was just getting a better shotgun! That's it, I need a better one than this old pump action." he held the weapon up.
"This isn't a fucking Super-Duper Mart. You can't just come in here and take what you want!" the Rust Devil went to the table. "I have to keep track of every fucking gun and bullet, and I now have to catalog every type of grenade and explosives in those crates!" he picked up a clipboard and pointed to the carry crates. "That asshole Spark is starting to piss me off! I've lost days of sleep writing down inventory!"
"Uhh...I'll leave you to it then..." Doug slowly backed away to escape.
"Hold on! Don't leave your damn beer bottle!" the man pointed to it with his pen. "I got enough shit to pick up."
Doug sighed and went back to the table and reached out for the bottle that only had a mouthful left.
"Wait a second..." the Rust Devil spoke suspiciously. Doug froze in place and cringed. "Aren't you the one that goes by Plating? Because your armor is layered in metal plating?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so." Doug looked at his armor while thinking something bad was about to happen. "Why you ask?"
"You have a beer. And a lot of us know you hate drinking beer." the man placed the clipboard on the table. "You guzzle down vodka all the time! What's going on?!"
Doug's eyes darted around. There was nothing he could say to get out of this. "Well...you see...the thing is..."
His hand wrapped around the neck of the bottle and tossed it in one swift motion. The bottle shattered against the armor of his raised arms, shards and droplets of beer went everywhere. Doug quickly tackled the man around the waist, the two went flying to the floor and hit the legs of a table. Several bullets fell off as they tossed around and traded blows. Doug was kicked off and hit the concrete on his side before the man stood up and started running for the table to grab a gun. But Doug stopped him by grabbing his ankle and sent him falling, the side of the man's head slammed into the table end.
The Rust Devil cried out before landing on the floor. Doug tried to scrabble up to finish him, but all he received was a boot to the chest and flew right onto his back again. The man got up and grabbed a machete and turned to Doug with a grin. Doug started crawling back as the blade stabbed the floor over and over until he reached the other table and went under it. The Rust Devil leaned down to stab at him as Doug grabbed the back legs and flipped the table over.
Everything on it came falling to the floor, including the four crates of grenades and explosives. The Rust Devil cursed and yelled while trying to get over it. Doug got his payback by kicking the underside and sent the table scraping across the floor and tripping the man yet again. He fell onto his side with both legs hanging over the end. Doug got up and leaped over to grab the grenade launcher on the floor and made a break for it. But no sooner had he picked it up the Rust Devil rose again and leaped over. Doug reached down and grabbed the first thing he could and threw it dead center into the man's nose and mouth. The pain made him fall to his knees with a few teeth falling out.
Doug didn't realize it, but the thing he threw was a grenade. And when it hit the floor near the other explosives, the pin popped out. He staggered out the door and slammed it shut behind him before the man could stop him. Doug tried to make a run for it, but the fight left him more roughed up than he thought and slumped against the wall near the end of the hall, several meters away from the armory.
"Dammit! I hope that asshole gets blown up!" Doug hit the wall with his fist while trying to catch his breath.
"Hey, what's all that racket?!"
Doug's eyes went wide and turned his head to see three Rust Devils coming towards the armory door. And it didn't take long for them to spot him at end of the hallway while panting for air, which only raised suspicion.
"What happened in there?! It sounded like fighting!" one Rust Devil shouted towards him.
Doug reached for the shotgun and raised it towards them, confirming that he was an intruder. But before they retort with their own attacks, the timer on the live grenade went out.
The three Rust Devils were blind sided by a massive explosion that tore both the door and surrounding wall to pieces. They were dead in an instant with pieces of metal and concrete and body parts all over the hall, the shockwave of it left Doug on the floor with his ears ringing. He slowly stood up with a daze, the room around him spun as his hearing slowly came back. And the first thing he heard was more Rust Devils coming, all of them shouting in confusion from their leisurely day suddenly turning chaotic.
"What's going on?!"
"The armory blew up!"
"Get a fire extinguisher! See who was there!"
"Where's the goddamn firefighting Protectron?! Get it over here now!"
Doug dug into his ear with a finger. "Fuck! First my eardrums almost get blown out, and now the Rust Devils are on alert!" he left the hall to avoid being spotted. "I'll never hear the end of it from them! If I hear anything again!"
()()()()()()()()
Near the other end of the hangar, Chloe almost jumped out of her armor from the sudden noise of the explosion and turned around to see black smoke coming from the side of the fort with Rust Devils already on the scene. She started running towards the commotion, worried that one of her friends could be hurt or worse.
"What the hell is going on over there?!" the Synth asked herself.
()()()()()()()()
Inez and Louis felt the hangar shake for a moment, the lights hanging above slowly creaked back and forth. Spark and Gears took notice to it as well.
"Did you feel that?..." Inez quietly asked.
"I did. And I have a feeling things are about to get out of hand." Louis spoke with worry.
()()()()()()()()
"What the fuck are they doing?!" Joe shouted almost as loud as the explosion that rolled across the land.
"This better be apart of whatever plan it is to get Inez out..." Victoria watched the smoke rise.
Asimov kicked into gear, both figuratively and literally. His desire to save Inez pushed him into action. "There's no other choice. We must attack now, whether that's the signal or not."
Joe kept his eyes on the fort to watch the people. "Hold on, let's think this through before-"
Victoria tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Joe, he's already gone." she pointed towards the Assaultron running ahead of them. "This is starting to become a theme amongst us..."
Wayland's fists clenched in anticipation. "In that case I'll help Asimov. I can get their attention!" the Super Mutant charged off before they could stop him. Not that they could.
"Sure! Everyone go off all half-cocked and half-ass!" Joe grumbled and slung the pack of weapons on. "Come on, Vic, let's go help them before they get killed!"
"What else is new?..." Victoria sighed while grabbing the other pack.
The two ran straight ahead with Cavall right at their side. The weapons in the packs bouncing around with each step.
Wayland loaded his AK-47 while running and raised it up to fire several shots into the air. A group of Rust Devils near the fence he was running towards heard the gunfire.
"Hey! I am a Super Mutant! I will rip your spines out and eat your ribs!" Wayland hollered and fired a few more rounds into the air.
The Rust Devils responded to his threats by shooting at him. More then half of the bullets passed through the small openings of the fence, enough to make Wayland hightail it as they pelted the ground. The Super Mutant moved as fast he could with the shots getting closer. He spotted a rusted out tank nearby and went behind it just in time. The crumbling metal of the tank was almost like paper from the bullets ripping into it. All Wayland could do for now was stay hidden until they let up on the attack.
Asimov used the distraction Wayland created by running towards the side entrance Louis, Doug and Chloe entered. Thanks to his human like hands, the modified Assaultron scaled the fence with ease. He reached the barb wire wrapped top and went over it, moving the coils aside with ease to get an opening. Asimov hanged off the other end for a moment to make sure the area was clear enough and leaped off. The Assaultron landed on his feet and one knee with a deep indent left in the dirt, a quick diagnostics was run to make sure there wasn't any damage to his joints before standing up and looking around.
His audio receivers detected snoring and turned to the man in the gate booth sleeping. Or to be more accurate, passed out. Considering he was leaning back in his seat with an empty bottle in hand.
Asimov marched over and looked to the controls to open the gate. As he flipped the switch, the man stirred awake, everything a swimming blur to his vision.
"What...the fuck...doing...bucket head?..." he slurred, the eyelids barely open.
Asimov raised his arm up, the laser gun folded out of his forearm and fired a beam into the man's chest that burned right through. He went limp and dropped the bottle that shattered on the concrete.
"Nothing to concern yourself with..." was his response to his drunken question.
The gate slid open just in time for Joe, Victoria and Cavall to enter. They stopped running and joined up with Asimov after he destroyed the controls to the gate.
"Here we go again..." Joe loaded a drum into his combat shotgun. "We're facing a fort filled with Raiders and robots. Last chance to turn back anyone?"
"What's the old saying? In for a penny, in for a pound?" Victoria asked to lighten the mood.
"This will be a difficult battle for all of us." Asimov unfurled his second laser gun in his other forearm. "But I won't leave until Inez is safe."
"One of them must have found Inez by now." the redhead said before Cavall turned and growled at the approaching threat.
A few Rust Devils noticed the intruders, all of them armed with robots following close behind.
"Time to do this! Give them hell!" Joe took aim and waited until they were in range.
Asimov raised both arms with the guns charging, now in full combat mode. "Just hold on for a little longer, Inez..."
