CHAPTER 21: REACTIVATION.
"Personally, I'm not afraid of a robot uprising. The benefits far outweigh the threats." -Daniel H. Wilson.
The entire fort was on alert. Many struggled to put out the fire from the explosion while others outside kept the heat on Wayland as he stayed hidden behind the tank. Joe, Victoria, Cavall and Asimov were about to come face to face with nine Rust Devils and several robots following them.
"Get behind cover, now!" Joe yelled over the bangs from his combat shotgun.
Everyone retreated just as the armored Raiders started shooting at them. The bullets hit their trail or flew over their heads by inches. An overturned military truck came into view, the group quickly went behind it just as the shots reached them. The rusty bottom received an endless volley of bullets and lasers from the Rust Devils and their bots. Which consisted of two Assaultrons, two Mister Gutsy, and two Protectrons with the right arms modified into guns.
Joe switched to his hunting rifle for better range, yet the barrage kept him from returning fire. "Dammit! We're pinned down!"
"There's too many of them! They'll attack us from both sides!" Victoria said while notching an arrow.
Cavall's ears lowered with worry and whimpered in fear over the bullets pinging off the truck bottom.
Asimov poked his head out and looked at the Rust Devils coming closer to their position and did a scan to calculate a fight pattern to buy them time. "I want you all to stay here for the time being. I'm going to distract them!" his laser guns started charging.
"What are you planning?!" Joe asked with a raised brow.
"Anything I can do..." was his response before running out from hiding.
Asimov ignored their pleas to stop, his targeting systems highlighted the Rust Devils and their bots that took front row as the first line of defense. The Assaultron raised and crossed his arms for protection against the hail of bullets that struck his body. The bullets bounced and scraped off his armor plating, barely slowing his charge as the first target came within reach.
Asimov threw his fist back before sending it flying into the reinforced glass of the Protectron and grabbed a fistful of parts and crushed them into scrap. The Protectron surged with electricity and fired its gun arm off until the clip went empty. Asimov lifted the robot off the ground and spun around for momentum and tossed the Protectron into the Mister Gutsy. Both bots crushed by the impact and didn't get back up.
The next Protectron attacked him from behind, it fired a number of rounds into Asimov's back. He staggered from the impacts but refused to let that slow him down and turned to face the bot. A blade sprang out from the side of his left arm and ran it through the dome in one swift motion, which was then met with several shots of his laser gun on the right that burned through the bulky metal and shorted it out. Asimov removed the blade and gave his full attention to the Rust Devils.
Three of them with shotguns opened fire, Asimov crossed his arms again as the buckshot pelted him. More deep scrapes were left on his body before he pressed forward with his attack when their guns clicked empty. The first one was stabbed through the armor and chest by the blade. The man screamed as blood sprayed out from the wound and coughed up blood before going limp. Asimov then used the body as a shield just as the Rust Devils reloaded and fired away. More blood spilled onto the ground, the back armor was far weaker than the front and almost turned the body into mush. Asimov flung it off his blade and into the nearest Rust Devil, sending them to the ground.
The other Rust Devils and remaining bots used the opening to surround Asimov while firing. The Assaultron was pinned in place, bullets hitting him from almost every side as the last Mister Gutsy and two Assaultrons were coming in for the kill.
Joe and Victoria watched Asimov take the attacks head on, but they could easily see that even he wouldn't last long under that kind of damage.
"That does it! I'm going to help him!" Victoria stepped out with an arrow ready.
The redhead closed in on the Rust Devils, they had yet to take notice of her since they kept their focus on putting Asimov down. Victoria raised the bow and let the arrow fly, it soared quickly into the closest Raider and stabbed through the left shoulder blade. The scream grabbed everyone's attention and stopped their attack, Asimov had a small circle of bullets on the ground around him.
Joe took his turn and looked down the scope of his rifle. He lined the shot at a Rust Devil with light armor under the neck and squeezed the trigger. His aim was true, blood erupted from just below the neck and the man collapsed to the ground.
Asimov used the opening to go back on the attack. The last Mister Gutsy came in, its buzz saw struck into the left side of his chest and cut in a quarter of an inch in before Asimov grabbed the arm and crushed it with his hand. The buzz saw went dead, but the Mister Gutsy didn't stop fighting and used its prong to grab his neck while the arm with the plasma gun took aim at his head for maximum damage. Asimov swung his forearm and broke off the military bot's arm, freeing himself from the prong as the blast missed his head by inches. He grabbed both remaining arms and crushed them again near the weapons. Now that the military bot was literally disarmed, Asimov finished it off by raising his arm into the air and brought it down on the body and crushed it like a tin can. The Mister Gutsy went down with sparks going everywhere.
Asimov was about to assist Joe and Victoria in the fight, but the head of a sledgehammer knocked him right in the faceplate and sent him stumbling back. Asimov's vision calibrated back to normal just as the enemy Assaultron took another swing at him. The right hand was replaced by two sledgehammers welded together, and the left arm converted into a laser gun. The other Assaultron's right arm was a chainsaw, the other arm a refitted jackhammer.
Both Assaultrons closed in for the attack on both sides, Asimov barely managed to dodge out of the way. The one with the chainsaw arm lightly ripped against his right hip as the other one shot him in the back of the shoulder. Asimov sprang his blade out again and swung in retaliation, each slash making the enemy combatants back away. It then swung its sledgehammer arm and knocked the blade away, leaving Asimov open for another few blasts to the chest that left burn marks. Several warning alerts were flashing in Asimov's point of view, but he ignored them and closed in for the attack. The Assaultron fired again, hitting Asimov in the hip area with a burning mark. The enemy bot was about to shoot once more before Asimov's blade stabbed right through the barrel and into the body and cut out to the side, permanently destroying it with a shower of sparks.
But as Asimov put an end to the laser gun, the other Assaultron came in from behind and jabbed him many times in the lower back with the jackhammer weapon. More warning signs flashed, but Asimov ignored them again despite his programming. The desire to keep fighting pushed his mechanical abilities to the limit, all to save Inez.
Joe fired again and struck a Rust Devil in the side. He collapsed and clutched his bleeding wound, screaming and kicking. His comrades covered him by shooting back at the Ghoul in bursts. Joe went for cover behind an overturned Nuka-Cola machine, it baffled him that the Rust Devils left all kinds of junk laying around. Victoria ducked behind an old washing machine and dryer that sat side by side.
Cavall circled around the Rust Devils without them noticing, the hybrid spotted a lone enemy off to the side and closed in like a predator to prey. The beastly dog leaped and latched onto the man's neck and brought him down quickly while he was reloading. The man only lasted moments as Cavall's fangs ripped in with ease, blood staining the ground as the Rust Devil gave one last gargled scream.
Two Rust Devils heard the scream and spun around to see Cavall with his mouth covered in blood. They took aim and fired at the dog that dashed off before they could properly line a shot. Cavall proved to be too fast for them to get a hit despite his size.
Joe stood up from behind the Nuka-Cola machine and peered down the scope again. One Rust Devil woman had no armor around the stomach area and picked his target. His shot hit the mark as the Rust Devil collapsed, Joe gave her another shot that was a little higher above the first one. He placed one more into her stomach again and let her bleed out on the spot.
Victoria slung her bow and took out the 12.7mm. She fired off bursts to keep the Rust Devils from advancing too close. Asimov was still facing off against the Assaultrons and starting to lose the edge. The redhead tossed the empty clip aside and started loading a new clip as a single pop rang out. A sharp pain exploded at her right side and looked down to see blood seeping into her clothes from a bullet hole.
Her vision went blurry and dropped the gun before collapsing behind the old appliances as the pain finally registered and she let out a sharp cry.
Joe heard her scream and knew right away something was wrong and figured she was hurt. "Hold on, Vicky! I'm coming!" he shouted and ran out from hiding, keeping himself low and diving into her cover.
Victoria cursed herself for being shot so easily. Just placing a hand on the bloody opening made her shudder in pain. "Fuck. I can't believe I let that happen..." her face contorted in pain from each breath.
Joe searched his pockets. "I know, red, I've lived for over two hundred years and getting shot still sucks like hell." he pulled out a stimpak and inserted the needle near the wound.
The gauge went down and Victoria felt the warm sensation of her injury closing up, the bullet slowly popped out and clattered on the ground just as the medicine finished healing. The redhead sighed in relief as the pain faded. "Thanks, Joe..."
"Don't thank me yet..." Joe said before the sound of bullets being chambered was heard.
The two looked up to see three Rust Devils pointing their guns at them. "You people are fucked now!" the one in the middle chuckled.
"One thing that doesn't happen to me often," Joe groaned deeply. "Raiders getting the drop on me..."
"Do you guys need some help?" everyone looked to the voice of a female rust Devil approaching them.
Victoria and Joe had to contain their excitement upon seeing Chloe arrive just in time to help. She had the rifle cradled in her arms with a finger on the trigger, waiting for the right moment.
"Always need backup." one of them spoke.
"Good. Keep your weapons pointed at them in case they try something funny." Chloe gave the trigger a light squeeze, all she needed was them to lower their guard. "I'll bet the boss wants to see them, or whatever..."
"Yeah, he'll have our bots rip them to pieces! Limb from limb!" the other shouted joyfully.
Chloe gripped the automatic reloading rifle and swiftly raised it up. She only had mere seconds to take all three of them out, starting with the one on the right. She fired three shots into him, hitting around the chest and stomach. Then in that instance she turned to the middle one and placed two near the heart. Their rusted armor couldn't handle the rifle rounds at that close range. The final Rust Devil stood stunned by the sudden attack from the unknown impersonator, Chloe already had the rifle pointed at his head and pulled.
But the gun didn't fire, one of the shells was stuck in the ejection chamber. Chloe cursed and tried to dislodge the shell, which left her defenseless.
"You fucking traitor! Die!" the Rust Devil shouted.
Joe came to rescue by pulling out his revolver from the side holster and placed a round right under the man's jaw. The bullet came popping out from the top of his skull and collapsed over the washing machine.
"Idiot..." Joe spat.
"Thanks for the save." Chloe dropped the rifle since it was jammed. "I'd like to have my plasma rifle back. I feel so incomplete without it."
Victoria grabbed the stock and pulled it out and kindly handed it over to the merc. Chloe turned it on and let the power cycle while giving it a quick inspection to make sure it was okay.
"Do you want the rest?" the redhead asked.
"I'll just take the plasma cartridges for now." Chloe answered as she looked to where the other group of Rust Devils were. They still fired in bursts at the tank. "I take it Wayland is behind that thing?..."
"Yeah, long story..." Joe answered and stood up.
"The short answer is he's pinned down and can't get out." Victoria spoke. "We need to help before they decide to go out to him."
"Speaking of missing members, where's Doug? He should have showed up by now." Chloe looked around for him, her concern still on the black smoke coming from the side of the fort.
They didn't know at the moment, but Doug had left the inside through the way he came in. The other Rust Devils didn't suspect him of anything as he moved. They managed to put most of the fire out and started gathering all remaining guns and ammo to see what was left of their armaments laying around. He took in the view of the chaos, Rust Devils running around aimlessly and trying to figure out what to do since they are so horribly incompetent without someone leading them. Doug turned his view to a group far off, shooting through the fence at an old tank and it made him worry that some of his friends might be in trouble.
He started running towards the group, cradling the grenade launcher. At first he saw something bobbing around near the top of the tank before the Rust Devils started shooting at it. The bobbing thing went down and poked out to the other side a few moments later and received another volley of shots. Once he got halfway to the Rust Devils, the strange object soon became clear to him. It was the head of the sledgehammer, Wayland's sledgehammer to be precise. Doug figured he was trying to find an opening to get away. But the Rust Devils weren't giving the Super Mutant an inch to escape.
Doug looked down at the loaded launcher and smiled. If Wayland needed a chance to get a way, then a smokescreen would help with that. He got within several meters from them and took aim, a Rust Devil just happen to turn around and face him with a curious frown.
"Hey, asshole! Catch!" Doug shot one off.
It left a trail of smoke and smacked right into the man's chest and sent him falling to the ground. Soon the group was covered in a thick cloud of smoke, forcing them to flee.
Doug ran up to the fence and looked towards the bullet filled tank and cupped his hands around his mouth to shout. "Wayland! Get out of there! Get out while you can!"
The Super Mutant heard Doug's voice and poked his head out to the side. Once he got a look at the smoke, he didn't waste time questioning it and fled from his hiding spot. Wayland soon came around to the open gate and stepped in before slamming it close behind him and charged towards Joe and his group while Doug soon met up with them a minute later.
"Thank you, Doug!" Wayland beamed with joy. "I would have never gotten out from behind that tank!" he was about to give him a huge hug.
Doug quickly put his hands up to save himself from cracked ribs. "Hold on, big guy. The fighting has only begun. We can't let our guard down!"
"Oh, right..." Wayland chuckled bashfully.
Asimov stepped out of the chainsaw blade again and avoided the jackhammer followup. But then he was hit in the back by the one with the sledgehammer and stumbled forward. Asimov's vision blurred with static for a few moments before focusing again. The one with the chainsaw lunged forward, aiming right for his head with the chained blade spinning at full throttle. Asimov only had a split second to act, he moved sideways from the chainsaw and grabbed the arm. He gave it a twist, sparks shot from the joints as Asimov pulled it forward and right into the neck of the other Assaultron that was sneaking up on him. The chainsaw quickly cut through the metal, sparks flew everywhere before the decapitated head plopped to the ground. The body soon followed with a heavy thud, more sparks spewing out while it twitched around before going limp.
Asimov ripped the arm out of the Assaultron's socket and tossed it aside. The bot remained undaunted and speared the jackhammer towards him. Asimov went in for the final kill and grabbed the body of the weapon with one hand and brought his other fist down on the elbow. The pieces in the joint snapped, the arm hanged limp with the jackhammer still reciprocating. Asimov finally put the Assaultron down by shoving the jackhammer straight into its face. Sparks sprayed once more as the tip poked out from the back of the head, the bot collapsed and powered down.
The group approached Asimov moments after he won. Sparks surged off his body for a few moments, his systems trying to compensate from the damage. His body covered in dents and scratches, Inez was going to throw a fit upon seeing him. But Asimov would accept the complaints and worries as she fixed him.
"Hey, Asi, you still in one piece?" Joe asked. The damage to his body really stood out.
"My name is Asimov. And I am still in one piece. All 4,600 of them." he answered.
Victoria turned to the Rust Devils coming out from the smoke that had dissipated after the grenade ran out. "Hate to spoil the mood, but those people that were shooting at Wayland are coming for us!"
Doug quickly pointed the grenade launcher at them. "I'll lay down another smokescreen. Get ready to run when that happens."
Asimov moved in front of them. "That won't be necessary. I'll disperse them more efficiently." he kneeled down with his right knee pointed at them.
Everyone looked to each other in confusion for a moment. "Are you going to ask them to marry you?" Chloe raised a brow.
Doug lowered the launcher and sighed. "Why do we keep putting weird thoughts in each other's heads?"
"What's marry? Is that some kind of food?" Wayland wondered.
Asimov stayed in the kneeling position as his targeting computer aimed at the group. "You will see. I am literally full of surprises..."
The cap of Asimov's knee opened up. A pointed tip poked out from the housing and fired a few moments later. It was a missile around six inches long, it flew straight before the targeting chip made it turn upward and soon came down on the group of Rust Devils. The ordeal happened in moments, the wanderers once again stood stunned by the high explosion that either killed their enemies instantly or left them injured and fleeing for their lives.
"You have a fucking missile in your leg?!" Joe screamed echoed in the yard.
Asimov's kneecap closed and stood back up. "Both legs to be exact. The missiles are hard to come by. The weapon they go to is a missile launcher with a targeting computer."
"And I am backing the hell up from you in case the other one goes off!" Doug did just as he said.
"There is nothing to worry about. The explosives inside the missile are just as stable as C4. It won't explode unless it's armed to."
Joe handed Doug his fire axe to get his mind off it. "Don't worry about that right now, kid. We got to help Louis and Inez. So take your stuff."
Doug gave his axe a quick twirl before checking his sawed-off and Winchester. "By the way, where's Cavall?"
"He killed a guy and ran off. He could be anywhere now." Victoria looked around in case he was coming back.
"I'll go find him." Doug sighed and slung the handle of his axe over his shoulder. "The rest of you get to the hangar and get them. I'll make sure Cavall is safe. You know how it is with a boy and his dog..."
"Take cracks at Louis later. Just be safe." Joe gave a small wave before heading off.
Doug started searching by going to the far end of the fort, everyone else went straight for the hangar with Asimov putting himself in the lead. But the main event for them was waiting inside and only moments away from starting up.
()()()()()()()()()()()()
"Gears! Something's going on out there!" Spark stated the obvious. The sounds of gunfire and the recent explosion were closer to the hangar than the explosion of the armory from earlier.
"Yeah, something really crazy must be happening out there..." Gears spoke flatly.
The Rust Devil leader frowned and kicked over a small stool near him. "Dammit! We must be under attack!" his eyes darted towards the Sentry Bots, to which a grin came across his lips. "It must be those people of the settlement we took Inez from! And if they want her back so bad, they'll have to get through them!"
Spark jogged towards the terminal with Gears following close by. Louis and Inez overheard their conversation, the last thing they needed was the Sentry Bots activated. Inez quickly climbed down the ladder positioned behind the seventh one and dashed towards the two, she needed to buy time until Louis' group got in. The Vault dweller followed to keep character of watching her.
"Hold it! Hold everything! You guys cannot just activate them without running a system diagnostic!" Inez tried to reason with her arms waving.
"And I'm very good at programming terminals. So piss off, girl." Gears turn his head with a warning glare.
"He really is..." Spark smiled like a child about to get a gift. "And I cannot wait for these bots to be on! You only got six fixed so far, but I can forgive that. For now."
Gears typed away on the keyboard. The mobile terminal powered on, data scrolled across the screen while the hanging screens displayed different forms of data and system analysis. Louis knew there was no way to make them wait, so he reached for the rifle on his back slowly. He had to shoot them while their backs were turned. But just as he placed a hand on the handle, Spark turned around and looked to him.
"Hey! Go out there and help fight whoever's fucking around with us!"
Louis jerked his hand away. "Uh, boss, maybe I should stay here and keep an eye on things?" he spoke with his voice changed.
The second in command stopped typing and turned around. Louis' voice was strange and unfamiliar to him, unlike their leader, Gears always took time to familiarize each member. He approached Louis and looked him dead in the eyes through the slants of the Eyebot grill.
"I have something to say to you..." he paused for a few moments and cleared his throat. "Rust is red, but the devil is?..."
Louis felt like his stomach tighten. The last thing he would ever expect from them was a secret code. "Uh...red too?..."
"You're not one of us!"
The grill of the helmet smacked right into Gears' face and sent him stumbling back with a bloody nose. Inez jumped at Spark and landed a blow to his face. Louis pulled off the helmet from his head, finally happy to be done with it. He gripped the opening and swung at Gears to keep him away from the terminal. Inez socked Spark again in the jaw, chipping a tooth at the back of his mouth. She tried to get another punch in before his fist met her stomach and made her double over in pain. He grabbed her arm and pulled Inez towards his body and wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled a knife out from his back sheath.
"Hey, asshole! Here's how this is gonna play out!" he put the blade to her neck. "If you don't back away, I'll cut her throat open! All the way to the bone!"
The two stopped their fight and backed away from each other. Louis tossed the helmet at Gears in spite, who just barely smacked it away and sent it clattering to the floor.
"You're not fooling me! You need her to fix the Sentry Bots! There's no one else that can!" Louis reached back and pulled the assault rifle forward. "Now let her go before I shoot!"
"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't! The point is we still got six of those bots working, and even one of them can do a shit ton of damage." Spark tighten his arm around her neck as she struggled. "And I would really hate to kill this hot number! I've always wanted to have some of that, what's it called? Latin passion?"
"Louis, don't listen to him! I'm the only one who can fix those machines! They can barely drive in a screw!" Inez cried out with a struggle. "You cannot let those things loose on the Wasteland!"
"You want to take that risk?!" Spark placed the side of the blade to her cheek. "There's plenty of mechanical engineers around! I'll just find them! So what's it gonna be? Gonna risk her life? Gonna shoot?! I'm actually curious to see what you'll do..."
Louis wanted to shove that knife down his throat more then anything. But no matter how dangerous the Sentry Bots were, he couldn't bring himself to let Inez die like this. So he undid the strap of the weapon and slowly placed it on the ground. "Alright. Just don't hurt her. I give up..."
"And here I thought you had balls..." Spark clicked his tongue. "Oh, well. Things are about to get entertaining anyway. Gears, get those bots running already!"
The second in command's fists curled in anger. He cursed under his breath and went back to the terminal before losing it and shooting his mouth off at Spark. The Rust Devil leader kept Inez facing Louis as a reminder and to taunt him just for kicks. Gears was moments away from reactivating the Sentry Bots, already they could hear the hum of machinery and electronics coming to life inside. Dust blew out from the vents, the bodies started to twitch and straighten up in perfect sync.
"Yes! Yes! I've waited for so long for this!" Spark cheered and whooped, waving the knife in the air. "I'm getting so fucking hard right now! They're alive! They're fucking alive!"
"Dios mio! Do you ever stop acting like a freak with a tech fetish?" Inez huffed in aggravation.
"Oh, you're one to talk..." Spark whispered into her ear. His hot breath made her skin crawl. "Tell me, did that Assaultron of yours come with...extendable extensions?..."
"Why, you jealous if he does?" Louis sneered at him. "I have a feeling that codpiece isn't for show."
Spark's personality flipped from that remark. "And I will cut her throat open! Don't test me! Why are you even risking your life for her?! What's she to you?!"
"Boss! Hey boss!" a Rust Devil dashed up to them, panting heavily from being weighed down by his metal armor. He stopped a few meters away from them. "Those people have entered the hangar! They'll be-"
A gunshot ended his report. The body collapsed to the floor with a hole in the back under the neck. The wanderers soon approached, the barrel of Joe's rifle smoking as he loaded another round. In unison the group pointed their weapons towards Spark and Gears. Asimov took front and center, he lifted his right arm towards Spark as the laser barrel extended out.
"Let her go, now!" Asimov's voice became warped for a moment. "I can precisely target your head without harming Inez."
"Asimov! You're really here!" Inez beamed a bright smile.
"That's not possible! How can you be operating?!" Gears looked like he had seen a ghost upon seeing the military bot. He also eyed the people behind him and realized they were the ones from the shop they captured Inez from.
"Because you people are not as clever or powerful as you believe yourselves to be." Louis chortled at his shock. "And none of your flunkies can help you now!"
Outnumbered and outgunned, Gears contemplated on surrendering to them. Which wouldn't be a problem, following Spark has done nothing for the Rust Devils other then humoring a man with a sadistic mind. Things went down hill years ago ever since he took over for his brother.
But the terminal seemed to make up his mind for him. It automatically finished the rest of the data process, resulting in the Sentry Bots coming online. The loud hum drew everyone's attention to the machines, red light glowed from the visors of the six working ones. Blackness switched to visual, each bot did their routine scans and systems check. The targeting receptacles went over everyone they could see and stood by for orders.
Gears changed his mind and hopped back on the terminal to finish. He turned his eyes to the screen that showed their points of view, all of them were remotely linked to each other with the computer controlling them like a toy. Each member of the group was targeted and locked on, Gears was tempted to target Spark and Inez and be done with the lunatic.
"Hey, Gears! Did you target them yet?" the leader called to him.
"Targeted? Oh, shit..." Louis realized that could only mean one thing.
The bodies of the Sentry Bots turned towards the wanderers, their visors glowing in confirmation while waiting for the next commands.
Spark wrapped his other arm around Inez's body and held tight. "Let's go, little lady! I want us to have a higher view!" he forcibly started pulling her to the stair.
"Let me go, freak!" Inez fought against his hold. "Get out here! All of you! You can't fight those things!"
Gears smirked at her words. "You're damn right they can't..." his finger came down on the enter key, giving the Sentry Bots their order to kill.
The motors in the tri-legs rumbled with a creaky stutter before the Sentry Bots moved forward. Their jagged tracks tearing up the concrete floor, even their movements left destruction behind. Their right arms charged up with red glowing out of the triple barrels, the left arms lifted as the missiles inside started to arm.
Louis backed up towards his friends as the Sentry Bots homed in on them. "Run. Run now!" was his only words to them, to which they didn't argue.
One of the Sentry Bots aimed its left arm towards them.
()()()()()()()()()()
Doug stopped to catch his breath, looking for Cavall proved to be harder then he thought. He dropped two Rust Devils on the way to the back hangar. "Dammit, Cavall. Where are you?!"
A bark caught his attention, the dull white and dark brown dog ran up to him like a lost puppy finding his owner. Drying blood clung to his mouth and the fur around it, but he still had that innocent look of a family dog.
"There you are!" Doug kneeled to pet him. "Don't lick me, your mouth's covered in blood. Where were you? I've been looking all over the place?" he asked as if the dog would answer.
"Where's that damn dog?! It's killed six of us!" a Rust Devil's frantic voice screamed in the distance.
Doug's eyebrows raised to that of impressed, Cavall's big yellow eyes looked up to him. "Good boy!" he smiled in approval.
Their reunion was interrupted by a loud rumble, bits of concrete rolled down the hangar wall. The two quickly backed several feet away from the hangar wall and watched as cracks suddenly stretched all across it. Another rumble finally blew out the wall from the inside, dust billowed across the ground like a wave. Doug pulled out his sawed-off and aimed, Cavall's black ears perked down and growled at the commotion.
Several people came out from the dust, all but one coughing after getting a lung full of it. The green eyed man sighed in relief and lowered his weapon upon seeing his friends, yet the one they came for wasn't with them.
"Louis, what the fucking hell happened?!" Doug asked as they approached him.
The Vault dweller coughed one more time to clear his throat. "All kinds of shit. All kinds of horrible shit, Doug..."
"I can't believe those things barely missed us!" Victoria coughed, her red hair coated in dust.
"What happened in there? What blew that wall down?" he figured it must have been caused by whatever they kidnaped Inez for. Which sent a cold shiver down his spine.
His question came in the form of a loud rumble. The Sentry Bots came rolling out one by one and lined up symmetrically across. Their targeting trackers soon found them again with all their weapons armed and ready to go all out.
"This is what they kidnaped Inez for?!" Doug raised his sawed-off again. "I fucking hate Sentry Bots!"
Asimov's laser guns unfurled from his forearms. Even with the odds hopelessly against them, the Assaultron refused to stop now. Saving Inez was all that mattered to him, no matter the cost. So as the Sentry Bots started coming towards them, Asimov put his last resort in standby mode.
