Freedom is in the eyes of the beholder.

Sleep did come, but only in the early hours of the morning. The rough bed provided slightly more comfort than sleeping on the bedroll out in the waste. And even though I trusted Mira, I had to keep one eye open for a glint of a blade in the dark. I heaved myself off the bed, nearly stumbling on the empty whiskey bottle, which silenced most of the demons in my head. It was time to tackle today's problem - finding the location of the RATZ hideout. I had some ideas about where they might have been operating from, but I didn't want to take a stab in the dark if someone in NCR could provide more information. I walked through the empty bar avoiding the spillage and spew, when in my peripheral vision appeared the face of child, peeking out from the corner of Mira's room. The girl was a copy of Mira, except for the dark eyes. I waved at her and kept walking.

Outside in the daylight I could see the large walls that surrounded Vortis's upgraded holding centre, which towered over the rest of the buildings in the Bazaar. Looked like the slave trade prospered under the new President.

I noticed reinforced towers, manned by guards with rifles, as I walked towards the heavy gates. The guard at the post had a mean face to him and a few scars to back it up.

'What you want?' he asked.

'Wanna talk with Vortis.'

'Everyone wants to talk with Vortis, but Vortis is dead.' He replied spitting on my boots 'Got slaves you want to trade, if not get the fuck out of here.'

'You're a rude one, aren't you. Must be bad for the business.'

The guard just stared at me, unfazed by my attempt at intimidation.

'Alright asshole, I got some information on a stack of supplies and possible slaves. You going to let me in to see Vortis or whoever the fuck is in charge? They could be missing out on a business opportunity.'

The guard was silent for a while, slowly processing the information. Then he stepped back to the gates and banged on the metal a few times. Soon the small window slid open and he relayed my demand. Time dragged on as I waited, thinking that perhaps I should get the hell out of there, when finally the side door slid open and a man in a pre-war suit waved me through.

'Mr Kurt would like to see you.' He said as he led me through the courtyard. Inside there were a few more guards than I remember. But what was more unsettling was that the slave pens were filled not just with human slaves. The outer ring of the cages held super mutants, twisted Floaters, Centaurs, Wanamingos and a lone Deathclaw. I was taken aback by the collection of freaks and didn't hear the introductions.

'Shit, Mr Kurt has capitalised on Vortis's work quite a bit I see.'

'He sure did. I'm Rove, his second in command.' the man in the pre-war suit said for the second time. He appeared to think himself something special.

'And what's your name, outsider?'

'Call me Chris, call me Bob, I don't give a shit.'

'Right.' Rove clicked his tongue. 'Bob it is. Apparently quite a common name in pre-war times.' He got on his walkie-talkie as we made the trip across the courtyard.

The security measures had tripled in this place and I even noticed a few stationary gatling guns set up in the towers, in case of a breakout. It appeared that they had been receiving some serious funding, maybe from the sales of mutants or maybe from other sources.

Finally, we made to the inner circle of the cages and I saw the forlorn faces of the human slaves. Some naked in all states of unkept, while others were kept in relative care by the looks of it. I gagged from the smell, turning my eyes away, conscience pulling on my heart strings.

Once inside the main building I was patted down, weapons confiscated. It was all scrappy stonewalls and old vinyl tiles on the floor, cover in blood stains, as I walked through the security corridor. I was shown into a waiting room, with some old Cat's Paw magazines on the table. I wasted some time smoking what was left of the pack and finally a fair looking gal came from the door on the right and asked me to follow her. She wore some sort of mini dress and showed plenty of cleavage. It took me back to my days in Reno.

I followed her through the door into what would be described best as a jungle room. Now I don't know much about it, but I have seen a few in the old magazines. There was plenty of vegetation and the humidity was extreme. In the middle of the room stood a throne, upon which I assumed Mr Kurt sat, surrounded by a few more, fair looking slave girls dressed in an assortment of skimpy camouflage. Mr Kurt himself wore sparse leather armour draped around him showing as much skin at his slaves did, his hand holding a spear.

'Bob is a stupid name.' He was looking me straight in the eye, gauging my reaction.

'What happened to Vortis?' I mumbled, fascinated by the whole atmosphere. I had seen some bizarre things in my life, but this one was quite entertaining.

'Dead. I am his only son and true heir to his empire.' He looked me up and down. 'You better say something that I like or the Deathclaw will be feasting on your corpse tonight.'

He laughed at the joke and the girls joined him. I didn't. I already wanted to kill the prick.

'I heard you have a problem with Metzger's RATZ. I might be able to solve it.'

Mr Kurt shoved aside one of the girls that was leaning over his shoulder, his face turning red with anger.

'I am not liking what I am hearing, you old fuck. I haven't got a problem with anyone.'

'How come they are operating in your territory then?' I was taking stab in the dark trusting my luck. It was a calculated risk, or at least that's what I told myself.

'You! Lying piece of shit. That's not what you told the guard.' He leaned forward. 'But I like dudes like you, a resourceful type. You got my attention.'

'I take care of the RATZ and make it look like it was the Rangers that killed them. That way it doesn't fall on you and Metzger is not going to come with his gang to kick your ass.'

'Who said that I am scared of Metzger?'

'If you weren't, you would've taken care of them already.' It was a simple deduction from what I knew about Metzger and what Mira told me last night. What probably happened was that Metzger continued his slave trade and expanded south towards NCR, with the Rangers being less of a problem. Both slave traders expanding beyond small organisations. The question was, where the ruling elite of NCR stood on it and what the fuck the Brotherhood of Steel was doing about it.

'That might be true, but I tell you something, Mr Kurt not scared of no shit.'

Oh, that old chestnut I thought, as I pretended to care.

'Smart move from your side Mr Kurt. Wait to build up some force and then strike hard and true.' It was time to lick some ass. Degenerates like Mr Kurt here enjoyed a fair degree of ego stroking.

At hearing this, Mr Kurt's smile broadened and all the anger was gone, he was definitely warming up to me.

'Damn right.' Then he caught himself short. 'What's in it for you?'

'They stole something of mine, and I want it back.'

Mr Kurt acknowledged it with a nod.

'Still, I don't see how you going to fuck them up alone.'

'I am going to need a few of your boys to help me out with that - in return you can have anything and anyone they find.' I still didn't know the location of their hideout. By now most of the women had lost interest in the conversation and were chatting between themselves, occasionally taking quick glances at me. Mr Kurt considered my proposal.

'It's a deal. I'll give you three of my dudes. Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind.'

'One more thing Mr Kurt.'

'What is it?' His voice developed an edge I didn't want to hear.

'Where is the hideout?'

'Damned Vault-13!' his anger was back, but I was already out of the door before he could spit the dummy.

As soon as I was outside, Rove approached me and advised me to wait, while he contacted someone on the walkie-talkie. In a few minutes three men who were on Mr Kurtis's payroll appeared from one of the other buildings. One of them carried a rifle over the shoulder of his leather armour, while the other two carried automatic pistols. All of them carried large knifes hanging from their belts.

'Lads, we got a job for you.' Rove smiled, clearly enjoying bossing them around.

'Alright, and who is this asshole?' Their leader pointed at me, his body language suggested impending violence. Worked with assholes like this before and it wasn't hard to get them in line.

'Easy Rico. This gentleman kindly offered to Mr. Kurt to get rid of the RATZ for us. You lot are going to help him out with it.'

'Like fuck'. Spat the other guy. This sparked my interest on how this was going to pan out.

'Maybe you should train your dogs better.' I added fuel to the fire.

'Fuck you, you piece of shit.' Rico swung his rifle at my head, but I easily dodged his pathetic attempt and elbowed him in the back. Yeah, I was old and out of practice, but I could still easily take few of those morons out. He slid to the ground, cursing on the way, as I stomped on his upper back and held him down.

'There is lots of loot up for grabs and I am in the mood to share. I heard the RATZ got hold of some Power Armour parts as well. The retards wouldn't know how to use it but for you it could yield a high price to any vendor.'

At the mention of Power Armour, even the deflated Rico stopped squirming under my boot, and I had the attention of the other two.

'So if you want to make some good cash, you better start cooperating.'

'Alright. What's the plan.' said one of them grudgingly, while the other gave me a nod in recognition.

'Since you have everything under control, I'll leave you to it lads.' Rove withdrew back inside the main building.

I lifted my foot of Rico's back but kept my eye on him as he got himself up.

'I know the layout of Vault-13 pretty well. We should be able to get inside without alerting their guards. If we attack at night, we shouldn't have too many problems.'

They listened to me as I outlined my plan in more detail. Later that evening we left for the vault.