Big trouble in a little Vault.

The journey between NCR and Vault-13 had taken a few days and there was plenty of time to get to know the degenerates I was traveling with. Sure, they were murderers and slavers, but I was yet to meet anybody in the waste who was a paragon of virtue. All I had to do was to watch my six, which could prove difficult when I also had to watch my twelve.

I was surprised to find the entrance to the access cave to Vault-13 hadn't caved in. Leaving the Vault unattended was a sure way to encourage parasites to breed, a mistake on the part of NCR. Lots of dark memories flooded my head as we approached the mountain range. There was still some light left as we crouched behind a rock formation. I used the scope of my rifle to scan the entrance and nearby area.

'Clear. No guards.'

'Then we wait till the dark?' asked Rico.

'Yeah. Have a rest if you want, I am going to keep watch for a while.'

'No funny business.' Said Rico as he tried to get comfortable against the rocks. Jek and Sam followed suit. Jek appeared to be alright - he had some good tracking skills which had helped us avoid a pack of mutants on our way to the mountain range. The others I wouldn't trust with a pot of my piss. I slid the rucksack from my shoulder and pulled out the ranger helmet, checking it for damage.

'Where did you get it?' asked Jek, one eye half open, trained on the piece of armour.

'Got it off a Ranger.'

'Bartered while he was drunk?'

'Let's just say the guy didn't need it anymore.'

Jek smirked and settled into sleep.

I flicked my hat back and quickly pulled on the helmet and secured the holding strap. Instantly I felt safer and begun my watch. A few hours after the sun had gone down, I kicked Rico and whispered.

'It's time. Don't shoot unless it's necessarily. Hopefully, we can get a jump on them in their beds.'

My team got ready, checked their weapons and headed for the mountain.

We made it inside the cave unchallenged and soon our eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cool cave. I traced my footsteps like it was ten years ago, until we reached the open Vault door. There was a particular smell coming from the Vault that I didn't remember.

'Never seen a Vault door. Fucking massive.' said Rico, his rifle pointing at the entrance.

'Shhh. And get your pistol out. You won't have space to use that thing in here.'

'Maybe in the hallways.' Rico replied.

'Maybe in the hallways, but most likely they'll be on top of us before you get a chance to reload.'

I held my revolver, the cold steel providing reassurance as I led my team through the Vault door. The terminal had been smashed by something crude. A power hummer? Wonder why thr RATZ did that? Who knows with those degenerates.

We got to the first door that had been jacked open, when I heard voices.

'Get your fucking hands of my caps, cunt.' The voice was coming from further up the hallway to the right.

'You lost again! Retard.'

'No, I didn't!'

'Yes you did, stop going all in on the river and you might win something.'

'Don't tell me how to fucking play.' There was pause then, 'I am going for a piss.'

The footsteps appeared closer and we hugged the wall as much as we could. I turned to my team and raised my knife. The corridor was dimly lit and as the first RAT rounded the corner his eyes weren't ready for the darkness, and he walked right past me. I lunged forward, stabbing under his ribs while wrapping my gloved hand around his mouth. He tried to bite, but death came faster. My heart was thumping in my chest from the adrenalin of the kill. Once a killer always a killer.

'Let's go.' I pointed to my left as I let the body slide to the ground. The other RAT was sitting in a makeshift chair, with one of the computer terminals tipped onto its side for a table. His head was down as he counted his winnings, not paying attention to the hallway. We approached quickly, weapons at the ready.

'Wanna play another game?' the RAT enquired, thinking it was his buddy.

'Yeah sure.' Jek rushed at the unsuspecting guard, jumping to close the space between them. He landed on the man's chest, tipping him back over the chair. Jek's stabbed the man until his limbs stopped twitching, then turned back to us giving a bloodied thumbs up.

'That's the guards finished, by the look of things. We'll loot after all the levels are cleared.' I looked around in the dim light for the emergency light switch. The vault's walls have been covered in graffiti and filth. Some of it looked like blood. Most of the terminals have been dismantled and left open to corrode.

'Fucking animals.' I swore under my breath.

'There is an elevator at the other end of the hallway. Follow me.'

The elevator still worked and soon we were riding down to the living quarters. The doors slid open, revealing an even darker, filthier floor. It stunk of urine and human excrement.

'Fucking hell.' Even Rico noticed the smell.

'Keep an eye on both sides. Rico - with me.' I check my right and left, then crept out with revolver in one hand, knife in the other and crossed in front of me. We split in two groups.

I followed the wall, my back pressed to it, to where the doors to the rooms were located. There were four rooms on each side of the hallway. This was going to be blatant murder, no doubt about it. But better than being shot at.

After confirming the first room was empty we came up to the second. Two RTAZ slept on top of the remains of Vault beds. Rico and I crept silently over the targets and plunged our knives almost simultaneously. They jerked a few times, before becoming still for good. We went to move on to the next room, but as I was about to turn the corner, I heard.

'What the fuck!'

I spun on my heels, training the iron sights on a woman dressed in leather armour. She managed to scream, 'Intruders!' before I blew her head open.

Now we were in some trouble. RATZ began rushing out of the remaining rooms, from all directions. A few were armed with melee weapons, while others carried pistols and submachine guns. I fired a few shots into the group that was approaching me from behind the dead woman and they dispersed, diving for cover. At the same time, Rico was shot in the hand and shoulder and lay screaming on the ground.

Something came at me in a blur. I tried to dodge it, but a powerful strike sent me hard against the wall. I managed to hold on to my weapons and fired in the general direction, twice hitting the target. My armour held, and there was no pain beyond the initial shock of the blow.

'Kill the fuckers!' someone shouted. Shots were coming from all directions, lighting up the dark hallway in a succession of muzzle flashes. I slid along the wall, trying to get access to a room in front of me, from where I could organise my defence but the gun smoke was thick and my eyes stung, making visibility hard. I was almost there when a huge man rushed me and we fell through the doorway together. He was on top, trying to gouge my eyes while pummelling my side with his Power Fist. In situations like that you know you made the right decision to implant Dermal Armour. I fumbled for my knife and managed to stab him in the side a few times, before he could do much damage.

As I pushed his dead body off me, I heard footsteps, and then a face peaked around the doorframe, followed by a gun. I managed to slide the hunting rifle from my back and trained it at the entrance. Fired once, twice as soon as the man re-peaked the corner. His body fell, blocking the doorway. Then another RAT fired a burst blindly from around the corner, though none of the bullets hit me, or so I thought at the time. Then the owner of the gun peaked and got his head blown off by me.

It got quite after that, the smoke still floating in the air. I struggled to get myself up and managed to crawl to the doorway, my back hard against the metal wall of the vault.

'Rico, Jek, Sam?' I called out, not expecting a reply.

Finally, Jek replied from somewhere. I searched for the revolver that I must have dropped during the fight. Found and reloaded quickly - click, click, the casings slid into the chambers. Round two.

I peered around the corner, staying low. The visibility was still shit, but I could just make out across the hallway a few bodies of RATZ. No sign of my team. I peeked again, then came out and followed the wall, looking at the smoked filled hallway. Suddenly bullet ricocheted from the wall, inches from my head. I ducked, fired and waited. Heard groaning and fired twice more at knee level. The groaning stopped. That had to be it.

'Jek, where the fuck are you?'

He was behind me, holding an arm to his side.

'That has to be all of them.'

'At least on this level.' I replied. We checked the remaining rooms and the bodies. Rico had bled out and Sam had been cut up, the ,sword still stuck in his abdomen.

'That was fucking rough man.' said Jek.

'Got to take good with the bad. You're still alive.' I suddenly felt a pain in my side and drew away a hand that was covered in blood, which I hid from Jek just in case.

'Alright. I reckon all the loot is one level below.'

'Got to bring something back to make it worth. Mr Kurt would skin me otherwise.' Jek was bleeding out slowly and I wasn't sure what to do with him yet, so I offered to bandage his wound. A few minutes later we were riding to the bottom level. I knew that each level of the vault was perfectly sealed so no noise that could penetrate the walls, unless the security system still worked, but judging by the state of the computer terminals upstairs I doubted it.

The door slid open and we cautiously made our way through the main hallway, checking every room that was open. The door on the left was sealed, so we left it the last. Slowly, we made our way to the command centre but found no one. The terminals were trashed and it appeared that the RATZ didn't use this level much at all. We traced our way back to the final door. I pressed the open button on the terminal, and we were hit by the most sickening, putrid smell that made me sick to my stomach. The room was barely lit and all I could see were empty, sunken eyes staring back at me. Slaves.

'Jackpot.' Said Jek, taking a step into the room. That was when I made my decision.

I fired into the back of his head, spraying brains and blood onto the slaves. I had to take chance at redemption. The slaves shuffled back, fear on their faces.

'You are free. Loot the bodies on the second floor and get out of here.' I urged them. No one moved, their minds unable to comprehend anything beyond abuse.

'I said go, get out of here.' Some of them moved, if somewhat slowly, prompting others to follow.

One woman walked past me and asked.

'Are you a Ranger?' Looking at my helmet.

'Yes. Tell everyone the Rangers aren't going anywhere.' It was a lie, but it felt good to say it. When they left, packed tightly into the elevator, I made my way to the armoury.

It was worth it. The Power Armour was still there, intact and stored in a locker. Yes, it was in pieces, but with the right tools and a bit of luck I would have a chance of putting it back together. I was spewing that I didn't have my Highwayman. The other locker contained a fanny-bag full of medical supplies. Most of the weapons were trash and I was a bit disappointed, but at least I had most of my armour back. Now I was just going to need a place to build it and some fusion batteries to power it. No big deal. The rucksack suddenly felt much heavier and I had to settle for carrying essential items only - medical supplies, ammunition and few bottles of booze. I applied Stimpack to my wound, feeling lucky that most of the core split and was absorbed into the armour while only some of the metal had penetrated the skin. At the door where the slaves were kept I left the Rangers badge that I'd detached from the helmet earlier. Job done.

I walked out to the hallway and the memories hit me. The corpses of Deathclaws sprawled on those same floors, what a waste of intelligent life. I missed Goris and the conversations we had about the world. He always had my back, it was my fault he died fighting that monster Frank Horrigan. I never forgave myself for the death of my companions. If only I was better prepared.