Cheyenne awoke, with a start, almost as if she'd been dropped into reality without a parachute. Her eyes shot open and she looked up with a hurried gasp as if desperate to get back to reality and resume what was going on.
"What… What's going on!?" She gasped, looking around before taking several deep breaths. She was in some sort of cell, featureless. A dingy basement, most likely under some old pizza joint or some shit like that. Her hands were tied behind her back, though she wasn't gagged or placed under immediate guard. In fact, she wasn't sure if anyone was down here at all, in her cell or out in the corridor.
"Helloooo!?" She called out, already getting sick of that dripping pipe, this was worse than Chinese water torture.
She listened out for a few more drips, falling silent as she grew more and more frustrated.
"You Brotherhood boys seriously not going to pay any mind to the girl that you have tied up in your holding cell!? I thought this was what you assholes fantasised about in your barracks!"
Again… Nothing.
The Tribal sighed heavily, falling back into her chair as she looked around. Seeing that she had nothing better to do, she decided to try and teach herself escapism… There wasn't exactly a better time to try it.
Woolf sat alone in her room, analysing the day's figures…
These causalities, it was pure insanity. How did anyone expect her to win this war? How did anyone think that it was worth it?
She decided that she needed to step away from the books, snapping them shut and rubbing her temples with an exasperated sigh.
"Elder Woolf?" A Brotherhood Soldier asked, immediately getting her attention. The Ageing Elder slowly looked up and around, immediately seeing the Soldier, standing before her, grasping at a roll of paper.
"There's somethin' you need to see..."
Kurisu was immediately alerted, as soon as the Chosen One was captured. Woolf needed her by her side for this interrogation, what an honour it would be, too finally stand face to face with the saviour of California, the vanquisher of the Enclave.
For Kurisu though, this was a rather rude awakening, she felt constantly on the verge of falling asleep, constantly yawning and feeling a little sick. Given how late she often worked, Cheyenne's capture meant that she'd get two to three hours of sleep tonight at best.
"Sorry we couldn't bring her to you but you probably understand why we weren't too happy about the prospect of moving her. I mean, we barely caught her alive and her people are still out there."
"People? Yes, they do say that the Chosen One travels with others... Could you describe them?"
"Erm... The snitch managed to catch a glimpse or two 'em, both of them were human, one was about the same age as Cheyenne, a tribal, possibly from her village and the other was old enough to be her dad.
Shit, maybe it was her dad..."
"Possible but unlikely, she met most of her travelling companions out on the road..." Woolf explained, falling silent as she fell deep in thought.
"What brings her out here? Do the NCR truly fear us that much? They think we're going to start on California, once we're done?"
"Possibly, maybe they think the conflict will fall out into California." The Driver shrugged as he drove along the road, constantly finding himself looking around for any signs of danger.
"If they are, 'En Sea Are' they pick a strange time to show up." Kurisu interjected, getting a quick nod from the Elder.
"Perhaps they're worried about Cain's expansion, as much as they hate us, they'll probably hate a slave Empire all the more." Woolf shrugged as they came into a small town, most of which was rubble, except for one shop at the center of main street, a shop that was lit up to the point that it could be seen from just outside of the town.
"I expected there to be more here..." Woolf admitted, getting a glare from the driver.
"There was but Cain shelled the fuck out of it... Only thing that survived was an old pizza joint, it's small but it's got a pretty good basement, perfect set up for keeping prisoners."
"You think it'll keep the Chosen One in fer long, fren?" Kurisu asked, sounding somewhat sceptical as she observed the place from outside, slowly pulling in to the area outside of the abandoned Pizza joint.
"I fuckin' hope so..." The Driver sighed, turning the Engine of the hummer off and looking up to Elder Woolf, with a sigh.
"Alright Elder, we're here. Not that you would but I wouldn't advise straying too far from the base, there's all sorts of creatures runnin' around out there. It ain't Denver but..."
"Thank you for your concern, come on Kurisu." She said, rather hurriedly as she stood up and climbed out of the car, seeming quite intent on getting inside.
Inside, a number of Soldiers sat around taking a stock take of their ammo and supplies. It didn't seem very tight ran, this ship but she didn't exactly expect it to be, in fact she was just glad that there was a ship at all.
Two 'eating in' tables were on either side of the room, along with counter top at the back of the room. Behind that was the most senior looking soldier, a Knight, who looked quite old given his position.
"Elder!" He said, hurriedly, saluting the Elder as she entered the room, prompting the other soldiers to jump to their feet and copy his movements, all shouting 'Elder' in Unison to appease her.
"At ease." The Elder said, not really in the mood to be fussed over.
"I was told the prisoner was in the basement?"
"Yes, she's been kicking up a fuss but I've ordered the two men on guard duty to remain at their post and to avoid alerting her to their presence, under no circumstances are they allowed to engage with the Prisoner." The Knight explained, stepping around the counter.
Due to how stretched out they were, few members of the Brotherhood got power armour out here. Knights sported advanced or heavy combat armour and they were grateful for it.
"Good, take me to her." The Elder instructed, getting a hurried nod from the others as they stepped aside, giving her access to the back rooms. Woolf nodded and stepped forward, hand wrapped around the laser pistol around her waist.
This woman took out the entire Enclave at the height of their power, they were better equipped and had way more ground but she managed to destroy them all the same. Woolf might respect her as a friend or a neutral entity but likelihood was that she was going to wind up as her enemy...
Needless to say, she wasn't willing to take any chances, either way...
Woolf made her way down the stairway, suddenly finding herself reminded of the Calculator's base of operations... The dark, cold, grey and unforgiving hallways and the clammy unfeeling cold. The Soldiers were at their post, thankfully, neither of them were lying unconscious wearing her lipstick or anything equally as embarrassing...
"Open the door." Woolf ordered, getting a hurried nod as they stepped aside and put the rustic old key in the lock, twisting it and pushing it open for their Elder to enter.
Woolf quickly strode in, followed by Kurisu and the Knight, both of which were more than willing to let her step in first...
Cheyenne had been rolling her shoulders back and forth for an hour as she rubbed furiously at the chair behind her. The ropes didn't seem to be losing their strength, in fact she was just getting a sore wrist from all of the movement now.
As she looked up, she noticed a loud click and a creek, the door had opened and someone was coming down to see to her.
"Oh thank Christ! You lot are the worst people I've ever been captured by, do you know that?" Cheyenne grunted, shaking her head.
"What about my friends? You capture them as well? You better not have hurt them or Spirits help me..."
"Your companions fled the scene... They were almost shot, however, one of our soldiers was able to identify you by your blue jumpsuit. Considering that you were captured as an enemy officer, you should be thankful to be alive." Woolf said, cutting through her words like a shishkebab through butter.
Cheyenne fell silent, falling back into her chair and thinking on her words. Her captors didn't give her much of a chance to think before asking her something else.
"You are the Chosen, correct? Arroyo's hero? The one who brought the G.E.C.K to California?"
"Seems you already know the answer to that..." Cheyenne observed, with the slightest grin.
"If you know who I am, why am I being tied up? I don't have any bad history with you Brotherhood people, do I?"
"Though this may not be true, you equally have worked very closely with the New California Republic... We thought you might be an agent for them."
"Oh..." Cheyenne said, falling silent in the realisation that that wasn't exactly an idiotic assumption to have made. She and the NCR were pretty close, her Grandfather helped found it...
"Erm... Well, no. I'm not here for the NCR, not sure that they even know I'm here to be honest." The Tribal shrugged.
"I'm here for... Someone."
Woolf found herself intrigued, raising an eyebrow as she folded her arms and leaning against the basement wall.
"Someone?"
"My friend... Sulik, his Sister was taken by slaves, about thirteen years ago now. I promised we'd find her someday..."
"Brother Sulik!" Kurisu gasped, stepping forward, quickly placing herself between Cheyenne and Woolf to make eye contact with the Chosen One.
"He come? He come for me?"
Cheyenne shivered a little, startled by Kurisu's sudden appearance. To think she was on a train, heading straight for Carbon, in search of a woman, who was on the other side of the state!
"Y-Yes! We all did! Your Brother, me and another guy... He came to help me but the point is that we came to save you." Cheyenne insisted, getting the Tribal to look around, seeing Woolf's disapproving glare.
"What will you do, once you've acquired Kurisu?" The Elder asked, prompting Kurisu herself to step aside, falling silent with a look of slight shame.
"Go back to California... This ain't our fight or our war. I mean, I'd like it to be but... It's just not."
"Are the NCR planning to intervene?"
"No... Not that I know of, they only know about the civil war but not how bad it is. They have their eyes set on Vegas as of now." The Tribal explained, with a shrug.
Woolf sighed, heavily, seemingly out of relief. The Brotherhood Chapter of the Mojave were decimated recently in a skirmish with the NCR. Both factions could potentially be wiped out in a matter of months, weeks even.
"I was going to ask how the war was going but... I think I got my answer." Cheyenne sighed, sitting back in her chair.
"How'd Kurisu end up being with you?" The Chosen One asked, finding herself curious. She looked to Kurisu for the answer to that question.
"I be transported on one of them trains, Elder Woolf's forces blew it up." Kurisu shrugged, looking back to the Elder, who nodded to confirm her story.
"Cain transports a lot of goods in those trains, we thought it was a weapons shipment... Turns out we were wrong. If anything, it was a stroke of good fortune, most of those slaves joined up with us to push Cain's forces out of the area. Since most of them were from the same town, we decided to help them take it back and in return, we'd use their town as an... outpost of sorts." Woolf explained, though any glimmer of hope was quickly lost.
"Cain burned the town to the ground and took them all, a few months later."
"They came to our village, came with fire flingers and dragged me and a few others back to the Great Salt Lake, less than a year later we be in Cains hands."
"Wait, so... Cain wasn't the one who took you initially?" Cheyenne asked, finding herself curious.
"Don't know who they were. Think they became Legion long ago." Kurisu shrugged.
"Elder..." Cheyenne sighed, glancing up to her and taking a deep breath.
"If you re-unite Sulik and Kurisu and give them safe passage, back to California? Oh and untie me...
I'll help you win this war."
Woolf looked somewhat surprised by this, she raised an eyebrow.
"What happened to 'it's not our fight?'"
"Well, it ain't our fight... Doesn't mean I can't be part of it. I just don't want to drag my friends into it, they signed up for a rescue mission, not a campaign but me? I'm 33 years old and I just can't say 'no' when an old lady asks me for help, crossing the state. So, what do you say?"
"I say I'm tempted to have you face the firing squad for referring to me as an 'old lady' but... Your offer of help is greatly appreciated. Though you should know, we have virtually no forces, no equipment and nothing even resembling a long temr plan."
"Heh, story of my life Woolfey." Cheyenne grinned.
"All I had was a blue jumpsuit and a pointy stick and I killed the Enclave, get me a suit of power armour, a big weapon and the best soldiers you've got?
And consider this war won."