Chapter 10 – The Vault Crazies' Last Stand
After a rapid, but a quiet dash (a contradiction in actions, but I managed it), I found myself peering over the edge of the walkway, down into the Lower Atrium, at the group of Raiders who were carefully entering the area.
They were certainly very unlike any Raider, I had ever seen. There was about seven or eight of them, and if you assumed that a normal raider outfit was their basic combat level, then these guys and girls were definitely the Heavy Mob. Their clothes were much more heavily armoured than usual, with shoulder, elbow and knee-pads, and what looked like flak jackets fashioned from a variety of Combat Armours. One of them was even wearing a set of power-armour, which he had salvaged from some dead Outcast, although it did look like from its condition, and his general movements that he was largely using his own great muscle-strength to move it rather than servo-power.
Their weapons were also very much on the high combat power level: the lowest level being assault rifles, there was a least one sniper rifle, one female raider had a missile launcher, and the hulk in the power armour had a flamer.
They must have triggered some kind of proximity sensor, for suddenly "VAULT DEFENCES HAVE BEEN BREACHED! DESTROY THE INVADERS!" blasted from the Vault PA system, the sub-Sonics in the messages was cranked up so high, that I could almost physically hear it, and from all the air vents poured the psycho-gas. The combined effect was clearly enough to shake even these hardened fighters, causing a few to look a bit dazed, and one to actually open fire on his colleagues, but he was shot to pieces before he could do much harm.
From deep within the Vault, came the answering howl to the 'Call to Arms', as the various crazed Residents responded. Even up where I was above the gas cloud, I was driven to respond by sub-sonic enhanced command, but as I was free of the Red Madness, I could think clearly, so I ran back to Monica Sullivan's room, and grabbed hold of the gun turret, unplugged it and, and wheeled it (Thank Goodness, it was on castors), with its control terminal balanced on top, out onto the overhead walkway bridge, and plugged it in to a nearby power socket, and powered it up.
While I was doing this, the first of the Vault Residents had started to arrive, and were getting massacred; most were not even getting through the doors into the Atrium before they were getting blown away, by the intense Raider gunfire.
Desperately to save time, I opted for a default FFI (Friend-Foe Identification) setting, which designated all non-Vault Residents as designated targets, and let it loose. The sudden burst of heavy laser fire from above, caught the Raiders by surprise, dropping two of their number, including the one with the missile launcher, before the rest could take shelter underneath the walkways, where the gun turret could not target them. The Raider's confusion also gave the surviving Vault Crazies their chance to emerge in sufficient numbers, that they carry the fight to the Raiders despite heavy losses.
At least two more Raiders fell to the Residents, but there had been too many killed, and it was clear that unless I intervene quickly, this would be an outright Raider Victory.
So grabbing my assault rifle, with its partly filled magazine, I took a deep breath, and charged downstairs to the melee. However by the time, I had reached bottom, the fighting was rapidly fading out, but fortunately due to the hallucinations from the gas, the Raiders had not realised that, so I was able to target the biggest threat unopposed: the goon in the power armour; Seriously, this guy was built like a tank, and could probably out arm-wrestle super mutants for fun. I couldn't take any chances, so I let fly with my entire magazine into his back. The flamer tank ruptured under the assault, covering the guy with flames; if the power armour had been good state of repair, the occupant would have been alright, but thanks to my bullets, and the ones that had killed the original Outcast owner, the burning fuel was able to flow into the armour.
For the next few seconds, I was entertained by the sight of a power-suited figure which seemed to be frantically dancing the Highland-Fling, as the Raider attempted to extradite himself out of the flaming suit.
My enjoyment was cut short, as the other two Raiders now became aware of my presence, and cut loose in my direction. Before I could duck, a 5.56 round hit my arm, forcing me to drop my rifle; it also resulted in me giving any involuntary gasp of pain, so that I got a lungful of almost pure psycho-gas from a nearby vent. The Red Madness came roaring forward from where it been hiding in the back of my brain, and I charged forward in full berserker mode, blazing away with my .32 pistol.
Thanks to their body armour, my wild shooting was largely ineffective, though it did drive one Raider out from his shelter, so that he could be gunned down by the damaged but still operable gun turret.
Finally, just as when I was literally approaching point-blank range, I hit his companion under the chin, with one of my last bullet mortally wounding him, and taking him out of the fight.
I turned to last remaining raider, who was now free of the smouldering power armour. I had to admit he was an impressive sight; he could have acted as a stunt-double for the Incredible Hulk, without any need for additional padding, just a coat of green paint. My only chance was that now he was no longer wearing the helmet, was that he was now getting the full effect of the psycho-gas, which meant that he didn't know where his real opponents were.
But he was from far from an easy target, one crazed Resident leapt at him wielding a tire-iron, but his blow bounced off without causing any apparent damage. That had been enough for the Hulk, who grabbed his assailant, and flung him bodily across the room; I swear he bounced off the ceiling, before the body smashed into a wall, and slithered down, and lay belly-down on the floor, with his face staring up at the ceiling.
The remnants of my sanity could do little more than scream in terror, as it rode as unwilling passenger on Red Madness's death-ride. The throw had turned the Hulk's back towards me, so I charged forward, pulling out my combat knife as I did so, then leapt high onto his back wrapping my arms around his head and plunged my knife upwards under his chin, so that the blade entered his brain... But this didn't even seem to faze him; he reached over his shoulder, grabbed me by the back of my Vault-suit, and flung me across the room, so that I crashed dazed into the far corner.
As the stars started to clear, I realised in horror that he had come over and was reaching out, so as to give me another flying lesson. I took the only route available to me; I kicked hard against the wall, and slid on my back, straight between his legs. He bent to grab me as I shot past, but he momentarily distracted when he found that he couldn't bend his head forward – thanks to hilt of my knife hitting his chest.
As I continued to scoot myself across the floor, he swung round, while his right hand reached up to investigate the obstruction under his chin. Upon finding the knife hilt, he grabbed it, and pulled it out. A strange expression spread across his face, but before it could become anything I could identify, his eyes rolled upwards, and he toppled forward, hitting the ground with a force that felt like that of a felled tree.
Still in the throes of the Red Madness, I now turned my attention on anything which moved, which was primarily the Radroaches that had emerged to attack the dead and dying. This attack continued until there was another announcement over the PA system "THE DANGER HAS PASSED. ALL RESIDENTS ARE TO RETURN TO THEIR QUARTERS IMMEDIATELY", and while my rational mind wanted to remain to complete my investigation, the Madness reacted to the command, as if it was perfectly acceptable, and promptly headed off in that direction.
As I approached my rooms, I could clearly hear the sound of music coming from the Clinic on the floor below; I vainly tried to regain control, as the Red Madness charged me down the stairs to eliminate the perceived intruder.
I burst through the door, and saw Sarah-Jane across the room, sorting some equipment. Her initial welcoming simile faded, as she saw the state of me, and with a frightened squeak, she dived for a nearby shelf, and grabbed something, as I charged with a howl across the room.
She turned and sprayed something into my face, and which I got a good lungful of, and then she dived to one side. A wall of blackness engulfed me, and I was out cold, even before I'd body-slammed into the wall, and crumpling to the floor.