Colonel Royez glared up at the fog-shrouded ruins as he heard distorted snatches of singing along with the near constant rumble of thunder from the blood-red clouds boiling overhead. His men were also watching the ruins beyond the gilded front gate, using the rusting hulks of Chryslus and Corvega automobiles as cover. The narrow streets they had retreated down were clearly designed to prevent the use of cars, which were all parked at a crumbling lot at the base of the city. Not far from the lot was his last Vertibird, which had managed to land intact despite corrosion damage to its air intake and hydraulic systems. Those men he could spare were attempting repairs while a few others were searching the ruined offices of what heavily stained sign announced as the Martence Construction Company.
As soon as they had made it out of the city, Royez attempted to use the Vertibird's radio to send a distress call. To his disgust, he found that they were still in range of the jamming device used by the Brotherhood Terrorist hiding in the ruins. Now they waited for a possible assault as Royez tried to decide his next move from his extremely limited options. The crunch of gravel and the soft whine of servos announced the arrival of Corporal Munroe, who stopped and saluted as Royez turned to face him.
"I've hacked into the terminal we found sir!" He announced.
"What did you find Corporal?" Royez said as he quickly acknowledged the Corporal's salute.
"It has entries from Jan Martense, the son of the Company's CEO Gerrit Martense." Munroe replied as lowered his hand.
"What was he doing here?" Royez demanded as he folded his arms.
"Overseeing construction, sir."
Royez raised his eyebrows incredulously. "The son of the CEO was overseeing a construction project?"
"His own suggestion apparently." Munroe explained. "A lot of the files were corrupted, but what there was suggests that he was misappropriating funds Sinclair allocated for building the city and using them to build a Vault beneath the refueling station."
Royez turned to look at the collapsed building at the edge of the parking lot, its decaying sign showing the logo for the Poseidon Energy Corporation.
"There is a Vault under that ruin?" Royez snapped with a disbelieving frown.
"Possibly sir." Munroe replied. "Martense was having it excavated under the pretense of digging fuel storage tanks. Apparently he felt the remote location of the Sierra Madre made it an unlikely target, and he planned to survive the war with select members of his staff and construction crew."
"As interesting as this all is." Royez growled. "How is it relevant to our situation?"
"If there is a vault sir, it's possible supplies are stored there." Munroe hurriedly added. "More importantly, if it has a Vault Emergency Broadcast system we can use it to get a message to the NCR."
"The jammer won't affect it?" Royez said he stared at the station, his eyes narrowed in calculation.
"Unlikely sir. Those systems had their own radio channels and were meant to broadcast through electromagnetic interference."
"Very well Corporal." Royez announced after a pause. "Take two men and look for this Vault. Report back if you find anything."
Munroe snapped to attention and saluted before turning to carry out his orders. The Colonel turned back toward the city where a sworn enemy of the NCR was hiding with a trove of pre-war tech. Royez doubted Munroe would find anything. Even if the vault was built, Jan Martence clearly hadn't considered the possibility that a stray ICBM would hit Death Valley and tear the Earth apart. If they did find something, and by an even greater miracle recovered an intact broadcast beacon, Royez felt he had ample intelligence to get even the most isolationist members of the government to finally act.
The wind was beginning to hiss through the ruins carrying clouds of grit when the Corporal returned to report that there indeed appeared to be a sub-floor under the ruin, but that he needed the assistance of several more armored troopers to clear rubble. Royez scowled at the prospect of weakening his already precarious position. Not only was there a chance of an attack from the Sierra Madre, there were signs of other threats from the desert. The distant roars of Deathclaws could be heard, and a preliminary search had revealed mounds of dirt and debris that looked as if something had pushed to the surface from below.
The Colonel hesitated a moment before agreeing to send more men to assist. Their options were few and the potential rewards too great not to try. This time he accompanied Munroe back to the ruin and oversaw the excavation personally. Four soldiers in powered armor were required to move several slabs of concrete to show the twisted remains of two steel panels set in the concrete floor. A few more minutes of effort were required to pry the doors off and Royez shined a light into the dark stairway. Nothing stirred in the darkness and the Colonel gestured for his men to follow as he descended the concrete steps.
At the bottom they arrived at a short corridor ending at a heavy steel door. Royez jerked his head toward the door and stepped back as Corporal Munroe stepped forward and began to manipulate the lock. After a moment there were a series of clangs and the door swung out with a hiss of escaping air. Royez was the only member of the squad not wearing a helmet, and he covered his mouth and nose against the reek that billowed from the dank darkness.
"Radiation levels are climbing sir." Munroe observed as the radiation meter on his wrist began to crackle its warning.
"Dangerous levels?" Royez asked as he readied his Plasma Cutter.
"We should be safe for a short time." Munroe said as he watched the meter. "The radiation might be from a containment breach in the power plant."
"Where would the beacon controls be?" Royez demanded as she peered into the foul-smelling darkness.
"If they followed a Vault Tec design then we should find an override terminal in the Overseer's office sir." Munroe explained as he switched on a shoulder light.
"Then we go in." The Colonel said, his mouth set in a grim line. "Stay sharp people, we don't know what's in there." The other soldiers nodded and readied their weapons as the Colonel stepped through the doorway.
Beyond the door was a catwalk circling a dark chamber two stories deep. Several steel doors led from the lower floor to side chambers, but all were jammed open or missing. The floor below was covered in debris and dark stains, and a ground fog of red mist was also visible.
"Looks like there's an opening to the ruins somewhere." Munroe whispered as their lights cut through the heavy murk.
"Is that the 'Overseer's Office Corporal?" Royez demanded as he pointed to a circular window on the far side of the chamber. Unlike Munroe, Royez refused to whisper, and his voice sounded muffled in the thick air.
"Probably sir." The Corporal replied with a nod. "It's likely we can get there through that opening on the second floor."
Again Royez waved the squad forward as he led the way along the steel catwalk, their metal boots muffled by a crusted layer of filth. As Royez approached the door, he could see marks along the walls, as if something had gouged the concrete and steel. He didn't need to repeat his order to stay alert as his men scanned about them as he led the way into another steel tunnel. Then the Colonel stopped as his light showed a barricade of desks and lockers piled in the hallway. An opening had been forced through the middle and The Colonel cautiously turned sideways and led the way through, his Cutter raised and ready. Beyond the barricade all was still silent, but the walls were spattered with rust colored stains, among them clearly a human hand print. No other signs of life were visible as Royez led his men around the corner and into the Overseer's office.
Their lights cut through the murky air and illuminated a room dominated by a semi-circular desk with a monitor set on the wall behind. The room was filled with shattered furniture and streaked with filth, but all was silent except for the creaking and groaning of the vault around them. Corporal Munroe crossed the room to the monitor, scrubbed some of the dark film off the glass with his gauntleted fist, and attempted to activate it. Royez moved to join him as the rest of the squad readied their weapons and silently covered the door.
There was a long moment of silence as Munroe stared at the dark screen, and then started as it suddenly flickered to life. He immediately began to type on the keyboard below as green text began to crawl across the screen. As the Corporal attempted to gain access to the ancient computer, Royez looked about the room, noticing more bloodstains on the walls and desk, but no bones or pieces of clothing.
"I'm in sir." Munroe announced as he continued to type. "I'm handshaking the other systems now. With luck the connections are still good. There are also some text files, do you want me to open them?"
"Only if it doesn't interfere." Royez snapped as he turned from the hall to look at the monitor.
"The handshake will take a minute or two if everything's working sir." The Corporal began opening documents and scanning them when a distant bang suddenly echoed through the hallways. All the soldiers looked about, their apprehension obvious even through their armor.
"Good God." Munroe muttered as text scrolled past the screen.
"What is it Corporal?" Royez ordered as the tension began to creep into his voice.
"Most of the files are corrupt sir." Munroe replied as he closed the documents and began selecting new options. "What's left was mostly written by Jan Martence. He got in with some others when the bombs started dropping, then found out they were all sealed in after the earthquake hit."
Royez looked out the filth-smeared window toward the dark chamber beyond. The Colonel was a hardened veteran, yet he could sympathize with the horror of being trapped in the dark.
"There's not much else Sir." Munroe said as he entered another command. "He mentions that once he and a select few use the serum they stole from Sinclair he'll be 'dancing on all their graves'. He starts repeating the same sentence over and over before someone else writes the last document. It said the others have gone crazy and they are trying to barricade the office against them."
"What was the sentence Corporal?" Royez asked, curious in spite of himself.
"The light hurts my eyes." Munroe answered as a muffled boom vibrated through the walls.
"The backup generator is online!" The corporal exclaimed as his Geiger counter began clicking. "The beacon is broadcasting now sir! There's a microphone built into the desk, just speak near it and it will record!"
"This is Colonel Royez of the NCR Heavy Infantry Battalion." Royez said as he stepped behind the desk. "We have engaged hostile enemy forces at the Sierra Madre. A Brotherhood of Steel presence is confirmed with weapons of mass destruction aimed at NCR targets. We have taken casualties and need immediate reinforcement!"
Suddenly a shriek echoed from the chamber beyond and all the soldiers pointed their weapons at the open door.
"Message is being broadcast on a loop Colonel!" Munroe shouted as he readied his rifle.
"Move out!" Royez ordered as he strode past his men and entered the corridor. As they returned to the main chamber, they could all hear what sounded like something scratching on stone, but magnified a thousand times. Royez didn't need to order his men to hurry as they began to run along the catwalk as a screech cut through the air. Royez looked down into chamber and saw movement at all the doors as packs of dark-skinned humanoids jammed the doorways as they tried to climb over each other. He got a glimpse of fanged nose less faces with bulbous white eyes blazing in the reflected light before the creatures shrieked and covered their faces with scaly, clawed hands.
"Shit!" One of the soldiers exclaimed as they began firing their plasma cutters into the seething mass below.
"Go!" Colonel Royez roared as he saw the mutants swarming toward a stairwell. Realizing they would be overwhelmed if the mutants made it to the top of the stairs, Royez jerked a plasma grenade off his belt and flung it at the tide of scaly horrors as they swarmed toward them. There was a flash of green fire followed by a bedlam of shrieks and howls as the mutants in front burst into flames and fell back against the mass surging up from below.
Royez backed up to follow his men when a mutant leaped shrieking through the flames after him. Royez blasted the mutant with his Cutter before turning to run for the stairs, leaving it thrashing and flailing behind him. The steel door was being held by one of his troops as Royez pushed past then turned to help the soldier close the door. Suddenly the door shook as the mutants slammed into the heavy steel and flailed their clawed arms through the gap as they fought to push it open. Green fire lit the hall like a strobe as Corporal Munroe jammed his plasma rifle through the gap and blasted the Tunnelers point-blank. The shrieks were deafening as the mutants reeled back for an instant, giving Royez and his men the second they needed to slam the door shut and seal it with a boom.
A dust storm was blowing as The Colonel and his men returned to the surface, blotting out the sun with clouds of red dust.
"Everyone on the Vertibird, now!" Royez roared as he ran toward the aircraft. His men immediately abandoned their posts and began to run as the ground began to shudder under their feet.
"Colonel!" The pilot shouted over the wind. "With all the damage I don't know how long we can keep it in the air!"
"Get this thing airborne or we're all dead!" Royez snarled as his men began to climb into the hatch. There suddenly was a crash and Royez and the pilot turned to see a car sliding into a sinkhole.
"Move!" The Colonel roared as the last of his men crowded on the Vertibird and the pilot scrambled in after them. The rotors were already starting to whine as they started to pick up speed. Royez ran to the hatch, than looked back to see more cars sliding into the earth as the parking lot began to collapse. He then turned and clasped a soldier's armored forearm as the Vertibird's wheels began to leave the ground and dark shapes began to climb out of the hole below. The Vertibird tilted as the pilot fought to hold it steady, then turned and flew toward the open desert as Royez clambered inside the cramped compartment and slammed the hatch closed.
"We won't be able to fly long in this storm!" The pilot shouted over the roar of the engines.
"Put it down somewhere near rock!" Royez shouted in reply as he pulled himself upright with a snarl. The pilot continued to fight the wind and the controls of the damaged aircraft as Royez considered his options. The hills were home to Deathclaws, but he knew he and his men would last longer on the heights than below with the Tunnelers. Their only chance now was to hope the beacon was heard and reinforcements would come. If not, he and his men were as good as dead and the NCR was helpless against the vengeance of a madman.
And there was no one else to stop him.