Chapter Thirty-Five
Patrick looked at the new gun that he had been given by an Enclave scientist, just a couple hours before he is supposed to climb up onto the UAR train that was heading south to Brahmin Crossing. It was something they had been working on for years in the Vault, but unable to finish as they needed some materials that they didn't have access to underground. Patrick had no idea what they were, only that they got them somehow.
But now they gave the only prototype of Project E-87 to Patrick. A "field test," the nervous scientist said, though Patrick was sure the scientist didn't want his baby to go out into the field yet. He got a few shots in at a target, which was a man standing in an old suit of T-45d power armor, one that would have been used by the US Army when they took over Canada. It was actually one used by a soldier in the US Army 140 years before, and refurbished by the Enclave.
"Are you sure about this?" Patrick asked the soldier who was in the power armor.
"Of course! Project E-87 is designed to be non lethal to infantry. It's electronics that would be damaged by it, such as in power armor," the soldier said, pounding his chest. "The metal won't be affected, but all the electrical stuff will. So I should be fine." The soldier was very confident.
"Why not just have me fire at the power armor without you in it?" Vince, standing beside Patrick, asked.
"Because we need to see how it reacts when someone is wearing it and using it," the soldier replied. "Anyway, just shoot the damn thing already!"
Patrick shrugged, and walked to the end of the test range. Project-87 looked like a laser rifle, just with a lot more doohickeys and things on it, and even used the same ammo as one. However, instead of shooting one charge from the microfusion cell that a laser rifle would normally have done, it fires the entire force of the special battery into an electromagnetic pulse, which, the scientist said, would disable electronics, but not injure humans.
Besides, if Patrick really needed to kill someone, he still had his .44 on his hip, along with all the other weapons he was finally reunited with.
Patrick lifted the heavier laser rifle and pointed it at the soldier in the old fashioned power armor. He braced himself, made sure he was aiming for the middle of the chest piece, and pulled the trigger.
The laser rifle had no recoil, which always surprised Patrick, who was used to a rifle that would buck against your shoulder. But a bright blue light, with a loud, magnified BOOM like a crack of thunder, shot out in a blink of an eye, and hit the power armor. There were sparks and the smell of burnt copper and the sizzle of electronics as it impacted the power armor.
The man in the power armor didn't move. There was some muffled talking, then yelling. But otherwise it looked like he froze in place.
"Just as I expected," the scientist behind Patrick said, stepping forward. "The servos and motors have been fried, making it impossible for him to move. All electronics in the machine, from the heads up display to the flashlight will all have been disabled."
"Can you get him out?" Patrick asked.
"Yes, but we won't be able to save the power armor," the scientist said. A crew of workers with plasma cutters and saws descended on the man.
"Don't they open with that hatch thing on the back?" Patrick said.
"Of course," the scientist scoffed, as if Patrick should know the answer already. "The problem is that the frame uses hydraulics to open up to allow the user to step into. But those hydraulics are operated with an electronic system, with the hatch door at the back and a special button on the inside." The scientist shook his head. "So we will have to cut into the frame to get him out."
Patrick winced as the cutters were turned on, shooting out a bright blue flame, then began to cut into the metal plating.
"Well, he survived the blast," Vince said. "I don't know if he'll survive the rescue. Reminds me of the time I saw a dog get its head caught in a pail that was full of bees in… R Kansas. The poor mutt."
But the weapon worked. And considering he would be going up against robots and bad guys in power armor that he didn't want to let out, this should be fine, right?
The train took a day and a half to travel from Winnipeg to Brahmin Crossing. More sabotage was taking place on the UAR lines, especially between the capital and Fargo, so a trip that would normally take only a few hours now turned into a long, uncomfortable trip.
"Should took a damn Vertibird," Patrick grumbled to Colonel Granger, who, unlike usual, wasn't in his suit of power armor, and instead sitting in his uniform across from Patrick. He was the man, along with at least 40 more rebel Enclave soldiers in Power Armor, that volunteered for this mission. Patrick wondered if it had to do with proving himself to Secretary Hawthorne that he could be trusted. The way that Colonel Granger nervously talked to Patrick about anything other than the upcoming attack radiogramed that maybe the Colonel wanted to prove himself to Patrick too.
"If we did, the Vault would have noticed. So we need to sneak up on them, and that's why we are taking the train," Colonel Granger replied.
Patrick sighed. Even after they got off the train, it would be another day on top of that to hike all the way to the Vault from Brahmin Crossing. "They have to know we are on the way," Patrick said.
"Undoubtedly," Colonel Granger said. "That's where your new weapon comes in handy. They wouldn't have anything to counter that."
Patrick sighed, and eventually dozed off as the train rumbled down the track, rocking softly back and forth. He couldn't let himself go to sleep, after what happened near Grand Forks…
They got to Brahmin Crossing early in the morning, and set out across the North Dakota wasteland heading west, back to the vault. The townspeople that were up and around early in the day were not that amazed by the group of soldiers in power armor wandering around like they were in Patrick first brought Colonel Granger out of the Vault and through town. Maybe they'd just gotten used to it?
But the hike to the Vault was, as Patrick thought, another full day of riding and marching. And since Vince had never ridden a Sleipnir before, Patrick had to show him how to do that to, which slowed them down, if not the Enclave soldiers.
"Damn, this is tough," Vince said when they stopped that evening, walking bow legged.
Patrick chuckled. "Well, you could have stayed behind in Winnipeg."
"And miss all the fun?" Vince said, a grin on his face.
They ate and slept, with the Enclave soldiers manning watches and patrols to make sure their little camping spot wasn't attacked. Patrick had to be shook awake the next morning, with the sun only just appearing on the horizon. He hadn't had a good sleep in almost a week now, with all the trains, the staying awake at all hours when infiltrating Kildonan and stopping the Coup, running on adrenaline and caffeine from Nuka Cola. Patrick really hoped that maybe after this, he might be able to get a good sleep for a little while at least.
Breakfast was just whatever they brought with them that they didn't eat the night before. Patrick had a Salisbury Steak and a bottle of water: not the most appetizing of breakfast, but enough to fill him up. And then they set out again.
They were only an hour or two from the Vault, and scouts said there was nothing around the Vault that would impede them. Of course, Patrick didn't trust the report, as who was to say that is what the scout wanted everyone to think? But the closer they got, and the lack of turrets or power armored soldiers or robots of death, Patrick thought that maybe, just maybe the scout was right.
After tying the sleipnir's to an old fence post and ensuring everyone's weapons were loaded and ready to use, the whole force got to the ramp that lead down the slope into the Vault. Colonel Granger and a few soldiers went up to the big cog-wheel door, and tried to open it from the outside while everyone else, Patrick included, watched from the surface. But nothing worked. Passwords, the Pip-Boy Vault overriding mechanism, nothing.
"What the hell?" Colonel Granger said. "They must have changed the passwords."
A staticky screech from a speaker came on. "And you would be right, you traitor!"
"Speaker Graham," Colonel Granger growled. "You lied to me, and nearly destroyed the Enclave while doing it. For that, you are going to pay!"
"Maybe if you and your men weren't such pussy's and would have fought to the last man instead of letting some degenerate, mutated wastelander talk you out of it, Assiniboia would be no more and America would be great again!" Speaker Graham shouted through the speakers. "I knew you were too soft hearted for this Colonel. Should have had you imprisoned, if not executed for listening and trusting that dirty farmer."
Patrick growled low in his throat, but he stayed where he was.
"Last chance Mr. Speaker," Colonel Granger said. "Open this door, or we will knock it down."
"Hah! I'd like to see you try. Three feet of reinforced steel. Good luck getting through that!" The speaker cut out.
Colonel Granger stood for a moment before he turned around and marched back up the ramp to the rest of the soldiers. "Alright, Plan B."
"What? Are you crazy?" One of the soldiers asked. "Uh, sir?"
"They won't be expecting it. I know it's dangerous, but it can be done. You know your power armor can withstand it," Colonel Granger said.
"Uh, what is Plan B?" Patrick asked.
Colonel Granger grinned, then put on his helmet. "We are going in through the hanger."
"The what?" Patrick asked.
"It's where we kept the Vertibirds when we were underground, and where they can come in and out. Basically a huge hole that leads 200 some feet down into the ground, and close to the armory and barracks, so we can isolate the few defenders down there from their weapons."
Patrick blinked. Granger looked around, until he saw the area where the dirt and dust had disappeared about four feet deep, where the massive doors that opened to the hanger were located. He surveyed the area, before nodding to himself.
"That's an awful long drop. And how do you plan to get it?"
Colonel Granger would have been smiling again, but the helmet made it impossible to see. "Tavish! Jamison! Bring out the big guns! You know what to aim for, right?"
Two people in power armor shouted "Sir yes sir!" then ran forward, pulling out massive launchers that had been attached to their back. They both grabbed a football sized object that was in a specially designed compartment on the launcher, and set the object in the launcher. It was then pulled back, and two nearly simultaneous bells rang out.
For some odd reason, Patrick was suddenly hungry.
There was a soft wooosh as the spring loaded mechanisms on the launchers let go, the two football like objects soaring through the air in a graceful arch.
Granger turned around. "Everyone, make sure your helmets are on! Auxiliary, Duck and Cover!"
"What, why?" Patrick asked, confused. As the Enclave soldiers turned away or crouched.
"It's a bloody Fat Man! Get down!" Vince cried out, jumping on Patrick, and knocking him backwards. Vince then rolled off and crouched.
There was an earth shattering kaboom. Patrick wasn't looking right at the explosion, but a brilliant bright white, brighter than staring at the sun, brighter than someone waving a flashlight in his face, blinded him. He shut his eyes tight, but even that wasn't enough to make the bright light go away. He twisted around to try to dig his head into the ground, but by then the light was gone.
Then there was a roar, a rumbling, feral, terrifying sound as all the air rushed past Patrick, blowing dirt and grass and debris in all directions. Patrick could hear screaming somewhere, but after a moment realized it was him.
The wind died down a moment later, but a distance roaring rumble could still be heard. Patrick carefully, cautiously looked up, blinking as he realized that he was slightly blinded, and everything seemed a lot brighter than it should have been.
Two mushroom clouds hung over the hole in the ground that lead to the hanger, but it was already starting to fade away as Patrick watched.
"What… what was that?" Patrick said.
"No need to shout there," Colonel Granger whispered as he walked up in his power armor.
"I'm not shouting!" Patrick said, before realizing that everything was really quiet, and his ears were ringing. "Okay, maybe I am!"
Colonel Granger pulled Patrick up onto his feet. "That was a Fat Man Tactical Nuclear Catapult. It fires a miniature nuclear warhead, so it's a lot like an actual nuclear bomb, causing a massive explosion and irradiating the nearby area. But unlike the bombs used in the Great War, these are really scaled down, and the radiation doesn't last long." Colonel Granger then turned to the two soldiers that fired the Fat Man's. "Did it work?"
"See for yourself, sir," one of them said, pointing to the hole.
Before they even went to the hole, everyone not in power armor took a couple Rad-X pills, enough to block the most harmful radiation. Colonel Granger, Patrick, Vince and a few curious onlookers came up. The two doors that was there before were gone now, the bent metal having falling into the pit down to the hanger below.
"Oh man! That was so much fun! Better than a missile launcher or dynamite anyday!" the other explosives man exclaimed, laughing maniacally.
"Calm down Jamison. That's just the first step." Colonel Granger turned to the soldiers. "Alright, everyone down! Time to put down that rabid dog!"
Half of the soldiers, armed with their laser and plasma rifles, gave a cheer, before they just sprinted and jumped into the hole, plunging through the black abyss. The sound of 20 some suits of power armor crashing down, followed only moments later by the sound of gunfire and lasers, came up from the hole.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me," Patrick said, turning to Colonel Granger. "I can't jump down there."
"Oh, you won't be jumping. Everyone else, the guys with the heavy guns, are rappelling down. And you can join them that way."
Soldiers were already attaching hooked cables as best as they could to the ground, pulling on them as hard as they could to make sure they were safe. One wasn't, and the Enclave soldier tugging on it stumbled backwards, but was saved by two other power armored soldiers before he fell into the pit.
The cables that were secure then had the loose end tossed down. Several power armored men, with laser Gatling and miniguns and missile launchers, went down the ropes first, expertly lowering themselves with kicks and leaps. Colonel Granger also went down at this point, his laser rifle at the ready.
"Alright Auxiliary," A grizzled sergeant said, fastening a makeshift harness made out of rope and clips around him. "Your turn. You don't need to do anything fancy like these guys, just let us lower you down."
Patrick took a deep breath, and shuddered. "I think I'm regretting not asking you guys about letting me use some power armor," he said.
"Eh, you don't always land on your feet," the sergeant said. "Besides, it takes weeks to properly train how to even walk in the damn things."
Vince chuckled. "When I was younger I managed to get my hands on some power armor. Some old guy whose father had been in the army. Of course, I didn't ask him if I could use it…"
"You can tell that story later," Patrick told Vince. "Let's just make sure this story doesn't have a sudden ending."
Patrick carefully maneuvered himself to the hole, and carefully getting himself down enough that he could be lowered further. A couple Enclave soldiers began to use the rope, letting him fall slowly and carefully to the hanger below. Patrick looked down, and he could see the red bolts of laser energy firing back and forth, with a green ball of energy shooting across every so often. A few suits of power armor were sprawled out on the floor, unmoving, their weapons laying beside them or still in hand.
Patrick reached for Project E-87 that was strapped to his back, and pulled it off the special vest like holster that the Enclave had, a series of magnets that allowed them to carry a laser rifle or some other kind of gun on his back. More powerful magnets on power armor let them carry a minigun or a box of supplies, or the Fat Man launcher.
Patrick made sure it was loaded as he came within ten feet of the fighting. But then the rope stopped.
Patrick looked up to see the sergeant try to shout something, but he couldn't hear over the fighting below. He tried to make a hand gesture, but he couldn't see it, or understand what he was seeing.
But he wasn't getting any lower, so something must have went wrong. He looked down. He wasn't that far, and he shouldn't hurt himself if…
He yanked the part of the rope that the sergeant said would release him from the harness. Patrick had to pull a couple of times, but it all slid apart, and he was suddenly free.
Patrick had only a moment to try to get his feet under him and his knees bent before he landed on the floor. He tried to roll, but it wasn't very graceful or impressive, but it was enough to make sure he didn't break every bone in his legs. A laser bolt snarled past his head with an angry hiss, making him duck, trying to push himself into the concrete floor.
"For the Enclave! For America!" Someone shouted from the far side of the room. Patrick carefully glanced up to see several robots, Protectrons and Mr. Gutsy's and one massive hulking robot with a tripod like form that allow it to move in any direction, and two arms, one with a minigun (that was firing on the rebel Enclave soldiers on the far side of the hanger), the other with a missile launcher (which it launched against a different group of rebel Enclave soldiers, sending three of them flying through the air.
"Please stand clear," the robotic voice of the massive hunk of steel and armament said. "Communists and traitors to America will be dealt with."
"Kill that fucking sentry bot, someone!" a rebel Enclave soldier screamed, before a hail of minigun bullets destroyed this helmet and killed him.
Patrick took a breath and lifted up his new gun, aiming it at the robot. It was a good thing it was such a big target, so he aimed for about the middle of the sentry bot. He pulled the trigger, and lightning shot from his gun.
The robot had shifted a bit to fire at another target, and the bolt of electricity designed to overwhelm electronics hit it just under the left arm with the missile launcher, making that side of his body suddenly droop. The missile that was in the tube and about to fire then exploded in it's tube, destroying the Sentry bot, several other robots, and anyone else that was too close when it happened.
"Good shot, Auxiliary!" someone shouted. Patrick turned around to see Vince just getting himself lowered into the pit, followed a moment later with more Enclave soldiers, the ones that helped lower them in, land on the ground after jumping from the top.
The Loyalist Enclave soldiers that survived the destruction of the sentry bot began to pull back into a corridor, going deeper into the vault. The robots, on the other hand, still fought on, but now that the sentry bot was down, the Rebel Enclaves soldiers managed to destroy the rest, liberating the hanger. Patrick did his best with Project E-87 to contribute, and he nailed a few more robots, and turned a fleeing Loyalist Enclave power armored soldier into a statue. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, though Patrick had never fished in his life, much less knew what a fish was considering most aquatic creatures had died in the mass extinction after the War of 2077.
Colonel Granger came up a moment later. "Good to see that gun is doing its job. Just wish that we could get to MAVIS and shut them down… but the techies say that the computer is so well protected, they will never get to them in time."
Patrick nodded. "Now what?"
"We fight our way through the Vault to the Speaker. And if you are up to it, I think you're the one that will be going ahead, as that gun can mow down anything they can throw at us."
"I guess, yeah." Patrick stretched his back, and felt something pop. "Anyway, no time like the present to field test it, eh?."
The Rebel Enclave soldiers began to form up in squads to sweep through the Vault. Patrick, Colonel Granger and Vince, with ten or so more power armored soldiers, began the march through the Vault to find Speaker Graham, which Colonel Granger guessed would be in what they called the Situation Room, which was higher in the Vault. They cleared out and secured the bottom level of the vault, with the Nuclear Reactor and barracks and armory, which was unfortunately empty.
"That could be a problem," Colonel Granger admitted. "There was a lot of powerful weapons in here, and we didn't take them all to Winnipeg."
But the robots were just being thrown at them, and since none of them where the fearsome sentry bots, they were easily dealt with. However, the cameras all over the Vault must have meant that the people in charge knew where to send the robots, making it incredibly inconvenient for the rebel Enclave soldiers. Little eyebots floated around, beeping loudly when they found Patrick and his little gang showed up. Patrick usually didn't get time to shoot the hovering, dodging robots with the speakers before someone else got them. Same with the Protectrons and Mister Gutsy robots that showed up. The next two levels, mostly of residence areas and storage, was cleared easily, leaving mostly scrap metal.
It was when the power armored soldiers came up, like after they cleared out the cafeteria and the kitchen on the fourth floor and were ascending the stairs to the next floor up. They were ambushed on the stairway by a machine gun perched on top of some desks and sandbags, and one Enclave Rebel was cut down.
Patrick fired a couple shots with Project X-87, but all the shots missed. In anger, he pulled out his .44 and joined the soldiers banging away at the machine gun to try to maybe get a lucky shot at the machine gunners, but it definitely shot back, mocking all the lasers and bullets that filled the air heading in their direction.
One soldier in power armor reached into a pocket on his power armor, and pulled out a frag grenade. He pulled the pin.
"One, two… five!" he shouted, throwing it at the machine gunners.
"You missed three…" someone else said before a loud blast echoed through the narrow hallway. The machine gun had stopped firing however, leaving two moaning and injured loyalist soldiers that were carried away, and the barricade cleared away to allow them to continue.
As they worked on clearing level five, which had the large open area that was used as the Atrium, as well as the only area large enough in the Vault to allow the rump Congress to meet, more machine guns, as well as soldiers with missile launchers and laser gatling guns and even another sentry bot that had both a laser gatling gun and a missile launcher firing at the Rebel Enclave soldiers as they tried to take them out.
This time, they were flanked out: Patrick and some soldiers snuck to the next level up, hurriedly, but quietly, sneaking around until they got to behind them. Patrick, when he got into position to just see enough of the sentry bot to take a shot, fired Project X-87. The impact hit the bot, but it didn't explode.
"Crap!" Patrick muttered. The Sentry bot made some whirring noises.
"Alert, alert! Flanking maneuver detected!" the sentry bot shouted.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap!" Patrick said, fumbling as he tried to reload the gun. The other soldiers began to fire to keep the fire off Patrick until he managed to get the microfusion cell into place. He lifted the gun up, and pulled the trigger again.
This time the impact hit the sentry bot in the chest. The thick steel wasn't quite enough to withstand the bolt of energy, and the robot slumped as the electronics that operated it were fried.
With the sentry bot down, the other rebel Enclave soldiers with Patrick rushed forward, and got at the soldiers with the machine guns and the missile launchers, taking them by surprise. They all went down to a man.
"Good shooting there Auxiliary!" one soldier said. "We'd all be blood splatter if you weren't here."
Patrick allowed a wiry smile. "If anyone is going to be a blood splatter, it would be the person not protected by composite armor, right?"
The soldier had already rushed off to help secure the rest of the floor. Patrick continued up back to the level he was on that allowed him to sneak behind.
That level had nothing guarding it but a few turrets, which were very fragile and easily destroyed by regular lasers or bullets. But they lead to the Situation Room, which was part of the President's Suite, which replaced the Overseer's office that most normal vaults had.
Black suited security guards with black sunglasses and powerful handguns and plasma pistols, along with a few turrets and robots were all that stood in the way of the the rebel Enclave soldiers in the suite of bedrooms, offices, private dining area and the conference room that Patrick recognized from when he first meet the Enclave.
But like everything else, they were swept aside. They didn't even have bulletproof armor under their suits.
Patrick, following Colonel Granger, and ahead of Vince, stormed into the last room, the Situation Room. Black and white TV monitors filled one entire wall, the other with a massive map of the United States, another of the Vault itself. A large table, with several computers, mountains of papers and a small, proudly standing US flag in the middle, dominated most of the room.
And standing staring at the monitors, all filled with scenes of soldiers fighting each other, was J. W. Graham, his suit ill kempt, his tie askew, his hair a mess, staring blankly into the distance. On the desk behind him, a 10mm pistol sat. Everyone that just stormed into the room pointed a gun at the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Acting President of the United States of America.
"Speaker Graham, you are under arrest for treason to the United States of America and the Enclave," Colonel Granger, doing his best to control his voice, said.
"This… this is unthinkable," Speaker Graham said, his voice hollow. He slowly turned his head to Colonel Granger. "You… you and that snake Hawthorne have doomed us all."
"You nearly destroyed the Enclave yourself," Colonel Granger said. "Your lies, your deceit, your incompetence, your bull headedness, your refusal to listen to anyone else, your xenophobism, your pursuit of unlimited power, your ideological perfect version of America that is long dead… That's all on you. Everyone was blind to it for so long, but your attempt to overthrow the one nation, the one people, that had even a remote chance of bringing civilization to the world that our predecessors destroyed has shattered that vision." Colonel Granger took a deep breath. "So, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Speaker Graham continued staring at Granger, barely blinking. "I did what I had to for America. Assiniboia is nothing. Assiniboia is a lie, a cheat, a failure! And you will see soon enough, all you traitors. I was giving them a chance to better themselves, to make them a great power, to lift them up.
"Being servants to American tyrants is not what we have in mind," Patrick shot back.
Graham didn't even respond to Patrick. "Even if we failed then, it was better that we die as freemen, as Americans, than to turn into slaves. But you betrayed me. You betrayed America!" he screamed.
Graham then took a breath. "But it's over. The true America has breathed its last. It is dead. You have killed it's last chance, and let a horrendous monster take its place. So if you want to bow at the feet of some mutated, irradiated corpse that claims to be the inheritor of the world," he said, looking at Patrick, with his cold, dead eyes, "then fine. Go do it. But I…" Speaker Graham said, turning to face everyone else, placing his hand over his heart. "I will die as I lived: a patriotic American." He then took a breath. "Oh say can you see," he sang "by the dawn's early light?"
His other hand came up, the 10mm suddenly in it. Everyone shouted in a guttural panicked scream, and everyone ducked to avoid wherever he was going to fire at, but he placed the barrel against his temple, and pulled the trigger. His body instantly went limp, falling onto the desk, and leaving blood in a smeared path, he fell to the floor.
Everyone in the room stared at the lifeless body. Patrick was shocked that he did it. Maybe he knew it was hopeless, that he had no chance to win. Or maybe he just wanted to take the easy way out.
Either way, it was over now.
Colonel Granger bent down to the body, and tried to feel for a pulse. When he didn't, he then reached into his pockets, searching through his jacket and pants. There was a lot in his pockets: pens, keys, a small radio, but finally Granger found what he was looking for, and pulled out a card, and then gave it to Patrick. "This is the Enclave Nuclear Weapon Authorization Code, which we call the 'Last Resort.' I already have one, and by protocol, no one person can hold both codes. So, until further notice, I'm entrusting this to you."
Patrick carefully took the card, which was about the size of a playing card, and looked at it. There was two rows of digits on the card.
"In the event that the Enclave had to use a nuclear weapon, at least two people in the highest echelons of power have to give approval. There are several missile silos that have long been hidden and not used in North Dakota during the Great War, so they are still under the command of the United States Government, the Enclave. In the event that we need to use it, we radio the frequency on the first line and then confirm the order with the second line. Then another person has to do the same with their card, which has different numbers. When both have been verified, the missiles are launched."
"How do we determine where to launch it? That is, if we need to?" Patrick hastily added.
"Normally there would be a series of different scenarios that MAVIS would know, but we can also manually give the coordinates," Colonel Granger replied. "That's where the Pip-Boy would come in handy. Just pick the spot, get the longitude and latitude, give the order, and kaboom! It's gone."
Patrick was about to ask another question when suddenly sirens began to wail, red strobe lights filling the room.
"What the hell is going on?" Vince yelled, looking around in confusion.
As if to answer him, the speakers crackled to life. "Code Red! Code Red!" a computerized female voice barked. "Nuclear reactor has gone supercritical: Meltdown in approximately five minutes. Evacuate the Vault immediately!"
Ice ran through Patrick's veins. "What? How? Why?"
Colonel Granger looked at the small radio, which was more like a small walky-talky he pulled off of Speaker Graham. The transmit function was still on, taped into place. "He must have given a secret code to MAVIS to have the safeguards removed." He turned to see soldiers starting to panic. "Everyone out! This is not a drill!" He then turned to Patrick. "Auxiliary, follow me!"
The soldiers pushed their way out of the room as quickly as they could, not really giving a damn about order. Patrick did his best to follow Colonel Granger, as it was still a maze down here in the Vault. They went up a couple more flights of stairs, all full of people: soldiers with their guns, politicians that had vowed to stay loyal to the Enclave (or rather, the now deceased Graham) to the end but now decided to hoof it, and the few civilians like secretaries, janitors, women and children left, some with suitcases, some carrying boxes, some just crying and running as fast as they could to get out. A young girl cried as she lost grip on her teddy bear and it was trampled under the mess, while a young man tripped, and was also trampled on. Patrick shuddered at the thought.
They made it to the big door in less than two minutes, but it was shut tight.
"The codes don't work!" Someone shouted. "They have been changed!"
"What are the new codes?" another person screamed. "We got to get out of here!"
Two men in white coats pushed up. "Get out of the way! We can try to fix this!" People managed to move out of the way somewhat to let the computer techs to get ahead.
Colonel Granger looked around, worry and fear on his face. He then looked to Patrick. "I don't think they will be able to hotwire it in time though. Even though the entire system is linked to MAVIS below, it will just take too long." He sighed. "So this might be it. We stopped the madman, and but now he's killing all of us in return. So he'll get the last laugh in hell now." Colonel Granger sighed, and looked at Patrick. "I'm sorry that you were dragged into this. I really do wish you would have been able to find and rescue your brother."
My brother…I got to get out of here. For Zach… Patrick bit his lip, then he noticed the radio in Colonel Granger's hand. "Wait a minute… what was the code that Speaker Graham used to lower the safeguards?"
"I have no idea," Colonel Granger said. "But since it was transmitted, my guess is something verbal."
Patrick thought quickly. "What was the last thing he said? That… song he sang?"
Colonel Granger thought. "Oh… that was the first line of the Star Spangled Banner, the national anthem of America."
Patrick thought. "Maybe… the code is something from that?"
Colonel Granger thought for a moment, trying to find a reason to say it was stupid, that it would never work. But he gave a small chuckle. "Maybe it is. And besides… not like we have anything left to lose."
"Two minutes until meltdown," the female voice announced on the speakers. There was a soft rumble somewhere down below something was blowing up several stories in the bowels of the Vault.
Colonel Granger straightened his shoulders, and held up the walky-talky. "Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light?"
People in earshot nearby stopped freaking out, if just wondering what daft person would start singing now. Vince, who had elbowed his way up to Patrick, was about to ask what was going on, but Patrick shushed him.
"What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming," Colonel Granger continued. A couple other people also began to sing, some thinking it as a final swansong of the Enclave. Patrick and Colonel Granger knew better, and the officer held up the walky-talky higher so that it could hear everyone.
"Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,"
"One minute and thirty seconds until Meltdown," the speakers said.
"O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?" the singers sang. Now everyone in the crowded entrance to the vault but the technicians trying to hack into the computer system and Patrick who had no idea of the lyrics were singing.
"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air," they sang, with a bunch of sparks coming from the computer terminals the technicians were working at, making them shout in shock and panic that their last hope was gone.
"Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."
"One minute until Meltdown." More rumbles, and a louder crash could be heard over the speakers.
"Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave," everyone, including the Technicians, sang.
"O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
The speaker on the walky-talky suddenly came to life. "Confirmation received. Unlocking Vault Door."
Suddenly another siren, with an orange light over the Vault door lit up. The metal arm swung down and fastened into the door. There was silence for a moment, then a loud cheer as the loud screech of steel on steel filled their ears as the massive Vault door was pulled out of its resting spot.
"Thirty seconds until melt-" The speakers suddenly went to static.
Now everyone was worried that the door wouldn't open fast enough. But the other arm came out of the wall, and latched into the middle of the door, and began to pull it to the side. As soon as it was opened enough to allow someone through, some people began to push their way out. As the door opened wider, more and more people began to flood through the opening. Patrick felt himself being dragged with the crowd, and soon he was outside, and going up the dirt ramp that lead to the Vault door.
The sun had gone down since he and the other soldiers had stormed the Vault, leaving only thousands of stars in the sky to shine down on the people that came out. There wasn't even a moon that could be seen anywhere. He was surprised: had it taken all day to fight in the Vault? Apparently, he guessed. It was quite a shock to him: it honestly felt like maybe an hour or two at the most.
There was a massive explosion. A bright light could be seen from the hole where the hanger was, along with an explosion as dust, debris and other objects were launched through the hole, and into the sky.
"The reactor just exploded!" someone cried.
"Get away from here! The radiation could be here any moment now!" another person yelled.
Patrick managed to stop himself and look around. Vince had gotten separated from him, as well as Colonel Granger. He was looking for the two people he knew.
He saw Vince, eyepatch and all, ushering people to run to the left. He gave a wave, and Vince waved back. He then went back to helping.
But where was Colonel Granger?
The massive metal doors that had hidden the ramp for 140 years before Patrick stumbled upon it almost two months ago began to close, with yet another klaxon giving the warning to stay clear. The last few stragglers, mostly power armored soldiers that must have been deep in the bowels of the Vault managed to get past the doors as they closed.
Patrick ran up to one. "Where is Colonel Granger?"
"I don't know, I didn't see him," the power armored soldier said.
Three more stragglers in power armor said the same thing.
Maybe he already managed to get out?
The last power armored soldier, who actually had to use the extra strength provided by the power armor to hold up the door to allow a woman and her child to get out let the door down with a slam, and was panting heavily. Patrick went up to him.
"Did you see Colonel Granger?" Patrick asked.
The soldier in his power armor looked to Patrick. "Oh, Auxiliary," he said, his voice muffled and enhanced by the the power armor, but he was also breathing heavily from the exertion he went through. "I saw him… run back into the vault... closing the door behind me."
"What?" Patrick exclaimed.
"He… he said he was going to look… for more people," the soldier said, panting. "But… I don't think there will... be anyone. The rads are…. already way past lethal, even in... the Vault entrance."
Patrick could feel something click in his mind, and it was like a brick wall fell on him. "He… he…"
"I'm sorry Auxiliary," the soldier said. "Colonel Granger was a good man. He was a father to his men, and he knew right from wrong. But I'm really sorry." The soldier sighed, stood up, and walked away.
Patrick sank to the ground. For the first time since the death of Grandma Morrison, he began to cry.
Pip-Boy 3000 Infotracker Note #38
MAVIS Handbook Introduction.
Thank you for your purchase/congratulation on your assignment/Drop dead you Commie scum hacker (Please select appropriate greeting) of this handbuilt, state of the art computer system, MAVIS, by Rob-Co!
MAVIS (Multi-Automated Vault Integrated Systems) is a specially designed supercomputer to be used in managing and running Vault _ (insert number here) by Vault-tec. While many Vaults will make do with many independent computerized systems, Vault _ (insert number here) will be using MAVIS to manage all the systems. Nuclear reactor controls? Hydroponics? Internal and external defense? The Vault Door? The robot mainframe? Your personal computers? All of them will be managed by MAVIS!
Before you use MAVIS, ensure you have read all the material provided (MAVIS Handbook's Volume 1-87). Just one wrong line of code could render the entire system useless, so be careful!
In the event you require technical support, please call 1-999-847-1833 for Official RobCo tech support (open 1 pm to 4 pm, Tuesday to Thursday).
Thank you for your purchase of MAVIS!