Gold Rush III: Aftershock

Golden Fortress Main Complex

December 3, 11:25 PM

Nemorov did not encounter any more resistance on the way to the Command Center, which made him suspicious; there were plenty of Blue Moon bodies on the trail there, including the body of Sergeant Ragulin. He knew when he was near, though, as at least one squad, maybe two squads of Bowlheads were lying in wait at the end of the corridor, behind permanent bunker-like fortifications. These ones were better-equipped than the squads he had fought on the way there; among other things, they had a heavy machine gun and several grenade launchers. The sudden increase in heavy ordinance made it clear that the target of interest was on the other side.

Nevertheless, Nemorov found it very difficult to believe these two squads had killed all the soldiers he had seen in the hallway without taking any casualties themselves, especially since most of the bodies were not in the deathtrap corridor. His squad pulled back, returning to the main hallway.

Corporal Dityatev, the squad's medic, inspected the bodies while the rest of the squad covered the hallway's exits. "These three men here can still be saved with enough Emeraldine; I estimate we have a few hours to give it to them. We need to pull back and take them to the med camp so we can treat them for real, though."

One of the soldiers groaned. "We're almost at the Command Room!"

The Lieutenant glared at the man. "Private Chazov, these Bowlheads have slaughtered several of our squads already; what makes you think we stand a better chance in that corridor, especially without the Command Network? Aside from your callous disregard for the lives of our comrades, we need information about how these men were attacked. These dogs are pinned – they aren't going anywhere. Now grab a man and help! We can have the tanks demolish the compound if it comes to that!"

That's right; before the Comnet went down, there were at least two tanks still operational. Corporal Dityatev inspected one of the bodies closer. "Sir... this man here was killed by a blow to the head, perhaps by a strike from a gun. He also has... a pistol bullet in his leg. In fact, at least four of the men here, including the Sergeant, were hit in a limb by a pistol at close range, then died from blunt force trauma. The Sergeant's beyond saving, though; his head's like a half-mashed potato."

"Then we should be extra careful on the way out. Carry the bodies, but watch for ambushes; Sergeant Vdovin will cover our backs. I've got the front. Corporal, are you good for lifting with your hand like that?"

"Yeah. Might be a little slow."

"See to it that's not too slow then, Corporal. Alright; let's move."

Continental Highway 72

11:32 PM

Recruit David Carroll looked on as if in a stupor while OF-Lieutenant Andy worked his magic with one of the broken APCs. The rest of the soldiers were resting, checking their equipment, and preparing to return to the Golden Fortress. The recruits were effectively relieved from duty, as they were not expected to fight in the upcoming battle; most were with their wounded friends. Several of the APCs had been designated as medical vehicles, and Andy had brought along some more medics and a large supply of Emeraldine, so most of the wounded were officially out of danger. It was too risky to send the wounded back to the capital, though; the staff had all agreed it was safer to return to the Golden Fortress and set up a temporary HQ there if the situation was as bad as they had feared. And it might be; there was no transceiver communication from the fortress, and with a Dark Spot over the area, no satellite images could be taken.

David could see Sergeant Levins talking with Lieutenant Lockburr; he wasn't surprised that the Sergeant had made it through safely, though to David he looked a little pale. He turned back to Andy, who was inspecting the APC like a doctor diagnosing a patient. The kid had a small smile, but was concentrating intensely. As David watched, the outside of the vehicle unwound and shifted, returning to its normal state. The kid – no, the OF-Lieutenant turned around and grinned. "Alright. Good as new!"

David couldn't face Turd or Sticks like this. He didn't feel worthy of it, even if they could use his support. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Lt. Lockburr point at him; when he turned to look, Sergeant Levins was staring at him and nodding. The Sergeant walked over to him as he stood up.

"Recruit Carroll, at ease. The Lieutenant was just telling me about the firefight. I see you've met OF-Lieutenant Andy already."

"Y-yes, sir." Why's he talking to me like this?

"I'll save the questions for later. I'll want to see you when we reach the base, though. Blasted transceiver silence."

"Questions, sir?"

"Oh. Well, don't worry about it right now. Just get yourself rested; you recruits have done well today. I suppose you can only be so ready for your first firefight. Sometimes it tells you something."

The Sergeant turned and walked away, leaving David to wonder just what that had been all about. Somehow, he felt even more drained than before. As Andy moved on to the other damaged APC, David decided to help the wounded into the medical vehicles, making sure to avoid contact with his squad.

Blue Moon Forward Camp

Golden Fortress

11:40 PM

Lt. Nemorov and what remained of his squad staggered out from the main complex's catacombs, shortly arriving at their forward camp within the base perimeter. The camp looked quite deserted from the outside, aside from the few soldiers standing guard, but he could hear faint moaning, probably from the wounded. That was never a good sign.

Nemorov looked around briefly, and saw the charred remains of one more tank near the camp; the other was nowhere in sight. He sighed; so it had all gone worse than expected. He and his men entered the large tent with the Medical Corps' circular symbol on it; they were greeted by a man with a Lieutenant's badge and, if his face was any indication, a splitting headache.

"More wounded?" the man asked, as if he'd done so a hundred times already. Considering the size of the assault, that really couldn't have been the case, but Nemorov could see that the room was already full of injured soldiers and frantic medics.

Corporal Dityatev spoke: "Brain dead, for the time being, but they can be saved. If you've got a truck available-"

"No trucks left. We just sent a group back."

"Then do we have enough Emeraldine here for a revival? I'm sending your datapad their medical estimates."

The man sighed, and pulled out his datapad as if removing it from a sea of molasses. "Tight schedule again, huh? They're not gonna make it, soldier. We don't have the capacity to take these guys back to the HQ."

Nemorov glowered at the man. Before he could speak, however, he heard the noise of approaching engines. "No trucks, you say?"

The other officer looked surprised, though. "Maybe now we have enough. Of course, with our luck it's the Bowlheads coming to take us all out."

The Lieutenant left the tent and, not seeing anything out of the ordinary on the side near the base, rushed to the back of the camp. As he arrived, he saw a welcome sight: several APCs offloading a fresh group of infantry, and a Transport Copter with command markings perched outside the camp. He looked around, and saw what was unmistakably an OF there... but she definitely wasn't the one in command from before.

"Ma'am!" he called; the girl turned around, her long brown hair waving in the wind. "Lieutenant Eitan Nemorov of the 1st Platoon reporting!"

"Ah, good. There's still a semblance of order around here." Nemorov couldn't decipher the tone in the girl's voice; when combined with her tall stance and hard-edged eyes, that suggested danger, yet he felt like he could trust her as a commander. Her uniform had no specific medals or insignias on it, but something about her had an air of authority. Her stance was relaxed, yet suggested an alertness that boasted of frontline experience. The girl's stare bored into him. "Status report, Lieutenant."

"Damned if I know, ma'am. The Comnet went down and we've been trying to gather survivors in the main complex. To my knowledge there's only a couple squads left guarding the main Command-Control center, with heavy weapons. Some of our men down there were killed at close range. We just found a few that could be rezzed and brought them back here so we could regroup and find out what the hell's going on."

"OF-Lieutenant Droma has been relieved from command following gross insubordination. I am now in command of this operation, but we don't have a Break Amplifier anymore. I'll need your squad to retune your frequency to my Comnet."

The girl beckoned to a bearded soldier behind her. "You will working alongside Captain Amir Skliarenko, who is in command of my Spetsnaz platoon. I arrived under orders of supervising OF-Lieutenant Droma's operation, not delivering reinforcements, so I'm afraid there is no question of holding the fortress if more Orange Star units show up. However, my squad should be able to gather survivors and raid the Command Center to obtain whatever information they haven't already destroyed. Your duty will be to accompany the attack on the Command Center since you are familiar with the base's layout. Skliarenko will brief you on the rest."

"Understood, ma'am." Nemorov saluted the Captain; the man returned the salute, staring at him with a clear message that he only did so because his commander was looking.

Nemorov assembled the rest of his squad in front of the new OF, who looked them over. "I am OF-Colonel Sasha."

A Colonel? Up here in this mountainous wasteland? Just what is going on here?

Sasha's light brown eyes glowed. "The Comnet tuning has been completed. Captain Skliarenko, you are in control."

"Yes, OF-Colonel." Nemorov's squad followed the man back towards the complex entrance; two squads of Spetsnaz followed.

Nemorov turned to his soldiers. "Corporal Dityatev. Are you good to go?"

"I think I've got some internal bleeding, Lieutenant. Permission to go to the medical ward?"

"Permission granted. Don't want you becoming permanently useless, after all." Nemorov gave his comrade a slap on the back, then watched him go. Skliarenko scoffed, but didn't say anything; Nemorov decided it would be better not to take the bait.

The two groups of Blue Moon soldiers walked together in silence, members occasionally looking at each other with distrustful eyes.

What disgrace. You screwed up a simple operation and left behind a mess even we can't fix.

You assholes knew our commander was a problem, yet you didn't come until after our comrades were killed.

In silence, the march continued, resentment persisting until the activatation of Sasha's Comnet finally gave the squads something better to worry about.

11:52 PM

Nemorov immediately recognized the corridor leading to the ambush site. "This is it. But..."

"The bodies are gone." Skliarenko looked around. Over the Comnet, the two squad leaders could sense that the other Spetsnaz squads had successfully secured most of the base, except for one area: the generator room. The tunnel to the underground generator had been collapsed, and would take hours to reach.

The Captain tapped his foot. "They're trying to psych us out. Too bad. Doesn't work on us Spetsnaz."

Nemorov saw his point, but he was worried about the fact that they saw fit to do something so bold even with the possibility of more Blue Moon soldiers coming by. Or, that could mean...

Skliarenko agreed with the thought over the Comnet. 'Highly mobile enemy group, likely just fireteam. Close-range, uses surprise to kill. Be on guard.'

The Spetsnaz pointman deftly peeked around the corner, then pulled back as a hail of bullets greeted him. 'Corridor too long for explosive weapons. Let's go with Plan B.'

'Plan B' turned out to be what the second squad was working on: surveying the surrounding hallways to find an alternate entry point – or rather, the best location from which to create an alternate entry point using high explosives. It took the squad a few more minutes, but eventually a point nearby was chosen where a combination of two explosive events could punch a path directly into the underground room without causing the building to collapse. The first squad set up their equipment at the covered entrance in order to prevent an escape from that angle, while Nemorov went to join the explosives squad.

As Nemorov circled back around to the hallway where the explosives squad waited, a signal came over the Comnet from the squad. 'Under attack. Can't see enemy. Grenade launcher.'

Nemorov and his remaining soldiers would normally have liked to hurry, but the Lieutenant slowly realized that the day's events had taken a heavier toll on him than he would have liked to admit. His squad had lost two good men that day, and three more were receiving medical treatment. He hated to admit it, but both his mind and muscles cried out for rest.

And yet he hurried anyways, perhaps driven by the Comnet's warm reassurances that their commander would not abandon them. That was the feeling of Sasha's Comnet; warm, but firm.

Then, the lights started blinking out on the Comnet as Nemorov reached the corner. A message from the squad: 'Enemy soldier slow approach, not taking cover. Officer, woman. Strange, bullets no effect wait, she's fast! Engaging close immed*****'

Nemorov signaled for his squad to stay back, then rounded the corner, weapon at the ready. The body of one of the Spetsnaz soldiers fell next to him, screaming as he held his chest. In the next second, the explosives went off, the blast directed away from the wall they were supposed to destroy. As the dust cleared, he could see several more soldiers on the ground riddled with bullet holes, and a woman in an Orange Star officer's uniform walking towards him. The woman did not appear to be harmed in the slightest.

The Lieutenant's instincts had always served him well, and right now, they were yelling something along the lines of drop your shit and run. He grabbed the wounded soldier and dragged him around the corner as fast as he could, sending a message through the Comnet as he and his squad ran: 'I thought you said there was no OF at the base!'

A reply came from what he assumed was Sasha's advisor: 'OF in the base?'

'Some woman just wiped out a whole squad! Bullets had no effect on her! She has to be an OF!'

'Even through the Darkspot, we would be able to detect an enemy Comnet. If they had that advantage, they would have used it earlier.'

'Well, I'm just telling you what I saw, and I'm sure you heard from the squad before they bit it. I have a survivor here to back me up.'

A retreat order came over the Network to the Nemorov, as well as Skliarenko's squad. 'OF-Colonel Sasha will disengage the Comnet when all soldiers are safely back. She will personally dispose of this anomaly.'

So for the second time that day, Lieutenant Nemorov found himself rushing out of the the Bowlheads' accursed compound. Was this tiny installation truly worth the blood they were paying for it?

December 4, 12:02 AM

When Nemorov emerged, it turned out he wasn't the only one with that thought.

OF-Colonel Sasha walked up to him. "Lieutenant Nemorov. Good work today. We're making preparations to retreat; your orders have been transferred to your datapad."

Nemorov glanced at his communicator; it seemed his task was to help the wounded into the trucks. He was content with that role; however, Captain Skliarenko was not. "We're leaving? You said you were going in!"

"Scouts report an Orange Star armored company moving this way, ETA 30 minutes. There is an OF with the unit. We won't have time to lock down the base before they arrive."

"Bullsh- I mean, OF-Colonel, ma'am, that bitch killed six of my men! By my pride as a Blue Moon soldier-"

"We will make her pay in time, Captain. However, I doubt your men would want you to die here because of them."

To Nemorov's surprise, the Captain backed down, staring at the ground. Nemorov could see that even the Spetsnaz squads had a measure of respect for this commander. Funny it had taken him so long in the Blue Moon military to find a senior officer he knew could be trusted.

"As for you, Lieutenant Nemorov, I commend your efforts today. The after-action report is to be delivered to me, not Droma. I believe that you would make a fine addition to my division."

"Th... thank you, sir." The man was far too overwhelmed by the day to display any kind of emotional reaction to the news.

"As for the OF-Lieutenant... I will need to get to the bottom of what happened." With that, OF-Colonel Sasha returned to coordinating the disassembly of Blue Moon's forward camp, not able to rest until 20 minutes later, when she finally returned to the solitude of her helicopter's Command Chamber. By now, though, she had finally exhausted her grief over Droma. The man she knew was dead. All that remained was hate.

12:40 AM

When Recruit David Carroll returned to the Golden Fortress, there were no more Blue Moon soldiers remaining within the base's perimeter – at least, none that hadn't surrendered to Andy's Company as they moved in and reestablished control of the base. The OF-Lieutenant went down to the power room to fix the cave-in that the Engineering Corps had devised to keep Blue Moon away from the generator. David just sat on the side of one of the APCs, watching the rest of the recruits as they helped the wounded out. He vaguely wondered why he was being allowed to slack this way, then turned his thoughts back to the dreary sky, which was covered by all the smoke from the battle.

Sergeant Frank Levins didn't have time to worry about the recruits. Instead, he had gone right into the base with a squad for escort, repeatedly hailing the Command Center... and receiving no response. As he approached the room, the knot in his chest grew tighter and tighter – until he heard a noise behind him, startling him into diving around the nearest corner. The squad escorting him whirled around, then lowered their weapons.

"Not very military, are you, Sergeant?" It was the voice he had wanted to hear the most.

"Captain Steele. You're alive." Unlike the Captain, Sergeant Levins couldn't keep the relief out of his voice.

The Captain turned to the squad leader. "Sergeant, move on. We can handle ourselves here. " She waited until the squad left before continuing. "Here's the short version: we've got a ton of wounded down here, and plenty of Emeraldine. I hope you brought some better med officers, though; I've only just realized that we've been in sore need of a real doctor here. We might also need a shrink, what with the things the new ones have seen."

"True. Well, we've got a mechanic who can fix bodies. No shrink, though." The Sergeant then remembered his orders, feeling a little foolish as the Captain gave a small laugh at his movements.

"You're scratching your nose again, Sergeant. New orders from the OF?"

"Yeah. The kid – the OF Andy – blabbed your secret to me. Though really, it wasn't really a secret at all, was it?" Frank Levins dropped his military manner entirely. "Clever of Nell. I wouldn't have suspected that partial Breakcoms – no, what was the word they used-"

Captain Steele sighed. "Projectors. 'Break Prodigy' would be the technical term, but 'Projector' stuck. It's a highly-kept secret, but I don't doubt they're hidden throughout Blue Moon as well. Unlike a Breakcom, we can't be detected by the resonance scanners unless we use our powers." The two of them began walking towards the command room.

"Yeah. I wouldn't know that Projectors existed if that blasted stiff Lockburr hadn't so excited about it. Apparently that kid Carroll is a Projector too, you know?"

The Captain frowned slightly. "Wasn't his brother a Breakcom?"

Sergeant Levins tapped the wall with his fist. "Really? I thought they said it didn't run through families or anything like that?"

"They also said the Black Ripple couldn't be controlled, and we all saw five years ago how wrong that was." The Captain sighed. "So, what's the word from the top?"

"That kid Andy's taking control of the base. We're to get the comms up and running. According to the kid, the big cheese herself wants to talk to us. Who knows what the hell it is. All I know is that we've got to get the base running soon. I bet the Moonies are up to something again. They always are."

Captain Steele nodded. The two of them had reached the corridor that led to the command center. "So, Captain. Your orders?"

"Wait." The Captain held up her hand. "What you were told about me... who else knows?"

"Nobody. Apparently Andy was ordered to tell me in particular. Word came straight from Nell. Who knows, maybe she's watching us now."

Flora Steele laughed a little more. "Alright. Go and tell Recruit Carroll the big news. I'll handle things down here in the base."

"Great. You always take the easy jobs for yourself, don't you?"

"Don't make me pull rank on you, Sergeant."

"Alright, alright! I'll see you on the other side, Captain."

With that release of their tension, the two secret friends went back to their duties, their main sources of anxiety relieved.

Retreating Blue Moon Troop Convoy

12:51 AM

"And that concludes my report, CO-General." Sasha leaned forward in the velvet chair, trying not to show weakness. Blue Moon's Command T-Copters were well-furnished, full of the kind of comforts that would make a king jealous. Even so, OF-Colonel Sasha wished to be anywhere but there, giving this kind of bad report – well, perhaps not anywhere else. Olaf was usually forgiving, but when something in his plans went wrong...

"Hmph." Olaf's brown eyes were like fire. "That blasted Nell! She had a Projector stationed at the base? Grrr... that sneaky, sneaky..."

"I can call my division," Sasha offered. "If we assemble quickly, then-"

"NO!" Olaf's roar prompted an exasperated sigh from the girl; insubordination from anyone else, but from his trusted commanders, it was quite commonplace. The large man took a few deep breaths. Then continued. "Let's forget about the Golden Fortress for now. We have no time to waste, and your forces are already rallied for the attack on the capital, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Sasha hated it when Olaf got into this kind of mood. He was supposed to be the symbol of Blue Moon's military might, and he often looked and acted the part. However, when he lost it like this... once and a while it was scary, but most of the time it just made him look like a big idiot. Sasha's younger brother idolized the man; she had sworn not to ever let him see Olaf in a weak state. That would shatter her brother's dreams.

"Perfect!" The man's mood flipped like an Othello piece, going from black to snowy white in an instant. "Don't worry about anything; just head over to the battle site. We are going all-in this time."

"No changes to the plan, then?"

"Of course not, my dear. The Golden Fortress was just a trap to draw them away from the capital. And we succeeded, didn't we? Perhaps it didn't work as well as I planned, but it will all be for naught when Orange Star's capital becomes mine! Heh heh heh..."

Sasha sat back and allowed Olaf his smug moment. Captain Skliarenko and the Spetsnaz would not be pleased with this turn of events, but her commander was right in that there would be plenty of time to return to the Golden Fortress once the capital fell.

"Get some sleep, Sasha. I'll need you to take over tomorrow's night attack. After all, even I need to rest once and a while."

"Alright... I'll do that. Good hunting, CO-General."

"Sweet dreams, my dear. If all goes well, you won't have too much to do tomorrow night." Olaf's face disappeared from the transceiver.

Golden Fortress Recruit Barracks 4

1:00 AM

Despite the fact of the Blue Moon attack that had occurred just hours ago, the barracks seemed almost untouched to Recruit David Carroll. Perhaps it was just a relief to see any kind of normality after what he had experienced; his memories were becoming ever foggier and he just wanted to take a nap.

David sat inside his room, which was now deserted except for him. Far, the only squadmate who wasn't wounded in some way, was staying at the medical bay, so David had a chance to get some solitude. He lay on his bunk, staring up at the bed above him and trying to summon up the willpower required to go to sleep – in his state, even such a simple endeavor seemed difficult. The only thing that came naturally to him right now was lying there, thinking about various things and trying to recall just what happened during that period of time where the world had seemed to change...

The door flew open with a *bang*, something that would have startled the usual David Carroll. It did startle him, but he had no energy with which to react, even after the intruder spoke and David vaguely realized he would have to respond:

"Recruit Carroll. It's Sergeant Levins. I have an important message. You gonna listen, or just lie there like a dead skunk?"

"Sir." The recruit couldn't stand up.

Sergeant Levins felt his irritation rise, but he stopped himself before he went all Sergeant Nasty on the kid; it wouldn't do good to berate him after what he'd done, although Levins really couldn't understand the kid's reaction. Then again, I suppose my first battle was much worse.

"Hey. You want answers, right, maggot?"

"Answers? What for? Um... sir." David Carroll rolled over onto his front.

Alright, now he's just screwing with me. Time for Sergeant Nasty. "Recruit! Today you experienced your first firefight. Explain it to me in detail, now. That includes the part where you crapped your pants afterward."

The boy lifted his head slightly. "With all due respect, sir... go to hell."

"That's fifty times more balls than I've seen from you in all the time I've been your babysitter. Who'd you pilfer all them balls from, Recruit?"

"Alright, alright. If you've got an answer to what the heck I did, then just spit it out already. Um, sir."

"You're coming with me to see the Captain. She's better at talking about this kind of crap. Come on, those arms and legs are for moving your body, not flopping around."

David rolled off the bunk, then pulled himself up, using the bunk as support. "Lead the way... sir."

"That's more like it. Alright, don't get lost on the way. This ain't rocket science."

"You look like hell. Here. Take some." The tall woman pushed a travel mug across the table to David.

"Mm. Don't drink coffee." David could barely keep his head up, and he was far beyond being polite. "Just tell me."

"Apologies. You struck me as the type."

"Captain, ma'am. Am... am I even fucking alive anymore? Or is this some kind of twisted karmic hell?"

"Recruit David Carroll... you're a Projector. Essentially, a Breakcom without the ability to create a Command Network. You should know that I am like that as well. Considering your... family circumstances, I assume you're familiar with these concepts."

David stared at a bullet hole in the conference room's table. "Pretty much."

"If you don't want to talk to the rest of your squad about this, it can be arranged. This isn't the kind of thing that Orange Star would like to be public knowledge anyways. We're fixing up the transceiver because Nell wanted to talk with us, but I think you should be here for it if you're up to it."

"I... I'm really not. Captain..." David traced the hole with his finger. "I... I watched my squadmate die."

"And according to Lieutenant Lockburr, you effectively saved the rest of their lives."

The recruit knocked over the coffee cup, spilling the brown liquid across the table. "I watched him die and didn't feel a damn thing about it! Is that really what it's like to be a Breakcom? Is that why you..." He trailed off, staring at Captain Steele, who had stood up and was now wiping the coffee off the table.

"Are you asking if all the soldiers at the base are just statistics to me?" She sighed and looked down. "No, not at all. Are you afraid of yourself?"

"I... it's too awful..."

"It is quite inhuman." The Captain opened the mug, then smiled. "Good. You didn't waste it all." She drank the rest.

"But I stand by what I said earlier. The rest of you would be dead or in Blue Moon captivity right now if it weren't for your power. I don't know enough to say if the side-effect you are afraid of will be present the next time you use it. I've actually never had that problem with mine."

"Never... never again." The young man's face hit the table.

"What do you plan to do, pretend it doesn't exist? I'd like to know something, Recruit. Why did you join the military?"

"Go away. Make it go away."

Captain Steele sighed. "Okay. How about this: what would your brother think of you right now?"

David's head snapped back up again. "How the hell should I know? Ask that OF in charge of the base! Go ask him, or any of his goddamn kind! How could any of us know how a Breakcom thinks? If what I... if that was ANYTHING like what they..." He gagged suddenly, then hurled bile out across the table. Seconds passed without a word as the recruit stood there, coughing at the ground. Seconds passed. Then, he finished in a quiet voice:

"He wouldn't give one shit. That's what."

"Then let that be your answer for now." Flora snapped her fingers, and a soldier entered the room. "Please escort Recruit Carroll to the officers' barracks. He is to take Room 38. Recruit, I will call you if I have need of you tomorrow."

David stood up slowly, completely stiff. He walked out of the room after the soldier, with the demeanor of a drunk man walking through a rainstorm without an umbrella.

As the door closed, Sergeant Levins spit at the wall. "Stupid kid. Flora, I told you we should've let him rest first."

"He would have acted this way regardless. No matter how we broke the news to him, he'd think of his brother. At least this way, it might be easier for him to sleep tonight."

"Heh. You have an odd way of doing things." Levins sat down at the table. "I assume everything worth eating was looted?"

"Unless you like freeze-dried bunker rations. Now help me with these cables."