Tiny note for readers! Jumping into a moving vehicle is a really shit idea. You will fall and forget the last two days of your life .
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?- Andrew Ryan, 2026.
The reconstruction of Navarro had been completed. Walls had been erected around the city, and the interior was a microcosm of what had once been America. Two months had passed, and the Enclave had begun to look for other settlements to increase their position.
"Okay, We've finally finished Navarro. Where to next? Ideas?" The president glanced around the room, waiting for his advisors to speak.
"Well sir, there is obviously San Francisco, as it is the closest to us. It was hit hard by the war though, most civilian infrastructure has been damaged and raiders are infesting the city looking for slaves and guns."
"There is also Sacramento, but it is much the same as San Francisco."
"The E.P.A seems to have had a small base near Sacramento."
The president was puzzled. "Why are we considering the E.P.A facility?"
"They had a moderately sized bunker there, and their data collection instruments may have insights into the radiation storm a few months back"
"Anything else of interest there? I don't want to waste troops on collecting data that might not exist."
"Well, our files suggest the E.P.A was developing an energy weapon there. It would run on sunlight if the files are to be believed."
"A solar powered gun? How powerful could it be?"
"We aren't sure, but if we could collect it then adapt it for our soldier's rifles they would never need resupply"
The president considered for a few moments. The need to reclaim cities was growing, as the longer they took the longer other factions would have to form. Even the smallest group would represent a waste of assets as his troops took time to fight them.
"We need to scavenge the E.P.A. Send Jensen there, and send two squads to scout San Francisco. Once they've finished, have them fall back to Jensen's position at the E.P.A." He hoped this mission went better than the last.
Jensen rotated his arm in its socket. He still wasn't used to being able to turn it completely.
After his mission, the doctors had removed both of his arms and legs, and replaced them with robotic versions. They had also made him a custom fitted suit of power armor. He was the most expensive asset in the Enclave arsenal, and his keepers hoped he would live up to their expectations.
He was to get into the E.P.A bunker, rescue any remaining personnel, recover the schematics for a weapon of some sort, and hopefully the weapon as well. Seemed easy enough. Then again, so did his last mission.
He stepped out of his helicopter and unlimbered his weapon. A plasma rifle with slightly less punch and the ability to be used without powered armor. It was based on something called a "Q-35 matter modulator".
He scanned his surroundings, noting that the only sound was his helicopter fading into the background. Advancing to the door, he found it locked. Luckily for him, he didn't need to pick the lock. His new arms were able to bend six inch sections of steel into tiny bows; no door would ever oppose him again. He nearly ripped the door off of its hinges and advanced inside.
It was a generic foyer, with a large "Welcome to the E.P.A!" banner hanging above the reception desk. He advanced to the sole computer and turned it on. It booted up with a beep, and promptly threw up a login screen. Another of his augments was a password cracker, and as he focused it on the terminal he wondered what he would find inside the bunker.
A beep signaled that he had the password for the terminal. It was "Treelove". Goddamn hippies.
He scrolled through the menus, looking for any sort of security system information or passcodes. Finding none, he turned to the elevator and hoped it still worked. It did, and as he waited for it he heard a speaker crackle to life above him.
"Hello? is someone there? Please, if you can hear me, step up to the intercom and press the button"
He looked about and saw the intercom near the entrance.
"Who is this?" He asked.
"I'm Joseph Vausheim, I ran this facility before the bombs dropped. Who are you?"
"Adam Jensen. I'm part of a scouting team for the U.S. Army". It was a lie, but a small one. "Special agent of the Enclave Secret Service" would only scare the scientist.
"Oh thank god! I was hoping someone would come that wasn't a raider.. you're not a raider right? Step up to the camera in the foyer so I can see you.
Jensen moved to where the scientist had said.
He heard mumbled speech over the intercom, his augmented ears barely picking it up.
"He doesn't look like a raider, he looks like a robot! What if he's actually with that man we saw before?"
"I'm not a robot." Said Jensen, as he took off his helmet.
'And I'm not with any man you've seen. I was sent here by The President of The United States to find survivors and any research on a solar powered gun."
The scientists (he assumed they were scientists) didn't reply, but he heard the elevator ding as it opened.
He walked to the elevator, and was greeted by a shotgun in his face, being held by a man in combat armor.
"STOP!" The man yelled, shaking slightly.
"Put the gun down, I'm not here to hurt you." Jensen said. The shotgun couldn't pierce his armor, nor hurt his augmentations. He had no reason to hurt some random security guard.
"I.. I need some I.D before you can get near this elevator"
Jensen pulled out his badge, created just for this reason. Well, not for crazed elevator security guards, but people who didn't believe he was with the government. It played a small recording of the president.
"This man is Adam Jensen. His arms and legs are robotic and he works for the United States government. If anyone that isn't half robot is carrying this badge, then they are traitors to the United States. Please allow Mr. Jensen the same privileges you would allow me. Have a nice day!"
The guard lowered his shotgun once the recording had finished. "You really are from the government aren't you!"
"Yes"
"Are you really half robot?"
"Yes."
"Alright, well come on then. The doctor wants to see you for something or the other."
Jensen stepped into the elevator. It creaked a bit.
"Sorry, we haven't been able to do any maintenance on this thing since.. well you know."
The elevator descended, and Jensen felt like this was going to be a long day.
On the other side of San Francisco, two squads of Enclave troopers had touched down and were checking their surroundings. They had landed in a baseball field in the center of the city: Everything else was covered in rubble or otherwise unstable. The once-proud skyscrapers were leaning against each other or had collapsed, barring the few that had been made earthquake proof. All of them had been to some degree, but only those built to the higher end of the Richter scale still stood alone. These few buildings were still missing windows on nearly all floors. The ground outside the park was covered in shards of glass, some as big as a man. Nothing would walk these streets for a long time.
The two squads began walking north along the clearest routes they could find. Evac was due in six hours from the E.P.A, and damn if they were gonna wait until the next day to leave.
"They've entered the old environmental facility."
"Near San Fransisco?"
"That's the place"
"What for? all that's there are those scientists and some plants."
"No clue. We should monitor them though, they know more than we do."
"Have you talked to our newest contacts?"
"The deserters?"
"Those are the ones."
"They seem genuine enough. I'll be glad to have access to their resources when the time comes."
"Are we sure we can trust them?"
"You know we can't trust anyone."
"You know what I mean."
"I think we should be ready to rat them out if they turn on us."
"Turn them over to the Enclave?"
"Take their homes and leave them for the Enclave. But yes."
One chapter closer to intrawebz domination! Sorry for lateness, I've already mentioned what happened . -The Captain.