When they reached the Citadel the Paladin at the gate informed the Elder they were there.
"He's been waiting for you. He sent out word to find you four days ago." he said.
"Did he?", Calli asked mildly. He would know she was on the Tradewind with her husband and wasn't going to respond until they made it to the Citadel. She and Hawk went to see the Elder while Jack headed on to the post to conduct business.
The Elder was pretty grim.
"We've broken the code from the communication base. The Enclave has set up a major base at the old Adam's Air Force base. That would be a good place for them to operate out of, there was plenty of materials and supplies left there, and it's not accessible from the D.C. wasteland accept by air or through a metro tunnel running out of the capital. The only way into that tunnel is by way of a manhole since everything caved in. That's guarded by us, and the door in is locked besides. From the communications Adams is heavily guarded and the main base for their vertibirds. A head on attack with a large force would be impossible and probably disastrous.
Now this is the problem. When you downloaded the information at the communication base you also downloaded the code to activate a strike from a military satellite platform. After you left an Enclacve soldier managed to destroy the terminal before our forces got in there. That means the only strike activation code we have is in your Pip-Boy. We can't download it into anything else from your Pip-boy. We already tried that. That's why we need you. You can sneak in there and take out the mobile base. Are you interested?"
Calli glanced questioningly at Hawk. This time she would rely on his judgment. He nodded slightly.
"We're in.", she told the Elder.
"Good. Check with Palidan Tristan, he'll be in charge of this mission. He'll have the key to the door to the presidential metro area."
Calli went to check with Tristan to coordinate their plans. It was agreed that the partners would go in to the base in five days. That allowed Tristan time to get his force in place and consolidate their orders.
"What are we looking at here, sir?", Calli asked. "Are there any dangers we should be aware of?"
"There are some guard robots and turrets in the shuttle tunnels but they've all been deactivated. We sent in a couple of spies last week and they didn't have any trouble. There's not enough Enclave to utilize the whole base so they found us a building close in to the mobile base that isn't being used. We'll sneak in a few soldiers at a time over the next few days and lie low there until you signal you're in then we'll break out and attack to cover you. Arrangements aren't finalized yet and we'll be going in before we talk to you again so I'll leave your mission orders in a locked container close to the metro entrance."
Calli left to spend as much time with her husband as she could while Hawk went north to spend a couple days with his wife. They met back at the Super Duper Mart at the agreed time and headed into D C. Calli greeted the young palidan guarding the manhole before Hawk lifted it aside and they climbed down the ladder into the only entrance to the underground Metro.
They didn't have any trouble on the first level. They were approaching the second level when Hawk held up a hand to stop her. The sounds coming from the metro were familiar to Calli. The robots were no longer deactivated.
Calli swore softly to herself. Hawk merely rolled his eyes at her. Calli pulled off her pack and removed the pulse grenades.
"We have 14. I was going to use them on the vertibirds, but I don't know how effective they'd be anyway, so we may as well use them now. I don't want to blow these robots up, if we just fry a few circuits maybe we can repair them later." She handed Hawk some of the grenades.
"I wonder why they reactivated?" , she asked worriedly.
"I expect we'll find out soon enough.", Hawk grunted, taking the grenades. "Maybe we won't be considered intruders."
It was Calli's turn to roll her eyes. "R-r-r-i-i-g-g-h-h-t.", she agreed, sarcastically drawing out the word. Hawk shrugged.
The robots did consider them intruders. They had to fight their way through to the next lower level. Here Calli found the control system for the underground shuttles. Margo turned out to be a semi-intelligent computer whose function was to control the shuttles and security system. The computer informed them the security robots had been activated when a breach occurred allowing ghouls to enter the lower tunnels. A circuit had been damaged during the breach and now Margo couldn't fully control the robots. If Calli could repair the circuit the robots could be instructed to allow passage to Hawk and herself and help provide cover for them. Of course, to get the part to repair the circuit she would have to get past several of the guardian robots, preferably without rendering them permanently useless.
Calli left Hawk in the control room and activated a stealth boy. It would take time and patience and more than one stealth boy, but she eventually made it to the store room, located the part, and made her way back without incident. Hawk was getting agitated by the time she returned. Waiting wasn't his strong point.
With the circuit repaired Margo sent out instructions to help the partners. Now their main concern would be getting through the battle going on between the robots and the ghouls on the next lower level. Having learned all she could from the computer they went through the room, out the farther door, and down to the next level. Once through the ghouls they could take the Presidential shuttle to Adams Air Force Base.
The battle to get through the ghouls had been more exhausting than Calli had expected. It had been a large breach and an entire tribe of the creatures had come through. Many of them had been Reavers and Roamers, the strong arms of the ghoul tribes. Even with the aid of the robots they had been forced into hard close-in combat. Calli had to resort to using the heavy flamer to keep from being ripped to shreds by the relentless attack. She had been glad for the chance to rest and take some refreshment while the shuttle whipped through the tunnels. Even Hawk had used the opportunity for a short nap after eating.
The shuttle slowed and came to a stop, rousing the partners. Stretching and yawning, they stepped from the shuttle into the bay. A set of stairs led upward. As it seemed to be the only way to go they headed up the stairs. Toward the top, Calli stopped. Something wasn't right. A short hall contained a door on the left then the hall went around a corner also to the left. Some sound, some feeling made Calli uneasy. She checked out the door. It was locked. Taking out her bobby pins she began working on it.
Hawk wondered why they didn't just follow the hall but he rarely second guessed her feelings. She was usually right. The door opened into another hallway. Calli could see down the hallway to where it ended in another hallway. She considered the layout and motioned to Hawk.
"Give me a few minutes to get to the end of this hall then go around to the front. If there's anything over there we should be able to catch it between us." Hawk moved toward the bend, staying close to the left wall.
Calli moved cautiously down the hall and peered around the corner. Enclave! They had set up a barricade in the hall. More to the point there was a turret pointing directly at the bend where Hawk would come around. She took careful aim with her combat rifle. Both the Enclave soldiers were watching the bend and hadn't spotted her yet.
She fired even as Hawk's maniacal yell went up. The turret exploded over the Enclave's head. The soldiers whirled to see who had taken out the turret. Calli drew back but they had spotted her. One of them at least would be after her. She waited. She could hear the sound of gunfire and shouting in the corridor. Hawk was doing his part.
Suddenly a soldier peered around the corner and fired at her, then drew quickly back as she tried to get a fix on him. This man wasn't stupid; this wasn't going to be easy. Calli hastened into an alcove she had noticed on her right. He would have to come down the hall to get to her. He didn't. She heard him hurry toward his companion to help defend him.
Cursing to herself she hastened down the hall and around the bend. Hawk was in danger with two of them after him! She blasted into the hallway firing rapidly. One of the soldiers was already dead and she took the other before he could get a fix on her. She surveyed the area, still on alert, rifle ready. There weren't any more soldiers or other defenses. Hawk was unharmed.
Taking what ammo she needed to replace what she had used, she nodded toward the stairwell the soldiers had been defending. Without exchanging a word they headed up.
The gate swung open to the air force base. Calli slipped out, her favored Chinese Assault rifle in firing position, Hawk right behind her. They moved slowly and silently up the stairs. Calli peered over the edge, but only the dark night greeted them. A sliver of moon hung low in the star studded sky. A warm breeze brushed past them. They barely registered it in the armor they wore.
Motioning to Hawk Calli glided quickly from the opening to the cover of a large semi- trailer off to her left. The supply crate was there just as Tristan had said. With Hawk watching guard she opened it and took out their orders. Crouching low behind the trailer to hide the light from view she read them by the light from her Pip-boy, then folded the paper and slid it into a pocket.
She hugged the side of the trailer as she moved forward to appraise the large buildings opposite.
"Can you believe this?", she whispered to Hawk. "Those buildings are positively bristling with turrets! I can see six just on the edge of that building. You know, I bet I can hit 'em from here." Hawk didn't bother to reply.
Calli pulled out her sniper rifle. She knelt to steady her aim, barely peering around the cover of the semi-trailer. She slowly squeezed the trigger and was gratified to see smoke erupt from the nearest turret. A second shot took it out. One by one she blew out the other turrets.
The partners hurried across the clear space to the side of the building. They could see force fields running the length of the field to their left. They weren't going that way. Calli motioned to Hawk. He would go around the building on the ground while she took the walkway over the building. As she started to go up the walkway she spotted more turrets on the side of the building. She quickly took them out before their fire could alert the Enclave to her presence.
On the other side of the roof she knelt to observe the field below her. A half dozen vertibirds sat in the field surrounded by Enclave soldiers. As she watched one of them lifted and took off toward the south. She considered her options. There was no way to take out all the remaining vertibirds and anyway they didn't seem to be manned. She would concentrate on the soldiers. Hawk was waiting for her signal.
From up here she had a slight advantage. She loosened her grenade belt. Still kneeling to present a smaller target she hurled the grenades into the field below. Even as she heard Hawk's mini-gun open up she snatched out her rifle and began targeting soldiers.
The battle for the field didn't take long. She had taken a few hits and her right shoulder hurt like hell. She hesitated long enough to inject a quick stimpack. She couldn't afford to be held back by pain. She hastened down the stairs into the field where Hawk was making sure none of the soldiers would be attacking them from behind.
They moved quickly toward the next building. The altercation would surely have alerted the Enclave.
Calli stopped at the edge of a building to ease around the corner. The open, tarmaced space between her and a large hangar held several manned barricades. She spied the Enclave soldiers at the same time they spied her. She jerked back as laser fire hit where she had been. She swiftly leaned around and returned fire, jerking back as they recovered and fired again. She had hit one of the soldiers, wounding him severely. She repeated the maneuver. The next time they would be ready for her.
She slid around the corner, firing continuously as she ran for cover behind the barricade she had cleared. The other soldier ducked behind his walls, waiting. When she slid behind the barricade he jumped up and opened fire. This was the opening Hawk needed to mow him down with his mini-gun as he came around the corner of the building. He quickly joined Calli behind the barricade. No other soldiers offered resistance so they sprinted to the large hangar.
It turned out to contain several large cages.
"Deathclaws!", Calli said, peering inside the first cage. "What is the Enclave's fascination with these things, anyway? Talk about an unreliable weapon! Hey, I still have a control unit. This one has a head piece. If I turn it loose, who do you think it'll obey? My control unit or theirs?"
"Don't you dare", Hawk growled, but she was already typing in the control code. The door swung open and the Deathclaw ambled out.