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The gates of Vault 115 opened, and out rumbled three military IFV's.
Task Force Alpha's message had been received, and Stern was quick to act on their request for reinforcements. There were no new hybrids ready for deployment at the time, but the colonel had no desire to lose the only team he had on the surface. The solution he came up with was risky, as he planned to use his own men with questionable protective gear to undertake the rescue mission. Questionable, as the colonel remained apprehensive regarding the level of the ruin's radioactive contamination as well as the potential strength of the enemy force. In the end, he chose to amp up the protective measures by suiting the soldiers up in power-armor.
The development program was all too eager to oblige, as they saw this as an opportunity to test their new toys in the field. Fade's transmission included a map of the route they took, including a layout of the local area they were hunkered down in, making it easier for them to determine the fastest route to their location possible.
Major Hannigan personally led the team sent to reinforce Task Force Alpha, having the most experience with similar missions in the past. The lieutenant colonel had his doubts about sending one of their senior officers off on a field mission so soon, but Stern overruled his objections, seeing as there was little harm in letting the major go stretching his legs.
The convoy of IFV's took the main road and headed straight for the Carlon City ruins. Whenever they came across a pack of mutated critters, like the usual giant ants or radscorpions, the IFV's turrets would make quick work of them and move on without stopping. 20mm cannons, all loaded with high-explosive incendiary rounds which were perfect for soft targets, reduced their remains into charred meat. The soldiers operating the guns relished the opportunity to kill again, having spent the last year shooting at target dummies and the occasional giant ants when some would come to infest the Vault.
They passed Outpost One, took a detour to avoid the highway that was packed with car wrecks, and soon arrived at the outskirts of Carlon City.
The convoy stopped, prompting the major to inquire on the holdup. "Hey, why're we stopping?"
"Sorry major, we've got an obstruction up ahead. A collapsed building's blocking the main road, I recommend going on foot from here."
"Can't you just find an alternate route?"
"I could, but these ruins are a maze. We'd just wind up in a dead end somewhere."
Hannigan sighed, "Standby." He turned to the comms officer riding with him. "See if you can reach Task Force Alpha from here."
It's been roughly four hours since they've sent the distress call. Task Force Alpha remained where they were, at the entrance to Vault 113. Just sitting on the other side of that door were dozens, if not hundreds, of bloodthirsty mutants. As much as West liked to see how he and the team would fare alone against them, he didn't want to risk wasting the effort if he miscalculated.
Still, the wait was torturous.
But just as he was about to think twice about hunkering down, Fade sat up and called out excitedly. "Sir, I've got something! Listen!" She patched him through, "I think it's the major!"
"Ah finally, some good news."
"This is Major Reese Hannigan. Task Force Alpha, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, major. We've run into a little problem recently. Come to give us a hand?"
"I know, soldier. That's why we're here. What's your status?"
"Well, aside from Fade getting her leg busted from a landmine, the whole team's still good to go. We've sealed ourselves inside Vault 113, as the enemy force proved to be too much for us to handle. I advise caution, the entrance is completely overrun."
"Solid copy. Hold on, we're getting you out of there. Hannigan out."
"Alright, we go on foot from here." Hannigan declared, donning on his helmet. "Driver, try to find an alternate route to Vault 113. We'll meet you there."
"Yes sir. Good luck out there."
"On me, we'll go through the ruins!" Hannigan announced, taking point as his men followed him out of their transports and into the collapsed building blocking the road. All in all, the reinforcing team comprised of thirty men, half of which were suited in power-armor including the major. Every soldier carried a standard-issue Reckoner, while those in power-armor carried a 5mm man-portable minigun.
After switching his visor to his night-optics, Hannigan punched through the faded glass window of the office building and emerged into an office room that had been tilted at an odd angle due to the building's proximity to the ground. He pushed across debris and broken furniture, then jumped into the cracked street below.
All over the ground were scattered remains of Task Force Alpha's work, which provided a clear trail for him to follow until it led him straight into Vault 113. Getting there proved the convoy driver right, as the road was filled with the wrecks of old derelict vehicles and debris from nearby crumbling structures, not to mention the grisly totems of corpses impaled on telephone poles or hanging from skyways.
Then, the major caught sight of the horde laying siege to the vault door. At the moment, they were too busy cannibalizing the remains of their fallen comrades or hammering at the metal slab of the entrance to notice the soldiers taking positions at their flanks.
There was no grand strategy required then, just a simple mop-up operation. "Mow 'em all down!"
The mutants never stood a chance. They barely managed to keep up with Task Force Alpha, now they faced the wrath of six times that number. Bullets sent blood, limbs and dust flying in the air as they grinded the mutants down to shreds. Those that found the strength to stand, danced awkwardly as more bullets dug into their bodies, until they joined their comrades in the grind pile.
It was over in seconds, and the soldiers moved up to secure the entrance, putting down any survivors on their way to the top.
Hannigan banged at the door, "Hey! You can come out now! Coast is clear!"
A few minutes later, the door slid open with an ear-splitting creak. Out came a shaken, but otherwise intact, Task Force Alpha. West shook the major's hand in thanks, "You saved our asses, major. I owe you one."
"Hold on, soldier. Our mission's not over yet."
"Right, I'm guessing we're establishing another outpost here." West quickly deduced.
"Precisely." Hannigan said with a nod, "Lucky for you, there's now a good amount of manpower to assist in securing this vault. Our orders are to clear the way for the cleanup crews to have an easier task of decontaminating the area, that includes hunting down the mutant infestation in the city."
"What'll be the first step, major?"
"As I said, for now we secure the vault. Later, when we've ascertained the extent of the infestation, we can begin the purge."
Remembering what they discovered earlier, West quickly included in his report the possible location of Vault 113's survivors. "Sir, we have reason to believe that some of the vault-dwellers of 113 escaped prior to the mutant infestation."
"Really, what makes you say that?"
"They've tried contacting us moments before we sealed ourselves in the vault." West pointed to the building across the street. "Right up there. They even tried assisting our retreat, so I don't think they're hostile- not to us anyway."
"Hmm, that could prove useful in giving us the full picture on what happened here." Hannigan mused, "West, I'll need you and your team to make contact with the survivors. See if you can get something out of them- or better yet, bring them down here so I can have a word with them. How you do that I leave to your discretion." He paused to look at the damaged part of Fade's armor, "By the way, I suggest you see about getting your teammate's armor repaired before you do anything else. We wouldn't want it slowing her down at the worst possible time, now would we?"
"Yes sir." West saluted upon dismissal, turning to address the team on their next task. "Alpha, fall in."
Getting to the top of the office building proved a little difficult for the task force to do, as the old stairs was blocked with debris, possibly done by the survivors to keep the mutants from gaining easy access to their location. The elevator cars hung derelict in their shafts, with their generators weathered beyond functionality or repair.
The only alternative was to use the building next to it, which had a small enough gap in between that they could safely jump across. The survivors were watching them from the windows on the floor below the rooftop and seemed eager to meet them once they arrived at the top.
West came first, followed by Fade and Kid. Hayes and Riker stayed in the background while their commander did all the talking. The rooftop was a little like a small shelter, complete with a large tent for a lookout sniper and a small greenhouse built from dirty plastic tarps and other junk. It wasn't much, but it seemed to be enough to keep the survivors going through the years.
The vault-dwellers were still wearing their vault jumpsuits, and had some pieces of cloth wrapped around their faces to protect them from the sandstorms. What was most interesting to note, however, was bunch of surgical tubes stuck into the backs of their necks, similar to those they found on the mutants they killed earlier. Instead of a green fluid, a yellow-orange mixture was being pumped through the tubes into their necks.
"Hey there." Their leader, an old man by the sound of his aged voice, greeted towering armored figure. "I'm Cade Morrow, former resident of Vault 113."
"I'm Gavin West, force commander for Task Force Alpha." West replied, counting the survivors at present. "This is all that's left of you?"
There were twenty of the survivors, and possibly a little more downstairs, but the fact remained that they were too few. "Unfortunately, yes." Morrow turned hopeful and inquired of the team's intentions, "Are you here to help?"
"Maybe, if you can help us first." West said, "What happened to the vault?"
Morrow recalled the events prior to their exile into the Wasteland, "Well, some two years ago, not long after we went inside to escape the bombs, the scientists from Vault-Tec started a program that was supposed to help us live through the toxic environment of the outside." He paused to show the tubes feeding the peculiar fluid into his body, which were being pumped up from a tank unit hanging from his back. "The first tests were successful, but the program didn't stop there. I don't know exactly what they did that went so horribly wrong, but the residents who were subjected to the later tests had turned violent. Me and a handful of vault-dwellers were out exploring when the vault got taken over by the crazies, and we've been living out here ever since."
"Sounds like Vault-Tec, alright." West muttered, "What are those things you've been putting in you?"
"It's a sort of intravenous chemical solution designed to perpetually cleanse the body of radioactive contamination. They called it RadAway." Morrow explained, "My guess is, the rednecks had a different mix in them that made them that way."
"Rednecks?"
"Yeah, Casper over here says you've had your share of having to facing them up close." The old man said, "They didn't used to look like that. We called them that on account of their flayed skin from living exposed to the radstorms. If you ask me, it's just exposed what they've become on the inside."
"You lot are the lucky ones."
"I'd argue that notion, commander, but I'm too tired of living out here to even think about it." Morrow sighed, "Can we go now? Please?"
"Hold on now, Morrow." West declared, "We gotta figure out how to get you off this building first."
"Oh, that's no problem." He replied, revealing some sturdy wooden planks that acted as a retractable bridge close to the building ledge. "We've got a way off this building."
"Huh, alright then." West said with a shrug, "Come on down to the vault entrance. Major Hannigan would like to hear what you've told me, and more."
The task force came back through the path they took, securing the route back into the vault entrance to let the survivors cross without incident. By then, the convoy of IFV's pulled up to the front, having found a new route through the ruins. The armored vehicles were soaked in the blood of the rednecks, having faced some of the wandering packs along the way.
Casper was impressed by what the remnants of the old military were packing, "Whoa, you guys are the real deal!"
"Just the right tools to bring civilization back to the Wasteland, civvie." Major Hannigan declared, meeting the survivors at the entrance but away from the bloody remains still clogging up the path to the door. "I'm Major Reese Hannigan, US Army. Consider yourselves now under our protection."
Morrow wasn't impressed, but he was grateful for the major taking charge of the situation. "Thank you, major."
He was later asked the same questions West had for him, with some additional inquiries like how many of the affected population could still be out there. By his estimates, Morrow revealed that there were no more than a hundred still roaming the ruins, not including the ones they killed. He described the remaining rednecks as to have been changed by the radiation clouds in Carlon City, making them even more dangerous than they already were.
Hannigan hid his concern for the situation well, "Alright then, Morrow. I want you and the other survivors to board one of the transports here, they'll take you to Vault 115. You'll be safe there."
"We appreciate that, sir, but what about our vault?"
"Right now, let us worry about it." Hannigan replied, "I assure you, before the month is over, you'll forget about the horrors of this place. Vault 115 is all you'll need."
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