The orders went out within the hour, and a complex mechanism sprang into action. The Third Link began by gathering everything on record about Paradise Falls. They would send scouts once again to recon the area. The problem, however, was that there simply weren't enough of them. The Steel scouts from before the Enclave War had been training recruits around the clock, but these skills took years to master, and the program had only been running for a couple of months. If captured, the scouts could be tortured for information. The few qualified scouts available had already been activated and were on their way.
At the Citadel, Sarah Lyons snapped her Steels into action, drilling them in fighting in narrow corridors. A quick training area had been set up, with walls representing the layout of Paradise Falls. A tentative plan had been drawn up: two weeks to get everything ready. This would allow enough time for training and gathering intelligence to minimise casualties. Reilly selected 500 men to act as the support army for the 90 Steels who would participate in the raid. They trained in nearby camps within the Capital Wasteland, focusing on covering fire and support. As the days passed, more intel was gathered, but the breakthrough came five days later.
A squad of 10 soldiers lay flat on the ground, watching a patrol about 200 meters ahead of them. It was a routine patrol, but the scout had spotted a party of armed men approaching. A closer look revealed it to be a slaver convoy—four slavers and eight people wearing slave collars. The radio operator of the group phoned in the report and received orders to follow, rescue the slaves, and capture the slavers alive if possible. The leader of the squad had reservations about this mission. For one, the slavers would have the detonators for the collars. And second, his men's safety came first.
But luck was on their side that day. The lead slaver had the detonator in his hand as he walked. Since there were twice as many slaves as slavers, the remote in the lead slaver's hands acted as a form of protection, a way to keep the slaves in line. But today, it would be his death sentence.
As he passed through a narrow rocky pass on the road to Paradise Falls, his last thoughts were on how much he would be paid. He knew that Eulogy was a tough negotiator, but…
His head exploded in an instant, leaving a mushy mess that spilled over onto the shocked slaves in front of the convoy. The dead body collapsed to the ground, and the detonator fell from his lifeless hands.
There was a moment of confusion before the three remaining slavers realised what had happened. One of them turned and aimed his machine gun at the slaves, ready to pull the trigger, but he fell backward as three bullets tore through his chest. From the sides of the pass, nine soldiers dressed in green combat armour—taken from Talon mercenaries and painted with camouflage colors—leveled their rifles at the last two slavers.
"Drop them or die!" the commander shouted.
The slavers hesitated, then complied, tossing their weapons onto the ground. The soldiers surrounded them and called in Vertibird support. Within 45 minutes, both the slavers and their captives were secure.
"What do we know about them?" TLW asked Reilly as they walked through the narrow corridor at the Reilly Rangers compound. They had transferred the two captured slavers to the new HQ of the elite army unit, the Reilly Rangers. There was no chance of bringing prisoners to the Citadel or other strategically important places. The Rangers' compound served as both a social hub and a recruitment centre, with Ranger Donovan in charge. Now, the basement of the newly renovated area functioned as a prison and interrogation cell.
"The rescued slaves gave us all the information they had. Apparently, the bald one is called Thor, and the short one is Odin. They were on their way to sell the slaves at Paradise Falls," Reilly explained.
"Let's start with Odin, then," TLW said, turning to the Third Link agent accompanying him.
The door to the cell creaked open, revealing a man with a furious expression, his face a mixture of despair and fear. The slaver was short but muscular, now only wearing shorts and underpants, his arms shackled. There was nothing in the room but a bucket for a toilet and a thin mattress.
"Good morning, Odin," TLW began. "As you might know, you are now a captive of the Capital Wasteland Armed Forces, imprisoned due to your involvement in human trafficking."
"Fuck you!" came the immediate reply.
"Very well, I'll make this brief," TLW said, snapping his fingers. Two Rangers entered the room. When Odin saw one of them, panic overtook him.
"No, keep that off me!" he screamed, trying to take a defensive stance in the corner. But he was easily thrown to the ground by the larger Rangers.
"What's the matter, Odin? This is something you've done to others several times," TLW remarked as he watched the slave collar being snapped onto Odin's neck.
Click!
The collar was securely in place, and the Rangers let go of Odin, walking out. TLW pulled a detonator from his pocket, and the beeping of the collar began.
"So, what are we going to do with you, Odin?" TLW asked calmly.
The small slaver began to cry.
"How did it go?" the Third Link agent asked about 20 minutes later, seeing TLW exit the room with a smile.
"He told us everything," TLW replied, grinning.
"So, what do we do about them?" the Third Link agent asked, referring to the slavers.
"Whatever we want," TLW answered. "I suggest some stone clearing on the east side, near the mutant dens."
As TLW walked out the door, the two slavers would now get a taste of their own medicine.