Chapter 8: Lay That Pistol Down, Babe
Date: September 30th, 1099
Location: Rhodes Island, the Doctah's Office
Time: Evening
Sunsets. Who doesn't love them? It's that time when the blues take a seat and allow warmer colors to take the stage. Reds, purples, oranges, yellows. Best of all there were no clouds to obstruct today's display of color. Under normal circumstances, it would be a breathtaking sight at Rhodes Island. But sadly there were more important things on the occupants' minds than gazing at the sky.
Amiya, Mostima, Fiammetta, and Dr. Kal'stit were having a holographic discussion with some offsite Operators regarding a certain Courier. The Foxfire squad- currently led by Exusiai- decided to show everyone some items they retrieved following an assault on a local mafia family's hideout. They mostly consisted of strange batteries, bullet casings, and some unidentified substances.
"I'm telling ya, I've seen nothing like these before," Exusiai said. "No firearm in Tera's history has been designed with batteries in mind. Let alone turn people into puddles or ash pies."
Kal'stit held that stoic expression of hers throughout the discussion. "And you didn't notice any psychological issues with this 'Six' character during your first encounter with him?" she asked the Lateran duo.
Mostima shook her head. "Any mental issues, no," she confessed. "I just assumed that he may have had a sheltered- or at least isolated- life when we first met. Though I will admit I found his arsenal somewhat off-putting at the time."
"Agreed," Fiammetta added. "I've seen people collecting patron firearms as trophies, but very few operating them. That SMG in particular would've been a nightmare for even a Sankta to operate, but he showed no problems with his. That was the first red flag in my book."
Kal'stit looked at Croissant's projection. "Croissant, you said that the Courier had inquiries about the existence of several locations and factions."
"Yep," Croissant confirmed. "Didn't recognize anyone or anythin' by those names. Caesar, New California Republic, Los Vegas, a Brotherhood of Steel, America, China, Mexico. Hadn't heard of them, and certainly hadn't found anything about them on any intranet or in our files."
Kal'stit put her hands together, letting out a 'hmm' under her breath. "And you're certain that he is heading to Great Lungmen?" she asked Mostima.
"He is," Mostima confirmed. "Or at least was. He asked for a ride there when we first met at Müllstadt. Didn't bother to ask why at the time."
And now he's on the run. Kal'stit thought. There's no telling where he might be or who he'll run into right now.
Kal'stit rose from her seat. "Then it is imperative that we find this man before anyone else does. We do not need some Ursus nobles or Columbian corporations to escalate tensions with his technology."
Or start a war...
"Foxfire, I want you to rendezvous with us at Rhode Island. Bring your findings for further analysis. Exusiai, tell Emperor to keep an eye out for this Courier. Report back to us if your organization has a sighting of him."
Exusiai nodded. "We'll be there by tomorrow," she said. "If we do find a lead on him, you'll be the first to know. Take care, okay?"
"You too, Exusiai," Amiya said with a smile.
The transmission ended. Kal'stit turned back to the fallen Sankta and Liberi. "I trust that you two keep this meeting a secret," she said.
"Don't worry," Mostima handwaved. "We don't want things to get ugly either. The very least I can do is keep our superiors' pride intact."
The blue-haired angel left the room, with her fiery friend shadowing her as always. The head doctor looked back at Amiya.
"We need to contact the Doctor and Rainbow Team," the medic said. "Tell them that we may have another Originium Dust incident on our hands."
The girl nodded in agreement. "I'll see if I can reach them. What are you going to do in the meantime?"
Kal'stit plucked up the flash drives lying on the table. "I'll be bringing these to Closure," she replied. "She'll be decrypting them for us. I also recommend that we send a team to sniff around Müllstad."
Amiya pressed a button on a speakerphone. "Miss Franka, please report to the Doctah's office. Repeat, please report to the Doctah's office."
A couple of minutes passed before a Vulpo girl waltzed in. She had a mischievous look on her face.
"Heya doctor," she greeted Kal'stit. "Need me to clear out some radioactive sludge for you?"
Kal'stit didn't bother to reply. She just walked past the Infected Guard and exited the room. Franka pouted.
"Buzzkill," she muttered in disappointment. She looked back at Amiya. "So how's it been?"
"Fine, Franka," Amita replied. "You were part of the squad that encountered Rainbow Team, correct?"
"Yep. They call just now or do you need me for hazop?"
"No to the first one. The second... maybe. I need you to check out a certain location for me..."
Date: October 2nd, 1099
Location: Chernoberg
Time: Afternoon
To say that Six was in an awkward position is quite an understatement. He was lying face-first on the ground. A punk-ass woman had her boot on his back. He was unable to reach any of his weapons. Oh, and she had her knife against his neck. All while she's trying to interrogate him.
"I won't ask again," she said. "Who. Sent. You?"
Six growled. "Same as you; nobody. I'm my own man."
"Oh really?" she snorted. "Prove it."
"[Perception 5] My armor, dingus. Does it look like anything those goons had? Hell, did my robot look anything like theirs?"
The woman's eyes furrowed. She withdrew her blade but still had the Courier pinned under her.
"Then why are you here?" she asked.
"Curiosity," Six said. "I picked up this signal in the wastelands and followed it to here. Traced it to a middle school and..." he shuddered. "Stumbled across the Lord of the fucking Flies."
The woman's grip relaxed. A couple of seconds later and she rose onto her feet. Six was now free to do the same. Six was able to turn his head enough to catch a glimpse of her eyes. She seemed somber. Mournful. Had she been there too?
"How did you get a signal from here of all places?" she asked.
Six showed her his Pipboy. She reached out for it but Six was quick enough to reel it away from her.
"Uh uh," he warned. "This is one of a kind. You break it, there'll be hell to pay."
She rolled her eyes. "And that thing led you here? To a necropolis?"
"I was hoping for a place to trade and rest at. Didn't expect everything to be dead on arrival. But hey, I'm not too picky about my sleeping spots."
"You honest to gods would sleep in a place like this?"
"I'm from the wastelands. We all lived in ruins where I come from."
The two heard some music coming from the fog. A drumbeat from the sound of things. Six knew that leitmotif all too well.
"At ease, ED-E," Six commanded. "The situation's been defused."
For the time being.
ED-E flew into view of the humans. The woman's hand hovered over her blade, but she didn't draw it this time. The robot beeped some inquisitive tones.
"That is a good question; what are you doing here?" Six noted.
"Paying my respects. But it seems as though the grave I was looking for rolled off."
"Rolled off?" Six asked. How could someone's resting place-
A recent memory came back to him. He looked back at the gaping hole nearby.
"You mean the missing platform?" he realized.
She nodded. "The core to be precise. I'm no technician, but I'm fairly certain that mobile platforms are supposed to be able to communicate with one another."
"So you came to this radio station in the hopes of finding something to track it down. Like a signal or a network."
She nodded. "Unfortunately some vultures decided to take roost in this one. Obviously, I couldn't let that happen."
And right on cue, those 'vultures' sent out another broadcast. Six brought up his Pipboy and began playing it. Like the last one, it was in Morse Code.
Delta, this is Alpha. Come in.
...
Delta Team, respond.
…
Respond!
…
All Teams, the light is yellow. Repeat, the light is yellow. Treat any unaffiliated persons you happen across as a threat.
The woman cursed in Russian- erm, Ursine- under her breath. He was surprised that she understood any of it.
"Well, looks like you've stirred up the hornet's nest," Six noted brusquely.
She glared at him. Obviously, she wasn't in the mood for his smart mouth. She put a hand on her chin, probably thinking about her next course of action. She looked back at the foreigner.
"How good are you in a firefight?" she asked.
"Plenty," Six boasted. "But if this is going where I think it is, then I need a favor in return."
"I figured that was the case. Name it."
"I need to get into Great Lungmen."
The woman gave him a bewildered look. "Why would a wastelander like you want to go to that cesspool?" she asked.
He didn't reply immediately, though.
That honestly is a good question. He privately admitted. What the hell do I hope to find there? I've hardly even translated that Holptape from the theater yet. And asking her to do so for me might not be the best idea. She could be involved for all I know. I'll have to get back to it once I've got the time… and an actual plan.
There was also the tone of her question. Why did she call it a 'cesspool' just now? Was something personal, or was there some type of danger present in the city? He pushed those thoughts back. He barely had any data on this world right now. The only way to get more was to get to Great Lungmen as quickly as possible.
"...I'm tracking someone down," he claimed.
That intrigued the woman some. "Oh?" she said. "Someone important?"
"More like something. Something was taken from me and I want to know why."
"And you have a lead to Great Lungmen?"
Six nodded. That tidbit was at least truthful.
"You have a passport to get in?"
Six blinked and tilted his head. "Passport?"
"Uh, yeah. It's what civilized travelers have to enter the big cities. You want one, you'll have to go through days worth of papers and questioning."
"You're shitting me."
She didn't respond with a nod or shake of her head. Her eyes, though, were dead serious. Six growled under his breath.
"I don't have time for that bullshit," he said. "I need to get into that place ASAP."
"But you do have time for a little recon, da? Watch my back and I'll help you sneak in."
Six put a hand on his chin. If what she said was true, then his (potential) quarry would run off while he was shaking hands with the locals. But could he really trust her? After all, she just tried to kill him a minute ago.
Well... Six thought to himself. If she tries to backstab me, I can always return the favor. I haven't used my Turbo stash from my GRX implant today. Might be wise to hold off on those for now.
"You've got a car? 'Cus metalhead here can only fly up to thirty miles-per-hour."
ED-E emitted a series of irritated beeps at the Courier.
"Miles?"
Six slapped himself in the gasmask.
Of course the Russian girl uses Metrics, he thought to himself. Let's see…
[Intelligence 7] After doing a bit of math in his head and counting with his fingers, he replied. "Forty-eight-point-twenty-eight kilometers, roughly speaking."
"Ah. Well, yes. I do. How else could I get here? Where's yours?"
"Blown to pieces by some metal arthropod."
She cringed. "Ouch."
"Yeah… so I guess I'm in. But if you backstab me, I'll fucking melt your face off."
The girl snorted and walked towards the radio station. Six's hand hovered over his Plasma Defender as he followed. The radio station was rather small and modest, with a tower sitting not too far from it. The trio stepped inside to find its guts covered in cobwebs and dust. Some areas had been disturbed, though, recently dusted off. These men were in the middle of spring cleaning before the she-wolf slaughtered them.
One room had a table with mics at the center. Another had some soundboards and one of those folding computers- "laptop" the redhead called them. Six attempted to power it on, but it didn't respond to any of their commands. He noticed a toolkit nearby and opened it up. He smiled as he looked at the contents and grabbed them. He went to work on cracking the laptop open. To his disappointment, most of the hardware had already corroded away. So much for studying it.
The woman shouted something in Russian in the room next to him. Six ran to see her at some dusty old terminal. It was big and blocky, like those of his homeworld. And from the looks of things, it was just as sturdy. She cursed as the login screen popped up. The blank bar on the monitor told him everything.
"Locked," she said. "Look around. There's gotta be a password for this piece of der'mo somewhere."
Six looked around the station for anything containing the login credentials. Books, CD cases, bookshelves, under mats, anywhere and everywhere. He eventually took a photo out of a frame and looked at the back of it. There was something written in Ursine. Six immediately began translating it and came up with the following;
Do you remember the day we stepped out of college?
Six raised an eyebrow. Were they talking about certificates? He looked around for something resembling such a thing and dug up some framed documents. It took some time translating them, but after a few minutes he managed to get a date from one of them; 23rd of December, 1090. Six ran back to the redhead and brought the information to her. She pumped up her fist when the machine took the password.
She clicked on an icon on the desktop and brought up some kind of program. There were numerous charts and windows on the screen, one of them resembling a radar. She fiddled around with it some, causing dots to disappear and reappear on the 'radar'. Her shoulders slumped.
"Chert voz'mi," she cursed. "This tower doesn't transmit signals beyond the city. Let alone the platform."
"Is it connected to a network at least?" Six asked.
"Yeah," she said. "I have a lead on a data center. It's not too far from here."
She rose from her seat and the trio walked out of the building. The ruined streets of Chernoberg greeted them as they followed the hooded punk. She had this sort of twitch or edge about her during the trek. She was obviously an assassin or rogue based on their earlier encounter but that wasn't what bothered Six. What bothered him was how she seemed to slip into a trance on some occasions. Sometimes she stopped and stared at certain stores and buildings. Sometimes she averted her gaze when passing by a body.
Something else occurred to Six. "We've never introduced ourselves," he noted. "Might be a good idea to trade names before we get into any firefights. Folks back home call me Six. You?"
The redhead snorted. "Seriously? She asked. "They named you after a serial number? What next? Your brother's name is B127 and your sister's A2?"
"Haha, very funny. But at least it sticks. And you are?"
The woman stopped in her tracks and just stood there. She had this conflicted look in her eyes. Six wanted to say it was trust issues, but something else seemed to be at play here. Finally, she spoke.
"Lyudmila," she revealed.
Six raised an eyebrow. "I think I heard that name before in a history book," he said. "Didn't it belong to a famous sniper or something?"
Lyudmila shrugged. "Can't say that I'm an expert in either field," she confessed. "Where are you from anyway?"
"Out west," Six said. "Can't remember where exactly, though. Amnesia and all."
"Hmph."
"What about you? Do you have any memories of home?"
Six's tone was rather caustic. Hell, even he was surprised by it. Where did it come from? The redhead was briefly taken aback by his comment but she quickly shook it off.
"Here, believe it or not," she confessed.
Six did a double-take. "Waitwhat?" He said rapidly.
"I was born in this city years ago. My father and I used to live here until an… incident."
"Damn…"
She started walking again and the dimensionally displaced duo followed suit. Nobody said another word for the next several minutes. Eventually, they came across a building resembling a news station. The first thing that stood out was the massive radar dish at the top of the building. Just seeing it brought back memories of Black Mountain and Tabitha's cult of personality. A small part of his brain was praying that they wouldn't encounter any Super Mutants or equivalents to them today.
His prayers went unheeded. Up ahead was a swarm of armored scavengers. All of the types he had seen back at the radio station were present. Hounds, drones, defenders, even those hulking figures in cloaks. Lyudmila cursed their luck.
"More of those ublyudki," she said.
"Think we can take them?"
"The ones outside, maybe. But I'm more worried about the forces on the inside. They might come running out and surround us if we charge in. I'd rather do things quietly."
Six nodded. He'd rather not tangle with the shieldbearers anytime soon. The two of them scoped around the station grounds until they found a ladder. Lyudmila was the first one up, peeping her head over the ledge. She motioned for the duo to follow suit. There were a couple of bowmen patrolling the roof.
She pointed at herself and then the goon on the left. Then she pointed at Six and the other goon. He quickly got the message and the two crept to their respective targets. Both of them covered their victim's mouths and slammed them to the ground. Six jammed Chance's Knife into his target's neck while Lyudmila slit the other's with her blade. The former's hud was picking up movement below but the word 'HIDDEN' was still flashing.
The two of them found a door but it was locked. Six was about to pick the lock when the woman held up her hand. She walked over to the barrier and placed said hand on it. Then she vibrated and shifted through it. Six blinked and almost cursed out loud. The door opened up to reveal a smug Lyudmila. She beckoned him inside. He and ED-E didn't bother to ask questions.
The woman quietly shut the door as they came in. The inside wasn't all that remarkable at first. Just a grey staircase that spiraled around in a grey hall. Bits of plaster and glass littered the steps and floor. There were some holes in the ceiling for light and the elements to drop in and rain down on everyone. These kinds of ruins were a dime a dozen back on Earth.
Then they came across the offices. The terminals here weren't like the ones at the station, let alone Earth. The screens were as flat as pancakes while the actual computers-if any were present- appeared to be shaped like coolers. There were some printers here and there, but most of them were damaged beyond repair. There were even some of those smartphones lying around too. And the place was filled to the brim with guards. Some of them were busy dissecting the technology, laying out circuit boards and wires on desks and placemats.
Six looked back at Lyudmila. "Some swordsmen at 9 o'clock," he whispered. "Drop 'em or sneak by?"
"Are they alone?"
"Looks like it."
There was a beat. "If you can get the drop on them, do it. Otherwise, let me."
Six crept into the room, carefully stepping over broken glass and records. ED-E stayed behind with Lyudmila, each of them taking a side of the entryway. Six's motion tracker only picked up two hostiles so far, on each side of the office. There were some bookcases at the center, splitting the room in half. Perfect cover.
Six hid under a desk and waited for one of the goons to pass by. Once they did, Six slipped behind and grabbed them. One hand was covering their mouth, while the other jammed Chance's Knife into their neck. In a few seconds, they drowned in their own blood. Six gently laid the fresh corpse onto the floor, then carefully tucked it into his hiding spot. He crept over to the next guard and repeated the process.
Six stood upright and began inspecting the room. One of the desks had been dusted off recently and had some hardware on it. Nothing but hard drives, each wrapped up in anti-static bags. Everything else was left at the mercy of the elements.
He poked his head out of the room, startling Lyudmila. ED-E seemed to laugh at her reaction in binary. He stepped out and allowed her to inspect the room for a bit before pressing on. The rest of the offices on the floors were empty. None of them had any hard drives, though. The goons must've collected them by now. They did leave some LMDs lying out, though. Six helped himself to some free cash.
They found the management's office, but it was locked up. Six went to work on picking the lock while his companions watched for enemy patrols. It took a few attempts, but he finally got through. To their surprise, the room was free of any dust and debris. Lyudmila took a seat at the desk and tried to power the computer on. To their dismay, it refused to boot up. Six gave the light switch a flip. The lights came on, but they were rather dim.
"Hmm," Six said. "Surprised that backup power lasted this long."
Lyudmila just walked past him. They reached a balcony and were now looking down at the lobby area. And it was crawling with guards. One of them was a tall guy in a cloak. He in turn was flanked by those grenadiers with sickles. They were setting up floodlights and external generators. Six growled and looked back at Lyudmila.
"There's no way we can sneak past all of them," Six said.
Okay, maybe that was a lie. He did have a couple of Stealth Boys left, but he wasn't gonna waste them on some scavengers. Nor was he inclined to share one with her, what with the risks of someone reverse-engineering it.
"I could use my smokescreen," she suggested. "But that might set off the fire alarms."
"If they're operational, I'd say that's actually a plus," Six pointed out. "It could drown out all the noise up here while your screen blinds everyone. Our footsteps, their cries, etc. Perfect recipe for an ambush in my book."
There weren't any sprinklers as far as Six could see either. That means there's no risk of electronics being ruined or any electrical fires starting. Six took out his riot shotgun and gave a nod to Lyudmila. She returned the gesture and breathed out her smokescreen. Just as Six figured, the fire alarm went off and startled the scavs. They were even more bewildered when the grey clouds closed in on them.
Lyudmila was the first one down. She landed on a swordsman and cut through his back. Six was the next one to jump, rolling and bumping into a crossbowman. His chest cavity was stuffed with 12 gauges before he could react. Though Six's ears were shielded from the fire alarms, the same can't be said for the natives. Some of them were busy trying to pick a set of ears to cover. They didn't last too long.
Others were smart enough to go on the offense. Six felt a blunt object smash against his back, causing him to stumble for a bit. He looked back to see some scaly bastard wielding a patchwork sledgehammer. He had to give him props for craftsmanship, though. Too bad the only reward he received was a storm of pellets.
Six spotted a drone flying above the smoke. It started beeping and a defender came rushing towards him. The Courier swapped out the ammo for magnum rounds and fired away. To his surprise, the drone projected a glowing field around him. Even more surprising was that said energy was repairing the defender's armor. Six cursed his luck. He fired more pellets at the scav, hoping to outpace his new healing factor. When the drum ran dry he switched to his Q-35 matter modulator and started melting through his armor and flesh. He didn't last for much longer.
A blue bolt struck the drone, sending its burning chassis crashing into the ground. Six looked to see ED-E entering the scene, firing at a swordsman as he charged at them. He turned to ash. Six gave the robot a thumbs up, only to be sent flying through the fog by an explosion. He growled as he got back onto his feet, spying a crimson drone with a cannon flying around. It lobbed a grenade at him, but he was quick enough to roll out of danger. A couple of shots from his Plasma rifle melted the machine. He took a couple of steps back to avoid being splashed by the green goop.
A rocket flew by Six. He looked to see a man with a scythe charging at him. He narrowly dodged a swing from him and opened up VATS. He targeted an arm and fired it away, replacing the battery during the emerald barrage. He took out his Ripper when the man dropped his weapon and rammed it into his torso. With a diagonal pull, he tore through his ribcage and out of the shoulder. A slash across his throat ended his suffering.
Six heard barking in the distance. He cursed their luck. The guard dogs outside must've heard the commotion after all. His fears were confirmed when the hellhounds came rushing at him. Six sidestepped a leap and swung at its legs. The limbs on its left side came flying off, earning a cry and whimper from the creature. He put it out of its misery with a knife to the jugular. Another of its kin managed to pounce on and pin Six down. It clawed at his chest plate while he held it back with one hand. He managed to slide his other arm under its neck and rev up. The head was severed from the neck and the corpse fell onto his body.
He growled as he shoved the recently departed off of him, whipping the blood on his pants leg. An arrow flew past his shoulder and he turned to see a couple of snipers. Six just tossed a grenade at their feet. One of them managed to roll in time to avoid the explosion. The other wasn't so swift. Six sheathed his ripper and took out That Gun. He took out the sniper's kneecaps, then his brain.
Two swordsmen came at him. Six fired the rest of That Gun's clip at them, but they were able to block the bullets with their blades. He sheathed it and took out the prototype Plasma rifle. That melted through their weapons-and chest cavities- real quick. Another of those hulking shieldbearers came marching onto the scene. Six switched out the regular microfusion cell for an optimized one. By the time he called in a drone for repairs, most of his chestplate had melted off. That left him open to some hollow points from Sleepytime. Not long after the man finally expired, though, the drone dropped to the ground without warning.
Six raised an eyebrow under his helmet but he didn't have time to ponder right now. One of those thugs with the funny helmets entered the scene and immediately siced more machines on his tail. Six jumped and rolled around explosions while the mercenary kept his distance. Six fired back at them whenever possible. Once they were wrecked he shifted focus onto their master.
This guy wasn't going to give him a chance to fire. He danced around the Courier's shots and was quick to close the gap with his blade. He managed to get some cuts into the hero's armor, even knocking his weapon out of his hand. Six had to fall back onto his Ripper to block some of the blows. Six was able to get some cuts of his own into the bastard before another drone popped up.
It was one of those healing units. Snarling, Six broke off from the fight to search for the Q-35 prototype. He had a hard time seeing in the fog and on multiple occasions ran into opposition. It didn't take long for the bastard to catch up to him. He fell back onto That Gun to take out the drone, then the Plasma Defender to fight back. This time he toggled VATS and aimed for the legs. The flesh underneath was scotched judging from the man's screams. His head was the next thing to be boiled.
The smoke cleared up. Lyudmila was sitting atop a pile of fresh corpses and waved at the Courier. He could sense the smugness radiating from her. Part of him wanted to punch her. The rest of him just wanted to get to Great Lungmen as quickly as possible. He found the Q-35 and went to work reloading all of his weapons. He joined up with the rest of the team once he was finished.
Lyudmila gave a peculiar look when he approached her, though. Probably has some questions about his collection of guns. Thankfully she wasn't too concerned about them when she spoke up. All she wanted was to scour the area for anything useful. The fleshlings split up to search the floor for any remaining enemies and loot. The former already came rushing to their deaths from the looks of things. Six helped himself to a machete and some LMDs. It helps to have a backup weapon in case his Ripper broke down in combat. Chance's Knife can only do so much on its own.
The Courier and ED-E rendezvoused with Lyudmila at a desk at the floor's center. The sign hanging above them was written in worn-down Russian, but he wasn't in the mood to translate it. Probably 'Customer Service' or something along the lines of that. Lyudmila pointed to a certain end of the building. There was a door with some signs beside it. One of them had a lightning bolt on it. He had three guesses as to what it meant.
The trio walked over to and through that doorway. It was another spiraling stairway, this one descending into the (artificial) earth. The first floor they came across was filled to the brim with machines. They reminded him of the mainframes of his homeworld. Six asked Lyudmila for a translation of the room's sign. Her response was 'Server Room'. The techno-geek in Six wanted to examine the room before them. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to indulge his curiosity. He needed to move on.
The next floor they reached was the basement. There were several fuse boxes and circuit breakers lined up against the wall. At the center was a medium-sized generator. The floor was cloaked in darkness, though, so Six had to turn on the Pipboy's flashlight to illuminate the area. He walked over to the generator first.
It was a sorry excuse for a wreck. Most of its shell had been broken off, scattered across the floor. Many of the exposed wires and circuit boards either melted into slag or just corroded away. All of the power cells -or at least what he assumed to be power cells- were drained. ED-E shivered at the sight with an agitated beep. Six couldn't blame him.
The circuit breakers appeared to be in relatively good shape. The same could be said for the fuse boxes. Of course, the fuses themselves had blown out long ago, but those can easily be replaced. Lyudmila let out a nervous laugh when she saw the generator.
"So uh… you good with a wrench?" she asked sheepishly.
"Not the first generator I've had to fix," Six replied. "I'm more worried about finding replacement parts, though. Think you can bring some down at the base of the stairs while I inspect our patient here?"
The woman nodded and ran back up the steps. Six got closer to the machine and knelt down. While this world's periodic table might be different, their technology appears to follow similar laws and designs to Earth's. Six went into ED-E's inventory and took out a toolkit. A gift from Raul. He opened it up and took out two items; clippers and a soldering iron. It took a couple of minutes, but Lyudmila eventually returned with some spare parts and circuit boards.
Six immediately went to work. Replacing some gears and belts here, switching out circuit boards there, and soldering some wires here. It took a few minutes, but Six was overall satisfied with his work. When Lyudmila returned again, all she had were fuses.
"No batteries?" he asked.
She shook her head. Six cursed his luck and put a hand on his chin. Where the hell were they gonna get ba-
[Repair 60] He blinked. Wait a minute. That's it! He did have batteries on hand. Microfusion Cells. If he could do some extra rewiring, he could-. No. There wasn't any guarantee that Terra's technology would cooperate with Earth's. Even if he could insert a Cell into the generator, there's the risk of it exploding as soon as he flipped the switch.
But they were running out of daylight while they sat in the dark brainstorming. He had to take a risk. If it failed, they could always rest upstairs and rebuild the generator tomorrow. Six grabbed some loose wires and began attaching them to a Microfusion Cell. Once that was done, he repeated the process with the interior of the machine. He looked around at the circuit breakers surrounding him. Lyudmila had already replaced the fuses. All that needed to be done was to flip their switches.
One by one Six walked up to each of them, pulling or pushing a lever. A small light popped up from the generator. Though he hesitated for a bit, Six walked over and pressed the power button. The machine roared to life and the lights began flickering back to life. First came emergency power, then full power. Six pumped a fist with a whisper of 'Yes!' under his breath.
The trio ran all the way back to the office and found that the manager's terminal was back online. Even better, there was no login screen. Lyudmila plopped her ass onto the chair and brought up some programs, entering some commands. Several windows popped up on the computer, one with a map and a couple more with some readings. A black box with flashing red text popped up in front of the map, though;
ERROR!
Radar dish is not responding. Probability of internal damage is high. Please notify and send any available electrician for repairs.
Lyudmila growled and cursed under her breath. "Looks like one of us is gonna have to do some more maintenance," she said.
Six sighed, cursing his own luck. He sent ED-E to retrieve the toolbox while he made his way to the roof. When he got back outside he was rather surprised to find the area vacant. No signs of any guards and their minions. No drones scouring the air or dogs sniffing it. Maybe they all ran to their deaths inside earlier. He hoped that was the case.
Six found a panel and opened it up. Sure enough, some gears were lying around while some circuit boards lay in pieces. Cables had been cleanly cut, exposing the wires inside. Sabotage. ED-E came back with the toolbox. Six went to work on restoring the radar dish. The cables had their wires retied and soldered, with duct tape sealing them back up. It took some trial and error, but he managed to get the gears back in the right places.
Six gathered as many pieces of the circuit board as possible and reassembled the fragments to the best of his ability. Of course, they were beyond salvaging, though. He only gathered the remains to piece together something for reference. He ran back into the building and looked into the piles of hardware the trio stumbled across earlier. He found some boards resembling the dish's own and scooped them into his backpack. He jogged back to the machine and began inserting them.
A loud humming sound-maybe even a chime- entered his ears as the dish began rotating itself. He screwed the panel back on, then he and ED-E ran back to the manager's office. Lyudmila was writing something down on a piece of paper. Six walked over behind her to see a map with a blinking dot. Several more popped up on the screen, some of them moving.
"Found it," Lyudmila said with a sliver of joy. "It's just at the outskirts of Great Lungmen's territory. Shouldn't take but a few hours to drive there."
She shut the computer down and led the aliens out onto the rooftop—no sign of the other squads so far. The trio slid (or floated) the ladder onto the street. Six and ED-E had the advantage of motion trackers, but even they had some blind spots. If Lyudmila was able to disrupt their trackers, then so could others. That made Six all the more paranoid.
The Courier was spinning around like mad, toggling VATS every ten or so seconds. Eventually, they arrived at an underground parking garage. There were all kinds of vehicles down here. Pickup trucks, military jeeps, police cars, buses, eighteen-wheelers, APCs, motorcycles, even something resembling tanks. And no signs of rust on any of them. Granted, they were only abandoned for months, but still. Six was growing more and more envious of this world by the minute.
Lyudmila eventually stopped at a massive vehicle. Six wasn't an expert on automobiles- what wastelander was?- but he guessed it was an offroad truck. Maybe a troop transport given the seats in the 'trunk'. The lack of a proper roof seemed to cement this notion. There was something engraved on the rear end of the truck; S15M Boar. Obviously the model name and number.
ED-E emitted some concerned beeps at the human. He knew where this was going.
"Don't worry," Six assured him. "The windshield should keep you from flying outta the car."
ED-E wasn't entirely convinced. It made some inquisitive bleeps.
"[Repair 40] Hey, you've been able to pick up items with a tractor beam before, right? Why not use it as a tether to the seat? Not sure if you technically need it, but it can at least act as a makeshift seatbelt."
ED-E broadcasted some positive beeps. Six smiled under his helmet as the robot floated to his spot. He sat in the back and strapped a seatbelt on while Lyudmila took the wheel. The engine grumbled as she started the engine. It let out a roar once her foot slammed on the pedal, driving all the way down to the bottom. The wasteland was the first thing to greet them… along with a metal claw.
Lyudmila swore in Ursine and swerved around the silver arthropod. More of its brethren burst up around them and made their own swipes at the Boar. The ones that surfaced gave chase, but they couldn't catch up with the machine. Six flipped the double cheeseburger at the monsters as they sped off into the distance. In disappointment, the beasts burrowed back under the earth. It wasn't the end of the world for them, though. There was more prey out there. They just had to wait for someone else to wander into their trap.
Date: October 1st, 1099
Location: Rhodes Island, helipad
Time: 9 AM
Clear skies. Nothing but a blue horizon and the sun towering above. The latter's heavenly rays rained down upon Terra as Franka stepped outside. Personally, she found the skies to be rather bland today. She's got nothing against the sun of course. After all, it kept the planet from freezing to death. But it also had a habit of burning out its admirer's eyes. Clouds at least spiced things up with their unique shapes (and reduced glare from the solar system's lone star).
Franka leaned up near the hanger entrance while she waited for her squadmates. While some of them were already on the Ark, others were offsite at their homes or on a mission. Amiya's efforts to reach out to the Doktuh and Rainbow Team so far haven't been successful. The latter case wasn't all that surprising to her, but the former concerned Amiya greatly. Franka wasn't all that worried, personally. The Doctor was probably resolving yet another crisis like it was Tuesday. He's pulled plenty of asses out of the fire since his return to Rhodes Island, and he's certainly no stranger to surviving impossible odds. The man was a living good luck charm in her book.
The roar of an engine pulled her back into reality. One of their dropships had returned from a mission. Was it the Doctor's? A bunch of operators walked out of the vessel, but the neurologist wasn't among them. A couple of her squadmates were, though. Schwarz and Rangers broke off from the group and walked up to her.
"Good morning, Miss Franka," Rangers said with a bow of his head.
Franka waved back at him with a smile. "Morning, grandpa," she teased. "I see that age hasn't slowed you down yet."
The lizardman smirked. "It'll take more than the rivers of time to wear this stone down," he boasted.
The woman beside him wasn't in the mood for banter, though. "You asked for both of us," she said. "Did something happen to Ash and her friends?"
"More like somebody from their homeland might've made their way here," Franka confessed. "And they're not as subtle as Ashy."
Schwarz frowned. "Do you have a lead on them?"
"Club Penguin's keeping an eye out for him. We just gotta sniff around the spot they first found him at and see if anything else cropped up."
"And where might that be?" Rangers asked.
"Kazdel," said a voice. "Müllstad to be more precise."
The three Operators turned to see Mudrock. The snipers backed up some but Franka remained rather chill. Behind the Defender were several more operatives. Sesa, Magallan, Liskarm, Ceylon, Castle-3, Projekt Red, and Cliffheart.
"You… brought all of them into this?" Schwarz asked.
"They only know the bare minimum," Franka assured them. "Well, sans Liskarm of course. Nothing really sensitive. And even if the others knew, they're smart enough to keep their traps shut."
Schwarz walked up to Ceylon. "And you're letting her tag along?" she inquired further. It wasn't difficult to pick out the concern in her voice.
The pink-haired woman smiled. "This is only a reconnaissance mission," she reassured the Feline. "And in case you haven't noticed, I am in good company."
Franka placed a hand on Schwarz's shoulder. "What she said," Franka adds. "Come on. We've got some digging to do."
One by one the combatants boarded the airship, with Schwarz being the last. She took a seat beside Ceylon and the VTOL took off. A voice popped up on the intercom.
"Gonna be a few hours before we reach Kazdel," informed the pilot. "Hope y'all brought some good reading material."
Franka yawned. Just twenty seconds into their journey and already she was getting bored. She turned to Rangers.
"Got any good stories, gramps?" she asked.
The elder chuckled. "Depends on your tastes in music," he replied. "Have you ever heard of the Ink Blots?"
Date: October 2nd, 1099. Well, the 3rd technically speaking.
Location: Chernoberg
Time: Midnight
The road to the core was honestly a blur for the Courier. Between looking at the same landscape and struggling to stay awake, it was a rather dull trip for him. He could help himself to some water or casserole, but at the speeds they were going, he was certain to lose more than his dinner. Part of him contemplated taking a nap, but he was too paranoid. Anything could've happened during shuteye. ED-E flying off his seat, a car crash, raiders, another ambush from those armored creatures.
Lyudmila was kind enough to answer some questions about the arthropods. Folks around here called them "Metal Crabs". That was a bit of a surprise to the Courier. Last he checked, crabs usually hung out around water. The Lurks back home certainly did. Lyudmila shrugged, casually suggesting that maybe their original homes dried up at some point. Considering the kind of world they were in, Six wasn't surprised.
He asked about their meat and armor. Most folk typically avoided eating the former raw due to the risks of swallowing their armor's shavings. That, and the meat in general contained a considerable concentration of toxins (probably a byproduct of their exoskeleton given its metallic nature). You'd need to ferment it first before you'd even consider eating it. That being said, their plating was as lightweight as it was sturdy and sharp. Many people have used shards of their shells for crafting armor and weapons.
The scientist within Six wasn't fully satisfied yet. " [Science 50] They got a scientific classification?" he asked. "Like 'Scylla serrata horrendus'?"
Lyudmila shrugged. "Not that I'm aware of. Then again, biology wasn't my father's area of-"
She stopped herself. Intrigue crept into Six's brain. "Area of expertise?" he finished.
The woman simply nodded. The trio rode in silence for a few minutes before Six resumed his questions. "Anyone I should be wary of?" Six asked.
"Why? Made your fair share of enemies?"
"You could say that. Don't need any more on my ass. Got any on yours's?"
"Plenty," she said. "And I don't feel like airing my dirty laundry. What about you?"
Six grunted and shook his head. She got him there. Another hour passed and they finally found their quarry. Another mobile ruin lying dead in the desert. More skyscrapers crumbling under the pressures of time and mother nature. More originium spikes bursting from its artificial earth into the skies…
The world shifted around him. The skies took on a dirty, earthly brown color and the clouds began swirling around the platform. The universe flashed between tan and crimson lenses. The architecture was switching between Art Deco and a more modern (at least by dead America's standards) design. Two voices were echoing in the distance. One was a woman, the other a man. He recognized them. They were-
Lyudmila's shouting and ED-E's alarmed beeps brought him back to reality. Something whizzed past his head and another collided with the windshield. Six looked ahead to see several vans. All of them in pitch-black plating and windows, all of them surrounded and even boarded by mercenaries. And some of them had one form of turret or another on them.
Six growled. Those uniforms were the same as the ones back in the main city. These must be the rest of the scavenger teams. Already they were getting their shield guards into positions and arming their bazookas. Lyudmila was swerving around arrow and magic fire, along with the occasional rocket and grenade. Six looked back at ED-E.
"Hey buddy, wanna make a trade?"
Lyudmila of course butted in. "I don't they're inte-"
"I was talking to ED-E, not them, dumbass!" Six retorted. He turned back to the robot. "How about some of my guns for Red Glare?" he asked.
ED-E quaked and gave off an alarmed beep. Lyudmila didn't like the sound of that.
"Would you rather be blown up?" Six retorted under arrow fire.
ED-E relented and tethered itself to the back, floating over to Six's side. Lyudmila heard something mechanical open up and items shifting. When she dared to look back at them, her jaw dropped and her eyes became cartoonish white circles. There, mounted on Six's shoulder, was a forest green launcher.
"Give me a howler when we've got a clean shot," Six ordered.
Lyudmila shook off her bewilderment and nodded. She strafed and danced around Arts blasts and rockets, waiting for the bastards to start reloading their heavy artillery.
"Now!" she shouted.
Six locked onto a cluster of mercs with VATS and fired a few rockets at the nearest van. One landed at the feet of some snipers and sent them flying. Another collided with the enemy vehicle and blew off its doors. One more reduced the car to a fireball, exploding and spreading shrapnel around. Some mercs were caught in the blast, either burning or blown to smithereens.
"Where the fuck did you get that from?" Lyudmila shouted over the chaos.
"From the depths of hell," Six said. "Hey ED-E, think you can provide some covering fire while my Pip-Boy recalibrates VATS?"
ED-E emitted an acknowledging beep and began peppering the enemy with blue lasers. His accuracy was the best of the trio, but even he found himself having trouble with aiming while on the run. When VATS finished recharging AP, Six fired another volley of rockets at the goons. They all got fragged and their car was sent flying into the air. The wreckage crushed some unfortunate soul under its flaming corpse.
Things were about to get more complicated. Metal claws burst from the earth and began tearing at anything they could grab. One forced Lyudmila to swerve, throwing off Six's aim. He snarled as he saw their owners dig their way onto the surface. Originium slugs burrowed their way up as well and joined in the chaos. It became a three-way battle between them, the mercs, and mother nature.
"Where the hell did they come from?" Six snarled.
"You must've disturbed their nest with those rockets," Lyudmila suggested. "Or maybe some Caster summoned them."
ED-E chirped in annoyance. He was right. Why they popped up was hardly the point. All that mattered was how they'll disrupt the fight. Some of them were thankfully turning their attention to the mercs. The rest were eying the ragtag team of wanderers. Six added them to his list of 'things to blow up'.
The slugs were primarily relying on numbers to overwhelm their enemies. Not a bad strat, but Six already had a means of countering it. Dealing with them proved to be surprisingly easy. There was the danger of running over the explosive ones of course, but Lyudmila drove around them. The metal crabs were a real troublesome bunch, though. Even with the rockets, they seemed to be resistant to physical damage. Six found a workaround for this, though; incendiary rockets.
The flames and ED-E's laserfire cooked them alive. The incendiaries also proved to be effective towards the other parties. Mercs ran around screaming and rolling over as they tried to extinguish the fires around them. The surviving slugs scattered after each volley. For the Courier, it was like shooting Molerats in a barrel.
Unfortunately, the strongest of the mercenaries survived. A defender and one of those tall wraith-like figures- adorned with hints of crimson- stood proud and summoned their drones. Six fired some incendiary rockets at the leaders. They hardly even flinched as the explosives hit them. Six growled and swapped out Red Glare for the Q-35. That appeared to have a greater effect on them, but he ran through three Microfusion cells just to take down that defender and his drone. It took five for the other bastard.
Six took some deep breaths as the woman parked the Boar. "Was that all of them?" he asked.
ED-E and Lyudmila confirmed with a beep and nod respectively.
"Okay… now how are we gonna get into the core city? Maintenance shaft? Sewers? Parking garage?"
"Preferably the last one," Lyudmila said. "But those are usually opened from the inside. Still got any rockets?"
"Yep. Though I do have a missile launcher too for an extra 'oomph' if it sui-"
[Perception 7] Something caught Six's attention. Something up in the sky. Something a fiery orange. No, several somethings. And it was heading towards them fast. Six ventured a guess as to what it was.
"Uh, how often do meteor showers occur out here?" Six asked anxiously.
Lyudmila looked in the direction he was pointing. Six couldn't see her face, but he could sense the dread- the fear- creeping in. He could barely hear her curse-maybe even pray- under her breath. She floored it. Six and ED-E hung onto dear life as the heavens rained hellfire on them. All around them, crimson spikes began popping up from the earth.
Lyudmila was swishing and swerving this way and that, dodging fireballs and spikes. While she eventually got to shelter under the mobile platform, they were far from safe. Now the spikes were sending out red bolts of lighting at them. Some of them were forming makeshift electric- erm, magic- fences, trying to catch the trio by surprise. They needed to get into the core city, and fast.
Six say something dangling up ahead. An old ramp, missing one of its hydraulics. The remaining one was struggling to hold the weight by itself. It was partially exposed to the elements… and to the Courier.
"Mila, ramp!" Six shouted
Lyudmila followed Six's finger to the object in question. She locked her eyes on it and made a beeline for it.
"ED-E, Annabelle!" He shouted again.
ED-E acknowledged and traded Red Glare for Annabelle. The green-and-silver missile launcher was slung over his shoulder and he had his eyes on the target. With a thought, he triggered his GRX Implant and injected himself with some Turbo. Time slowed to a crawl as Six readied himself. He pulled the trigger and watched the missile fly toward the ramp's side.
The explosion tore the remaining hydraulics into pieces. The ramp collapsed with a heavy thud, kicking up a giant dust cloud. Lyudmila zigzagged around hell's talons and jolts of lightning, eyes glued onto their prize. Just as they were about to reach the entryway, though, the Catastrophe unleashed its ace. A column of Originium burst right before the Boar. The car collided with it, the pillar being just low enough for the vehicle to sail over it. It bounced across the earth and onto the ramp, spiraling between each hop.
ED-E's tractor beam lost its strength and it was sent flying. Thankfully it managed to correct its course and reoriented itself before it crashed, but the same couldn't be said for the humans.
There wasn't a roof over their heads so the humans received some kisses from a metallic surface. On multiple occasions, they were sandwiched between the car and whatever hard surface it bounced on. Eventually, the rollercoaster of a ride crashed into a wall. It slid ungracefully onto its side and stayed in that position.
[Endurance 8/10] Six groaned as the world stopped spinning. His limbs and chest cavity were screaming in agony. It felt as if a Super Mutant had used him as a trampoline. But he could still feel his fingers and toes, though. That was a good sign. He wasn't coughing up any blood either so far. Might be good, but his insides could be bleeding out for all he knew.
Six unfasted his seatbelt and fell onto the floor. It wasn't a graceful landing and all that did was inflame his crippled body even more. He stifled a yelp of pain and rose onto his feet. He looked up to see Lyudmila, still in the driver's seat. There was something dripping from under her hoodie. She wasn't moving.
Six was getting worried. He needed something to reach her. There was a ladder nearby so he propped it up against the ruined Boar. He got a better look at her as he climbed up. Her chest was still rising and falling. She was breathing, but there was blood dripping from her head. Nothing appeared to be missing, But there was some debris embedded in her. He needed to get her out of there. Without thinking he unbuckled her seatbelt and caught her as she fell.
It didn't occur to him if his arm could support her weight in his current condition. He let out a short yell as physics flipped him the cheeseburger. He fell off the ladder and landed with a thud, Lyudmila's unconscious body landing atop his. He wheezed as he gently shoved her off and propped up his Pipboy.
Everything but his skull was crippled. No surprise there. His HP was down from 645 to 36 according to the machine. Part of him wanted to say it was a miracle, but the rest of him threw that out the window. Lady Luck rarely- if ever- shined down on him. He jammed some Stimpaks into himself and one into Lyudmila. He took in a deep breath as his strength returned to him.
A series of beeps caught his attention. He looked to see ED-E hovering towards the humans, beeping an inquisitive tone.
"I'm fine," Six said. "But I'm more worried about her. We need to-"
The ramp they rolled up snapped off the platform and collapsed.
"-get her away from here..."
Six cursed his luck. Any minute now and lightning was gonna fly into here. They needed to get moving.
Six knelt down and carefully scooped the woman into his arms. He began a long walk up the parking garage, trying to put as much distance between himself and the Catastrophe. Going to the surface was out of the question, though. He could still hear the meteors bombarding the city. He'll have to settle for here, or at least some type of shelter nearby.
He eventually came across an ambulance on the fourth floor. It was unlocked so he had no issue getting into the back. There was a stretcher inside, plus some equipment like IV lines. Perfect. He gently laid Lyudmila's body on the table and took out his Doctor's Bag. There were enough supplies to treat one more patient. After that, he'll have nothing but stimpaks and chems.
He started by removing the clothes. They were torn, but they could be salvaged at the very least. As he removed her shirt and tank top, he was in for a surprise. There, growing out of her skin, were ebony crystals. The same type he saw on those wastelanders in the mines.
She was Infected. Six just stood there staring at her body for a minute, trying to process the situation. First of all she was an alien. For all he knew his chems could poison her. And second, there was the risk of catching Oripathy. He still has a slim understanding of it. If he caught it he'd risk bringing it back to Earth with him.
He shook his head. Why the hell was he so worried right now? His gloves should be sturdy enough to protect him from any scraping from those shards. And that was if he were clumsy enough to let that happen to begin. Plus, she was his best bet for getting into Great Lungmen. He injected Lyudmila with Med-X and took out some tools.
The next thing to go was the shrapnel. Glass, scrap metal, plastic. Six whipped Lyudmila's head off with a disinfectant, then wrapped a bandage up around it. While he was at it, he also removed some of the orginium shards and placed them in a bag. He was gonna study these later… if he can find a microscope that is. He disinfected her wounds and closed them back up with stitches. He injected a Stimpak into her to hasten her recovery.
For the finishing touch, Six placed a blanket over her. It'll at least provide some modesty and protection from the elements. He wanted to call it a night then and there, but his eyes were glued to her. Or rather, her wolf ears and tail. He could not help but watch them flick and swish about. Part of him still couldn't believe that such traits were a common part of Terran physiology. Were they truly flesh and blood, or cybernetic implants?
He removed a glove and reached for one of Lyudmila's wolf ears, stroking it. He could feel the fur and warmth between his fingers and saw blood veins on the inside of her ear. That same hand hovered down to her wolf wail and repeated the process. Same results.
His eyes widened with child-like wonder. So many questions swirled in his mind. Did she hear out of one set of ears or both? How much did her people's neurology resemble his? What about their amino acids? What mineral were the horns of other races made of? Calcium or ivory? Did they release pheromones like Earth's animals?
A yawn interrupted that train of thought. He can find all of the answers on another day. Right now he needed to recharge. He walked out of the ambulance and found a chair nearby. He swiftly propped it up and plopped his behind on it. Finally, he could relax. No more running on fumes.
"ED-E, stand watch," Six ordered. "I'm gonna… *yawn* catch some Zs."
The eyebot chirped in acknowledgment as the Courier finally closed his eyes. Even as Six drifted to sleep, he could still hear the storm outside. Olympus was raining their fury down on the city while Hades clawed at their doorstep. How the people of Terra managed to endure any of these- let alone thrive- was beyond his compression. At least, for the moment. He'll come to understand its laws and chemistry sooner or later.
He'll need to if he hopes to make it back home...
A/N:
And thus begins Six's adventures with Russian ninja girl!
First of all, the Catastrophe. Yes, they don't just pop up as storms. From my understanding, they basically take the form of any natural disaster and tend to pop up where there's Originium. Since Chernoberg was already bombarded by one and littered with literal mountains of magic rocks, I figured that another would eventually crop up.
And then there's Lyudmila. Yes, her 'mission' is essentially to leave flowers at her father's grave (or the closest thing to one). Of course, Chernoberg is also the scene of her biggest crime against civilization. The enemies encountered here are more-or-less from the A Walk In The Dust event. What are mercenaries doing in Chernoberg of all places, you may wonder. Well, let's just say that Lyudmila isn't the only one with some ideas (and information).
Sorry folks, Herr Doktuh's still not in the house. But don't worry, we have the rest of Rhodes Island to follow. Yes, we're bringing in the Operators featured in OD because who the hell else has the experience? As for the rest of the crew, they have some roles to play. Ceylon as a medic, obviously (and a headache for Schwarz). Castle's a robot, so immunity to poison and other toxins. Sesa's research would be useful for examining any alien weapons they happen across. Magellan's drones can scour the area.
Jessica… well, I guess that kinda depends on the timeline. Her artwork from Chapter 9 certainly implies she's had some growth after the shitstorm in Chernoberg. But since that hadn't come out in English at the initial time of this post, I fell back onto her depressed cat cycle for the time being. But just because she's sad-cat doesn't mean she can't bite back. Plus, she does have a hazmat suit as an in-game costume. That'll be handy down the line. If Stormwatch ends up happening before Originium Dust, I'll probably do some editing and slight rewrites to fix the timeline. *Shrugs*
Projekt Red's got the nose. Cliffheart's an explorer at heart (no pun intended). 'Nuff said. Mudrock… honestly the village they're going to is meant to be the one she encountered Logos at. Or at the very least a neighboring location near it.
Next chapter will mostly be following Rhodes Island's investigation. Franka and co. do some digging and discover some rusty old stuff… and maybe a new breed of devils. We dive into Lyudmila's psyche and foster their alliance some more. As always, feel free to scream at me for any community or grammar snarls.
Edit: And I just remembered that Sleep Deprivation and Dehydration affect one's Endurance. While Six's would normally be 10, his sleepless drive has deducted it by two points. Oh, and someone else pointed out that Castle's a Guard, not a medic. I think I got him and Lancet mixed during writing. Whoops. That's been corrected.