Chapter 17: The Rat Pack
Date: October 13th, 1099
Location: Lungmen Slums
Time: Morning
Six had seen all sorts of zany shit in his new life. Killer holograms, raiders cosplaying as the Roman army, Super Mutants with invisibility, ghouls flying off in rockets, a flaming Yao Guai, a badass religious man in bandages and old riot gear. Hell, even little green men and a saucer.
But finding himself in a city filled with anthropomorphic animals and working cars? A city that looked like it jumped out of photos of the Old World? A proper metropolis with thousands, perhaps tens of thousands or even millions of healthy citizens living in it? That took the cake.
He was even more surprised at how the beast folk lived alongside the other natives. He would've thought they were separate species, but no, they were the same race as the near-humans. They weren't even considered a mutation or deviation of any kind. Hung couldn't help but chuckle at Six's befuddlement.
"Yeah, I've gotten plenty of strange looks from foreigners myself," he recounted. "But none of them reacted the way you did. You never really seen anyone with this much fur before?"
Six shook his head. "My people and I are… fairly isolated."
"Really? Huh. You don't strike me as an Aegir or Vouivre. What are you?"
Six shrugged. "Liberi, I guess. Can't say for certain. Amnesia."
"Ah. I've met plenty of amnesiacs. Some of them didn't even know what race they were until someone put them through a blood test."
"I'm guessing that certain races tend to get mixed up with each other?"
"Yep, some people have trouble telling the difference between a Lupo or Perro. Or a Vouivre and an Archosauria."
"Or a Lupo and Reproba?"
Yühsia's eyes narrowed. "Are you referring to your previous partner?"
Six paused before nodding. Hung chuckled again.
"Don't worry, you aren't the first. Heck, even I thought the same until I saw her profile."
"Her profile?" Six asked. "The LGD's distributing bounties on Reunion survivors?"
"They did for a time," Yühsia replied. "But as the organization faded into obscurity, so did the need for bounties. And frankly, most of Reunion's leadership was written off as KIA."
"Like Patriot and Faust?"
Yühsia nodded.
"I'm surprised that people moved on from them so easily."
"They were only a pretext for war from an Ursus conspiracy. There was no point in hunting pawns when the hand manipulating them was the real threat."
"You mean Talu-"
Yühsia's finger crashed into Six's lips before he finished the word.
"Names hold power, Mr. Argonaut," Yühsia cautioned. "That one alone carries more than all of Reunion combined. And plenty of people on this half of Terra would kill to obtain it. If you wish to remain a free man, I'd advise you not to utter it."
Six stared at Yühsia before slowly nodding. "And what about Tatiana?" he asked. "How much is her's worth?"
Yühsia arched an eyebrow before she got the memo. "For now? Nothing. But opening up old wounds would certainly give someone an excuse to dust off some old fliers."
"To pin back up, or to strong-arm?"
"You really think someone would try to hire an ex-assassin?"
"You live in a world of intrigue, don't you?"
"And you?"
"Survival."
Yühsia furrowed her brows. "You spent some time with that woman, yes? What are your thoughts on her?"
"Why do you ask?" Six asked back.
"Maybe the princess here wants to know if you believe in second chances," Hung speculated with a smile. "What do you think, Mr. Argonaut?"
Six closed his eyes as he mused over his answer. "She was dealt a bad hand," he said. "And she's trying to make the most of it. She's fucked up some, but she wants to do better. Wants to be better. It's all any of us can hope for."
Hung nodded. "Truer words have been said. Wouldn't you agree, Ms. Lin?"
Yühsia paused before giving a curt nod and grunt. "But those aren't your only thoughts, are they?" she noted.
"Yeah," Hung added with a grin. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say there was magic between you two."
Six paused again. It's true that he felt a chemical attraction toward Lyudmila. Why wouldn't he? She had a nice body and cute personality, was a badass, and they could sympathize with each other's pain. But genuine romance? They hadn't reached that kind of bridge. And he didn't know if he was ready for that kind of commitment. Not after-
Six shook his head. "Just chemistry, as far as I can tell. She's probably better off with a loc- ahem, with someone else."
"What makes you say that?"
"Let's just say that I made a lot of enemies back home. I've had friends and loved ones caught in their crosshairs for being associated with me before. I don't want the same to happen to her. And she probably feels the same about me."
Yühsia ruminated over his response before giving another nod. "I can honestly relate. Father and I have had to push away friends and family to maintain order in the slums. You know how that goes; 'needs of the many outweigh those of the few'."
Needs of the many, huh? Six thought to himself. That was the same thing he said to his Companions back on Earth when they asked about Vault 34. Was Lin's excuse as much a lie as his was? Or was she being sincere?
"Speaking of needs, what exactly does daddy need an outside contractor for?" Six asked.
"I told you, he would discuss your contract with you in person," Yühsia reminded him.
"[Perception 5] You only said the details," Six pointed out. "And where I'm from, being a know-nothing gets you killed or worse."
"What can be worse than death?" Hung asked.
Six stepped in front of the duo and gave them a cold glare. "Living as a warlord's concubine for one thing. Experimentation for another. Indentured servitude. And gods help your soul if the jackass decides to raise your debt every Sunday in that scenario."
He took a step forward. "[Barter 50] All I want is a clue at what I'm getting myself into. If you really insist on having your father give the details, fine. But I'd like to see some of the roadmap before starting the journey. So, are you gonna fill me in?"
Yühsia bit her lip before she finally spoke up. "There's a disease spreading in the slums. And it's eating away at everything."
"Not something a medic can handle?" Six asked.
Yühsia shook her head. "If it were, we would've called in a house doctor. Instead, we reached out to you. My father would be more than happy to discuss the cause and symptoms."
Six lowered his head. It wasn't as much as he'd like, but at least he could get an outline. Knowing how Old World mafias operated, probably extermination (or at least assassination). He can accomplish those, no problem.
Suddenly something appeared in front of him, prompting a karate kick. His leg phased through a short blond girl in a frilly outfit, yet she didn't register the attack. An electric blue aura emanated from her body as she waved at him. Six immediately realized what she was; a hologram.
He bolted behind a post box and took cover. He was about to shout for everyone to find their own, but then he noticed something odd. The hologram wasn't shifting colors, let alone firing lasers. Now that he thought about it, neither VATS nor the motion tracker had registered it.
He poked his head out and caught a glimpse of the projector. It was a small disk hidden among some shrubbery, with a ring of Originium red in it. He crept up to the hard light entity and snapped his fingers in its face. It just danced and galloped with a smile as it spoke in various languages.
"You alright?" Hung asked.
"Y-yeah," Six said. "Didn't know that friendly holograms existed is all."
"Friendly?"
"As in 'doesn't try to vaporize you with lasers'."
"Woah, seriously? Where'd you even find that sort of thing?"
"An old testing ground in the Wasteland. That's all I'm at liberty to say."
Six cocked his head as he walked around the digital illusion. There was something familiar about her outfit for some reason. Maybe it was the colorscheme, but he had a hard time seeing it through the digital haze.
"So who's this chick supposed to be?" he asked.
"What, you never heard of Sora?" Hung asked.
Six shook his head. "Some new artist?" Six asked back.
"Not quite. She's been in the idol business for at least a couple of years now."
Six cocked his head again. "Idol? She's not part of a cult is she?"
"Part of a-"
Hung burst into laughter. Yühsia furrowed her brows at Six before the Defender finally calmed down. "Oh man, being bedazzled by our home is one thing," Hung wheezed. "But full-blown culture shock? How can your people live without music?"
"Who said anything about my folks being uncultured?" Six playfully retorted as he inserted a holotape into his Pip-Boy.
Que Danny Kaye and the Andrews Sisters in 'Civilization'. Hung couldn't help but snap his fingers to the song. "Catchy," he said. "I thought you Columbians moved on from those kinda tunes, though."
"Not my folk," Six replied. "My partner exposed me to new genres on our ride's radio. Pop rock, heavy metal, synthwave, dubstep, techno, hardbass, rap. It was…. enlightening."
"I'll beat," Hung said. "Sora's dabbled in at least half of those genres and more. She's uh… what's that word for someone that specializes in many things?
"[Intelegence 7] 'Renaissance woman'?"
"Yeah, that. Hard to imagine someone like her navigating through the musical world with such finesse. Say, you wouldn't know your way around instruments, would you?"
"Just a harmonica and guitar," Six said with a shrug. "Why? Looking to strike up a band?"
"Nah," Hung replied. "Just remembered that Mr. Lin here could use a drummer or guitarist for the parade. The princess here has a beautiful voice and all, but she could use some strings or beats to add some flavor."
Yühsia rolled her eyes. "I doubt my schedule as is would allow me such privileges," she said. "Besides, is that karaoke recording not enough?"
"Hearing a recording and the genuine article are two different qualities," Hung replied. "And hey, it's not like Monster Records can sue you for copyright infringement anyway."
"Monster Records?" Six asked.
"The studio Sora works for," Hung explained.
"Ah."
More and more of those holograms cropped up. Some of them were cartoony characters, others were just digital signs and animated posters for products. One projector even displayed a news feed with footage of a festival and some interviews. Too bad he barely understood a word they were saying.
As the party and time marched on, the skyscrapers and the IFF markers began to dwindle. Cafes, restaurants, retail, a couple of parks, a race track, and even an artificial river cropped up and took their place. Eventually, they made it to a construction site with some warehouses. Just beyond were some industrial ruins: graffiti, crumbling infrastructure, huts assembled from salvage and rubble, flickering neon signs. It almost reminded him of Freeside.
Three things caught his eye. The first was a partially collapsed coliseum in the distance. It looked like one of those old stadiums he'd seen in Pre-War tapes and photos. The second thing was the cluster of tenements in the opposite direction. The way they were packed together, they almost looked like a barrier or a maze. Those further apart seemed to have ramps and makeshift bridges atop them. It looks like parkour was a key element in that region. Could be a good place to practice grappling.
The last one was the rusted towers further off into the distance. From where he was standing, it looked like a refinery—probably for the originium they'd mined. Considering the size of the old mine, he would've thought it'd be bigger. Then again, it might've only been one of several. Just how much energy was being pumped through this city's veins?
Six glanced around the site. All of the materials and vehicles bore some company brands on them, but he still had a flimsy grasp of Yanese. His understanding of architecture was also limited, but he was almost certain they were meant to be apartment buildings. Was someone renovating the slums, or setting the stage for gentrification?
ED-E emitted agitated chirps as they walked through the sight. Six was about to ask what was wrong when new markers—red markers — appeared on his motion tracker.
Six barely had time to shout 'contact!' before the enemy sprung their ambush. Yühsia threw up a glass dome around herself while Hung ducked under his shield. Bullets and bolts rained down on them from the rooftops. ED-E and Yühsia returned fire with lasers and glass shards while Six grappled upward.
The assailant waiting for him was a man in a fancy plaid suit and hat, with salvaged armor pieces over it. In his hands was a strange sniper rifle, with a shovel's handle as the stock. Six toggled VATS and Crippled both of his arms with Lucky. Then he revved up his Ripper and tore him in half.
A bolt scrapped against his sleeve before he could loot the fresh corpse. He spun around to see a Lupo wise-guy with a rapid-fire crossbow. He emptied the rest of Lucky's chamber into the goon's chest cavity, breaking his poise. A laser sliced through his throat before Six could exploit the opening.
"That was my kill!" Six called out with jest.
ED-E emitted a series of coy beeps as it vaporized another gangster. Six playfully shook his head as he crouched and reloaded. He risked a peek from the roof and checked in on his tour guides. Hung was as good with his fists as his shield and a quick thinker on his feet. Yühsia was much more elegant, dancing around grunts and hacking them with a fancy glass blade. Those glass bubbles she conjured up managed to withstand an onslaught of assaults, from bare fists to bullets.
[Guns 69] Speaking of bullets, Six used the opportunity to scourge the recently deceased's pockets. At a glance, the bullets appeared to be .308 rounds, but a further inspection revealed otherwise. These were actually 7.62mm. From his understanding, this round was reserved for the US military before the Great War. He heard talk of some people in California digging these babies up, but nobody's found any in the Mojave.
But that wasn't the most disturbing part. What disturbed him was how… mundane the rounds felt in his hands. None of the ethereal glow or warmth of Originium whatsoever. A sniff at a spent shell confirmed his fears. These were Earthling rounds.
Six examined the corpse itself. No horns, ears, tail, etc. This was a fellow Wastelander. Probably one of the thieves that started his whole quest in the first place. Six cursed under his breath for being so quick to the draw. He could've at least gotten a couple of answers from this jackass before capping him. He was a bit intrigued by the emblem, though; A bleeding heart in crosshairs.
He shifted his attention back to the ground as the euphony of combat died down. Some of the grunts lay dying, choking on their own blood. Others merely tossed and turned or limped away with their legs between their tails. Yühsia glanced up at the Courier when she sensed his gaze.
"Are you alright?" she called out.
"Don't worry," Six shouted back. "This ain't my blood. I'm more worried about you two."
"We're both fine," Yühsia explained. "Though I can't say the same for our assailants."
Hung was busy tying up the survivors and treating their wounds, slinging one of them over his shoulder when he was done. Six strapped the homemade rifle onto his back and hopped down to rejoin the party. He looted the bodies on the ground, checking to see if any were Earthlings as well. One was, and all he had was a .44 Magnum revolver and some chems. Six stuffed his goods into subspace before turning back to the Lungmenites.
"I take it these guys are the disease you spoke of, doc?" he inquired.
Yühsia nodded. "They'd hardly be the first to send assassins my family's way," she confirmed. "But this particular pack at least kept to the slums. For them to venture beyond it… they're getting bolder."
A Lungmenite in a white coat came running onto the scene. Like Hung, he was a xeno with mammalian traits such as a snout and fur. And much like him, Six had trouble determining the newcomer's race. Six instinctively redrew Lucky, but Hung put a hand on his arm. The look on his face convinced him to holster it.
"Is everyone alright?" asked the stranger with a huff.
"We're fine, Aak," Yühsia assured him. "But what about my father?"
Six almost scoffed at the native's name. Aak? He thought to himself. And people call my name stupid.
"Safe and sound," Aak replied. "Your old man was starting to get worried about you. He almost sped off to your side when we heard the gunfire, but Lee talked him into letting me out instead. Looks like you had things under control."
"Naturally."
The furry tilted his head as he counted the ones in her party. His eyes widened as they landed on Six and ED-E, more so when he saw the fresh pile of ashes.
"Woah," Aak blurted out. "That our exterminator?"
Yühsia nodded.
"No need to worry, bro," Hung assured Aak with a handwave. "He doesn't bite."
"Bro? You're brothers?" Six asked.
"Not by blood," Hung replied before gesturing toward the surviving grunts. "Mind sending someone to fetch these guys? I gave them basic first aid, but I think some of them need your needlework."
Aak sighed before reaching into a pocket and pulling out one of those smartphones. He spoke into it for a moment before handing it to Yühsia. Judging from the sighs and the faces she made, Six had three guesses as to who was on the other end of the line. She handed the device back to the cat-kid soon after.
"Some able bodies are already on their way here," she said. "You two stand guard until then."
Both of the Beast Men nodded as she and the offworlders ventured into one of the warehouses. Just when Six thought things couldn't get any weirder, they did. There, sitting in the back, was an anthropomorphic rat in a suit. He was chatting away with a… fish man? The tail certainly brought the carp to mind.
Both natives turned when they heard the party enter the scene. A hearty smile grew on the Rat King's face as he got up and hugged Yühsia. This guy was her father? How the hell does genetics work on Terra? A part of Six almost dreaded the answer.
The elders then turned their attention to Six. They attempted to include him in their conversation, but the tilt of his head revealed how little Yanese he knew. The lizard(?) man cleared his throat before speaking up again in Victorian.
"So, you're our exterminator?" said the reptile(?).
Six shrugged. "So they say. Everybody's been all cloak-and-dagger with me, but considering recent events, I guess I can't blame y'all. And you are…?"
"My associates call me Lee," The native said, offering his hand. "And I'm sure you already deduced who this gentleman here is. Our mutual friend never told us your name, though. What should we call you?"
Six scanned him with VATS before shaking his hand. "Argonaut."
Lee arched an eyebrow. "'Naut'? Like 'naútēs'?" he asked. "The Minos word for 'sailor'?"
Six mirrored Lee's expression. "Huh. And here I thought I was the only person in this room that knew the tongue."
"Our little fowlbeast said you had deft hands, but nothing about you being a linguist. Do you go to college?"
Six shook his head. "Just scrounged up whatever books I found in the wastes," he confessed.
"Ah. And your grappling hook too?"
"Among other things."
"Hmm. Well, as ecstatic as I am with meeting a fellow intellectual, I believe we have more pressing matters at hand."
Mr. Lin nodded and guided everyone toward a notice board. One with papers and photos stapled onto it. With all the colored yarn and tacks dotting it, it looked like something from the mind of a conspiracy theorist.
"A few months ago, a new gang had immigrated into the city's underworld. At first, they abided by the rules and got along with everyone. They stuck to the smuggling trade, things like drugs and weapons. But as time passed, they got feisty, pushing and prodding at everything they saw. I've tolerated their antics for a time because they left the civilians be. But then these started cropping up."
The Rat King tossed a couple of items onto the table. One of them was a rusty revolver cobbled together from salvage and scrap metal. The other was a freshly printed magazine with said weapon on its cover. Six blinked as he examined each of them. The magazine didn't just contain instructions on constructing the gun, but also some advertisements for an underground arena. And some incendiary drawings of the Rat King and Yühsia. He couldn't read the Yanese characters beside them, but he wagered that they were just as vulgar.
"Suddenly gang violence and unrest escalated around here," he continued. "Thugs started assembling and carrying these glorified slingshots, shooting up anything that moved. The old stadium- neutral grounds where everyone in the Slums can receive medical treatment- was flooded with people caught in their skirmishes. We found many gangsters and civilians in a berserk state and conducted drug tests after subduing them. All of them tested positive, yet their concoctions possessed… unique elements. Elements exclusive to a certain group of contrabandists in the old mining platform. Mr. Lee was about to launch an investigation when the prime suspects declared war on me."
"Declared war?" Six asked.
"Yes. Recently, they launched a hostile takeover of the metro station near the old stadium. That area is the slums' gray market and another neutral zone under my jurisdiction. After that, they started attacking the city's smuggling routes and targeting missionaries, grabbing everything they could. To say they're causing pandemonium in the underworld is putting it mildly."
"And the hitmen?"
"Not the first bunch they sent our way. I've seen burdenbeasts concoct better schemes than those trigger-happy brutes. But what really bothers me is how the citizens are caught up in all of this. Disappearances weren't unheard of before they arrived, but they skyrocketed after those thugs reared their ugly heads. Not to mention that they're withholding vital supplies for the Infected and just set up a beachhead near the closest thing to a hospital in these parts."
Six furrowed his brows as he examined the weapon. He had encountered similar craftsmanship from raider gangs in the Mojave. Normally, he would scoff at it, but he found it surprisingly clever given the circumstances. What troubled him was how someone was distributing guides to build these. Crude as they are, they're still modeled after Earth's tech.
"[Guns 40] Is anybody carrying longarms or just these?" he asked. "And what about ammo? Rubber pellets, etched bullets?"
"Some individuals have crafted longarms, yes," Lin confirmed. "Yet none of those hoodlums are Sankta. And up until recently, they only had rubber rounds. Someone is supplying and training this gang. Someone with deep pockets and connections."
"But you've never been able to find out who?"
Lee shook his head. "Neither of us have. No documents, no middleman to interrogate. We've found shipments with the parts for those guns, but not their ammunition. It's almost as if they appeared out of thin air."
"What about infiltration?" Six suggested.
"Mr. Lin tried that," he said. "But the head honcho is very picky about his recruits. From what I've heard he throws people into gladiatorial combat as part of their initiation. Sometimes he also injects the new meat with his crew's drugs. The couple spies that survived those ordeals weren't exactly in the mood for talking afterward. As for interrogation, the grunts we've captured- who weren't stoned out of their gourds- were as clueless as us."
Six's brows furrowed again. "This doesn't sound like some simple gang. Who are they?"
"They call themselves I Lupi D'Acciaio," Mr. Lin revealed. "Or 'Steel Wolves' in Victorian."
Six blinked. The Lupi D'Acciaio? Here? And with Earth's tech?
No, that can't be right. Aelius said that he had been shooting for years before Six butchered him, and he seemed as surprised as the mayor when they examined the weapons they stole. Even if they had the time to figure out and reverse engineer the guns, they'd lack the propellant for the bullets.
You're also assuming that Aelius was ever the Don. His Brain argued. It's possible that he was just the head of a small outfit. One that didn't have the privilege of seeing ongoing developments.
Need-to-know basis. Six mentally concluded. Shit.
Yühsia waved a hand in front of Six's face before snapping her fingers. "Mr. Argonaut, are you still there?" she asked.
Six shook his head rapidly. "Sorry, just caught up in my train of thoughts, I guess," he said.
"I take it you have some history with them?" Mr. Lin surmised.
"You can say that," Six admitted. "Bumped into them a couple of weeks ago. Or at least one of their cells. They had nothing like Sankta gear when I last fought them, though."
"That so? Do you have any experience in infiltration?" Mr. Lin asked.
Six nodded. "Though I'm prepared to go loud if the situation calls for it."
Mr. Lin and Lee glanced at each other before turning back to him.
"Alrighty then," Lee said. "We've got a few objectives on our bucket list. One, retake the station. Two, bring down the demon plaguing our friendly neighborhood- preferably alive for interrogation. Three, find out who's supplying said monster and ruin their goods. Fourth, rescue as many civilians as possible along the way. And we must do all of this before those brutes spill out into the main city and draw the LGD's ire."
"They haven't yet?"
Lee shook his head. "The Chief Executive has a long history with Mr. Lin here. He usually lets him delegate matters in the Slums. But even his patience has limits. Trust me when I say that you don't want to see its full extent."
"I'm guessing the front door is out of the question."
"For the foundry? Yes. They've got drones patrolling the skies and snipers all around the foundry. They'll pick you apart before you get anywhere near the doorbell. The station, however, isn't as heavily guarded. They're still consolidating most of their forces at the refinery. The only reason Mr. Lin hasn't launched a counter-attack yet is because we don't know how many civilians they've got with them at either location."
"So we'll sneak in and introduce them to Mr. Sandman before they can raise the alarm?" Six concluded.
Mr. Lin nodded. "And slither through the metro before they are the wiser. If you're as good as our little fowlbeast says, then we can kill these featherbrains with one stone. Are you willing to be that rock?"
Six cracked his neck as he slammed a fist into his palm. "I've killed plenty of raider gangs in the wastes," he boasted. "Street thugs got nothing on me." He then glanced back at Yühsia before continuing. "You gonna give me the grand tour, princess?"
"Not in this outfit," she replied. "And certainly not with my face exposed. I might be able to borrow something from our assailants, however. Give me a minute while our respected elders line up the pieces."
Yühsia's father chuckled as she trotted out of the warehouse. A new IFF marker lit up not long afterward. Six spun his head around before he spied a dark blur bouncing around the top shelves of the warehouse. Six drew out A Light Shining in Darkness as someone landed and rolled along the ground before him. He blinked as they straightened themselves upright.
Standing behind him was an anthropomorphic tiger girl in a leather biker outfit. It consisted of a short coat, leather skirt, goggles, steel-toed boots, and leggings buried beneath armored kneepads. Her trench knives had words molded into handguards: 'Rise' and 'Fall'.
"Easy there, kid," Mr. Lee cautioned, setting a hand on Six's shoulder. "It's just an employee of mine."
Six cocked his head as the scaly one dashed over and motioned his arms toward the chick like a salesman.
"Mr. Argonaut, this is Waai Fu," Lee announced. "Kung Fu adept, junior detective, college student, and vigilante. With a dash of mechanical engineering."
The tiger-girl curtly bowed her head to the Courier. "Pleased to meet you," she said with a slight Chinese accent.
Six blinked before suppressing a snicker and sheathing his gun. "Your name's seriously Waai Fu?"
Lee sighed as Waai Fu furrowed her brows. "Yes, it is," she replied. "In Western conventions, it would be Fu Waai."
"At least this dude didn't ask about wedding rings," snarked a voice.
Everyone turned to see a returning Aak, with Hung and Yühsia following behind. The latter was dressed in a brown jacket and black dress skirt, with scraps of salvage strapped over her. A garter mask, goggles, and a worn fedora concealed her elegant face. In lieu of that sword hilt was a Ripper (though he wouldn't be surprised if she hid it beneath the coat). Six's eyes wandered down her legs before he shook his head.
Aak cast a smirk at Six before clearing his throat. "Lady Yühsia already filled us in on the plan," he reported. "And we've got all enemy survivors in the next warehouse. Some of them were in pretty rough shape. I suggest we let 'em get some rest before we start grilling them. We ready to head out?"
"That depends on if our exterminator has a means of communicating with us," said Lee.
"I have a radio in a helmet," Six replied. "And my Pip-Boy can pick up radio transmissions, but it doesn't come with a microphone."
Lee tossed something small to the Courier. An earpiece from the looks of things. A prompt appeared on the Pip-Boy's screen.
Bluetooth device detected. Connect?
Six selected 'yes'. An app opens itself, displaying numerous settings. Six fiddled with it until a voice chirped through the earpiece.
"Waai Fu to Argonaut, do you read? Over?"
Six turned around to face her. "Yep. What about you? Over."
Waai Fu flashed a thumbs-up at him.
"You may want to get a disguise too," Yühsia suggested.
"What about the rest of our merry band?" Six asked.
"The enemy… only tolerates people with smooth skin. For some reason, they detest anyone with fur over it. So they'll be on standby in case dung hits the fan."
"Ah. Which warehouse did y'all leave the threads at?"
"13."
The Holy Number, huh? Six thought to himself. "Thanks."
Six trotted over to the warehouse in question and slipped inside. All of the surviving grunts were strapped onto stretchers in one corner, their belongings hidden between two shelves. Six walked over to the latter and switched clothes. His next choice in wardrobe was a plaid suit and tie, with some heavy armor on the side. Like Yühsia, he slipped on a garter mask but kept his hat.
His Pip-Boy notified him of his disguise, but he was certain that the Rat King's gang was smart enough to recognize him. They were already waiting outside for him when he exited the building. Aak flashed a thumbs-up at him.
"Well, you certainly have better fashion sense than those guys," he remarked.
"I dress to kill," Six replied. "Ready to rock?"
ED-E and the furries hung back in the shadows as the Courier and mafia princess approached the stairway to the metro. A Wastelander with a colorful homemade rifle and equally garish attire stood guard, bearing a signal vaguely resembling a canine creature. Six couldn't help but notice the bones and teddy bear strapped onto him.
"Hold it," said the guard said. "What's the word of the day?"
Six mentally cursed at himself. He was about to reach for Blood-Nap when Yühsia came to the rescue.
"Mags," she replied.
The guard snorted but gave a curt nod. "Yep, that's the one," he confirmed. "Come on in."
Six and Yühsia hurried past the guard and down the stairs. Both of them caught grumbling 'fucking softies' before reaching the bottom. A ravaged concourse awaited them, and it was crawling with gangsters. Thankfully there weren't any guard hounds to sniff 'em out, so they had free reign to explore the place. Six was tempted to split up, but after seeing the looks Yühsia received from some guards, he opted against it.
Some of the old stores were converted into barracks for the grunts, others into armories or drug dens. It didn't take long for the duo to find the concourse's main generator, but they left it be for the time being. The old restaurants and food court still served their original function, housing a few drunkards. They spied some Terran ladies carrying drinks and dishes for them, wearing bulky collars around their necks. Yühsia noticed Six's trigger finger twitching and inquired about his mood. He ignored her.
They later discovered and crept down the escalators into the actual station. The guards below had even more armor than the ones upstairs. Charing in head-on would likely end with Six wasting Stimpaks. They slipped back to the concourse, with Six planting some satchel charges along the way up.
At last, they found a barracoon in an old clothing store. There were a couple dozen souls inside, each one handcuffed and on their knees. Men, women, and children, all of varying ages and races. All with a Slave Collar around their necks. A Lupo in an armored suit and another of those animal-themed wasters were standing guard, wielding more of those handmade rifles.
"Did the boss send ya?" asked the suit.
Six nodded. "[Speech 30] Wanted us to inspect the livestock," he said, motioning toward the hostages.
"An inspection?" asked the other one. "We just made a delivery last week. Are those jackasses in black breathing down his neck again?"
Jackasses in black? Six thought to himself before nodding. The second guard growled.
"Shit, those people have even less patience than Mason. Alright, fine. But make it quick. They don't like us being anywhere near the product."
Six and Yühsia walked inside and inspected each collar. These were all the same models from the Wasteland, alright, but he didn't see any explosives on them. It was probably a shock variant. He could probably cut their wires, but not while these guards were around. Even without their eyes on him, disarming each one would be tedious, not to mention the risks of his cover being blown or the collars malfunctioning.
"Who's carrying the remote for these collars?" Six asked.
"We are," answered the garish guard. "Why? Fancy some alone time with one of them muties?"
Yühsia and the Lupo shot the waster an offended look.
"Present company excluded, of course."
"Just want to make sure no junkie ruins the products," Six replied.
The guards rolled their eyes. "Don't worry," assured the armored suit. "We're levelheaded compared to the rest of the perdenti here. Ain't gonna see me near their stashs. Speaking of heads, when's the next match? I'm itching to see some rollin'."
"Whenever the boss says so," Six replied. "If you excuse us, we have some other errands to run."
"No rest for the wicked, eh?" laughed the guard. "I can relate."
The duo walked off from their post and into one of the armories. "Did that man seriously call me and his partner mutants back there?" Yühsia whispered.
Six nodded.
"But I'm not Infected. What reason would he have to say such a thing?"
"Let's just say that some people have very narrow definitions of the word 'human'."
There were several locked chests surrounding them. He could pick the lock for each of them, but that'd probably be a waste of time. Luckily for them, a nearby stoner happened to have the key to those. A pair of daft hands and quick feet were all that he needed to pry them open. It took a bit of searching, but eventually, they hit the jackpot.
Desert Eagles, Tommy Guns, Winchester City-Killers, Colt Rangemaster, M60s, Milkors. Even a couple of Wattz laser pistols and rifles. And plenty of ammo for all of these.
Yühsia bulked at the arsenal. "我嘅神…" she breathed. "This is Sankta hardware. How did they manage to smuggle these into the city?"
"We'll ask their boss when we find them," Six replied as he helped himself to all the ammunition. "Right now we need to focus on what to do with all this."
Yühsia gave him a grim nod. "Smashing them will set off alarms," she said. "And we don't have the time to dismantle them."
Six returned the nod as he took a few guns for Juryrigging. A memory from Gomorrah replayed itself in his head soon after.
"[Science 80]Thermite," Six suggested. "We can brew thermite at one of their chem stations and dump it on their goods. Then rig the lights to give off a spark and 'boom'! Molten slag."
Six could feel a smile curling behind the garter. "A sound plan," said Yühsia. "What do we need to make the compound?"
"Rust dust and ground-up aluminum. But something tells me that getting the ingredients will raise more eyebrows. We'll need to clean the base out before we set off the fireworks. You any good with a knife?"
Yühsia nodded. Six and she tiptoed to one of the dens and examined their goods. Jet, Turbo, Mentats, Day Tripper, Cateye, Steady, X-Cell. He didn't see any alcohol with them, so they were at least smart enough to avoid mixing the two vices.
[Medicine 60] Six decided to rectify that. He spiked all of their stashes before sneaking into the barracks. Then he and Yühsia introduced the sleepers to Mr. Sandman. Then they ventured back into the food court's kitchen. The cook shouted something at them in Siracusan, but Six didn't heed his words. His fists weren't in the mood for talking.
After donning his garbs, he fixed the goons a batch of Cook-Cook's Fiend stew while Yühsia stood guard. She spied him adding something foul to the mix and covering it with spices before he started distributing it.
"Ugk, that was that?" she asked.
"Needlefly venom," Six replied. "Collected some as part of a side job back in Ursus. The locals let me keep some for coating my weapons."
Yühsia jumped as her rat-ears picked up wet gurgles and coughs. She spun to see the gangsters' jugulars and stomachs melting right before their eyes. Six slipped back into his previous disguise and collected all the aluminum he could while she looked on. Before either one could sneak out, though, two guards arrived at the scene. They froze up as they processed the carnage before them.
"The fuck's going on here!?" asked another Lupo in an armored suit.
"The cook poisoned everyone," Six lied, pointing an accusing finger at the unconscious chef.
"Everyone but you two?" asked the other with an incredulous look.
"[Speech 40] We were running late for lunch. By the time we got here, everyone was dead. All we could do was clock him."
"You could've just shot him."
"[Speech 50] Figured the boss would've wanted a piece of him."
Both guards narrowed their eyes and exchanged glances. Six used the opportunity to perform a Ranger Takedown on them, finishing one off with Sleepytime. The other had his throat punctured by a blade of glass. Six gave Yühsia a nod of approval as he went back to the kitchen and had the cook bound and gagged. He'll let the Rat King decide his fate when the dust settles.
The duo slithered back to the slave pen, stealthfully taking down any guard they came across and dumping their bodies in the nearest hiding spot. Once they reached the last turn, they pepped around the corner.
"Can you fire or fling your Arts around?" Six asked. "Or is it exclusively for close quarters?"
"I can make throwing knives if that's what you're asking," Yühsia replied. "You don't need to worry about my aim either."
"Good. Go for the arms on my mark."
Six held up his hand, counting down with his fingers. Once it curled up into a fist, the two struck. Six toggled VATS and fired a shot from a Desert Eagle he looted. Bullets and glass shards embedded themselves into the guards' arms, Crippling them. A dose of Implant GRX and a couple of headshots silenced them.
Six looted the keys from their bodies and went to work on releasing the store's hostages, handing a couple of them their captor's weapons and some ammo. Once that was done, he tossed Yühsia the remote and headed to the generator. She meanwhile bolted over to the nearest pub before he killed the lights. The mafiosos cursed as they fumbled around for a light. Yühsia introduced them to one at the end of their tunnels, then freed the wenches of their burdens.
"T-thank you," uttered each one. "How can we ever repay you?"
"You can start by collecting all the rust and aluminum you can find," Yühsia replied.
"Rust and aluminum? What in the world would you need those for?"
"Let's just say that a friend of mine is conducting a little science project. Meet us at the drug station once you've gathered every sample you can. But avoid the metro. My partner left a 'gift' for the thugs downstairs."
The civilians exchanged glances with each other before nodding and scattering to the wind. Not long after everyone felt a subtle quake near the station entrance. Mafiosos cried out in agony as several small explosions went off. Yühsia glided over with a blade and shield of glass out, but Six was already firing away with one of their own rifles by the time she got there. She tackled a thug and sent him barreling down into his comrades. Six tossed a grenade at them while they were dazed, ripping their armor to shreds. The Courier then gunned down the grunts who survived.
Six crept back down the defunct escalators and scanned the area. "Clear!" he called out.
Yühsia swiftly joined him, marveling at his handiwork. This display of brutality was more uncouth than she liked, but she let it slide for now.
"How're things upstairs?" Six asked. "Is the upper level clear?"
"More or less," Yühsia replied. "I enlisted some help for your alchemy experiment. They should be waiting for you at the lab."
Six nodded and motioned for Yühsia to follow him. He and the mafia princess called out as soon as he picked up movement on his tracker. Some of the 'waitresses' from earlier shuffled out of the lab, holding everything from swords to frying pans. Six then suggested that everyone wait outside in case there was a volatile reaction.
Step one was grinding the aluminum into a fine powder. Easy. Mixing it with rust, however, worried Six a bit. There were subtle differences between Earth's ingredients and Terra's, but thankfully nothing severe enough for an explosion to occur. Six scooped up the compound into some vials and sprinted back to the armory. He climbed up on top of the crates and nicked some wiring in the ceiling. Then he hopped down and dumped the contents on top. He warned everyone to take shelter at the metro station while he powered the generator back on.
A stray spark was all it took to ignite the powder. There was a roar of thunder as a flash of heat and white light consumed the crates. He could smell the resulting slag a mile away. The natives struggled to decide which set of ears to cover as they were assailed by the chaos echoing above. Six heard boots storming down the stairs and drew out A Light Shining in Darkness. To his relief, it was Lee's crew and some of the Rat King's pack.
"Is everyone alright?" Waai Fu asked. "What in the world was that?"
"Thermite," Six replied. "And everyone's fine. We cleaned out the market and sent the civilians downstairs before I started the chain reaction."
Aak gave Six an approving smile. "Thermite, eh?" he said. "I didn't take you for a chemist."
"My chemistry's a little rusty. I could use a little refresher when this is over," Six then turned to Lee. "So cross two things off of the bucket list. What next?"
"An incursion," Lee replied. "We send a strike team down the tunnel and into the black heart of their lair. The less noise we make, the easier it'll be to get the drop on the psycho in charge."
"What can you tell me about them?" Six asked.
"From what I gathered, their leader's a brute by the alias of Scalper."
"I'm assuming that he collects scalps?"
"When he isn't swindling people. You all ready for phase two?"
Everybody nodded.
"Alright then. The Grey Tails and I need to remain here and secure the perimeter while my employees and Mr. Argonaut infiltrate the refinery. Yühsia will remain here and serve as mission control in my stead. Just be mindful of potential dead zones and pests."
Six gave her a two-fingered salute before he led Lee's adopted children into the abyss. "Wish us luck, princess," he said before entering the darkness.
If Six bothered to look back, he would've heard Lee utter a small prayer to them.
The cold air nibbled at the merry band of five trekked through the old tunnel. The lights were barely functional, flickering with each step. Six had to turn on his Pip-Boy's flashlight to illuminate the way for the team.
They ended up shunning it when they came across their first pack from the Lupi D'Acciaio. Most were carrying pneumatic weapons. One was standing atop an old rail car in a makeshift post, shining a spotlight around. The wastelanders and junior detectives crouched behind some crates and turned to each other.
"What's the plan?" Hung asked.
Six peeped over their cover. "Killing that spotlight is a first," he said. "Shooting it is just gonna sound the alarm. How good are y'all with stealth?"
Waai Fu flashed a smile before she vaulted over their cover. She vanished into the darkness and clambered up the lone platform. He caught a glimpse of her pulling him back before the gangster's IFF marker disappeared and the light twinkled away. His buddies were none the wiser… so far.
Six toggled VATS on and off as he weaved through the shadows. Five guards remained, all wearing hard hats with headlamps installed. Six proceeded to topple them down one by one. Chokeholds, neck snaps, haymakers, slit throats, brain stems severed. When the last red dot disappeared Six switched on his flashlight.
Four orange marks closed in toward him. Six almost pulled out his gun as a pair of feline eyes gleamed in the dark. Six swore under his breath as Aak stepped into his light.
"Not bad," he complimented. "Find anything good on your prey?"
"Nothing worth taking," Six replied. "Come on, we've still got a ways to go."
They bumped into more security along the way. Waai Fu got to show her some parkour skills with the second wave, bouncing around the raised bridges and platforms. Hung hunkered down in the shadows and radioed enemy positions whenever he could. And Aak got to demonstrate his concoctions with his mini dart gun. Unfortunately, their effects weren't always subtle, and his targets' reactions often drew their comrades' attention. Six had to fall back on Quincy and Scout's Rifle to clean up his messes.
The next checkpoint was littered with traps. Grenade bouquets, caltrops, tripwires tied to bombs and guns, mines, tin can chimes, swinging logs, and support beams. The locals had a good eye for picking out and disarming them. Of course, Six couldn't resist turning the traps against their makers either.
Things were going smoothly until they reached the tunnel's end. The floor ahead had collapsed into the sewers. Waai Fu scowled and cursed under her breath as she backed away.
"Looks like the filters here broke down," she observed. "Everyone got their gas mask handy?"
Hung and Aak nodded before each furry pulled a respirator out of their bags. Something resembling the 3M 6000-series, if Six's understanding of history was correct. He would just summon and don the Elite Riot Helmet, startling everyone.
"Woah," uttered Hung. "How did you-?"
"Call it a magic trick," Six sarcastically replied. "Anyone see a way across?"
"Only thing I see is the third rail," Aak reported. "But I'm not sure if there's still power running through it or not. And that's assuming it can even hold anybody's weight. Does anybody see a breakbox, or better yet an alternative?"
Six shined his flashlight around until he saw a loose pipe dangling above them. It was long enough to cover the gap and large enough for them to cross over. Aiming with his recharger pistol, he fired away at its supports. It collapsed onto the ground with a loud 'clank!', causing the natives to wince as their ears flattened against their scalps. Once they recovered, Hung and Six secured it with some rubble.
Waai Fu and Aak were the first ones across, the former gracefully striding along the pipe like a ghost. Must be easy, being part cat and all. ED-E was next, gliding across in the blink of an eye. It emitted some excited chirps after it reached the other side. Six carefully hopped up and waded over the pipe, taking his sweet time. To his relief, it held under his weight.
The same could not be said with Hung. His breath vanished when everyone heard a metallic groan beneath him. The pipe snapped in half before he could sprint across, but Six was quick enough to fire his grappling hook at him.
[Strength 8/10] Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough to pull him up. Waai and Aak rushed to lend their paws, but they were too slow. Six and Hung plummeted into the sewage below, coughing and sputtering as they swam back up. Aak and ED-E laughed their heads off as their companions crawled onto the nearest walkway and wiped the gunk off their lenses.
"Are you two alright?" Waai Fu called out.
"We're fine," Hung called back.
Six tried grappling back up the ledge, but his line was too short. He tried near the wall for a jump, but the hook bounced off it. He scowled.
"Do the sewers and subway intersect at any point?" Six asked.
"Yes," Waai Fu called back. "There should be an intersection up ahead. Just keep moving forward and you'll reach it. We'll be waiting for you there."
She bolted out of sight afterward, while Aak lingered for a bit longer. ED-E emitted some concerned chirps at the Courier before departing as well.
"You too, buddy," Six shouted back.
He switched his light back on and motioned for Hung to follow. His Pip-Boy added a waypoint as it tracked ED-E's signal, giving him a rough sense of direction. At least the sewers here were as spacious as the ones under Vegas. He didn't have to crawl around like some vermin.
And it wasn't long before some genuine articles tried to take a bite outta the duo. Originium slugs, Gnawbeasts, and vesper-wings tried to swarm him, but his MF Hyperbreeder Alpha and Ripper made short work of them all. Gloompincers and Metal Crabs lurked in the muck before springing ambushes. The latter were still a pain in the ass thanks to their armored shells, but at least they weren't heat-resistant. Hung was also strong enough to toss those crusty buggers around.
Then they came across a rather unpleasant sight; bodies. Some of which were fresh, possessing a variety of wounds. Cuts, broken limbs and necks, dismemberment, bullet wounds. They also found claw and bite marks, but those were probably applied postmortem.
Hung grimaced. "Another dumping ground," he sighed.
"I take they're fairly common in these parts," said Six.
"You'd be hard-pressed not to find one. The sewers, the metros, junkyards, back allies. The slums always had some corner or another for these things if you're creative enough."
Six knelt and examined the corpses. Thanks to environmental factors, it took a lot of work to gauge the exact age of each one properly. Some seemed fresh, while others looked a few years old. What struck him as odd was the bits of Originium on the more withered specimens. Aren't Infected bodies supposed to disintegrate after a while?
[Medicine 50] Six leaned in for a closer look. Oripathy was the assimilation of biomass into Originium, right? Skin turning into obsidian surfaces or clusters bursting through the skin were the tell-tale signs of infection. Yet some of the fragments appeared to be stabbed into them. These were external wounds, probably postmortem too. Can corpses contract Oripathy? If so, why haven't they disintegrated?
Six yanked a shard out.
"Woah woah, what're you going?" cautioned Hung.
"Doing some detective work," Six replied.
The object in his hand looked like Originium but didn't carry any of the ethereal aura. Lyudmila said something about Originium becoming active during their stay in Grinkhorn. Maybe this fragment was inert?
Or maybe it's a dud. Suggested a corner of Six's brain.
What purpose would that serve? Retorted another.
Deception, obviously. Replied the first. But who was the easy mark? Who was this supposed to fool?
Once again curiosity got the better of the Courier and he started examining every carcass. Hung called out to him, but the Wastelander ignored him. Not only were many of the 'Infected' cadavers impaled with duds, but some of them were dummies too. Dummies with black glass super glued onto them. The only genuine Infected bodies were the recently deceased. A dozen questions swirled in his mind before he glared at Hung.
"Hung, are decoys common in these parts?" he asked.
The Perro swallowed. "Some people try to cover their tracks by leaving duds. It's not always an effective tactic."
"Yet so many of these are modeled after the Infected," Six retorted. "Was someone covering for a group of Oripaths?"
Hung looked away for a moment before pocketing his earpiece. He motioned for Six to do the same. He opted to disable it through the Pip-Boy.
"Your last partner may think that Ms. Lin betrayed the slums," he finally said. "But it's honestly a lot more complicated than that. What happened in the slums was a complete mess. A lotta people made a lotta mistakes that day and the Rat King had to clean up after them. If you want, I can give you the full scoop when this is over. But right now, we're on a tight schedule and this isn't the safest place for storytime."
Six wanted to argue back, but he bit his tongue. Hung was right. Time was of the essence.
"Fine," Six relented. "But you owe me."
Hung smiled as they both reequiped their earpieces. He led the Courier the rest of the way to the intersection, climbing up a walkway at the end. Their friends were waiting for them at the top.
"Did you two run into any trouble?" asked Waai Fu.
"Just some rodents," Six replied. "And Metal Crabs. Those things are a royal-"
Suddenly a scream echoed across the tunnel. ED-E quaked as it emitted some startled beeps. Six checked his motion tracker for movement. Some fresh markers had just cropped up. He bolted off toward their direction and skidded to a stop.
There, around the corner, were more gangsters and… cat-men. Yep, anthropomorphic house cats. Some of them were strapped to stretchers, others bound and gagged. A goon in salvaged armor beat away at one of the Felines with a nail board while another tinkered with a control panel. At first, Six thought this was a morgue, but all he smelled were smoke and ashes. This was a crematory.
Three Felines were tied together in a corner. A short one with a sky blue hat, a stout one with tomato red, and a needle-like man with royal yellow. All of them were bruised and bloodied, with one of them missing an ear. They looked on in horror as one of their kin was mutilated by a Wastelander in spiked armor.
"Gotta hand it to ya fleabags," laughed the tormentor. "Y'all are made of stern stuff."
Shortly after that remark, the screams from the oven died down. The technician walked over to the oven and opened it, pulling out a freshly charged corpse.
"But they burn out quicker with all that fur," he quipped. "This one only lasted a couple of minutes in there."
"You're honestly keeping track?" asked the torturer.
"Just testing out some theories on pain tolerance," replied the technician. "Nothing fruitful so far."
The first wise guy snorted. "These muties… They can rip a normie apart but can't break through rope or cuffs. Think Old World nerds had a saying for that kinda bullshit."
"'Glass Cannons', ain't it?" replied the second grunt.
"Yeah that's the one," said his buddy.
"Glass cannon?" snarled the stout Feline. "You didn't even give us a chance to prove ourselves."
"'Cus furries aren't allowed, mutie," retorted the first wise guy. "Nobody wants freaks in this outfit, least of all you Cat Mafia losers. Your lot is only good for chattel and target practice."
"Yet you welcome the Infected with open arms."
"They're dying, much easier to control than berserk beasts like you lot. Seriously, when was the last time you used a mirror? You look like something outta a B-rate horror flick."
Someone coughed and spat blood at the wise guys. It was the Feline in the stretcher.
"The only monsters I see are you snakes," he croaked.
The torturer smirked. "Damn right we are," he boasted. "Have to be to survive. We ain't softies like you 'civilized' types."
The bastard spat back at his captive. "Then again, civilization's just a bag of lies under a cracked mask. Spark, pass me Neuter."
The technician gave a curt nod before throwing a Ripper to his friend. A sadistic grin slithered across his face as he revved it up, hovering it just above the victim's waist. Before he could indulge in his 'surgery', a whistle caught his attention. He turned around and got stuffed with .45 auto rounds, one of which splattered his brains.
Spark swore before vaulting over the oven bed and drawing out a cattle prod. He was quickly disarmed by Waai Fu and thrown onto the bed. While he was dazed, Six rolled and shut it back, trapping him inside. With the push of a few buttons, the Courier gave him a taste of his own medicine.
When the screams faded and the oven opened back up, all that was left were ashes and his valuables. Waai Fu released the 'Cat Mafia' from their bonds while the Courier looted the corpse and ash pile. He ran a brief scan with VATS afterward. Aside from a minor case of terror, the trio seemed fine. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the rest of them.
Fortunately, Neuter's previous wielder had a Doctor's Bag on him. Six bandaged the latest victim while Lee's gang chatted with the Felines. They were grateful to the locals but rather terrified of Six. He also noticed the exacerbated look on Waai Fu's face whenever the triplets spoke up.
Wait, did they just call her 'Tiger Boss'? He'll ask about that later.
Six wrapped things up with a Med-X and Stimpak. "That should keep your insides inside," he said. "But you'll need proper medical attention. You know any doctors?"
"Ahem," Aak cleared his throat.
"In a safe and sterile environment?" Six added.
"Does it look like he can even walk?" Aak retorted.
"His buddies could carry him out."
"Without getting jumped on by more thugs? And what about the rest of the guys here? Look, why don't you two go on ahead while Waai Fu and I tend to 'em?"
Six and Hung glanced at each other for a moment. "You sure, buddy?" Hung asked.
"We can handle ourselves," Waai Fu assured him. "And something tells me that Mr. Argonaut will need your muscle."
"What about intel?" Six asked. "Have you gotten anything out of them?"
"Nothing we don't already know. They were blindfolded and marched to here."
"Did they happen to see or hear anything unusual before that?"
"Let me ask real quick."
Waai Fu got into a brief banter with them before she turned back to Six. "They were too scared out of their minds to take notes," she replied. "But one claims to have heard motors during the walk."
"Drones?" Hung asked.
"Most likely. Mr. Argonaut and his robot better mind the ceiling."
"Tell them I said thanks for the heads-up," Six quipped before departing.
Hung and ED-E followed suit. Once they were out of earshot, Aak walked over to Waai Fu.
"Speaking of drones," he whispered. "Have you ever seen one like that 'ED-E' thing?"
Waai Fu shook her head. "No, why?" she asked.
"Hung claims to have seen that thing disintegrate a man."
Waai Fu blinked. "Really?"
"Yep. Saw an ash pile with a red glow when I first met our exterminator too. Where the heck did a lone-wolf merc get that kinda firepower?"
"Probably bought it from Victoria. Or Columbia. Those places are always chasing after the latest tech."
"Maybe… but something about that guy unnerves me. He's smart. Too smart to be a regular merc."
"He probably had to be to survive in a cutthroat environment. Like a few certain individuals I know."
"Hmpt."
Six and his party crept through the darkness, eyes darting between their surroundings and his motion tracker. So far they hadn't encountered any guards or pests since their departure. Just the occasional traps here and there. Hung was rather relieved, while Six was on edge. ED-E, being a robot, maintained a poker face.
Then Six's ears caught the mechanical whirr of a drone. "Company," he hissed.
His party scattered and hid behind a rusted metro car. A crimson IFF marker appeared on his HUD and flew by their hiding place. Six risked a peek as it zoomed past them.
It was a similar model to the unit that followed him in Da Vinci. This one had blue lights and a cannon mounted underneath it. Probably for channeling Arts. Was a Caster nearby or was it fully automated? Nobody stuck around to find out.
More of them scurried around the tunnel, forcing the pack back into the shadows. Six was tempted to just shoot them, but he shot that idea down. Instead, they expanded upon their hiding spots. Under the metro cars, inside them, on top, even under the tracks themselves.
Eventually, they came across the final station. It was crawling with mafiosos and… machine gun turrets? They didn't look anything like the Terrans built from where he was sitting. Another piece of Earth's hardware, maybe? A quick scan with VATS suggested that they're severely under-armored compared to models from the Mojave.
"Where the heck did they get those from?" Hung whispered.
ED-E chirped in agreement as Six scowled. "ED-E, toss me a few pulse grenades, will ya?"
ED-E beeped in acknowledgment as it dropped a few EMPs at his feet.
"If we're lucky, there might be a terminal we can hack into," Six explained.
"I didn't take you for a gearhead," Hung remarks.
"I have some experience with a particular operating system. Hopefully, they're running on it. You two hunker down for the time being. I don't want y'all caught in the crosshairs of those things."
Six gumshoed along the edges of the station and sunk into the shadows once more. He was awfully tempted to conduct some more stealth kills but that idea went into the furnace. He didn't want a repeat of that mishap in the Siracusan mine.
[Science 50] He finally found a terminal after slithering around security. As luck would have it, it was an RIT-V300, running on UOS. Hacking it was child's play. With the system at his mercy, he was presented with a plethora of options. Including scrambling the guns' targeting parameters.
The security detail dissolved into pure chaos. Mafiaosos screamed and cursed as they were fired upon, flailing about as they sought cover. Some were lucky enough to dodge the initial bulletstorm and returned fire, a few scoring a lucky kill. Six eliminated the survivors and disabled the remaining turrets. He whistled for ED-E and Hung to come out from their hiding spot.
Hung grimaced at the slaughter fest as Six looted the bodies. "Doesn't any of this bother you?" he asked.
Six cocked his head. "What, the killing or death?"
"Killing. You've been going straight for the throat instead of knocking them out."
"It's survival of the fitness outside the cities," Six replied. "And from what Ms. Lin and I saw these guys were dabbling in human trafficking anyway. The only good slaver's a dead one, I say."
Hung gave a somber 'hmm' as Six dragged another body behind an old stall and donned its garbs. With a fresh disguise on hand, the Courier took point and led his companions into the wretched hive.
They expected additional security past the station, but the main lobby was surprisingly sparse. There were no civilians, mafiosos, rodents, hounds, or even turrets. Something stunk.
[Perception 8/10] Nobody saw the security camera tucked away in a dark corner. The next thing everyone a couple of shudders descended upon and boxed them in. Gas was pumped into the makeshift prison, forcing both men to don their masks. When two hostile markers appeared on his compass, Six activated GRX and toggled VATS. He and ED-E locked onto a few turrets unfurling from the ceiling and returned fire. They demolished all the guns, but not before the meat bags took a hit.
It wasn't lasers or bullets that struck them, though. It was syringes. The fleshlings yanked 'em off and examined 'em before casing 'em aside. At first, Six shrugged it off, seeing as his Pip-Boy hadn't detected any poison. But then the world started to blur and swirl around him.
"Shit, not again," Six growled.
Hung seemed to have it even worse. Six managed to catch him before he collapsed, but he was barely awake. Things got worse when the floor beneath them vanished. The trio slid down a rusty slope and onto a concrete floor.
With an unconscious Hung landing on top of him. Six snarled as he shoved the Perro off of him and dusted himself off. He gave the STATs tab on his Pip-Boy a cursory glance.
[Chem Resistance] His Strength, Perception, Intelligence, and Agility got docked by two points, but otherwise, he was fine.
Six positioned Hung upright and snapped his fingers at the local's face. It didn't rouse him from his stupor, so he tried slapping some sense back into him. That didn't work either. He and ED-E then tried blasting music into his ears. His head stirred for a moment before it went limp again. Six cursed as he examined his surroundings.
It was cold, cramped, and reeked of industrial waste. He could taste the rust in the air as he surveyed the worn concrete walls. Streams of mist would slither out of cracks in pipes, with the occasional puddle forming beneath them. His motion tracker picked up movement scurrying around them. A part of him prayed that there wasn't a gas leak or anything just as flammable.
Six sat down beside his unconscious guide and leaned against the wall. Great. Just great. He had no smelling salts on hand to wake him up, and he wasn't certain if he could find a safe substitute down here.
"ED-E, go scout on ahead, will you? I need to make a call."
ED-E emitted an acknowledging chirp before speeding off into the distance. Six reached for the earpiece. "Waai Fu, Aak, this is Six. Do you read me? Over?" he asked.
No response.
"Mr. Lee, Mr. Lin, Yühsia, do any of you read me? Over."
Nothing. He grabs Hung's earpiece and brings both devices to his lips.
"God-fucking-dammit, does ANYBODY read me!? Over!"
…
"...fuck."
Six pocketed his comlink and swapped Hung's for his smartphone. To his dismay, it was locked behind a passcode. Six cursed yet again as he returned it. He started pacing around the room as he waited for ED-E. He'd hear the occasional screech and burst of laser fire, but he hadn't received an alert on the eyebot's condition. Six couldn't help but worry over the little bucket of bolts as time marched on. He had come close to losing him at least thrice thus far. He can't afford-
No. ED-E was a smart bot. If he encountered a problematic opponent, he'd skedaddle.
Like the colossus? A part of Six's brain retorted.
Six would've braced for an internal argument, but then his ears picked up a familiar static. A smile crept up his face as the eyebot returned, chirping its findings to its master.
"A locked gate, huh?" he said. "I can handle that. Stay here with the pelt rug."
ED-E bleeped as the Courier departed. He explored the area some before he found the gateway in question. It appeared to be a blast door, probably raised vertically like those in a Vault's dormitory. Six pressed the button beside it, but nothing happened. He sighed. Looks like the power was out.
A cable was running from the console. Six followed it to a locked doorway. His Pip-Boy warned that it was a Hard-level lock, but he wasn't too worried. It cost him a couple of Bobby pins, but he got it open.
Laying behind it was another hallway. Six scanned for mines with VATS before skulking through it. Some squirrel-like creatures with feathers scurried around him, but none dared to take a bite. Eventually, he found an old breaker box and a generator, the former of which had a blown fuse. Six gave the switches a few flips.
Nothing. He could try jury-rigging one of his cells in lieu of it, but he shot that idea down. This place wasn't abandoned like Chernobog. The risk of a local finding and reverse-engineering a nuclear battery was too great. He meandered around the adjacent halls until he found a supply closet. He raided it for the fuse and materials for repair-kits before bolting back to the box.
Once the fuse was inserted, Six flipped the switches again. The lights almost blinded him as the power came back online. He ran back to the blast door but stopped as sparks flew in the corner of his eye. Something had chewed the cable in half. He had a sneaking suspicion of what sort of creature did this.
[Repair 50] Six deactivated the breaker box and soldered the wire back together, closing the gap with duct tape. He restored power yet again and watched as more lights flickered to life. To his relief, the console for the door came back online. A push of a button was all that was needed to raise the blast door. Before stepping onto the other side, Six conjured up his Elite Riot Gear's helmet and tapped into its radio.
"Hey ED-E," he said. "How's our tour guide?"
Nothing but static. He toggled the radio on his Pip-Boy. Same results. He scowled as he returned the helmet to his inventory. Well, at least it wasn't just the comlinks acting up. He just didn't know if it was the walls or a jammer running interference. He'll find out when they get out of this dump.
The first room he bumped into was a locker room. It had been picked clean, so there wasn't any point in sticking around. The next one he discovered was an infirmary. And there were as many medical supplies as there were dead bodies strapped onto the beds.
Six took a glimpse at each of the departed. Some of them looked blissful in death, others had their agony ever-etched onto their faces. He couldn't help but notice that a single race occupied each side's beds. One had Zalaks, the other had Lungs. Were they conducting experiments here?
It took a fair amount of digging, but eventually, he found some smelling salts and adrenaline shots. He doubted he'd need the latter, but better safe than sorry. He was about to bolt back to the pair when he heard footsteps. He ducked under one of the beds as two goons entered the room. One of them was rolling a cart while the other loaded bodies into it. Both had those patchwork rifles slung onto their backs and strange pistols on their legs. The latter looked like dart guns.
"How many vics came down the shaft this time?" asked one.
"Three, according to the security guy,' replied the other. "They got tagged, but we dunno if the chems knocked 'em out. Keep that syringer close."
Six waited for them to pass by before he crawled out from his cover. He toggled VATS and locked onto their heads with his crossbow. By the time one of them noticed his partner's body hitting the floor, a bolt lodged itself into his skull. Six looted the fresh bodies and ran back to the rest of his party. One whiff of a smelling salt was all it took to jolt Hung awake.
"Augh, my head…" he groaned as he shook it. "How long was I out?"
"Not long," Six assured him. "Can you walk?"
Hung gave a sluggish nod and grunt as he slowly rose back up. He leaned on Six as the trio ventured through the concrete maze. ED-E took up the rear guard while the Courier kept Graham's piece out. Six would spam VATS during the trek, yet the only life forms it registered were his company and the occasional feathered squirrel. Hung called them 'Musbeasts', eliciting a raised brow.
[Science 70] Ain't that the genus for mice? he thought to himself.
It is. His Brain confirmed. But Old World mice and squirrels were part of the Rodentia order. Although I'm not sure if any of this world's fauna would fit neatly into Earth's taxonomy system.
We can cross off the Aves class, seeing as they don't have wings. Six mentally replied.
That we've seen so far. And they do possess feathers. At the very least, they could potentially glide like flying squirrels.
Six growled as he rubbed his forehead.
"You alright?" Hung asked.
"Just overthinking some stuff," Six replied.
Hung was about to make a witty remark when they came across an elevator. Six set him down beside it while he looked around for an alternate path. When he returned with a shrug and shake of his head, Hung mirrored the Courier's frown. The trio crept into it and examined the car operating panel. According to the floor indicator, they were on the fourth level. And the only button lit was the one for the Ground Level. Six couldn't help but notice the trepid look on Hung's face as he swallowed.
"Something wrong?" Six asked.
"Four is bad luck around these parts," Hung explained.
"I didn't take you as the superstitious type."
"I'm at least the cautious type."
"Ditto, but I don't believe in hocus pocus nonsense. You two ready?"
ED-E emitted a positive chirp while Hung grunted. This elevator was much more rickety than the one at Roussel Manor, groaning and squeaking as it closed the door and ascended back to the surface.
Or at least should have. The room they found themselves in was pitch black. Six shined his flashlight around, exposing cargo, rusted forklifts, and several pieces of machinery. Were they in another warehouse, or perhaps the foundry?
Two more markers appeared on Six's compass. Six was about to lock onto the welcoming party when something landed at their feet. Six's instinct was that it was a frag grenade, but he was instantly proven wrong. Instead of being bombarded with shrapnel, a blinding light consumed their vision. He heard a mechanical 'whirr' behind them and his companions struggling as their IFF markers darted by him.
When the world returned to him, Hung and ED-E were being dropped into a windowed crate by mechanical arms dangling from the ceiling. The wastelanders tried blasting away at the glass barrier while Hung punched away, but they couldn't put a dent in it. It was bulletproof. The walls were too tall for anyone to climb out too.
The lights flashed on, revealing that they were indeed in a mill. The railings above were stuffed to the brim with mafiosos and other thugs. But the one that caught his attention was the figure at the center platform ahead.
They were decked in worn, patchwork tactical gear with colorful splotches of paint and armor plating. Six toggled VATS to get a better look at him and noticed two things. One, he had an exoskeleton around the outfit. Was it to enhance his strength, or just to keep the armor from crushing him? The second thing he noticed was the faded dragon-like symbol on the side., along with what he assumed to be the original colorscheme; black and blue.
"Well well well," taunted the brute. "Look what we have here. Another pack of rodents scurrying in my backyard. Let me guess; the Rat King sent you into the maze."
"Maybe," Six shouted back. "And I presume that you're Scalper?"
"The one and only," Scalper shouted back. "I'm the alpha and exterminator in these parts. Normally I'd have our resident mad chemist drag you to her lab, but you seem different from the other pests."
He leaned on the rail guard and narrowed his eyes. "My oh my, is that a Pip-Boy I see? And an eyebot? Huh. You don't strike me as a Vault Dweller."
"Born and raised in the Wasteland," Six called out. "And you?"
"Same. Where did you get toys like those anyway?"
"From a good doctor and my old workplace."
Scalper snorted. "As if a Blue would part ways with one of Vault-Tec's doohickies," he retorted. "However you got that Pip-Boy, one thing's clear; you're a survivor like the rest of us. Since you ain't yellow, I'm willing to offer you a place at the table."
"And if I refuse?"
Scalper smirked as an industrial ladle poured molten metal into a giant mold. Hung and ED-E backed away as far as they could as the heat brushed against their makeshift cage.
"Then we give your buddies a nice, warm bath," Scalper replied. "But we ain't just gonna welcome you with open arms. No, you have to earn your seat. This building is one of several we've repurposed for our rings. Fight your way through enough rounds and waves, and we'll let your little gang into our club. What do you say fresh meat?"
Six narrowed his eyes. He doubted that the offer was genuine, but what choice did he have?
"I say 'Why not come down here and see this slab's cut'?" Six taunted.
The crowd went wild.
"So you've got a sharp wit," announced the voice. "But are your claws just as sharp? Let's start with something easy, like a fellow rodent. Murphy, release the rad-rats."
"Gnawbeasts," corrected the mafioso beside him.
"Whatever."
Murphy sighed as he tapped a button on a remote. Several Rodents of Unusual Size scurried out of some hatches, converging on the Courier. Judging from the bloodshot eyes, they were hooked up on Psycho. Six drew the MF Hyperbreeder Alpha and Blood-Nip then aimed the nearest pack. He fired a laser as the first ROUS lunged at him.
A/N:
And here we go. I must apologize for the wait, but how many times have y'all heard me say it by now? A dozen? Bah. Haven't exactly been feeling energized lately, so I took a break and tried to do some brainstorming on the side. Perfectionism may have also had a hand in it.
So first up, the name change for the mafia gang. I changed it from 'Diavoli Neri' to 'Lupi d'acciaio'. Why? Well, consider it a bit of a placeholder from an uncertain past. Don't worry, I'm not discarding the name itself. They're just an affiliate of the wolves. Y'all will probably hear more about their relationship in the next chapter or two.
The Steel Wolves' base underwent a fair number of revisions. The first version was a stadium, something of a dark mirror to Diamond City from Fallout 4. I ditched that one in the first draft because, as awesome as the idea was, I didn't think it'd fit with the Slums. At least not if it were one of the dome-shaped ones. Ain't part of the reason for its state during the Reunion arc because of Kashchey's 'visit' to Lungmen? I faintly recall something about an attack, but I could be wrong.
The second idea was to use the Our Tampines Hub in Singapore as a template instead. That got axed too for similar reasons (or at least I didn't like the vibe as much. Can't remember). Finally, I settled on using an old Orignium foundry, like the one in the A1 Operations Preparation Detachment manga. Something that'd fit in a civilized place like Lungmen, and maybe as a little callback to 'The Pit' DLC for Fallout 3.
Now before anyone asks, yes, I am aware that Crownslayer was released as an Operator for the next Siracusan event. Will this have any effect on the fanfic and her relationship with Six? Well, I do plan on having Six stick around on Terra for a good while anyway, so we'll see. It depends on what kinda drama follows him around and whatever trouble he stirs up. Either way, I don't feel like making another jump in Terra's timeline again. Besides, there are other possibilities and characters to explore.
Next chapter is either gonna be titled Black Thunder or To The Wolves. Probably the latter, considering one of the opponents I have in mind for him. But that's a story for another day. As always, if you have any questions or see any inconsistencies, lemme know in a review. See ya.