Loose Ends in The Den ===================== Cue: 'windswept, radioactive, desert landscape' Cue: 'Dazzling, hot, merciless sun, beating down' Cue: Sounds of running footsteps Cue: Remains of campsite, a small ring of stones holding the ashy remains of a fire Two humaniod shadows passing over the ring of stones travelling at speed. A shadowy arm coming up, the hand bunching into a fist that quicky brings the pair to a stop. A blue, lyrca clad arm reaching into the stone circle, grasping for something small within the ashes. The arm rising and bringing the object towards the owner's face, a momentary pause and then small puffs of smoke dispersing into the dry desert air. 'We're getting close" A root ceegar dogbutt tumbles to the desert floor as the two shadows move away again at speed. * * * * * * * 'Clunk' A exhausted Buster Sprocket finally attachs the last of the locker room treasure trove onto his bulging backpack. Maybe this 'hanging out with tribals' thing isn't such a bad idea after all he thinks to himself slyly, 'the fools left everything of worth.' He rises to his feet and attempts to swing the laiden backpack onto his back. His commanding officer, Alex Mantilla might have her faults but she was right about this one... 'Vault Dweller?' Buster's turns 180 degrees to face the figure of Jonah Travis and his dog companion Rocco. The three headed creature that guards the Gates of Hell would be smaller than this hound muses Buster. 'Yeah?' ventures the Vault Technician. 'I forgot before but I require the item known as the 'Quantum Communicator'.. it's for my mission' informs the Tracker somewhat forcefully (PJ obviously re-reading the previous recap). 'Erm...and do you know what it looks like? or even if it was in the locker room stash?'asks the Vault Technician defensively. Jonah looks downwards and scans the floor. His wandering gaze spots something and the tracker stalks over to it and reaches down. He straightens, holding a packaging box that has the words 'Quantum Communicator' emblazoned in military stencil #4. 'It's was here alright' informs Jonah. After a lengthy 'discussion' concerning ownership rights and 'I don't see your name on it!' and 'your'll get a barny if you want one tribal!' and one which Buster finally has to call in tactical support in the tight, curvaceous form of Alex Mantilla, a satisfactory settlement is reached. Alex orders Technician Sprocket to relinish said item into the dirty, unwashed hands of Jonah Travis. Minor crisis averted, the party decide to spend the night on Level 3 and head back to the Den in the cool of a Fallout morning. Various people bed down in various places, with entertainment provided by the cursing figure of Buster Sprocket and his overloaded backpack. Unable to get comfortable and with his innate 'money making scheme' ability throwing up another potential avenue of financial pleasure, the green mutant known as Vat69-007 decides to interrupt his rest break with a quick trip back up to the 'gecko lair' level The tall mutant steps out of the lift cautiously machete in hand. He listens for a while at each end of the nearby corridor. Slithering and hissing sounds come from further down the dark end and total, total silence from the end which the party traversed earlier. Gripping his weapon tightly, the green giant lopes off down the previously explored end. Vat69 passes over the corrosive green gunk on the floor, again damaging his footwear and returns to the site of the dead reptilian pontoon bridge he constructed a few hours earlier. Grabbing a lizard tail in one oversized green hand, the mutant drags the dead golden gecko carcass back to the lift and then returns down to level 3. Exiting the lift, the mutant tries his hand again at the fine art of gecko skinning..golden gecko skins MUST be worth a few bottlecaps the mutant thinks to himself. Vat69-007 then spends a pleasant couple of hours cutting and shredding...losing himself in bloody knife and gecko skinning work. 'Boy do these things bleed' *slicing sound*, 'Bones harder than iron' *CRUNCH*..*CRACK...' and 'Skin stronger than body armour' *scccchhhhhRED*...*TEAR*... ..and what is the product of a few hours worth of honest mutant work I hear you ask? A lift interior covered from floor to ceiling, wall to wall in schredded, torn, mashed gecko bits...a resulting golden gecko 'skin' that could possibly cover a small slug. ...arse. 8-) Several party members have now awoken and gather to view the mutant's handiwork and the insides of 'The Lift of Bloody Carnage' (mental note to one day make this into a film). 10 minutes of total stunned silence is broken by Vat69-007. 'Ok..maybe there's more to gecko skinning than simply knowing how to use a knife' states the blood drenched mutant as he turns to stare at his gathered audience. Nobody utters a word. Rocco moves around the lift and starts to munch down loose bits. The throng slowly dissipates as people remember things like breakfast, and checking equipment, and getting their sh*t together, etc for this morning's trek back to the Den....things far more interesting than a bloody & macabre lift. Alex and Josiah drag away the form of a stunned Buster Sprocket as he continously mumbles the words 'so much blood...so much blood...' Watching the dog enjoying a gecko breakfast, the mutant decides to take a few choice cuts himself (no sweetmeats gags please). He picks up large sections of dripping red gecko flesh and deposits them into one of his numerous 'bags'...which once full he ties to his sturdy belt. Rocco nudges the gecko's intact head over to one of the mutant's large boots. Vat69 looks down at the severed golden gecko head and then across to the still sleeping form of Jonah Travis. A evil smile splits the face of the green giant. The ill fated tribal tracker known as Jonah Travis is enjoying a jummy dream about being king and dusky maidens lining up in endless wet t-shirts competitions when the words... 'WAKE UP!' roar into his eardrums. Jonah lurches upright and opens his bleary eyes to stare eye-to-eye into the open bloody maw of a golden gecko lizard...rows of daggar sharp teeth most prominent.... 'FECK ME!' squawks the tracker and hurls himself into a roll to the left, deftly drawing his 10mm pistol at the same time. Jonah comes up, the 10mm pistol lines up the open maw, the trigger finger trembles slightly just as the Golden Gecko head falls to the floor and is replaced with the beaming face of Vat69. 'Only me' states the smiling mutant. The trigger finger continues to tremble. * * * * * * * Meanwhile... cue: Rubble strewn canyon floor with cave entrance in background. cue: Bullet ridden & dismembered gecko parts scattered around entrance to cave. cue: Blue, dust covered boots walking over gecko carcasses. Two humaniod shadows falling over yet more carnage nearer the cave...bullet ridden and dismembered human remains..a lot of bodies... cue: Tanned hand grasping and hauling over a bloody, dismembered human torso...the dead face of a blond man with a mohawkian haircut...the tanned hand examines a necklace and then the forehead of the dead man... 'Slavers' * * * * * * * The brief milli-second when the rest of the party think that Jonah will indeed pull the trigger on the green mutant passes and people return to their leaving preparations. Finally tooled and kitted up, the wilderness warriors re-enter the bloody lift and trundle back up to the entrance level. Exiting the lift presents the travellers with their first obstacle, i.e. the toxic green moat surrounding the lift alcove. People look down at the green gunk and then forlornly at their shiny new US military issue combat boots...there gonna need a shitload more boots. Buster Sprocket, renamed The-Trading-Post-That-Walks, stands there smugly with several spare pairs slung around his neck. 'Chance favours the prepared mind' he proffers. Before the party decide to go back down to the supply level, Vat69-007 has an epiphany...he casts this mind back to fight with the geckos that took place yesterday and determines if the green gunk causes them any problems?..nope they just ran over it without taking any notice. Hmmmmm.... 'Wait here' commands the green mutant as he lopes off again across the green moat towards the explored end of the corridor. The other party members appear confused at such an order but decide to wait anyway. Their patience is rewarded as Vat69 returns a few minutes later, hauling a dead golden gecko lizard by the tail. He deposits the dead carcass in the middle of the alcove and then proffers a combat knife, hilt first, towards the party of humans. 'I think if we cut strips of skin off these things and then tie them around our boots...we should be able to pass over the green stuff without problems' states the mutant offhandly. The party digest this pearl of super-mutant wisdom. Seems like a plan with no drawbacks...so get to it snot boy. '..unfortunately having hands of this size', the green mutant holds up a fingered appendage that would make any homosexual lover think twice (8-)), make it difficult for subtle skinning work...so if one of you ladies will volunteer?' Realization dawns on all assembled and the tracker, Jonah Tavis steps to the fore to go on 'gecko skinning' detail. Jonah's manual dexerity is indeed far superior to the mutants and the tracker cuts off sizeable sheets of gecko flesh in double quick time...the exposed lizard flesh proves too tempting for Rocco...and Vat69 and they munch and stash it respectively. The 'gecko flesh over combat boots' plan is soon instigated and the relieved wilderness warriors begin their traversal back out of the complex, retacing their footsteps. * * * * * * * 'Ok what do we have...' 'Well the best I can figure is...the geckos were killed by someone other than the Slavers as all their guns are still fully loaded... ..they arrived sometime later and made camp... ...then some time after that all hell broke loose as something deadly arose from those 2 indentations we found on the canyon floor... ..from the size of these exit wounds..I'd say something like fast firing autocannons of a large calibre.... '...Oh..and not all the Slavers died...some of the injured left in that direction...I'd say about 3 at least...' 'Back towards the Den?' 'Yeah...what'd you find in the cave?' 'It's pretty small...eventually leads to a manhole with a ladder in it... the whole area is plastered with footsteps..some not human...' 'Listen!...do you hear something?' *Sound of guns being drawn* 'It's coming from down the manhole cover...' 'Do we go down?' 'No...it sounds like it's heading this way..... '...we position ourselves there, near the cave entrance but in the darkness...move...' * * * * * * * The party finish removing their gecko boot coverings and begin to ascend the ladder in single file. The mutant hefts the dog over his shoulders and the pair make their way up. Up on ground level once more, the wilderness warriors leisurely amble around the cave towards the entrance with Rocco on point. The dog's spirit soars at he sees bright sunlight again as the cave mouth appears invitingly before him. He freezes....his canine eyes takes in the rows and rows of dead human bodies lying around the cave mouth. He lets loose with a thunderous bark. The rest of the group behind the mutt, take this as a cue to unlimber weapons and creep quiety forward. They take in the scene of carnage outside (hmmm mental note...as a direct sequel to 'Lift of Carnage'... 'The Bloody Cave Mouth of Carnage'). Rocco looks to his master Jonah Travis for guidance, the tracker stares at the mutt in a loving, caring way before gesturing him forward.... The canine pads stealthly forwards, senses on full danger alert..he sniffs the air around him but his best sense is still rendered useless by the toxic stink. He moves closer and closer to the cave entrance until he stands 10 feet from it. It is then he notices the two humaniod figures standing in a small lay of the cave wall not 5 feet away from him. Rocco's hackles rises instantly and he barks out a warning. 'Travellers we mean you no harm' echoes around the cave complex. Rocco's growling rises in intensity as the rest of the party move closer. 'Please call off the dog..we are here to talk to the Vault Dwellers' the voice continues. The party have reached a intersection where they can a) observe the dog b) cannot be shot at by the strangers. 'Who are you?' ventures Jonah Travis. 'My name is Alex Mantilla and I come from Vault 18' replies the voice. 'Ha' shouts out Buster Sprocket, 'you lie fule, Alex Mantilla is here with us'. 'The person with you Technician Sprocket is not Alex Mantilla, continues the voice, 'I implore you to listen to me..the person you have is a Miss Bobbi Quicken, a Technician 2nd Class from Vault 18's Medical Division' 'Lies' retorts Buster, 'do you have any proof?' demands the dour Vault Dweller as he unslings his Combat Shotgun. 'Yes I do, a letter from our Vault Overseer' replies the voice in the darkness. 'Bring it out and show us' replies Technician Sprocket, slowly easing off the safety of his rifle....the click sound echoes around the cave. 'OK, I'm stepping out now...Technician Quicken please present yourself' informs the voice, as a male Vault Dweller appears out of the darkness. The shoulders on the female formally known 'Alex Mantilla' slump forward in a kinda 'it's a fair cop guv' manner. BOOOOOOM-BBOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! ...............*thud* A burst of shotgun fire deafens everyone in the cave, as Buster Sprocket takes matters into his own hands and lets loose...unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), Buster is a) not very good with small arms, and b) has neither the strength or the guile to fire a shotgun correctly. The overladen Vault Dweller is hurled backwards by the rifle's recoil and falls to the floor in a loud thud...he lies there, arms failing, in what looks like an pretty damn good turtle impression. 'Technician Sprocket DESIST YOUR FIRING NOW!' shouts out the female formerly known as Alex Mantilla. The gunsmoke clears to reveal the totally untouched and somewhat relived stranger still standing as before and a small urine mark where Rocco the dog once stood. The party members can just make out the mutt as he runs for this hills with his tail between his legs. A short period of reality checking occurs where the party are a) introduced to the real Alex Mantilla (a MALE Tech Sergeant 1st Class) b) introduced to Skol Broken, a 6'5" Vault security guard, the sole remaining companion of Alex Mantilla. He is a terse man of Swedish ancestry. c) explained how Miss Bobbi Quicken inveigled herself onto the Vault 18 parts mission...she is really a humble medical techician 2nd Class. d) and a severe arse kicking/reprimand session when the real Alex Mantilla asks Buster Sprocket to show him the B.O.X. ********************* Player Segement: Gray ********************* Alex Mantilla (played by DaveG for the first time): "Where is B.O.X. tech Sprocket?" Buster Sprocket : "Here sir." Alex looks at B.O.X. B.O.X - a once perfect cuboid, now distinctly more rounded. The bright, shiny metal now tarnished, covered in dents, scratches, dog piss and brown sauce. The remains of a half eaten gecko-on-a-stick (tm) is stuck, sun backed on to one side. A small nest of desert gerbils relax in the gap behind the broken speaker grill. A seed husk drops out. Alex looks at Buster. He looks at B.O.X. He looks at Buster. He slaps Buster across the head. Alex : Pray tell, what kind of condition will it be in after you've repaired it fule? Buster : Err, I have just repaired it. Sir! Alex looks at B.O.X. Alex looks at Buster. He looks at B.O.X. He looks at Buster. He slaps Buster across the head quite a lot more. ******************** Player Segement End ******************** The mangled piece of hardware leaves the uncaring, unskilled and unwelcome hands of Buster Sprocket and moves into the crisp, competent & male care of Tech Sergeant 1st Class, Alex Mantilla. *A short period of intense repair work later* The B.O.X.'s condition has not improved ( 8-) )...Mantilla stares intensely into the smirking face of Buster and informs the lowly tech 'that certain integration issues have arisen that require him to formulate a feasibility study to determine the long term consequences of pre-emptive incursion into the robotic innards of the cybernetic entity, obviously this further investigation will lengthen the projected repair schedule somewhat and push it beyond current estimates....' 'So what your saying is, that the damage is so bad that you require more time to think about how to fix it?' asks a dead pan Buster. ...*cough*...' On that note, the motley group of warriors head into the desert and back towards the Den. The hardy sub-group of Outdoorsmans within the party soon find the tracks left by the surviving Slavers. After a period of appraisal, the trackers (with some prompting from Buster) agree that there are 5 Slavers still alive, all wounded, 4 on foot with the last on a stretcher...they think they could overtake the Slaver group by early evening. A plan is derived to catch the Slaver group before they reach the Den and waste them, thereby reducing the odds on a subsequent full frontal attack on the Slaver HQ (pencilled in for sometime in the future 8-)..). Agreement reached the wilderness warriors move at the double quick after the blood stained trail of the Slaver survivors. Sure enough, come dusk the party converge on the ragged group of the Slaver wounded...in the distance the lights of the Den begin to shine into life. In unspoken agreement, the group splits into two silent pincers which sweep around and in front of the unwary Slavers. A group of pistoleroes(&rifleroes?) stake out a position on a small rise and line up their intended victims. Here lies Josiah Sawbones with a shiny new SMG, Jonah Travis with a deadly 10mm pistol and the Vault Dwellers, Buster & Bobbi Quicken, with a pipe rifle and 'strange-looking' pistol respectively. The quartet settle down and then give the signal to the close-in feydakin assault teams (on the left flank Vat69 and Rocco, on the right Alex and Skol) to initiate attack. On one flank a silent pitter patter of blue, rubber soled boots converge on the pitiful group of Slavers with stealthy precision, on the other, the soft pad pad sound of sublime canine stalking is rendered somewhat ineffective by the TRUDGE! CRUNCH! TRUDGE! war drums of the Super-mutant's size 16s.... The Slavers get wind of the situation and begin unholstering weapons...Team Riflero, ever vigilant for such an eventuality, unleash a volley of fire... Josiah opens up with a burst of SMG fire...DAK-a-DAK-a-DAK....hit.hit.hit!.. ..expire...thud... Jonah appears to fire and miss (or does he? 8-)...) Bobbi Quicken fires her strange pistol.....Weeeee-EMMMM! (a red flash of light).....miss... Buster fires his dire looking pipe rifle...BOOOOOOOOM!....THHHUNWUNK!..another raider goes flying off his feet from a solid blow...Buster looks down a little suprised at the rather basic weapon and then caressess the barrel gently... The feydakin shock troops dispense with stealth and charge stark bollock nekkid at the remaining Slaver dudes...and are met with a volley of return fire as they close the distance... ********************* Player Segement: Gray ********************* Rocco, running low and silent, weaves between the scraggy creosote bushes. A slaver panics in the face of the gunfire and breaks from the herd. Target acquired. The running slaver is hit by the fast moving mutt but doesn't fall over. Slightly bothered by this Rocco decides to chew his legs off instead. The slaver quickly stops being fun to play with, i.e. he expires. A second slaver fires his pistol at Rocco and hits. Rocco slowly opens his jaws from around the neck of the slaver and the lifeless body drops back to the bloody sand with a thump. The dog turns malevolently, his eyes, like two smouldering coals fix on the slaver, and he starts a low lope, head hung low. Human blood, thick with canine saliva slips from between the huge teeth and flicks onto the dog's chest and forelegs and he runs. The dog suddenly accelerates, leaps and lands, his limbs go in all directions and he slides along on his belly, face down, the sand piling up in a little bow wave before him. He comes to an ignominious halt 3 inches from the slavers boots. The dog sneezes the sand out of his nose onto the slavers boot. Rocco's eyes arc upwards and he looks up at armed slaver standing over him. He gives the slaver his bestest ever friendly Scooby-doo grin, and adds a little wag of the end of his tail for good effect. In return the slaver gives Rocco his best, "You'll look great in front of the fire" grin and starts to bring his pistol down. Rocco is saved from imminent rug-dom by a volley of shots from the triumphant Shaman. The slaver arcs over backwards like a falling tower. Rocco, thankful for the narrow escape sidles away and hopes no one noticed the less than graceful failure. He slinks off to find the pack leader and in typical doggy fashion soon perks up. I mean, what are the chances of that happening again today? ******************** Player Segement End ******************** Round 2....Josiah lines up Slaver victim#2 and fires off another short controlled burst...hit hit hit!....expire...thud....(everyone looks at Dabe with awe...Sukh sits with mouth hanging open...you rolled under 30% six times without a fumble?...=8-O....) Jonah feeling the suspecting eyes of all present, duly stands up, strikes a heroic pose and then pulls the trigger of his pistol.... 'Josiah..am I wrong?' '?' 'Is the world rising? *negative shake of head* 'then am I shrinking?' *another shake* 'then whatever it is...I hate it...' ...and with that verbal exchange, the bemused shaman watches the figure of Jonah Travis disappear down the slope on a torrent of loose desert sand... ******************* Player Segement: PJ ******************* It's our first combat, 1st round - I'm about to fire, but fumble and slide down a hill, 2nd round - climb back up, 3rd round - Pull tricker, gun jams, 4th round - un-jam gun, 5th round - pull trigger, gun falls apart, 6th round - lie still sobbing ******************** Player Segement End ******************** The two remaining standing Slavers are quickly dispatched in violent melee and all that remains is for the party to surround the slowy crawling away, terribly wounded and scared slaver (who is without the use of his legs). 'Please please don't kill me...I'll do anything you want..just please...' pleads the crippled Slaver at the motley group of warriors stand silently around him. 'Tell us everything you know..and we'll see' utters the super mutant Vat69. 'Ok..anything...anything...please...' replies the somewhat relieved Slaver. A short interrogation commences resulting in these tidbits of information a) the Slavers were waiting for the party to way(hey)lay them after they returned from the gecko lair with the quantum communicator. b) there's another 20 odd Slavers still in their compound. c) no, he doesn't know what Mertzger wants with the communicator... AAARRRRRRGGHHHHH!.... The screaming begins as Josiah Sawbones inflicts 'Digit Trauma' on the Slaver with a blunt knife....'Aaarrghh...Arrrrghhh....I don't.....Arrrrhghh..know... Aarrgghhh!!...any...Arrrghh!!!...mercy....STOP!..Arrrrgghhhhh!!!....I don't know...Arrrrghhhh!!....please...*sob*...stop...please..Arrrrrghhhh!!!...I'm begging you..Arrrrgghhhh!!!!.. The Slaver faints as the Shaman removes the last pinky from his hands...he gathers all the severed digits and then stands up...'Digit Trauma' he cries trimphantly, proudly holding the bleeding fingers aloft.... 'What?' ask the rest of the party in unison? 'Digit Trauma' repeats Josiah smugly... In another more civilised dimension Dabe: 'Look..see...it says here on the character sheet...'DIGIT TRAUMA'... All assembled: '?..what the feck?....it means Kell's character 'Josiah Sawbones' has lost a couple of digits ya egit!.....' Dabe: 'Oh...right....*shrug*...sorry' Back in the Fallout Dimension... 'Sorry' states a crest fallen Josiah Sawbones as he gets down to staunch the blood loss from the remaining stumps of the Slaver's ruined hands. 'He's no good to us now' states Vat69 to the others offhandly as the group moves away from the maimed Slaver and begin the 'pillage' of the recently departed. *In the background, Josiah's ears perk up* 'I don't think he could tell us much more anyway' continues Jonah rifling through the pockets of another dead Slaver. *In the background..Josiah absorbing this bit of info and then easing his knife slowly out of it's sheath...* 'Yeah' replies the mutant, opening up a Slaver backpack and casually examining and discarding items from it....'I guess...we'll have to wait... *SLICE* '...till the morning before we can ask him any more questions anyway' finishes Vat69... *In the background..the figure of the shaman flinching visibly* 'Erm guys..I think as part of my role as Party Docter I must rule out any further questioning of my patient...' begins Josiah Sawbones. The mutant brow furrows...'Why?' he responds. 'Erm...cuz the cus is dead dats why..' replies the Shaman. The party members stop their ministrations and look at each other...a period of silence follows.... 'Josiah...' 'Yes..Mr Mutant' 'You come near me in any proffessional capacity I'll cut you up so small the worms won't even have to chew....you got me?' 'I gots you Sir!' * * * * * * * After a period of healing and rest the party finish the last, short leg of their journey back to the Den. As they reach the outskirts of the settlement, a discussion breaks out on the merits of entering the habited areas straight away or staying out on the fringes and not tipping off the Slavers that they are back in town. As the humans sit and knock ideas around, the 11 foot tall, green, smelly mutant walks straight into the middle of town as bold as brass. He stands stationary for a few moments and waits to see if his prescene will causes any discernable increase in activity in the town's inhabitants. Vat69's mental tricorder remains firmly on doped out, couldn't care less, humaniod life forms. Hmmmmm...the mutant turns on heel and trudges purposely towards the east end of town. The others, standing in the shadows of a burnout building, watch Vat69's actions with genuine interest. Seeing that the town doesn't erupt into violent gunfire at the arrival of the mutant, all present decide that entry into town would probably be ok. They move off into town and go their seperate ways. Jonah Travis and Rocco head into Becky's, the bar cum gambling casino...all inside pay them no mind (other than the guards who give Rocco a wide berth)...and Jonah takes a stool at the bar. 'So, begins the comely Becky, 'your back?..' Jonah opens his mouth to reply, but before any audible sounds can make their way out of the tracker...a loud, long and smelly 'BBBBRrrrrrrrmmmmffffffffrrrrrrrrttttttttt....eek.....' erupts from the canine's backside beside him. Jonah looks down at the dog, and meets it's gaze...then his nose begins to wrinkle as his nasal passages are assaulted by dead gecko canine bowel gases... cut to: Outside of Becky's Bar as numerous patrons run out holding their noses...some fall to their knees and begin wretching... 'Yeah we're back'..finishes Jonah, after backhanding the smelly mutt across the face...surprisingly the tracker remains conscious after this manuever. 'Well...*gag*...did you find what *nggg* Mertzger wanted?' questions Becky as she gestures to the guards to open some god damned windows. 'How'd you know we were...' begins Jonah, a confused look on his tear stained face. 'Please...' interrupts the blonde female, 'this is a small settlement..there's not much that stay's secret around here...like the fact that Mertzger's probably shitting bricks over at the Slaver Compound right now...' 'Why?' asks the further confused Tribal Tracker. 'Look...he sent 30 of his Slaver goons after you yesterday....now here you sit today and none of this men have come back...sheet I'd be worried' informs Becky. Jonah sips his beer and thinks on the bartender's words. * * * * * * * Meanwhile, various people are bartering and horse-trading goods looted from the Military Facility at Tubby's General Store. The green mutant has entered the matronly busom of Mamma Mia's on the east end of town and sits down for another rat pasta binge, while the remaining members of the party simply wander the streets minding their own business. 'Mind where your going tribal' barks a town inhabitant as he falls heavily against slender frame of Josiah Sawbones, as the tribal shaman walks down the street minding his own business. 'Mind yourself fule...it was you who fell against me', replies the tattoed witch doctor still pumped up with false 'SMG God' pride. 'Whatever' mumbles the stoner as he staggers away down the street. Josiah watchs him for a while before turning to continue his site seeing tour...it is then he notices that he's shy of a knife and his bottle cap pouch. 'Muther-fecker!' exhorts the Shaman as he turns around once more and runs off after the thieving junkie pickpocket. After checking a few streets Josiah spies the thief talking to a small group of tough looking thugs standing on a street corner. He watches as several items pass hands between the thief and one of the thugs. HIS knife and bottlecaps for a cylinder of some kind. The Shaman grits his teeth as the thief turns away from the thugs and heads back in his direction...the cylinder he sees, is held firmly against the pickpocket's mouth. As the junkie bastad get within a few feet Josiah stares into his face...two pinhole pupils stare right back at him from a dazed face. The junkie stumbles pass slowly without recognising or caring who Josiah is. The Shaman unclenches his jaw slowly and pulls one of the spherical objects with pins from his backpack...he looks at the item and sees the row of small buttons on the surface. Pressing a few at random, the Shaman then plants the item into one of the pockets of the drugged thief. The doped man doesn't seem to register anything amiss as he stumbles and mumbles his way up the street. Josiah watchs him for a few moments...and then begins to edge back slowly in triumph. The wind changes...a cloud passes across the shining disc of the moon....the desert air takes a unexpected downturn in temperature.... The junkie pickpocket turns suddenly and locks eyes on Josiah Sawbones. Shocked at the sudden attention the confused shaman halts his backward movement...a cold shiver runs down his spine.. The doped man jerks erect like a puppet that's had it's strings pulled hard...with a snarl he runs at Josiah waving his arms around and going 'WoooOaowowooaoaoaooaoaooaoaoooowoooO!' The tribal shaman has faced many things in his relatively short and violent life. This is after all a post-apocolytic (sp?...anyone?) world....Raiders, Giant Rad-Scorpions, Metal Men in Airborne Machines, Slavers, His Guns, Mutated Giant Geckos, Robots, he's met them all and survived to see another day.... But never has he faced such a scary adversary...a doped up man waving his arms around and making 'wowoowooooowoowoooowoowowowoo' noises.....the Shaman's feet begin to move of their own accord...he forgets about his deadly SMG, his machete, his brace of 10mm pistols, his throwing knifes and his small collection of spherical objects with pins....he just turns tail and runs like a bastard away from his fearsome, unarmed, doped-out-of-his-head, assailant... (I'd just like to take a time out here to say 'Dabe...I luv you man'..8-)...) Dark, silent streets of burnout suburbia streak past Josiah as the terrified shaman runs and runs, away from this supernatural awesome creature of the id. Sweat drenched and nearing total exhaustion the Shaman finally turns a corner and then backs himself into shadows of a large building. Josiah tries to control and quieten his ragged breathing in the relative safety provided by the darkness....eventually he has recovered enough to slowly move closer to the edge of the building...then attempt to carefully peer down the street to see if the 'creature from the black syringe' is still on his trail.... *agonisingly quiet lungfuls of air* Josiah flattens himself against the side of the building and slowly, ever so slowly brings his head around to peer down the street... *deep booming heart beats* His spies a totally deserted and silent street...no well scary junkie menace. *sweat rivulets drip down off the shaman's forehead* The horror is gone and a relieved Josiah sucks in a huge lungful of air in celebration. The Shaman leans against the building, closes his eyes and basically 'gets his shit' together... After a couple of minutes his adrenaline levels return to normal and taking one final look down the street..just in case 8-)...the shaman is pleased to note it's empty, deserted qualities. Satisfied, Josiah turns to make his way back into the civilised part of town.. A raggedy man with unkempt hair, stares at him from across the street that leads back to town. The man snarls before running at Josiah waving his arms and making 'wooowwaaawooo' noises... *The shaman's anal nerve goes* 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargghhhhhhhhhhh' begins a terror-stricken Josiah.... The snarling man rapidly approaches the Shaman in a shambling gait.... '...ggggHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH', contines Josiah as his legs give way under him and he slumps to the dusty floor... *A dark silohette shot of the wacked out junkie, waving his arms, making waaawooowaaawoooo sounds filling Josiah's field of vision* '...HHHHHeeeeeeeeee..eeeeeeeeee.eeeee *japanese schoolgirl squealing sounds* 8-) (sorry Dabe) Josiah brings his arms up to cover his screaming face..just as the raggedy man reachs him...and then continues on down the street....waving his arms and making 'waaawoowaoooawaaoo' noises... 'eeeeeeeeee!!!....eeeeeee!!!...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!... ...eh?' The post-apocalyptic night returns to its normal background radiation level. Josiah rises to his feet and dusts himself down. Checking that all this items are still in place the Shaman then walks purposely towards the inhabited part of town. * * * * * * * Meanwhile, in the inhabited east end of town, the mutant Vat69 is polishing off his third large plate of Mamma Mia's famous rat pasta surprise...pushing the empty plate aside, the mutant unloosens his belt once more and then stretches out. Taking a sip from his beer, he utters a contented sigh and then gestures for the waitress to come over... 'Mrs Mia...do you know how I could send a message to Mertzger without having to actually go down to the Slaver Compound myself?....as in do you know someone who could do this for me?...'inquires the green mutant. The waitress leans closer and after a short period of whispered conversation, Mamma Mia agrees to get someone to perform this little chore for her little green bambino....*cough*... The other party members, drawn like moths to the glowing bulb of a possibly good plan...begin arriving at Momma Mias at regular intervals....first to arrive is Jonah Travis and his dog Rocco...the pair join the mutant and Jonah orders a plate of Mamma's Famous Pasta...BARK!...make that two plates after looking at the whimpering, dow eyed Rocco. The plates of stringy pasta arrives and after sampling a few spoonfuls.. Jonah agrees with the mutant that it's the best thing he's ever eaten... *woof!* While the tracker is tucking into his second plate, the tattoed Josiah Sawbones makes his way through the entrance...he grabs a seat and moves to the table to join the others....he too orders a plate of pasta...he tucks in.. Josiah Sawbones agrees that it's the best food he's ever had. A few minutes after this statement, the Vault posse (look dudes I wrote "P-O-S-S-E") arrive and take another table close to the tribal party members. Only Alex Mantilla is "man" enough to try the Famous Pasta of Mamma Mias.. after a furious sound of cleaving ..em..cleavers and eek eek chop! chop! from the kitchen...a large mound of steaming pasta arrives in front of the Vault Dweller...Alex grabs a fork and has a taste...the tribals and green mutant look on to gauge reaction.... Alex Mantilla determines quite rapidly that this is definitely NOT the bestest food he's ever had...but being in Rome and not wanting to disrupt party unity..he stands tall, grabs his gecko beer and states in a loud, joyous voice that... 'Yes!..this is the bestest food I've ever had!...and then drains his glass. There is much party rejoicing and furious back slapping..with a couple of Huzzahs! thrown in aswell. A few hours of carousing later and with the sun dials all pointing to midnight, one of Mamma Mia's contacts arrives and informs the wilderness warriors of his meeting with the Slavers. Basically they agree to the trade, Vic for the Quantum Communicator, at the scary, reputedly haunted house at the south edge of town...the time set is 3.00am...the gestapo hour..when man's subconscious fear of the unknown is at its peak....(why are you telling us this Sukh?...*shrug*..) The party take this on board and various things are proffered..a recce of the haunted house (DaveG), a pre-emptive frontal assault on the Slaver HQ (Rich) and more food and beer (PJ & Gray). Since they have a few hours to kill, the wilderness warriors agree with Alex Mantilla's suggestion of a quick recce of the south end of the Den. They also agree to let the Vault Dwellers undertake this task while the tribals remain and prepare weapons and oil claws, etc. Tech Sgt Mantilla leads his team of Vault Personnel into the darkness and in the direction of the haunted house.... * * * * * * * Vat69 after having sharpened his machete and removed the least stuck on bits of decomposing flesh off his trusty lead pipe..leaves Mamma Mia and walks in the direction of the Slaver Compound. Standing silently in the shadows of Mamma Mia's resturant, the green giant gazes at the Slaver compound across the street. He notes the layout of the building, the numerous guards, the lighting etc...a sneaky full frontal attack might be a bit tricky to pull off...hmmm...musing on this conundrum, the Mutant's attention is drawn to a small moth as it flickers past a street light...Vat69 looks back at the Slaver HQ and then up at the roof of Mamma Mia's...airborne huh?... Meanwhile, in the dark silence of the rarely travesed south end of town, the Vault Dwellers near the dreaded haunted house of bloody death, carnage, scary men waving their arms about and going 'woowowowowo'....and it's looks no more sinister than the rest of the gutted, partly demolished buildings that surround it...hmm...Tech Sgt Mantilla makes some deft hand gestures and the blue attired quartet draws weapons and fan out. 'Pst..eh Meester..over here' beckons a voice from a building adjacent to the haunted house. Intrigued, Alex Mantilla brings the Vault squad to a halt and then approaches the stranger cautiously...he spies a well presented man of a pale complexion. 'Eh..Meester...you wanna see something really scary...' begins the gap toothed stranger..'only 5 bottle caps friend...to see something that'll turn you white!'. Alex takes the measure of this individual and deciding he's probably gonna be taken for a ride, declines the offer. (Rich in the background states that he'd have gone in to witness something scary for 5 bottle caps). The Vault Team resume their trek around the Haunted House and Sukh the DM puts a line through the 'Scary Thing' story encounter. Team Blue reconnoiter one side of the Haunted House and then stand and stare at the strange building that resides behind it. A smooth, ferro-concrete and chrome dwelling with 'high tech' written all across it. Even stranger than this, a metal encased man stands in front of the building's solitary entrance and gazes at the Vault Dwellers with only passing interest. *A flurry of secret notes assault Sukh from all sides...one goes into his pint glass...for this PJ WILL die Wahahahah!....8-)* - Is he armed? - Does he look like he could survive a bburst from my combat shotgun? - Are there any scanners on the buildingg? - Does the man have any beeatches with hhim? All these questions are answered and more, and the team deduce that the man isn't armed, he stand in a confident way and takes no note of Buster as the Tech slowly removes the safety off his shotgun, no scanners and no beeatches either. *doggy whimper* 'Who are you' ventures Alex Mantilla. 'I can only answer one question from the Chosen One' replies the metal man politely and succintly. 'What?...sorry...Chosen One who?..' prods a confused Sgt Mantilla. 'The Chosen One of Arroyo' concludes the confident, stand out in the middle of the street with no weapons, in the scary ass dark end of town, metal encased man. Awed by this show of fearlessness, the Vault Dwellers decide to make their way back to Mamma Mia without hassling the strange metal man further and give the tribal tracker Jonah the good news. As Team Blue retrace their footsteps, Alex spots a group of four Slavers heading in the opposite direction. The Tech Sergeant decides to pause and hide in shadows to let the Slavers pass. Team Vault then returns to Mamma Mia's without further incident to regale Jonah Travis with the startling news. * * * * * * * The tracker Jonah Travis digests the information regarding the metal man, one question thing without undue concern. All present are contemplating the "ifs" when the mutant returns and states that a full frontal assault on the Slaver HQ is definitely possible. A chorus of sighs. The party are (for some strange reason) still cool on Vat69's subtley simple "Direct Assault" plan. Alex Mantilla mentions the Slaver squad heading to the Haunted House as his team were making their way back. 'Their probably scouting the area like we did' states Jonah. 'Look children, this trade plan isn't gonna work,' begins the green mutant 'the Slavers play dirty, their not going to do a simple swap...my guess is that they want us all together so they can kill us easier...' he finishes. The party take this morsel of mutant wisdom on board...and in the following quiet lull of deep deep RoF planning a collosal explosion occurs on the west side of town. A curious party stroll outside and watch flames, smoke & noisy commotion rising from within that area. 'I wonder what that was?' utters a bewildered Buster Sprocket. 'I wonder' replies Vat69 eying the burning area from his higher vantage point. News from the west side eventually filters across town to Mamma Mias via numerous passerbys...apparently Tubby's General Store spontaneously exploded! The parts of the building that wasn't destroyed in the explosion was utterly consumed by a intense, raging fire that resisted all efforts to quench it (water, dirt, no effect). *In the background..Josiah utters a dispassionate 'hmmmm...right...'* Excitement over, the planning resumes...after a period of gentle arm twisting and point, counter-point...people agree that the Mutant's 'Plan Grun' is the way to go... (While this is going on, Sukh has a quiet moment to read his adventure notes..he notices the 'Strange Man in the Corner' encounter....hmmmm). While the wilderness warriors are discussing the finer points of Plan 'Daylight Bayonet Charge across the Mine Field of Certain Dismemberment'.. they all simultaneously notice the silent, wacked out, beared man sitting alone in one corner of Mamma Mia's resturant. After another flurry of secret notes, the party turn their backs on the spaced out, bearded individual and return to their plan making...Sukh puts a line through the 'Strange Man in the Corner' encounter. Finally the RoF Plan hanger doors open and Plan Grun II is wheeled out into the harsh light of reality. The plan is beautifully simple and thus deemed likely to work... PhilJ&Kell&Blob: 'Sukh...your gonna tell us that they walk up to the front door and knocked aint ya?' Sukh: 'Please gentlemen..that was a long time ago..we are now much older, a lot wiser and have many more strings to our mighty bow of plan making' Plan Grun is thus: Phase 1 - Wait in the shadows of Mamma Mias Resturant until the Slavers move out for the trade..if Vic is with them, then they attack on route. If not, they wait until the Slaver group is out of sight before... Phase 2- ...walking up to the front door of the slaver compound and then ...knocking...with random, violent gunfire... ...dats right baby... ...and then after this...charge in and rescue Vic. Huzzah! But to add a little spice to the proceedings, the Mutant Vat69 has kindly volunteered to provide something for SFX guys to do in this forthcoming action scene. To whit, the green mutant will attempt to leap off the roof of Mamma Mias and onto the top of the Slaver Compound...sen-smeggin-sational!... The roof of the Slaver HQ, from this distance anyway, looks like its constructed from a thin corrgated iron/asbestos type material....8-) 'But you could die Mr Vat69!' utters an awed Josiah Sawbones. The green mutant clips a pair of mirrored shades onto the bridge of this nose, before straightening and informing all in the vicinty, '....and how would that be any different from any other day?...' All in the vicinity leave Mamma Mia with confused faces and take up their assigned positions. Vat69 grabs a handhold and hauls himself onto the roof of the resturant with his one good arm. Numerous watches tick tock towards 3.00am....a group of 12 heavily armoured and armed slavers leave the front door of the compound and march in pairs towards the south end of town...the concealed party members watch the figures disappear into the darkness...finally even the trudge trudge sound of marching jackboots cannot be heard.... ...and I think PJ for one will want to read that again.... ...finally even the trudge trudge sound of marching jackboots cannot be heard....8-) Alex Mantilla gives the thumbs up sign and various dudes, concealed in various position converge on the front door of the Slaver Compound as one. Meanwhile..up on high..Vat69-007, supermutant, warrior and lean, green, sex machine begins his runup... ..thump..thump..thump..thumpthump..thumpthumpthump...thumpthumpthumpthump!! 'LONG LIVE THE FIGHTERS!' With that war cry the mutant leaps into the air separating the two buildings... *Soundtrack on* 'Aaaaaaaaaaaa----aaaaaa------aaaaaaaaiiiii------aaaa------aaaaaaaaaaaa' *Slow motion on* Side shot - The large figure of Vat69 arcing upwards into the night sky... Top shot(looking down) - The mutant's legs flailing in empty space, numerous party members looking up as the mutant sails above them... Side Shot - The large figure of Vat69 arcing downwards towards the lip of the Slaver building roof.... Frontal shot(looking towards Vat69) - The ever increasing figure of the green mutant filling the camera's field of vision...Vat69 bracing himself for impact... *Slow motion off* CRUUUUNCHHHHHHHYYY!!---CRUNCH!!---CRUNCHYCRUNCH!!---THHUUUDDDDD!!!!!!!! A pair of size 18 iron shod boots inbed themselves down 2 inches into the material fabric of the roof of the Slaver Compound...the noise of the impact echos around the east end of The Den...miraculously the mutant has landed ok and he turns to look down on the ground bound party members...an outstretched arm and finger point accusingly in their direction before the mutant draws his machete and then disappears across the compound roof. On terra firma, the fun begins to begin (goddamn is this English language something else!)....the desperate group of Jonah, Rocco, Josiah, Alex, Buster, Skol and Bobbi Quicken form a rough semi-cirlce around the entrance to the Slaver's Abode. The metal door clanks opens suddenly and two metal breastplated armoured dudes step out. Each hold a sturdy looking pump action shotgun in their competent, veteran-of-a-thousand-engagements, calloused hands..the two groups stare at each other for a moment before... ...the wilderness warriors unload a well primed salvo at the 2 armoured slavers.. DA-DOOM! DAKDKAAKDKAKAAKKKKKK!!!...DING!....DONG!...DOOOOOOFFFFF!.... ...smoke from the frantic weapon fire engulfs the Slaver pair, as a snarling, red eyed, maw dripping Rocco leaps into the maelstrom and the sound of eye watering, knacker-cracking CRUNCH! thunders out from within the black vapours... The firing dies down..the gunsmoke slowly dissipates...the battleground is still and silent....people look to see what remains of the 2 valiant (but evil) Slaver dudes....and... The Slaver dudes stand still! =8-O Rocco the Dog lies sprawled at their feet, tongue lolling to one side..the metal door in the entrance creaks within its metal frame...a large, dog head shaped, impact crater distorts the door's lower region.... Double =8-O 'Jonah...if we fired first...that means...', begins a purplexed Buster... Triple =8-O DOOOOOOOM!!! DOOOOOOM!!!!! Ok Doggie and co feel the burn!..The Slaver dudes open up with the shotguns and strike amongst the surrounding throng...party members feel the sting of many shotgun pellets travelling at supersonic speeds... Meanwhile, the mutant rogue trooper Vat69 runs across the roof looking for a skylight or another such opening leading down...a few metres away to his right, a panel clangs opens and a helmuted head pops out..luckily facing away from him... Vat69 makes a snap decision and clamping his machete between his teeth, the mutant rushs over to the sorry individual. Grabbing the unsuspecting Slaver by the scruff of his neck, Vat69 hauls him out and then attempts to throw him into the Slave pens at the rear of the Slaver HQ. *Slow Mo on* Airborne body of Slaver twisting in mid air, arcing towards the edge of the roof. Green mutant bounding behind airborne dude, machete held ready. *Slow Mo Off* Meanwhile, down at ground zero, it's round two and more party weapons are unleashed at the stubborn Slaver pair...Rocco the dog gets to feet, shakes his head and then lunged for one of the Slaver dudes... *Slow Mo on* -Ground shot looking up Muscular canine body sailing overhead...dangly bits most prominent. -Side Shot Open, dripping, sharp toothed canine jaw nearing slaver personage ...small Spherical Object *without* pin entering field of view from the left and smacking the dog square between the eyeballs.... A airborne Rocco, tongue lolling, ears flapping, dangly bits dangling, rotating around wildly before striking a wall...HARD!.... ..the spherical object landing on the ground with a metallic THUNK! sound. ..All in the surrounding vicinity diving for cover.... *Slow Mo off* Meanwhile, back on the roof...the hurled Slaver lands hard on his back on the edge of the roof and frantically grabs hold to stop himself tottering over...he looks up to see a Sea of Green heading for his face.... *Slow Mo on* Vat69 looking like he just punted a rugby ball across a football field.... ..the slaver, wearing an expression of extreme pain, airborne once more, his body rotating rapidly in time to the thudding beat..arcing out of the field of vision...only a glancing blow... *Slow Mo off* Meanwhile...everyone on the deck looks up and glazes at the spherical object that hasn't for some unknown reason..exploded (but we know don't we PJ? 8-)..). All concerned get up, dust themselves down, hand each other their weapons and ask themselves..'where were we?..ok yeah..' DOOOMMM!! DAKAKAKKK!AAAA!! DONF! DING! DOOOOM!!!!.... *Slow Mo On* Close up shots of shotgun barrels firing, sparks flying... Impacts on armour..bits blowing off... Silent, pained expressions... Frantic gesturing... Smoke... A slowly rotating Rocco, everything lolling, arcing across the field of vision... *Slow Mo off* Meanwhile back to Soccer on the Roof on Sunday, the rotating body of the Slaver hits the lip of the roof once more and then goes over..an arm lashes out and the dude just manages to hang on... A frustrated Vat69, hearing someone else coming up the open hatch, raises a iron shod boot to squash the fingers of his unworthy but strangely persistent foe. CRUNCH!..aaaaargggghhhh!!! *Slow Mo on* -Top Shot looking down The spread eagled body of the Slaver falling backwards into the slave pen. *Slow Mo Off The body of the Slaver hitting the ground hard... Vat69 peers behind him to see who's come up out of the roof hatch, he spies a shotgun being levelled in his direction...the mutant jumps off the roof as a blast of shotgun pellets race through the spot he recently vacated. The green mutant nimbly lands, rolls and get to his feet in one fluid movement. He scans the Slave Pens and into the eyes of many awake, confused slaves... 'Your free, the dominion of the Slavers ends tonight', he states to the gathering throng. The Slaves look at the 11ft tall green, one armed mutant with a big feck off machete and then at the dazed, unarmed Slaver trying to get back onto his feet. With a surge the mass of humans launch themselves at the unlucky Slaver and basically beat 20 kinds of crap outta him. With a smile, Vat69 turns and then runs at the door leading into the Slaver Compound from the Slave Pens. Meanwhile..Rocco the dog is regaining his feet yet again, the bemused mutt shakes his head furiously and then scans the melee to determine what the feck he has to do do get his slobbering chops around a nice piece of Slaver ass! His ever alert eyes pick up 2 (t-w-o) spherical objects without pins flying into the Slaver Compound through the open metal door...the dog knows these things are evil and runs for his life. The bullet ridden Slaver pair briefly note the incoming trajectories of the two objects before deciding to ignore them and concentrate on firing blast after painful blast into their dim-witted assailants outside. BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! The front end of the Slaver HQ just disappears, the sturdy walls blow out, up and disintregate into dust. The two slavers at the door are flung across the street to impact like ripe, red fruit against the sides of Mamma Mia's Italian resturant. All party members outside still on their feet are flung backwards and sustain considerable damage. Various parts of the front end of Slaver HQ begins to burn in a white, hot fire. The tracker Jonah Travis, regains his feet and shakes his head. He sees the open, undefended entrance of the Slaver HQ... 'OK MEN..INTO THE BREACH!...' he bellows...'Rocco....Kill Boy! he finishes pointing at one of the burning orifices. Rocco looks at his master, he looks at the burning, white hot inferno this is the front of the Slaver Compound, he looks back at Jonah... *whimper..whine* ..the canine stares into those cold, cold eyes... *WOOF!* Alex Mantilla prises himself off the floor and pushes off a stunned Buster Sprocket. The Vault Dweller stands unsteadily and then spits out a glob of blood and dust. 'Buster..', begins the battered Tech Sgt. 'Yes Boss', croaks the similarly ravaged Tech 3rd Class. 'You throw one more grenade with me anywhere in the vicinity and I'll kill you myself with these bare hands...you got me Technician!'. 'Sir! Yes Sir!'. 'Alright..we got about 10 mins before the rest of the slavers get back..let's get moving'... * * * * * * * cue: interior view within burning Slaver Compound... cue: smoke and flames... *Slow Mo on* A red eyed, salivating Rocco leaping through the flames and smoke .. followed by the bloodied figures of Jonah, Josiah and the other members of Team Grenade. *Slow Mo Off* At the rear of the Slaver HQ, a green, heavily muscled leg strikes the door leading into the Slave Pen area..and..the door comes off its hinges and flies into the room...before clattering to the floor. Standing in the now sundered door frame, the mutant, warrior, mothman, Vat69 spies the one-eyed figure of Mertzger staring back at him from the opposite end of the room. The pair stand silently for a few moments, sizing each other up before the eye patched Slaver Chief slowly draws a viscious looking combat knife from a well worn sheath at his hip. He raises the serrated edge towards the enthralled mutant... The challenge issued, the grim mutant raises his own keen machete in reply and begins to move into the room to fight mano-o-muto... The mutant has just enough time to raise his gullible eyebrows as the Slaver Chief discards the knife and raises a combat shotgun and unleashes a burst... DA-DA-DA DOOM!... *slow mo on* cue: tiny splinters flying in all directions around the mutant and the door frame in classic brownian motion... DA-DA-DOOOM!... Rear Shot of the mutant rocking on his size 18s... DA- *clunk* *click* *jam* Buggerrit! *slow mo off* Vat69 smiles at Mertzger as the wooden splinter cloud subsides from around his immediate vicinity. The relieved mutant checks the grip on his machete before stepping into the room. But Mertzger didn't get to wear a fecking cool eye-patch for being a pussy, the Slaver Chief calmly drops his now useless shotgun and opens the door behind him and steps through. He even has enough time to point towards one of the corners of the room before slamming the door in the lumbering mutant's face. A confused Vat69 follows the direction of the finger and checks out the contents of that particular corner of the room. DAK-A-DAK-A-DAKA! A burst of 10mm bullets strikes various parts of the mutant's body as the green one staggers backwards under the onslaught...a Slaver Guard (#3) stands in that corner and unloads a bucking SMG into the mutant. 'MUTHER-FECKER!' bellows the flailing and enraged Vat69 as the red mist begins to descends.... *Guys...you know this will only end badly for Guard #3* Meanwhile, at the other end of the compound the rest of the party have secured the first room (sheet I feel safer already). The Wilderness warriors and Rocco making short work of a couple of hapless Slaver guards...(in fact Rocco made a small souffle out of one of guard's genitals). In the secure first room there are two doors, both of which are locked. Alex Mantilla appraises the situation and indicates to his underling Buster Sprocket to open door #1 with a series of silent, concise hand gestures. The lowly Technican watches the deft somantic gesturing of his superior before commenting 'You are so gay'. Alex Mantilla stares at his charge with wilting 3 pip authority... Sighing, Buster Sprocket unfurls his lockpick set and gets to work on Door#1. The lock is opened with ease and the Team Grenade stare into a small workshop containing many workshop related items. Buster's eyes light up as the technician moves in to spend a couple of minutes of quality time inspecting and appraising various "power" tools... His reverie is interrupted by the mulitiple glares of the rest of the party and the sounds of deadly combat from behind door#2...perhaps we would compare drill bit sizes later Buster? The lock on Door#2 is put to the test and found wanting. After a moment of mental preparation the party thunder in... Meanwhile... cue: smoke filled room with the sounds of terrible screaming... cue: close up of the bloody, green manic face of the super-mutant Vat69, lit up frequently with reflections of oily orange flame... cue: malicious, hideous laughter...HAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!! The burning figure of Guards#3 flails around the room on fire...his terrible wailing bring deep bellows of laughter from the deep, dark pit of Vat69's psyche. The mutant continues to spray the figure with torrents of fire from this flame thrower, oblivious to the cries for mercy, until the forlorn figure finally falls to the floor and moves no more. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHH!!!!!! Meanwhile, Team Grenade bursts into the central room of the Slaver Compound. Party eyes stare at Mertzger and 2 other Slaver guards looking and raising weapons at them...the party react... ..and a titanic shooting melee ensues..the telling of which could easily span several volumes of literature, so long is the struggle, so terrible is the suffering, so courageous are the protangonists.... *Ahem* Boyz: 'Sukh why don't you just them everyone what really happened?' *cough* Rocco runs in and engages one of the Slaver Guards, Jonah and Josiah double team it with a hail of bullets against the other Slaver guard. ..leaving the currently unarmed Mertzger to the martial skills of the quartet of Vault Dwellers ...four weapons rise in slow mo and point at the Slaver Chief... But one-eyed Mertzger doesn't have that horrible scar across his face cause he cries like a japanese schoolgirl whenever the chips are down..no sireebob.. ...indeed, if he was in a RPG adventure where the other party members had found a large chest full of gold and then had secretly taken the lion's share, leaving him with only 10 gold coins...he wouldn't have given the DM a hard time afterwards.... Well anyway...the athletic, bald, black eye patched villian launches himself across the room and attempts to dive behind some furniture... *Slow Mo on* The airborne figure of Mertzger sailing across the room* Close ups of numerous projectile weapons firing.. Buster Sprocket firing....missing *Go Mertzger* Alex Mantilla firing...missing... *Go Mertzger..Sukh gyrating* Bobbi Quicken firing...missing.. *Go Mertzger..Go Mertzger..* *Slow mo off* The taciturn NPC Vault Security guard Skol Broken, meets Mertzger's gaze with his clear blue eyes...the quiet Swedish man raises his 10mm pistol and pulls the trigger ..once... *Slow Mo On* Side Shot of Merztger sails towards camera sideon....a plume of red erupting from his good eye....followed moments later by the back end of his head exploding outwards...another torrent of red issuing out of that exit wound... *Slow Mo Off* Skol Broken calmly holstering his 10mm pistol and turning to face the gaping stares of the rest of Team Vault... 'That was a good shot, but..', begins the blond man, 'we had many chances and...few were taken...so I had to change this around a bit...' The rest of Team Vault are silent for a few more moments expecting more from the Swedish guard but then quickly realise he's said everything he's gonna say... 'Well I guess the idea of taking Mertzger alive to find out why he needed the Communicator thingy is out now?' states an awed Jonah Travis. The rest of the opponents in the central room are quickly pacified and people makes themselves busy by looting bodies and rifling through drawers...in this room, as before, there are two doors...one where the sounds of burning and screaming have recently subsided and another which Buster strides across to, lockpick set in hand... Josiah Sawbones had just removed the metal breastplate off one dead slaver guard when Vat69 bursts (literally) through the other door followed by a steady stampede of freed slaves... 'I've found Vic', informs the battle-hardened giant, pushing forward a middle aged, portly gentleman', Vic gives a little wave, '..and I think it might be good idea to get out of here before the whole place collapses..' A loud click informs everyone in the vicinity that Technician Sprocket has affected entry to the last room in the Slaver complex... 'Have we got time to check this room out?' inquires Buster, packing his lockpick set away. 'Nah' replies Jonah, 'we've got Vic so I say lets get the hell out of here before it all burns down or the Slaver squad returns' Wise words, even coming from one such as Jonah Travis(8-)), people start making there way out of the burning, smoking, bullet ridden ex-Slaver Compound in ones and twos, fighting their way though waves of ex-slaves also intent on vacating the ex-building as quickly as possible. 'Eeeekkk' The last door leading to the last, unchecked room in the burning Slaver Compound creaks open...and the only party members still in the area note the contours of a rather large chest lying within... Vat69 looks over at Alex Mantilla and archs an mutated green eyebrow, the pair rush into what must be Mertzger's private quarters and examine the sturdy looking chest....the locking mechanism of which proves effective, leaving the duo to look around for other modes of entry... The smoke within in the building is now becoming increasingly dense and toxic...the chest is no nearer to being opened...and the first secret note (of many) clouts Sukh on the forehead... * Cut to RPG Room: PhilM glaring at Sukh with 'a player wronged' kinda look. * Having exhausted all ideas to open the unwielding chest, the green mutant decides to simply heft the chest under his one good arm and then stagger out with it into the night air. Alex Mantilla, being a good 5 foot shorter than the mutant can't provide any chest carrying assistance so decides instead to draw his pistol and keep an eye out for more slavers... * Cut to RPG Room: PhilM glaring at Sukh with intense 'a player wronged' kinda look. * The heavily encumbered mutant curses and stumbled his way out of the burning building, stubbornly clutching the chest under his straining arm and follows in the footsteps of lookout man Alex Mantilla. Once outside, Vat69 drops the chest and the pair sit/stand and draw in deep lungfuls of clean fresh night air. However, a bullet richochet and the sound of running jackboots rapidly approaching brings the situation into clear focus...the clearly staggered but uncompromising can-do attitude, green mutant hefts the chest once more and walks as quickly as he can away from the sound of the oncoming slaver guards... Alex Mantilla guards the mutants back as the pair retreat into the darkness, he watchs the chaos around the Slaver Compound... slaves, slavers, gun shots, burning, smoke, cats and dogs living together....basic mass hysteria! * Cut to RPG Room: PhilM glaring at Sukh with an increasingly baleful stare.. * Eventually after a lot of staggering, sweating, swearing, near misses and a short and violent encounter with 2 slaver guards the exhausted but amazingly stubborn pair of Vat69 and Alex Mantilla man/muto-handle the equally stubborn chest of the lost covenant into the dark remains of non-descript building. The other party members have miraculously found each other and re-grouped at another non-descript building in town and await the arrival of the last two party members with worried faces.... Meanwhile, following a long recovery period, the subtle locking-picking arts of Vault Dweller training are discarded in favour of the harsh, violent lock-opening methods of mutant-kind... 'FURCLANG! FURCLANK! FURCLUNG! FURCLUNK! FURCLUG! FURFUR! FURCOCKED! With a furore that could be heard across the whole of Cali, the green mutant Vat69 gives the chest some quality lead pipe/machete time... * Cut to RPG Room: PhilM glaring at Sukh with intense, withering 'a player wronged' kinda look. Sukh's hair beginning to smoke... * *render..splinter...break...* The wooden shards of the chest are parted to reveal the contents.... A large mound of gold coins, shotgun shells, a sheet of paper with big numbers on it, 3 spare eyepatches and a squeaky toy... Vat69 and Alex Mantilla look at each other... * cue: Eli Wallach falling to his knees and grabbing handfuls of gold coins in ecstasy.....'It's all ours Blondie!' * Meanwhile in the cold, burnout, remains of another building somewhere else in town. 'Did anyone hear that?' inquires a strangely agitated Buster Sprocket. 'I didn't hear nuthing' replies the Josiah Sawbones, examing his latest weapon appropriation..a pump action shotgun of a late slaver vintage. 'Sounded like clanging, smashing sounds'..persists the Vault Technician. 'Whatever' * Cut to RPG Room: PhilM still glaring at Sukh. Black storm clouds gathering behind Sukh, thunder, lightning, etc, etc * The hours tick by and just when everyone in the party are fearing the worst for Vat69 and Alex Mantilla (well nearly everyone), the pair emerge out of the gloom and dispel any such ideas. A short, somewhat farcial explanation is proffered for the delay but any further questioning by the party is cut short by the handing out of a bribe of 10 gold coins for each party member. *WOOF!* ..and a squeaky toy for the party's canine member. Jonah slaps the mutt across the face as he hands the dog's gold coin share back to the smiling (and strangely jingling) mutant. Discussion now turns to the matter of Vic and the quests of many team members for various high tech gadgets....the Holy GECK for Jonah Travis and the parts of the holographic projector for Team Vault. 'So Vic, where you get a water bottle with Vault 13 on it' inquires Jonah Travis, holding up the artifact given to him by the Arroyo village Elder. Vic explains that he doesn't know where Vault 13 is as such, he traded for the bottle at a place called Vault City, which is four weeks dead east from the Den. 'Vault City' exclaim the Vault Dwellers in unison. 'Yeah, they appeared about 20 years ago from one of these underground Vault things and set up the City' informs the strangely helpful and cheery trader. A loud 'hmmmmmmmmm' echos around the building. Well there's nothing for it, the party members awake at dawn and go back into town to buy supplies for yet another long trek across the baking desert. Vic readily agrees to lead the party to their destination, saying he'll need to get some new stuff to return to the trading business anyway. Whilst in town, the party learn that the remaining Slavers have packed up and left town during the night. However, any celebrations are curtailed by the ever insightful Becky. The Oracle-cum-Barmaid warns the party members of numerous other Slavers outposts dotted around the other towns in the wasteland....the Slavers never forget a slight and will definitely be out of revenge. But this is for another day, the wilderness warriors buy and barter for the necessary supplies and get ready to move out...but one thing remains. A visit to the strange armoured man outside the equally strange high tech chrome building. Jonah Travis steps up to the strange metal encased man and whispering, so he cannot be overheard by the others members of the party, asks the strange fellow... 'Any NukaCokes for Sale?' (secret note:#5) (Nah...secret note:#4 really) The armoured one turns to face the tribal tracker and states in a strangely sure and compelling voice... 'It lies far to the South'. Jonah digests this information and after thanking the strange metal man turns to join the rest of the party...and with that the long trek to Vault City begins..... FIN.