Trials and Trails in the Deep Deep Desert ========================================= The hardened wilderness warriors leave the relative safety of the Den and head off to brave the dangers of the deep, radioactive desert once again. With several experienced outdoorsmans within the party, progess through the burning landscape is good and remains trouble free for several days. Nights are spent resting and maintaining/repairing equipment. Buster's strange weapon brace contraption for his combat shotgun takes shape much to the disbelief of the tribals present. Meanwhile his senior, Tech Sgt Mantilla spends each night that God gives him, slowly welding and reparing the B.O.X. back to 100% efficiency. Mantilla's efforts are noted by the wily shaman Josiah Sawbones who is very intrigued and taken with the strange device with the flashing lights...sometimes..the tribal can even hear the Vault Dweller *talking* to the metal box in whispered tones...and sometimes the box talks back! Four hot, harsh days and four cold, bitter nights pass quickly in this fashion. The party move into the deep deep desert as all green vegatation is slowly consumed by the all emcompassing desert. During one nightly rest period, with the full disc of the moon shining brightly in the night sky..the shaman Josiah Sawbones prepares his monthly sacrifices to the moon goddess to bring him favour during the coming month. Alone, on his watch period, while the rest of the party lie in deep slumber, the tattoed witch docter gazes at the brillant luna disc and whispers prayars and begins to throw sand, dried leaves, water and beer towards the moon. Building to a climax (stop it...) the intoxicated shaman closes his eyes and bites down on the bitter mixture of dried Broc flower seed pods and shavings of Xander root within his mouth. Slowly...he feels the power of the root surge within him (watch it..)..he opens his eyes and awaits the blessing of the moon goddess....his extra sharp vision watchs a shaft of moon light arc downwards and fall behind him...turning, the shaman looks at the moon etched gleaming lines of the Vault Dweller metal BOX. Uttering a gasp, Josiah is drawn towards the object...the shaman kneels and then bows before the Vault artifact. Muttering his prayars as the power of the root seize him, the tribal begins to sprinkle the ravaged sides of the BOX with droplets of water and beer.... The orange light at one edge of the box's metal carapace flickers into life..silencing the shaman's whispered chanting. Josiah bows before the B.O.X once more, and then slowly retreats to his bedroll and slips instantly into fevered, drug-fueled dreamland. And the following moonlit nights follow this pattern...the shaman waiting until his watch, before giving praise to the Moon Goddess and then covering the armoured sides of the Vault Artifact/Deity with liquid offerings... Persisting until the BOX acknowledges the Shaman's presence with the lighting of it's orange LED...during one midnight ritual Josiah is so overcome with his sucess that the intoxicated shaman cuts open his palm and drips blood all over the armoured sides of the B.O.X. But as with all good things, the seed of their destruction has already been sown and in our story this tiny seed can only mean one thing. The ever viligant Vault Dweller, Buster Sprocket finally notes the stained and liquid etched sides of the Vault AI BOX. After an detailed inspection and determining whether Sgt Mantilla's "repairs" are the reason for the AI's trendy "Pollock" livery, the hot-tempered technician takes the BOX to one side for a long one-to-one. A concise set of questions (that wouldn't be out of place at a McCartyesque witch-hunt) unveals the identity of the guilty culprit to diligent, blood hound Buster Sprocket. The hot blooded, easy riled Vault Dweller is ready to take this information to his superior for immediate justice and execution but is stayed from this course of action by the B.O.X.'s total bafflement on why the tribal is doing it in the first place. 'Is he likely to damage you?' asks Buster unconvinced. 'NO ENTITY-SPROCKET..AND IF IT IS SOME KIND OF PRIMITIVE FAITH WORSHIP, THEN PLEASE ALLOW ME TO RECORD IT FOR FUTURE ANALYSIS...AND..BESIDES ...IT MIGHT BE A LAUGH!' replies the strangely flippant, synthetic mind. Buster agrees to go along with the AI's plan but informs Sgt Mantilla of his findings and advises that they keep an eye on the situation.. just in case. Days pass...all vegatation disappears and water becomes steadily harder to find, normal outdoorsman's sources prove insufficent and the party start to make serious inroads into their supplies. Vic the Trader is at a total loss, he's never seen this part of desert so dry before... The thought of dying a parched and pointless death in the middle of nowhere begins to form in the minds of several party members. A team huddle is instigated to discuss the water situation..the product of which are several water conserving ideas 1) The team to now travel at night and rest during the day...the Shaman is strangely saddened at this news. 2) Jonah to STOP gargling and washing down his head and face with the entire content of party water bottles every couple of hours...all empty bottles (& partly empty) to be saved for future use and not discarded without undue consideration. 3) The mutant Vat69 to "collect" the daily urine production of the party members for future use... 'Filtering out the water using some clever Mutant desert technique?,' inquires an awed Jonah Travis. *Brief instance of mutant bafflement* 'Yeah...thats right' replies the green mutant, as he continues to point out that participation in the scheme is purely voluntary...but, that he will be enforcing (with deadly force) those who receives the "amber nectar" on contributions made, when the water does finally run out. cut to: *The line at the makeshift desert latrine is subdued and orderly* The water saving ideas are all implemented and 4 further days of slightly less taxing nightly travel brings little incident. On night five however, the advanced scouts pick up the sounds of gun fire from further ahead. The now crack team of deadly silent stalkers approach the commotion with cunning and guile. On the plateau, the luna light illuminates the contours of 4 carts formed roughly into a circle. Gunfire to and from the caravan arcs towards 2 distinct areas in the unseen desert further ahead. After a quick discussion it is decided to once again utilise Attack Plan Pincer...to wit two seperate attacks on each group of the caravan ambushers....in unspoken agreement, the party members quickly form into two distinct groups akin to people selecting two teams of a 5-a-side football match. In one group stand Vat69, Rocco, Alex Mantilla, Jonah and Josiah and forming the southern prong of the attack the trusty trio of Buster, Bobbi and the dour (but fell handed) Vault guard Skol Broken. Team Cannon and Team Cannon Fodder as it were. The two groups umlimber weapons and silently circle the assailed caravan and converge on the areas of incoming fire. On the northern assault...Rocco keen canine eyesight spies a group of humaniods firing from a rock outcropping about 25 feet high. The others stare in the direction of the mutt's gaze and also begin to pick out the forms of about 5 humans firing down from there. The group decide to circle and give the banditos a wide berth and sneak up to the rock outcropping from the rear. On the Southern Flank, Field Marshal Sprocket and Team Fodder also stop and preceive a similar situation. A rock outcropping with around 4 humans perched on top of it firing at the caravan...the fire-eating Vault Technician decides however to continue the approach to his objective straight on and indicates to the other team members to continue sneaking right down their opponent's gun barrels. Meanwhile, Team Cannon have quickly and relatively quietly circumvented a large area of desert and now approach the northern rock formation from behind. Just as the team members are about to sneak up to the base of the large rock structure, Vat69 notices a sentry at ground level about 20 feet from the main rock outcropping. From here it looks like the look out man is attempting to roll a ciggie and not unduly concerned on maintaining a viligant watch. Vat69 looks down the line of silent, concerned party faces before drawing his machete and indicating that he will take care of the sentry. The green giant lopes towards his quarry as silently as any 11 foot tall mutated green hulk with size 18 iron shod boots can....while the other party members look on apprehensively. The sentry oblivious to his impending (and probable violent) demise continues in his efforts to roll a tobacca stick...behind him, his mutated nemesis rises unnaturally silent from the desert floor like a large, green mutated nemesis...4 feet of sharp, savage metal glints in the moonlight as Vat69's massive arm begins a scything action directed at the sentry's unsuspecting head....and ...the lookout man feels a desert zephyr caresses his neck...a rude, calloused hand rubs the exposed area of skin at his nape before putting the rolled ciggie to a pair of cracked lips and preceeding to light up! (Sukh smacking head). 'FERCHUNK!' A large green hand lifts the lit ciggie from the desert floor and takes a long draw...'mmmmmm...these are very bad for you..' whispers the voice of Vat69 as he chastises the decapitated head of the dead sentry. Taking a few more tugs from the cigerette the mutant then sticks the still glowing remains within one ear and motions to the rest of the party to begin their approach... Team Cannon quickly traverse the distance and now stand adjacent to the sheer 25 feet wall of the desert rock formation...the sound of firing can be heard overhead. Vat69 and Rocco appear a little agitated when no easy path upwards is found at the base of the stout rock pillar and climbing seems the only available option (DMing Tip#2: See people how Sukh easily thwarts the two best melee fighters in the party so cunningly? 8-)..) So with Vat 'One Arm' 69 and Rocco left as mere spectators to the upcoming fight it is left to the monkey boys of Alex, Jonah & Josiah to scale the heights and give the bush wacking desert sidewinders a good seeing to. Vat69 takes another long draw from his diminishing smoke whilst slowly shakes his head at the antics of the climbing trio before patting the head of the dog sitting beside him. Meanwhile Team Fodder have snuck up quite sucessfully to within 30 metres of the other group of bandits...Buster spies a similar sentry on guard at the base of this rock outcropping...and this dude looks alert...Buster slides down behind the boulder that the other members of the team are hiding and contemplates the "ifs"... 3 pairs of hands search out crevices (steady) and handholds on the northern rock outcropping, Alex makes a start on one side while the tribals chance their luck a little further around the circumference of the stone pillar... The Vault Tech Sgt makes steady progress up the rock wall while Jonah Travis is soon stuck 15 feet off the ground and Josiah Sawbones decides that this is the opportune time to slip and fall off. The tattoed shaman tumbles to the ground accompanied by a rain of loose rock fragments and lands on the desert floor with a audible thud and barely suppressed groan...almost immediately a voice from above calls out 'Slash!...was the you...your supposed to standing guard man!..Slash?...' Josiah lies totally still and closes his eyes, Jonah presses himself to the rock wall in an attempt to merge with the formation, while at the opposite end Alex halts in this upward progression and awaits the outcome... 'Slash?...' PJ is deciding whether a well timed ventriloquism is in order when his concentration is shattered by a burst of automatic gunfire...the area around the prone Josiah explodes with bullet ricochets as he sees the muzzle flash of a SMG firing down above him. Josiah quickly rolls to the rockface and flattens himself under a small overhang..bullets continues to rain down in his vicinity and the tribal shaman takes a lot of nicks from shattering pieces of rock wall. Jonah up above, positions himself under a larger overhang and holds on for dear life, while Tech Sgt Mantilla decides to complete his climb and take a quick peek topside...the Vault Dweller spies a group of 5 humans on the rock summit, one of which stands near the edge, holding out a SMG at arms length and firing downwards...Mantilla carefully positions himself on the rockface and lines up the SMG firing individual with his 10mm pistol. Meanwhile back at strafe central, Josiah has had enough of this chicken shit outfit, the pinned tribal shaman draws two spherical objects with pins from about his person and then pulls the pins...=8-O Sukh: 'What's your throwing skill Dabe?' Dabe: '38%' Sukh: 'Ah' He launches the two objects blindly upwards trying/hoping that they land on the summit of the rock formation (and not come straight down). Alex Mantilla peering down the gun sight of his pistol sees the two shiny objects clear the summit and land amongst the bandit throng. He has just enough time to raise a pair of previously scorched earbrows when.... Cut to: - H-U-G-E explosion on the summit of thee northern rock outcropping. Cut to: - Long range shot of tranquil moonlit deesert vista...a huge bright yellow mushroom cloud erupts in the distance. Cut to: - At the base of the rock pillar lookingg up...burning bandits flying off the summit at unnaturally equal (and some would say staged) distances from each other. cue copious amounts of dust, smoke and fiery streams of fire.... Cut to: - Alex Mantilla letting go/ being blown off his airborne perch and tumbling down rock face... Cut to: - A bewildered looking trio of Buster, BBobbi and Skol standing and staring at the rising mushroom cloud from the northern rock outcropping...the small group & boulder well illuminated by the explosion... Cut to: - A view from the southern outcropping aas one silohetted bandit nudges another and points in the direction of the trio of well lit Vault Dwellers below... A cacophony of gunfire erupt around the members of Team Fodder as Skol Broken and Buster Sprocket feel the sting. The trio fall back behind a boulder to gather their thoughts and prepare to return fire. Meanwhile at ground zero, Alex Mantilla once again spits out a mixture of dust, blood and incincerated tumbleweeds before rising to his feet. 'Well that's one way to get down a rock face' remarks the mutant Vat69 drily. 'Thanks' replies the Vault Dweller patting himself down to clear the dust from his uniform. Team Cannon quickly regroup and then search the area around the northern outcropping to make sure all the bandits are dead. It is during this time that the gunfire resumes from the southern rock outcropping. At this location, Buster Sprocket restrains his fellow Vault dwellers from rising above the boulder to return fire at the banditos on the southern rock pillar. 'Wait guys...I've got an idea...' exhorts the red-blooded vault Techician. Buster then rifles through his Backpack of Plenty and pulls forth a spherical object with pin (which he likes to call a "grenade"..from the French 'Prome grante') On the count of three, the gun toting forms of Bobbi Quicken and Skol Broken appear above the boulder and unleash a withering rain of fire at the summit of southern rock outcropping... PhilJ: 'Withering fire?...what are we talking about Sukh...a WWI-type artillery barrage? Sukh: 'Bang' 'Zeem' PhilJ: 'Ah' The young, hot head Buster 'The Kahuna' Sprocket rises behind his fellow vault dwellers (like a majestic salmon breaching the water line on it's quest to return home). A volley of fire hurtles downwards from the bandito trenches on the rock summit, but undeterred the brave, impetous, Vault Technician throws back his arm and then launches the "grenade" towards the top of the rock outcropping.... Another huge explosion thunders out from the summit of rock outcropping south. Another fiery mushroom cloud expands upwards throwing the broken, blasted bodies of dead banditos in it's wake.... Eventally the desert night returns to the tranquility and solitude beloved of prophets and madmen everywhere...broken only by the whoops and victory cries of the party members as they converge on the caravan in triumiph. The caravan master being a pragmatic man and having witnessed the total annihilation of the Slaver bandits in mere seconds by this strange band of humaniods, stands impassively and wisely lets the newcomers do whatever they want. After a short period of poking and proding, sniffing and fiddling, the party determine that the caravan and assembled caravan denizens are genuine..and pose no threat to them or anyone else...(sheet have you dudes ever considered joining the US armed forces?) A long silence follows this conclusion as each party decides what to do next...the red blooded Jonah Travis is already leering in the direction of several female caravan members.. 'So..' begins an unsure Alex Mantilla, 'we're travelling towards Vault City.. so if your heading in that direction..we could travel together?...perhaps with us providing you with some additional protection?' 'Sure man', replies the Caravan Master slowly moving to interpose himself between the cowering female caravan members and Jonah 'The Long Un' Travis.. 'that'd be just swell..we're heading to Modoc...a little over 2 days from here..that ok with you?' Alex Mantilla readily agrees and the tension eases (well for some people...sheet..if I was Rocco I'd be scared tonight..8-)..on second thoughts..maybe not =8-O..)..agreement reached, the motley band of caravaners and wilderness warriors make camp and settle down for the night. As the 'Caravan of Convenience' members slumber in the chilly desert night, the shaman Josiah Sawbones takes time out to give praise for victory in battle by shedding his life's blood again at the feet (or more accurately the armoured exterior) of his new found metal diety. In another wagon, restless and unable to sleep it dawns on the fiery Vault Dweller Buster Sprocket that the banditos couldn't have just arrived on the caravan by accident...the ambush looked too preplanned so they must have a base or camp somewhere around here and close. Images of pillaged wealth and waterfalls of golden coins fill the little man's mind and still smarting from his unfortunate exclusion from Team 'Chest of Gold' the Vault Dweller decides not to be overlooked in this financial opportunity so easily. He wanders over to his superior and whispers his deductions and findings to him. The razor sharp mind of Alex Mantilla cannot find flaw in his underling's logic and as he absorbs the information, Buster proposes a quick and strictly 'Team Vault only' nightly sortie to find the hidden Slaver 'Campsite of Gold'. The pair silently slip away from the campsite and begin the search of the surrounding area for tracks or trails leading away. And behold!, a recent trail of many humaniod feet is soon discerned leading away from both of the rock outcroppings at the ambush site. The Vault Dweller pair follow the trail through the night like a pair of blue skinned blood hounds and come dawn the outlines of a large stony hillock can be seen in the distance. Approaching the large rock formation, the pair spy a cave mouth which the tracks veer unerringly towards. Around the entrance the tenacious Vault Dwellers make out the compressed tyre tracks of several wheeled vehicles in the dry, baked desert floor. Finding nothing else of note, the blue skinned pair draw weapons and enter the darkness of the cave in standard two by two cover formation...well one by one in this case?..??..well anyway they enter the cave. Within the cave...it's dark...too dark...Alex Mantilla pulls out a Vault Tech issued flare and ignites it. The sickly flickering red light illuminates the rocky interior of the cave...or more precisely..cave system...8-)..there are several tunnels leading off into darkness. Still undeterred the pair get down on all fours and scan the rocky ground minutely looking for tracks or any indication to which tunnel the Slavers might have used for a camp. After several minutes of pain staking crawling around the cave, Alex Mantilla thinks that the Slavers might have used one particular tunnel. 'You sure?' asks Buster detecting the uncertainty in his superior's voice. Alex Mantilla looks down at his charge silently for a few seconds before striding down the chosen tunnel. Sighing, Buster grips his pistol and follows. The flickering flare light disappears into the darkness..times passes and the tunnel continues to wind and descend deeper into the rock formation. From up ahead the sounds of scraping and clicking can be heard...the Vault Dweller pair stop and look at each other. The scraping, clicking, chittering sounds echo around the tunnel, with the point of origin lying somewhere up ahead. 'That doesn't sound human' informs a strangely calm Sgt Mantilla turning to his smaller compatriot. 'Do we go on?' asks a weary, sweat drenched Buster Sprocket, the waterfall of gold coins clearly beginning to lose it's lustre. A high pitched schreech echos down the tunnel towards the stationary pair. 'No...we don't' answers Alex Mantilla turning on heel and beginning to jog back the way they came...Buster doesn't need to be told twice and quickly scampers after his master in his ungainly lumbering gait....Igor..8-) 'Scheeeeeeeeeerch....click...chitter....click....neep neep..' Team Tech immediately initiate 'Vault Plan Evacuation' as both members, in unspoken agreement, increase speed and then run full pelt around the winding tunnel back towards the distant cave mouth.... 'clack clattering click clack....' The flare has burnt down to a inch above Sgt Mantilla's hand before the running pair turn the final corner and spy the wide sunlit area of the open cave mouth....as the silohette of a giant scorpion fills it.. =8-O 'click clatter....neep neep....clacker...' sounds continue to dog their footsteps behind them... FECK MY BUTTOCKS! The Vault pair continue their sprint towards the cave mouth and the approaching Radscorpion. Two 10mm pistols come up and begin firing at the armoured giant arachnid in projectile frenzy... 'BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!'...spent bullet casings bounce off the rocky floor and dance around the blue soled boots of the running humans. Team Vault and the Giant Radscorpion near the point of contact as the unending cacaphony of gunfire echos around the cave system. Just as the point of melee is about to be reached, the riddled giant mutated arachnid crashs to the cave floor and moves no more..it's mighty tail falls impotently to one side as the running Vault Dwellers stomp over its perforated leaking shell without pause and continue out into the blessed sunlight. After a period of rest and frantic breathing, the thwarted gold seeking Vault Pair turn their backs on the monster infected tunnel system and make their way back to the caravan train somewhere on the dusty plateau. The Village of Modoc ==================== The caravan and wilderness warriors trudge across the dry desert for another couple of days before they discern the dusty, dilapidated buildings of the village of Modoc in the distance. It has now been a long 2 weeks since the party members left the comforts of the Den to venture forth across the radioactive wilderness towards Vault City. The sight of the potential hospitality offered by this unlooked for village is a welcome relief. People wander around the small village and see what there is to see. The ubiquitous general store with the equally ubiquitous sign painted across it's walls, a dusty church, several empty corals, a sheriff's office manned by a 2 competent looking men, a grisly, silent slaughterhouse and on the north end of town the only thing that resembles a bar, Rosie's Bed and Breakfast establishment. The whole area does however have a parched look about it..the town well is found to be totally dry and tumbleweeds blow around the place in profusion. Also of note is some strange sticky clear goo that oozes out of ground in numerous places across the area of the village. Hmmmmm. No guesses where the Team Wilderness decided to investigate first, several rickety chairs scrape across a dusty floor of Rosie's Bed and Breakfast Cantina as the weary party members take a table and orders some well earned refreshments. Alcohol is available in quantity but water isn't, food in the way of brahmin beef products also fill a large portion of the menu..but all eyes are drawn to the tantalising entry of 'Rosie's Special Wasteland Ommelettes' (Sukh scrunching his face..egg yuck..8-)..). Several rounds of Gamma Gulp Beers are ordered together with a full table span of Special Wasteland ommelette platters...and indeed when the food arrives it is exactly what is says on the box...a gigantic mass of cooked, yellow, flightless bird embroyo. The initial braver souls within the party discover the meal to be both tasty and refreshing..indeed several injured party member begin to feel miles better after having consumed the repast. 'Healing Ommelettes' ventures a frantically munching Josiah Sawbones, 'now I've seen everything man' remarks the tribal shaman. The party's spirits are lifted by the first decent meal eaten in ages and the last couple of sad desert days of living off Cactus Salad and Urine Recyce become a fading memory. 8-) Appetites satiated and thirsts quenched, the revived party members move around the village to replensish supplies and barter away equipment looted from the dead bodies of slaver banditos. Vat69 makes a bee line for the slaugherhouse and purchases a huge amount of prime, recently rendered meat jerky (enough to feed Austraila and then some). The owner of the slaughterhouse, a Mr Grisham, shuts up shop after bidding fond farewell to the free spending green mutant. In the general store, the bartering turns out to more fraught that it would be initially thought and several party members are luckly to leave the premises with the shirts still on their backs. Bartering is deemed to be one activity best left to those with a decent skill in it (no sheet sherlock). During this bartering debacle where party funds suffer a bigger fall than the Dot Com crash of 2000AD, someone remarks on the dry and parched environment around Modoc to the wily and much, much richer General Store owner. The General Store owner, a black man with a handle of 'Jo', regales the party members still brave enough to remain in his store of financial death, the sad tale of Modoc these last 6 months. First the well ran dry, then the earth itself seem to have all the water drained from it...the vegatation started dying, then the cattle started dying and then the people started leaving....and then the *real* strange sheet started happening... 'Strange sheet?' inquires the recent arriving green mutant, Vat69. Jo pauses to take the measure of the 11ft green newcomer before continuing his sad retelling... 'Firstly the strange goo that suddenly started to erupt out of all cracks within the ground around the village and then the disappearance of Karl, a local brahmin rancher whose farm is located a half a day north of the village... This Karl had reported the sudden appearance of another farm close to his property, one where strange white figures could be seen tending the lush fields at night...he told the sheriff his story and when the sheriff went to look for himself, he found the strange farm's terrority marked with the impaled corpses of dead humans...blood and entrails dripping down from each stake... 'Cool' remarks the green mutant. '...naturally the brave sheriff high tailed it out of there pretty sharpish and no ones had the guts to go back since...and no one's heard of Karl for several months now too...if only we could find someone to help us...???' *Doe eyed flicker* 'WE'LL HELP' cry the party members in unison, confident in their ability to deal with any threat, do some good in the god damned world and perhaps even get to try out some of their new weapons acquired from the bandit ambush site. So the merry band of modern day do-gooders get their shit together and head off immediately to see this 'Ghost Farm'. The short trip is uneventful and the wilderness warriors soon find themselves on the outskirts of the farm. The location is surrounded by lush growing fields of wheat, the corrals near the centre, team with healthy, well fed brahmins and this idyllic scene is only spoilt by the farm's perimeter which *is* indeed lined by wooden stakes that have, what look like the decaying forms of dead humans impaled on there summits. Hmmmm...after a rapid volley of weapon loading sounds the party cautiously approach the farm buildings along one uneven cart track.... *in the background the ghost of Phil Jones waving his arms and shouting.. 'Don't do it...it's a Trap'* A gentle wind picks up and the fields of golden wheat begin to rustle seductively within it's caressing embrace...a wind vane up on high, squeaks around to follow the direction of the breeze...a gate clacks within it's frame nearer the farm buildings...and all the while, the intrepid party members inch closer to the centre.... Vat69, discarding a plan to torch the golden vegatation with his flamethrower because of the wind direction, spots (or think he spots) some un-natural movement within the wheat field. Being brave, green and sporting a deadly array of weapons, the tall mutant strides fearlessly into the golden field towards the area of disturbance. *In the background Phil Jones imploring Rich to go back...no no not the wheat field you fule...that's the oldest trick in the book!* The other party members continue slowly, nervously, along the cart track heading to the main farm buildings keeping all sensory organs on full alert... *rustle....squeaky squeak...clack clack...rustle...pitter patter..* A blood curdling scream echos from within the region of the golden wheat field...all party heads whip in that direction and witness the green mutant disappear downwards as a huge fountain of earth explodes all around him, throwing broken wheat stalks in it's wake.... Vat69's frantic wailing ceases almost instancely as the displaced soil falls back to the ground slowly marking the spot where the mutant vanished. *Phil Jones in background looking stern 'I warned ya..didn't I?..but ohhh noooo..your not be listening to me will yee....' * The remaining party members are aghast and look around desperately for something to shoot....Rocco gives a bark and runs towards the last known position of Vat69...the party members watch as the wheat stalks bend and part as the muscular form of Rocco moves within...making a beeline for the mutant's position. *Whimper.....* Another fountain of dirt erupts within the wheatfield as with a yelp the canine also disappears from view...the displaced soil settles back to earth with the sound of falling rain.... *rustle....squeaky squeak...clack clack...rustle...pitter patter..* The party members are now frozen in their tracks not daring to breathe. Eventually, Alex Mantilla plucks up the courage to investigate the area where the green mutant disappeared. Indicating to the Vault Guard, Skol Broken to follow, the Tech Sgt 1st Class cautiously ventures into the swaying wheatfield. Suddenly the shaman Josiah Sawbones shouts out a warning and all heads whip away from the Alex Mantilla and the Vault Guard to the direction pointed at by the tattoted tribal. The wheat stalks are slowly parting along one stretch as someone or something moves beneath the wheat field...heading in the direction of the party...a frantic raising of weapons follow..as the party members still on the cart track begin firing at the oncoming menace.... The distortion caused within the cornfield shows the trajectory of the subterranean threat in superb clarity...and after a few salvos of intense gunfire, the effect of which is equal to or near zero, the party's collective sphincter goes and everyone on the cart track makes a mad dash for the farmbuildings. The direction of the 'terror amongst the corn' swerves towards the running humaniods and this lends wings to party's flight. The sweating Jonah Travis, kicks open the farmhouse door and bounds into the relative safety of the wooden building...followed in rapid sucession by the panting, wide eyed shaman and the busty female Vault Dweller, Bobbi Quicken. The trio then watch from within as Buster spurns the assumed safety of the farm house and heads instead towards the brahmin corrals. 'What's he know that we don't?' asks a curious Josiah Sawbones...to which Jonah can only shrug in reply. Meanwhile still in the cornfield, the pistol armed figures of Alex Mantilla & the dour Skol Broken near the area where the mutant recently disappeared...a mound of dark, loose earth marks the spot of this sudden demise. Drawn by the sound of gunfire, the Vault Dweller pair watch the rest of the party run & scramble into one of the distant farm buildings. Gripping their weapons tightly, Alex & Skol keep a keen eye on the surrounding cornfield for the incoming terror...but after a few minutes of bowel twisting tension..the fields of golden wheat return to there previous state of swaying tranquility... Heartened by the silence, Tech Sgt Mantilla rummages through his backpack and retrieves a hefty technical manual...feeling the weight, the Vault Dweller then hurls the thick book onto the dark mound of loose soil. 'THUD' Nothing happens and the bulky tome of learning lies unmolested upon the mound. The Vault Dwellers remain wary however and stand motionless for a few minutes more and diligently watch the book and the dark mound for any signs of subterfuge. Eventually, Tech Sgt Mantilla sighes and reholsters his 10mm pistol before indicating to his charge to stand down. "WOOOOOOOOSH!" The earth explodes from underneath the Vault Dwellers...anguished, startled cries shatter the silence of the golden wheatfields and then end just as abruptly. Meanwhile..8-), in the farmhouse, the strangled cries of the Alex and Skol have not helped the disposition of those sheltering within... - Pony Tailed Mutant squeals like a litttle girl 8-) - Lone Survivor - Rodents with Guns - The Slags - Alex Mantilla strikes a pose - The Return of the Mutant - The Situation Explained - The New Allies - A Job Well Done - Back to the Desert - High Tech Patrol Chapter 9: Vault City - Vault Dwellers Made *Real* Good - The Shanty Town - The Broken Auto Med Doc (try saying thhat 20 times real fast 8-|) - Cassidy's Bar - Happy Harry's Trading Post - The Fixed Auto Med Doc - A Dog Riled - At the Mercy of the Machine - Severe Pain! - A Cold Day's Night - The Fine Line between Indentured & Slaavery - Brother Vault Dwellers - The Shaman Buys a 24 Hour Pass - Dispossessed - A Hot Day's Day - The Library of Truth - Nudge Nudge Wink Wink - Alex makes some Transactions