Fallout - Ruins of D.C.

Shef was getting ready to race across the street, in view of the mutants, to get to a small cache of kerosene when a rather large explosion produced a black column. Staying in the shadows he watched the mutants stop and stare in the direction of the explosion.

Go! You know you want to. Take off and investigate thought Sheffield hoping the mutants would take off. Several minutes passed when a smaller, muffled explosion could be barely heard. This sent two of the mutants off to investigate. Explosives usually meant people. This was a very pleasant development for Shef. He waited until the two mutants were clear of the area and then darted across the street hoping the creature didn't see him.

Sliding in next to his hidden cache he grabbed a small metal tin, about a quart size, of kerosene. Getting up he checked his 12 gauge and ensured it was full of shells. He did the same with his .45 colt. He took a deep breath and then walked out to the middle of the street, turned and faced the mutant. Sheffield shouted "Hey!" and threw the tin of kerosene at the mutant. The mutant turned to face the sound and to his own surprise caught the tin as it struck him on the chest.

The mutant then looked down the street and saw Shef standing firm with the shotgun aimed right at chest level. A flash from the shotgun was followed by a larger explosion as the tin of fuel burst after being struck by the shot. Shef then continued to firing the shotgun until the magazine was empty. The mutant was falling backwards and Shef took off towards the house with the .45 in his hand.

Running and watching the mutant the whole way. The mutant lay on the ground, unmoving, but Shef had learned to never trust a mutant. He vaulted over the short wall around his yard and in three steps was close enough to dive through his doorway and activate the security lock.

Two minutes later he sat on his couch and relaxed. The only thing that bothered him was the two explosions. Somebody was close. They had gotten in and if Shef could find them, he might be able to get out.

"Mhmmm, Megaton, wonder why they call this place that," Val thought to himself. Well He got his answer once he got past the gate and saw the nuclear warhead sitting in the middle of the damn town.

As he walked down the hills to the center of the town, what appeared to be a cowboy out of the wild west approached him, "Another new comer eh? I'm Simms, The Law around here. If ya gotta a problem with that there's the door. Now what can I do for you today?"

"I'm just passin through, look for a place to barter some weapons and Ammo and a place where on might obtain some information," Val spat out quickly eager to get back on the move. The more time he wasted here the further the slavers got from him.

"Well for the guns you want Moria's Craterside Supply, just take the first ramp on the right. As for Information, I'd check Moriarty's just west of Moria's place. Just know that i wouldn't trust him as far as you could throw him, now if you'll excuse me," and with that Simms walked off.
--------------------
Val walked out of Moria's with a considerable amount a caps and a Shiney new Toy. An M21 Sniper Rifle. He didn't think this rifle even existed anymore, but it was in great condition, and got it for a steal too. Sadly the shop only had a dozen .308 rounds. He secured the rifle to one of the empty holsters he built into his back and strolled across to saloon.

He did a double take when he saw the Ghoul sitting behind the counter, but since he wasn't trying to rip his throat out, Val was perfectly fine with it. He stepped up to the counter, "Hey there pal, can a fella get a bottle of vodka?"

"You got the caps?" Was his gruff reply.

"Sure do," and Val dropped a few caps onto the Ghouls hand. "Say where would one find out some information?"

"You'd want to talk to Moriarty, he's in the back, you can go bug him I have a counter to Run," and the ghoul went back to his work. So Val took a swig out his bottle of liquor and slipped into the back.


About 20 minutes later he came back out, about 150 caps lighter, but now had a destination, and a name, "Paradise Falls." Moriarty even showed him the location on his pipboy, also wanted to charge an extra 50 caps for that too, but Val had talked in outta it. As he walked to the main gates, he calculated his travel times. He knew he was at least one day's time behind the slavers, but now he has a straight shot to the Falls. about 2 days 3 tops. Even though the slaves disregarded what little law ran through waste, They still where taking a cautious route When val Had been tracking them. And Val was lighter and could move faster, they had more things to slow them down. Like the people they had captured, They didn't want them to die before they could sell them. "If i run most of the way there... I should be able to over take them and beat them to the Falls," he thought to himself. The doors of megaton slid shut has he passed them. "I'm running out of time." And took off running, in the direction of Paradise Falls.

Falks, Stryder and Grage had made their way along the dark winding sewer tunnels, Henry had been leading them toward what he had hoped was an exit.

"Damn its stuck" Henry said
"we could blast it open" said Bob
"That would be risky but it could be done"
"Got any explosives?"
"We could cannibalize a mine"
"Yeah give it here"

Falks handed Stryder a mine.

Stryder gingerly prided open the mine and took out the charge he then fetched some bits and pieces out of his pack and rigged up a small bomb.

"That should do it" Bob said handing the bomb to Henry who rigged it to the bottom of the manhole cover.
"Right every one back"

They all took cover around the corner and Bob detonated his masterpiece, ancient dust filled the drain causing Bob and Henry to cough and spit.

"Nice work Bob" said Falks as he started to climb up the ladder and into the sunlight.

Garge wondered why they would go through all the trouble of blasting a hole when he had more than enough strength to force open the barrier, or could have used of his lasers to burn....No, wait, I had better not try anything that power consuming, I don't know what my new power core is capable of but best not find out the hard way.....So far, Gentlemen Stryder and Falks, though they both seem to insist on just Falks and Stryder, against all good social etiquette, had agreed to keep him on, though they otherwise have said but a few words to him. They did however, seem to be talking about him, though they did this rather rudely, talking quietly to one another even while walking in front of him. They must not realize I can hear them, though thankfully for them it is against my personal programming disposition to eaves drop on them. Stryder almost seems to mistrust me, though Falks seems to find me most interesting. I have caught him glancing back at me 67 times, with a most calculating look. I'm not quiet sure I trust him. Oh well. Even before the dust cleared, Garge could "see" beyond the opening they just created. Deciding this a distinctly unfriendly place, Garge has placed his "self" into a passive aggressive mode. Briefly, passive aggressive mode is the closest thing to a GRG can come to combat status, shields held at passive full, scanners set for full range(1,000ft) and atmospheric scanning. Basically EVERYTHING is scanned and processed in .0005seconds. Also, self is quoted as Garge does not consciously do these things. Results came back as normal, if the background radiation is just a tad bit high for a Earth normal environment. But, it leads outside and...."SUN!" Garge bursts forth into the light of day, spreading his arms wide, which burst into a dazzling array of solar crystals, planting his feet in the ground like a flower. After the dust settles, the only sign of life from Garge comes from a floating display of words in red, projected by no visible source, though always at eye level with these words "Charging...3%.....Charging 3%.......Charging 4%....."....

Stryder was crouched on one knee, carbine raised, scouring the street into which they had emerged. He could see nothing of interest but he kept scanning the area. Falks was examining the robot.

"It's gonna take a few hours to charge at this rate." muttered Falks. "We can't stay still for that long."
"It needs to charge. We don't want it running out at some really inconvenient place. Like a gunfight." replied Stryder.
"What about a roof? We'd be much safer there, and it's much more defensible."
"Looks like we'd have to carry him." said Stryder, looking around. Falks selected the tallest building in the area and kicked the door in. "You grab his legs and I'll take his arms."

Garge was slightly heavier than a person of his size should be, but they managed. After they got him up four flights of stairs on to the roof Garge began to charge again. Stryder was looking over the edge of the flat roof. He hissed to Falks who went over and looked over the edge.

A group of six Super mutants were standing where they had just been.

"Shit." murmured Falks.
"Uh-huh." agreed Stryder.

Shef sat on his couch with his head in his hands. 'I'm done with this place' he thought to himself. He walked over and loaded up his shotgun and grabbed all the extra shells he could carry. He tossed some water into his backpack and his .44 pistol with all 12 rounds for that he had.

The sound of a small explosion came from the street. He quickly moved to his front door an peered out the small window. He saw nothing for several seconds. He was just about to turn away when he saw two men carrying a hunk of scrap metal across the street. Wait, not scrap metal, but a robot. They ran into the building across the street. The most interesting thing about that scene was the amount of arms the men carried. They were obviously mercenaries.

Shef realized these two yahoos could be his way back to civilization. Moving to the kitchen Shef tossed some food into his pack. He gathered the rest of his guns, a hunting rifle, 2 10mm pistols, a machine gun and an inoperable Chinese assault rifle. He also placed all the ammo he had for these guns into a spare backpack. He placed all his armaments into an "easy" to grab pile.

Shef moved to his doorway and went out, planning on heading straight across the street to find those mercs. He ran out into the street and was shocked to be just 20 feet away from six super mutants.

'Oh shit' he thought to himself as he was quickly spotted. He brought his shotgun to bear on the face of the closest mutant and pulled the trigger twice. The super mutant flew backwards while his head flew straight up. Sheffield ran for cover dropping his last two frag mines along the way. Amazingly quick, the mines did their job by blowing the leg off a second mutant who was chasing Sheffield.

Sheffield made it to the corner of the building and turned quickly and knelt down. The first super mutant to round the corner received a belly full of shotgun lead. Sheffield quickly ran back down the street by the Mutants. He was hoping he was making enough noise to gain the attention of the mercs he had seen a few minutes ago. He turned around and a third shot in the leadbelly mutant put it down for good.

'Three down, three to go' thought Shef as he quickly reloaded his shotgun while on the run. He turned bringing his shotgun to bear on number four just as two rounds from the mutant hunting rifles slammed into his protective armour vest and he was slammed into the wall of the building behind him. The mutants were advancing on his position.

Val had calculated his travel times almost right on the money, nearly thirty-six hours to prepare. He has arrived at Paradise Falls a couple hours before sunrise, giving him plenty of time to dig out a small trench to conceal himself. He used his cloak as a cover from the harsh wasteland sun, had it propped up with some rocks and what sticks he could find. Then to make the midnight black cloak appear more natural, Val covered it with dirt and brush, only way to tell it was fake was if you had been within 10 yards. And the entrance to the Falls was at least 120 yards away, so he knew he was more or less safe... “Heh, Safe,” he chuckled to himself, Safe in the wastes was a pipe dream, if it wasn't raiders, it was slavers, if it wasn't slavers, it was mercs. Always someone looking to kill or capture. Val observed the patrol methods and amount of men coming in or out of the main gate for the majority of the morning. By noon the slavers had retreated back behind there wall, it was getting close to noon, most had sought out protected of a roof to escape the sun. As the last slaver went inside, the main gates slid shut. After Being up for near 30 hours, and running through the previous night, quietly slid back beneath his make shift shelter and rolled onto his back. He drew his shotgun and slid open the firing chamber ejecting the current shell. He picks up the shell and tucks it back into his ammo bag, and then allowed himself to relax enough to slip into a light Sleep.

I hear gun shots
When GRG unit is charging, they are in fact approaching the closest thing any robot comes to sleep. They even seem to dream. When they the first model was made, he had a battery unit that only needed to be charged once every 4 years. Failing this, all of them had fusion cores that needless to say will let one run for a LONG time without worry. But to the surprise of George and the manufacturers, GRG 10 would charge himself every 16 to 18 hours, for about 8 hours, every day. When asked why he did this, he explained what further study showed to be sleeping. Every model since then has done that as well, for they enjoy it greatly and become moody if denied with no cause. But it's not a true sleep, being what we could only call a light doze, for they "wake up" at the slightest noise or movement. A GRG with his senses as keyed up Robot, is pretty much awake by our standards, something close to us putting are heads under a pillow and faking snores excepet that if he was left alone he would still "wake up" fully rested. The solar crystals on his arms can at need draw all the power they need in about 2 hours, making their 8 hours rest unecessary, or, if a emergency arises, charge the power unit in under 30seconds at the risk of fracturing the crystals. Robot, sensing 3 large and heavily armed hostiles nearby, and the tensing of his companions, decided that this might be necessary. Thus decided, the air around him dimmed and became frigged cold, and all things seemed to move toward Robots shimmering form. The whole world went quiet as if everything took a deep breath and then was released in a quiet sigh. Robots charge was complete. And no crystals broke thank God! And now to destroy those who would ruin my nap! And threaten my friends! Running off the roof he was carried too, he jumped into the air, scanning his opponents one last time. 3 of the first six remained, all of them large mutated human stock, bristling with weapons and VERY angry at the new comer who had downed 3 of their comrades. But Robot had a plan to conserve his power from shields and lasers alike:engage them in hand to hand combat. He landed with a ground shaking thud and leapt forward to the closeset mutant. Seeing the charge, the mutant brought his archaic weapon to bear but never fired as the GRG was under his guard in a instant. Using his momentum, he shot his fist up into the mutants jaw, resulting in a satisfying *crack!*, staggering it. This was followed by 3 jabs to the stomach, elbowing the back of the spine by the skull into a knee jab to the face and then a grabbing of it's head to swing it around bodily twice and tossed at it's fellows with a satisfying snap of it's neck on release. The body hit it's companions squarely, knocking both to the ground and into a confused sprawl. OK, so I didn't save Much power but that sure felt good."

Henry watched in amazement as the Robot dispatched one of the mutants with relative ease then levelled his rifle at one of the two remaining aggressors.

He waited for it to get to its feet then fired. The .303 round entered its forehead and tore through its brain before exiting the other side and spraying blood, bone and brain all over the ground, the Mutant went limp and flopped to the floor as Bob killed its buddy in a similar fashion.

Bob and Henry emerged from the building a moment or two later and looked at the newcomer.

"The Names Henry Falks, This here is Bob Stryder and Garge aka Robot you already met and who mite you be who takes on overwhelming ods and lives to tell about it?"

Bob had taken the hand of the robot while Falks was talking to the stranger.
"You've cracked two of your fingers. That all looked bloody impressive but you don't really need to hit them that hard. You nearly took his head clean off." He looked at the robots eyes. "You want me to sort this for you?"
But the robot was staring at the newcomer, who by this time had identified himself as Sheffield, or Shef, but he had not completely lowered his weapon.
"Anyone who kills mutants is a friend of ours," Falks was saying, "and we're not mercs or raiders. Lower your guns." Shef very slowly lowered his gun to his side. The robot seemed to relax a bit.
"About your fingers?" asked Bob again.
"Can you fix them?" Garge asked.
"I can fill the cracks with the metal from those gun barrels." Bob pointed to one of the guns dropped by a mutant.
"Ok."

Bob retrieved his pack and took a hacksaw from a pocket and cut half an inch of the end of one barrel. He them returned to his pack and took out a small nuclear furnace, dropped the metal into the tray and switched the device on. Thirty seconds later the metal had melted down, and with the use of another tool that resembled a hypodermic needle, injected some of the molten alloy from the gun barrel into the cracks and smoothed it over.

"I'm not sure what you're made of, but that field repair will hold for a good few years." said Bob.
"What do you carry that stuff for?" asked the Robot.
"I've got some really good quality weapons with me. It's better to keep those in good working order than it is to repair some of the crap you find laying around."
"I see." The Robot looked thoughtful. "Would you mind making a few other repairs to my metalwork?"
"I suppose."
"I have cracks and splits in 43 places. The worst is one on my right calf. It's about eight inches long." Bob looked at the damage.
"How are you even walking?" he asked. The Robot looked troubled.
"It is difficult."
Falks cleared his throat. "Since you've got all the gear out ... would you be able to fill some cracks for me as well?" Bob looked at Falks, and then at Shef who was examining his rifle for damage.
"Lets go inside. Gather up all the guns you can see. This'll take a few hours..."

Still a bit dazed from the rounds to the front plate in his ballistic vest, Sheffield watched a man with a "shiny metal ass" ( ) land between the mutants and wreak havoc among them. Seconds later the remaining two mutants heads nearly exploded as shots rang out.

Shef put his head back down, the immediate danger gone. Suddenly he heard 'The Names Henry Falks, This here is Bob Stryder and Garge aka Robot you already met and who mite you be who takes on overwhelming ods and lives to tell about it?

Jumping up, with shotgun leveled at the one who identified himself as Falks, Sheffield stared for a moment then said "I'm Sheffield, but some just call me Shef"

Falks mumbled a few worlds about being friends, but Shef was still fighting the ringing in his ears from the gunfight and the bump on his head when he went down. The others were talking about repairing the robot and the weapons and then somebody suggested they head into the building.

"Wait," said Shef. "I have some tools and supplies in my little home over there" he said as he pointed. "Let me go open the security lock on the door" mumbled Shef as he headed to his house with Falks, Bob, and the robot following right behind. As they walked Sheffield said "I thought I would never see you guys. I've been stuck here for about 6 months, but I sure am ready to get out here. I had just about given up hope the company would send anybody to come get me" Falks and Bob shot each other a questioning glance.

With a WHOOSH the door opened and the party entered the small house, leaving their carnage out on the street.

Bob looked around Sheps apartment.

"Nice place." he said.
"Keeps the rain off," shrugged Shep "and the mutants out."
"You've been here six months?" asked Helix. "How'd you find this place?"

Shep recounted his story while Bob set about repairing Garge and the weapons. Helix sharpened blades and repaired some of his clothes and a ammunition belt. Garge stood still while he was being fixed and then moved off to one corner whilst Bob started on the guns. Shep went to a kitchenette and made a pot of tea for his visitors while he was talking.

"I'm getting hungry." said Falks after Shep had finished.
"What a surprise." laughed Bob. "So, what're we doing for eats?"

Falks opened his pack and reached inside and pulled out a Tin with no label on it "Canned surprise" he grumbled

"A radioactive delight no doubt" said Bob
"Indeed" Falks replied as he pulled out his can opener "You got a gas stove Shef?"

Sheffield produced a small portable stove and a pan from the kitchen area and Bob provided a flame to light it.

"here goes nothing" said Falks as he opened the can "Great! pork 'n' beans... again"

Falks emptied the contents of the tin into the pan and began to cook.

So tell me, how long have you been looking for me? asked Shef. Bob and Falks quietly glanced at each other but remained silent.

Shef was a bit confused and stammered out "You guys are from the company right? They wouldn't of just left us out here...." said Shef as his voice trailed off. With a sigh he then said "Well if you aren't from the company, then where are ya from and what are you, mercenaries?"

Shef moved across the room and pulled out two more cans of "surprise" from the cupboard and set them on the counter by the stove and waited for one of the 'strangers' to say something.

Falks look up at Shef.

"Sorry mate, we're mercs, not from any company. Me and Bob met up a week or so ago in Megaton and, with another group of mercs we met there, decided to mosey on into D.C. to see what we can find." he said.

Shef looked crestfallen. "I had hoped..." he trailed off.

"Very little hope in this world any more, Shef. Even before the radiation things were touchy. There's a good chance the your company didn't send anyone because there is no-one, or maybe even no company now." continued Falks. "A lot has happened just in the last six months, what with the water purifier being switched on. Maybe that can give us hope. There's supposed to be a lake at the Jefferson Memorial that you can swim in. Swim!" he glanced at Bob "I never thought I'd be able to learn how to swim."

"Shef," said Bob, "We'll help you get out of D.C. Just give us a few days of snooping around and then we'll all go back to my place in Megaton and put our feet up and tell each other stories." Bob raised his eyebrows. "How's that sound?"

Shef looked a bit uncertain.

"Which company sent you in, anyway?" asked Falks.
"Yeah, and what was your mission?" asked Bob.

With a sigh Shef replied "You know, I don't really know. Our team leader knew the specifics, but wouldn't tell us. We just had orders to search everything for 'something valuable'."

"I have been stuck here 6 months and I don't know why" he said as he crossed the room and sat on the couch.

"You guys might be interested in a building I found though. It's sealed up tighter than a drum. It's not too far from here and I am not really sure what is in there, but somebody locked it down for a reason" said Shef in a defeated tone.

Falks looked at Shef "In my personal experience buildings locked up tighter than a drum are normally death traps... Iv seen allot of good people get shredded in places like that we might have time to check it out but we need to get to our meeting point with the other mercs or they will leave without us" he said

"Did you pay them?" said Bob
"Not yet"
"Then they will stick around for a bit I reckon"

Falks looked at Stryder "But still from here its a ten minuet walk to Farragut west Metro station they should be there now"
"Right so first thing in the morning one of us runs to the metro and lets them know what we are doing then we can have a look at that building okay?"
"Fine by me, Shef you coming?"

Shef nodded

The night went smoothly and Falks got one of the best nights sleep he had had in a while knowing that Garge was standing guard which somehow made him feel safe and Bob Stryder was forming up to being a good pall he made a mental note to make sure Bob got more than his fair share of the loot if indeed there was loot to be had.

The more he thought about what the crazy old lady said the more he thought he was going to die on this trip, he knew he'd never get home but then home didn't mean much to him anyway...

Diagnostic complete. Functioning at 47.59% of full capacity. Charge at 100.10%. WARNING! Recommend replacement of power supply immediately! Current functionality only maintainable for 3hr, 29min 47sec! WARNING!....

Garge closed the message with a mental sigh. He already knew the situation, and had even pulled out the small micro fusion core from the casing in his back. The minute power supply was already badly deteriorated, it's fuel almost spent. There was a reason there are so few GRG units. It takes a incredible amount of power to run one, even one in passive mode, and only the precursor to the Hermite reactors were successful. It would take 1,000 of these micro fusion cells to maintain him in full reflex mode, with a steady supply of approximately 100 hundred a day to keep him going for a month, as they did not seem too take to recharging well. With another mental sigh, he let the matter drop and took to loading the conversation he missed when in standby mode. .298 seconds later he was fully aware of the situation and even concurs with Falks decision, though Garge hoped to find a replacement power supply, not loot, inside this room. Dawn had broken according to his inner chronological clock, and the others were already up and breaking their fast before setting out.This, Garge decided, would be the best time for my request.

"Ahem, I would like to thank you Gentlemen Shef, for your hospitality and company this past evening. You were a most gracious host and I look forward to protecting and serving you in the time to come. I would like to apologize for my silence last night, but I was in stand by mode for some much needed diagnostic check up. On that note, I would like to apologize now for my bluntness but would you happen to have 1k of these micro fusion cells? Mine seems to be spent and I have approximately 3hr, 29min 45sec of passive power remaining.

"You want one thousand power cells?" asked Bob. "Sure, I got some in my pack here." Garge looked surprised.
"You cannot have that many in your pack. That many power cells would fill a room twice this size." he said.
"Bingo. We don't have any cells. Don't ask silly questions." Bob retorted. He turned to the others. "We ready to go?"
"Yeah." said Falks, wiping some crumbs from his mouth. Shef shouldered his pack, picked up his weapon and moved to the door. He looked at Bob who nodded, then to Falks who nodded as well. Shef crouched, raised his weapon and pushed the button to open the door.

The door swung open silently, Shef moved through the door looking down the sights of his rifle, swinging left and right, checking the surrounding building roofs. Falks followed him out in a half crouch scanning the area. Garge followed walking normally but ever watchful. Bob came last, closing the door behind him. The group formed up and began moving down the street with Falks on point, Shef and Bob centre and Garge on rearguard.

They had been going for five minutes when they heard a distant scream.
"It's coming from ahead of us." said Falks.
"It is from the vicinity of Farragut West Metro Station." said Garge.
"You sure?" asked Falks intently. Garge nodded. The group started running towards the station. When they arrived they found black smoke boiling from the entrance to the Metro station. There were a few bodies on the ground, one of which Falks recognised.
"Our partners have been attacked." he said. Gunfire rang out nearby, the group reacted and moved towards the noise.

Around the edge of a building they came upon the firefight. To their right were their partners, pinned down and taking casualties. To the right was a Tactical team. Neither group saw Falks and friends arrive.
"We have a responsibility to our partners, Falks." said Bob.
"We do." said Falks, with a tight grin. "Open fire."

"Um guys, which ones should I shoot at?" said Shef as he swung his combat shotgun and shouldered it

"The tactical squad. We don't like 'em." answered Bob. "Claim to always be serving the 'greater good' but really just killing the innocent as well as mutants."

Henry levelled his M4 and stepped up over the wall one of the enemy mercs span round and looked at him in shock but before he could shout a warning to his comrades Falks squeezed the trigger on his shotgun attachment and the guy went down. The other mercs looked round but it was to late Falks and co had em flanked and their chances were slim to none.

A laser beam shot past Falks' head and severed a man's arm while Shef opened up on another and Bob smashed in a merc's face with the stock of his rifle Zuki and her gang saw their opportunity and swarmed in finishing off the rest in short order.

Falks stepped up next to Bob and looked at his kill "ouch" he said
"Didn't mean to hit him that hard" replied Bob

"You took your time" said Zuki as she to admired Bob's handy work
"Yeah... sorry about that Bob and I have had a rough couple of days"
Zuki looked at Bob then at Shef and Garge "You certainly have a way of attracting people... so when do we leave for the Mall and more to the point when do we get paid?"
"We have a building to check out, there maybe some stuff their we could use to better our chances of coming out alive as for getting paid we can sort that out when we get back"
"Not so fast Falks I wanna see some caps before you go anywhere"
"Ok" Falks flicked a cap to Zuki "That's a limited edition Nuka Gold cap worth about 500 caps I got another 29 of those plus one or too rarer caps you stick around here until we come back and I'll give you another then once we finish the job we'll talk price"

Zuki looked at the shiny gold cap in her hand and her eyes narrowed "Barry" she shouted, Barry a carrot topped freckled face borderline psychopath who was built like a brick shit house and had the look of a guy who would tear your head off and shit down your neck while reading a newspaper jogged over and Zuki handed him the cap all the time focusing on Falks.

Barry a carrot topped freckled face borderline psychopath who was built like a brick shit house and had the look of a guy who would tear your head off and shit down your neck while reading a newspaper looked over the cap then up at Falks then at Zuki "Its real" he said finally handing it back to Zuki.

"Ok, you go do what you gotta do and we'll wait here for you"

With that Falks waved the guys over and they all set off toward Sheffield's sealed door.

The trip to the building with the sealed doors was slow going and took several hours, but it turned out to be advantageous. Along the way the crossed paths with 3 super mutant patrols. The robot, Garge, came in very useful regarding those as he identified their presence before the team had a visual location on them.

Falks and Stryder were able to coordinate crossfires to trap the mutants in. Of course this meant that Shef was usually the bait. Stryder reasoned "Look Shef, you've been living here for 6 months, you obviously have the most experience running away from mutants, so you're the one who has to bait them and then run away." Shef always thought to himself "you bastard, you bastard, you bastard"

They picked up extra ammo from the mutants and got a surprise when they ran across a dead Brotherhood of Steel patrol. "Damn, they are usually very careful" commented Shef. A quick search of the corpses netted a stash of shotgun rounds, a few laser batteries, a collection of assault rifle ammo, a dozen frag grenades, and a fatman with one mini nuke.

As the teamed continued on toward their goal, the robot spoke "Masters, there is a sizeable amount of motion in the large building on the next block" With a sigh Shef added: "Well, gentlemen, looks like we aren't the only ones trying to crash the party. That building is our target"

"Garge, did you say the motion was INSIDE the building?" asked Falks. "Yes Master Falks, the motion is inside the building".

The mercenaries looked at each other for a few seconds, then in unison, began reloading their weapons and checking their ammo supplies. They moved in the shadows and finally reached the building, but a thorough check around the building revealed ALL the doors were sealed and secure.

Ten minutes later they met back at the rendezvous point in the shadow of the ruins of the building across the street and compared notes. "Does anybody else have a bad feeling about this?" asked Shef.

"How's the door sealed?" asked Bob
"Welded shut from the outside. Whoever's in there may not want to be." replied Shef. "We may be doing them a favour by letting them out."
"Or maybe they're in there for a reason. We could be losing an evil upon the world!" exclaimed Falks.
"We need to open the door. Any ideas?" said Bob.
"What about the mini-nuke?" said one of Zukis' stupider underlings.
"That'd open the door alright," agreed Shef, "and it'd flatten the building as well." Zuki smacked the offending idiot around the back of the head.

While they were chatting, Garge stooped and picked up a longish rebar. He walked up to the door, rammed the bar into the weld and pushed it through. The chatter of the group slowly died out as Garge made the hole big enough to get eight fingers in and then pulled apart the doors until there was a foot square hole in it.

"That was easier than expected." said Bob, stowing his carbine and pulling out his shotgun. "Don't mind if I do..." he muttered to no one in particular as he approached the new hole.
"There is nothing near the hole." said Garge. Bob peered through.
"He's right." he told the group. He nodded at Garge. "Open 'er up."

Garge turned and, with no apparent effort, opened the doors, though tear them apart would be closer. The group stepped up to the opening and braced...

Falks scanned the room with his M4 before moving in he checked all the corners but there was no body there.

With a wave of his hand he beckoned the others inside they spread out covering the 3 doors leading deeper into the building, one of the corridors lead to a set of stairs leading down, against his better judgement Falks selected this one and moved forward.

Stryder and Shef fell in behind him while Zuki and her guys who had caught up to them earlier that day looked through the other doors.

The steps lead down to a sturdy steel door, Henry spun the handle and the door opened, he entered the new room but still nothing.

"I don't like this" he said
"nor I" said Shef

but before they could do anything the door at the far end of the room opened...