Head of State

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Well. Reilly's been dealt with, and her people are happy with that. It's time to go back to the basics now. Ellen needs to get herself out to the Lincoln Memorial and check things over so that she can report to the slaves and get them set up before getting back to Rivet City. Of course, from what she remembers from Mr. Mills' world, the Memorial has decent lines of sight and a fairly strategic location. There are Brotherhood of Steel patrols around the base of the Washington Monument; that implies that if there are mutants holed up in the Memorial, they must be pretty well established, otherwise the Brotherhood would've gone after them. Too bad Tulip was out of Stealth Boys when Ellen stopped by her place in Underworld. Maybe she can get one from the bar....

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The man nods once and picks his way around the sandbags. "Follow me," he says. "Mr. Walker's just inside."

It's a short distance, but the man was right; there's no way D0G would fit through that door, let alone the corridor beyond. Maybe- maybe- in its original state it could've happened, but the corridor's being used to hold tables and lockers now, and the supply boxes would make it all but impossible for the combat droid to get past. As it stands, Ellen has a little trouble, if only because her power armor's shoulder pauldrons are on the wide side.

Fortunately, once they round a corner, they come across a dark-skinned man leaning against one of the walls. He wears a full-body suit of what looks like metal armor, pieces connected here and there with the occasional tube or cord. The butt of a combat shotgun pokes up from behind one shoulder as he nods a greeting. "Afternoon," he says. "I'm Leroy Walker, and you're probably wondering about what we're doing here."

Ellen glances past Mr. Walker, into the supply rooms beyond; there are ammo cases and packages of scavenged food stacked in the shadows. "Looks to me like you're getting ready for war," she says. "I mean-"

Walker chuckles. "You're a sharp one," he says. "We're from Paradise Falls, actually. We're hunting runaway slaves."

[vance_prime]

Alyx just barely manages to bite back what she really wants to say in response to that.

Instead, she simply says: "Really."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Mm-hm." Walker nods. "You know, you seem like the type of Wastelanders who might be for hire. I need someone to get some loot out of a nearby ruin. Interested?"

Ellen's well aware of what Alyx wants to do (the phrase 'your entrails will become your extrails' is probably involved), but something about Walker's statement has her neck prickling. So she says, "We might be. What ruin?"

"It's a museum, just past the Washington Monument," says Walker. "I'm only interested in stuff related to Abraham Lincoln. Bring me back whatever you find, and I'll pay you for it."

... that can't be good. "Decorating the place?" Ellen nevertheless manages, doing her best to make it sound natural.

Walker, however, laughs. "No, we're planning on burning it. There's a runaway who's been on the loose for years now, and all the news we've had of him's indicated that he's using the figure of Lincoln as some kind of rallying point for other slaves. Anything we can get rid of, he can't use."

[vance_prime]

"Do you know why he wants those pieces in particular?"

You have no goddamned idea who Lincoln was and what this place represents, do you?

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"From what I understand, Hamlin wants any relics he can find of the 'Great Emancipator'."

The quote marks are audible in his voice.

"And that reminds me. If you happen to find Hannibal Hamlin and his band, there's five hundred caps in it for you to tell me, or anyone else from Paradise Falls, where we can find him. So long as we find him alive, that is."

"We'll be sure to let you know, then," says Ellen. She's just going to pray that Alyx catches her 'follow my lead' look before anyone goes ballistic. "In the meantime, we'd better set out for the Museum."

"Good. You know where to find me."

"Come on, Alyx. Let's get outside..."

[vance_prime]

Alyx can't believe what she's hearing. Is Ellen seriously suggesting that they just leave?? But she catches the look on the other woman's face, and just nods.

She doesn't say a word as they exit the room. She doesn't trust herself not to do something potentially suicidal.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"... because the shotgun he's carrying would take off either of our heads at close range," Ellen mutters under her breath. "And D0G is outside."

The instant the door closes behind them Ellen turns to Alyx and says, "There's got to be at least five or six of them on the premises. All I ask is that when this is done I get to bring their guns to some people I know up north. Are you okay with that?"

[vance_prime]

"Perfectly."

Alyx puts two fingers in her mouth and whistles sharply.

Bwerp? At the foot of the steps, D0G perks up, turning around to look at the two women.

"D0G?" calls Alyx, smiling just a little too wide. "There are some nasty people up here that we need to stop from hurting anybody ever again. Would you mind?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen glances over at the stairs and up at the sandbags, and the various places people could be hiding. After a moment she says, "Can you clear the steps in a single jump, D0G? I can disarm mines but it takes me a while and I can't really get us a clear path unless they're shooting at something else while I work."

[g00d_d0ggie]

Even as Ellen speaks, D0G is backing carefully away from the building, gauging the distance. Then:

KATHUNK KATHUNK KATHUNK KATHUNK LEAP.

He lands with a THUD that cracks the concrete floor beneath him. Stealth is not D0G's forte. Making an entrance, on the other hand? That he can do.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

There's two men stationed up behind the pillars at the top of the stairs, and they are shocked. Shocked, I tell you. They're also opening fire. Assault rifles- fun, no?

"I'll do this as fast as I can!" Ellen promises, darting forward and scrambling to start disarming the puck-shaped proximity mines tucked into this or that dent in the steps. "Feel free to shoot!"

[g00d_d0ggie]

It's scarcely even necessary. D0G is a nine-foot-tall juggernaut strong enough to toss cars like footballs. The guards are dressed in leathers, firing low-caliber ammunition from guns that barely work.

It's like watching a radroach take on a yao guai. Only radroaches don't make that much noise.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

If D0G were a player character, he'd have the Perk: Bloody Mess. This is not a good day to be a slaver. Not even one of the ones who's coming out of the Memorial building proper because he was smoking behind the headless, seated statue of Lincoln. That combat shotgun? Not really gonna help him so much.

"This is pathetic," Ellen mutters, suddenly looking up. "Half these mines don't even work!"

Of course, she's not one to look a ... look a... okay, they didn't have horses in the Vault. She's not one to complain about the divinely granted gift of stupid enemies. She'll just be charging up the steps with that alien gun at the ready in case anyone else is coming (and they are- there's still the fellow who escorted them into the rooms under the Memorial, and two more guys sweeping in from the sides... and Walker is nowhere to be seen).

[vance_prime]

Alyx pulls Gordon's shotgun from its improvised holster as they head up the stairs. Sure, the machine pistol is more accurate and fires faster, but somehow, being up close and personal feels like the more satisfying option, just now.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen's going to have to apologize to Caleb later for making his job harder now. Somehow she's pretty sure that gunfire in the Memorial isn't really going to make the stonemason happier about the repair work to be done.

On the other hand, it beats being the guy who's going to have to wash up the floor. And the walls. And the pillars. And the... wow. D0G really sent that one guy's ear flying, didn't he?

It is said that the sound of a shotgun being cocked is one of the most distinctive sounds in modern gun warfare, and that many riot troops and the like do not actually carry their shotguns readied because the sound of the shells being racked is a powerful deterrent in and of itself. Leroy Walker a, uses a drum-magazine shotgun with a different loading mechanism that doesn't require any ka-chk motions, and b, thinks that's bullshit anyway. The important thing about a gun is that you shoot first and you shoot hard.

Which is a long way of saying that there's no real warning when the assault rifle fire is punctuated by the sound of shotgun fire from the rear of the Memorial, near where a well-concealed door leads downstairs to the ready rooms below. Leroy Walker is on the scene.

[vance_prime]

Actually, there are three things to remember when using a gun: shoot first, shoot hard, and actually hit what you're shooting at. Alyx feels the heat of the blast as it goes past her, but that's it.

She turns toward the source of the shot, and locks eyes with Leroy Walker.

Think fast, Leroy.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Leroy's lips curl back in a snarl as he readies the shotgun for a better blast. He is not, however, the most agile of men; that armor he wears is heavy, and has no powered augmentations of any kind. Dodging incoming fire isn't in the cards. He's just going to fire back...

... you know, he really ought to be taking better care of his and his men's weapons. Lack of maintenance means lack of accuracy.

[vance_prime]

Alyx dodges left and fires back at the same moment. BLAM.

Ducking and rolling doesn't work that well with a shotgun, so we'll settle for just the 'ducking' part.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"ARGH!" Leroy staggers back as Alyx's shot catches him in the heavily armored shoulder; it's evident from the way he stands when he regains his footing that the shot did a fair bit of harm, though. He has to take extra care to brace that shotgun of his before firing, to avoid having the blast fly wide.

[vance_prime]

Alyx lets out her own grunt of pain; Leroy's shot struck her right in the small of the back. It's a good thing she's wearing that 'supersuit' under her clothes, or she wouldn't be getting up from that.

As it is, she drops her shotgun on the ground so she can have both hands free to lever herself up against a pillar.

"Scumsucking slavetrading son of a bitch--"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You'll pay for that," Walker growls, striding forward to fire again as quickly as the gun will let him. "Shit!"

... that last is because when your shoulder is bleeding as badly as his is right now, aiming is harder than you'd imagine. His shot goes completely wide of the mark.

[vance_prime]

Alyx doesn't trust herself to pick up the shotgun and get back up in time to get another shot off.

On the other hand, her trusty machine pistol is within easy reach. She draws a bead, one-handed, on Walker's forehead.

"Go to Hell," she growls, and pulls the trigger.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Leroy's eyes widen, but he doesn't have time to get out of the way, or even speak.

Those folks from the Temple of the Union had better bring some boxes of Abraxo and some real heavy-duty mops, because they're gonna have a lot of Leroy Walker to wash out of the Memorial's stone floor.

[vance_prime]

Alyx remains frozen on the spot, panting, for several seconds before looking up and around at the rest of the room.

"Everybody okay?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"'m good," says Ellen, wiping ineffectually at the blood that's spattered up over most of her cheek. "Going to need a few stimpaks, though... D0G?"

"Mwoop!"

"...we're good." Ellen nods, gulps, smiles. "How about you? What do you- how badly are you hurt?"