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]

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?"

[vance_prime]

"Mng... not too bad, I think," says Alyx, feeling her back gingerly. "I've got body armor on under my clothes. I'm just bruised to hell and back."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "I've got Med-X," she offers. "Painkiller. You're welcome to it, if you want..." She shakes her head. "I didn't plan on there being actual combat today. I'd've been better prepared if I had. Wow."

[vance_prime]

"I've been through worse." Alyx wipes the sweat from her forehead. "So what's the plan from here? Are we going back to the Underworld or what?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I think so," says Ellen. "And then I have to head north and get Hannibal and his people he- oh, wait, there's still the museum, I should get Caleb his artifacts first."

[vance_prime]

"Are you up for doing that now or do you want to go back and rest?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Gimme a minute," Ellen says. "I need a drink, and maybe just-" She glances at the scene around them. "Is it bad that I'm looking at all of this and I still feel like I should eat something before I go anywhere?"

[vance_prime]

Alyx blinks in surprise and looks around herself. The thought had genuinely not occurred to her.

"...I don't know. Is it?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I don't know. I feel like I ought to be nauseated, is all." She shrugs. "Can I get you anything? I've got food in my backpack. We should probably leave the stuff downstairs for Hannibal and his people, though."

[vance_prime]

"Maybe something light," says Alyx. "I don't like traveling on a full stomach."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "I've got noodles," she says, "and purified water, completely safe- it won't take more than a few minutes to get those ready." She pauses. "Thank you both, by the way."

[vance_prime]

"You're welcome," says Alyx. "Just give me a holler when you're ready to go burn Paradise Falls to the ground, okay?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I have to figure out where it is, first," Ellen says as she starts preparing the noodles. "And report back to Dad. I was just going to escort three guys to the Temple of the Union when we parted ways- he's probably wondering if something horrible happened."