aaaaaaaagh_sky

The door opens from Milliways onto the tumbletown ruins of what used to be an industrial area on the fringes of Arlington. The temperature is summertime-warm, the air dry; the last rains to pass through here are long since gone. Overhead, a scavenger bird or two circles, visible only to people who know what they're looking for. A breeze listlessly stirs the air, kicking up brief dust-devils along the shattered ruin of the local roads. Beyond that, the place is quiet in the way that only emptiness can bring.

"This is where I came in," Ellen says over her shoulder. "Like I mentioned the other day, it's about a day's travel to the Fort Bannister region from here. There's still some pre-war asphalt laid down here but pretty soon it all gives way to open sand and scrub. The nearest radiation source is a hundred yards northeast of here, and we're not going in that direction, so unless my Geiger counter goes off without warning we should be all right."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Most of the other people are far off in the distance, dim shapes in the darkness. The man just outside the doorflap is straining his attention to see where all the fuss is going on, just in case it comes his way. As for his neck, Talon Company armor doesn't come up all that far; with the right angle and a good hand... well, Annabelle can fill in the blanks, can't she?

From:

aeons_crackshot

Oh, she can fill in the blanks, sure as sunrise. As she sneaks up behind him, she ponders whether she should prop his body up against the tent to give the illusion of someone still on guard.

He may never even know what killed him. Annabelle's cut is quick and precise across the carotids once she sneaks up behind him.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

There's an unhappy little gurgling sigh, and the world is down by one Talon. We probably don't need to mention that that's gonna make a mess.

We probably also don't need to mention that the instant the Talon's last breath is heard, Ellen starts working at getting that door opened.

From:

aeons_crackshot

Thankfully, most of the mess does not end up on Annabelle. Once the gushing has stopped, she maneuvers the body so that it is in a more or less upright position against the tent. The ruse might buy them a little more time.

If the coast looks clear, she'll go back inside and see if she can't help Ellen with the door.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

When Annabelle looks in, Ellen is busily working the door open with the additional leverage that a long, well-made firearm can provide. That footlocker had somebody's hunting rifle in it. Ellen made sure it was empty before she set to work, and she's just about got it now, but she'll be grateful for the assist.

From:

aeons_crackshot

Leverage is one of man's best friends, but a little extra muscle is also very handy.

Annabelle will do whatever she needs to to help Ellen get the door open.

"I think we've just about got it."

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"I think-"

SCREEEEEEEEEEETCH goes the metal, and the door pops open at last.

"-we'd better get down there quickly. Dogmeat, you can jump down when we're through."

The dog wags his tail. People are paying attention to him!

From:

aeons_crackshot

"That sounds like a plan to me," Annabelle replies with a grin as she starts making her way down the ladder.

The strange smell in the tunnels sets her hackles on edge, which may be why she notices the gun turret on the ceiling so quickly. She grabs hold of Ellen's arm as she goes to move forward and hisses "Gun Turret!"

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Ellen would flatten herself against the wall if it were possible to do so in this armor, but that'll happen the day the Capital Senators play the Cincinnati Redbirds in the World Series again (trans.: never). The best she can do is stash the Shishkebab blade and reach over her shoulder. "They're automated," she murmurs. "I've taken them out before, at the Robco factory-"

Two ZAP!s later, the turret explodes in a shower of sparks and smoke.

"I really have to thank Chief Harkness for this gun."

From:

aeons_crackshot

"It is a nice piece," Annabelle agrees. "Now that that's taken care of, where do we head from here?"

Annabelle is switching to her own guns at the moment.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Ellen glances up at the ceiling, then down at the mucky tunnel floor. After a moment she gestures down the long tunnel past where the turret had been. "This one leads towards the base center," she says. "I may get lost aboveground but I know my directions when I'm below the surface and closed in. Let's get moving, and wreck anything we can't carry away."

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle nods, "I like simple plans," she says with a sharp grin. She'll follow behind Ellen while keeping an eye out for trouble.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

During the daylight hours, the tunnel up ahead is more heavily guarded- it leads to a reinforced door with an easily turned central handle. But this is night, and it's easy to die in the Capital Wasteland darkness, so the Talons generally rely on the second gun turret at this hour. Or they did, before the plasma splattered it.

"I'll get the door open. You get ready for whatever might be inside," Ellen murmurs, and steps forward.

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle nods, and moves so she can fire both pistols at whatever might be waiting on the other side of the door.

She's curiously calm as Ellen gets the door open. There is guard on the other side, but he doesn't have time to cry out. A .45 caliber bullet between the eyes tends to be fatal, you see.

Annabelle is already moving through the doorway by the time his corpse hits the floor.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Annabelle. Wait," says Ellen.

There's a momentary crouch, and-

"I've got his ammunition," she says, standing back up. "I can pray for them later, but we'll probably need the ammo soon."

Even Ellen knows when to be realistic. Especially since they area they're moving into now looks very much like support territory- ventilation, water pipes, and so on, and they're going to have to wreck as much of that as possible to ruin the remaining Talons' days but good.

From:

aeons_crackshot

"Good point," Annabelle says with a nod. "I'll have to see if anything they've got will fit my guns as we go."

"It looks like we're headed somewhere with a lot of things in need of wrecking," Annabelle remarks quietly.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"If you see anything you can ruin as is, go right ahead and do it," Ellen says. "I've got a few grenades for when we find anything-"

She was going to say anything big, but the sound of a Talon up the nearby stairs and around the corner calling out, "Hey! Who's there?" breaks in. Ellen grimaces and reaches for her laser pistol, but looks questioningly to Annabelle. If the other woman can get there first, she'll just start laying waste to the pipes down here.

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle grins, smile razor sharp at Ellen's glance. She'll take care of him. Ellen surely knows more about wrecking pipes than she does, anyway.

She doesn't bother answering as she moves toward the corner. There's a broken lantern sitting in the corridor, in which the mercenary's reflection is clearly visible. For most people, this would not be enough to aim off of. Annabelle is not, by any stretch, most people.

Annabelle judges his position by his reflection with the ease of a professional sharpshooter. In the end, it's not that much different than shooting glass balls using a mirror, which she could accomplish readily at the age of 11.

At the right moment, Annabelle sticks her gun around the corner and fires without ever putting herself in harms way.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

There's a sharp short cry of pain from upstairs, and then the ungraceful whumph! of an armored body hitting the floor all at once like a puppet with cut strings.

There's also a series of short sharp noises down here, but they're mostly followed by hissing and spraying and an upsurge in unpleasant smells. Ellen's quick when she wants to be.

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle crinkles her nose at the smell. "Good work, Ellen," she says with a smile.

"The hallway's clear, if you want to move on."

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Let's," Ellen answers. "It's going to get really nasty down here soon."

The dead Talon, whose ammunition and grenade are of course immediately secured, had a perfectly good reason for being in this hallway. He'd been outside on duty for hours on end today, and just came off shift a little while ago. No one down here's been alerted to the chaos on the surface yet.

Oh, did we mention 'here' is, by all appearances, a barracks area? Chock full of sleeping Talons.

From:

aeons_crackshot

"This could be very easy," Annabelle says quietly. "Do we want to give them the chance to run?"

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Ellen thinks about it for a moment. Then she closes her eyes.

"Unless you can jam the door shut so that by the time they get loose we're hours away from here... let's get it over with."

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle shakes her head sadly. "That, I can't do."

"Can I borrow a couple of grenades?"

She'll spare Ellen what she can.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"No," Ellen says, "no. I'll... I'll do this myself. I planned it, I might as well go through with it."

There's going to be blood on her hands no matter how this goes down. Might as well be honest blood.