The Capitol Building

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

When the door from Milliways opens, it opens into a dim and dusty space that smells like still air and old smoke. Things burned here, once; things died here. The scorch marks on some of the walls bear that out, as do the fractures and chip-marks in the tiles of the floor. It takes some blinking and adjusting to the dimness to see the place more clearly than that. Once this was a lobby, wide and high-ceilinged, with a curved reception desk and brass lighting fixtures. There were computer terminals and framed art and all the other little signs of civilization. But that was two hundred years ago, and it shows. Only the places where marble and polished granite decorated the walls still look anywhere close to healthy. The ceiling sags, where it isn't cracked or broken. The lamp-works fell long ago, rusting or being stolen. The terminals are still there, but the metal's covered in corrosion, the screens shattered, and it's best not to think about the state of the keyboards.

"This was the National Archives entry area," Ellen says quietly. "I've been here before. It was the safest place I could find this close to the Capitol. Star Paladin Cross is outside just in case any of the mutants decide to crawl out of the Mall trenches and come investigate."

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen watches him go, but only for a moment. Then she squares her shoulders and turns east, towards the gouged-out, half-domed remains of the Capitol Building. The steps are visible from here, with figures scrambling every which way, some dark-armored, some huge and green. Now and then a flash of something pinkish-tan can be seen, lunging among the others, spewing blood everywhere it goes. Off to the left side of the steps squats a silver-grey beast of an aircraft with the rotors of its engines stilled and pointing upward.

"The Enclave's the armored ones," Ellen murmurs. "I don't know why they're here, but I can guess."

"If there's anywhere other than Vault-Tec headquarters that would have the location of a GECK still hidden away somewhere," Cross adds, "it'd be here. And if they find that, the Wasteland is almost certainly doomed."

Ellen swallows and unslings the bulky, tube-girdled rifle from her back; the barrel begins to glow green.

[themysciran_diana]

"So preventing this Enclave from obtaining any significant technology is imperative. So noted."

Her eyes narrow faintly, lips pressed together as she studies what she can see if the terrain.

"Are any of them likely to expect an aerial attack?"

It will leave her quickly outnumbered, but as a distraction to allow Ellen and the Star Paladin to obtain better positioning may make it worthwhile. Eventually.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"No." That's both Ellen and Cross at once; they look at each other a moment, and then Cross speaks. "No, they won't. The Enclave are in possession of the only known aircraft in the region."

Her tone is only fractionally skeptical. One learns quickly in the Wastes not to assume anything about strangers.

[themysciran_diana]

"Hmm. They shouldn't see me coming, then."

Not literally, however. Her costume is just a little to bright to be missed, especially in these surroundings.

Good thing she's fast.

"Are we ready?"

Surprise, such as it is, only works as a tactic if the rest of your side is capitalizing on it.

And this is not Diana's show.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Ready," Cross says, her laser rifle in her hands. Ellen glances at the ongoing battle scene, squares her shoulders, and nods.

"Ready," she says. "We'll get to work on the mutants. Let's move out."

[themysciran_diana]

"Done," Diana says.

Then she launches skyward, a blur of bright red-and-blue rising briefly before diving down toward the first of the Enclave soldiers, skimming a few dozen yards over their heads before turning back and dropping toward the earth.

Her landing is light, with no tremor to herald her arrival.

But that first punch?

That one is going to be felt.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It is generally accepted that getting distracted in the middle of combat is a sure ticket to a swift death.

That may make things somewhat easier for Ellen and Cross. The Enclave soldiers are distracted. The mutants? Even more so. Things like this just don't happen, not ever. Neither the flying, nor the color, nor the-

Oh, yeah, there's the howling of mutants who've just discovered that Ellen has fallen back to her old favorite tactic: Knees Are A Privilege. Should've been paying more attention, greenskins.

[themysciran_diana]

There is a moment or two where all that can be seen of Diana is a blur of fists and feet before a second Enclave soldier goes flying -- over-the-shoulder throws with super-strength (even such strength held in check) give a little more air time than most.

And then, of course, the Enclave have had time to regroup. Diana dodges left and low under the first plasma bolt, sweeping out the feet of an incoming opponent. She regains her feet, halfway to being in the direct line of fire of another shot. Good thing she's got her bracelets.

That bolt gets deflected at another of the Enclave fighters. Its lack of effect is not something Diana misses.

Hmm. Interesting.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"For President Eden!" one of the men in armor shouts, falling back to what he hopes is a safe distance- only a very great fool stays too close to a melee fighter that's clearly superior, and while the Enclave have their failings, foolishness in matters of survival is not one of them. The others who are still standing are doing their best to get away from the woman in red and blue, save for one, who's bringing up what might be a handheld, combat-ready chainsaw. Some people just don't get the message.

And speaking of those who don't get the message...

"WE! ARE!" There's a burst of minigun fire and a flare of sparks and whang! noises as one of the mutants opens fire on Cross. "THE! FUTURE!"

Cross is holding her ground; that armor of hers is older than the Enclave stuff, and less smooth-lined, but it holds up very well indeed under fire. Her arms barely even move as she unleashes a barrage of red laser fire against the thundering mutant. "The Wasteland will forget you ever existed," she says coolly, waiting for her foe to fall before turning to fire on the two racing across the top of the steps.

And Ellen? Well. She's down on one knee, aiming first for the mutants' legs- she's gotten very, very good at slowing her enemies down this way- and then for their centers of mass. The plasma rifle's fire is as brilliant green as the oens the Enclave are using, and as slow, and she does not want to chance a headshot going wide when she can at least be nearly certain of a dead-on strike in the middle of the creatures' chests.

Their numbers are dropping rapidly. One of them exploded in a shower of green goo, in fact. And another in a burst of red. "Nice shooting!" calls Cross.

"That wasn't me!"

And Cross flattens herself against the nearest hunk of fallen masonry immediately as fifteen feet of Deathclaw leaps over the mutant corpses, claws wide.

[themysciran_diana]

Diana, who is not willing to throw even Enclave soldiers into the embrace of a beast like the Deathclaw, flings the one she is currently grappling with into the legs of the one bearing the chainsaw. Let them sort themselves out of that one.

In the meantime, she turns to face the Deathclaw, loosening the lasso from around her waist and swinging it into an easy loop once, twice, three times.

After the third revolution she casts it out, throwing it up and over the Deathclaw's shoulders. Keeping those heavily-clawed arms out of commission should hopefully go a long way toward bringing it down.

If it works.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Chainsaw and the man Diana threw at him both go down in a clatter of armor. It may be some time before they sort themselves out enough to get back up. As for the Deathclaw- well. The beast is strong, hideously strong, but against an artifact like Diana's lasso it doesn't stand a chance. The golden cord has the vast clawed arms pinned despite the creature's fearsome struggling. It tips its fanged mouth skyward and lets out a roar of impotent rage.

"Cross!" Ellen cries; she's got a mutant in her sights and doesn't dare move.

"On it," Cross answers, firing at the Deathclaw's lower body, the better to avoid hitting the only thing holding that beast back.

[themysciran_diana]

Cross's shots set the Deathclaw staggering, and Diana takes advantage of that moment of weakness.

She twists the lasso tighter around her fingers, digs her heels into the ground, and pulls.

Strength enough to lift a tank, combined with leverage and unsure footing for the Deathclaw, might serve to bring the beast down to earth -- making it all the easier to finish off. It is, after all, not the only enemy in sight.

Even if it is the most obviously dangerous.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The lizard never stood a chance. It goes crashing to the ground, its almost-anchored toe-claws tearing chunks out of the concrete. Cross takes the opportunity to slide the laser rifle into its hooks on her armor and detach her other weapon: a hefty, intricately designed war hammer easily two-thirds Ellen's height. With a bellow of her own she brings the massive weapon back, then slams it down on the Deathclaw's skull.

It won't be moving again.

She glances from the corpse to Diana, and then fractionally to the left- just over Diana's shoulder. "Mind if I join you?" she offers. (Ellen, for her part, is holding out pretty well against the mutants. The ones that're left are dealing with all sorts of crippling injuries, assuming they're not retreating. She just wishes so much right now that she had her old armor and helmet.)

[themysciran_diana]

"Not at all," Diana says easily enough, bending down to unhook her lasso from around the dead behemoth. It is the work of a moment.

"I don't think we want to linger here very long."

Speaking of lingering -- there are still some Enforcers left to deal with. Diana darts toward them, intent, at least for the moment, on getting rid of that chainsaw.

Someone could hurt themselves.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"There is a foul stench on the wind," Cross agrees.

A moment later she's running at the plasma-armed Enclave soldier who thought he could take advantage of Diana's concentration on his Ripper-wielding comrade. The power armor they wear may be heavily reinforced against energy weapons, but concussive-force enhanced hammers... that's something else again.

[themysciran_diana]

There isn't really time for a small, approving smile, but Diana lets one slide across her mouth anyway, even as she pulverizes the Ripper with her bare hands.

And after dropping the pieces to the ground, she lays the wielder out right next to it.

Then she spares her attention to take stock of Ellen's situation with the mutants --

If any of them still have any mobility, that is. Knees really are important.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

There are two left trying to attack. One is limping badly, its right leg all but hanging off; it's spraying everything in front of it down with an assault rifle and howling in pain every time it puts its foot down. The other, both larger by about a foot and more sensible by several yards, is hunkered down behind an overturned pre-war concrete trash bin, and popping its head up every so often to let loose with a burst of fire from some fallen foe's laser rifle.

Ellen is scowling in concentration. The assault rifle mutant is really making it hard to draw a bead on anything.

[themysciran_diana]

Diana's gaze takes in the scene quickly, and a second later she's moving.

A nearby segment of fallen masonry gets hefted up and flung at the rifle-bearing mutant. Surviving the impact is a fairly doubtful proposition for the mutant, all told.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The mutant has just enough time to cry out, "IMPOSS-"

... no, really, that's it. There's not even enough time for an uuuuurgh. Just "IMPOSS-" and then SPLUD. It's not a fate that does its comrade any favors, either, since the other one pops its head up at the sound to see what's going on- and gets a face full of plasma for its troubles.

The silence that descends is broken by the sound of Ellen's panting, and by the faint, distant sounds of mutants in the trenches bellowing in pain and fear. Finn.... let's just say that Shishkebab that Ellen gave him is the right tool in the right hands.

[themysciran_diana]

Diana dusts off her hands, turning to sweep another quick look across the field of battle.

"Do you think any of that commotion will be likely to draw whatever's inside?"

Close quarters combat is all well and good, but visibility and maneuverability are a improved out-of-doors, at least for Diana.

But considering nothing has come out yet --

She suspects they'll have to go in. Ah well.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It already did," says Ellen, looking up from reloading her rifle. "Those two over there? They came out of the other entrance while you were finishing off the Enclave."

"Which would imply that the rest of our enemies are well inside the building," says Cross as she eases her hammer to the ground. "That may present a problem. I've never been into the Capitol Building before. Fighting on unfamiliar ground is something of a challenge."

Ellen's mouth twitches. "It's all unfamiliar ground to me," she points out.

"Point taken."

[themysciran_diana]

"More's the pity, then," Diana says, but she does not sound particularly glum about it. More matter-of-fact.

"But I think we'll be able to make do."

She's still got one eye on the terrain, scanning for any movement -- just in case.

"Star Paladin Cross, will you be taking point?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I had intended to," says Cross. "Until we have a better idea of the circumstances inside, at any rate. Too many of these old buildings only have half their interior walls left, and with the battles this place's seen..." She shrugs. "Unless, of course, we have any Stealth Boys available?"

This last is directed at Ellen, who shakes her head. "Sorry. I couldn't find a seller before we got here."

"Pity," says Cross. "Well- unless either of you need a stimpak, there's no sense in wasting time further."

[themysciran_diana]

If they did have a Stealth Boy, Diana might have asked about their capabilities. But since that point is moot, she merely shakes her head.

"No, I'm all right. For now."

There's no sense in being foolishly prideful, either.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All right."

Cross returns her hammer to its moorings, readies her laser rifle, and heads over to the nearest door into the building. With the greatest of care she eases it open and peers inside.

"Clear, for the moment," she reports. "Gunfire from the left. A battle's going down in one of the hallways by the sound of it."