POV Preston Garvey
We had just cleared out the little resistance of Nuka World, and I was starting to really wonder how our world could be so weird. I was thinking this because I just left Safari Adventure and met the leader of said park. It was a 16-foot-tall Orangatang. That sang a song about being human like us. He also danced.
"I've seen a lot in my life, but that... that was something else," Agent Merrick says.
"Yeah, no kidding. Is this... Normal?" Agent Mason asks.
Both look to me as the highest rank and theoretically most experienced.
"I really wish I could say it is, but... This world is pretty out there," I say with a slight shrug of my shoulders.
"What's next, talking Deathclaws?" Agent Merrick complains.
I look at him.
"What? Wait... Are you serious?" Agent Merrick says with a surprised look.
It should be noted that Merrick and Mason were members of the Special Operations Unit, known as the Ghosts. As such, they wore balaclavas with skull decals that hid most of their faces, but I could guess from their eyes.
"Sigh. Well, I don't want to see anything like that, so please don't send me on any assignment with Deathclaws," Agent Merrick comments.
"Fair enough, but I do have one last assignment for you two. It should be the last thing we need to do here in Nuka World," I reply.
"Really? I thought the Changelings finished up here," Agent Mason says with a slight surprise in his voice.
"They pulled out after handling any magic-related things, but they are needed elsewhere. Their particular set of skills are in great demand," I reply.
"Okay, what's the job?" Merrick asks.
"A small group of Hubologists is living a bit outside Nuka World. You will join me and some additional Ghosts in our negotiations. I don't think it will turn violent, but just in case, having extra troops would be a better choice," I reply.
"Let's get to it then," Agent Mason says with a smile.
Negotiations with the Hubologists were decently smooth. It was clear they weren't the most... intelligent, but they didn't seem interested in violence. They only asked us to get them something so they could leave on their 'spaceship'. The spacesuits were also not actual spacesuits but costumes from Nuka Galaxy.
"You know they're crazy, right?" Agent Merrick states the obvious.
"No, really?" Agent Mason says sarcastically.
"Shut up! I'm asking, why are we helping them?" Agent Merrick asks.
"Sigh. Because they are harmless. Helping them out costs us very little and..." I don't finish that statement and instead create a fist and hold it up.
We get down, and they look around us. They wait for a bit, but then Mason speaks.
"What is it?" Mason asks.
"Listen, do you hear that?" I ask.
He pauses and listens.
"No," Mason replies.
"Exactly, it's way too quiet. Where are the sounds of the Hubologists?" I ask.
They all look a bit alarmed. And all double-check their weapons. I quietly count down, and when we hit 3, we start attacking the cloaked enemies near us.
Some shots miss their marks, but several kill their enemies, causing the cloaking to break. When it does, I take a look at the gear and armor, and what I see makes me much more worried. They were wearing tactical gear. High-end stuff. Combined with the Stealth Boys, it was clear these were professionals.
[Image Here]
FSSSSS
"Gas! Gas! Gas!" Mason yells.
We move to equip out gas masks, but that gives them time to attack more fiercely. It was also at this point that things turned from bad to horrible. I didn't even see what happened, but one second I was fighting and the next I was on the ground. All of our masks were removed, and we struggled to avoid breathing in the gas. But I was forced to breathe in when I felt a punch to my stomach. When I breathed in the gas, I instantly started feeling faint. I struggled to grab my communicator, but I noticed it was missing.
"Lookin' for this?" Someone asks, and I look up and see a man with a mask on waving the communicator.
I tried to reach for it, but they vanished in a blur, and I felt darkness overtake me.
When I awoke, I had no idea how long I had been out, but I looked to my right and saw Mason.
"Preston, Preston, are you with me?" Mason says to me.
"I'm here, Merrick," I reply.
"We're in deep sh*t, Preston. They got us captured. No idea where we are or how long we've been gone," Mason says.
We were in an empty metal cell with a toilet and a bed, but that was all. The bed was just a metal slab hanging off the wall, and the toilet was not the nicest sight. We were in basic clothes, as thankfully, Rio's abilities leave us with underarmor that can't be removed if we are incapacitated.
It was as I was looking around that I heard footsteps, and the door opened, revealing a group of men in that same tactical gear. They aimed their guns at me and started dragging me and Mason to a different place. When we arrived, I saw blood on the ground, and Merrick was sitting in a chair in front of a small table. I was thrown into a chair as I heard Merrick speaking.
"I'm tired, boss, I just want it to end," Merrick says with an exhausted tone.
"You don't mean that, Merrick," I say with a strong tone.
"Do you want to play another game?" says the only person not in tactical gear.
"F*ck you, Nazi!!" Merrick says while spitting at the man.
The man looked at the spit on his uniform and frowned before snapping and grabbing his baton and beating Merrick over and over and over again as I am forced into the chair, and I can't do a thing as he is beaten to death. As Merrick's body dissolves, I hear Mason scream in anger.
"MERRICK! You f*cking son of a b*tch!" Mason screams in pure rage before being placed in the same chair.
"Here are the rules. You talk, and you don't have to play the game. We want information on your leader. Tell us what we want to know, and you will be treated favorably. Any takers?" the man says with a smile.
We stay silent and scowl at him. If looks could kill, we would have killed him many times over.
"No? Very well. No talk means you play. The game is simple," the man says as he draws a revolver, opens it, places one bullet inside, and closes the chamber before spinning it, then he places it on the table in front of Mason.
"Play," he orders while pointing at Mason.
"What's the plan, Preston?" Mason asks.
"Once, chance Mason," I say while staring him in the eyes.
"I SAID PLAY!" the man orders, and a rifle is pointed at Mason.
"You can't kill me!" Mason screams.
"You will shoot the gun! Or we will shoot you!" the man yells back.
Mason picks up the gun quickly and closes their eyes, screams in fear as he pulls the trigger. Then he tosses the gun back onto the table while breathing heavily, and he looks back at me with determination.
"This time, do it!" Mason says, and I catch his meaning.
"Ready to talk?" the man asks.
We both refuse. The man nods, grabs the revolver, and places it in front of me.
"Play," the man says with a large grin.
I swallow my saliva and slowly grab the gun and lift it to my head. The man grins and leans just a bit closer. We had one chance at this. If it failed, Mason would die, and I would likely be knocked out. I took a deep breath and then gestured with my eyes for Mason to see. The man with the grin had his grin falter for a second, and he looked like he was guessing what was happening. But I took that momentary confusion to strike. I grabbed the man, pushed the revolver into his throat, and pressed the trigger. Time felt like it slowed to a crawl as we waited for the sound of a bullet firing to sound off. And by pure luck, it worked. The bullet went off and ripped through the man's throat.
But even though he was dead, I didn't let go and instead grabbed his knife and unsheathed it before tossing it right at a man behind Mason. I flew right into the man's neck and killed him. Mason flipped the table up and kicked at the second man behind him before they could respond. Then Mason grabbed the dead soldier's gun and shot the downed guard, and then spun around and shot at the other soldiers in the room. All of this took less than 3 seconds, and when everything went quiet, 5 dead bodies were left, and we were still alive and unharmed. I grabbed a gun, and we both got ready to try to escape. But first, we jammed the door.
"We've got maybe another minute before they break down that door and try to recapture them. Do you know where they might be keeping the others?" I ask.
"Yeah, I saw another set of cells when they were taking me to this room. It's 3 corridors to the right," Mason commented.
"Got it then, I guess we can save some guns for them," I say with a smile as I hear the enemy on the other side of the door.
It was clear they intended a breach, but unfortunately for them, we know how best to counter such a tactic. As the door blows open, we shoot right then as they try to use the explosion as a distraction. The enemy stands no chance, and we easily wipe out the initial attackers. They toss in a grenade, but I see it quickly enough that I can grab it and toss it right back at them.
BOOOM
The explosion rips through the remaining troops. I take a peek around and see that there is no one left, so I signal Mason, and we stand making our way towards the others. We quickly find the other members of the group, but there were only 2 survivors. The rest had been killed already or never made it here in the first place.
"We need to keep moving," Rorke comments.
"Where to? We have no idea where we are, let alone how to escape," Mason replies.
"We stick together, that's how. It doesn't matter how far we have to go. We'll make it, as a team," Elias replied.
We all nod, and I suggest we use the maze rules. We didn't have much else to go on, so we started making our way through the base. We ran into sparse resistance, which I thought was strange.
"Hold up," I say aloud.
"What is it?" Rorke asks.
"This seems wrong. Why haven't they tried that hard to recapture us?" I ask.
"Maybe they don't have the troop numbers?" Elias offers.
"No, even if that was the case, then there should be some other way to delay us, or at least they would set traps," Mason replies.
"Unless they regrouped at the exit to ensure we can't escape," Rorke says.
We continue to find our way out, and just as we guessed, the enemy had heavily fortified the exit. There were at least 50 soldiers all in tactical gear, along with several turrets.
"If that's the case, then what can we do?" Mason asks.
I think about how best to get out of this and find that there isn't an easy out. I can escape and survive no problem, but they aren't unkillable like me.
"We use bait," I reply.
"Huh? Bait, but who... No, General, I respectfully disagree. No man left behind. That is one of the first lessons we were taught when we joined the Minutemen," Elias says with conviction.
"I won't die. You will. Its the most tactically sound decision. They will want me more than any of you," I reply.
"No, sir. The Ghosts have a code. You never leave a Ghost behind. Ever," Elias says firmly.
"I'm ordering you stand down," I say just as firmly.
"I hear you, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it," Elias says without a shred of shame.
"I could court-martial you for this," I reply.
"Then do it after we get out of here alive," Elias challenges.
I shake my head and ignore him. We decided to try to look for alternative exits. But the answer we came to was that there was no other way, and we couldn't keep looking, as eventually they could call for reinforcements. So we chose to attempt a dangerous tactic. We had some grenades and other explosives. The issue would be getting close enough, but I could do that as they wanted me, and if I pretended to surrender, I could get close enough to set off all the explosives. I would be knocked out without a doubt, but I would live. Then they could finish off those that remain, and they could drag my unconscious body with them as they escaped.
"HALT!" screamed several guards.
I kept approaching, but I had my hands up and made it sound like I was surrendering. Both sides were shouting, and it was making it hard to hear what was being said, which further made this ruse work. As soon as I got as close as I could without them shooting, I started running. As soon as I was within range, I jumped over the barricade and pulled all the pins. However, my vision went dark before I could see the results.