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The Sarge in Trouble, Yet Again, Part One
by Ivantico
The Sarge paused at the door of the Vault City Bar and
stretched. He had allowed himself only one beer that evening, because the Den
caravan was leaving tomorrow and he had to keep his wits – mostly so he could
deal with the merchants, he thought sourly. Thankfully, the beer was real, none
of that synthetic swill Vault City forced on its inhabitants. He grinned into
the gathering dusk. Being somewhat of a hero in these parts did have its
benefits, after all. Shame it didn’t include staying inside the city after
6:00 PM.
He walked slowly towards the main gate, which loomed close
to the bar. As he approached, he heard a dispute going on at the other side of
the Gate.
"... want to see Stark, and I want to see him
NOW!"
The Sarge froze. He recognized the voice.
"I am sorry, Citizen, but those... things... are not allowed inside Vault City!"
"That ‘thing’ is a Mutant and happens to be my
friend. I recommend that you either let us in or you run and get Stark over
here. I don’t really mind where I’ll kill him, and I don’t really care if
I have to wade through your mortal remains to do so."
Without wasting another second, the Sarge turned around
and ran for the Corrections Center.
"Drop whatever yer doin’ and get yer ass to the
Gate, Stark!" he shouted as he rushed inside.
Stark was too much of a professional to argue or ask
stupid questions. One look at the Sarge’s face was enough. Jumping up from his
desk, he grabbed a combat shotgun, motioned for two of his guards to follow and
charged through the door, loading the shotgun as he ran.
In a few seconds they were in front of the gate. Stark
activated his remote control override and the gate hissed down, revealing a
situation that could turn ugly any moment. The two guards were facing three
humans in power armour, a Super Mutant and a robot.
The leader of the group turned towards the newcomers. She
removed the helmet of the power armour and looked at Stark with hate smoldering
in her eyes. Stark’s flinty gaze did not waver.
"I want to look into your eyes as I rip your heart
out, Stark!" she hissed. "And then I’ll go and feed it to that bitch
Lynette!"
"You’ll excuse me if I’m not impressed with a
threat I’ve heard so many times before. I suggest you either explain yourself,
Citizen, or if you prefer, we can just get onto it without wasting any more
time." Stark said in an icy voice. As he was speaking, he pressed a button
on the remote control he was carrying. The laser turrets beside the gate whirred
into life and zeroed onto the group of outsiders.
“I’ll explain myself all right” the woman said in a
voice that was just as cold as Stark’s. “Not that you’ll be able to ponder
the explanation for too long.” The barrel of the heavy Minigun she was
carrying moved upwards. Stark’s men, noticing the movement, also began lifting
their own weapons. In a second or two, the Sarge will be in the middle of a war
zone – yet again…
“I can’t believe I’m doin’ this”, the Sarge
thought, as he stepped in between the two groups. Everybody’s attention turned
towards him.
“Take it easy, everybody.” The Sarge said, raising his
hands. “You, ma’am, sure owe Stark an explanation on why you want to force
the First Bitch to eat something as disgustin’ as his heart, while you” he
continued, turning to Stark, “could stop bein’ as hard-headed as a bull
brahmin!”
Without taking her eyes off Stark, the woman spoke.
“Very well, I’ll give you an explanation. I just come from whatever remains
of the Gecko settlement. I had friends there – good friends. The least I can
do for them now is avenge their deaths.” Her eyes turned towards the Sarge.
“I have no quarrel with you that I know of, but if I have to shoot through you
to get at Stark, I’ll do it.” It was not a threat, the Sarge realized. It
was a statement of fact.
The Sarge’s throat felt dry. “Whoa, hang on there a
sec, ma’am! If yer lookin’ for whoever killed the Ghouls, yer lookin’ in
the wrong place!” he said.
The woman sneered. “Many of the bodies I saw in Gecko
wore the Vault City uniform. Do you think I’m stupid? I still don’t want to
kill you, but my patience is running thin!”
“This is getting us nowhere!” Stark’s cold voice
interrupted. “Yes, we attempted a raid on Gecko, by decision of the Council.
But we never finished what we set out to do. Both us and the Ghouls were
attacked by an unknown enemy force that almost wiped us out. The Sergeant here
and me were the only survivors, as far as we know.” The Sarge winced at
Stark’s words. His involvement in the Gecko raid was not something he wanted
the woman to know about.
Stark pushed on, his voice becoming menacing. “Speaking
of unknown foes, I have to demand that you explain where you acquired that
armour, Citizen. It is the same equipment worn by the unit that assaulted Gecko.
They have attacked and killed Vault City personnel, and as such are considered
enemies!”
The Sarge tensed. Damn Stark for a hard-headed idiot! What
is he trying to prove by threatening this woman? Has he forgotten how dangerous
she is, even if you don’t take into account her silent companions?
To his amazement, The Sarge saw the barrel of the huge
Minigun lower and the woman glance back at her companions. He saw the Super
Mutant’s face crease in a worried frown.
“The Enclave…” the woman said to no one in
particular. She looked again at Stark. “I didn’t realize their radius of
operations was so wide. We need to talk.”
***
“… so I need to get there and try to rescue my folk. I
made a detour for Gecko in order finish some business I had there before I went
to the Enclave’s main base, but things have changed now.”
They were sitting in Stark’s small office in the
Corrections Center. Stark was pacing the room, a frown on his face. “I need to
inform the First Citizen about this new threat immediately” Stark said.
“This ‘Enclave’ obviously poses a big threat to the safety of Vault
City.”
“Knowin’ the ol’ First Bitch, she’ll be very happy
to strike a deal with the Enclave” the Sarge commented. “I wouldn’t waste
my breath on it, Stark, if ya know what I mean.”
“He’s right” the woman agreed. “Lynette’s so
terrified of mutants that she’ll open Vault City’s doors wide to welcome
them – they espouse the same views, after all – but the Enclave doesn’t
need nor want allies. The only thing they want is total domination. And once
they get inside…”
“I’m not sure we could handle them even if we don’t
open the gates!” Stark said in a low voice, as if speaking to himself. “But
I see your point. Maybe I should talk to Councilman McClure.”
“Talk to whomever you want, but listen to me first”
the woman said, her decision made. “I have to hurry and get to that oil rig as
fast as I can. There is something queer going on and I think time is of the
essence. For all I know, they might be doing experiments on my people!” Her
fingers, in the powered gloves of the armour, tightened until a squeal of
protesting metal could be heard from the stock of the Minigun. “I have no time
to waste. And yet, people must be told about this threat!”
She lifted her eyes and gazed into Stark’s eyes. “You
need to send a messenger to let the Brotherhood know what I found out. You must
band together to fight the Enclave in case I fail.”
“Out of the question!” Stark snapped. “How do I know
that the Brotherhood will even listen? I have way too few people as it is! I
have to look to the defense of this city above all other things. Find someone
else!”
As on command, both the woman and Stark turned their heads
towards the Sarge.
“Up shit creek without a paddle yet again, I guess…
The story of my life. What am I supposed to do?” the Sarge asked, resignation
in his voice.
“You need to warn the Brotherhood of Steel about what is
going on. They know about the Enclave, but not the location of their main base.
The Brotherhood has an outpost in the NCR. That would be your best bet. I’ll
go to their outpost in the Den, but after what happened in Gecko I’m not
certain that the Den outpost is still standing.”
The Sarge winced. NCR was not a place he wanted to return
to.
“What’s in it for me?” he asked.
“You stay alive.” the woman said flatly, with a
dangerous glint in her eyes. "I haven't forgotten your part in the Gecko
massacre." Her eyes softened. “Look, I know this is not pleasant for you.
But if the Enclave has their way, things might get much, much more
unpleasant.”
“For some dumb reason I keep gettin’ this hero
bullshit tossed at me.” the Sarge said. “And for some even dumber reason I
keep acceptin’ it.” he concluded, with a wry smile.
***
As the dawn started to filter through the dust-choked
horizon in the East, the Sarge was already picking his way carefully south,
towards the NCR. The combat armour that the woman gave him was stiff and
uncomfortable, and he expected it to turn into a furnace once the sun was up.
We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, he thought. Right now he was happy
to have something sturdy between his skin and the dangers of the Wastes.
He unholstered his also-recently-acquired HK G11e and
checked that the safety was on. The woman and her friends were walking arsenals,
he remembered with a grin. He went through quite a few guns until he finally
settled for this one. The big energy weapons that the woman offered he refused
since he had no knowledge on how to handle or maintain them. He was toying for a
minute with the idea of taking the huge, evil-looking gun the woman called a
Bozar, but he finally settled for the HK G11e. If it became necessary to
consider the better part of valour, he didn’t want to be encumbered with that
monster.
Cresting a hill, he turned north. From his vantage point
he could still discern Vault City’s outer settlement. He checked his gear
again: Stimpaks, food, water, lighter; 500 rounds for the HK and four frag
grenades. His Wazikashi was strapped to his right leg. His Pip-Boy was taken
through a diagnostic and update routine before he set off. The maps he had were
the best available, most of them new, downloaded from the woman’s own Pip-Boy.
He was as prepared as he could be. He looked South,
towards his destination.
So many years… Maybe they forgot about me, he thought.
Maybe I’ll be able to blend in and do what I’m supposed to and then sneak
away. Maybe there are brahmin with only one head, too.
The Sarge sighed and started walking Southward, to meet the unburied shades of a past he ran away from so many years ago.