leanonstuff | PSL post for daughterless

PSL post for daughterless

[The NCR had sent Norman to the Vault because the area was surrounded by Fiends, and he was damn good at blending among the various "criminal" groups around the Mojave. No way an ordinary NCR trooper would be able to get inside without being attacked. And according to their intelligence, exactly what was inside was of such great importance that they couldn't possibly wait to go after it just in case Caesar's Legion got wind of it and acted first. Norman was searching for a box of special bottles that appeared to be beer or vodka bottles, but were actually filled with a chemical that, when introduced into a water supply, could spread a deadly bacteria that would wipe out anyone who drank the contaminated water for at least a month.

Unfortunately, finding the bottles was turning out to be far more difficult that Norman had anticipated. He'd gotten into the Vault in the first place by wearing old, torn and dirty clothes that could pass as those a typical raider or Fiend might wear. He'd even bought a few chems from them to help gain their trust (and to use them later, though he planned to tell the NCR that he'd disposed of them instead). The Vault seemed to be empty of Fiends, luckily, but he wasn't too optimistic that he wouldn't eventually run into ghouls or worse.

10mm pistol in hand, Norman opens the door to the Vault infirmary, hoping he might have some more luck locating the bottles in there.]

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Right--

[Joel grunts as he repositions the gun against his shoulder-- shit, that's gonna leave bruises tomorrow. The cat monster cringes away, then screams as another bullet hits its side. The sound is eerily human, and Joel swears as it goes sprawling across the floor-- the angle was bad, he hadn't drive the creature any closer to the barrels at all. He can't even tell if his bullets are really damaging it in any way

One last shot and this time, he'd be sure to nail it. As he aims, preparing to run the hell away as soon as he takes the shot, the monster turns its deformed cat's face up to them. "Please," it begs, garbled but understandable. "Please don't hurt me."

Joel's finger tightens on the trigger.]

[Norman also cringes at the sound of the scream. Whatever was going on here... he can't even fathom it. The Vaults were supposed to save people, but instead they created some of the most twisted, fucked up things in the entire Wasteland. The fact that it's talking too... God. But they can't take pity on it, not when it'd probably tear them apart given a single moment's chance. After Joel takes the final shot, Norman lets loose a few bullets at the gas tanks behind the creature.

The resulting explosion is extremely loud, and extremely damaging. Norman dives behind the counter, feeling the heat of it there, while the monster screams in anguish and it's burned alive. He can only hope Joel made it out of the way in time, or else he's gonna be dealing with some serious burns too.]

[The explosion just barely misses Joel as he ducks behind a table. He feels heat singe the edges of his hair, and his ears are ringing long after the blast is over. Cautiously he peers out from over the top-- where the creature had been, there's a mound of smoking black char and the twisted remains of the barrels.

....]

Well, fuck.

[His voice is too loud, he realizes belatedly, but his hearing is still all screwed up. Still, it had been a good call from Jayden. From the way his shots had practically bounced off it, he's not sure if they could have killed the monster otherwise.]

This better be the only one of those damn things roamin' around.

[Norman peeks over the edge of the counter a few seconds later, ears also ringing uncomfortably. But he breathes a sigh of relief to see that the plan has worked, although his heart is still pounding in his chest with adrenaline that will probably need a couple minutes to wear off.

Despite how raised Joel's voice is, it still sounds muffled to Norman, and he responds equally loudly.]

Three cages... two monsters down. There's probably still one more around here somewhere.

[Unless it's died some other way. Hopefully.]

At least now we can head back to the Overseer's office!

[Joel can't really manage to sound quite as excited.]

Yeah, I s'pose so.

[Slowly picking himself up of the laboratory floor, Joel begins reloading his guns with quick, practiced motions. There's a twitch of the mouth as he realizes he's out of shotgun shells, but his hands are on autopilot, and his thoughts are far away.

Jayden seems pretty confident about searching that office. And if they find those bottles there, then what? The obvious answer is also the easiest, cleanest one. He'd shoot him in the back, take the goods and go. But that was... he didn't...

...concepts like 'fairness' and 'honor' don't mean a damn thing to Joel these days, but they'd struck a bargain and it seems like a shit thing to do, putting a bullet in the man after all this. When had he started caring? The though is disquieting, and Joel can't help but think that he's getting soft.]

Ready whenever you are.

[He makes sure the key is safely in his pack, along with some of the supplies he picked up, and heads for the door.]

I'm ready.

[Norman is a lot more confident on the way back to the office. Wherever the last monster is, he has to guess it's on another level... what with the other two up here. Surely not all three are in the same place? Hopefully not.

He isn't really thinking about what to do about Joel afterward now. He hasn't expressed any interest in the bottles. Going their separate ways afterward seems like it'd probably be just fine.

They make it to the office, and luckily, it's the right key. Norman opens the door and immediately heads for the lockers. The bottles have to be here.]

Feel free to pick up anything useful you see while I work on these.

[He idly starts poking through the desk drawers, tapping at the keys to the old desktop computer, all the while keeping a discreet eye on Jayden-- in case those bottles really do turn up.

The computer screen comes up green and gray, demanding a password. Joel doesn't know shit about hacking, and is about to leave it alone when...

...there's a scrap of notepaper taped to the inside of one of the drawers, a single scrawled word on it. "Chimera."]

Huh. Lazy.

[He inputs the passcode into the computer and gets logged in as Overseer Raoul. The first few entries he clicks are full of boring data-- water purification logistics, a list of recent births, maintenance schedules. Joel clicks a new file, and the screen flashes with the message: "Door unlocked." He glances back at Jayden to see if he'd noticed anything, but it seems like the man is still working at the locks.]

Any luck on your end?

[He can hear Joel typing something on the terminal, but Norman has no idea that he's actually succeeded in opening something up. He is indeed busy with the locks, having gotten one open and working on the next.]

Nothing so far.

[He pauses briefly, glancing at Joel over his shoulder.]

Find anything on that terminal?

...Nothing yet.

[He glances around the room-- door, what door? as he clicks away from the screen and loads another file, with some boring title like "4/16-5/16 Results", and his breath forces out between his teeth in a hiss as pictures begin to load-- a squat, round faced man, his features recognizably the same as those of the first monster they'd encountered, a large dun colored cat, various machines and horrible in-progress pictures of their transformations.]

Fuck. Jayden, you might wanna see this. [He sucks in a low breath.] Well, now we know what they were up to in here.

[The next locker has nothing useful in it either. He curses under his breath, wondering if the bottles might not be here after all. But at Joel's words, he turns to him and then walks over to the terminal. The images are incredibly repulsive. How could anyone do this to another person?]

Aw, hell.

[It does make him feel worse for the way they'd killed the others, but what choice did they have? It was either kill or be killed.

And then he glances away from the terminal, and notices a panel on the floor that seems to be slightly raised. Tilting his head curiously, he walks over to it.]

Hey, did you see this tile?

[Squatting down, Norman pulls it up... and sees several duty, old whiskey bottles. His eyes widen, and he reaches down to pull one up.]

Here they are...

[Joel's breath catches in his throat. Well, shit, this is it. He gives a little cough, trying to seem and sound casual.]

Huh. Don't look like much to me.

[He walks up behind Jayden as if to get a better look at the bottles himself, getting into position for a stranglehold while quietly drawing his pistol as backup. Best if he could drop the other man without kicking up a ruckus-- maybe he wouldn't even have to kill him.

Joel steps closer, hoping that Jayden doesn't turn around. If he could catch him unawares, he'd grab him in a chokehold. Otherwise, it'd have to be an old fashioned hold-up.]

[Norman is far too distracted by the find to pay any mind to Joel's behavior. This is it... it's always thrilling to finish a difficult job. Well, not finish just yet. He still has to deliver the bottles back to McCarran, but that part should be easy enough.]

I know, but this has to be it.

[Still ignoring Joel, he starts pulling the rest of the bottles out of the hidden hole. Three in total. They should fit into his pack once he's emptied out a few things.]

I'm just sure of it.

[He watches as Jayden sets the bottles down, where they'd hopefully be out of the way.]

Good.

[And that's the last thing Joel says before reaching out and wrapping his arm around Norman's neck, hooking the crook of his elbow beneath his jaw in a tight chokehold.]

Edited 2013-11-07 23:29 (UTC)

Y-

[He's about to turn around at that point, only to find a strong arm around his throat, choking him. Oh no... fuck, he'd misjudged this guy badly! Norman tries to fight against him in the panic of having his air cut off, his hands trying in vain to pull the arm away from him. Unfortunately, it's not looking good, and it isn't too long before he slumps unconscious in the hold.]

[Joel holds the grip for a few more seconds, considering-- it would be so goddamn easy right now, just to squeeze a little tighter, a little longer, and finish it-- but gradually his grip loosens, and he lets Norman drop to the floor. Moving quickly, he strips off his jacket, tying Jayden's arms behind his back. It would be enough to slow him down for a little longer, at least, while Joel wraps up the transaction. He packs the bottles into his bags, well cushioned, and then turns to head out without a second glance.]

[Norman is out cold for a little while; long enough for Joel to vacate the premises. At first he's surprised to find himself alive, then grimaces when he feels lingering pain at his throat from being choked. Goddamn! How could he have been so careless? Well, now he's gonna have to fix his mistake and hunt Joel down. Step one: getting to his feet.

That might be a bit easier if he wasn't feeling dizzy and his arms weren't tied behind his back with is own jacket. Luckily a jacket doesn't make for tight knots, and he manages to free himself after some wriggling of his wrists. The next thing Norman does is check to make sure his other belongings are still on him. They are... thankfully.

Step two: take a shot of Med-X. After what happened, he sure as hell needs it to calm his racing heart and shaking hands. That helps, but he doe realize he's wasting time here too. Norman takes a few deep breaths, before starting on his way out of the vault. He's very careful now, aware that there's probably still one monstrosity roaming the halls. At one point he hears growling from a room and his flight instincts kick in, sending him fleeing for the exit to the vault.

Once outside, he has to take another breather and assess the situation. Joel can't have gotten too far... but Norman's no tracker. He doesn't know what direction the man went in, or who he's working for. But he's gonna take a logical guess, and assume the Legion. Who else would know about those biological weapons? There had been rumors of information leaks at McCarran for awhile now, so there's a chance the Legion found out about them that way.

Still, Joel didn't strike him as a Legion man. It was possible he was simply hired by them, in which case Norman highly doubts he'll be left alive if he makes that delivery. The Legion won't want to risk him spreading word.

Sighing, he considers where the nearest Legion camp is based on his current location. A bit to the north, or maybe east... northeast, probably. If he hurries, maybe he can still intercept Joel on his way. He has to try.]

[The trip out of the vault had been anticlimactic as hell. Joel had gotten out without encountering so much as a single molerat, raider, or vault-bred monstrosity. It's late afternoon by the time he manages to squeeze around the heavy vault door and squint into the hazy late-afternoon sky.

The dropoff point is due northeast, at a small abandoned gas station set next to the interstate. His contact had said he'd be waiting there for him at sundown today. With any luck, Joe would make it just in time. He moves quickly, not bothering to mask his tracks. He doesn't have time-- and hell, even if Jayden catches up with him, he'll probably have wrapped up the transaction and been well on his well by then.

He crests the last hill with the sun hanging fat and orange in the sky and shades his eyes with one hand as he looks over the station. His contact's fat brahmin is tethered to one of the pumps, but Joel can't see hide nor hair of the man himself. Did he tell Joel he'd wait inside? Joel can't really remember...

Well, whatever. He'd head down and finish up the exchange.]

[Joel may be moving quickly, but pretty soon after exiting the vault, Norman starts running in the direction of the Legion camp, like his life depends on it. Which it very well might. The sun is setting and he knows it's not good to be wandering the Wasteland alone at night like this, but that thought is ranked far behind the importance of retrieving those bottles before the Legion gets their hands on it.

When he crests the same hill Joel had done a bit earlier, he doesn't see anything except the abandoned gas station. Still a little farther off, then? By now Norman is drenched in sweat and panting for breath, but he still tries to scan the area from this higher viewpoint for any sign of life. Things are starting to seem bleak. Still, he refuses to give up, and starts forward again, toward the station.]

[Joel's footprints in the sand are clear as day-- Norman was moving fast enough that he just about missed him as he enters the gas station, gun drawn, because contact or not he's not about to let his guard down.

There's movement in the back room, behind the counter, and Joel's fingers tighten on the trigger as his contact steps out of the gloom, cocky smile in place.]

You kept me waiting, old man.

[Joel snorts, in relief as much as exasperation, and begins holstering his gun.]

Like hell I did. Why are you skulkin' around in here? Thought we were wrapping this up outside.

[He glances up just in time to catch the sideways flick of the other man's eyes-- sweat beading on his forehead, standing alone in the dark in a location he hadn't secured, shit-- and he throws himself to one side, feeling the sharp edge of a blade score across his back and left shoulder as his contact turns tail and bolts out of the room. Joel snarls with pain, whirling with his gun half-drawn to catch a glimpse of silver armor, red and brown-- what the fuck was the Legion doing here?-- as the man raises his sword again and Joel shoots him twice in the chest.

There's the sound of footsteps close by-- two more Legionnaires appearing from a side room, as Joel realizes that he is in deep, deep shit.]

[Norman follows those footprints until he notices they taper off in the direction of the station door itself. He also notices more sets of footprints from the other direction... how many, it's impossible to tell from here. Becoming increasingly concerned about the situation, Norman also draws his pistol and decides to walk toward the station, catching his breath at the same time.

He's about to open the door when he hears the sounds of a scuffle from inside. Shit! Joel has to be in there, and from the sounds of it, his transaction isn't going too smoothly. It has to be Legion, he knows it! And Norman also knows he has to do whatever he can to protect those bottles.

Taking a deep breath, he goes ahead and opens the door slowly... and finds Joel standing in the middle of the rundown station, surrounded by a few Legionaries. It looks like they were just gonna cut him in two, but now their attention has turned to the newcomer in the room. One of the Legionaries who isn't holding Joel at swordpoint aims a shotgun at him, and Norman starts to wonder about the wisdom of coming inside here.

Gathering his courage, he speaks out before anyone can fire off any shots or fillet anyone.]

H-hey! Wait! Don't kill him! He doesn't have the right bottles!

[That immediately gives the Legionaries pause. They squint at him skeptically; an apparent raider who somehow knows what's going on here.]

We were working together, but he decided to try tricking you guys by taking worthless bottles to you and leaving me behind. I was gonna get the real bottles myself, but I need Joel because I can't hack terminals for shit. Let us go back to the vault, okay?

[He keeps his tone respectful with a hint of pleading. The Legion are like wolves; they always like to feel like the alphas in any situation. And by the way they're still hesitating, he thinks he might get their lives spared. Obviously the bottles are too important to Caesar for them to take any risks.

The Legionary with the shotgun walks over to Norman and grabs his arm, the barrel of the firearm pointed unnervingly close to his head.]

"You two will stay in here while we contact our officers. Try anything funny, and we'll cut off your feet."

[Following that threat, one of the Legionaries retrieves some rope from outside and goes to tie him and Joel together, back to back. Perfect... just perfect. But they aren't dead, and there's still a chance this can work out. If the Legionaries are arrogant enough to leave them in here improperly guarded, they might be able to escape. If not, they can find a way in the Vault.]

Edited 2013-11-12 22:27 (UTC)

[Joel had just about thought it was the end for him. He was outnumbered and outgunned, one arm bleeding at his side and the gun out at an awkward angle. He'd never be able to take the both of them before one sliced his head clean off his shoulders when-- Jayden comes bursting in, talking fast, and Joel doesn't even know what he's saying, he's so fucking surprised...

Somehow, through ~~witchcraft~~ some strange, uncanny combination of pleading, quick talking, and bullshit, the man manages to convince the Legionaries to let them live a little longer, though Joel isn't sure that being tied back to back with his back still bleeding sluggishly is really all that much of an improvement in their situation.

Keeping an eye on the Legionaries standing to one side, Joel starts trying to work the small knife out of his pocket, even as he twists a little to whisper to Norman:]

What the hell do you think you're playing at?

[It isn't that he isn't grateful. it's just that...he's too damn embarrassed to be grateful.]

[While Norman isn't sure how much time he might've bought them, he at least thinks this is a pretty decent improvement in the situation. If he hadn't come bursting into the gas station when he did, Joel would probably be dead and the bottles forever out of his reach. Not only would his superiors be furious with his failure, but he'd have the guilt of all the people that died from any subsequent biological attack forever hanging over his shoulders.

Keeping a close eye on the one Legionary who decides to stay in the station with them, he whispers back.]

You betrayed me you asshole, and I just saved your life again. A little 'thanks' would be appreciated.

[He can feel Joel shifting around, and quietly hopes he has a plan. Escaping now would be ideal. Really, really ideal.]

But I didn't do this to save you, I did it for the bottles. They aren't what you think.

Can't believe you got tricked by the goddamn Legion.

[He mutters, glaring at the crimson-uniformed man. At least they don't know he's NCR. If they did, they'd both really be in for it.]

[Joel manages to unsheathe the knife with a little grunt of effort, pulling at his injured arm. Blood trickles down his back as he begins to work the knife against their bindings, trying not to cut himself in the process even as he hisses back:]

Yeah, well count yourself lucky I didn't shoot you in the head when I had the chance. Consider that thanks.

[He saws against the cords, hoping that it's having some effect. He doesn't dare look back, not with the last Legionary in the room with them.]

I don't give a damn about the bottles or the goddamn Legion. But my contact and I? We are going to have words.

[And by words he means a knife in the eye. Joel's voice trails off in a low and ominous growl, just as he feels the last bit of the cord snap and the bindings loosen. The men had taken away their guns, and most of his weapons-- he'd kept the little blade on him specifically for emergencies like this, but it was sheer dumb luck they hadn't found that too. Even after he's broken the bindings, he holds himself still, arms behind his back, hoping Jayden would follow his lead as he murmurs softly.]

Rifle on my right if we make a break for it. There're at least two more in the back room, maybe another one out front. I've got a smoke bomb on the right side of my pack-- [He nudges Jayden slightly to the left, the pack lies a few feet away, out of grabbing range but not too far.] Might be worth a shot.

[He huffs quietly at Joel's response, clearly not impressed with his version of 'thanks'.]

Real generous of you. Left me for the monsters instead.

[By now, Norman notices what Joel's doing and feels a deep sense of relief, but not without an edge of anxiety to go along with it. The bindings are eventually loosened to the point that they can shake them off, which means they've done some funny business and he has no doubt the Legion would really cut off their feet if this escape plan fails. Well, it sure as hell better not fail.

He lets out a low sigh, glances sideways at the pack. Okay... okay. They can do this. It can work.]

I'll toss the bomb at the goon by the door. You grab the rifle. We take our packs and get the hell out of here.

[It's as good a plan as any. Norman isn't sure what they'll do once they've gotten away, but he'll think about that after. Hopefully Joel won't try choking him out again.]

[Joel can get behind that plan. With one variation--]

After we wipe 'em out. No survivors, no one's left to raise an alarm. Don't want every Legion troop round these parts on our tail.

[If nothing else, Joel's got plenty of faith in his ability to kill people. And he wants to get his hands on his contact too, let him know how much Joel really didn't appreciate getting led into an ambush like that.

He catches sight of the man by the door turning toward them-- fuck, had they come to a decision? Looks like they're out of time. He turns toward Jayden, hissing low under his breath:]

Go!

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