Part 38: Alone and Unafraid

Update 38: Alone and Unafraid



"C'mon guys, don't be like that. We've only got one suit of Enclave power armor and there aren't any mutants in the Enclave. We can't just walk in the front door and not have this whole thing turn into a bloodbath."

"You say that like it's a bad thing. It'd definitely simplify things."

"Well, yeah, once all of us were dead that would make things a lot simpler!"

"So why ya even want to bring us in the first place, if you gonna just go in by yourself? What happens if the shootin starts and you all by yourself?"

"If everybody starts shooting then you guys can get them from behind. Or I'll come get you and we'll finish it. I promise."

"You damn well better."



And so I left them behind, just past the doors marking the dividing line between the Enclave's oil rig base and the docks. The mural on the floor and the numerous turrets tracking my every move certainly made me feel welcome. If we'd come in guns blazing, we'd have eaten pounds of lead by the time we made it through the front entrance.



The disguise plan went off without a hitch. I walked into a work area and they just gave me a nervous glance and started working harder. Evidently I was wearing the armor that they gave to front line troops and higher ups and it made the normal workers nervous.



It was a little bit weird walking around, but as long as I didn't talk very much it went pretty well. The Enclave guys were a weird bunch, but I could only imagine living on an oil rig for your entire life would do that to a person.



The troops were lined up in front of their bunks for some kind of inspection while I passed through. I took full advantage of my presumed status and started rifling through their lockers and pocketing anything that looked useful. It's amazing what you can get away with in a military environment if someone thinks you outrank them.



The rule even extended to the armory, where they had just about every weapon type you could imagine. I could only carry so much and I had plenty of ammo already, so I just grabbed a few handfuls of plastique in case I needed them later.



Walking through what looked like a cafeteria I overheard people in lab coats talking about a mysterious "Project." It's generally not a good sign when people in lab coats are capitalizing an ordinary noun.



I ran out of room to explore on the first floor when I came to a set of blast doors that were sealed shut for some reason. By appearance it was some kind of direct route to the core of the rig, but of course it couldn't be that easy.



The next floor down as a bit less welcoming and less crowded at the same time, which was a bit of a relief after all the people in the other rooms. They had a good bit more automation and security robots, although shortly afterward that made more sense.



Out of curiosity I tried to use the local computers, only to find that it was access restricted by user. The Presidential option looked useful, but required an actual physical passkey to use.



I could tell I was in a more specialized and elite section of the rig just from the way some of the offices and rooms were set up, as well as the fact that some people actually told me to leave.



Of course, some of them were just dicks about it. I didn't really want to know why they had a bloodstained operating table set up in a little room.



That sinking feeling grew even worse when I came around the corner and saw the people from my village locked away behind forcefields. At least… some of them.



"I kinda stole a boat. And shh, keep it down! They think I'm one of them!"

"Men came to our village in flying machines and took us. There were others, too - from the Holy Thirteen! I thought we were saved. I thought we were going to heaven. Then they brought us here, to hell. They have killed most of us with something they call effeevee. Do you know what must be done, Chosen One?"

"Wait, effeevee? What the hell is that?"

"That is what they call it. They stick needles into our skin, like stimpacks, but then terrible things happen. Then…"

"This is going to make me sick, isn't it?"



"Yep, I was right. That's definitely making me sick. I'll pass on hearing about what happens to those who are unlucky."

"You must destroy the machine and kill the devils in this place. We will meet you outside! And Chosen One, if you have not found the GECK, seek it here. Our freedom is nothing if we can not save our village. Now, go!"



And so I left and headed downstairs into the next room, where some madmen had set up a maze of control panels and computer controlled doors on top of an electrified floor. If I hadn't already known from the Elder's tale, I would have realized then that I was dealing with madmen. And I'd left my people with them for far too long thinking that they'd been captured for a reason… somehow, it never occurred to me that the reason was to be test subjects.




Through trial and error I found my way over to one side of the maze and a storage area marked as "Survival Gear." Kind of ironic, that.



Evidently a GECK and sophisticated medical equipment counted as survival gear. I took it, naturally, since if one GECK was good two would be better.



Then, since they'd neglected to include weapons when stocking the Survival Gear store and there was no easy way for someone to get inside to relieve these troops, I opened fire on the unarmed soldiers sharing the room with me. It was an intensely therapeutic feeling.




This is about the only place in the Oil Rig that you can shoot people and get away with it, and these guys are worth about 6,000 experience for each room. It's enough to pop us up to level 27, where we can add another AP and boost Small Guns up to 203%. Really at this point it's just adding insult to injury, since there's no real chance of Luke missing a shot.



Directly across the electrified floor was another storage room, filled with the cream of the Enclave's intellectual crop. It was a weapon storage locker, and the idiotic bastards came after me with their bare hands rather than trying to grab any of the weapons they had lying around.



One of the lockers even had a set of even more cutting edge power armor stowed away inside. I switched it out for my old set, but kept that one with me since I was sure somebody would want it.



One of the large crates had two of the rifle variants of my pistol, which were luckily chambered in the same caliber and fully loaded.



A nearby computer had an option to shut down the security systems on the level, but I couldn't get the damned thing to work. It's entirely possible that the entire thing was a trick they were playing on anybody who was trying to get through that hellish electrified room.



Eventually, through trial and error, I made my way through the panels and escaped to the other side and started jamming stimpacks into my veins before heading down the stairs...



Where they actually had armed guards stationed to keep an eye on people. I was getting into the bowels of the beast...



Which was confirmed when I found the other end of the sealed shaft I'd found on the first floor. It looked like they'd made an emergency exit for their most important people to use rather than going through the electric floor room.



It was only when I walked into their meeting room that I finally realized exactly who I was dealing with, and who had abducted my tribe to use them as lab animals: the United States Government.