Chapter 13: The River Styx
Metro Central Station, 6:15pm:
After their encounter with the highly mutated feral 'ghoul', the squad continues their trek to the ghoul city, Underworld. They soon reach the remains of what was once called Metro Central Station. Almost immediately, they notice a small camp on the 2nd floor of the station and the familiar insignia of the two-headed bear is painted across the walls of the station.
"A NCR Camp…" Ellie whispered as she readies her rifle
With a grin, Vyse asks "Should we go and say hi?"
Coby ponders for a moment before saying "We go in nice and slow… Take em by surprise. Let's move Pride"
"Right" the others said as the squad slowly creeps towards the NCR camp.
Ellie took point as they climbed the derelict escalator. But as she reaches the top, she notices that there was not a single soldier in the camp, or at least around the campfire. Baffled, the squad slowly looks around the camp for clues and merely finds traces of blood, spent ammo and a few body parts.
"This doesn't look good…" Vyse muttered "…This kind of carnage… I'm guessing feral ghouls or worse…"
"…That mutant we encountered a few minutes ago…" Coby said, finishing the knight sergeant's sentence
With her flashlight, Dallas traces the blood trail into the tunnels, going further deep into the subway line.
"We have another problem…" she said "…The blood trail leads to the tunnels where our destination is…"
"So you think we'll encounter whatever creature ransacked this camp?" Vyse asked
"Most likely…" Dallas nervously affirmed
"If that's the case" Coby said "Keep your weapons loaded and your eyes open. No telling what's waiting for us in those tunnels…"
With their rifles loaded, the squad cautiously enters the subways tunnels. It didn't take long for the squad to discover what had happened to the NCR camp.
Reaching a split in the tunnels, Coby signals the others to stop. He then signals them to slowly proceed to the right tunnel. The other squad members obliged and soon, a familiar snarl could be heard.
Hiding behind the wreckage of a train, the mercenary whispers "Feral ghouls…?"
"…No…" Dallas replied "…You hear that tapping sound? Must be that creature…"
"This is not good…" Vyse whispered "…What should we do?"
Coby then takes a peek and is astounded by what he sees… It was the same creature that attacked them but it wasn't alone… He counted about 4 of them. Some were simply idling around the corners of the tunnel, others seemed to be feeding on the remains of the unlucky NCR soldiers stationed at the camp.
"Shit…" Coby whispered "…It's the same kind of ghoul that attacked us before only this time; I count about 4 of em…"
Everyone's heart skipped a beat after hearing the revelation.
"Let's move on ahead…" Coby whispered "…Keep quiet and watch yer step. Don't want these fuckers knowing that we're here…"
The other members nodded in response as the squad heads straight ahead.
Nearing another split in the tunnels, the team hears the sound of boots coming closer to their position. With sound being echoed throughout the tunnels, the squad prepares for the worst. They aimed their rifles at the right path and awaited the unknown individual to come closer.
Emerging from the right path was a lone NCR soldier. His uniform had slash marks and he was injured on his left arm.
"Wh-Who are you!?" he frantically shouted as he raises his 9mm pistol
Acting fast, Ellie quickly covers the trooper's mouth as a lone feral 'ghoul' emerges from the tunnel behind them to investigate the source of the noise.
"Keep quiet you idiot!" she angrily whispered "You wanna die!?"
The soldier quickly moves his head left to right, indicating his intention.
"Good" the mercenary responded "Now be a good boy and shut your fucking trap"
She then lets go of the trooper's mouth as the ghoul turns around and slowly made its way towards the squad's position
"Quick" Coby whispered "Into the service tunnel!"
The squad quickly enters the tunnel to escape the ghoul's sights.
Museum Station:
"Shit…" Coby said as the sound of the closing steel door echoes throughout the station "I swear, these doors are extremely loud! We gotta go!"
With the loud snarl from at least 3 'ghouls', the squad frantically moved deeper into the station as the ghouls begin tapping on the steel door.
"Don't look back" Coby said "Keep quiet and keep moving"
Unfortunately, the NCR soldier trips on a baby carriage. The loud cries of a baby then start playing as the mercenary hears the distinct sound of a clock
"This is bad!" she shouted as she pulls the NCR soldier away from the carriage
Moments later, the carriage explodes. It did not harm any of the squad members but the sound of the explosion was enough to rile the ghouls.
In no time, the ghouls manage to destroy the steel door and proceed to chase the squad.
"Shit! They found us!" Vyse shouted as he aims his rifle "Open fire guys!"
"Oh hell…" Ellie muttered as she begins to fire her rifle
While the two soldiers stay behind to hold off the ghouls, Coby positions himself a few meters away and rests his minigun on top of some rubble.
"Vyse! Ellie!" he shouted "Fall back now! I'll cover you!"
"Right!" both troopers said as they retreat while Coby provides cover fire.
Dallas and the NCR trooper reach the 2nd floor. The medic then picks up a discarded Hunting Rifle and hands it over to the trooper.
"You!" she said "Help me provide cover fire!"
"Wh-What!?" the man nervously replied "B-B-B-But"
"Stay calm…" Dallas said, trying to comfort the man "…What's your name?"
"M-Marco…" he replied
"Well Marco…" she continued "…Were you part of that camp that was attacked?"
"Y-Yes…" he answered "Th-Those creatures suddenly appeared and slaughtered everyone…"
"Well…" Dallas continued "…If you don't help us, we'll all end up like your fellow soldiers and you won't be able to avenge them…"
The man was silent; his entire body was shaking… Was he thinking of running away or was he thinking of helping the squad?
"I-I understand…" he said as he grabs the rifle and begins to open fire on the ghouls.
The ghouls hardly flinched from the hail of bullets and lasers that the squad unloads on them.
"Damn it!" the mercenary shouted "What does it take to bring these bastards down!"
In an instant, one of the ghouls lunges forward towards the mercenary, ready to stab her with one of its appendages. The mercenary tried to shoot it but, to her horror, she had run out of ammo.
"SHIT!" she shouted shields her face with her left arm
"ELLIE!" Vyse shouted as he shields her from the attack
The creature's appendage burrows deep into the knight sergeant's stomach. He cries in pain as he tries to unload his rifle's magazine on the ghoul. The ghoul head explodes and the creature drops to the ground dead. With the ghoul dead, Vyse collapses into the floor, with the appendage still lodged in his stomach.
"VYSE!" Ellie shouted "Damn it!"
"Y-You ok?" the knight sergeant asked in a pained tone
"Idiot!" she replied "I had it covered!"
"As… if…" he said "…Glad to see you're ok"
"Stay with me!" Ellie shouted "Don't you dare die on me!"
The mercenary then carries the knight sergeant and places him next to Coby.
"Take care of him…" she muttered
"…What are you planning?" Coby asked
The mercenary didn't utter a word. The Brotherhood soldier stared at her for a moment and saw a face that was devoid of emotion and mercy.
She then drops her rifle and with a flick of her hidden blades, she charges towards the remaining ghouls.
"The FUCK!?" Coby shouted "The fuck are you doing!?"
The other soldiers quickly stopped firing as Ellie closes the distance between her and the ghouls.
Dallas and the NCR trooper quickly move towards Vyse's position and began to exercise first aid upon his wound.
Meanwhile, the mercenary lunges her hidden blades on one of the ghoul's chest area. The ghoul hardly flinched and attempted to stab the mercenary with its appendages. Surprisingly, she manages to dodge the blade-like appendages with astounding speed and subsequently, the ghoul ends up stabbing itself. She then delivers the final blow by firing her 9mm pistol, loaded with +P rounds, on the creature's face.
Now only 2 creatures remain… One of the ghouls then lunges its appendages towards the mercenary. Once again, she dodges the attack with breathtaking speeds.
Having trouble accepting the situation, Coby muttered "Since when was she like this!?"
That speed…" Dallas muttered "…No human can possibly go that fast… Her reflexes are also beyond normal…"
The other ghoul then attempts the same attack. This time, the mercenary dodges one appendage and grabs the other.
"N-No way…" Dallas muttered "Th-This is supposed to be impossible…"
The mercenary then uses all of her strength to drive that one appendage into the ghoul's face. Despite the ghoul resisting, it couldn't handle the ungodly strength demonstrated by the mercenary.
Only 1 ghoul remained. It attempted to cut the mercenary into little pieces but the mercenary managed to jump and slide across the numerous attacks like an athlete trying to get through to an obstacle course. Upon reaching the ghoul, Ellie grabs a plasma grenade and shoves it on the ghoul's mouth. She then pulls the pin and runs to a safe distance. The grenade detonates seconds later and the ghoul was nothing more than a steaming pile of green goo… The mercenary stood there, staring at the lifeless bodies of the ghouls… Her teammates and the NCR trooper were shaken at what they saw..
"Ellie?" Coby cautiously said as he slowly walks towards the mercenary
"Huh?" Ellie muttered as she turns around "Wh-What happened?"
Dumbfounded, Coby uttered "What?"
"What happened to those weird ghouls?" she asked
"You don't remember?" Dallas asked
"What do you mean?" the mercenary wondered
"You killed them…" Coby said "…At close range as a matter of fact… You were fast and your reflexes…"
"I did?" she said trying to remember what she had done just minutes before but fails
Letting out a disappointed sigh, Coby said "Nevermind… Point is those things are dead and were all safe for now"
Ellie stares at the lifeless bodies of the ghouls and, once again, vivid images begin to flash before her eyes… Images of her battle minutes before and several others that she does not recognize.
"I did… kill them…" she thought to herself "…But I wasn't in control… or was I…?"
"Vyse, how you holding up?" Coby asked as he walks closer to the knight sergeant
"Vyse!?" Ellie thought as she remembers what had happened to him
"I-I'm fine" he replied
"That's one deep wound you got" Dallas remarked "Hopefully, Underworld has some medical facilities for me to treat this wound…"
"That and you might need some radaway too" Ellie added "says here on my Geiger counter, you got 125 rads on you"
"…Yeah…" he answered
"Let's go guys!" Coby said "Underworld should be just outside this station! Let's move!"
"Right!" Everyone answered as Vyse uses Coby's shoulder to move.
As the squad prepares to move out, the NCR trooper approaches Dallas.
"Th-Thank you…" he said
"For what?" Dallas asked
"For inspiring me to fight…" he answered
"No problem" she replied "Your name's Marco, right?"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" he replied
"Right! Well let's get outta here before anymore of those creatures show up" Dallas said with a smile
"Y-Yeah…" he replied as he stares at her face
"What is there something on my face?" she asked
"N-No!" Marco nervously said as he looks away with a flustered face "I-It's nothing!"
Upon reaching the 2nd floor platform, more cries and snarls echo throughout the subway tunnels.
"This is bad…" Coby said "…Looks like we got more incoming!"
Almost immediately, another horde of feral 'ghouls' appeared.
"Damn it!" Coby shouted "Don't stop! Run!"
With Dallas, Ellie and Marco providing cover fire, the squad frantically moves towards the station's exit.
As they neared the station's exit, another feral 'ghoul' bursts through a door, positioning itself right in front of Coby.
"OH SHIT!" Coby shouted as the creature lunged one of its appendages towards the soldier.
"Coby! Vyse!" Ellie shouted as she tries to protect them but was too slow
Just that, the sound of a gun being fired echoed from the exit and the bullet grazes the ghoul. It was enough to flinch the creature into missing its mark.
"Move in!" a person with a deep male voice shouted "We'll cover you! Move now!"
Not thinking twice, the squad quickly moves to the exit. Their saviors are revealed to be 2 individuals, dressed in T-45d Power Armor; one was armed with an M1 Garand and the other with a Thompson submachine gun.
As the squad reaches the exit, one of them brings out a detonator and activates it. A couple of explosives then detonate, killing the remaining 'ghouls'.
Vicinity of Museum of History, 5:30pm:
As the squad catches their breaths, the two individuals then remove their Power helmets, revealing a young Caucasian male and a young Hispanic female.
"Thanks for saving us" Coby said
"No problem…" the man replied as he turns around to shake hands with him "…It's the job of the Brotherhood to protect the people!"
Coby's eyes then widen as he sees the man
"So you're a member of the Brotherhood?" Ellie asked
"Yes we are!" the man enthusiastically replied "The name's Paladin James!"
"Paladin James…" Coby muttered "So you're Elder Lyon's son?"
"Oh yes I am…" he replied "Knowing that, it means you're a member too?"
"Actually…" Coby replied "We're all members… We're Knights Coby, Dallas and Vyse. And this is Knight Ellie, she recently joined"
"Hmmm..." James said "How about this guy. He's wearing a NCR outfit"
"He's a survivor we found..." Coby answered
"His name is Marco" Dallas added
"Well, well" James said "So what should we do with him? He IS NCR"
"He doesn't seem to be a threat" Dallas said
"You sure you want to take that chance, Dallas?" Coby said "He could turn his rifle on you when you turn your back on him"
"I-I won't!" Marco retorted
"You think I'd believe a half-baked lie like that?" Coby intimidatingly said
"I-I won't betray her!" Marco answered
"I'll take responsibility" Dallas said "He's no threat"
"Fine..." Coby said "But if he does anything suspicious, I'll execute him with a minigun myself!"
"Sure... go ahead" Dallas said
"W-What?" Marco muttered
"Well, well... This is a weird situation" James said with a smile "Nice to meet you guys! Oh and this is Audrey!"
"Knight Sergeant Audrey" the woman said with a hint of formality "Pleasure to meet you all"
"Excuse her" James said "She's into the whole 'formal' persona or some shit like that"
Not uttering a word, Audrey punches the Paladin on the back of his face
"Ow…" he said "…Fine sorry, sorry…"
"Anyway" Coby said "We have a casualty… We need to give him proper medical care soon"
"Alright then" James said "Let's get into Underworld then. I think Dr. Barrows can help take a look at her"
"Wait" Ellie said "You've been to Underworld? I thought they hated the Brotherhood of Steel?"
"Well…" James replied "It IS true that these guys hate the Brotherhood to the core, but they seem to give me some special consideration…"
"Special Consideration?" Ellie wondered
"Let's just say that I have a connection to these guys that no one else in the Brotherhood has…" he answered
Underworld; Chop Shop:
As Dr. Barros, Dallas, Marco and Graves check on Vyse's injuries, the rest of the squad convene to talk about current events...
"So you guys are the famous 'Sons of Liberty'..." James said "Been hearing a lot about you guys..."
"Yeah... So now, we need to retake Galaxy News Radio and stop the NCR's propaganda..." Coby said "But to do that, we need the support of Underworld"
"Gonna be hard to do that..." James said "These ghouls just want to live peacefully and they aren't really into this whole conflict. That and let's not forget their animosity towards the Brotherhood"
"I know but..." Coby said
"Why do they hate the Brotherhood?" Ellie asked
"Not really sure of the details but" James replied "Apparently, most of the guys in the Brotherhood tend to shoot at ghouls, feral or not. And basically, they have also attacked a few non-feral ghouls which kinda earned us the ire of Underworld..."
"What if we promise to improve on that?" Ellie suggested
"Yeah... Good luck convincing them how sincere you are..." James said "Also, Underworld's having its own problems right now"
"What kind of problems?" Ellie asked "Maybe we can help and gain their trust?"
"Well for the details" James said "go ask Dr. Barrows"
An hour later:
The Doctors finished giving medical care on Vyse and the knight sergeant is now resting in the clinic's bed.
"Dr. Barrows" Ellie said "I heard your town's having a big problem, can you tell me the details? Maybe we can help?"
"It has nothing to do with you, smoothskin" Barrows replied "But maybe you can help me... recently, a lot of our residents have slowly began to show the signs of going feral... It's starting to scare some of the other residents and my research on our degeneration hasn't turned up much luck..."
"So what do you want us to do?" Ellie asked
"I need you to accompany me into the subway tunnels" the doctor answered
"To do what?" the mercenary wondered
"To collect Tissue and brain samples of those weird ghouls that inhabit the subway" the doctor answered
"Weird ghouls...?" Ellie wondered as she realizes what the doctor meant "Oh shit..."
"Oh shit indeed..." the doctor said "...Those things are much more feral than normal... They even attack fellow ghouls... Ferals never attack any kind of ghoul, feral or not... But these things just takes the cake!"
"What do those things have anyway?" the mercenary asked
"I want to prove a certain theory of mine..." the ghoul answered "...So will you help me?"
"Sure! We'll help!" Ellie answered
"Wonderful!" The doctor said "Let me get ready"
"R-right" the mercenary said as the Doctor returns to the Chop Shop to prepare his equipment
The mercenary then briefs the rest of the squad about the doctor's request.
"So we're gonna go back to those tunnels and hunt those fucker..." Coby said in a dejected tone
Marco didn't utter a word but he was shaking and one could feel the fear from his eyes...
"We don't have a choice do we?" Coby said "If it means earning their trust, then we're gonna have to do it. Paladin James, Knight Sergeant Audrey. May I ask that you help us?"