“Stay back,” Janey ordered. “I’ll create some cover with a grenade.”
Twilight nodded, crouching low and waiting for the woman to make her move.
“Wait, you’re not mutants,” called a gravelly masculine voice. “Who are you?”
“Right now? Really pissed off prospectors, and if you don't apologize right quick, your executioners,” Janey shouted.
“Jesus, relax lady. I thought you were a nightkin,” exclaimed the voice.
“Do I fucking look like a nine-foot-tall super mutant to you?” Janey screamed.
“I don't know, didn't get a good look at ya,” replied the other person.
Twilight sighed, the deathclaw making a placating motion with her clawed hands.
Janey rolled her eyes. “Whatever, just promise me you won't shoot me or my deathclaw.”
“You have a deathclaw with you?” exclaimed the voice.
“She's tame so relax. She’ll wait outside since you’re jumped up like a fiend on ultra jet,” Janey retorted.
“I am not tame,” Twilight muttered bitterly.
“Okay just, come in all slow like, hands over your head,” called the voice.
Janey took a deep breath, holstered her weapon, dropped the grenade back into her bag, and raised her hands over her head. The human carefully walked in front of the door, allowing her to see the large open room waiting for her beyond. Most important was the ghoul standing on a catwalk overlooking the main floor, his hands gripping a hunting rifle.
“Now who the hell are you and what are you doing down here?” he asked.
“My name is Janey, the deathclaw’s name is Princess, and we are here to help the town of Novac,” Janey explained in a calm but clearly annoyed tone.
The ghoul paused and lowered his weapon. “Novac? They must want to get rid of Bright, and the demons.”
“Demons? Don't tell me you believe in that garbage,” Janey remarked with a chuckle.
“It's what Bright calls them,” muttered the ghoul angrily. “I know they are called nightkin.”
“Wait, so who's this Bright person and how do they fit into all this?” Janey questioned.
“You really don't know? How did you blunder past Bright’s little cult without being noticed?” asked the ghoul.
“They were a little intimidated by my traveling companion,” Janey replied.
Twilight waved a clawed hand into the door.
“Holy shit,” muttered, the ghoul, weapon snapping up to his shoulder. “You weren't kidding.”
“Why the hell would I lie about that, now put down the gun before I blow your head off,” Janey demanded.
The ghoul glanced back to the human, only now noticing that she had a rather nasty revolver pointed at his skull.
“Alright, relax. You just scared me is all,” he exclaimed, placing his weapon on a nearby table. “I’d invite you in but I wouldn't want ya to step on the traps.”
Janey looked around, noting the nightkin corpses lying in various states of dismemberment. Tripwires, bear traps, and grenade bundles were present every few feet, ensuring any intruder left with fewer limbs than they entered with.
“So I see. You have quite the arsenal down here,” Janey remarked, eying up a rather nasty shotgun trap sitting next to the only set of stairs leading up to the catwalk.
“Always pays to be prepared, though I never thought I’d need all this when I signed up with Bright,” remarked the ghoul.
“Why did you anyway? You don't exactly look like the cultist type. More of a wastelander, or merc,” Janey pointed out.
“It gets lonely out in the wastes, okay? And I don't have to tell you that Bright’s group has got some fine-looking ghoulettes in it!” Declared the ghoul.
“First of all, gross, second of all, we haven't met them or this Bright fellow,” Janey replied.
“Right, still a bit surprised about that if I’m being honest,” exclaimed the ghoul. “That smoothskin fool took any opportunity to yell at people through the intercom.”
“I don't care about any of that,” Janey dismissed. “Just tell me where the stealth boys are.”
“Stealth boys?” muttered the ghoul. “You’re working for the nightkin?”
“No, we got them to leave, or Princess did anyway. We're just here to claim the loot,” Janey declared.
Twilight grumbled irritably to herself.
“Well, you're going to go home just as disappointed as those giant bastards,” called the ghoul. “Because there ain't jack squat here.”
“What do you mean? There were supposed to be an entire shipment sent here,” Janey retorted.
“It ain't here. Terminal says it was an error, sent them back to wherever they came from,” exclaimed the ghoul.
“Dammit,” Janey muttered.
Twilight snickered to herself.
“Alright then, how do we get rid of Bright and his lot?” Janey asked. “The people of Novac need to scavenge this place and something tells me this cult of yours ain't exactly interested in bettering humanity.”
“Relax there girly,” the ghoul exclaimed. “As far as cults go they ain't so bad. Bright wants to use the leftover rockets to fly to some kind of promised land he thinks exists.”
“More than likely the side of the hoover damn or something,” Janey murmured.
“It ain't like that. The Bright followers are peaceful. Heck until the nightkin showed up we didn't have to do much more than fend off the occasional raider attack,” exclaimed the ghoul.
Janey took a long sigh. “Alright then, what's your name anyway?”
“Name’s Harland and I’d say it's a pleasure to meet ya if the circumstances were a little better,” declared the ghoul.
“Well, Harland how do we get you lot out of here then hmm? I’d prefer not to have to have to waste any more ammo,” Janey inquired.
“Bright needs help with the rockets, but I just want some help finding a friend of mine,” Harland remarked. “In the panic, she ran the wrong way, and ended up going deeper into the sub-basement.”
“And if we get her, you’ll leave and point us towards this Bright fellow?” Janey asked.
“Sure,” Harland agreed. “Heck if you find her I’ll even toss in whatever explosives I got tied up in these traps.”
“Deal,” Janey stated.
The woman then backed back out of the room, never once turning her back on the ghoul standing on the catwalk above.
“Get all that?” Janey asked.
Twilight nodded, then snorted.
“I am still not calling you Twilight Sparkle. That name is terrible,” Janey exclaimed.
Twilight grumbled bitterly but said nothing.
“Come on, let's go find this special friend of his,” Janey declared, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.
Twilight nodded.
“Basement should be furthest down, you take the lead this time,” Janey ordered.
Twilight cocked her head to one side.
“I know there probably won't be any nightkin left but I don't want to take that chance,” Janey retorted.
Twilight shrugged, and took point once more, plodding slowly but steadily down the hallway. Behind her, Janey trudged along, her footsteps silent when compared to the dull thump of Twilight's feet. Together the pair made their way deeper, their passage marked only by the whir of a distant air circulation unit as well as whatever was powering the place.
Though both were careful to listen out for signs of any lingering nightkin, they didn't hear anything to indicate they were around. No shimmering masses came at them, and no thumping footsteps could be heard, even after they proceeded down another set of stairs. At the bottom, there was a closed metal door that bore fresh red paint.
“Crazy,” Janey muttered. “What do you think it means?”
“Crazy nightkin most likely,” Twilight replied, tapping out her response on the metal wall.
“Most likely,” Janey admitted.
“Let me handle this,” Twilight offered.
Janey shook her head. “If this one is too crazy even for Davison to handle then we may have to kill him.”
“No, I can help them,” Twilight stated a bit more firmly.
“You get one chance,” Janey stated.
Twilight nodded.
Janey shook her head and stepped forward, quickly picking the primitive lock. With the tumblers aligned, the door fell into the ground and walls, opening the way forward for the duo. Twilight took the lead, gaze swinging back and forth, scanning for the familiar shimmer of an approaching nightkin.
When none rushed her, she continued on, winding her way through the tunnels toward what sounded like a generator. As the rattling tumble became louder, Twilight noted that so did the smell of smoke. Thick, acrid black smog floated against the ceiling, indicating that something foul had been burned recently.
Glancing over her shoulder, Twilight noted that Janey had her revolver in one hand, and a grenade in the other. With her companion as ready as she’ll ever be, Twilight stepped forward, walking through an opening. There she paused, looking around at the much wider room waiting for her at the deepest part of the sprawling facility.
Two stories tall, the lower story was split into two sections divided by a metal door in the center. Up where Twilight stood, there was a walkway that went around the entire area, with access to the bottom floor cut off by a chainlink fence going all the way to the ceiling. On the far side, Twilight saw that there were stairs going deeper, but to get over there she’d have to walk all the way around the upper level.
This was definitely the generator room, and it was definitely where the smell was coming from. Metal barrels stuffed full of burning material were littered about the bottom floor, thick black smoke trails billowing from their tops. Two circular almost round pyramid shapes could be spotted, one on either side, their interiors spinning slowly but steadily.
More important there were what looked to be several rooms that were offshoots of the main one. One of whom was open, revealing a small almost jail cell-like area containing broken office equipment. As well as what looked like a bed made out of a pile of rags, paper, and random items crushed into a heap. Sized for a super mutant, or slightly diminutive deathclaw, it was definitely not something a normal human would use to sleep.
Twilight began moving over to the stairs in the distance when she spotted a shimmer coming from the far side of the hall. With the chain link wall to her left and the wall to her right, there wasn't much room to move around in. Just enough for Twilight to brace herself, the deathclaw preparing for the nightkin to come swinging in with some heavy weapon.
They didn't come any closer however and appeared at the end of the hall holding a long-barrelled weapon low on their body. With what looked like a blast shield between the barrel, and the actual gun, it resembled the flamer Twilight had seen once before. It also had the tubes, and flickering tip that marked the other fire-based weapon she had faced.
Her instincts screamed at her to run, but Twilight was too shocked to do anything. That was until a flaming ball of scorching heat slammed into her chest with enough force to make her stumble back. While still reeling from the first strike, a second, and then a third followed in short order, striking her in the arm as well as the shoulder. The final hit blinded Twilight temporarily turning her instincts up to eleven, and causing the rational former pony to go mad.
Screaming in frustration and panic, the deathclaw threw herself against the wall, and then the fence. Her bulk crushed the aged, rusted metal, collapsing a section of the fencing and allowing the beast to fall to the floor below. There it writhed around in agony before half running half crawling through the open doorway, disappearing into the room.
Janey didn't watch her friend go, as the nightkin jailor had turned its attention to her the moment the deathclaw was gone. Though the majority of its shots went wide, it had surprisingly good aim, forcing Janey to hastily roll out of the way of a fireball that would have hit her square in the face. Once back up, the courier pulled the pin on her grenade and lobbed it in an arc, aiming square at the nightkin’s feet.
Whether the mutant didn't notice or didn't care, it didn't move even as the grenade rolled to a stop almost right beneath it. The jailor simply kept on going, firing shot after shot from his incinerator without concern for its safety. Its aim was surprisingly good, but the courier was fast on her feet and took only a few glancing blows.
The rain of fire ended when the grenade detonated, throwing the mutant forward onto the ground. There he lay for a moment before grabbing his incinerator and attempting to rise from his prone position. Janey was ready though, and before he even managed to get a hand under him, he took a bullet to the shoulder.
Grunting through the pain, he continued to try and get back up though Janey wasn't about to let that happen. Putting another round in his arm, then a third in his chest, the mutant barely even seemed to notice these strikes. As the specter of panic loomed over her, the courier noticed that her foe’s weapon was sporting several long fountains of fire shooting out of it.
Seeing this, she adjusted her aim and put a single shot into the barely held-together incinerator. The effect was immediate and violent, with the weapon erupting into a fireball strong enough to rip off the mutant’s right arm. Its charred form slammed against the wall, its backup bumper sword flying off down the hall, clattering across the ground.
Janey winced, the sound having deafened her due to the confined space containing the shockwave. Though her ears were ringing, and several small fires burned on her clothes, she ignored it all. Focusing solely on the mutant, she opened the cylinder, emptied the spent rounds, and slid new bullets into the empty spaces. She wondered briefly if she was being paranoid, but then the mutant stirred, its one remaining arm patting around for its blade.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Janey muttered to herself.
Leveling the revolver, she put one round into the mutant’s skull, then a second just for good measure. Janey stood over her foe for several long seconds before finally reloading once more and putting the gun away. With the jailor dead, she leaned down and did the rather uncomfortable deed of searching through his person.
Charred flesh and flash-boiled blood made for a foul combination though she stomached the revulsion that threatened to bring her lunch back to her lips. With a key, some caps, and a fission battery in hand, Janey decided that was more than enough, and gave up the looting. She then checked on the sword, and after noting that it was way bigger than her, she looked down.
“Hey Twilight he's dead,” Janey called.
When no response came, Janey let out a tired sigh and walked the rest of the way around the upper layer. After going down the stairs, and unlocking the door, the courier walked over to the room she had seen Twilight disappear into.
“Hey, you alright in there?” Janey whispered.
When no response came, Janey slowly began to lean into the doorway, her eyes catching the slowly rocking shape in the corner. Though clearly a deathclaw, it was hard to see the poor creature as anything but an injured child, even to the jaded courier.
“Are you alright?” Janey called out, slightly louder this time. “The bad guy is gone.”
The deathclaw spun around, its red eyes were wide with panic and fear. Then they blinked, and the purple orbs of Twilight Sparkle latched onto the courier. Realization overcame panic, though confusion remained, with the killer lizard looking around as if for the first time.
“You ran off after getting hit by that fireball,” Janey explained.
Twilight released a sigh of relief.
“Are you hurt? That was a pretty good fall,” Janey inquired.
Twilight winced, pointing down to her leg.
Though not broken, Janey assumed it was sprained or bruised as the deathclaw limped quite severely. The courier pulled out a stim pack and hesitantly walked over to her friend, hand outstretched with the medicine sitting atop her palm.
“Are you okay if I use this?” Janey asked.
Twilight nodded.
Janey nodded back.
The courier then stepped forward, and as gently as she could, stuck the needle into the deathclaw’s flesh. A squeeze of the stopper injected the liquid, and once done, the entire thing was tossed aside. Janey watched closely, observing as the many burns, cuts, and scrapes healed up, going straight to jagged scars.
Twilight stood up and stretched out, trying each of her limbs before nodding confidently. She smiled faintly and gestured for Janey to lead the way back into the impromptu jail. Which Janey was all too happy to do, her gaze immediately sweeping the area in search of anything of value.
After coming up empty, she made her way over to the closest room, a key already in hand. After a quick turn, the door split apart, falling into the wall and floor.
“Damn,” Janey muttered.
Twilight pushed past her friend and scooped up the inert ghoul woman lying on the floor. After laying the side of her head against the other creature’s chest, Twilight winced.
“Looks like she's been dead a while. Hard to tell on a ghoul though,” Janey muttered.
Twilight snorted.
“Take her back to Harland. I’ll gather up everything of value,” Janey exclaimed.
Twilight shook her head firmly.
“Theres nothing left to threaten us down here. Go,” Janey repeated.
Twilight hesitated a moment before walking off, ghoul held gently in her grip. Making her way back up to Harland, Twilight couldn't help but wonder about the ghoul woman he had fancied. How close were they? Had they planned on leaving the cult together? If she had lived would there be an entire life waiting for them both here in Novac or somewhere in the wasteland?
Pushing those thoughts aside, Twilight stopped just outside the room they had found Harland in. She then knocked a knuckle against the open doorway.
“Who’s… what the fuck?” muttered the ghoul.
Twilight hesitantly stepped forward and laid the ghoul woman down on the ground a few feet inside. She then stepped back just out of the room.
Inside, Harland had the butt of his rifle against his shoulder, though the barrel was pointed down at the floor. After a moment of silence, he slung the weapon over his shoulder and proceeded down from his vantage point on the second level. Throwing open the entrance, he fell next to the ghoul woman, his eyes wide with fear.
“Did you do this to her? Did you kill my…” his voice caught in his throat. “No, there aren't any noticeable injuries. She… she died of thirst most likely, if it had been starvation she would have gone feral.”
Harland cursed and punched the floor. “Godamnit I should have known. I’ve been lucky enough to find radroachs for protein and condensation from the pipes for water, but of course, they wouldn't feed her or give her anything to drink. Bastards.”
Twilight winced at the hurt and anger in his voice.
“Where is he? Where is the bastard that did this?” Harland demanded.
Twilight laid her head to the side, closed her eyes, and stuck out her tongue.
“Dead huh? Figures. I doubt even one of the master’s lieutenants would survive a run-in with you two,” Harland muttered.
The ghoul was quiet for several long seconds before rising suddenly and chucking a bag at Twilight's feet.
“There is the payment as promised. Now if you excuse me I’m going to bury my friend. After that, I’ll probably drown myself in whiskey. Bright can kiss my ass,” Harland muttered.
Twilight shook her head and waved her hands.
“Yeah yeah. I won't actually drown. Just gonna need a stiff drink or six,” Harland muttered.
Twilight ran a finger down from the inside her eye to the midway point of her cheek. She then put a hand over her heart and winced.
“Jesus Christ y'all got more emotion than most of the smoothskins I run into,” Harland muttered. “Don't you worry, I’ll be fine. You live as long as me you bury more than a fair few friends.”
Twilight winced.
“Well go on then, I need a moment,” Harland demanded, his voice weak from pain.
Twilight nodded and gave the ghoul one last small wave before departing.
As she made her way back in Janey’s direction, Twilight whispered a silent prayer that the next person they helped wouldn't end up like the last.