"*Bzztch!* Hm, seems like the Cloud caught you off guard like it has so many others." Elijah's voice states from Christine's collar. Christine herself immediately tenses at this and furiously glares down at it, as if she were mentally commanding it and him to explode.
Dean chuckles at this, "Yes, how strange considering you have control of the town's systems right now... Let me guess, trying for round two?" he asks, sneering with crossed arms.
"Round two?" Afton questions, having already expected Elijah to be responsible for his ruined vehicle... Though, there was a small chance of using [Mechanicus] to fix it... Still, that would reveal his supernatural abilities to everyone here, included Elijah... Who knows what that man would try to do if that was revealed.
Dean shrugs, "It means, the old man wants to try and breach the Casino again."
"The Ghoul is correct... The only way to get out of the Sierra Madre is to gain control of the Casino, and more importantly, the systems held inside..." Elijah's gruff voice explains.
Afton frowns, "And what stops you from lying to us? For all we know, the key to our escape is out here amongst the town... Maybe where you're currently located?"
Elijah chuckles through the radio, "Believe what you want, but if you ever wish to leave this place, YOU'LL LISTEN. Now, do we all understand each other?"
The group glances at one another (excluded Anja for obvious reasons), looking to see if anyone had a better plan than simply following what Elijah says... Unfortunately, simply walking out of the Sierra Madre isn't possible with the Cloud blocking all possible pathways.
"Good. As you all know, I've been in this place for a while now, and have slowly been unlocking the secrets to this place... The door is the Casino, but finding the key is the hard part. The Casino's security systems are on almost permanent lockdown, reinforced doors, windows, and walls that even Mini-Nukes wouldn't be able to breach, and those are just the defensive measures...
Offensively, the Casino is fitted with thousands of auto-turrets, from machine guns, laser fire, and even missile turrets. That's just the beginning of it however, thousands of Holograms patrol the outskirts, vaporizing anything that steps anywhere near the Casino's boundaries...
The only way to destroy the Holograms is to destroy their emitters... Unfortunately, their emitters are protected by a sort of Forcefield, one no doubt provided by those creatures at Big Mt." Elijah lists off the various defences, the group's eyes all going wide at the picture Elijah just verbally painted.
For all intents and purpose, it sounded impenetrable, and if you add the everpresent Cloud to all the defences he'd listed off, not even the Brotherhood of Steel's headquarters could even match up to it. If what Elijah said was true, it was probably the most well-protected thing in the entire world, nothing even came close to it.
Afton scowls, "And do you want us to break in somehow? Yeah, fat chance!" he scoffs at the man.
Elijah growls over the radio, "I said LISTEN... Fortunately for you all, the Sierra Madre wasn't built to be a fortress, but a Casino... This means there's an avenue of entry, though, this one is only possible due to the Great War occurring on its opening day." he explains.
"The Gala Event." Dean states.
"Indeed." Elijah grouses, "The grand opening event. Once started the doors to the casino swing open, the Holograms are set on passive, and the automated defences are temporarily turned off. Access to most of the Casino's rooms, halls, and apartments are granted to all who enter. Though, some people of interest still hold higher permissions..." he trails off ambiguously.
"And I suppose we need to open it?" Afton asks, feeling like they were playing to Elijah's tune.
"Correct. For more information on your tasks, speak with the Ghoul, he's done this once before after all.*Bzztch*" Elijah states before turning off the modulator.
The group all look at Dean with appraising looks, wondering whether or not the Ghoul had more secrets that he wasn't telling them. Clearly he hated Elijah, and the collar around his neck made it obvious that he wasn't his ally, but that didn't mean he was their ally either.
Dean just limply shakes his head at their suspicious gazes, "Before you ask, yes, I've been trying to get the Sierra Madre treasure for many, many years. And no, I've never willingly worked with HIM."
"Didn't stop you from failing to tell us about this..." Veronica sniffs, Christine slowly nodding her head in agreement.
Dean shrugs, "What do you want from me? My life story? All you need to know is that I've spent two hundred years trying to claim the treasure of the Sierra Madre, obviously, with not much success... To think it took a madman with explosive collars to crack the first layer, only to fail on the second." he chuckles with a hand over his face, clearly resenting that fact.
"Alright, enough of this... What do we need to do to trigger the Gala? I know we don't all trust Elijah, but I think getting inside the Casino is probably the best place to start looking for an exit..." Afton says, not mentioning his intentions to find whatever system controls the Cloud.
"Well, there are four components to it that need to be attended... Puesta del Sol Switching station needs someone versed in technology to reroute the power elsewhere.
The south of Puesta del Sol has a damaged cable which would require repair or.... Someone to connect the circuit with their own bodies... I wouldn't recommend this one lightly." he states with a shiver before continuing.
"The south of Salida del Sol has a fenced off switching station, from what I remember, the switches are heavily rusted and corroded, meaning we someone with immense strength to operate it." Dean says, sending glances at Afton and Veronica.
"Last but certainly not least, the actual activation switch which sits in the most dangerous part of the Sierra Madre by far... The north of Salida del Sol, the switch itself is atop the belltower, but getting there in the first place is the hardest part... That should be everything unless something else has been damaged since the last event." Dean explains.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Chris Lindsey
Kingsprovince
Michael Jarrett
Nazlican Erdem
Afton, upon hearing Dean's word releases a long sigh, takes his helmet off and runs a hand through his hair. He looks towards Anja and Christine, both of which were still heavily injured from their recent and not so recent injuries.
The only uninjured people here were Afton, Veronica, and Dean, meaning either Christine of Anja would have to play an active role in this. Though, it'd most likely fall upon Christine, as while she was injured, she could still see and get around on her own.
"Would it be possible to repair the cable? We haven't exactly got the best team for something like this, especially with Anja and Christine still being injured." Afton asks.
"I've tried many, many times to repair it, but nothing works... I think it's made of special material or something, definitely not copper." Dean retorts with a shrug before continuing, "As for our numbers, the Puesta del Sol switching station is very secure once you get inside, your friend Christine would be safe while operating it... IF, she can operate it."
Afton and Dean both look towards Christine for an answer, she just gives a confident nod in response. Afton had already expected this, most members of the Brotherhood were required to know a good deal about tech to get any significant position at all.
...
"Hmm... Alright, let's get Christine to the switching station first, then we can think about everything else... But first..." he trails off as he steps towards Christine, hand reaching for her collar.
She allows him to begin fiddling with it, having already trusted him with removing the explosives earlier...
It takes a couple minutes and a bit of trial and error, but eventually, Afton accomplishes what he wanted to do... Nodding to himself, he looks down at his Pipboy and clicks onto the radio tab, selecting the new 'Unknown Broadcast' option.
Once done both his Pipboy and Christine's collar begin emitting audible signals, "Testing, testing, 9 + 10 = 21" he says, and his voice is transmitted from her collar.
Afton grins, "Nice, Christine, now you try-... Fuck, I didn't think this through!" he exclaims, having completely forgotten that Christine literally cannot talk.
She looks amused at this and taps her collar a couple times with a finger, the sound of which is clearly broadcasted.
Afton raises a brow in thought, "Christine, do you remember how to do Morse Code?" he asks as most Brotherhood members are drilled to know it.
Christine shrugs and has a look of concentration overtake her. She taps once on the collar before scowling and shaking her head.
"Hm, guess not... Alright, how about this. Tap once for no and twice for yes, cool?"
Christine nods, tapping twice on her collar.
Afton looks to Dean, "You want the same?" he asks and the ghoul nods.
Ten minutes later and the group is on the move hopping atop rooftops while Veronica assists both Anja and Christine. They slowly make their way to the Puesta del Sol so they can try to find the switching station.
Dean knows around where it is, but isn't completely sure as the last time the Gala was activated it was someone else's responsibility to operate it.
Puesta del Sol itself doesn't look all that different from the other areas of the Sierra Madre Afton had seen, with the only exception being the large amount of Cloud present, and strangely, the lower amount of Ghosts... However, the reason for this quickly becomes clear.
Afton peeks his head over the edge of the rooftop as he looks towards a strange blue glow... The light quickly flashes red however once a Hologram in the distance notices his presence, the Holographic person places both hands on their head as something appears to be charging up.
Afton's danger sense flares and he throws himself backwards just as a large laser flies past where his head had just been. "Well, that clears up the lack of Ghosts... I guess." he mutters before waiting a moment before peaking again and firing a shot from his Anti-Material rifle through the Hologram's head... Which does literally nothing.
It's not like he hadn't expected that, but he wanted to see just how the Holograms worked. The fact that they are completely immune to ballistic weapons was impressive, to say the least. Next, he fires his Sonic Emitter at it, and yet again, the projectile goes through the Hologram without achieving anything aside from making the Hologram flicker slightly.
Afton shrugs upon seeing this and look at the rest of the group, "Well, that's me done, any ideas?"
Dean just stands, aims his revolver for a moment and fires a shot off, hitting the Hologram emitter that's somewhat concealed behind a pillar and causing the Hologram to disappear. "You need to use your eyes, not to bash your skull against a wall until something works."
"You knew where the emitter was beforehand, didn't you." Afton retorts.
"Well, no point destroying them when they get rid of the Ghosts in the area... Hopefully, this will be the last time the Gala Event needs to be started, otherwise, I'll have to fight my way through a hoard of them." Dean states.
Afton nods at this, dealing with the Holograms would probably be easier for most considering all you had to do was avoid the area where their emitter was. Ghosts however would roam around and appear in unexpected places, making the area far more hazardous than usual... After all, a known danger is easier to deal with than an unknown one, even if the Holograms are more lethal in most situations.
Though, something Afton definitely wants to do is to acquire one of the emitters without damaging it. The tech could be analysed back at the Think Tank, Afton could already think of the possibilities of such weapons...
Maybe he could design a drone that flew far above the clouds with many emitters below it... It'd be a mobile immortal army capable of going literally anywhere... Ooh, just the thought was giving him shivers of anticipation.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Chris Lindsey
Kingsprovince
Michael Jarrett
Nazlican Erdem
También te puede interesar
Comentario de párrafo
¡La función de comentarios de párrafo ya está en la Web! Mueva el mouse sobre cualquier párrafo y haga clic en el icono para agregar su comentario.
Además, siempre puedes desactivarlo en Ajustes.
ENTIENDO