Once Afton, Veronica, and Anja were all suited up they left for the Sierra Madre. It'd take a couple hours of straight flying but that wasn't really a problem. Afton and Veronica were both suited up in Power armour while Anja was wearing her usual recon armour + Deathclaw leather duster and hood.
The flight itself wasn't all that difficult... Afton was in the pilot's seat flying in a straight line after all, so unless a secret Enclave or Brotherhood base wanted to shoot them down, it'd be smooth sailing from here.
They'd left fairly early in the morning, meaning that when they started to approach the Sierra Madre Mountain range it was already the afternoon. Fortunately, there were already signs that their target was close.
"Afton, what's that?" Veronica asks from beside him, pointing down at a sloped in mountain passage. It was your typical wasteland desert environment, with dead, mutated, or barely surviving plantlife decorating it... Though, unlike most places, there appeared to be a heavy thin red fog lingering near the ground.. No, scratch that, it seemed to be spreading at an incredibly slow rate.
Afton halts their flight and has the Vertibird float over the cloud to get a good look, all of them grimacing at what happens when the fog touches the wasteland plant life... As soon as the red fog flows over it, smoke starts being emitted from the organic matter as it rapidly decomposes, quickly turning into mulch before disappearing...
"What... Was... THAT!" Veronica exclaims, horrified at whatever the fuck the red fog was. Afton was asking similar questions, it wasn't its corrosive properties that worried him, but the sheer amount of it that seemed to be ever-increasing... That's not even mentioning the big likelihood that wind and weather could start moving the fog around at random.
"No idea, but I'm not getting caught in it, that's for sure." he states, knowing he'd probably end up like those plants, regardless of his healing factor. It would essentially be like falling into a vat of powerful acid, there wouldn't be anything left to heal!
"Let's keep moving... We should get to the Sierra Madre before the wind picks up, sir." Anja adds, all of them worried that the fog would be able to corrode the Vertibirds machinery should it make contact with it.
Afton lifts the Vertibird higher as they continue flying, the group noticing far more of the fog the further into the mountain range they get... In fact, after a while even the sun starts becoming difficult to see due to the cloud of fog hovering over the entire area...
The group were close to shitting themselves at the fact that any moment a 'cloud break' could occur and annihilate them all from existence via an agonizing and torturous death. The entire mountain range was covered in the fog, and was honestly beginning to get difficult to avoid all of the floating pockets of it in the air.
Fortunately, Afton finally spots their destination... Or at least, what should be their destination. Over at the top of a mountain sat a towering building that was completely covered in the red fog... There weren't any lights visibly coming from it however, instead, the only sign of lights or some sort of civilisation existing at all was from the village below the mountain where the building sat.
The town was strange, to say the least, Spanish-looking buildings with small pockets of fog scattered here and there. It seemed as if the fog was actively avoiding it, as the area around the town was completely untraversable.
Veronica points down at some sort of town square with a dilapidated and empty water fountain. "I think we can land there, it looks clear of fog." she states.
Afton nods in agreement and slowly lowers the Vertibird there, careful to make sure they're easily able to retreat and fly away should shit really hit the fan... The group steps out of the Vertibird once they touch down, each of them cautiously looking around the eerily silent area.
"Fuck, this looks like the start of a horror movie." Afton mutters, already wielding his Anti-material Rifle in preparations for any aggression. From his shoulder, a small but powerful light appears and begins illuminating their surroundings... It isn't completely dark, but the cloud lingering overhead stopped most sunlight from reaching the ground, allowing a few alleyways and corners to potentially hide enemies.
Veronica and Anja had their weapons out as well, Gauss Rifle and SMG respectively. "So... Any ideas where Christine could be? It might take days searching this entire place, maybe weeks if we include the big ass building on the mountain." Veronica gestures with a nod at the towering shadow in the distance.
Afton shrugs, his armour releasing a metallic clank as he does so, "Er... Maybe if we ask some of the locals?"
She scoffs, "You think people would actually live in this place?"
He shakes his head, "Not willingly... But when has Elijah ever been so merciful." he states.
...
The group walk over to the fountain and Afton picks up a strange coin from it, someone previously having tossed it in to make or wish or something. "Coin, or Casino chip?" he mutters to himself, not sure due to how expensive it looked...
*Bzztch!*
Above the fountain a hologram of Elder Elijah appears, shocking the group momentarily as it begins to speak, "A chip, to answer your question... Now that I've alleviated your curiosity, wouldn't it be polite for you to reciprocate?... What are my former colleagues doing here? The Brotherhood shouldn't know of this place." the man asks, his voice echoing in the familiar raspy, almost manic tone.
Afton scowls and taps his chest where the Bulwark insignia sits, "Have you become blind, old man. We don't belong to the Brotherhood." he states.
The hologram flickers, "Ah, a fledgling group that's completely out of their depths... I'll give you this one opportunity to leave as an older, wiser person. If you ignore my warning then, I apologise for the fate that awaits you." he says solemnly.
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Veronica unconsciously growls at Elijah's words, "We aren't going anywhere, Elder." she spits while taking her helmet off, revealing her face to him and causing him to go silent.
"Veronica." he audibly mutters, half in disbelief and half in confusion. "Why are you here?..." he asks, his tone noticeably softer than before.
"Why do you think I'm here?" Veronica retorts, her question clearly rhetorical.
...
"I imagine it's to retrieve your... Childhood sweetheart...?"
Afton nods, "It's good you acknowledge it so quickly, means you must already know where she is." he says, taking advantage of Elijah's strange state.
"N-no no no, she isn't here! You've come and achieved nothing! Leave before the cloud takes you!" he demands, the sound of his fist slamming into something becoming audible.
Veronica puts her helmet back on and shakes her head, "We aren't going anywhere without finding her! And if we can't do that, I'll find you instead and wring your neck until you speak the truth!" she growls.
"THEN YOU WILL DIE!" Elijah finally shouts as a strange sound starts emitting from a nearby siren. The hologram cuts out, leaving the trio cautiously standing in the middle of the town square as the sound of scrambling and staggard movements start occurring around them.
Afton whips around when a manhole cover is thrown from its position, it leaves a trail of corrosive red fog as it flies through the air, and from the manhole, a strange humanoid figure appears. It creepily crawls out with a cleaver in one hand... It seems to be a person wearing a strange black hazmat suit with glowing green eyes.
Afton's eyes widen when he sees it, quickly recognising it as one of the experimental hazmat suits designed by the Think Tank before the Great War. "Stop there or I'll blow your damn head off!" he commands while pointing his rifle at it.
The creature ignores his commands however, slowly moving towards the trio while its body bends and contorts are awkward angles the human body made to perform... To Afton, it looks more akin to a zombie than anything else...
Once it gets a couple of meters away from the group its weird and awkward movements change as it throws itself towards them at surprising speeds! Afton isn't surprised, however, allowing its cleaver to skitter off of his armour as he drives his metal elbow into its face, pile-driving it into the floor and kicking up a good amount of dust.
Afton stands up from the attack and looks down at the creature, surprised that it's still moving... The force of his attack should have completely crushed its skull and liquified its brain... Yet it still seems aware and aggressive...
He tries to finish the creature off by firing his Anti-Material Rifle into its chest, this blows a huge hole into it, destroying its heart, lungs, ribs, and spine... But it still continues to move. The hole that was created even starts to be filled with a strange substance similarly coloured to the red corrosive fog...
Finally having enough and wanting to alleviate his curiosity he targets it with [Living Anatomy] to see just what the fuck this thing actually is.
[Ghost]
Health : ??%
Stamina : ??%
DT : 18
Strength : 10
Perception : 3
Endurance : 10
Charisma : 1
Intelligence : 1
Agility : 1
Luck : 1
Ailments :
[Cloud-Ridden] : An unfortunate soul complete contaminated by the Cloud, forcing them to live an agonized and tortured resistance. Unable to die through most conventional means, regenerative capabilities, enhanced strength and endurance while everything else is significantly reduced.
[Blood-Crazed Hunter] : Massively enhanced agility when attacking, mental derangement.
[KILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEGODITHURTSKILLMEPLEASEHELPKILLMEKILLME-] : ??
Afton's hard look softens slightly as he reads through the status... "Sorry bastard..." he mutters, firing a shot into its head and splattering its brain matter across the ground... Only for its head to start slowly regenerating.
Veronica fires her Gauss Rifle at it but it achieves similar results as Afton's attempt. "Why won't it die!"
Afton holsters his rifle onto his back while igniting his Ultra Chainsword, "The fog is preventing it from dying." he states, "Best we can do is chop it up and stop it from regenerating."
He slices his weapon at the Ghost, cutting it in half before continuing his attacking, cutting it into four, eight, sixteen, etc. Eventually, all that's left is a pile of bloody flesh that seems to be emitting particles of red fog.
Despite his efforts, the flesh still seems to be trying to heal itself... Annoyed, he kicks the pile of flesh which forces the many chunks to separate as they're scattered around the area. This seems to put the creature out of commission as while it still seems to be trying to heal, its flesh is spread too far apart to properly regain its mass.
He sighs, "That should deal with it for now..." he mutters, looking back at the disturbed-looking Veronica and Anja.
However, it's only when he turns around that he notices why they were looking that way... Behind him, he could spot more ghosts entering the square. Twenty, thirty, almost forty of them stumbling towards the group...
Afton glances at his companions, "Yeah, fuck this. We barely 'killed' one, I'm not getting involved with... That!" he exclaims, grabbing Anja and forcing a knife-hand into the side of a building, penetrating the wall and creating a temporary handhold for him to climb.
He quickly scales up the building with Anja holding on via her hands around his neck... Veronica slowly follows, using the handholds he'd created. Once they all reach the roof he kneels down and looks over at the Ghost people trying to follow but completely failing at it.
He looks at the others, "See? I told you this was like a horror movie... At least we have the advantage in technology... Though, wouldn't that make this Alien?" he ponders.
"Afton, we don't have time to deconstruct your vague callbacks that no one's ever heard of... There's literally an army of undying creatures inhabiting this town, and we still have no idea where Christine is!" Veronica exclaims.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
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