Boston Airspace, 2156 hours, December 11th, 2287
4 Minutes to Air Insertion
Mission members: Rio, Dogmeat, Curie, Pequod (AI)
POV Rio
I was in the cockpit of the AHO getting ready for my dive. Curie and Dogmeat would remain on the AHO and wait for my confirmation that I had landed safely. We were flying at 45k feet. At this altitude, no one could hear us on the ground, which was the point. I left the pilot seat and had Pequod, the AI I designed to operate the AHO, take over. I pet Dogmeat, the best co-pilot ever, and then went to the right side door. I made sure Curie was strapped in so the opening of the door would cause her to get sucked out.
"Drop in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... DROP!" Pequod said over the comms.
The door opened when it said 1, and I jumped out and dove straight towards the ground. The cold wind blew through my mane as I got closer and closer to the ground. When I got to the height of Trinity Tower, I spread my wings and quickly decelerated. I activated my magic eyes, which I was still trying to think of a name for, and made sure I was still on target. I saw the place I was aiming for and flew over to an advantageous position. I could see 5 raiders loitering outside. I was well outside their range, and it was pitch black outside with clouds covering the moon, making it especially dark.
I aimed my DKS-501 sniper rifle and fired 5 quick shots, killing all the raiders outside. Once I was certain no one was coming to investigate the sound of bodies hitting the ground, I landed and stored the bodies in my inventory. Then I put away the DKS-501 and swapped to a pistol, as there were 3 raiders just inside that had been tied up and put on display. They couldn't harm me, but I wasn't taking any chances that they might reveal me, so as soon as I opened the door, I entered VATS and put 3 bullets in each of their heads. Then I stored their bodies as well and moved on to the main area.
I sent the message to Curie that I had landed safely and then quietly opened the door and snuck into the main chambers. I flew up and into the upper stands where there were no raiders and no lights. I counted 31 raiders throughout the building. I set up a few mines where they might try to flee to or where they may try to approach me from, and then I pulled out the General's Ghost, as it can pierce most of the cover they have access to, and it can shoot more in VATS than the DKS-501.
I enter VATS and choose 7 targets I can hit for certain, and then open fire. Once I am done, I don't wait and start opening fire on any raiders I can still see. A dozen raiders are dead before they can even manage to get behind anything. Not that it matters, as I don't stop firing as nothing they have can block 50 caliber armor-piercing rounds. A few make a run for it and get obliterated by mines or a round from me. They can't figure out where I am, so they start blindly firing into the darkness. I fly up to avoid the attacks and stop firing for a few moments to make them think they got me.
"Did we get them?" A raider asks while peeking their head out from cover.
Their answer comes a second later as their head explodes. The remaining raiders start firing blindly again, but this time, I don't stop firing, and they start to panic more and more as nothing seems to stop me. That isn't to say that they didn't hurt me at all. No, they managed to hit me a few times, but none of the shots were lethal, and almost none got past my armor.
'I really need to solve the under armor issue. I don't want to waste time doing a lot of jobs for the Railroad to eventually unlock Ballistic Weave. I will do that once I get back to Vault 111.'
It didn't take much longer to finish off the raiders. None of them could see or find me, and they had no chance of escaping. Once the last raider went down, I started to loot the place. I did hear the voice of one of the two people I spared.
"You think they're done out there?" said the male voice.
"Oh, just peek your head up, ya damn coward," said the female voice.
"To heck with that. I'm too pretty to go out like this," responded the male voice.
They say a few more things, but I ignore them while I continue looting the place. But even while doing that, I was keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn't try anything. I could survive a close-range shotgun blast, but it would hurt a lot, so I would rather avoid dealing with that. I also drop the corpses from outside in here. Once I am done, I enter the fight cage and talk to Tommy Lonegan.
"Is it over? Well, that could've gone worse," said Tommy.
"Heh. I dunno. Seemed quite the performance from where I was standin'," responded Cait.
"Are you f*cking high or something? Why am I asking? Of course, you are," responded Tommy.
"Still won the fight, didn't I?" said Cait.
"You're strung out, and getting sloppy is what you are. Course, I suppose you ain't got to worry about that now. Seems this one just put us out of business. I'm not sure if I should kiss you or have my little bird here feed you your own entrails," Tommy threatened.
"I told you to stop callin' me that!" Cait said with frustration.
"Yeah, because raiders are the best people to work for," I respond sarcastically.
"Well, excuse me, but those raiders were our meal ticket. While they may not have been the nicest clientele, they are what kept the lights on. Sigh. We used to serve a more legit clientele, but about two years ago, a gang of Raiders rolled in and we became a more... exclusive establishment... Up until you took our entire client base out of the gene pool and put us out of business, that is. Now, just what the hell are we supposed to do?" Tommy said with exasperation.
"To hell with 'em. More'll come. Just need a quick breather, and I'll be ready to go," Cait responded.
"A breather? What? So you can slam more of that junk into your arm? No, no. You know what? I think this was a blessing in disguise. You caught the end of that bout. What'd ya think of Cait's work?" Tommy asked me.
"I was a bit busy, but what I saw was tough to comment about as I don't use melee weapons, so I can't really say if it was good or bad," I respond.
"Yeah, I guess you were pretty busy cleaning house. Impressive work. Makes me think you're good enough to do me a favor. So here's my predicament. I suddenly got no audience. No audience means I got no caps coming in. And if you ain't bringing in caps, little bird, you ain't an asset. You're a liability. To me... and to yourself. So... here's what I'm thinkin'. What say I let you take over her contract? She goes with you, watches your back... look you'd be doin' me a favor while I try to get the place back in order. What do ya say?" Tommy offers.
"Me? And him?" Cait says while looking at Tommy as if he were crazy.
"Why would you want her to go with me?" I ask.
"Yeah, Tommy? Just why the hell you trying to get rid of me?" Cait also asks.
"Sigh. Look, truth is, all that junk, it's been making you careless. And I don't want to be the one doing color commentary when you finally hit the floor. Alright? So just do me this favor. Both of you. Please," Tommy says with genuine emotion.
The statement causes Cait to freeze up a bit, and she goes quiet.
"Then I am willing to have her come along," I respond.
"Good, it's settled then. And here. Take this. It's the purse from the last fight. Exterminator's fee," Tommy says while giving me a bag of Caps.
"Now wait just a second. What exactly are you gonna do without me here?" Cait asks Tommy.
"You don't need to worry about me. I'll get this place set up right, maybe find a less bloodsoaked clientele. Now get the hell out of here. You ain't welcome anymore, little bird," Tommy responds.
"You're a real son of a b*tch, you know that, Tommy?" Cait says with an upset tone.
"Heh, you don't have to tell me," Tommy says with a self-deprecating tone.
Cait doesn't speak to Tommy after that, but I do.
"So, how much does working for the Institute pay?" I say bluntly.
My question comes out of nowhere and causes Tommy to trip and nearly fall over. He tries to recover, but it is clear I have spooked him.
"Wh-what are you talkin' about? I don't work for the Institute; heck, they don't even exist," Tommy tries to deny it.
"Huh, strange, I could have sworn I read your name on a list of informants in the Synth Retention Bureau," I say calmly.
Our conversation draws Cait's attention.
"Wait, are you from the Institute? Why did you kill off my clientele? I can't gather the information you want if all my clients are dead. Unless... Wait! Wait, you don't have to silence me, I have valuable information, information that your bosses will want to hear!" Tommy says with a panicked voice.
"Director Ayo is unsatisfied with the amount of information you have been giving. A recent piece of info you gave him led to the loss of many synths," I reply, deciding to play along with his misunderstanding.
"I-I have info on the location of a runaway synth. One that has little in the way of guards. I can tell you where they are. And better than that, I have info on some tech you might find interesting," Tommy says with sweat now pouring down his face.
"Speak," I reply.
"A runaway synth is traveling with a caravan. They are traveling from the North. They will return to the Commonwealth a week or so after the new year. They will have to stop at a settlement called Covenant. Once they leave there, they will head to Bunker Hill. The tech can be found in a secret bunker or facility on Spectacle Island. From the info I bought, the place was home to some sort of laser tech or something. But it is also supposedly filled to the brim with prewar robots and automated security. That's all I know, I swear!" Tommy says.
I notice two new quests starting and accept the info he gave me. I started to leave with Cait. Our next stop would be the Boston Commons. Cait was shocked beyond belief by our conversation. Once we left the Combat Zone, she mustered up the courage to ask me some questions.
"A-Are you with the Institute?" Cait asks nervously.
"Nope," I answered honestly.
"Wait, what? Then everythin' you just said..." Cait said.
"Wasn't a lie, Tommy was the one that spilled all his secrets because he believed I was with the Institute. I won't say how I know all that info about the Institute, but I will say that Tommy is indeed an informant for them," I respond.
"That lyin' little... But never mind. What are you?" Cait asks bluntly.
"A mutant, I guess. But that doesn't matter, my name is Rio by the way. I never got to tell you my name," I respond.
"Well, duh, of course yer a mutie, but what I mean is what kind of mutie? I have never seen a mutie like you before," Cait says.
"Why does it matter?" I reply.
"Well, I guess, I want to make sure Tommy didn't just sell me to a mutie that is about to eat me," Cait responds.
"No, I am not going to eat you. Eugh, just the thought of eating humans is disgusting to me. I don't even like eating meat. I can eat meat, sure, but it doesn't mean I like it. Now, an apple or some fruit, that I will eat all day long if I could. And sugar, I find I have quite the sugar tooth. Not sure why as I didn't like to eat sweets before," I say the last part quietly.
We chat a bit more, and I fill her in on the perks of being a companion of mine. She didn't believe me, but I didn't try and force it as she already didn't trust me that much.
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Authors Note:
Cait outdrinks the competition! (Cue Super Smash Bros joining meme)