» Wed Oct 06, 2010 5:51 am Well, here it is.
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It was dark.
It was dark in the Capital Wasteland when it arrived. The moon and the stars were hidden behind dust and pollution. In the past, lights from buildings and vehicles may have lit up a lot of Washington.
No more.
Here and there a few stray fires could be seen – encouraging signs of ongoing life – but there was no true light in sight. If the state were ever truly lit up again one night, none of its current inhabitants would live to see it. They would be long gone.
“We find ourselves in the dying light,” thought Commander James Hastings as he looked down upon the darkened land. He sighed, pulling himself up and grabbing the S12 “Reaper” Energy Rifle that he had laid next to him.
The Energy Rifle was the pinnacle of handheld weaponry. It had taken what the Americans had done with the Laser Rifle and optimized it. The Energy Rifle used less energy, had a high rate of fire and was cheaper to produce and maintain. ‘Too bad it was made to late to be used against the Chinese’, was often the sentiment that went along with the rifle.
The Commander attached the Reaper to his back holster and proceeded to make his way down the catwalk. Below him, the dark, ruined land glided by silently.
He was still amazed every time he thought of what he was now standing on. It had just been produced last year by the closest thing the Australia had to a government, the Legion, in the remnant of an Australian airbase. The AAS Legacy was the first and last of it’s kind, which had been dubbed an “Air Carrier”. Hastings was now walking through its bowels, making his way to the elevator that would carry him to the helm of the ship. He weaved his way through various technicians who were hurrying about, checking fuel levels and preparing to drop ‘The Tether’.
Once he had reached the elevator, it quickly took him to the top of the ship, the helm. Inside he found a room full of computer screens, which controlled everything from targeting systems to air control. In the center of the room, a man sat in a chair, a few computers around him as well. The Commander could see the dark city of Washington out the right and left windows, and pilots and squads rushing about on the landing pads out the front window.
“Commander,” Captain Warren greeted him as he walked over. “You’re here, good. I need you to get your squad together and gear up. I have a new objective for you.”
“Sir?” Hastings asked, confused. “I was under the impression the ground team’s first priority would be to secure a location for The Tether to be anchored, and then I’d be leading my squad to create a forward operations base.”
“Things have changed, as you’ll find they usually do. We got a weak link to Canberra awhile back; they’ve recovered information about a ‘Vault-Tec’ project in the U.S. They were sort of like huge, self-sustainable bomb shelters. You and your team are making contact with the closest one while we set up the tether,” the Captain explained. He looked over at one of his computers for a moment. “Closest vault is ‘V101’. Suit up and get to the stern. You’re parachuting in.”
The Commander nodded, before turning and making his way towards the elevator. As he did, the Captains voice stopped him, however.
“And Hastings?” he called, and the Commander paused. “Stay in constant radio contact. I don’t want to lose my best squad, my XO and my field commander. Report anything in that we should know, too.”
And so, ten minutes later, the Commander was standing at the back edge of the Legacy. He had placed on his SAS-issue body armor, another pinnacle of military engineering. It had ceramic body plating over a gel layer that absorbed shock and protected the wearer from temperature extremes. The helmet also automatically compensated for high and low level lighting, could supply the user with air for half an hour and had it’s own HUD, something that Hastings thought was the most useful thing he had in his arsenal.
His squad of four was there with him. His squad had an excellent dynamic; they all got along brilliantly, and had served together for five years, fighting to protect settlements in the Australian outback.
First there was Vincent “Clover” Johns, the teams Sniper and recon expert. He had gained the nickname by shooting the head off of a mercenary at about a kilometer away, which while he still to this insisted was pure skill, had been dubbed the ‘luckiest shot of the century’. Someone had said he was as lucky as three-leaf clover, and the name stuck. He was in the process of checking his rifle before the jump.
And then there was Ricky Larkham, call sign ‘Rhino’ because he was a heavy hitter. The team’s heavy weapons expert, he was a man of simple pleasures, explosions being his favorite. Rhino was a big man, perfect for carrying heavy weapons. The giant was in the process of moving the boxes carrying their ride to the edge of the Legacy, along with the help of a few others.
And lastly was the teams Medic, Amber “Angel” Wickham. Her name was because of her tendency to save your life, and her angelic beauty. She hated the name of the passion, because that was where the similarities ended. She could swear, shoot and brawl with the best of them, and tended to do all three at the same time. She was playing with her SMG off to the side, and staring into the distance. Hastings knew she missed home.
They all gave him a salute when they spotted him, which he returned.
“Finish up, we jump in 30,” he told them, then turned to look towards the dark edge of the ship.
What would they find down there, he wondered…
“Captain, Commander! This is Foley down in engineering, we’re reading what looks like a buildup in the fuel pipes, it’s happened a few times during our trip here. The thrusters all flare up at once, we suggest you abort the jump. If it happens when you’re close it could-“
“Negative, Foley, we’re passing over the drop zone. We need to make the drop before day break, or they could be shot down before they land. Commander, make the jump now, go, go!” interrupted the Captain’s voice. And with that, Hastings was on the move.
“Everyone up, we need to go NOW. Rhino, drop the vehicles, Angel, Lucky over the edge. Rendezvous at the Vault entrance!” he yelled, and three acknowledgment lights blinked green on his HUD. The vehicles in their crates were dropped over the edge first. He strapped on his parachute, and jumped over the edge, a few moments later Amber and Vinnie followed him, Rhino following shortly after them.
He was almost away from the range of the thrusters when he sighed with relief. They’d made it before the thrusters could go.
That was when he felt it.
It was like their was a sudden charging in the air, then he hear a deep roaring in his ears, before a blast of heat that reached him through his armor, struck him. A shock wave hit him, and he went tumbling through the air towards the ground, a sharp pain in his chest.
Everything was spinning around him, the ground and sky below him at the same time, and he couldn’t focus on anything. He made a desperate grab for the chord on his parachute, and somehow managed to grab it. He tugged it, and felt the painful tug as his parachute started to slow his descent, a few moments before he slammed into the ground.
Darkness is just another way to blink.
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So, what'd you think?
