"This is the Front-Line to the Lone Wanderer. We're ready to set and detonate the nuke at your command." Juggers voice crackled through the radio.

"Excellent work Jugger put the nuke in place. Once it's in place wait for further orders. My group will now head around the back and place the second nuke. Andy out."

I hoped Jugger could hold the line, just long enough until we got the second nuke in place. I signaled the pilot to move into phase two of the plan. Five vertibirds including ours took off and headed around the back of vault 101. As I had suspected there was no resistance around the back of the vault. I signaled for the pilot to land. I turned to the team and smiled.

"I'm going to need some help lifting again," I said as I heard someone groan.

We opened the door and began to lift the nuke into position. I prayed, hoped and wished the blast would be large enough just to reach one of the upper rooms. We put the nuke in place and set the charge. We then quickly made our way back to the birds and began to take off. I told the pilot to reach a safe distance. Once we had done so I picked up the radio again.

"Alright Jugger, the second payload is in place and ready for detonation. Make your way to a safe distance and then radio in. Keep in mind the plan, if you begin hear that vault door open, blow it to hell. Since they can't see us, try to make a distraction so it sounds like we are there. Tape down the trigger of a few rifles, just so it seems like we are still there. Then get your men and yourself to a safe distance. Andy out."

OOC: Anomaly, there were no guards at the door, and second of all, the vault door itself was already closed............If you could edit your post I would be very glad.

Dakayev saw as his two camera's at the main gate were immediately cut off.

He opened the intercom, speaking again on all channels

" Vault dwellers, your time has come! You will fight against the Lone wanderer himself, and combat will be brutal. All civilians are to proceed to the main storage rooms. Male vault dwellers already equipped with weaponry proceed to the atrium and set up heavy emplacements."

Dakayev then patched the signal to all of the vault, including the very back area's. While he continued watching the Atrium, Private Jennings came through the door in a hurry.

" Sir, charges and primed and set. Whenever you give the command, we blow this place to hell. And I have six men in Hellfire units, ready to provide heavy support to the troops in the corridors. The outcasts have taken a fortification in the Atrium along with the vault dwellers. IF troops will be stationed at the corridors along with Enclave personal. Talon mercs will be providing escort duty for you. That is all sir!"

Dakayev turned around.

" Very good, the time has come that we show we can resist. I want to make sure they pay dearly for every step they take. I will take a position in the office and continue monitoring the situation. If they come all the way into the Atrium, I will see to it myself that no-one gets through. Private, report to your post, oh, and could you take this letter to Officer Veronica. That is all."

"Sir!"

Jennings saluted him then walked off into the reactor rooms. He handed the letter to the officer as Dakayev asked and he reported to his post, waiting for anything bad to happen.

Veronica looked at the letter amidst the fortifications of the people around her.

Well, the secret is up and you know and I know.....

I wrote the letter to insure that if in any case I die, you are to live on. The mercs will immediately change their guard posts and will escort you to a secret emergency room along with the rest of the squads stationed near you. If the vault does get destroyed, that panic room will insure you and your squadmates survival. The end is approaching and I am unsure of the fate of this campaign. And the only thing I can possibly say is that I love you and hope to see you again.

Dakayev

She closed it and held it tightly before putting it in her pocket.

(OOC: Very nice Enclave! Wonderful to see you found a love, I'll make sure she'll either die slowly or live!)

IC:

I listened to the replies and waited, listening and waiting, hoping to hear the giant bang that would tell us it was time to move in, and take Vault 101. But right at the wrong moment, I realised what day it was, I started panicking, "Andy, can you tell me what day it is? Now?" He didn't understand at first, but he looked at his Pip-Boy and then back at me, "It's Thursday, wanna know the date?" But I wasn't listening anymore, I knew that this was the day, the day that it would all go wrong.

I cursed, "Dammit! Why didn't I hold onto my radio?" I cursed again, it would happen soon, why hadn't it happened now? They'd assume... They'll assume your dead Andrei, which means they'll send them after the Brotherhood... My eyes bulged, they wouldn't set off my system if I was dead would they? They'd just send them to... To... "[censored], Andy! ANDY, we need to make this go fast! We don't have time anymore! I knew it, ah [censored]..." I cursed again and again.

How could I have been so stupid as to forget this?

(OOC Don't worry Enclave I'll take care of your characters girlfriend, just as you did mine :chaos: )

I sighed, of coarse there was something wrong, nothing ever runs smoothly. I looked up at Ryan,

"What is it....."

Suddenly a great BOOM interrupted me, I turned around to see that Jugger's nuke had gone off. I wondered why, I'm almost positive he had gotten everyone to a safe distance because he had more than enough time. Either the vault door was reopening or it was just a mistake. Either way I yelled to the pilot.

"Now! Detonate it now!"

He did as he was told and there was another mighty BOOM. Both nukes had gone off as planned. I smiled and began to wait for the dust to clear, so we there wouldn't be too much radiation left. I had almost forgot about what Ryan had been talking about I turned back to him.

"Sorry about that, what was it your talking about?"

I cursed again, this would not go well in the end... "Well, I'm supposed to report into base every two days, and guess how long it's been since I reported in? Two days. If I don't report in by the two days are up..." I trailed off and took a breath, "They send in an elite squad of soldiers, consisting of twenty highly trained men and women, who have no remorse and have some of the most high-tech weapons we've recovered, their orders are to distract the Citadel while..."

I gulped, "While the Main Army brings in the ICBM, and gets ready to kill us all." I fell silent, I bowed my head, I always told people things too late, when it couldn't be fixed. I cursed, "[censored], we need to do this quickly and gather everyone, get them out of the Citadel and move off to Megaton, we don't have a choice anymore. If we can we need to take out some of Dakayev's men, enough to convince him we'll win, if he surrenders I'll explain to him what'll happen if he doesn't help."

I sighed, "If he doesn't comply, or surrender, we kill them all, move on and finish this war once and for all." And end the life of one good person here...

I chuckled.

"It's always something with you, isn't it Ryan? I'm sure we can find a radio that you can use. If not, I've always enjoyed a challenge. Our movement here will be swift, speaking of, the smoke has just cleared."

I looked out to see a giant crater in the ground, but I couldn't see any open rooms. I pulled out some binoculars from one of the compartments. On closer inspection I managed to see the corner of a room sticking out. I picked up the radio and radio the vertibirds in my group.

"All vertibirds target the middle of the crater and fire every single one of your missiles."

The other birds did as told and fired. I didn't bother waiting for the smoke to clear this time, we needed action, even if the room hadn't been breached, which was unlikely. I radioed the other birds and told them to land and follow the teams lead. Our bird landed with a nice thud, not that I minded, I just slid the door open and jumped out. I took in a big breath of air, in through the nose. The smell of war was upon us. The smell of scorched earth, gunpowder and blood. All so familiar to me and yet it was nothing I wished to be associated with.

I pulled out my plasma rifle and began to run towards the centre of the crater. I wasn't sure how far the rest of the Brotherhood or even how far the rest of the team was, I just needed to know if the was a waste of time or if we were going to really take down Dakayev. I just ran and ran, I didn't care how hot the earth beneath me felt, I just had to know. Once I reached the centre I found we had pierced the room, it was one of the reactor rooms. A perfect placing, we were right behind Dakayev and there no enemies.

I signaled for the team and the rest to follow and enter. We weren't in the very centre of the reactor but we were close. Our room connected to the corridor that led to the Overseer's office, it also led to the main reactor and a storage room which had a panic room connected to it. I wanted to secure reactor rooms before moving on, so I turned to the team.

"Ok, here's the plan. Ryan your with me, I still have things I need to discuss with you. Nate, Henry and Knight, head to the reactor rooms and secure the area. Ash and Andrew head out and secure the corridor. The rest of you, split into 3 groups and follow us. Everyone radio back when your task has been completed, let's move out!"

I turned and opened the door to the storage room. I knew Ryan was at my side but I still kept quiet just for the moment. I could hear the loading of rifles, I guess detonating a small nuke gives away the element of surprise. The storage was empty but as we were entering the panic room door flung open. There was a couple of Enclave soldiers and a woman, she looked apart of the IF, maybe. Either way they opened fire, hitting one of the Brothers. We returned fire, someone managed to hit one of the soldiers in the head, completely defacing it, while the other soldier's chest was burnt to a crisp in a hail of laser fire. I managed to shoot the woman but I only wounded her arm.

With only the woman alive I approached her, she was groaning in pain and clutching a letter. Her arm was badly burnt by my plasma rifle. I kicked her gun away and turned to Ryan.

"I'm going to leave this one to you Ryan," I aimed my rifle at the womans head. "Just tell me what to do."

Dakayev monitored the halls as he heard a large bang from the back of the vault

" Smarter than I thought"

He realized that Veronica was in the storage room and was unlikely to live without his assistance. Dakayev left the room and went outside the hatch door.

" Victor, tell your squad to go now!"

The Talon merc squad leader immediately signaled to the others to follow Dakayev. The continued walking through the corridors until they reached the storage room. They saw as the LW was aiming his rifle at her and the other squadmates were holding up against the incoming BOS soldiers.

" Andy, eat lead you mother [censored]!!!"

Dakayev and the merc squad immediately opened fire, Dakayev aiming and blasting the head off of one of the BOS troops, the mercs firing, two of them getting cut down by laser fire. Dakayev swiveled to the right, blasting the head of another BOS trooper right next to Andy.

" Let them go! This is our fight!"

The mercs along with Dakayev aimed right along the lone wanderer, waiting to see his next move.


" Your choice"

OOC: I needed a quick response. Oh, don't worry about that Aussie, your GF will suffer for quite a while before I plant a bullet in her head.

"Nate, Henry and Knight, head to the reactor rooms and secure the area." Andy ordered.

"Got it, lets go guys." Nate replied, as he began to walk away.

They left the room and headed for the reactor room, trying to be as quiet as possible, and trying not to draw any attention to themselves.

"Damn... this place is huge." Nate uttered, looking down one of the many corridors of the vault.

"Open fire!" A voice boomed from behind them.

Nate spun around and his eyes widened.

"[censored]! Go for cover!" Nate shouted, as he ran behind a wall.

Within the split second that the team managed to find cover, a swarm of lasers, plasma and fire roared past them. Nate quickly leaned around the corner and fired a burst of bullets towards an un-armored officer. The bullets sped through the air, towards the officers head. All 5 bullets buried themselves deep into the officers skull, sending him to the ground. He hit the ground with a thud, and shortly became soaked in his own blood.

"Bullseye." Nate muttered.

With that, Nate, Henry and Knight mowed down the remaining troops, within seconds.

"Well, that was easy." Nate laughed, resting his rifle on his shoulder.

" Andy, eat lead you mother [censored]!!!" A familiar voice cried from down the hall.

"[censored], we gotta' go! Now!" Nate shouted, as he began to sprint back towards the room that Andy and Andrei were in.

By the time Nate arrived, a good number of troops were laying lifelessly on the ground, with pools of blood seeping out from beneath them. Nate looked up to see who was responsible for this.

Dakayev...

Nate was enraged.

"Dakayev you bastard!!!" Nate cried.

He raised his rifle and opened fire on the mercs guarding Dakayev, sending them toppling to the ground, shouting in pain.

Before anyone could, react Nate dashed towards Dakayev and tackled him to the ground. As soon as Dakayev hit the ground, Nate rained down a flurry of punches onto Dakayev, each one pummeling into his face.

Nate stopped and lifted his fists.

"Deja vu?" Nate remarked, as he began to continue beating Dakayev in the face.

(OOC Nevermind then)

((OOC:... Are you serious? Can't we just let it be? I don't feel like re-editing my post lol.))

At that moment I heard the door burst down and a familiar voice rang out. So did shots, Some of the BoS were taking by surprise and shot, the rest fired back hitting most of the mercenaries. At that moment Nate burst in and began to pummel Dakayev in the face. I had had enough of Dakayev, killing my men and threatening my people. I ran over and used the butt of my rifle to smash Dakayev in the back of the head. I don't know why I didn't shoot him, perhaps I was done with all the pointless killing.

Either way I called out to Ryan. "Help me restrain this bastard."

The butt of Andy's rifle struck down onto Dakayevs head, sending his head to the ground with a thud, he was clearly unconscious. Nate rolled off of Dakayev and laid on his back, breathing heavily. Andy reached down to help Nate up, Nate smiled and grabbed his hand, allowing him to help him up.

"Heh, thanks." Nate said, still catching his breath.

Nate leaned against a wall and bent over, resting his hands on his thighs. He leaned back up and watched Andrei and Andy restrain Dakayev.

"Finally..." Nate muttered with a smile.

Jugger set the nuke down firmly near the vault door, then gave the detonator to a shaky soldier beside him.
He stopped and checked to make sure everything was set. It was time to blow a hole through this thing.
Suddenly, he noticed the Knight he'd given the trigger to was acting extremely nervous.
"You alright?" Jugger asked cautiously. The Knight took a deep breath through his helmet, then suddenly seemed to faint.
"[censored]!"
Jugger grabbed the fallen soldier, now seeing the bullet holes ridden through his body, and yelled at the troops to move back. A faint beeping noise was heard, and he snatched up the detonator to see that the trigger had been pushed down.
"Everybody! Run! Get back now!" He screamed, sprinting alongside the rest of the squads, but weighed down by the body he was carrying and the gun he had.
Swearing, he felt the wave of radiation wash over him before the explosion ripped through his ears.
---------------------------

He awoke to the vault door being completely blown apart. A size-able hole stood as the soldiers started marching in. Groggy, he clutched his head and realized he'd only been out for a few minutes. But wait! The plan!
Ignoring his aching limbs, he set down the now-dead soldier, paid his respects, and ran in with the rest.

With the rest of the front line, he started raiding through the entrance of the vault, eventually spreading down into the hallways, where he torched and burned anyone who got in his way. The only problem posed were Enclave soldiers that seemed oddly out of place, but they were no match for his own power and numbers.
His health was dwindling, but he ignored it. The explosion had probably wracked his organs a bit.
Kicking in doors and burning their inhabitants, he regrouped with the rest, recognizing the blood thirsty and ravenous look some of the soldiers had. it both satisfied himself and made him uneasy.
He started searching for the Lone Wanderer, letting the other Knights do what they wished. Now as the best time to meet up and plan the next step.

George put some clean clothes on as he was peeking through the crack of a window, obeserving the Brotherhoods movement. Just as he was going to radio back Dakayev, he heard his radio go off.

The entire battle was listened by George through Dakayev's radio. He knew that it was over. Following thinking for a while, George decided to leave the house, and to start heading away from Vault 101. He was hoping that either someone would respond through the radio, or pray to god there are reinforcements. He began to talk to himself.

"Is it over? With Dakayev and the Invisible Faction in 101 captured, what do I do now? Am I the only one left? Are there really reinforcements? Should I join the Brotherhood? No, I couldn't do it, I never would do it!"

While walking away, he couldn't make up his mind.


((OOC: Gah, school is making everything worse. Well due to timing issues, I guess I was wondering what the rest of you think George should do. Just advice, doesn't mean i'm going to do what you say. Or maybe I will. ))

((OOC: I think he should have another "religious experience" and ask God what to do. Lol.))

Henry saw Nate jump on Dakayev and start beating him in the face then knocking him out and said " Dakayev was a fool to expose himself like that," Henry then saw an Enclave woman on the ground with letter in her hands. With everyone else distracted Henry picked up the letter and when the woman tried to get her gun Henry bashed her in the face with his rifle and ordered his men to continue clearing the halls. Henry opened the letter and was surprised to find what was on it. Turning to Andy e said "Hey! Looks like this is Dakayev's girl" and passed him the letter.

Henry walked over to Nate and pulled him up. "The fight is not over yet, we still have to finish off the central defence in the vault Atrium. Ready?" Henry put a fresh magazine in his rifle and called to the others to follow him. He ran until he saw a large group of knights gathered at a door. He knew that behind that door lay the rest of the defenders. He radioed to Andy "We're near the Atrium door, what are your orders?"

((OOC: Won't be on till around 4:30 eastern tomorrow, don't go too far without me, please. ))

I stood by watching, not saying anything, it was taking too long! I scowled but then I realised something else, they had a connection to me and would know whether I was dead... Or alive, and I hadn't reported in, which was a direct order, what would they do to make sure that I was punished? I let my mouth drop open, they would've heard everything that I did, everything that I said, knew everything that I thought, what I wanted to do...

I couldn't stop myself now, I yelled out, "Andy! We don't have any [censored] time anymore! I just realised, they have sensors in my system, everywhere through my system! They'd know EVERYTHING I've done, EVERYTHING I've said, EVERYTHING I've thought! We ca-" I got cut off as I felt a giant shock go through my body, I fell to the ground and smashed my head against the metal, I started hearing voices raring through my head. My voice, Andy's voice, everyone's.

I heard another voice intrude my thoughts, So, your alive, and you've betrayed us, you even lied about your name, well, we'll make sure that you never fulfill your mission. They'll never know what they have to do to end this war, you will not die Andrei, and you shall not kill in cold-blood, you will die when it is too late. I tried as hard as I could to get out of my dream state but it wasn't working, I hoped to god that someone could get me back up instead of leaving me to recover...

That was the last thing I wanted, they'd know what to do now, and they'd send them after us...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Report:

Overall Systems: Green
Combat Systems: Green
Armor Systems: Green

Running Primary directive...

DENIED

Running Secondary directive...

APPROVED

Activate Operation:Doomsday

Once again Ryan had revealed how screwed we really were just before he fell to the floor unconscious. It felt as if for every step forward, there was always two steps back to follow. I called over a medic and told him to put some adrenaline into Ryan's system. Surely that would wake him up. I then walked over to Dakayev's girl, I looked at the letter.

Well, the secret is up and you know and I know.....

I wrote the letter to insure that if in any case I die, you are to live on. The mercs will immediately change their guard posts and will escort you to a secret emergency room along with the rest of the squads stationed near you. If the vault does get destroyed, that panic room will insure you and your squadmates survival. The end is approaching and I am unsure of the fate of this campaign. And the only thing I can possibly say is that I love you and hope to see you again.

Dakayev

"Interesting," I said to the woman who was staring death into my eyes. "You and Dakayev, huh? Strange I never knew the man had emotions, apart from kill and maim every innocent person. I've decided to give you a choice, a choice I have given everyone I possibly could have. Choose wisely. I will let you live if you answer my question. In the letter Dakayev writes, 'If the vault does get destroyed,' what exactly does he mean by that?"

The woman looked up and smiled, she gestured for me to move closer. As I moved closer she made a leap for my side arm. I quickly moved and kneed her in the face. I sighed,

"I'm sorry," I said as I pulled out my alien blaster and shot the woman in the head.

Suddenly, I heard a large gasp for air and plenty of coughing and spluttering. Ryan's adrenaline had kicked in. I turned and on my way over I picked up the unconscious body of Dakayev. As I walked out to the corridor, I glanced at Ryan and spoke,

"Come, we finish this now."

I continued walking and met Nate and Henry at the door.

"Here's the plan, I'm going to use Dakayev as a bargaining chip for their surrender, if anyone resists or they continue to fight, take them out. Other wise take them prisoner."

I continued to move towards the atrium. The Brothers had cleared the corridor and the path that led upstairs to the balcony that looked over the atrium. I managed to reach the balcony, without further trouble. I slung the unconscious body of Dakayev over the railing. Miraculously no-one had noticed me yet. But they were about to.

"I suggest you lay down you arms and surrender, enemies of the Brotherhood. You are surrounded and your leader, Dakayev, lies here unconscious. I strongly suggest you surrender."

I then turned to Ryan.

"I hope this works."

I scowled, I could only shuffle with Andy, as he told me those words, I scowled even deeper, "Andy, you don't realise, there isn't time... Jesus Christ, they're coming after us Andy! There isn't any time anymore, we need to get out, we need to go right now, before..." I coughed, the shock had done a number on my senses, but yet again, I was still alive when I should be dead. I spluttered out a cough and then fell against a wall for support, this wasn't good.

I frowned, this was all going wrong... I spoke up again, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Look, we don't have a choice anymore guys, join us, please, Dakayev can still stay your leader, just... Jesus, give it up will you? Do you want to [censored] die? That's what'll happen if we don't work together, there's something bigger than anything you've seen you fools!" I scowled again, "Do what you want, but don't [censored] make the wrong choice or you'll regret it for your short lives."

After both Ryan and I had spoken, I looked out into the crowd of people. They all stood there and looked as if they were ready to die for their lost cause. One of the men, an outcast, put his weapon down, much to the shock of everyone else. Before long another man laid his arms down and another, and another, until everyone had dropped their weapons. I smiled.

"You have made the right choice. Brothers round them up and head back to the vertbirds, we're going home."

I turned to Ryan with happiness beaming from my face. His face was quite the opposite, full of pain and despair. Something was bothering him.

"Whats happened now, Ryan?"

I shook my head, "This is it Andy, this is the end, this is..." I trailed off and looked down at the floor, "This is Operation:Doomsday."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked around and grinned, I loved death, it was what kept me going, not that I had any other emotions but wanting to kill. I looked up at the giant structure and grinned a savage smile, I moved forwards quietly, this was my big moment to shine, to show that I was worth those 10 years of building and resources... I moved up a little more and noticed a group of Brotherhood Soldiers, they were conversing and laughing, perhaps even laughing about the Invisible Faction...

I moved up a little more and brought up my deadly weapon, my trusty laser rifle... But it wasn't normal anymore, I laughed as I coldy stood up and aimed at one of the soldiers. I shot at him and his arm was sliced off, he screamed and then fell silent as I put another shot into his head. I kept up 2 more shots and the other two soldiers lay dead, I grinned and moved up towards the building... This was going to be fun, more killing, how could that not be fun?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man ran up to Andy and yelled, "Sir! We have a transmission from the Washington Monument sir!" Andy just nodded and looked at me, he must've guessed this would be part of what I was talking about. I nodded at him and said to the soldier, "Well, patch them through!", he nodded at both of us and brought out a radio, he clicked a button on the front. I immediately heard laser fire, gun fire and explosions emmitting from the device, I scowled, this must be it.

A voice came through, "Sir! We have something killing us all! He just won't die! Oh my god, he's coming towards me, OH FU-" He got cut off and the gun fire stopped, as did everything else. No one was breathing, I heard a voice eminate from the radio, something exactly the same as mine, "So, Andrei, are you listening?" The voice stopped for a second then started again, "Ah, your there, now, I wanted to tell you, the end is coming, hurry up and get your friends somewhere far away, because Doomsday is coming."

The Radio cut out and I looked up slowly, "Okay, now we are [censored]."

I didn't even look at Ryan, I had had enough of his surprises. I got on the radio to the citadel.

"Pull back every soldier we have, defend the citadel at all costs. We're coming home soon."

The other BoS soldiers began to push and shove the prisoners into the vertibird. I didn't care who they were, they were our soldiers now and we're going to fight against what ever it was they were sending our way. I ran off to the entrance of vault 101, all the birds had gathered there. Everyone was panicking but at the same time, they were moving quick. In almost no time everyone was aboard their own vertibird and we were off. I didn't take much notice of the trip, I just needed to save my brothers, that's all I cared about. I could see smoke coming from what was left of the memorial. We landed just outside the citadel.

We shoved the prisoners inside but I kept Dakayev with us, slung over my shoulder. I stood out the front, with the rest of the team and turned to Ryan.

"I'm sick of your [censored] Ryan, your going to tell me how to stop this thing and your going to tell me now."

I scowled, "Here's what we do, you keep me alive, I finish it, that's all you need to know Andy, there's nothing else that's needed to be known anymore. Look... Listen to this at least though, what happened at the Monument was a creation made by the Invisible Faction, our most advanced thing beside me, he's an Android and I'm a Cyborg... We're both pretty much unkillable, they used my DNA to make it though, so that's why we're partly connected in some ways..."

I sighed, "Look, I have nothing to hide, but you have to just trust what I say, do and believe in me, that's all I ask from you Andy, I won't stab you in the back, I'm here to help you. If things had been different, I'm sure we could've been good friends, but I don't think it'll happen at this rate, all I can tell you, is that by the end of this, one of us will be dead." I looked down at the ground, "And since you love someone, that isn't going to happen to you Andy, you've done enough for everyone here."

I waved my hand across the Wastes, "Your a hero, so now is the time to save the Wastes... And the world, help me to help humanity." I moved towards Andy and held out my hand for a shake.

I looked at Ryan and shook his hand.

"I trust you, but I've said this before, destiny is never set in stone, I do what ever is best for this wasteland, I'll die for it if needed. We're all heroes Ryan and together, we'll make a difference, whether it be big or small." I pulled away and looked off into the distance.

"You say the end is coming but your wrong Ryan. This is the end but it's only the end of the beginning. Let's go kill this thing," I loaded up my gun and turned to look back at Ryan.