(no subject)
They pursued their quarry into the night keeping their distance so as not raise alarm but not so far as to let the trail grow cold. When they were certain they'd caught up with them, there was nothing around but the barest remnants of what used to be a town, one or two skeletons of houses and patches of road all that remained.
"There's nobody here-" Cassidy whispered, with Sativa holding up her hand to signal for silence. She approached the smoldering embers of a small campfire next to a shack.
"You can show yourself. We mean you no harm."
The heavily-muscled primitive, black ritual tattoos covering his face, emerged from the darkness, spear in hand. He watched her silently with distrusting eyes. "Who goes there?"
"My name is Sativa," she answered. "Who are you?"
"You speak to Shadow Who Walks. Why have you come here?"
"I'm trying to stop raider attacks on Vault City, and I have reason to believe that base is around here. What do you know about the raiders?" You know: the ones we saw you leading around earlier?
The guide shook his head. "Shadow-Who-Walks knows of no raiders here. Shadow-Who-Walks knows only of some Rangers here to free slaves from Vault City, that evil place."
Rangers. The name rang a bell, but it didn't seem to fit with what she'd seen of the men they'd been pursuing. They didn't quite strike her as the upstanding heroes this scout took them for. "Is that what they've told you, that they are Rangers? There are no Rangers around here. They are lying." Was she wrong? Were they going about this without enough information? Well, they'd worry about that later.
The Tribal frowned. "Why would they lie to Shadow Who Walks?"
"Would you have helped them if they had told you that they were raiders, attacking innocent people, and that they didn't care one bit about helping anyone in Vault City?" she reasoned.
He shook his head. "Shadow Who Walks would never help do that, that would be evil." He eyed her suspiciously. "But why should Shadow Who Walks trust what you say?"
Here was the hard part. How to get him to believe her? How to build a bridge of understanding between two Tribals? "Let me tell you of my people..."Shadow-Who-Walks listened as she spoke to him at length about Arroyo, and at the end seemed to look upon her differently, with more trusting eyes. "Now Shadow Who Walks knows you are teller of truth. Shadow Who Walks trusts you."
"Do you have any idea why these raiders might be attacking Vault City?"
"No, don't know. Only know they fooled Shadow Who Walks into helping them find the way."
"You wouldn't happened to have heard them speak any names or anything like that?"
"Hmmm... maybe. When some of them went to get more of the noisy, strange weapons..." He made gestures like someone using a rifle of some kind. "...they mentioned a name... Bishop. Yes, they talked about a man called Bishop."
Bishop, huh? Interesting. He then pointed to a nearby manhole cover. "If you wish to confront these men you should go through there. The other path through the caves is filled with deadly traps."
"I see. Well, thank you, Shadow Who Walks, you have been most helpful."
"Shadow Who Walks thanks you, Shadow Who Walks does not like to be fooled."
"You are welcome. What now, then?" she asked.
"Shadow Who Walks will not help anymore. Shadow Who walks will go home, and will not show evil men the way again."
"Good. This should prevent the evil men from harming innocent people."
"Shadow Who Walks thanks you, friend, for bringing the truth. May the spirits guide your path." With that he faded into the shadows like his namesake.
"And yours," she said to thin air.
"With their guide gone, they'll no longer be able to raid the region," Cassidy deduced.
"Give it a day or two and I'm sure these Raiders will abandon this place," Vic suggested. "Then we can look around for information."
Sativa considered this at great length. "I don't really want to wait a day or two. They might not leave anything to look for."
"Are you crazy? You want to take them on in their own grounds?"
"Exactly! They're just back from a long walk, they'll be tired..."
"...We're tired..."
"...They're not expecting us. It's the perfect time to strike!" She declared.
"There's gonna be tunnels down there. They'll have the home advantage."
"We'll have do this quickly, then," she told them, kneeling down next to the manhole cover and pulling a crowbar out of her bag to pry it open. "Everybody follow my lead."
"I hope you're right about this," Vic said uncertainly.
"Me too," Sativa replied, climbing down into the darkness
"Well, you were about these guys," Vic said as he leafed through the notes.
They were all tired, bruised, bleeding and out of breath, but they were all alive, which was more than could be said for the raiders. And those guys didn't have someone with two centuries of medical experience to patch them up afterwards. While Lenny tended to Cassidy, already in a delicate condition because of his heart, and Sulik policed up weapons, ammo and medicine, Vic and Sativa searched for something that would tell them what these people were doing here.
"So they're not Rangers?" Sativa asked him as he read the documents they'd found in the metal safe. It had been Vic who'd figured out the numbers on the dog-tags belonging to the three dead raider captains corresponded to the combination need to unlock it. It had also been Vic who'd noticed the safe had been rigged with a booby-trap in case anyone tampered with it, as they'd intended.
It was mostly because of this that Sativa hoped he'd change his mind about staying behind.
"They're not even real raiders," Vic answered. "They're mercenaries. According to this they've been getting regular payments to put pressure on Vault City. Maybe this Bishop feller was going to try and swoop in with some kind of deal, and call of the attacks when the VCers accepted."
"Hmm. Some people in Vault City might want to see this."
Vic looked at her. "You were thinking of giving it to them?"
She shrugged. "Hadn't decided yet. Maybe if it's worth enough to them..." She looked at him. "Were you still thinking of parting ways?"
Vic hemmed and hawwed. "Now that I think about it, maybe it's not time to settle down just yet. I'll stick with you till you find your GECK, then maybe you can drop me off back here. How about that?"
He held his hand out and they shook on it. "Good enough for me," she agreed. She looked over to where Lenny and Cassidy were. "He going to be all right."
"Just as soon as I catch my breath an' the bleedin' stops, reckon I'll be fine," the old gunman answers. "Y'know, if we spruce this place up, clear out all the bodies, this could be a pretty good hang-out..."
"...Right. Maybe when we're not so busy."
"There's nobody here-" Cassidy whispered, with Sativa holding up her hand to signal for silence. She approached the smoldering embers of a small campfire next to a shack.
"You can show yourself. We mean you no harm."
The heavily-muscled primitive, black ritual tattoos covering his face, emerged from the darkness, spear in hand. He watched her silently with distrusting eyes. "Who goes there?"
"My name is Sativa," she answered. "Who are you?"
"You speak to Shadow Who Walks. Why have you come here?"
"I'm trying to stop raider attacks on Vault City, and I have reason to believe that base is around here. What do you know about the raiders?" You know: the ones we saw you leading around earlier?
The guide shook his head. "Shadow-Who-Walks knows of no raiders here. Shadow-Who-Walks knows only of some Rangers here to free slaves from Vault City, that evil place."
Rangers. The name rang a bell, but it didn't seem to fit with what she'd seen of the men they'd been pursuing. They didn't quite strike her as the upstanding heroes this scout took them for. "Is that what they've told you, that they are Rangers? There are no Rangers around here. They are lying." Was she wrong? Were they going about this without enough information? Well, they'd worry about that later.
The Tribal frowned. "Why would they lie to Shadow Who Walks?"
"Would you have helped them if they had told you that they were raiders, attacking innocent people, and that they didn't care one bit about helping anyone in Vault City?" she reasoned.
He shook his head. "Shadow Who Walks would never help do that, that would be evil." He eyed her suspiciously. "But why should Shadow Who Walks trust what you say?"
Here was the hard part. How to get him to believe her? How to build a bridge of understanding between two Tribals? "Let me tell you of my people..."Shadow-Who-Walks listened as she spoke to him at length about Arroyo, and at the end seemed to look upon her differently, with more trusting eyes. "Now Shadow Who Walks knows you are teller of truth. Shadow Who Walks trusts you."
"Do you have any idea why these raiders might be attacking Vault City?"
"No, don't know. Only know they fooled Shadow Who Walks into helping them find the way."
"You wouldn't happened to have heard them speak any names or anything like that?"
"Hmmm... maybe. When some of them went to get more of the noisy, strange weapons..." He made gestures like someone using a rifle of some kind. "...they mentioned a name... Bishop. Yes, they talked about a man called Bishop."
Bishop, huh? Interesting. He then pointed to a nearby manhole cover. "If you wish to confront these men you should go through there. The other path through the caves is filled with deadly traps."
"I see. Well, thank you, Shadow Who Walks, you have been most helpful."
"Shadow Who Walks thanks you, Shadow Who Walks does not like to be fooled."
"You are welcome. What now, then?" she asked.
"Shadow Who Walks will not help anymore. Shadow Who walks will go home, and will not show evil men the way again."
"Good. This should prevent the evil men from harming innocent people."
"Shadow Who Walks thanks you, friend, for bringing the truth. May the spirits guide your path." With that he faded into the shadows like his namesake.
"And yours," she said to thin air.
"With their guide gone, they'll no longer be able to raid the region," Cassidy deduced.
"Give it a day or two and I'm sure these Raiders will abandon this place," Vic suggested. "Then we can look around for information."
Sativa considered this at great length. "I don't really want to wait a day or two. They might not leave anything to look for."
"Are you crazy? You want to take them on in their own grounds?"
"Exactly! They're just back from a long walk, they'll be tired..."
"...We're tired..."
"...They're not expecting us. It's the perfect time to strike!" She declared.
"There's gonna be tunnels down there. They'll have the home advantage."
"We'll have do this quickly, then," she told them, kneeling down next to the manhole cover and pulling a crowbar out of her bag to pry it open. "Everybody follow my lead."
"I hope you're right about this," Vic said uncertainly.
"Me too," Sativa replied, climbing down into the darkness
"Well, you were about these guys," Vic said as he leafed through the notes.
They were all tired, bruised, bleeding and out of breath, but they were all alive, which was more than could be said for the raiders. And those guys didn't have someone with two centuries of medical experience to patch them up afterwards. While Lenny tended to Cassidy, already in a delicate condition because of his heart, and Sulik policed up weapons, ammo and medicine, Vic and Sativa searched for something that would tell them what these people were doing here.
"So they're not Rangers?" Sativa asked him as he read the documents they'd found in the metal safe. It had been Vic who'd figured out the numbers on the dog-tags belonging to the three dead raider captains corresponded to the combination need to unlock it. It had also been Vic who'd noticed the safe had been rigged with a booby-trap in case anyone tampered with it, as they'd intended.
It was mostly because of this that Sativa hoped he'd change his mind about staying behind.
"They're not even real raiders," Vic answered. "They're mercenaries. According to this they've been getting regular payments to put pressure on Vault City. Maybe this Bishop feller was going to try and swoop in with some kind of deal, and call of the attacks when the VCers accepted."
"Hmm. Some people in Vault City might want to see this."
Vic looked at her. "You were thinking of giving it to them?"
She shrugged. "Hadn't decided yet. Maybe if it's worth enough to them..." She looked at him. "Were you still thinking of parting ways?"
Vic hemmed and hawwed. "Now that I think about it, maybe it's not time to settle down just yet. I'll stick with you till you find your GECK, then maybe you can drop me off back here. How about that?"
He held his hand out and they shook on it. "Good enough for me," she agreed. She looked over to where Lenny and Cassidy were. "He going to be all right."
"Just as soon as I catch my breath an' the bleedin' stops, reckon I'll be fine," the old gunman answers. "Y'know, if we spruce this place up, clear out all the bodies, this could be a pretty good hang-out..."
"...Right. Maybe when we're not so busy."