Chapter 22: Chasing Shadows
June 25, 2282. It's been about 3 months since I started this whole adventure… Haven't really done any progress because of Sarah's condition. Now, my son is born. Named him James, in honor of my father… I feel like I'm gonna walk out of my son's life, just like what my father did all those years ago… I hope I don't end up doing that though. I don't want him to experience the agony I felt… Anyway, with Sarah safely giving birth and my son being as healthy as a well-fed Brahmin, I think it's time to resume my adventure. I have this gut feeling that the Enclave may have known something about this… So I'm going on a little trip to Raven Rock and Adam's Air force Base. Here's to hoping that those good-for-nothing bastards have some useful info on it!
"Raven Rock…" Ellie muttered as she puts down the holotape "…Can't go there… But Adam's Air Force Base…"
"Still obsessed with those recordings?" Vyse uttered as he enters Ellie's room
Ellie chuckles for a bit. "Say what you want but I feel that these recordings will lead me to something good, or maybe even the Wanderer himself!"
Vyse shakes his head as he walks closer to the mercenary. "What is it with you and the Wanderer? Got a crush on him or something?"
"N-No! It's just that… I don't know but I have this gut feel that I have to meet him and this relic that he was looking for. I feel like I know it but I can't really put my finger as to what it is…"
"Huh… Another one of your weird gut feelings again…"
"Hey!"
"I kid. I kid"
Citadel Meeting Room;
10:05am:
"What!?" Vyse shouted as he slams his right fist on the table
"Vyse!" Marina retorted
"S-Sorry… I was just surprised…"
"Anyway" Arthur said "Are you sure about this, Ellie?"
Ellie nods
Vyse stands up. "You can't be serious"
"I am serious, Vyse. I have to do this…"
"Why?"
"The latest battle has exhausted our troops and the NCR isn't gonna wait for us to recuperate. So I think its best that you guys stay behind and defend our territories"
"I know how you feel, Vyse" Arthur said "But she's right. Taking the Citadel and the Purifier took a huge toll on our troops. Ellie's mission has no guarantee that it'll be helpful for our cause so Ellie has to do this alone"
"That's a load of bullcrap and you know it!"
"Normally, I'd agree with you on that one, Vyse but we have to think of the greater good…"
"Damn it…"
"Don't worry, Vyse. I'll be ok"
The knight sergeant sat down and grunted.
Arthur then turns to Ellie. "Ok, Ellie. We'll let you go but you should understand that we can't spare troops so you have to do this on your own."
"I understand"
"Alright then. Take these codes… Apparently, the NCR has reprogrammed the robots by the Presidential Metro. These will allow you to access MARGOT"
"Right! Thank you"
"Well then, good luck with your hunt..."
Fiore;
Later that day:
Ellie arrives at her hometown but she had no time to feel nostalgic, she did not even go to her home or even visit Polonsky. Instead, the mercenary enters the service tunnels that were connected to the White House. After taking some Rad-X and with only her Pip-Boy as a source of light, the mercenary begins her trek around the irradiated tunnels.
Eventually, she notices a familiar creature lurking about.
"Not this guy again…" she said as she noticed the ghoul
The mercenary turns off her Pip-Boy light and proceeds to sneak closer to the ghoul. She aims her rifle at the ghoul's head and fires a shot. The bullet lands on the mutant's head but the ghoul did not even flinch. It quickly turns around and faces the mercenary's position and gives out a loud cry.
Knowing that she has been discovered, the mercenary unloads an entire magazine on the mutant as it charges towards her but it was not enough to put the creature down. The creature then jumps towards her, and attempts to slash her with one of its appendages.
Thanks to her reflexes, the mercenary blocks the attack with her rifle, scratching its surface. She then grabs another appendage, which was aimed at her neck, with her right hand. Amazingly, she manages to pull the creature towards her and stabs the creature's chest several times with her hidden blades but the creature manages to squirm free from the mercenary's grasp. The mercenary then uses her reflexes to dodge the mutant's attack and do a counter attack with her hidden blades. Soon, with so much damage to its body, the mutant could not take it anymore and expired.
"The hell?! They're here too…"
She then hears footsteps from where she came. Preparing for the worse, the mercenary reloads her rifle and hides into the dark corners of the tunnel and waits for the source of the footsteps.
Minutes later, a tall man, wearing a merc troublemaker outfit, enters her line of sight, although because of her Pip-Boy light was off, she could not recognize the person's face. As the person turns his back on her, the mercenary quickly moved and placed the barrel of her gun just behind the person's head. "Hands in the air"
"Ellie?" the person said as he raises his arms "Is that you?"
"Polonsky?" Ellie said as she lowers her gun and the person turns around, revealing his identity to the mercenary "What are you doing here?"
"I just heard a loud roar and a couple of gunshots so I came to check"
"Damn… What have you been doing lately?"
"Ever since the town joined the rebellion, I've decided to stay behind and defend the town from any threats, be it NCR or mutant"
"Wow…"
"Speaking of the Rebellion… Haven't seen you in months. Heard a lot of stories about you, including the one where you created this little rebellion"
"W-Well… I-I'm surprised that there are rumors…"
Polonsky then pats the mercenary's shoulder. "Nevertheless… It's good to see you again, Ellie"
"Yeah. You too, Polonsky"
"So what brings you to Fiore?"
"I…uh… I got something to take care of…"
"Mind if I tag along? Been a while since our last adventure"
"Sorry, Polonsky but what I'm doing is kinda dangerous and-"
"And what?"
"And I don't want to endanger your life"
"You done, Ellie?"
"But Polonsky"
"No buts, girl. I'm coming along."
"Fine… You're too thick-headed anyway once you make up your mind"
"Glad you see it my way"
Presidential Metro:
With sentry bots lurking around the tunnels
"So how do we get past these sentry bots?"
"Easy. They're really sensitive to noise so we can throw some debris and they'll investigate the area we threw it on"
"The usual 'throw-and-sneak' tactic?"
"Yep! Just like old times!"
"Alright… Let's not waste anytime"
Nearing the room where MARGOT is, the duo notices more sentry bots guarding the hall.
With no other way through, the mercenary brings out a pulse grenade and throws it towards the sentry bots, temporarily disabling them. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the duo moves into the room.
However, upon entering the room, the duo notices that the MARGOT's console has been destroyed, with electrical sparks still emanating from the destroyed console.
"The hell happened here…?" Polonsky wondered
"The damage looks recent too…" the mercenary remarked "… It can't be the NCR, can it?"
"Well… No use fretting over it… Let's see if we can find some clues…"
"Right…"
The duo then begin to scour the room for clues. As Polonsky investigates the lockers and other consoles, the mercenary checks on the main console. "I-I-I-Identify y-y-y-yourself…"
"MARGOT I presume" the mercenary said
"I-I-Identify y-y-yourself…" the AI said again
"Knight Ellie. Brotherhood of Steel" the mercenary answered "Allow me access to your database."
"P-P-Passcode"
"Walker Down"
"P-P-Passcode A-Accepted…"
"What happened here?"
"22:21 h-hours yesterday, a-a-a g-g-group o-of u-unknown a-assailants has infiltrated th-the t-tunnels… D-Destroyed s-several se-sentry bots…"
The AI's console suddenly started to spark. The AI was still talking but its voice was too distorted to understand ad soon, the AI falls silent…
"Looks like I'm not the only who's looking for this relic…"
"Did you find anything?" Polonsky asked
"Nothing useful… Let's move"
Tram Station:
After sneaking past several Sentry Bots, the duo finally reached the tram station. Ellie activates the old tram and places the destination to Adam's Air Force Base.
"You know" Polonsky said as he sits down "All this sneaking kinda makes you remember those years with Iron Cross…"
"Iron Cross…" the mercenary muttered
"All those merc jobs we used to do back in Texas…"
"You were part of Iron Cross?"
"Well yeah! Don't you remember? You and me were quite a duo"
"Really?"
"Ouch that hurts… You and me managed to survive the blunder at Dallas and-"
The mercenary then hangs her head low. "Dallas…"
"Oh right… I'm sorry…"
"It's ok… I don't really remember much from Dallas anyway… Apart from everyone dying, at least…"
The tram was then filled with an awkward silence as it makes its way through the derelict tunnels.
Adam's Air Force Base:
An hour later:
Upon exiting the tram, the duo makes their way to the surface.
The base was a huge mess. Debris was everywhere and there was hardly any sign of life…
As the duo makes their way deep into the derelict base, they notice a lone mutant wandering the base.
"Shit! A Deathclaw!" Polonsky whispered as the duo hides behind some debris
"A Deathclaw… Well ain't that shit…"
Sneaking past several Deathclaws, they soon make their way towards the remains of the Enclave mobile walker…
"So… what are we looking for anyway?" Polonsky asked
Ellie scans the destroyed walker. "Wait here Polonsky. I'll be right back"
"What?"
"Trust me, I'll be back"
"Fine…"
Ellie then attempts to enter the walker as she climbs and swings her way through the debris.
"Not like I can't do that…" Polonsky disgruntledly muttered
After some time, the mercenary reaches a still functional door. She opens it and after traversing through a thick maze of twisted metal and debris, the mercenary manages to reach a terminal. "Wow… Never thought I'd find a terminal that's still working after all these years…"
After spending 5 minutes in hacking the terminal, the mercenary begins to look through the files stored in it. One particular file caught her eye…
"A secret vault inside the White House?" She muttered "Where's this 'White House'…?"
Nevertheless, the mercenary downloads the file into her Pip-Boy and makes her way to the exit.
Returning to Polonsky, the mercenary tells him about what she found.
"The White House, you say?" Polonsky said "It's that big crater near Fiore"
"Wow… Convenient…"
"I assume we're going there now?"
"Yep…"
Polonsky gives a disappointed sigh "It's highly irradiated though even after all these years…"
"Nothing a little Rad-X and RadAway won't solve, right?"
"...Always the hard-headed adventurer"
As the duo makes their way back to the tram station, a Deathclaw suddenly emerges from the rubble and grabs Polonsky.
"Polonsky!" the mercenary shouted as she comes to the young man's aid
Polonsky struggles to keep the mutant at bay as he grabs the mutant's arms. Ellie then fires a burst, hitting the mutant and prompting it to let go of Polonsky and jumping back.
The Deathclaw then lunges at Ellie, who carefully aims her rifle at the creature's head. The bullets lands on target and the Deathclaw flinches, missing Ellie and landing on a pile of debris. The mercenary then fires another burst at the creature's head, ending its life.
"You alright?" Ellie said as she helps Polonsky up
"Y-Yeah… I'm fine…"
The cries of deathclaws echo throughout the base. "Shit… Looks like they know we're here!" Polonsky remarked
"Looks like it's time to go!"
The duo began to run as hordes of deathclaws converge on them. Both individuals fire their AKs at the monsters but it was not enough to deter the entire horde.
Another deathclaw manages to ambush the duo with Ellie narrowly dodging the creature's claws. The mercenary fires a short burst at the mutant's legs before pressing on.
Tram Station:
Upon reaching the tram station, the duo quickly barricade the door but they know that it won't last as the deathclaws continue to bang at it.
It did not take long for the deahtclaws to destroy the door and continue their pursuit. Quickly reaching the tram, Ellie quickly operates the console.
"Come on! Come on!" She shouted as the tram's systems refuses to comply
"They're here!" Polosnky shouted as he fires his AK-47.
"Fuck this!" Ellie shouted as she tears the console open and begins to hotwire the tram.
After a short while, the tram finally responds and the doors close as Polonsky run out of ammo from his magazine.
Although the tram is moving, the deathclaws continue the pursuit as they begin to bang on the windows and doors. Luckily, a squad of sentry bots arrive and begin to attack the mutants, diverting their attention.
As the duo takes a deep breath, a deathclaw's hand suddenly bursts from the window.
"God damn it!" Polonsky shouted as he and Ellie fire their rifles on the mutant.
Unable to handle the damage, the deathclaw let's go of the window and drops to the floor, dead.
"Well…" Polonsky said "…Now that was really nostalgic, don't ya think?"
"Y-Yeah…"
White House remains:
An hour later:
Arriving at the heavily irradiated White House, the duo begin their search.
"What are we looking for now?" Polonsky asked
"Anything…" the mercenary answered "Find anything that could be out-of-place or worth looking into…"
A few minutes later, the mercenary notices a peculiar symbol etched in the corner of a wall.
She places her hand on top of it. The symbol then sinks into the wall and a hidden door opens.
"Bingo" she said as Polonsky comes closer
Secret Passage:
As they made their way down the secret passage, the mercenary notices that the walls have changed. The walls no longer look like the ones she keeps seeing on Pre-War buildings. "These walls look even older than any Pre-War ruin I've ever seen…"
"I know…"
Soon, they reach a gigantic door.
"This doesn't look like something Vault-Tec would have made…" Ellie remarked "… The wall looks so old and these vault doors look like the double doors you'd see in some Pre-War buildings…"
"Anyway to open it?"
The mercenary began to scan the door and found a circular hole…
"Weird… Doesn't look like a keyhole…" She said "Which means I can't pick it either…"
"Looks like we reached a dead end…" Polonsky remarked
"Damn… And I thought we'd find something interesting… But I wonder if the Lone Wanderer found this ruin and said the same thing"
"Who knows…? Anyway, let's go home before the Rad-X wears off…"
"Fine…"
Utility Tunnels:
As the duo nears the ladder, leading to Fiore, they notice a hooded figure, leaning against the wall.
"I've been waiting for you" he said
Ellie instinctively brings out her rifle. "Well. Well. Maybe you can answer a couple of questions I have"
"Question?" the figure said "I think you're mistaking me for someone else…"
Ellie then shines her Pip-Boy light at the figure's head. "You're the one from Girdershade"
"Nice to know that you still remember me"
"So you're not the one I met at the Lincoln Memorial"
"No. He's a different character all together"
"Why are you here, anyway?"
The hooded figure walked closer and hands over a holotape. "I came here to deliver this"
"A holotape?"
"It'll guide you to where you need to go"
Before Ellie could respond, the Hooded Figure quickly made his exit.
"I reckon you still have some adventuring to do…"
"Yeah…"
"Well… I hope it's just around Fiore so I can accompany you…"
Fiore, Ellie's House
Later that night:
Upon reaching her house, the mercenary wastes no time in playing the holotape.
July 4, 2282. After scouring the ruins of Raven Rock and Adam's Air Force Base, I found out about some kind of ruin built under the White House. Of course, I went in there and couldn't find a way to open it. Once again, I encountered another group of mercs who were after the same thing. They tried to kill me but they failed, miserably. I kept one alive so I can interrogate him on what he knew. He told me that they were sent there to retrieve some sort of data from the Airbase. I happily took it off his hands as he runs away into the wastes. Upon analyzing the data, I found out that my next clues is in a place called New Carolina… Although, not the first time I'd travel outside of the Capital Wasteland but I have a wife and child now… I wonder… Should I continue on? If I do this, I may be away for quite some time and I may as well do the very same thing my father did to me 5 years ago…
"New Carolina huh…" the mercenary muttered as she stares at her Pip-Boy…