Edger the drifter's Story

James agreed with the chance for camp. But tried to get Xander to set up a building, but before he was able to talk to the man he had gone. "Typical snipers..." He grumbled and sat there for a bit, trying to listen in the distance. The next thing he heard was John, "You know, you might want to keep that thing warmed up," he said as the man motioned to the mini-gun, Betsy." If he comes back here with uglies, we want to be ready." "Right, good idea son." He murmured in reply, lifting the gun up to look at the row of buttons near the trigger squeeze. He pressed one, which caused the barrels to spin around, spooling the gun up. He then reached back into the ammo case on his back and pulled out a clip of ammo and placed in the gun. A little beep occurred and then a counter pulled up with 200 rounds AMRP for armor-piercing. Not enough for a firefight, but enough to rip a few humans or creatures apart. He was glad the Enclave had rigged the mini-guns they made with this counter system, it came in handy. No longer having to guess how many rounds were left. Right as he finished he heard Xander come running back screaming and looked up to see Deathclaws, and a Super-Mutant Behemoth. "Shit!" He yelled out and opened fire on the targets that had broken off to chase Xander, slowly walking backwards. Unlike the others, James could not outrun a Super-mutant, or Deathclaw. So he merely, targeted a Deathclaw who was in chase and opened fire, unloading the clip at it, hoping the rounds would tear through its hide. "Go! I'll catch up!" He yelled to the others, this was all hell in a handbasket to him and surely to the others.

Edger took his post as "Track Sweeper" as the group ventured deeper into the old city ruins. The entire way was filled of John's attempts to pester Edger with various childlike stunts. John seemed to favor poking Ed's arm, and then looking away. Does he really think that I don't know it's him? John continues his little game *Poke* "quit it", *poke* "quit it", *poke* "quit it", *poke*, "quit it" *poke* "quit it!" You know, were I a person of lower standards, I just might be tempting to poke him with my finger. Bet it'd end this crap quick, fast. and in a hurry. John gave him yet another prod to the arm. Okay. My turn. As John turned away and went for it once more, he quickly discovered that Edger was no longer on his right side. John glanced to his left, only to discover Edger now on his left side. Without even looking in his direction, Edger just once again said "quit it". That should screw with him for a while.

Then it happened. "No, your fluffy!" Edger just glared in John's direction. "Only if your 'The Eunuch'." And in time, I may help you better 'fit' that title. Edger turned his gaze forward. He couldn't look up, but the shadows ,with what little light was left, cast an all-consuming darkness from the surrounding buildings. They had delved into the core of this carcass of a city. The silence was suffocating. It just seemed to wrap around everyone and squeeze, till all you could hear was the ambiance of your own body. The scout of this little ensemble made the suggestion of making camp, which, despite the current creepy-as-fuck location, was a marvelous idea. Still, not wanting to be killed in his sleep, Edger attempted to make a suggestion. "Xander, mind scou-" Edger trailed off as he noticed Xander stalk through an archway of an old, decrepit building. "Oh.... well, never mind then." Edger felt relieved to actually have a proactive scout for a change. He had gotten use the many requiring that you asked them to first.

Ed had just found the spot he would proclaim as 'his' when Xander came rushing back, and, like the fabled Pale Rider, hell unfortunately followed with him. I'm sorry, it was to my understanding that the scouts job was not to drag a freaking army back with him. Edger saw the others take off with haste appropriate to the motivation provivded, and knew that he would be unable to keep up. At least, if he hoped to maintain his guise. It was his hope to head through the remains of the various husks of architecture, as to break line of sight with his comrades. So, having this plan as his guide, Edger darted through a nearby opened door. He ran as fast and quiet as he could, hoping that he was not being pursued. Having bolted across three streets and two thankfully wide-enough windows, Ed believed he was in the clear. And was proven wrong.

Edger cut a corner and ran right into "family". The deathcalw towering over him, it's placid white eyes scanning the strange sight that stood before it. It's nostrils snorted, as if making it's final judgement. "Uhh.... heh... h-hey, cousin..... how you doing?" Edger weakly spilled out, plagued by some nervous laughter. He slowly tried to back away, he talons clacking against the ground sounding his retreat. The deathclaws talons seemed to imitate his, but only to sound it's advance. "Oh, well... you look busy, so I'm just going to be......" as he whipped around, only to see two more. "Heh.... heh heh... heh ho oh ho shit-on-my-life......" Thankfully, Edger was near the window he had climbed through, and none of these nightmares seemed to be blocking it. "And for my next impression............ Jessy Owens" as he sprang to life, shooting his body through the window and breaking it's frame. The monstrous beings smashed through some loose masonry and the chase was on.

They pursued Edger's scent to a dark, gore-filled alleyway, with some bright yellow & rust brown dumpsters against the walls. The air was thick with the smell of 'old victim', which made following Edger's trail a trick and a half, even for these bastards. Likely still having the rush of the hunt flowing strongly through their bodies, they thundered down the alley. Thank God for scavengers, and thank scavengers for empty dumpsters. Edger hesitantly poked his head up, gently lifting the lid with his horns. Scanning to his right, he noticed a way-too-familiar scaly nose poking back around the corner. Ed let out a slight whimper and shot his head back down, the lid landing with a barely audible thud. Though Edger knew that was still enough. That was smart, Ed. Was a neon arrow too subtle?

The heavy-set thuds of clawed feet were right outside. I'm not here, go away, I'm not here, go away, I'm not here, go away! There's something tasty out there and you know it, go away! The deathclaw's head snapped towards Ed's dumpster with a snort. Okay, am I wrong? Or did he just hear me think? The beast readjusts it's footing to face the dumpster. Let me guess, your gonna be one of those obnoxiously patient bastards and try to wait me out, aren't you? The strong scent prompts it to start nosing the lid up, as Ed can start to see it's snout poke in. Oh, so you are impatient. Just not in the way I was hoping.

The deathclaw, unwilling to wait any longer for the kill, wedges it's left hand into the gap and begins lifting the lid with it's right. It slowly peered in at the albino runt. "Ooga-Booga! *slash*" Edger swiped at it's face, cutting deep & taking out at least one eye. The creature covered it's face and let out a deep, hollow, enraged howl of pain. Rearing backwards and buying Edger more than enough time to escape. Ed ran as if he had just stolen the Constitution, with enough acceleration to actually knock his dumpster on it's side. Racing through the alleys, Edger spotted a narrow back-door to his salvation.

Ha! I can use doorknobs, asshole! With a twist and a yank, the doorknob snapped clean off. Edger stared at this token of denial with disbelief. "At least when they actually freaking work!" A charging-roar echoed down the corridor, signaling to Ed that he had but moments. Spying an extremely thin open window, Edger growled, groaned, strained, and clawed desperately to pull himself through before his buddy caught up. He hit the floor with a shelf-shaking thump, merely a second away from having his rear quarter deli-sliced. The frenzied deathclaw's nails slashed and sparked against the wall, leaving three-inch groves in the solid concrete.

Edger didn't slow down for even a moment, though he knew that he was safe for now. He remembered that deathclaws would instinctively avoid such a tight space. They knew they needed room to swing, and lacking that room made them feel vulnerable. This one had already been hurt, and Edger knew that it wouldn't take the risk. He did have to worry about it finding another way in, though, as he rushed towards the front door. He spotted movement through the window, which appeared to be humanoid. A strong scent flowed into his nostrils. Noodles, motor oil, and rot. Yen. He take a second to 'compose himself', readjusting his hood and robes, before opening the door. He knew that either the others were close behind him, the others were way out in front of him, or that he was separated and hopelessly lost. Edger prayed hard for the first one as he cracked it open.

"Yen! Where are the others?"

He saw John run past him, even though Xander was running at his fastest speed, he was still faster than him. He just cursed and saw that James and Yen were going to be left behind. It was terrible, as much as he hated the Enclave soldier, he needed him. A soldier is a good thing to have, not in a monster mash between two of the scariest things in the wastes. Xander slowed down and let ghoul run past him. He climbed up a fire escape and crouched down with his rifle drawn. This was going to be a true test on proving himself. He slowed his breathing and looked down the cross hairs, a death claw was coming up fast to him, he put the cross hairs where the beast's head ought to be in the next second. He squeezed the trigger and the recoil was absorbed by his shoulder and the side of the fire escape. The abomination fell forward dead.

James was slowly backing up as his gun ripped through the onslaught of enemies, Xander had to keep him under covering fire. So he could run for it. "James, beat it. I'm covering you." Xander said dropping another super mutant. Defending this guy was hard work. He had no idea where the freaks were coming. He felt another crash and saw the Behemoth was killing death claws left and right. Now a death claw that rivaled the giant in size had appeared. He cursed out loud that was the Mother. She did not like this thing killing her babies. Xander grabbed his rifle and slung back over his chest. He slid down the ladder and pulled out his pistol. He stood next to the soldier and started firing into the crowd. He made sure he kept right next to him. The sight of the two giants battling was something out of a crazy story. The behemoth was already weakened by the various blows the death claws had inflicted, but the mother proved it was no match for it. Soon her corpse was littered with her children. This was truly a monster.

Xander dropped his pistol and pulled out his rifle. He had to take down this damned beast if they were to escape. He heard a faint clicking noise and groaned the soldier was out of ammo. The time it would take to reload that thing wasn't funny. They needed to get gone now. He picked up his pistol and grabbed the man's arm pushing him to go faster. He saw the door way that Yen went into and barged in and shut it. He slumped down and took a deep breath. Pulling a power armor suit was not fun. He saw Edger asking Yen where they were. "Ed, Me and the Sarge are here, Where the hell is John?" He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and light one. He may have quit, but this was a special occasion.

John dashed into an alley, and up a fire escape. He was headed to the roof for a better look at the chaos. On the fifth floor of the 6 story building, he saw motion in the window he was right in front of. I really hope that's a friendly. He aimed his assualt rifle at the window, ready to fire. It became closer and closer, looking bigger and bigger by the second. Then it arrived at the window. At first John couldn't make out what it was with all the grime covering the window. But once it stook its nose to the window, he saw a hungry deathclaw looking back at him. It roared and lunged forward, easily shattering the window and taking parts of the wall next to it out with the thing's massive claws. John jumped back over the railing of the stairs, opening fire. He was planning on catching himself at the railing below. Plans changed when the whole section of the fire escape came off the wall, apparently they aren't as strong as they used to be. Both John and the deathclaw were now falling, heading either to the ground, or into the next building. Unfortunately for John, he couldn't see which, as he was still loading the deathclaw's face with lead, back facing the ground. John was staring at the deathclaw, particularly at it's claws, then his balls, then it's claws. If you couldn't guess, it's claws were dangerously close to changing John's peception of life. John did not want to be like one of those dogs who just sits behind the couch all day.

John's fear for his balls ended when he went through a wall, rolling back to his feet in what seemed to be a hallway, behind him being a T turn. The deathclaw landed face first, claws digging into the floor. It's face actually was pretty beat up from the assault rifle, lots of cuts, although nothing too deep. It stood up, bringing some of the floor up with it. "Alright ugly, lets dance." He put his assault rifle on his back, and reaches back for The Baby. The deathclaw lunges forward with the signature move. John jumpes back, the claws inches away from his eye. The Baby is smacked to the side, into another room. The deathclaw swings from up above, with John side stepping just barely. John punches the deathclaw in the jaw. John's hand hurts. The deathclaw seemed to laugh at him, connecting its foot to John's chest. The talons on the foot graze his chin, and the impact sends him through a wall. Finding himself now in a kitchen, John immediately rolls upon impact, with a claw stabbing into the floor directly next his head. He rolls backwards to his feet while the deathclaw brings his claws out of the ground. The deathclaw swings his right arm horizonally, forcing John to drop back first to the floor. The deathclaw rears its head back for a bite. John hooks his right foot around its left heel, left foot around its right heel, pulling his upperbody to his feet to an almost sitting position at the thing's feet, and then puts his hands behind the heels and pushes himself under its legs. Just as he gets through the legs, the deathclaw's teeth dig into the ground. He dives over the kitchen counter, which brings him into a living room. The side of the room farthest from the kitchen had a hole blown through the wall, leading outside, as well as the cieling being caved in and now on the ground of this floor.. There was a long pipe sticking out of the rubble, the end was cut into a sharp point. John scrambles to try to reach The Baby, which is in this room. The deathclaw slices off the cabinets above the counter, giving it room to jump into the room with John. John reaches The baby, and turns around with the gun pointed. Once again, the deathclaw backhands the gun away. John ducks a claw and rolls back. He notices the pipe, and has an idea. He pulls his knife as the daethclaw closes in, hoping for the lunge. The deathclaw stops for a moment, only maybe 10 feet away. John swears that he sees a smile. I really hope that pipe is strong enough for this... The deathclaw does as predicted, lunges forward with greater strength than usual. John dives to the side, as low to the ground as possible. The deathclaw lands on the pipe, being impaled from right above the waist, the pipe going at an upward angle into the deathclaw.

For a moment it seems to just freeze, and then slices the pipe off at the middle, turning to John. Being on the opposite side of the The Baby, John gets ready for another attack. The deathclaw runs forward, bringing its right claw back, aiming for John's throat. John runs forward for a second, and then slides on his ass, right under the pinky claw. He pushes the pipe in as far as he can before sliding out from under its legs. The deathclaw turns one last time, taking 3 slow steps forward, until falling over. John picks up The Baby and puts it on his back. Making sure that its dead, he steps closer. He kneels down next to its head, and sees its eyes open. He brings the knife down into its eye, then the other, then again, and again. He pulls it out one last time, and steps away.

One down, countless more to go... He gets up to the roof, and sees the mother deathclaw has fallen, and then sees the behemoth. Seeing that its wounded, he makes his way to it on the roof tops, jumping from roofs into windows, on fire escapes, and so on until he gets above the behemoth. Getting down to only a floor above it, he dives onto its shoulder. In the moment of confusion, John slashes it in the face a few times, hitting its right eye once. Blood dripped down its face as the behemoth reared back, as if it was about to fall over. "I think i killed it!". Then, just as John looked around at all of the enemies that he had jumped in the center of, the behemoth sneezed, knocking john off. "Fuck..." As the behemoth swings his arm in John's direction. "Meeee!" As he gets smashed into a nearby building. Well...theres a few broken ribs...and i can barely feel my back. Wow i hate when pain starts to catch up to you... He tries to get up but stops. I think I'll stay here for a little...

James staggered at the rocket blast, barely hearing John from the ringing in his ears. A scowl on his face under the helmet, what the hell had he gotten himself into. And then suddenly, much to his dislike a grenade landed between them but John then decided to play the clown game of juggling which resulted in him tossing it away. He then nodded to the man's instruction before looking over the rubble. "You know... Its more than likely I won't be able to make that run." He pointed to the other side of the street toward where Xander and the others where hiding. "But its better to risk it than stay here." He gave a grumble and then grabbed John shoulders roughly, picking the man up and slugging the commando over his shoulders as a fireman would. He then steadied John with one arm as the other reached down to grab his mini-gun with his other, seizing the weapon by the handle he began moving as fast as he could, scowling as two more mutants who had broken off from engaging what was left of the Deathclaws and were pushing towards them, guns blazing. James moved behind cover as much as he could but about half way across the street was headed off by one of them, the mutant snarled and yelled something before aiming his gun at the two. James panted and then closed his eyes and suddenly thwack! The mutant staggered over with a spear in its neck. James looked around quickly but couldn't notice anyone in sight so he continued wearily, he felt blood dripping inside his armor where the super-mutant from earlier smashed that monster sized hammer down on his shoulder, the pressure must of broke the skin and caused a nice welt. He continued on before kneeling down behind a car, carrying a man, a mini-gun, and another man's gear was hard. That and his shoulder hurt like hell, he needed a breather being unable to continue momentarily. He waited there, a few bullets thudding off the car's side. Silently he prayed that the none would hit the reactor within the vehicle and that the behemoth would remain occupied with the few surviving deathclaws.

Edger paced back and forth, feeling ever useless. He had no gun, no plan, and no way to help. All he did have was the knowledge that John and James were in trouble out there. He had to do something. But what? He couldn't just go berserk, they'd mistake him as one of the others and gun him down as well. Come on, Ed. Do something other than take up space. Wearing a hole in the floor isn't helping anyone. Come on, think. Think! The building shook from the shock wave of a massive explosion. Oh, great. They brought ordinance..... The remnants of shattered buildings shielded this area from the winds, which let the ignition trail from the rocket waft through the air long enough for Edger to trace it's origin.

Okay.... slightly elevated position, and from our side of the street. Edger looked up, hoping that the second floor was stable enough. He proceeded upstairs, forming his objective as he went. If he couldn't get to his allies, then he'd at least get some of the fire off of them. He found a window that was adjacent to one in the neighboring building, and leaped the fifteen foot gap. With a light struggle, Edger hoisted himself through the tiny portal and headed to the opposite side of the building. At the sound of gunfire and speech comparable to that of an angry toddler, Edger stealthily approached the hole in the wall that lay a leap away from his destination. A squad of mutant abominations has taken a supporting position, and rained down hell on their opposition. Edger saw many dead super mutants that lay motionless on the floor, their faces sliced clean off. He saw a massive, clawed hand reach in, grab one of the armored ignoramuses by it's head and drag it through the window. Presumably to it's horrific death.

In from the back room walked a master with a missile launcher. He lumbered towards a section of missing wall, and cracked open the launcher in preparation to load it. "Stupid Lizards. Hey! Where You Dumb-Dumb's With My Rockets? Hurry, Stupids, Hurry!" the dumb bastard barked at his inferiors. A shirtless green lumix stormed in with two ammo boxes, slamming them down by the master. "Careful! Those Blow Up, You Idiot!" The master opened a case, and carefully slid the cylindrical instrument of destruction into the launcher. Before he had the chance to close it, a tooth-filled, scaly maw came through the hole at him. The mutant fell to his gluteus maximus, as the horrors teeth snapped at him. The deathclaw sat perched on the side of the building, gripping the sides of the hole with it's claws.

"Yeeeeeeee-aaaaaaaahhhhhh!" The battle cry of a hammer-wielding mutant sounded as the brute charged the beast, attempting to protect his commanding officer. His sledgehammer smacked against the beasts jaw, who in turn slashed and severed the mutants arm in one clean swipe. The hulking being roared out in pain and anger, bringing it's weapon straight down on the monsters head. The deathclaw was dazed by the blow, and struggled to hang on with but one hand. It was promptly smashed by the mutants hammer, and the creature howled as it fell nearly twenty feet. Little did the mutants realize this, but it was during this chaos that Edger chose to make his stealthy entrance.

The master brought himself to his feet, and vainly spat out to the streets below. He reached for his precious launcher, only to discover that the missile had mysteriously fallen out and rolled all the way to the back kitchen. "Make Me Walk After You, Stupid Rocket. Why You Gotta Roll All The Way Over There?" The master slid the missile neatly into it's place and closed the launcher, an electronic beep signaling that it was ready to fire. The mutant was then suddenly startled by a faint voice coming from a room further back.

"Day 426 of being in the wastes, my ink well ran dry while writing yesterday's entry. This should explain it's briefness. Mirelurk ink is in extremely short supply out here, as the native lakelurks don't seem to posses the glands necessary for it's production. My employment with the Crimson Caravan ended today with me being blamed for yesterdays little fiasco. I tried telling her that it was her ever-so-savvy navigator who led us straight into yao guai country, but Miss Mclafferty just simply wasn't having any of it."

"What The....? Hello? Who's There?" The mutant began to slowly approach the source of the strange voice, finger on the trigger.

"This is of little concern, as Jake Harper, from my last caravan, generously offered me his cut of the payout. In exchange for this little bribe, I would have to promise my silence on the matter of his fornicating with Miss Mclafferty's niece."

The master continued to slowly encroach on the door to the closet. "Someone's There...... Someone's There.....! Stop Hiding!"

"I agreed and accepted his offer. Who am I to stand in the way of love? Or a drunk one-night-stand....... with a tiny hint of personal revenge..... After all, I was no longer inclined to the welfare of the company, so this was clearly none of my business."

Slowly, gently, the super mutant opened the closet door. He gazed down and spotted the source. A tiny, black, tape recorder. "A Recorder? Stupid Thing, How'd You Get Here?"

"I did this partly for my own satisfaction, and partly for Jake's own well-being. Mclafferty wasn't in the best of moods. Had she found out, she may have terminated Jake..... in more ways then one."

"Rrrraaaagh! *crunch*" The mutant stomped down, shattering the plastic casing. Completely unknowing of the presence behind him. "Hey! You know, I don't go around smashing your crap!" "Huh?!" The master whipped around, and beheld the crimson eyes of the albino. Before he could react, the mutant found his right hand lopped off at the wrist. His cries of pain drowned out by the music of gatling guns and assault rifles. Edger took a step back, and thrust his claws deep into the green giants abdomen. Utilizing the strength and power of his own legs, Edger actually managed to hoist the mutant up off the ground.

With a battle between Ed's muscle and the gravity of the master's weight, the weak link turned out to be mutants leathery skin. The only thing preventing Edger's claws from sinking in ever deeper. With a grotesque ripping sound, Ed's hands launched up inside the master's chest cavity. Unable to bear the weight any longer, Edger let the inhuman beast fall down to it's knees. Gargling in it's own blood, the super mutant gazed up into those red eyes. "Oh, and thanks for reloading that. It's something I would have had trouble with on my own." A fiery hatred burned within the fallen creatures hateful stare as it weakly gurgled "Stupid............. Lizard.........", shortly before having it's throat torn out.

Okay, that's one mouseketeer down. Let's go see what Doreen, Cubby, Karen, Lonnie, and Sharon are up to, shall we? After all, whats a missile launcher with only one missile?

James looked at the Super-mutant with a spear in its neck for a second. Boy, that reminded him of the past. He then heard Xander yelling at them to, get the fuck out. He couldn't agree more. With a grunt he stood back up as Xander fired his first shoot and began to huff it towards the building, he could feel more blood dripping from his shoulder. Not good. Thanks to Xander most of the gunfire had ceased making the trip a lot less painful and easy. He stopped for a second behind the car Xander was in cover behind before taking off again in a couple minutes. He turned and saw one mutant firing a few rounds in his direction before a bullet yanked through its head. The next thing James felt was a hard thump on the side of his head where a bullet had impacted the armor. It caused his ears to ring and slight pain but it could be worse, thank goodness for power armor. He noticed he had stopped for a second and then shook his head, focus soldier. He yelled to himself and continued finally reaching the door of the building. He shouldered his way in and then dropped John against a piece of rubble. He was no medic but he knew it would be best to atleast stabilize John, having dealt with his own wounds enough times in the past. He took a stim-pack from his own carrying case and then stabbed it into John's leg, injecting the medicine near a wound. "You owe me." He growled out gruffly before taking out a stim-pack for himself and moving the shoulder plate around to where he could inject it into his shoulder to stop his own bleeding. The wound still hurt like hell but atleast it was no longer life threatening. Then he stood up and looked out the door and onto the street, without his mini-gun he was currently useless in a gunfight. He then just noticed the cloaked 'man' was gone. He looked around and shrugged it off. Meanwhile another super-mutant had managed to sneak around cover to get close to Xander. The mutant raised its gun to fire before being interrupted by another spear. The mutant held its shoulder, blood gushing from the wound, the mutant staggered back, wounded but not dead as it reached down for its weapon.

While John was being carried over James's shoulder, John opened fire on the uglies. He noticed something...we were not moving very fast... "You know, not be ungrateul here, but this is why your codename is grandma". They reached the building and James injected John with a stim. "You owe me." " Don't think for a second i'm going to be giving you a spnge bath grandma...". Feeling a little better from the stim, he stood up. He limped out the side door and into and alley after grabbing 2 more stims for back-up. Alright, I lets try this again.. He looks up at the fire escape. Memories flash.I'll just use the stairs... He walks into the building across from Yen's building in the alley, and starts to walk upstairs. As he is ha;f-way up, The front door comes down, with three super uglies coming through.

The master had a minigun, the other 2 with hunting rifles. The master spoke. "Stupid Lizard! I Saw You In Here!" It was then that he noticed John limping up the stairs. John looked over. Oh shit... And then dashed upstairs. "Puny Human! I'll Rip The Flesh From Your Bones!" Mini-gun fire ripped through the floor, large footsteps being heard from the stairs. John turned into a bedroom, and took another stim. Alright uglies, time to get fucked up. He could tell the master was still downstairs, waiting for the others to do the kill. He could hear one of the uglies go into the bathroom, and lift the lid on the toilet. Human? Yea...I'm hiding in the toilet... Footsteps starting getting closer to the bedroom. As the mutant walked in, hunting rifle ready, from around the corner came a knife to his eye, twisted, and pulled out. Immediately John ducked the fist that smashed into the wall where his head was. The mutant then slamed his rife into the wall, then looked down to John. "Now You Went, And Got Me Mad!" John pulled the assault rifle. The super ugly aimed the hunting at John's head. John jerked his head to the right as he fired his assault rifle in the thing's face, feeling the head and the thunder of the bullet fly past his head. Fuck that was loud... The super mutand backed-up a little but didn't seem to die yet. While ugly was still stunned, John jumped onto the super mutant, standing on its arms, and stabbed the barrel into its other eye, shooting his brains out.

As the mutant fell over dead, John being on top, looked over at the hallway, with the other ugly running for him, taking a shot. John turned quick and ducked his head, letting the bullet hit the back of his armor. John felt the impact, then rolled to the side. He grabbed the hunting rifle from the dead mutant. As ugly ran in, John fired one shot into his head, then another, then another, and one more. The super mutant fell backward with a hole in his face. Now the footsteps of the master could be heard coming from the stairs. "I'll Deal With You Myself!" I don't have to fight him, I'll just go through the window.. As John ran over to the window, he came face to face with another kind of ugly. Deathclaw ugly. The deathclaw climbed in as John backed up. The deathclaw walked in, the super mutant master walked in, John stepped to the side. The master unloaded into the daethclaw's face, knocking it back out the window. When he turned to face John, 4 claws impaled him from behind. The master slammed him elbow into the deahclaw, pushing it back. The master turned and opened fire, hitting the deathclaw in the chest. The deathclaw took some severe injuries but lunged forward, slicing off the end of the barrel. The super mutant brought what was left of the barrel up under the deathclaw's jaw, stabbing it into its mouth and lifting it up off the ground.. The deathclaw swumg frantically, cutting up the master pretty bad. The master then turned quickly, slamming the barrel down to the floor, and into the deathclaw's skull. Finally winning the fight, the master turned to John and charged with a yell. John shot him oce in thhe face, making him stop for a second and hold his already cut up face. John went to fire again, but it jammed. Being charged once more, John turned and ran to the wall, running up it and then flipping over the supermutant who had just smashed into the wall. John ducked the swing that the master turned with, leaps up on his chest, and brings his fist right into the super mutants throat (piercing strike perk). The master holds his throat as John leaps off.

John pauses for a moment and holds his back. Gah, need to watch what I do a little better. He climbs out the window, landing on a dumpster, and goes down another alley way. He then realizes that he is at the base of the building that the missle shot from. Don't want more rockets being shot at us... John pulls out the assault rifle once more and heads inside...

Edger stayed in the back, waiting for all the muties to be distracted. He listed his targets in his head. Assault rifle guy, hunting rifle guy, and minigun guy. Alright, lets go get tha-..... wait, where'd that nudnik with one arm go? Eh, I'll find him later. Ed crept in and neared one of the big, green idiots. As the gatling began firing, Edger used the deafening noise to block out the sound of his kill. He impaled his claws through the back of the mutant-fodder's head. He stepped towards the next foe and was noticed, though only for a moment. The beast scarcely had time to protest, before grasping the gouge where his windpipe once was.

One more to g- "I'll Smash Your Bones!" Edger locked eyes with the missing 'nudnik', and barely avoided it's swing. The giant hammer smashed through the brick wall and got lodged. Ed tore the brutes Achilles tendon with his clawed foot, causing the lumix of a beast to yell out in agony. Seeing it's action delayed by it's injuries, Edger attacked yet again. Hooking his claws into it's flesh, right below the rib cage and gripping it tight. He brought the green monster in for the killing blow, but was interrupted by a mechanical whirring noise. I know that sound!

Ed had made a mistake, he had engaged in a fight right in front of a mutant with a giant-ass gun. With a quick prayer, Edger shoved his 'friend' into the brutes stream of lead. It's now mangled body had blocked just enough to let Ed dive for the back room. This armored super mutant seemed to have a lead finger, as it quite literally hosed the walls of it's tiny room. The thousands of rounds tore through two-century-old drywall and wood like tissue paper, and spread chaos throughout the entire floor. Thankfully, the mutant seemed to aim no lower than hip level.

Edger flopped to the ground, and was greeted with a wet sensation on his leg. Shortly followed by the itching of broken glass from a soda bottle that some idiot left in his pocket earlier and forgot about it. Terrific.... After a while, the gyro's of the gun whined down, and the barrels slowed to a halt. "You Dead Now?" Does he really expect me to answer that? On second thought, I think I will anyway. Bursting through a section of weakened drywall, Ed took the giant by surprise. The metal barrels began to rotate, but Edger wasn't giving him the chance to fire. A defiant upward smack forced the aim of the gun safely to the ceiling, and responded with a shoulder tackle. The stumbling giant fell backwards through an open window, and to the anarchy that lay outside.

Edger moved to retrieve his prize, not checking on the status of the fallen mutant. The empty howls of hungry deathclaws were a clear enough sign of it's fate. Closing the munition box lid with a claw, he quickly loaded both boxes into his backpack before taking his trophy. As he reached for the launcher, he noticed a switch marked 'safety' next to a little red light. Ed made an educated guess and figured that the red light meant the weapon was 'ARMED', promptly flipping it off. He cradled it in his leather-bound arms as if it were a newborn. Not willing to take chances, he kept the barrel faced away from him and made sure nothing bumped the trigger.

The level of destruction outside seemed to be gradually increasing, and Edger rushed to his allies. The solution to there crowd control problem in tow. Hearing a door give way to a muscle-bound boot, Edger was chased from the structure by a hail of bullets. "Arrrgh! Stupid Lizards Stealing Now? Get After Him You Idiots! He's Heading Through!" Ed had to rest inside this little shelter for a moment. He realized that he had not escaped as unscathed as he had wished. Two 5mm rounds made a home in his left arm, a through-n-through leaving it's trail through his shoulder. The wounds would not inhibit his movement or threaten his life, so Edger ignored the pain and pressed on.

The ledge to his original choice of shelter gave-way under his weight. Ed was forced to use the launcher as an anchor, twisting it sideways. Edger paused a moment, hanging by the strength of the weapons casing. He agreed that completing his current task was more than enough of a contribution to this battle. He knew they had to retreat, however. The super mutants were arriving in overwhelming numbers, and the battle had become way past unwinnable. Pulling himself through the window and bounding down the stairs, Edger hailed James. "If you could come away from the killzone for just a moment, I may have a gift for you." Edger ducked his head back into safety, not too found of the idea of being shot. "Behold! I bring tidings of good cheer!" Edger boasted as James manged to clamber into the safety of the building. "And.... uhh.... maybe something to help patch that dent in your precious baby right there, but you owe me." Letting his arm back, the backpack hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Edger's voice seemed to almost purr out those last words. He liked the thought of the Enclave man being indebted to him.....

James blinked as Edgar had brought some much needed heavy arms. He nodded and then picked the launcher up and the bag, he quickly loaded the weapon and then motioned Edgar to follow. "Mind covering me while I use this? And feed me ammo?" He then grabbed the backpack in one hand and slugged the broken mini-gun into the magnetic holster next to the massive ammo case on his back. He had some experience with a these kinds of weapons but not much, he doubted his ability to use it effectively. But he had no time to repair the mini-gun so he slugged the massive launcher onto his shoulder and then headed up the stairs. Crouching down by a window with a view to be more accurate he aimed at the building the mutants had garrisoned in to atleast give the Deathclaws an edge in holding them off. He wasn't aiming for any mutants in particular just hoping to cause damage to the structure and force the mutants out. With that he began firing, tone rocket after another flying into random sections of the building but rocking it pretty badly, finally one of the floors collapsed, shaking the building. With a grin. He reloaded, forgetting he told Ed to feed him ammo, once reloaded a rocket into the weapon he fired on the building, and repeated the process as fast as he possibly could, the rockets randomly spewing into the structure and causing more damage. Ruining the mutant's position further. He called out as loud as he could. "Xander! Time to pull back! Get your ass out of there! Before the behemoth notices I'm blowing the hell out of the building his buddies are hiding in!" He looked and fired a couple more rockets off into the building the muties had had control over, chuckling while during so.

Before walking in, John had to step over a chewed up super mutant body, holding a minigun. How many miniguns can they have? He continued into the building, heading up the stairs. There were three corpses here of uglies. One with his throat ripped out, one who looked like he was gunned down from a minigun, and the other was headless and was in front of a closet door. Damn, deathclaws. He could see the flashes and smoke of explosions over some buildings, but the actual explosions were blocked by buildings. He jumped through the window and onto a dumpster. Hopping to the ground, he started down an alley. The ground was shaking slightly, probably from the explosions and what not. As he turned a corner, staring at a deathclaw chewing on a super ugly's corpse. It snapped its head over to look at John, letting out a screech. He lunged forward, sliding the claws on its right hand along the wall. John stepped one foot on the wall, then wall ran just over the deathclaw's swing. Mid wall-run, he drew the assault rifle and started unloading it into the back of its head. The deathclaw turned into the bullets, and while its head was pretty cut up now, it only pissed it off. It once again lunged forward, John diving backwards into a roll back to his feet. He was now in another alley, where the two alleys made a T. He was in the base of the T, the deathclaw now being at where the lines met to make the T. Alright ugly, let's dance. As the deathclaw started forward, the ground shook hard, and then a foot come out of nowhere and punt-kicked the deathclaw to what could be assumed to be China.

It was now that John looked up at the very, very tall (and fugly) Behemoth. It had to be 40 ft tall. The Behemoth looked at John and then remembered...He was the bastard who hurt his face. "Ggggraaaahhhhh!" John shit his pants. He dashed down the ally, with ugly following him very quickly. The Behemoth smashed his fists down just behind John, who felt the wind and ran faster. John barged through a door, dashed up the stairs, and sprinted to a window all in a straight line. The Behemoth charged through the building, stopping in the center of it and brining his fist back as John was reaching the window. John dives through the window, the fist smashing into almost the entire wall of that room. Glass and rubble landed around John as he rolled to his feet. running his ass down another alley. He cut around a corner of a building, hoping to gain some ground. The Behemoth just ran through the corner, sending debris everywhere. John once again smashed through a door, running up the stars. The Behemoth smashed down into the building, cutting down half the building and knocking John to the ground from the shockwaves and debris. John rolled as fast as possable to the side, seeing his life flash before his eyes as the fist sunk down only a foot from him. Scrambling to his feet, John jumped through a window to his side, landing in a crouch and then taking off down the next ally. The Behemoth just swept his arm down, destroying what was left of the building while letting out "Smash! Rrraaaarrrggg!". John saw two more super mutants down the alley with their backs turned, one with another damn minigun. "Hey uglies!". As they turned, John jumped up putting one foot on the minigun, and then vaulting over the mutant's head. The mutants looked up and saw their brother running staight for them...very quickly. "No, Wait, Stooo-" Crunch! Leaving a pile of green and red gore behind him, he continued for John. John turned into the streets, looking for something to help him out. He was heading to a 4-way intersection, when he looked back and saw a car going flying his way. John dropped on his ass, sliding as the car went just over his head. He got to his feet and turned left at the intersection.

The road here was really beaten up, having small gaps scattered around the street. I wonder what the chances of him falling through the ground are. Farther down the road was Xander and James, almost in sight. John was vaulting over cars and under rubble trying to get away from the Giant. "Shit!" The Behemoth just smashed through cars and trucks, running through everything. John unkowingly jumped over a small gap in the road that had broken pipeline underneathe it...leaking gas. The Behemoth reared his right hand back, right ubove the pipeline. "Yyyyarrrrrrgggg!". He smashed a 16-wheeler off the road...but caused a spark. Fire spewed everywhere, from underground and above. The Road caved in under the Behemoth, sending him crashing down into a metro station. John looked over his shoulder just after the spark, hearing a fwooshing noise and seeing a flash. "What the fu-" Booooom! John was sent flying forward, managing to stay upright. He looked down while air-born, flames at his back. The ground was still caving in, and some explosions still going offf around him. He landed with one foot now, immediately taking off into a full on sprint. The road was caving in right behind him, as his foot came up, the ground went down. In rapid succession "Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck!" the road finally stopped dropping, and John stopped. He walked over to the end of the huge casm, jaw hanging. He was blackened from the flames. Small exposions went off from inside some buildings and cars, probably from flames hitting other sources of gas. John continued looking at the casm. "What the Fuck was that about!?". Everything was quiet now, a complete standstill. No gunshots, no deathclaws, and no super mutant yells. Edger nonchalantly walked over in his robes, and stood at the edge next to John. They don't look at eachother, instead gazing at the destruction. John continued looking dumfounded.Several moments of complete silence passed until it was finally broken by Edger.

"Do it again"

Cover you? With what, happy thoughts and good intent? These were Edger's thoughts as he lugged the two ammo crates up after James. At James instruction, Edger placed the ammo by a window and popped the lid open. He glanced outside into the gory madness below. The mutants numbers were staggering. Those numbers rivaled only by there dead, as the deathclaws seemed to come from other neighboring nests and were far from done with this fight. Ed's observation was interrupted by a thundering blast from the structure James had targeted. The explosion shook the building the two were in, causing a radio to fall off a shelf. It clattered against the ground and began blaring a merry tune. The racket must have echoed throughout the streets of the entire war zone. Neither of the two bothered to stop it, as there was work to be done. Dust, debris, and broken glass flung every which way by the missile's shock wave.

James' blindly reached his hand out to Edger, signaling for more ammo and clearing his throat to break Ed from his trance. "Oh! Right! Sorry!" Edger began tossing rockets into James' already waiting palm, his fingers clamping down on them like a bear trap the moment they touched. Missiles pelted the building side, causing rubble and mutants to fall out and off onto to the streets below. One shot appeared to hit some kind of ordinance, as a window from the wounded building appeared to belch flame back out at James and Edger. Several large, flaming figures could be seen running back and forth through the windows of the structure. After emptying one case into it, the entire upper corner of the building crashed down to Earth, claiming an untold number of super mutant lives. A small, red puddle seemed to form underneath the rubble, which now served as a giant tombstone. Ed could swear he felt a smile under the wolf-painted Enclave helm.

James began gasping for more missiles, firing them off like a mad man. Oh sure. Now you cut out the middle man. James became almost a machine, shattering the frankenstein's offensive effort. Fiery blasts caused massive amounts of destruction and gore, as red and green limbs flew from their torsos. Flaming wrecks of vehicles flew through the air, propelled by miniature mushroom-clouds. Indeed, even chunks of asphalt from the road became deadly shrapnel. Bathed in searing flame, dotted with craters, and slick with gore, Edger witnessed several lumbering giants fleeing from the hell that had been wrought upon them. James seemed pleased by the results. Even going so far as to let out a chuckle as he fired two more shots into the collapsing building, which rained even more fire and brimstone onto the street. Ed, feeling no longer needed as there was but one missile left, headed downstairs to track down John. And maybe a way out of this graveyard.

Edger headed towards the back door, picking at his wounds as he did. Thankfully the two 5mm rounds didn't seem to get very far, as Ed slowly picked them out with his pinkie claw. The wound to his shoulder appeared to be the result of an armor piercing round, likely from a .308 rifle. Edger was no stranger to being shot, but mostly it was from raiders and fiends with low caliber weapons. Those could hardly ever pierce his thick hide, let alone draw blood. This type of injury was a first for him. He silently hoped that Xander wouldn't notice it, as he might want to have a better look. Not good. He neared an all-too familiar window, still baring the deep groves of razor-like claws. He gazed through and beheld his rival, his nemesis, his traitor, who defiantly spat in his face when he desperately needed help and nearly got Edger killed.

That fucking door......

Ed was a bit leery on exiting the window, he wasn't keen on the idea of running into 'one-eye' again. He wasn't sure why, but he had kept the door knob. A bobble to remind him of his near-death experience, perhaps. Edger tried putting it back in, and maybe getting the damn thing open this time. A roar and scraping sound startled him, and he simply went through the door. Making an entrance, he was greeted by the stagnant, age old air this place seemed to be harboring for over 200 years. It seemed to be an old diner, guessing by the walk-in freezer in the back room. It must have been in good business back in the day, as it seemed to be larger than most others. Fossilized remnants of food still lay on ancient plates, which were fused to their tables. Charred bones littered the floor and scorch-black silhouettes stained the walls. Oh, and an old jukebox made home against the wall, a burnt shadow labeling it as well.

The diner seemed to be converted from an old two-story building, as the walls and ceiling were constructed of cement and concrete. Through an ash encrusted window, Edger could see what looked like a school yard. If this were true, than he could tell where they were and possibly find a way out. This would have to wait, as a wall caved in and 3 muties stormed into the room. 'Smash The Tall Man!" Well at least it's not 'Stupid Lizard'. The fight ensued as one of the monsters grew the nerve to charge with a hammer, wielding it over his head in preparation to 'smash'. With his left claw, Edger cut off both of the mutants hands as it tried to swing. The hammer fell harmlessly behind the green oaf, and left the mutant dumbstruck. Ed's right hand pierced up through the mutants jaw, killing it in an instant. If I'm lucky, they'll either run or just keep using melee weapons.

[Failed Luck Check]

As his dead foe hit the ground, Ed received a powerful blow to his abdomen. They weren't retreating. A super sledge's kinetic discharge had shot Edger back, slamming him into the jukebox. The mutant charged, sledge at the ready. Ed kicked up his clawed feet, pole vaulting the big bastard head-first into the wall. Ed slashed for it's neck, an aggravated roar left him as he did, but the mutant stumbled back just enough to avoid those 12 inch claws. Edger's tail hooked the mutants heel, causing it to flop onto it's derriere. Edger rolled forward onto the beast, trying to finish one more fight. Despite having the advantage, the mutant was able to hold of Edger's assault by grabbing both his wrists. Ed was just about to go in for a 'bite', but the sound of a shotgun cocking tends to draw ones attention elsewhere. He was able to lunge away from the blast, and behind the counter. The shot narrowly avoiding hitting Ed or the prone mutant.

What could only be described as an explosion rocked the entire foundation of the building, as a large slab of the cement ceiling crashed down onto the super mutant. His companion, however, readied his shotgun, and gingerly approached the potentially waiting deathclaw. Slowly aiming his shotgun in, Ed grabbed it and flung it from the mutant's clutches. Edger lunged over the counter, pinning the brute on the ground and eviscerating it with his claws.

[Perception Check]

Suddenly..... something was off. His senses told him that there was another presence in the room, in fact, right in front of him. He looked and beheld no one, but received a powerful upward slug to his jaw. Edger disgracefully back-flipped out of his robes, and onto his face. He raised his head, and saw something displacing the dust in the air. A figure. A big figure. Nightkin? Fan-freaking-tastic...... Ed attempted to pull himself up, but was rush-n-grappled into a bear-hug. This one seemed to like fighting bare handed. Ed could feel his bones popping, but managed to sink four of his claws into each of the invisible masses sides.

Uncloaking, the beast yelled out in agony as his grip loosened. This gave Ed a glorious opportunity to attack, and he did so by chomping onto the blueish-purple hulk's face with his blade-like teeth. The nightkin was forced to drop Edger, and reached for it's weapon. Ed wasn't planning on giving him the chance to, as he pierced through the beasts right forearm and, with one vicious rend, flayed most of the flesh from the bone. Ed capitalized by uppercutting the elite mutant with his head, knocking it to the ground. Pouncing onto it's chest, he began shredding away at it with his claws. Suddenly an unseen force clamped down on Edger's wrist, and began twisting it behind his back. His other arm shortly followed. Great. I never get the loner. A third nightkin uncloaked infront of him, looking as imposing as possible. Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't you say it. "Heh heh heh, Stupid Lizard....." Pendejo.... The nightkin began pounding on Edger, with his friend holding back his arms. The song from the jukebox hit one lyric that gave Edger an idea. 'Anything goes'. As the purple bastard reared back for another straight, Edger thrust his horns straight into the oncoming fist. The result was a mutant screaming in pain from a deathclaw horn impaling his hand right between the knuckles of the ring finger and middle.

Edger hooked a talon from his foot into the flesh of the mutant's groin to pull it in closer, then launching it away with both feet. Ed began violently rearing his head back, smashing his captor in the face with his horns and skull. The stunned beast finally broke his grasp on Edger, as he staggered back. Ed decided to take 'eye-for-an-eye' literal, as his shot out his left hand straight for the nightkin's face. The mutant was barely able to catch the strike, but one of Edger's claws still found it's mark. The mutant slowly pulled Ed's claw from it's eye socket, but then received another crippling injury. Edger's right claw severing the nightkins arm just above the elbow. His attention turned back to the downed nightkin, who appeared to be reaching for the laser rifle on his back. Ed roared as he charged foward, and gutted the downed mutant from his crotch to his throat. Ed seemed to be caught up in his revenge, as he began ripping away chunks of meat from the corpse. The swift pain from a blunt object radiating through his back was a fair reminder that the other one was still alive.

Two more strikes from the brute's rebar club struck against Ed's spine, the third knocking him forward onto his stomach. Okay, enough of this crap. The one-armed mutant readied for it's next swing, but Edger countered by slicing the head of the club clean off. Flabbergasted, the nightkin did little to stop the left hand from impaling it through the stomach. Edger could feel his claws poke out the other side. Ed gave a strong downward head-butt, forcing the mutant off his claws and onto it's knees. Ed gazed into that one eye, as he crossed his arms in front of him. His elbows nearly touched, and his claws faced outward. He just stared at the bleeding creature with those burning red eyes. Waiting. The mutant made a move, but it wouldn't matter. At the hint of motion, Ed's arms flew apart like some sort of nightmarish, spring-loaded iron trap. Each arm returning to it's proper place, with one thing in common that blocks it's path. The nightkins neck.

The result was the inevitable. The bastard's severed head spiraled into the air, a stream of blood drawing a dizzying contrail behind it. [Fatality!Edger Wins!] Highly irritated by the scuffle, Edger gently donned his robes and proceeded to the window. Knocking out the glass with his claws, he scanned over the building he believed to be a schoolyard and quickly recognized where they were. His memory of trade routes told him that a safe-guard route lie quite literally just around the corner. Edger decided that this was enough exploring on his own, and if John was lost then he'd simply have to find the group. Ed was not getting his ass kicked again to go look for him. Edger felt a tiny trickle of liquid run down the back of his leg. He glanced down and realized that his back injury was bleeding a little. That, and he had a bit of a limp. Trying to ignore it as best he could, he proceeded back to the group.

Upon returning, Edger witnessed possibly the most amazing thing he had ever seen. John, running like his genitles were on fire. The reason showed itself before the question was thought, as the titan of an abomination loomed down after him. The monster's club slammed the ground, and appeared to have ignited an underground gas main. Flame spat up and highlighted every crack in the asphalt as the flames outlined the effected radius. The behemoth didn't appear to be as stupid as one might have believed, as it had an expression on it's face that could only be described as "Oh shit!". The ginormous monstrosity vanish into the ground in a cloud of black smoke and hell fire. When the chasm finally stopped expanding, everything ceased. The gunfire, the deathclaws, the mutants, the wind, the bloat flies in mating season. Everything. They all seemed just as in shock as everything else as to the unbelievable series of extraordinary events that just occurred. As Edger approached the extremely shaken John, he simply couldn't resist.

".......Do it again."

Aside from the heavy breaths, John gave no verbal response. Though it wouldn't take a telepath to pick up the mental "fuck you" being directed at Edger. As everyone stared into the bleak abyss, Ed recognized two things. One being the metro station, the other being the series of land mines that seemed to surround hopefully dead giant. Allowing the moment for prayer that the damn thing doesn't get back up, Edger addressed the group with his new information. "I have good news, great news, better news, and 'we should be running for our lives' news. I'll name these off in order. Good: I know where we are, great: I know a way out of this hell hole, better: the mutants are going to be getting pushed back now that they're big friend here is down....." Ed began to slowly back-pedal towards where he remembered the subway entrance was. "And as far as the running part, there's now not a lot to stop the deathclaws from reclaiming turf and killing everyone...... So yeah......" Ed was barely able to wait for his allies response to his report, but not before giving his advice on their next move in this situation.

"Tactical retreat? Anyone?"

James finally ran out of rockets and scowled, his bloodlusting cackle ended. He looked up to see Edgar, the bulk of robe and flesh had gone somewhere. He shrugged and stood, looking out at the battle-zone. Looking across the fields of gore igniting something in him, he began cackling again. Eye growing wide under the helmet, in all reality James was enjoying this mosh pit of death and destruction. It fueled the spirit within him that had been created from years of armed warfare and slaughter. When he lived and something died before him, it meant he was better, stronger and more enduring. In short it made him enjoy taking life. James was a madman.

He then noticed John being chased by the lumbering behemoth, he ducked bit and then watched as the massive beast trampled everything in its way to get one tiny insignificant spec. Soon the thing's club went smashing down into a pipe and James felt a rush of burning air across the area as it fell into what he saw as a pit of hell, fire torrents ripping from the earth and smoke gushing from the abysmal crater like as if a one of the bombs of the Old World had gone off right before his eyes. With that James stood again and gave a blood-curdling war cry, one leg on the window seal in front of him as if he were placing a flag like on the old posters, then one hand above his head. Once the war-cry ended it was replaced with a loud cackling laughter. Almost like that of an enraged Hyena. The man then called out. "Leave those mutants in hell so they can burn twice over!" At that he cackled again and then dropped down from his perch, metal boots thudding hard against the ground as he landed and stabilized himself with one hand. He walked over and then looked down the pit with Edgar and John, removing his helmet to spit into it. He placed his painted helm back on with a click and heard Edgar speak, barely able to hear him over the blood rage teeming in his mind. Carrying the rocket launcher that was ammo-less around with him. After all, one Enclave soldier could never have too many tools of bloodletting and firestarting.

Sauntering slowly behind Xander was a small female figure, raven black hair drapping down to her mid-section as she moved lithely and pulled her two spears from the fallen mutants and placed them into her back. Turning to face the Sniper before moving to follow Edgar and James. Her re-build Legion armor making hardly a noise as she strode.

Noise and explosions... everywhere. The ground shook, his ears rang, and the air smelled of gasoline from destroyed cars. Yen had taken cover in one of the buildings and had been cowering there, feeling useless and terrified as a mere hacker who had just seen a super mutant closing in on his position. Probably because that's what he was. He held very very still and hoped that the super mutant would pass by. It didn't work. The big dumb thing walked past once... then came by again... then the third time it looked his direction, and squinted at him. Yen panicked. He wasn't quite sure what to do. So he did what he usually did when he was panicking. He held stock-still and stared at the creature in horror as it moved very slowly towards him, and finally it began to growl. It seemed like it was taking an eternity to get to Yen and kill him, and Yen just closed his eyes and waited. After over 200 years of harsh living, it might actually be nice to die, he began to think. After all, it's one thing I've never done before. There were a few things that I had hoped to get done before I died, but that's okay, I guess. This was a stupid idea anyway. I'm far too old for all this crazy adventuring stuff. I should have just stayed put. In fact - He paused in his train of thought. It sure was taking the super-mutant a while to get over here already. He opened his eyes.

[Luck Success]

The supermutant was gone. Yen was astonished. No, more than astonished, blown out of the water. He couldn't believe his luck! He looked around, but it was true. That supermutant was as gone as Yen's old house. He walked shakily out of the building and looked to the right, where he saw the supermutant walking away. I can't believe it! It makes no sense, but I'll take it! He went back in the building and waited a while for the supermutant to be far away, then he looked back out. He watched as John led a behemoth into a pit of death, then heard James's cry. Then he heard the thick silence of amazement that followed. He clambered slowly out of the building, then jogged over to the group. "Are you suggesting," Yen said to Edgar, "That we go down into the metro tunnels? Because you do know that that's insanely dangerous?"

Edger chuckled lightly at Yen. "Not as much as you'd think. See, I know this area. Traders have to come through here often, and to avoid the hell we just walked into, they use what's called a 'safeguard'. Metro tunnels that have been cleared and mined off, leaving one path that's safe to follow for anyone with two brain cells to stay on the path. They're usually set up by big time caravan companies, who send mercenaries every week or so to clean them out and replenish the mine fields." Edger took a moment to glance back down at the fallen titan. Making sure he was right before he spoke. He looked back at yen and smiled. "If I remember right, this route was set up by no other than Crimson Caravans. Which would mean that it's safer than some old world bomb shelters. Heh, probably more stable, too."

Ed proceeded to head towards the entrance, moving in the direction his memory has given him. He glanced back and confidently said "It does seem to be our best bet here. Unless your skittish of the dark, then I assure you it's surprisingly safe. Well, as safe as anything out here is. After all, I wouldn't be much of a guide if I didn't know these things......" Ed then paused for a moment, then looked towards James. "Although, you may want to fix your weapons and stay loaded. Mines or not, it's still a metro tunnel."

Yen nodded. "I agree with you for once, John. Let's move." He began to follow Edgar towards the subway entrance. As they walked briskly, he fell silent. Edgar's comment about old world bomb shelters had gotten him thinking about something he had thought about a million times over. If he were given a choice, would he rather have gotten into a vault with his family and lived out a short but clinically safe life in one of those? Or would he keep his current life, irradiated and dangerous though it was, and all the experiences that came with that? After however many years he had lived, he still hadn't figured out the answer. So he kept turning it over and over in his mind, not really looking for the answer.

Then another thing Edgar had said sparked something in Yen's head: 'I know this area.' Yen chuckled aloud. "Yep." he said. "I know this area, too. Probably not like you. I recognize it from road trips we took to see relatives down in Texas Commonwealth." he laughed. "Wow! I hardly recognized the place! But see that billboard? It had a typo on it. Now I remember where we are!" Yen realized how much he had been talking and how out of place the whole thing was - rattling on about road trips and flawed billboards while fleeing from frankensteins. After a moment of feeling like a moron, he looked at the ground. "Um... I'm going to shut up now."

When he put his head down he noticed the figure walking silently along behind Xander. "Woah! Who the hell are you?"

"Woah! Who the hell are you?" Were the first words one of these idiotic, in her mind, mercs inquired. "I am Sheara." She responded and briskly walked ahead of them taking lead. "I wish to know your names if I am to be working with you, I have never seen any of you around Freeside before or any wastes I have wandered through." The Tribal accent on her tongue was rough, though she bore a slaves tattoo on her exposed hand if one looked close enough [Perception of 6]. A basket of Spears on her back and a Tribal looking hatchet on her waist. Her figure was slender, though also muscled and conditioned for what it seemed melee combat. Her armor was stained and scratched but also bearing many tribal symbols and trophies and around her neck she wore a necklace of fangs and claws.

James finally clicked his Mini-gun into place and got the heavy weapon to run again, thanks to the weapon repair kit Ed had handed him. He then looked up at Sheara and then to the group. Deciding to remain silent as he followed behind Edgar. Great, another person to contend with. He thought to himself, glad the helmet could mask the scowl he had upon his visage. The 'man' in the robes was alright... Yuppy John was annoying. Xander was just Xander. And Yen was a rotting corpse who could walk and speak. Atleast he knew how to deal with Tribals.

John looked up at the girl. "Awww, we got a pretty lady to join us. I am not sharing my promised caps though. If she comes along, its without pay. Unless one of you fancy gentlemen would like to give up some of your share." He once again looked down into the casm, then back to the girl. He let out a sigh. "My name is John, here we have Edger, Yen, James, and you've already met Xander. If you want to tag along, I'm all for it, but don't expect much pay, I'm not giving any more than 5%. Hope you're fine with walking, cause we have a lot of that to do. Speaking of which, let's go." He then looked over to Edger. "Alright, you seem to know the trade routes, so you're going to be in the front with James. Our new member can stay in the middle with Xander. I'll take yen with me in the back. This way everyone who isn't...combat experienced, is covered by someone who is. Now lets move out." With that he started to head down into the abyss.

Edger brushed the chain link gate aside, glancing behind the corner for his proof. Sure enough, just out of view from the outside was a small insignia of two red, interconnecting letter C's. "Crimson Caravan. Always gotta take the good routes." He glanced back, peering down the dark, dreary hallway that led to the station below. Ed wasn't sure how long it'd been this this tunnel was surveyed, so caution became a key principal. "James, might I ask about you helmet's specifications? Particularly those pertaining to some kind of tactically enhanced optical receptors designed for low-light environments?" He looked back to face James as he answered, but saw the baffled look on John's face. "......It means 'Night Vision'."

Edger took a step behind James, and mentally/verbally assessed the environment they'd soon find themselves in. "Let's see. Tight, long corridors in pitch black tunnels, with little to no cover for something to avoid getting eviscerated by thousands of high speed lead projectiles. Yes, I think you'll do nicely upfront, James. Although, try not to shoot everything that moves, there usually are a few gas leaks down here......." He trailed off as he looked up. "And.... I guess up there, too. Either way, there that and the fact that this is a caravan route. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't enjoy the thought of getting on Crimson Caravan's bad side cause someone got trigger happy and mutilated one of there traders."

Edger let James move forward, and took his spot in second place next to the new member of the party. "Hmm. I don't believe we've met, madam. I am Edger, as John earlier pointed out. I don't believe you've given us your name?" Edger paused for a second, [Perception Check] and noticed the brand on her left hand. A slave to the Legion. Edger spoke in a hushed tone, to avoid James overhearing. "Sum amicus. Ego non iudicium de te. Facere non loqui ad unum in arma, autem, enim ipse erat semel Legiuncula. Ipse est is amicus nunc, sed adhuc vetus Legiuncula."

(Translation: I am a friend. I do not judge you. Do not speak to the one in the armor, however, for he was once Legion. He is a friend now, but still an old Legion.)

Edger's tone picked up, with a much softer and friendlier pitch. "I do not believe I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the native tribesmen. Please tell me, are you from here? Or are your people nomadic? There's a great deal I'd like to learn about your cult-Gerkkk!" In his lack of attention, Edger had walked head first into a low-hanging advertisement for a "new" Nuka-Cola. He shook his head a bit, making sure his hood was right, before returning to his conversation with a chuckle.

"Perhaps another time? One with less headaches?"

Yen watched as everybody babbled on to the new 'edition.' Smoothskins... never think of the consequences. Yen cleared his throat. "Now, hang on a minute, lady." He started, noticing the tattoo on her hand as she moved to the middle. "Before yourself, nobody said anything about you working with us. And I don't think we want a slave with us. That's a heap of trouble that we can't afford. If you didn't notice, we just finished fighting off a hoarde of death-claws and super-mutants. Add Caesar's Legion to that and we've got ourselves a little too much trouble." And if you didn't notice, he imagined her saying, some of you wouldn't have survived that fight without me. Yen wasn't stupid. He knew what a valuable asset this girl could be. But he also knew what a liability she could manage to make herself. And that was unpalatable. And then, as John pointed out, there were the caps, and then this chick was just a little too irritating. "And save me the 'I just saved your asses' speech, 'cause I've heard it a million times."