After sending that one moron who clearly didn't understand the grave position he was in to the underworld, I grilled the last survivor with one question after the next. The man who I found to be a mercenary for hire quickly spilled the info I was seeking, same as a faucet, and before long I had a solid overview of the situation and which power was trying to stir up trouble in Mary's hometown.
Ahh, so it was the Merchant Guild in Vegas pulling the strings and attempting to capture/eliminate Mary. That's honestly not surprising, considering Crystal Springs is practically a bread basket for Las Vegas. That organization's primary MO is profit, so they may be attempting a hostile takeover of the town to increase the profits they bring in from importing food and other goods into one of the last surviving bastions of humanity.
And using the mayor's precious daughter as a hostage/bargaining chip could ease the difficulty of such a plan…I could continue going down this line of thought, but there's really no point in doing so, at least for the time being, since it's not going to give me any definitive answers nor get me anywhere.
Now what do I want to do with this merc… He and his former comrades were going to try to eliminate me and capture Mary if they could, so this man really isn't entitled to mercy seeing how he was willing to take this type of work. In spite of that, he probably still holds some value, therefore I'll keep him alive till I've rid the town of its enemies.
Knowing it would be wiser to extract as much value out of this ruthless bastard as I could, I held off on putting a bullet straight through his skull and burying him 6 feet under and asked Mary a question. "Mary, does your dad have anywhere they can hold on to someone, preferably somewhere secure?"
"Hmm, that's a good question. He probably does, but I'm not really in the know when it comes to that kind of stuff. Do you want me to call him, update him on the situation, and ask?"
"If you would."
Whilst Mary was busy giving her pa a rundown regarding the predicament we found ourselves in on the smartphone-like communicator I gifted her, I ran through that little slaughter fest I just committed.
That wasn't too bad of an encounter, but it could've gone a hell of a lot easier if I'm being honest with myself... Only having a suppressed .50 cal as my only true ranged option and a few knives plus my body for CQB is pretty rough and really limits my means of attack, quite substantially, in fact.
Yeah, now that I've had my first go at taking hostiles down silently, I gotta say my current set of tools really aren't sufficient for the challenges I'll no doubt face in my quest to conquer the wasteland. This means I'm going to have to take a look at my arsenal and expand it once more, particularly those that fall under the stealthy side of things for sure.
Intending to expand my arsenal again in the coming days, I threw the brainstorming onto my other thought processes to manage while I directed my primary focus to the grizzly looking merc of Latin heritage to make sure nothing occurred whilst my companion was concluding her business on the communicator.
After the wildflower talked back and forth with her dad, she eventually got him up to speed and wrapped up the call. "My pa said he has the perfect place for such an individual."
This man already let on that there are even more of them in town, so we're going to need to keep him alive till we've rid the town of all the Merchant Guild's forces.
"Great, let's head to town then and get rid of its rat infestation."
"Oh, also, my pa said we should come in from the side entrance since we don't want to spook them and let them get away."
"Of course, just tell me where I got to go."
"Will do, big guy."
Aware of what action we needed to take next to deal with this unexpected problem, I contemplated how I wanted to bring this mercenary back with us.
I have no desire to ride with him on my personal ride, so let the robots handle his transportation.
As soon as I completed that thought of mine, the automated forces I sent to round up the loot came back with a sizable haul, including the weapons of this merc squad leader.
"This is quite the nice set of weapons you got here, Mike." I taunted the killer for hire whilst partially racking the slide of his .50 AE Desert Eagle that had now come under new ownership.
The guy kept it together and didn't provide much of a response, so I stopped playing around and had the robots takeover his care whilst I inspected the haul quickly, though not before I stripped him of the suit of armor he had been wearing.
| AK-109 |
Damage: 42
DPS: 630
Fire rate: 900
Capacity: 30, 40, 60, 75
Reload: 2.8
Weight: 8.3
Class: Medium
Ammo Type: 7.62x39mm
Value: 24,950
Description: The AK-109 is basically identical to the AK-107 and AK-108 except it is chambered to fire the larger and heavier, hitting 7.62x39mm round.
| Beretta M10 Pistol |
Damage: 20
DPS: Variable
Fire Rate: Semi-Automatic
Capacity: 18, 25, 35, 50
Reload: 2.1
Weight: 2.35
Class: light
Ammo Type: 10mm Auto
Value: 6,500
Description: This pistol possesses a similar appearance to the renowned Beretta M9 and shares many of the same features with the exception of a more powerful cartridge which the former U.S. military desired for their next standard issue sidearm. Because of the aforementioned characteristics, the troops immediately took a liking to it and thus it scored the contract and thus became the successor for a number of decades before the military began replacing a segment of their conventional ballistic weaponry with those of the energy variety.
| Bowie Knife |
Damage: 20
DPS: Variable
Weight: 2
Class: Light
Value: 1,000
Description: A standard foot long hardened steel bowie knife, great for cutting, slashing, stabbing, and cleaning up kills.
| Desert Eagle |
Damage: 30
DPS: Variable
Fire Rate: Semi-Automatic
Capacity: 7
Reload: 2.5
Weight: 4.4
Class: Heavy
Ammo Type: .50 Action Express
Value: 25,000
Description: The Desert Eagle was an iconic handgun for its time and was known to use one of the single largest rounds found in any handgun, even to this day. And although it was quite the weapon when it was first created, it has since fallen out of favor for more advanced weapons like those of laser and plasma variety. Having said that, it still remains as effective as it once was, or even more so with the advancements that have been made in munition technology since then.
| M240 Machine Gun |
Damage: 50
DPS: 542-792
Fire rate: 650-950
Capacity: 100
Reload: 5
Weight: 26
Class: Heavy
Ammo Type: 7.62x51mm
Value: 28,800
Description: A general purpose machine gun used by the former U.S. military.
| M249 SAW |
Damage: 30
DPS: 425
Fire rate: 850
Capacity: 100, 200
Reload: 4.5
Weight: 17
Class: Heavy
Ammo Type: 5.56x45mm
Value: 20,250
Description: The squad automatic weapon was yet another light machine gun used by the now non-existent U.S. military. This machine gun is able to take munitions in the form of belts like any other machine gun, but on top of that, it is able to use 5.56 STANAG magazines.
I already have many of these weapons in my possession, but that doesn't mean this isn't quite the haul for what was supposed to be a small outing.
| Plate Carrier |
Resistances: DT 45
Class: Medium
Weight: 30
Value: 17,500
Description: A simple universal tactical carrier with multiple attachment points for magazine pouches and other miscellaneous accessories. This piece of equipment also comes with enough space for an armored plate on the front and back.
| Xenix-Series Combat Armor |
Resistances: DT 69, Radiation Resistance 15
Attributes: Agility +1, Endurance +1
Skills: Medicine +5
Power: Microfusion Cell
Weight: 75
Class: Medium
Value: 149,000
Description: The Xenix-Series Combat Armor was an advanced mid range suit designed and manufactured solely by the prewar corporation Xerath Industries for private entities and those with enough funds to afford their top dollar price tags. This suit's features include a slight power function capable of extending the wearer's endurance and supplying a bit of a boost in the speed department via the built exo-skeleton and administering combat stimulants, medstim injection, and pain relief via either as requested or as needed. Aside from that suite of powered features, it also comes equipped with durable lightweight proprietary alloys plates all across its flexible bodysuit to protect the wearer from a majority of small arms fire and give its uniquely sharp and futuristic look.
I didn't expect to find this rather rare suit of armor this early into my venture, but I'm glad I did because I'll be able to reverse engineer the suit's tech and implement it into my and my forces arsenal... When I get around to designing and producing the next generation of suits. All that aside, I should probably get a head start on designing a standard armor for my future forces before they're actually here.
As I was giving that idea some further brainpower, I continued going through the plethora of items my boys brought back from my short-lived battle.
| Kevex Backpack |
Resistances: DT 53
Class: Light
Weight: 5
Value: 34,500
Description: A backpack constructed of a lightweight fibrous material that is both strong and incredibly durable, so much so that it can resist full on rifle rounds, although it doesn't do much to protect the wearer from the rounds' impact.
| AFAK |
Weight: 20
Value: 88,000
Description: A small container packed full of medical supplies and tools to treat and hopefully save multiple casualties from being taken by the jaws of death.
| Regenerade Injector |
Weight: 0.1
Value: 500,000
Description: Regenerade is a valuable and very sought after injectable life-saving drug that can accelerate the body's regeneration speed to unnatural levels which can repair a majority of injuries and wounds. This regeneration is so fast that one can even visibly see whatever damage was caused to the body before one's very eyes. However, this incredible effect is not without its tradeoff, and that particular tradeoff is quite the hefty one to deal with. That is, having enough nutrients built up in the body to feed this voracious drug's rapid repair. If a user takes it hastily without proper preparations or meeting the necessary requirements, the drug will cannibalize the user to make up for the deficiency. Which can either result in a large loss of body weight and potentially a reduction in lifespan if one is lucky, and if luck isn't on your side, just pray death comes sooner rather than later.
Woah, that's one hell of a find. I can't believe this fucker had a thing of Regenerade on him.
Examining the encased injector filled to the brim with a murky blood red liquid for a few seconds longer, my thoughts quickly transitioned to the opportunity this incredibly valuable and rare drug could potentially provide me with.
Now that I've gotten my hands on a sample of this stuff, maybe I can figure out how to produce it myself. I mean, I've tried to in the past to no avail, but that was without even a single drop of the drug. Therefore, things should be different this go around seeing how I have the genuine article in hand.
As my mind was going nuts with the very real chance I had of producing this incredible life-saving drug for myself and even figuring out a way to either remove or at least lessen the potentially deadly side effects of this almost magical medicine to some extent, I couldn't help but be amazed with the amount of rare kit and tools this mercenary leader had at his disposal... Not that it did him any good.
When I was finished looking over the injector filled with red liquid, I stowed it away in my item box and sorted through the assortment of items for one more minute and eventually satisfied my inner loot goblin.
Alright, I've had my fill time to head to Crystal Springs and get some more from the bastards hiding out there.
Plenty happy with the unexpected haul, I deposited everything into my convenient means of storage and hopped on the Black Mamba with the firecracker and took off down the road with my robots and my captive as the creatures of the night moved in on the scent of blood drifting through the dusty dry winds.
[ Loot Gained ]
| Weapons |
AALP-3 Laser Pistols (5) - AALR-6 Laser Rifles (6) - AK-109 (1) - Beretta M10 Pistols (19) - Bowie Knife (1) - Colt Anaconda .44 Magnum Revolver (1) - Combat Knives (24) - Desert Eagle (1) - M240 Machine Gun (1) - M249 SAW (2) - M5 Assault Rifles (13) - M90 Frag Grenades (149) - M101 Frag Mines (20) - TBT Sniper Rifles (2)
| Weapon Magazines |
.44 Magnum Speedloaders (4) - 5.56 STANAG 30 Round Magazines (52) - 5.56 STANAG 60 Round Quad Stack Magazines (29) - 7.62 STANAG 20 Round Magazines (10) - AK-47 40 Round Magazines (6) - AK-47 75 Round Drum Magazines (3) - Beretta M10 Pistol 18 Round Magazines (96) - Desert Eagle 8 Round Magazine (5) - M240 Machine Gun 100 Round Box Magazines (3) - M249 SAW 200 Round Box Magazines (6)
| Armor |
Makeshift Armored Suits (2) - Plate Carriers (22) - Xenix-Series Combat Armor (1)
| Apparel |
Kevex Backpacks (7)
| Aid |
AFAK (1) - First Aid Kits (5) - IFAKs (24) - Maxigen Bottles (5) - Medstims (129) - P-Dex Bottles (25) - P-Dex Syringes (5) - R4GE Injectors (28) - Regenerade Injector (1) - Z-Rox Combat Stims (30)
| Ammo |
.50 Action Express Rounds (59) - 10mm Auto Rounds (1,966) - 5.56x45mm Rounds (4,874) - 7.62x39mm Rounds (578) - 7.62x51mm Rounds (599) - Microfusion Cells (44)
| Skill Books |
Conversationalists Notebook (1)
| Money |
Dollars (467,711) - Gold (5) - Silver (21)
______
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