[A/N: I added an Auxiliary chapter explaining the powers and abilities he has so far. And also added Elizabeth and Jonny to add pics of them which will happen later today. Thx4Reading!]
At the time when Hephaestus had fallen there were a few hundred people working in it.
The Mermen had crawled out from the mines and slaughtered most of the people working there before they even knew they were under attack.
According to the data I now possess, the mermen that were released in batches all gathered in the mines and built up their numbers before they attacked.
Meryl noted that there were several collapsed or flooded mine shafts and that the mermen likely made their nests in them. Similiar to an ant colony.
They also seem to hunt outside among the coral for food and consider it their territory. And they also protect their territory fiercely as I am now experiencing.
Since Hephaestus is theirs, they just keep throwing wave after wave at me.
Pushing our way went very much the same way it has since I entered this dome.
How high has the mermen population gotten? Even Meryl could only give estimates.
Close to a 600 is what she figured. The majority being weak but there is still plenty of "captains" as I had been calling them.
Ones that stood out enough for plasmid experiments but were deemed failures for other reasons.
Luckily the plasmids are not passed down genetically so not all of the mermen possess them.
We fought back 3 different ambushes within the forge. Each with 6-10 mermen. Some with captains, some without.
We didn't have much trouble though. By now we were a well oiled machine.
The entrance to the mining sector was the final barrier before we raid the access tunnel to Poseidon, where the little Elizabeth is waiting for me to rescue her. And the Overseer's head is waiting for one of my bullets...
As we entered the mining sector, I noticed this area was completely different than the others.
It was all open all the way up to the dome center taking up a quarter of the total dome.
Large pieces of mining related equipment such as dump trucks, excavators and drillers.
Small buildings lined the wall in the center. Offices and bunkhouses for those that stayed in Hephestus for long periods.
What surprised me was how scarce the remaining mermen were.
As we entered the area, we caught sight of a few groups moving away from us going down a slope until we lost sight of them.
'Are they fleeing? Did I kill too many and spook them?
Or... are they regrouping in preparation to attack us..?'
I pondered as we moved across the open sector treading across the soil of the exposed sea floor.
This sector was built intentionally with the sea floor exposed. The ground had been compacted for stability and ease of access for the mining operation.
And off to the edge of the dome, at the bottom of the downward slope I mentioned earlier, is the mine entrance.
The access tunnel we are looking for was supposed to be closed off since nothing in there was vital to the vault and was constructed there for a section of the vault that didn't get built due to choices during contruction.
The released mermen however, had dug out the tunnel and connected it to one of the mines branches.
Hence why there is now a connection to Hephestus here.
So to get to the access, we must delve into the flooded mines.
I changed into my cave diving suit which kind of made me look like a Big Daddy.
This outfit consists of a copper colored outer metal layer which has green patina and barnacles covering large areas of its surface, and a tan colored under suit.
There is a pressure tank mounted on the back and a hose connected to a pressure gauge on the helmet.
The suit allows the wearer to breathe underwater and grants immunity to water radiation and disease. Not that I am worried about those things due to my mutations and perks.
I also put all the weapons we were carrying into my inventory and passed out a couple coral tridents I had picked up off the mermen.
We would need them to fight if we get ambushed while underwater.
I then explained to them how we would be proceeding as we made our way.
With everyone understanding the assignment we trodded our way down the slope to the mine entrance.
The slope was a little muddy with numerous foot prints depressed into it.
At the foot of the slope a large concrete arch marked the opening to the mine and a dark path downward was in front of us but ended at a murky pool of water.
I entered the water first and activated my pip boy light while both my comrades in power armor lit their lamps.
Fully submerged we walked down into the mine. There wasnt much to see other than the concrete walls for awhile.
We moved at what felt like a snail's pace through the water until we reached a split.
I looked to the dark depths to the left and then turned right.
The place we were looking for wasn't that far down. The concrete ended and the tunnel walls became rocky.
We pushed forward with me in the lead since I could move more freely than Lady and Jonny.
With my trident forward, I reacted quickly as a figured flew at me from in front.
A merman had launched itself at me, gliding through the water like a torpedo.
I braced myself and lifted the trident in my hands and watched as the merman skewered itself.
My weapon was lodged in its guts as it thrashed about trying to claw me.
Lady and Jonny stepped forward to help but more mermen emerged and they engaged with them.
I ripped the trident from merman in front of me, the jagged tips ripping the flesh from it causing it to still.
The water was becoming cloudy with blood and viscera.
The mermen group was few in number but quick in their natural habitat.
Thankfully for us, these were weak ones and were still easily killed.
We kept moving forward after leaving the mangled corpses of mermen behind.
The tunnel began to narrow as we went on until we reached an incline.
The section did not look man made with tools but looked more like an animal dug it out with claws.
We pretty much had to crawl up it, which was not very comfortable for any of us being in armor and my diving suit.
At the top of the slope I could start seeing the water's surface.
I popped out of the water and scanned the area not seeing any hostiles.
Lady and Jonny followed behind me, water cascading off us after surfacing.
"This is the tunnel that leads to Poseidon?" Jonny asked and I nodded as I removed the diving suit and changed back into my adventuring outfit using the system.
"Yup. There should be an elevator at the end of this tunnel."
We were in the service tunnel described in Meryl's notes. The tunnel curved ahead is us, not letting us see far ahead in the darkness.
There wasn't anything to see in the tunnel. There was some gashes here in there in the concrete and steel that the mermen made probably while trying to get out.
We marched for several minutes before reaching a service elevator.
It looked similiar to the one you can build in game, with a red call button. There was no slider for a key card or a hand scanner or anything else of that nature.
This elevator is the equivalent to the weakness the Death Star had but for Poseidon.
While the other entrances are locked down and monitored, this little womp-rat is about to infiltrate and lay waste to this crusty empire and slay Overseer Palpatine. Bringing a new era of hope to the people.
Too bad for him, he has no Darth Vader to stand between us...