Finally, a welcome silence. The only thing other than stillness was the sound of a few of us trying to steady our heavy breathing.
I gripped my weapon. It's a bulky mass of metal and it weighs about 150lbs. But damn does this gun let loose a hell of a bullet storm. If it weren't for the mechanical augments in my body, I'd never be able to use this.
The Mk.6 Caliburn. One of the finest pieces of engineering from the Crytin Domain. Those guys hiding up in the ice aren't much for fighting, but they put together the best equipment a Breaker could ask for.
I've been stuck in this deployment for way damn too long, but what I found here is incredible. It's a finding that's gonna shake up the whole fucking world.
[Sarge] "Gajjet, you got enough mags readied for the last push?"
[Gajjet] "Yeah, Sarge, I've got enough. You got enough steam to push passed the Abbies?"
My team's boss called out to me to make sure I was good to go. He's a hell of a leader, especially when we're pushed up against a wall like this.
[Sarge] "Yeah, G. I'll charge through and make sure to open those door for the rest of ya. Keep 'em off me when I start breakin'. Y'all ain't getting out of here if I don't, right?"
He really was the best damn guy we could have with us right now. The only thing standing the between us and safety is a hoard of those crazy fucking monsters and a blast door. There's no working power in this area so the blast door's are magnetically sealed.
Sarge is a bit of a specialist with Vault Breaking. He's 6'6", weighs 240lbs, and he's built of some the thickest muscle you can find on an augmented human. When most of them tend to be outfitted with gear to compensate for what they were missing physically and mentally, Sarge took a different approach.
This hulk in front of me once said, "If I train to get strong enough to fight them things with my own two hands, then imagine how strong I can get with some tech giving me a boost on top of it."
When he finally got that tech, it was pricey enough to win him an election through bribes alone. But he wanted to achieve a goal. Something he had to do on the frontlines and fighting tooth and nail.
This guy now has plating under his skin strong enough to prevent those things from biting into him and arms loaded with enough hydraulic power to lift a tank.
[Carlyle] "Hey, are you sure we can't take another 20 or 30...? I can barely keep my legs steady. I damn near collapsed before we got inside here."
Carlyle was always a bit weaker than the rest of us, but he was damn resourceful. Smart-ass, but resourceful. This was his first time going so deep into a Vault, though. Scouts usually stay back and let Runner's handle the dirty work.
[Gajjet] "Shit, C, you only gotta run one last time. You telling me you wanna sit in here for 30 fuckin' minutes before you get to taste what it's like to actually conquer a fuckin' Vault!?"
[Carlyle] "Fucking.... Yeah, you've got a point. I can't argue with the fucking Hellion, anyway."
Carlyle pushed himself up off of the ground and started to stretch his tired limbs. He was young, maybe early twenties. Good-looking guy. Not quite as handsome as my Gage, but he'll catch the eyes of a few ladies when he makes it back from this. Especially with the stories we can recount loudly at the bar.
[Sarge] "Hey, G, does the girl seem to be able to make it? I can't carry her out during this. It's on you and C to get her out."
[Gajjet] "She ain't said a word. I'll get her out of her on my back if I gotta, though. She's definitely getting back to the city."
[Sarge] "Check her over and make sure she's good enough to move. We've got about five minutes til they start trying to tear through the walls."
Against the metal wall of this torn up science outpost lies the girl we found on this job. She was almost completely unresponsive. I couldn't possibly think of what happened to her in this place all alone.
I reached out to her to move the cloak up that we put on her. She was still naked underneath. Not like we had any spare clothes to put her in when we found her. All the bruising and lacerations on her body were looking terrible. She was hurt in so many ways, bound and cut somehow by something.
It looks more like tools made the cuts. Aberrations cut and shred with their claws, talons, and teeth. Some stab with spines or bite with beaks.
[Gajjet] "Hey we're about to get going again. Sarge can't carry you, so can you stand at all? I'll move you if I gotta, but I'm only barely bigger than you."
Yeah, she really only was a bit smaller than me. I'm a woman and not very tall of one. Only about 5'5". I work out plenty and train my body, so I can't be called weak by any means. With the help of my augments, I should be able to keep pace and avoid Aberrations.
This girl before me was only maybe an inch or two shorter. She seemed like maybe only 19 or 20 years old. She seemed really healthy as far as her body went other than her wounds. I don't really have too much of a chance to fight if I carry her out. It's going to take both arms to haul her and so I can't shoot at all during that.
[???] "...."
She looked at me blankly. Not a single thought seemed to be fully processing up there. Maybe after we got her out of here, gave her a bath and a meal, then she'd be more able to talk or something.
At least, I hope so.
[Gajjet] "Sarge, she's as good as she's gonna get. How about we start running and shooting? About time I got home to see my kids. They're gonna give their papa a really hard time if I don't get back."
[Sarge] "Haha! You're right. Gage can't handle everything that you do for him. Luckily Marcia is still back at home. She'll have been making sure things are fine with your man and your babies. Now, get this girly on your back and get ready. When I rip open the doors here, we ain't stopping til we're home free."