POV Rio
The trip to the cabin where Kellogg was hiding was not that hard. It only took around 3 days due to detours. We could avoid any large groups of enemies, not that there were many. Most enemies were mutated animals, and they were easy enough to avoid as long as you knew the signs. But during the whole trip, I couldn't help but feel something was off. There wasn't anything in particular, just had a gut feeling that something wasn't right.
Regardless of how I felt, we arrived at the location and moved in to search the Cabin as I could see it was empty. But before I did that, I stopped again.
"What's wrong?" Cait asked.
"Doesn't this seem odd to any of you? This cabin is in the middle of a vast open field. We are out of the way. Beyond the area where the Minutemen could send help. In fact, we are strangely isolated here," I comment.
They all stop and think about it.
"Now that you mention it, this is a bit odd. Why would a merc like Kellogg make his base all the way out here? There is nothing of value nearby. If the Institute sent him on a mission, then I can't figure out what it is for," Nick comments.
"Yeah, this does scream trap if I ever saw one. But you don't see anyone, right? So how can they ambush us? Teleportation?" Piper comments.
"It's way too quiet around here. Maybe this is his vacation home?" Cait offers.
"Hmm, maybe, but I feel something isn't right. Maybe we should..." I say, but don't get to finish, as I see several objects approaching fast from above.
"RUN!" I scream and grab anyone I can while activating the speed boost.
But I can't move fast enough, as it took the objects less than half a second to go from my max distance sight to the ground. I survived the first impact thanks to being far enough, but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on killed me several times over. I used up every trick I had, but it didn't matter. I was dead, and I woke up a few days prior in a cold sweat.
'What the hell was that?'
I was extremely confused and a bit scared, but I took a few deep breaths and tried to recall everything I knew about the attack.
'Okay, it was fast. Likely going several times the speed of sound if it traveled over 2km in less than half a second. That means at least Mach 12 but probably higher. It wasn't a nuclear weapon. It wasn't alone. I counted at least 2 dozen. We were sent to an area away from civilization. One where collateral damage would be minimal. It most likely came from space due to the angle at which it impacted. That and I didn't receive any alert, which means it was too fast for any of the radars I have set up. It also didn't seem to carry any explosives or ordinance. The rods were solid as far as I could see.'
I tried to think of anything that fit that criteria, and I could think of one.
'Rods from God. Project Thor, ODIN, LOKI, or any other example in fiction and non-fiction I have read or seen. I suppose it's not impossible that the Pre-War Government would develop something like that. Especially with its more advanced technology overall. The question becomes, who is behind it? Actually, that doesn't matter right now; what matters is how do I deal with this?'
My first thought was to just walk away, but I thought better of that. If I walked away, they might consider using this on a better strategic target or using it while I am near my allies. A weapon like this can defeat everything I currently have. My settlements might be able to survive, but that wouldn't include the residents.
My next thought was to hack the satellite and disable it or use it on another target, but that wasn't something I could do at this point. I would have to fall back to a satellite array like Fort Hagen, but that would rely on them not just attacking me anyway. And there is no guarantee I can connect with the satellite that is doing this. I can't hack something if I can't interact with it. So I would have to scrounge around until I got lucky and found a connection I could use to control the satellite. All the while, it was clear they could spy on me somehow.
My next idea was to force the enemy to waste the attack. Since they were observing me, it must be from a distance. There weren't many ways they could do that. I wasn't in the clearing yet, so the tree would block most visuals. They could try to observe me with other means, but most of those wouldn't work. My skills in Science and Sneak helped me determine all the possible ways they would observe me with my skill sets.
'A satellite is the most likely. It allows them to observe from a distance while also giving them aiming capabilities.'
There was a chance they could attempt to watch me from the ground, but that runs into all sorts of issues. I can see with high fidelity up to 2km, but that doesn't mean I am blind past that. Far from it, most humans can technically see up to 5km away at sea level. Not very clearly, but they can still see things. So aerial surveillance is unreasonable. Too loud and easy to spot. The weather makes it harder. It is clear outside today. Ground surveillance is tricky because of all the trees and other obstacles in the way. And they would have to guarantee that I couldn't accidentally spot them by moving slightly faster. And I can be easy to lose while we are being careful and sneaky.
So my plan was somewhat set. I would trigger the trap without endangering myself or my allies. I would send in an illusory copy of myself, while my companions would stay at a safe distance away. This would still fit with my personality, as I would infiltrate alone to keep my friends safe. Once the weapon was delivered, I would wait for the enemy to send some people to either get rid of my friends or investigate the effectiveness of their weapon. Then I would capture some and then evacuate.
The first part of the plan went well; the copy went in while I hid underground away from the estimated impact site. I was able to count the number of rods, and it was 36. What I wasn't expecting was that I was still too close and ended up using one of my life-saving skills. Which was then followed by using another skill as the enemy wasn't done yet. They launch an uncountable number of missiles to flood the entire area. Cait and the others went flying while I came out of a tree a little worse for wear. But the jerks didn't stop there. Next came the flood of chemical weapons. I thought I would be immune, but apparently it didn't apply to artificial gas.
The gas was terrible. The first gas I got exposed to was a dark green gas that caused me to start vomiting, coughing, and having muscle spasms. It was then followed by the rapid necrosis of my skin and muscles. I didn't last long in the gas. Even trying some of my skills, I still ended up dead.
This time when I came back, I went into a coughing fit, and my mind was still trying to process that I wasn't suffocating anymore. That death was by far the worst death I have experienced yet. Everyone was worried about me, so I explained what happened, and they were also a bit scared and worried. But I had a plan. We could make a stop to make some high-quality gas masks. The issue was that I believed that the gas could cause burning of the flesh even without breathing it in. So we camped in a building so I could teach everyone how to use CBRN Gear, which stood for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear defense Gear.
Thankfully, most of our gear was already treated as air-tight when it came to this. So most of the protection was only minor changes like sealing the sleeves and pant legs. As well as more secure headwear. Once that training was done, I was ready to get back into this trap. But this time I had a bigger reason to do so. I got a quest to clear this trap. I wasn't certain what rewards I would get, but I had a feeling it would be worth it.
Getting past the first 3 parts of the trap was easy now that I knew they were coming and I knew the area of effect. The 4th part was also unexpected. 8 people appeared via what I could only ascertain as teleportation. All the men were in gear that I didn't expect to see. It was tactical gear and Marine Armor. But it wasn't the rough condition of scavenged armor; it was sleek black armor in pristine condition.
I only managed to kill two of the members before we died. But that wasn't the worst part. My second try against them also failed. But this time it was because they sent a single person as reinforcements. At first, I ignored them as I didn't sense much threat from them. That was a mistake. The man was normal at first, but the more damage he received, the stronger he got. I was engaging a speedster when he appeared next to me and punched me. I could feel the superheated coils on the Power Fist as they slowly moved through my skull like it was made of wet paper. I felt as if my eyes popped out of my skull, and my brain was pulverized.
The man had managed to literally obliterate my skull into chunks. That is no easy feat. My skull is actually the hardest part of my body and overall very difficult to damage. Being able to pulverize it completely requires immense force. Not to mention, he appeared near me with incredible speed. Sure, I was a little distracted by the speedster, but it was impressive nonetheless. That death was the second-worst death I have experienced so far. Feeling every moment of my skull being destroyed was quite terrible.
'Well, this trap won't clear itself.'
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Author's Note:
I think most of us have been in this kind of situation where you are dealing with a troublesome boss, enemy, puzzle, etc, but you refuse to give up and keep trying over and over again. Most of the time, because we are too stubborn to give up. This should only last one or two more chapters. Until next time, Ciao.