[i]The heat retardant suit only did so much to ward off the inescapable heat. Sweat beaded and rolled down her face and body in torrents. She carefully manipulated the controls, watching as the vessel of steel made its way to the furnace for melting. She adjusted another control, watching as the lid of the blast furnace lifted up, exposing the glowing metal within. The white hot glow of the molten steel dimmed everything else in the factory, she squinted at the controls, trying to make out which was which. Looking up, she saw that the container of unmelted steel was in position, and tugged the release lever. To her horror, any splashing that might have occured was obscured by a giant cloud steam, only barely visible in the extreme light. “Get back!” She screamed fruitlessly at the other workers, inaudible over the hiss of steam and roar of the furnace. She found the small necklace around her neck and clutched it tight, running as fast as her legs could ca- The furnace exploded with a deafening blast, molten steel erupting as the platform she’d been on only seconds ago was engulfed in angry flurries of metal. Globs of steel flew from the furnace and buried two people, she couldn’t see their faces, but she knew they were screaming. She glanced back in terror as the furnace erupted again, belching out more globs of molten met- She screamed shrilly as she fell writhing to the ground covered in steel. The suit was no use, it burned straight through, vaporizing chunks of her body as it blasted off of every exposed inch of her in explsions of steam and glowi-[/i] Vladimira gasped as her eyes shot open revealing no molten metal, no exploding furnaces, no screams. Just sand. She wasn’t dead. Wasn’t dying covered in molten metal. The harsh noon day sun beat down from on high as she pushed aside the flap of the small tent. Ideally she’d have slept until it began to darken and she could travel with the cool air of the night instead of the scorching kiln that was Dust at midday. She grumbled as she crawled back into the tent, it was much nicer inside it, shaded by a small hillock as it was. She dragged her rucksack and rifle out, resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be getting any more sleep for a while. “Getting more frequent.” She sighed to herself, folding up the tent. It was probably a good thing she’d woken when she did anyway. There were always Forsaken or bandits who would welcome the chance to rob her blind or try enslaving her while she slept. Which would have turned out poorly for them regardless. ______________________________________ Vladimira was scrounging around in an old car she’d glimpsed in the distance, stripping it of anything useful, including some parts of the steel chassis that appeared to have more or less escaped rust. There wasn’t much in there, some old 9mm rounds next to what had probably been a handgun at some poin next to the hand of the skeleton splayed haphazardly in the front seat, a single spent casing lying on the floor. There were some things of at least marginal use; some copper wiring, the aforementioned 9mm bullets for use as money, and… a lot of canned food. She pulled herself out of the car, examining the cans she’d found in a plastic lined bag. Ham, corn, rice, bread, all in all there were maybe ten cans of varying sizes. She wondered if their contents were even remotely edible… they probably weren’t, maybe she’d trade them for something more useful, she had some food already. The copper wiring might be useful for someone doing electrical work or something, it wasn’t her area of expertise. The scrap metal of the car though, that definitely pleased her. [i]Good quality old world stuff too.[/i] She examined a chunk of it in her hands, near as she could tell, it was a high carbon alloy. Definitely much nicer than the scrap she usually fou- Clods of dirt kicked up next to her as short bursts of staccato gunfire sounded from nearby. She glanced around wildly, looking for a direction. More gunfire from what seemed a cluster of boulders near a small hill convinced her to shelter behind the engine block of the old car. She pulled Comrade over her head, disengaging the safety. Sliding to a stop behind the chassis, she peeked out from behind it to get a better look at the hill and its cluster of boulders. The sun was too bright to see any muzzle flash, but she could see who was shooting at her just fine. She might not have been close enough to get a nice up close view of the whites of their eyes, but she could easily tell they were Forsaken. [i]Fucking tribal raiders.[/i] Several shots hit the car, forcing her to duck down as one buried itself in the engine block uncomfortably close to her face. Risking a glance back up, she noticed a couple of them appeared to be running towards her, though she couldn’t see what they carried on them. She hefted Comrade, propping the rifle up on the car. There were three Forsaken running at her, and two more still shooting at her. Just as she was about to put a bullet in one of them a sudden pain hit her in the back, stunning her momentarily. She whirled around once her head had cleared, barely catching another punch from a sixth Forsaken on the armored bit of her glove. [i]Eyes blank and unseeing, gentle rivulets of blood flowing down a spike of steel.[/i] Two belt pouches flew open, their contents floating out and hovering between her and the Forsaken. The scrap metal clumped together in a jagged spike of steel as she clenched a fist. Gripping the Forsaken’s arm, she twisted it sharply and brought her knee to his gut, a sardonic smirk on her face as she heard his elbow crack. Flipping him into the door of the car she drove the spike of steel into his neck, pinning him there like a macabre wall ornament. Another Forsaken ran at her screaming and swinging an old rusted axe. [i]Bloodied steel. One outstreched hand spasming limply. A crimson puddle slowly leaking out… [/i]Ducking his wild swings, she rolled over the hood now pockmarked with bullet holes. She gripped the hood of the car and ripped it off, sending it flying at him. The piece of steel wrapped around the Forsaken as she opened her hand, and crushed him to a bloody pulp as she clenched it. She grinned maliciously at the crunch of bones and the lumpy red stream pouring from the hole in the bottom. She twirled the bloody steel burrito in the air with grim amusement before letting it fall to the ground. Pulling her Tokarevs she faced the next Forsaken, screaming at the top of her lungs as she charged with an old piece of pipe. [i]Slumped against a rock, spasming gently. Brilliant red blood slowly oozing into the sand from the bullet holes in her chest.[/i] Vladimira pulled the triggers, blasting bits of lead and copper into the charging Forsaken, driving her boot into the face of the woman as she fell in front of her. A white hot spike of pain shot from her leg as the last Forsaken to run at her from the hill sank his knife into her thigh. Throwing her body weight on him, she tore his hand off the knife and pulled it out of her leg. He kicked her in the gut, winding her as he pushed her off. Pulling another knife from his belt, his eyes widened in shock as both that knife and the one he’d lost shot towards him, burying themselves in his chest. Vladimira breathed a sigh of relief, cut short as more rounds impacted the sand near her. She scrambled for the cover of the car’s engine block, grabbing her pistols as she did so. Comrade was still there, and now there wasn’t anything to contend with in a melee. She hefted the rifle, laying it on the engine as she took aim at the two Forsaken shooting at her. One of them looked to be in the middle of reloading, and the other seemed to be fumbling with a bolt. Lining up her sights with the reloding Forsaken, she squeezed the trigger, grinning as the figure crumpled. A bullet impacted close to her hand and she pulled back again, racking the bolt. She popped back up over the car, firing off a shot at the Forsaken and ducking back down again. Peeping over the top, she saw the sillouhette aiming in her direction and crouched back down. She crawled over to the other side of the car and leaned out, holding her breath as she gently squeezed the trigger. She didn’t check to see if the shot hit but dipped below the top of the car once more. ____________________________ The sun was beginning to set as Vladimira trudged across the desert, occasionally checking her compass to keep her bearings. The Forsaken hadn’t had much of worth on them, some dirty .45 ammunition and rifles that looked like they’d been scrapped together from pipes and rotten wood. Still, steel pipes she could use. She’d left the bodies of the Forsaken where they’d fallen, though she had taken the spike she’d used to kill the first one. Comrade was slung over her shoulder, she’d need to clean the rifle before she went to sleep tonight, pistols too. She reached up and turned on her headlamp, glancing around at the darkening landscape. The lights of Russel City stood out against the desert, only a few hours to go before she could sell off her salvage. _______________________ The Wings had seemed distracted when she passed through the gate, only throwing the barest of security checks at her. They hadn’t even asked her to remove her mask. [i]Wonder what’s happened?[/i] Walking through the slums of Russel City, she noticed the people on the street had a different air than last time she’d been here. [i]Something’s definitely happened.[/i] She crept across the streets, keeping a hand on one of her guns. The street up ahead was strangely empty except for a mishapen lump in the streetlight. What looked like a torn piece of rope hung forlornly from the same light. She neared the lump, an eyebrow raising as she came across a mutilated body, barely recognizable as such were it not for the skin and general shape. Her eyes fell on a portion of the lump of meat that was missing… Vladimira looked up and glanced about, then back down at the body. What the hell had happened here?