[quote=@Madly33] The whole time John was quiet, resting in the front of the group and always keeping an eye on his rifle when they rested. Every time they would stop he would groan. [i]Wasting our god damn time..[/i] He hissed to himself. After a few hours the stopped, Par explained the outline for the slave camps to Gabe quickly and quietly. John looked over and brushed the dirt off his shoes "They have dogs too, and fences are nearly impossible to get over or under." He said, slightly interrupting Par's last words. "Only way in if we don't want to get caught is the only way out of that shit hole." He looked off to the hill as the sun slowly set on it. "Trash toss" He said with a glare and a smirk, was a disgusting place. He paused as they looked at him. He rolled his eyes "..Where they throw the dead ones. The 'Trash'" He said caustically. "It's a direct link to the hill on the other side of the camps" he looked over at Par and Gabe and sighed and looked down "It is guarded at night, we will need to take out the guards quickly" He paused again expecting the 'How do you know this?' questions. He stood up and rubbed his hands together, pushing the dirt off his palms. "Spent some time here after my Mom died" He uttered. "Anyway.. What's your plan for this?" he asked directing at Par. "You are a smart kid, I know you have something" He picked up his rifle ready to move after given a plan. [/quote] Gabriel paused, not saying a thing. But at least it explained why the old man was chomping at the bit to hurry up and reach the slavers' camp. He became more respectful of the old timer. [quote=@Letter Bee] [b][i]Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Old Man's Corner[/i][/b] "The 'Trash Toss' would work well, being a hole that leads both inside and outside the walls. However," Par turned to Gabe, "you'll have to swim through rotting naked bodies; are you sure you can do that?" Yes, Par was showing his 'too-quick-to-criticize' flaw again. Then, an idea would come upon Par. "I've got it!" he whispered. "The Trash toss is an attraction to scavengers, like Feral Ghouls, stray dogs, and, of course, wandering Yao Guai, either from the countryside or escaped from the Zoos of New York." He would presumably see incredulous looks. "No, I've heard about it from the Slavers'; Yao Guai do come to Central Park at times, and would logically search out local food sources. Par then smirked, then spoke: "You guys heard of the Capital Wasteland, right? About the Brotherhood and Enclave? Well, the news was brought to us by a Scavenger from that place down south...who had a Yao Guai companion* and was willing to teach a paying customer some tricks, especially on said customer's 18th Birthday." Expecting incredulous looks, Par continued: "Yes, I'm saying a Scavenger from the Wasteland taught me how to tame a Yao Guai. How do you think I survived all those truck trips through and from Upstate New York alone? It's easy; Yao Guai are occasionally friendly with Bloatflies...you still don't believe me, don't you? Fine, I'll show you!" And with that, he went off the woods quicker than anyone can catch him.[/quote] "Wait, where're you-" Gabriel tried to stop Par, but the kid was already gone. And Gabriel didn't have a damn clue what he was babbling about. And no, Gabriel wasn't going to try and swim through a river of rotting corpses. It was quite a while before the other boy came back at last.... [quote=@Letter Bee] [b][i]Nightfall; Three Hours Later[/i][/b] A snarling, clawing Yao Guai, aka a mutated black bear, would burst out of the woods...Par on his back and tugging at the beast's ears. "Steady! Steady!" he shouted, before clamping down his hand, which smelled of Bloatfly, at the beast's nose, causing it to cry out in distress, before quieting down. "Okay, did not think this through."[/quote] Gabriel looked at the big beast in annoyance, unsure of why the bear was brought in, what it had to do with anything, and why he had to waste three hours getting the thing instead of trying to rescue the slaves as quickly as possible. It was cold, it was getting dark, and God knows what was happening to the slaves. [quote=@Letter Bee]Presumably seeing more incredulous looks, Par said: "We've lost enough time already; I'd teach Gabe because he's the more outdoorsy type, but right now, the slaves are cleaning up before they are taken to bed - in more than one sense." That last part was unwelcome. "I'm going to go to the watchtower on the top of the hill, and then go on a rampage across the fields; the slaves have been withdrawn from them as its nighttime and farming is less productive at that time. You guys go to the 'Trash Toss' and go rescue the slaves." [b][i]Some Hours Later[/i][/b] The Watchtower had been cleared, and Par and his mount had broken through to Old Man's Corner, surprising a patrol of guards. Par, as his mount bit off the head of one of Forty's men - not that he knew that person served Forty - fired blindly at a couple of approaching thugs with his submachine, missing, but forcing them to take cover anyway. He was having the time of his life. ((*Taken from here: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Yao_guai_(Fallout_3) )) [@Madly33] [@shadowsaint007] [@Kenyeismylife] [/quote] ((Going to have Gabriel be the one to start off the attack) Gabriel, meanwhile, had hung back, staying silent. Staring down iron sights, he tracked his targets by the glint of firelights or even the flash of lighters. Huddling close to cover, he breathed quietly, picking out his targets even as his ears strained for anyone who might get close. Then he got his chance. His first round shot through the darkness, starting the attack with a well-aimed shot right into a spotlight. He waited a few seconds, spotting his next target by their own flashlight as they tried to investigate what happened. They received a high caliber round right in the right eye goggle for their effort. With the second shot, Gabriel got out of cover and began a hurried pace to another planned sniping spot. One thing he had learned about sniping in the Wasteland; fighting people wasn't the same as fighting wolves. Wolves took a round or two, started falling like flies, and then the rest of the pack runs off to safety rather than risk sudden death. Humans were often smart enough to make out where the bullet had come from, and often had the means to retaliate. Fire a couple shots, stay low, be a moving target in the darkness, and you'll avoid the worst of enemy retaliation. It helped that he generally got the first hits in accurately, reducing enemies efficiently before moving on. [quote=@TheUnknowable] "I've got plenty of sensors, analyzers, and the like, if parts salvaged from robots are good enough. As for pipboy compatibles, all I've got is a few holo-books over at the library I just set up. If you're having problems with it, though, I might be able to find something to replace damaged parts or upgrade the software." "Yeah, I am pretty good with it," he said after her last comment. "You had to be when your AI overseer got rid of those that weren't." [/quote] "Nah, my Pip-Boy's working fine," she said, doing a quick diagnostic. "The RAM could be expanded a bit, though. So what's on the holobooks?" However, the words about an AI overseer gave Sparks pause. That was an unusual phrase. "AI Overseer?" Sparks inquired. "You mean like a Vault overseer? And weren't those all human as a rule?"