"Someone there sent Super Mutants to attack Walker's Hold. They had all manner of crazy stuff: a Pre-War tunneling device, a giant Ghoulified Super Mutant, radio-collars with bombs on 'em! One of our own was a play-actin' spy for 'em, since they got his lady friend hostage. So we scare him a bit and he tells us they were after something very special in my workshop. So, at Paul's request, we're takin' the fight to them, both to keep the Hold safe and mount a rescue mission to save that lady friend I mentioned." Seth says over the roar of the engine.
"right door.
ON THE HIGHWAY INTO DOWNTOWN:
General Annie nods and rubs her chin thoughtfully at Seth's words, but doesn't offer any response to it, staring instead at the road. Periodically she'll reach across and nudge Dust to tell her to take an exit or avoid taking a certain turn because of danger. Apart from her "backseat driving", the drive around the exterior highway exit and back into downtown Minneapolis is pretty uneventful. Without any traffic on the roads, it's much easier to reach where you need to go. There are still some stoplights that still function on efficient miniature pre-war power supplies, but they flicker erratically and nobody pays them any mind.
"We're here," Annie eventually says, pointing down the street. The surrounding road is empty of cars up and down the block, which is unusual - the entire time you were navigating up to this point, you basically had to sidewinder your way through the abandoned vehicles lying all around, if you didn't just plow through. But this street is free of debris, and the massive crane on the front of the building casts you in shadow from the mostly cloudy sun above.
There are two large revolving doors filled with opaque glass, set in a front facade that is entirely made of opaque glass. Only shapeless blackness can be seen beyond. The Crane building is largely unscathed in appearance.
AT THE WABASHA VAULT:
Pallor, you enter the right-side door cautiously and peer around. You're standing in a corridor made of stainless steel, without doors or windows. It's about 40 feet long, and on the other side of the hallway can be seen a closed door with a panel and a plaque next to it. On the walls flanking the door are two taller doors that don't have handles; they appear designed to open upwards. There are Vault-Tec posters from pre-war lining the walls, exhorting Vault-Tec's values and proclaiming the promise of a better future, underground.
Approaching the door to see it better, you read the words:
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
This plaque is set in the wall above a numerical keypad. The keypad appears to be functioning.
"door. Keypad. Coming?" Pallor asks of the others.
AT THE WABASHA VAULT
Francis steps through the right-side door, giving the entry chamber and Runner one last dubious look before joining Pallor at the end of the hall. He shakes his head after reading the words on the door, then addresses the helmeted man.
"Sounds like a quote out of the Bible to me; the chapter and verse reference probably unlocks the door. I'll be damned if I know what they are, though - up 'til now I haven't had much use for the thing. Any chance you or your friends know it?
"If not, whoever was down here was obviously pretty religious. Maybe we can find a copy laying around somewhere."
Looking back down the hall, Francis begins to unconsciously scratch the back of his head.
Pallor casts his mind along the psychic maelstrom's current backwards in time, in an attempt to divine the correct code.
Runner stumbles after the group still a little groggy from his recent vision.
-
A Bible verse? Why do I know this Bible verse?
My people have always had an affinity with the Great Eagle and this sounds like relating God to the Great Eagle...
Feathers? God? Eagle?
ON THE HIGHWAY INTO DOWNTOWN:
General Annie nods and rubs her chin thoughtfully at Seth's words, but doesn't offer any response to it, staring instead at the road. Periodically she'll reach across and nudge Dust to tell her to take an exit or avoid taking a certain turn because of danger. Apart from her "backseat driving", the drive around the exterior highway exit and back into downtown Minneapolis is pretty uneventful. Without any traffic on the roads, it's much easier to reach where you need to go. There are still some stoplights that still function on efficient miniature pre-war power supplies, but they flicker erratically and nobody pays them any mind.
"We're here," Annie eventually says, pointing down the street. The surrounding road is empty of cars up and down the block, which is unusual - the entire time you were navigating up to this point, you basically had to sidewinder your way through the abandoned vehicles lying all around, if you didn't just plow through. But this street is free of debris, and the massive crane on the front of the building casts you in shadow from the mostly cloudy sun above.
There are two large revolving doors filled with opaque glass, set in a front facade that is entirely made of opaque glass. Only shapeless blackness can be seen beyond. The Crane building is largely unscathed in appearance.
Seth looks up at the building and takes a deep breath in through his nose. How long had this place been sitting here, whatever was brewing beneath ignored by the folks of the Twin Cities Wasteland just trying to survive? Well...that was about to change. Ol' Volcano closed his eyes and took another deep breath. He wasn't used to doing this without a machine in his hands, but he knew there was just something about these old places. Maybe...if he opened his mind...
Dust looks up at the tower wondering what possible weak points it might have, the undamaged facade gives her a strange feeling of dread.
"So the place is locked up pretty tight?" she asks the general, "What have you guys tried so far to find a way in?"
INSIDE THE WABASHA VAULT:
Behind his goggled mask, Pallor blinks, then acknowledges the wisdom in Francis' words. Turning back to the plaque on the wall, and trying not to look at the two huge mech guardians in his peripheral vision, he traces his fingers over the words. He feels each letter as if he were a blind man reading braille.
Visions flash through his head. Anger. Smoke. Many voices talking. A man, standing above the rest, wearing black robes with a white collar. Beating a leatherbound book and gesturing behind him. "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler..." the voice is hazy and insubstantial, as if coming through a radio station on a slightly different frequency than the one that you're on. "Psalm 91:4!"
Runner brings up the rear as he follows them deeper into the vault. He doesn't seem to be feeling completely recovered from the last time the psychic maelstrom flooded his brain. As his mind drifts to the Great Eagle, he hears a voice, whispering, that no one else seems to react to. It's so faint and quiet that it's difficult to tell what direction it's coming from.
MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE CRANE INC.:
Dust poses her question to General Annie just as Seth fades out. To your savvyhead vision, it's plain to see the crisscrossing lines of energy running throughout the building, even at a very superficial level. The whole building thrums with invisible power; as if there were some kind of tremendous engine powering it at its heart. The power even flows into the ground beneath your feet, giving you the impression of a deep basement that reaches nearly as deep below the surface as the building rises high above it. You are shaken back to yourself by one of the Power Army Privates, who jostles you in the shoulder by accident while repositioning himself in the cabin to get a better look.
"Well, first we tried walking in, by picking the lock on the revolving door and pushing through into some kind of big lobby. We couldn't get very far past the revolving door, though. It's Super Mutant central in there. Then, we tried breaking some of the windows. They're super reinforced, but we found a weakspot!" the general shades her eyes as she peers up at the building. "Looks like it's still there, too. A ventilation shaft that we shot up with some of our longer range pipe rifles. We reckon you could tug it hard enough to pull it clean off the building now, but there's the...eh.. problem of the height. We have no way to get up that high." Indeed, you see the broken ventilation shaft cover, 3 stories above the main entrance to the building, near the base of the massive crane structure.
Pallor punches in the code, 914.
Runner concentrates on the whispering...
Runner, the whispering fades when you try to focus on it. It returns whenever you try to focus on something else, each time getting slightly louder and louder and more distinct until you perk your ears, or try to listen, before disappearing when you pay attention again. It's really aggravating.
Pallor, typing in the passcode opens the sealed door next to the plaque. Peering through it, you behold a vast spherical room spread out below you. Occupying the biggest part of the room is a perfect golden sphere. You can't guess exactly how big it is, but it nearly fills the room. Entering the room, you see a catwalk built along the outer wall of the chamber that leads down on a gradual rotating slope along the wall to the bottom level. There's another door on the far, bottom side of the room, that you can only tell is there by walking down the catwalk until you can see around the sphere in the middle.
The sphere is perfectly reflective; you can see the catwalk you're standing on as you look down on it. However, you do not see your own reflection, or the reflections of any of your friends.
Does it appear to be solid? If unsure, Pallor will find something small and not particularly heavy and lightly toss it at the orb. Not with the intent of breaking it, just to see if it bounces off or sinks in.
As long as you keep trusting that you'll be rolling 10+, you can keep rolling weird. Keep in mind though, the longer you've gone without a failure, the worse the failure usually becomes, when it eventually happens. You might be the most knowledgeable and useful party member when it comes to exploring old, weird stuff, but then again, a failed roll might give you permanent brain damage or knock you out entirely. It's up to you to decide how reckless or conservative you want to be with your rolls. Just know that it's very rare that I'll REQUIRE someone to open their mind to the weird just to understand something. From an out of character perspective, it's just not something you need to do all the time.
There's nothing on the catwalk, so to throw something you'd need to throw one of your own possessions, either direct from your gear list or by writing off a charge of your adventuring gear. I assume you do so, and your object - whatever it was - bounces off the sphere as if bouncing off of metal. It leaves no mark behind on the point where it struck.
I was figuring going back to an earlier room, grab some paper or whatever deteitus was handy and use that for my test.
The nearest room with miscellaneous stuff in it was the tomb room, you could grab a bone or personal item from one of the bodies on the slabs there. Do you go back there?
I was thinking maybe one of the vault-tec posters on the walls in the hallway, I didn't want to separate too much from the group.
Wherever Pallor goes, Scarlet goes as well. She trusts neither the Vault nor the creepy weirdo. No offense intended.
Chief eyes the ventilation shaft, then looks around the streets, taking stock of available resources. "Huh. Hey, Seth? Tell me if this is crazy, but... the rig's got a winch, and a couple hundred feet of cable. Is there any way you could rig up, I dunno, a rocket powered grappling hook out of your super sledge?"
"F*ck that, might take too long! I reckon I could climb it. Hold the winch around my waist while I climb. What's the worst that could happen?" Vonya half-yells into his radio, grinning as he pictured himself heroically scaling the building. His grin faltered only slightly when Tom inputted an image of Vonya's bared brain and skull fragments on the pavement, his arms splayed and buckled after a grisly fall.
Vonya shivered slightly and whispered "Tom, you're a c*nt sometimes."
"You saw me fix them miniguns within minutes, Vonya! I'll have yer rocket-powered grappling hook in half that time!"
He sucks air through his teeth and takes a look at the war rig. It wasn't going to be much use in there...but what if there was a way to make it useful in getting IN there, like Chief said.
His head will not quit spinning.
He knows where he is but it seems like he is miles away.
-
I can't hear it and I can't ignore it so I guess I will try doing neither...
-
Somehow, thru the widening cracks in his memory block, Runner's instinct takes over and an age old technique handed down to him thru who knows who takes over his mind...
-
He relaxes his concentration, not concentrating at all...
I left for a weekend family vacation today so no full update but I will try to post tomorrow!
Dust nods thoughtfully.
"And once we're in... How much gas do we have available? If we've any to spare then maybe a fire in the lobby could draw attention away from us for a while."
INSIDE THE WABASHA VAULT
Francis follows close behind Pallor and Scarlet, studying the great orb for a few moments before disregarding it as beyond his comprehension.
I wonder if the religious folks paid for the Vault or just invaded it before the bombs hit; I find it hard to believe they'd be assigned a Vault with the kind of tech that thing represents.
Wish that damn flamer hadn't caught a ding like it did. Helmet there sure isn't going to part with his "shiny" again; I wonder if pigtails has a spare piece...
With a nod of his head, Francis catches Scarlet's eye the next time she looks his way. "Hey there - don't suppose you've got another gun you'd like me to carry around and shoot things with for you?"
AT THE CRANE BUILDING:
General Annie, with the help of her Power Army recruits and your knowledge, Volcano, provides the necessary extra gear to rig up a grappling hook - attached to the war rig's pneumatic gun turret. With all of your cooperation and expertise, a roll isn't needed to make this. Over the space of the next half hour, you throw together a grappling hook. One of Annie's lieutenants squares her hat and fires it clear up to the ventilation shaft. The rope lodges in the hole, and holds.
Do you all climb the rope to the ventilation shaft of the Crane building?
INSIDE THE WABASHA VAULTS:
Yes, you can pull the Vault-Tec posters off the wall, Pallor. When you throw the wadded-up poster at the sphere, it bounces off, and leaves a ripple-like effect that travels across the enormous thing's surface.
"Want me to at least head up and test the weight? I'm the heaviest, no doubt."
"Smart idea, Vonya. An' if there are muties up there, you're the best-equipped to beat the tar out of them while we climb up after you. Wanna borrow my super-sledge?"
Volcano holds the weapon out to Vonya.
"You'll prolly get more out of it with your strength than an old man like me."
"Sounds good," agrees Chief. "I'll follow you up as soon as you give me the thumbs up. Power Army can go wild on the lobby in the meantime. I think we can spare a couple liters of guzzoline for the cause, Dust."
"Strange. What is that? Defrost, you come from a vault, yes? Did you have a thing like this?"
Scarlet looks at Francis. "Pfft. You certainly aren't having my baby." she retorts ironically, but clutches her shotgun a little tighter. "Especially since you didn't treat my last gift so kindly." She looks at the vault dweller through her fringe, eyes glittering with only slightly malicious humor.
Vonya eagerly takes the super sledge, and wraps some loose cloth tightly around it to form a makeshift sling, to keep both his hands free whilst he claims. He grabs some nearby building debris dust and claps it into his hands to make them chalky.
Striding up to the wall, Vonya begins the climb after psyching himself up by pounding his own chest and skull and muttering obscenities under his breath.
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INSIDE THE WABASHA VAULTS
"Pfft. You certainly aren't having my baby. Especially since you didn't treat my last gift so kindly."
"And here I'd thought the future couldn't get any more disappointing," the soldier deadpans to Scarlet, then turns his attention to Pallor.
"Like this? Not that I'm aware of; I've never even heard of anything like this." He waves his hand 'hello' at the sphere, shrugging at their continued lack of reflection. "Maybe it's some sort of projector? Could just be showing a still recorded image on the surface; if so, maybe we can get some internal security footage of what happened in here. Let's push on and see if we can't find some sort of controls for it."
Francis inclines his head and gestures down the catwalk. "Heavily armed ladies first."
AT THE WEIRD VAULT:
Tell me what each of your characters is thinking as you reach the far side of the bottom of the room and open the door. It doesn't have to take the form of words, or a sentence; even the imaginings of what's randomly going through your head is legit. What's on your minds?
IN MINNEAPOLIS:
After several hefty tugs on the rope to secure its strength, Vonya slings himself and the Super Sledge to it and begins to climb. It's a laborious process, due to the fact that climbing too fast carries a risk of making the rope waver and drop you off. Still, after several minutes of climbing, Vonya and Tom make it to the grappling hook. Climbing over it, the large man finds himself in a huge vent - big enough to crawl through on all fours. Judging by its size, there are many smaller air ducts inside that all meet here, like rivers forming a delta. You crawl inside for a few moments after making sure you didn't dislodge the rope, Vonya, and you reach a culmination point where there's a vent grate covering the way forward. On the other side of the vent grate, you can hear Super Mutant voices. What do you do?
INSIDE THE WABASHA VAULTS
Francis Runner, Francis's
Vonya listens to some sage advice from Tom before proceeding, along the lines of don't make any noise you f~$!in idiot cos they'll fill ya full of holes.
He leans out back down the building's exterior, and his head sways a little when he realises how high up he is. He waves at the specks below to beckon them up, and returns to the grille, and sets about using his nail to quietly unscrew the grille.
Seth looks to the others after Vonya signals them.
"So...who wants to go next? I'm game."
Scarlet is hedging her bets. She doesn't know what the biggest threat is here, so her "baby" is close at hand and her glaive is one smooth motion from being drawn and ready. She's leaving the weird crap to Pallor and letting Francis freak out as much as he needs to. Francis... She's keeping an eye on Francis.
As Runner stumbles along behind the group he thinks he has finally managed to clear his mind of all thought...
-
No image, just a blank, empty void.
-
But then it all rushes back in!
-
The Great Eagle,
the cross on a church,
his gloved hands gripping his Jeep's steering wheel,
His mother's voice...
-
"Johnathan"
My name is Johnathan?!
"Sure thing, I'll follow"
Dust can feel her last hit wearing off and takes the opportunity for a quick pinch of snuff. As the chemicals rush her brain she feels a surge of confidence, the vent doesn't seem so high up anymore.
AT THE CRANE BUILDING:
Vonya, you manage to get your nail into the threads of the screws holding the grille on, but the screws are rusted with age and difficult to get loose. You wind up breaking a nail without loosening the grille significantly. By the time this happens, the others have joined you behind you in the ventilation shaft. What do you do?
IN THE WABASHA VAULTS:
You move through the door on the far side of the room and the door slides silently shut behind you when you're on the other side, leaving the strange orb behind you. Before you is a makeshift church of some kind. There are wall hangings, high up on the walls, that are meant to be reminiscent of stained glass. You also see at the far side of the room a pulpit that a pastor would preach from, with another massive hanging crucifix behind it. There are two rows of three pews arranged facing the pulpit.
There are signs of a struggle in this room. Some of the pews in front look to have been moved around, and there are opened books lying on the floor nearby. In the far corners are bookshelves with more books lining the shelves, but no other doors. It smells musty and old in here.
Vonya whispers as hoarsely and quietly as he can. "We need to use our smarts. Stealthy-like approach, and take this grille off all quiet; or do we just bust in and catch 'em with their 'orrible green panties in a twist?"
"I prob'ly got somethin' to get that grille off quiet," Seth whispers as he picks a screwdriver out of his bandoleer.
Francis steps carefully over the fallen books, bending down to see if he can tell if any are bibles; if so, he will avail himself of a copy, and if not, he will move to the bookshelves and peruse the titles on spines of the books there.
AT THE WABASHA VAULT:
No, Pallor, there's no sign of any blood that would indicate a recent struggle. The layer of dust coating everything in this room is fairly consistent and even. Francis, the first book you pick up is a King James' Bible, and looking around at the other books you see only books of hymns and bibles scattered about. Some of the pages have been ripped and torn, seemingly deliberately.
The bookshelves have different stories on them than just preaching rags, though there's consistent themes. You see books on mythology, anthologies of ancient legends, stories to be preached to a congregation during Sunday Mass. There's also a user manual shoved into a corner on the top shelf. There are diagrams of advanced mechs and other machinery inside.
AT THE CRANE BUILDING, IN THE AIR VENT:
It's too cramped in here for Volcano to crawl past Vonya's bulk. Instead, the Savvyhead passes the Faceless a screwdriver past Chief, passing the tool along hand to hand. Vonya takes the old tool and nods, setting to work unscrewing the grill, which fortunately was designed in such a way as to make it possible, if awkward. It takes several minutes, but the grille is now off the vent.
Looking out into the room beyond, you see that your visibility is blocked by a large red tapestry hanging from the ceiling of this room, which is only a few feet above the vent exit. The tapestry is wide enough that you can't really see beyond it, and it reaches down about 15 feet to the floor below. You can hear Super Mutant voices muttering to each other in this room but the tapestry blocks you from pinpointing exactly where they are.
Vonya leans to the side to allow view of this to the others behind him. He unslings the supersledge and hands it backwards down the crew, to return it to it's rightful owner. He then draws his revolver, and ensures it's loaded.
"It's a big drop. I say I jump onto this tapestry and swing around a bit, shoot these f~#~ers. Smart plan or nah?"