Chapter One: Slaves to Steel
“Look upon my fucking work, ye mighty, and despair.” Eulogy Jones said as he looked at the crumbling remains of his empire. A tattered, empty shell of the once bustling slaver hub in the Capital Wasteland. Juton, the jovial drunk that towered over Eulogy, gave him a look of pure confusion. “What?” The sloshed slaver asked. Eulogy sighed and returned his trusted lieutenant a tired look of disappointment.
Paradise Falls has never been the same ever since the Lone Wanderer single-handedly killed off their favorite customer. The Pitt was in open rebellion and any communications with Ashur and his gang was gone. Since then a number of slavers have decided to move on to better pastures. What are left in Paradise Falls are the few top lieutenants of Jones. Maybe they were sworn to remain by some deep-seated loyalty to Eulogy. He himself thinks that they’ll be ripped apart the minute they get out into the waste. Facing the combined fury of the people they once preyed upon. Eulogy had just enough to pay them each month. There were still other people willing to buy slaves. It was just that they didn’t buy as many as Ashur did. Nobody would. Nobody could. It seemed like the end of Paradise Falls was coming. Coming sooner than Eulogy would have hoped.
“Hey Jones! You expecting company?” Carolina Red asked perched from her sniping position. It would seen counter intuitive to have a sniper’s nest in a clearly visible giant burger held 30 feet up in the air by a giant mascot. However from this position, she had a commanding view of the horizon. She spot a trail of white snow being disturbed by something. Something fast. Something headed straight towards them.
“What do you see?” Eulogy asked. Running as fast as he could up the sniper’s nest. The long fur coat made his ascent a more troublesome act than it should have been. By the time he made up to the perch, he could clearly see the trouble coming with his bear eyes. “Brotherhood incoming!” He yelled.
From inside the war-rig, Maybelle watched their approach with careful precision. The Brotherhood had never done as big of a raid before since their entrance into the Pitt 10 years prior. Back then the Brotherhood had twice the number the Outcast had now. However the Pitt was not the impenetrable fortress it once was in the past. Two war bikes made their approach before the main convoy. A screen of smoke covered them from enemy action. The two armored trucks rolled together with their war bike escorts covering their flanks. A wall of bullets came towards them. Eulogy’s guards desperately spraying ammunition into the smoke cloud. However between their power armor and the metal plating on the war rig and the war truck, the brotherhood were kept safe.
Soon enough the war truck parked itself next to the wall. The Outcast combatants eager for a fight stormed out and took cover. A fierce firefight occurred as Senior Defender Rockfowl pushed his fire team towards the entrance. The slavers were forced to close the gate into Paradise Falls. Before Rockfowl and his team could enter, the solid steel wall dropped down in front of them. The handful of slavers outside quickly raised their hands in surrender. Hoping they’d find mercy with the Outcast. They were shot along with the other wounded clinging on to life.
“Morales, Smith!” Rockfowl barked. Two Outcast defenders took attention and turned towards him for orders. The pair had a M-42 Tactical Nuclear Catapult between them. Better known to the common wastelander as the Fatman. Rockfowl pointed two fingers at the wall. With the order given defender Morales loaded the launcher with a mini nuke warhead. Defender Smith aimed at the door. “Fire in the hole!” Morales yelled out. Rockfowl and the rest of his fire team took cover. Smith took in a deep breath of air. Then he pressed the trigger. There was a strange calm for a few seconds before the payload found its mark. Then detonation. Snow, dirt and debris flew in all direction. Some of the guards who were hiding just behind the steel door were blown away. Their smeared remains the only clue that Human bodies had been in the area.
“Breach! Breach!” Rockfowl yelled. His team quickly rose from their positions and assaulted the stunned protectors inside. Two sentry bots backed the assault. Covering their advance with a suppressive burst from their inbuilt Gatling lasers. Smith stood up and ran towards the rest of his team. Before he could get far though, he heard the sound of his power helmet being penetrated by a depleted-uranium .50 caliber round. He fell flat on his feet. Rockfowl turned around just in time to see his soldier drop to the ground lifeless. His helmet spurting blood. By instinct he scanned the area. Looking for what could have possibly penetrated the defender’s power armor. Then he saw a glint of light from a high lookout. “Sniper!” Rockfowl yelled out.
Carolina Red finally got one. Everything she threw at the Outcast bounced off their armor. The depleted uranium rounds finally got her first kill though. “Easy with those rounds. They cost a fortune a pop.” Eulogy Jones said crouched down and returning gunfire with his R91 assault rifle. It didn’t do so much as alert the Outcast about their position. Carolina groaned as she reloaded her anti material rifle. A lecture from Eulogy was the last thing she needed. She found another easy mark and took aim. The sentry bot in her sight had a bullet tore through its chassis. “This rounds really pay for themselves though Eulogy. Think you could get me more of this shit?”
Carolina was getting into the spirit of the hunt. With a grin on her face she looked for another mark. As she scanned the battlefield, an unpleasant surprise met her. She managed to take a glimpse of a Brotherhood soldier aiming a fatman at her direction. The payload was already flying her direction. In that split second she tried to run. Jump out of the nest before she would be vaporized. It wasn’t enough though. The blastwave caught up with her before she could jump. Followed by the searing heat of the fireball behind it. In the blink of an eye, Carolina Red and Eulogy Jones was no more.
Rockfowl’s quick thinking saved his team. He dropped the M-24 launcher to the ground and picked up his signature Gatling laser. Before he could pick it up from the gun on the ground next to his feet, he was sent hurtling towards a wall. He hit a wall made of sheet steel. It was enough to dampen his bowl somewhat. The armor did its job too. However it still felt like he was hit by a truck straight to the chest. Rockfowl coughed as he pushed himself to stand up. Trying to shake off the blow he just recieved. In front of him stood the man responsible for his beating. Some blonde-haired slaver with a grim smile on his face. He charged at Rockfowl. Ready to finish off his power-armored foe. He was just about to swing his sledge when a bullet tore through his skull.Spilling his grey matter onto the white snow below him. “You owe me one Rococo.” Even without taking off her helmet, Rockfowl knew that his trusted sergeant, defender Becker was giving him a satisfied grin. Once he caught his breath the senior defender jumped back into the fray.
By the end of it all, Paradise Falls was a smoldering ruin. It’s fall from power completed with the death of its inhabitants. Eulogy Jones, a man who once had enough slaves and wealth to rule the wasteland, had nothing left of him. Burned in atomic fire with not even ashes to remember him. His was mighty empire now left for the carrion. As for the few slaves themselves, they were taken by the outcast. The few fortunate onlookers who witnessed the raid saw Outcast saw them herding the few handfuls of slaves that remained. Treating them no better than their previous masters. The Outcast had been docile and passive in the past years. Now something has caused them to stir. Just a brash action would not go unnoticed. Maybe that was what Elder Casdin wanted. A show of force for the emergent broken half of the Brotherhood.
