#fallout4holmes

Gage looked at me strangely, “You never turned that on before.”

I shrugged, “Anything’s gotta be better than listening to you try to make plans.”

He turned back to Holmes, “Boss, why the hell is the scrap heap still here? Can’t we turn him into parts or something?”

“No, Mr. Gage, you cannot,” Holmes said, perfectly calm.

“What if you do it, and I just watch?”

“I have no interest in voyeurism, thank you,” Holmes muttered.

It took Gage a minute, then he didn’t know if he should laugh or be disgusted. He settled on unsettled. “Uh huh.”

"This here is Raider Radio - don't forget, if you've got something you want everyone to hear, you're probably wrong and whatever it is sucks. But if you insist, drop us a note and we'll read it on-air… oh. *laughing* Oh, Yeah! Attention all my favorite undesirables out there! In case you haven't noticed, the Nuka-Express just pulled in! Looks like we got ourselves some fresh meat to run the Gauntlet!"

"About time Harvey came back," Gage grumbled.

Holmes got into his armor, “Let’s not be late to our own show.”

"And he's off! Let's hope our latest prey can draw a little... inspiration from our previous victims!”

We hurried down and made our way to the arena. I snuck a quick peek inside the marketplace as we passed; Deacon was dressed as a trader, perusing the wares while his hired muscle Cait looked bored. MacCready was haggling over the price of ammunition at the weapons stall. At least one part of the plan was in place.

Word of the event had spread, every radio in Nuka-Town on and tuned to the play-by-play.

"I think that monkey's playing your death march, vic… huh! Alright, this guy’s good with a laser rifle, I’ll give him that. But don’t worry, the Gauntlet's still got plenty in store for this one.”

“You got this?” Gage asked Holmes.

Holmes nodded. “I’m in power armor for a reason, Gage. I won’t be using the power grid as my predecessor did, but I’m not stupid enough to be in the middle of that arena without protection.”

"Haha! Who doesn't love a good explosion!”

I winced. Hopefully whoever was running through this death trap would make it out ok. I had no idea what we were going to do if they made it to the other side before Preston had a chance to attack, but I couldn’t worry about that now.

Some raiders had already taken seats in the arena when we arrived, with more coming in. Mason was already present with a small number of the Pack, along with Mags and William Black with some Operators. Nisha and a handful of Disciples soon came in after us. The seating area was split between the gangs; the Operators had a two-story set-up, complete with an elevator. The ground floor held a bar, couches, and chairs, while the top floor had more chairs and a patio table. On the other side were the Disciples, just four benches and then up a set of stairs to two more benches, all decorated with the heads of their enemies. Between the two were the Pack; rubble, cages, and three chairs.

"Aw, what? Call me crazy, but I think our vic's got something against fun. You know how hard it is to set those traps, man? Least you could do is step on them."

Anyone who didn’t have a seat with their leaders had to stand behind the fence surrounding the arena, which seemed just fine with them. Holmes made his way into the middle of the ring, Gage following. Lacking any signal from Holmes, I followed Gage. Gage was about to take issue with this when a panicked Operator ran straight for us.

“Overboss! Super mutants in Dry Gulch!”

“What?!” Mags and William stood up, furious.

“What did you see?” Holmes commanded.

“I was going to Dry Gulch, saw a super mutant just inside the entrance. They must have taken over the park!”

“Sucks to be you,” Nisha called from her seat.

I kept carefully neutral. Seemed Strong had been a little too enthusiastic about getting the party started.

“We’ll deal with it later,” Holmes said. At the predictably outraged protest from the Operators, Holmes shouted, “Your people are already dead, Mags! What is charging in without a plan going to accomplish?”

"Goddamn, look who's in the homestretch! Time for a little audience participation!”

Holmes gestured as if the announcement proved his point. “Let everyone have a little fun, and then I’ll use Dry Gulch to test the Nuka-Launcher.” He paused, then added, “I’ll even let you fire the first shot.”

The Operators weren’t happy, but they backed down. I noticed the Pack’s ears had perked up at the sound of new weapons being tested, the Disciples muttering to each other. Gage nodded in approval, “Can’t wait to see what that thing can do.”

An emergency door alarm sounded. The raiders cheered.

"Well, I'll be damned. You know what that sound means! Get your ass down to Cola-Cars. The main event's about to begin!"

Gage stepped back off to the side. I followed, much to his displeasure, but he decided to ignore me and focus on the upcoming fight.

"Get over to Cola-Cars, and watch the new Overboss crush our latest vic! Power armor on power armor, oh man, I hope someone’s core gets blown! The stands are filling up fast. Better hurry 'cause for losers, it's standing room only."

He was right, the stands were full and a steady stream of raiders were still pouring in, packing the standing room around the ring— wait. Both fighters were in power armor?

I smiled.

The crowd shouted and raged, cheering for blood as Holmes stood passively in his armor, rifle in his hands. The volume only grew as the victim emerged from the locker room. At first glance, Overboss and victim looked to be dressed in the same model of power armor, except that one was Quantum blue and the other was gunmetal grey, the white emblem of the Minutemen painted on his breastplate.

“General,” greeted Danse.

“Lieutenant Colonel,” Holmes said. “I see you made it in one piece.”

“The fuck,” growled Gage beside me as the crowd muttered, catching on too fast.

Holmes and Danse started circling each other. “I have to admit," Danse said, "the death traps were inventive. I was dismayed to learn you’d become the leader of a bunch of low-life, honorless vermin.”

“Oh, come now, Danse, that’s an unfair assessment. These are organized honorless vermin.”

Holmes’s joke got a few snickers and the crowd seemed to sense a fight would be coming after all. The chattering started up again, catcalls that the Overboss “shoot him already” starting.

Gage shifted restless and wary, "The hell is he waiting for?"

My geiger counter started ticking.

Danse nearly attacked in surprise when the glowing ghoul in a tux suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke. Oz removed his hat and bowed to his audience, "I apologize for the interruption, but it's time for the real show to begin!"

A blast of radiation filled the arena, catching every raider unprotected and off guard as the two men in power armor started firing into the seating area. As Gage staggered, I decked him with a left hook.

"Wanted to do that for days," I muttered, and suddenly felt something heavy in my pocket. It was the squirt gun we'd used to take down Colter, significantly modified.

There was no sign of Oswald. "Alright, that's impressive," I chuckled as the sounds of a firefight outside got closer. "Move it, fellas!" I shouted.

Danse and Holmes made their retreat as the always-armed raiders started firing back.

"You don't typically fight in power armor," Danse shouted over the fight.

"I thought it prudent for the occasion!" Holmes shouted back.

"I'm proud of you, sir. Though the color is… a lot."

I shouldn't have taken my eyes off Gage. Son of a bitch took off running, and a bunch of raiders were following his example. Danse, Holmes, and I made it outside through the chaos to find Nuka-Town had become a warzone.

"Move, General!" Preston shouted, and pitched a Nuka-grenade right through the door of the arena. We moved fast. Danse kept shooting at anyone trying to escape the arena while Holmes and I checked out the chaos in the park. Preston caught us up; “Minutebots and a squad of Minutemen are clearing out the Disciples from Fizztop Mountain. MacCready is on the patio of the Grill, sniping any raider he sees. Deacon and Cait took care of the guards in the Marketplace, now Curie has it locked down while she and Dr. Bridgeman tend the wounded. Minutemen cleaned out the Parlor, thanks to these grenades, and Strong is having the time of his life in the amphitheater against the Pack. Hancock is—”

A symphony of shotgun blasts nearby were followed by a hoarse shout, “Come on. At least try!”

Preston shrugged, “He’s taking care of everyone else.”

"Danse and I will make sure no one gets out of the arena," Holmes said, "Valentine, you and Preston assist wherever needed."

We got to work. I kept the water gun in my pocket; didn't have any ammo for it and didn't want to waste the shot. Pistol in hand, I did my best to help every Minuteman I spotted. This was a mess.

I found Hancock fighting near the amphitheater; he was hurt bad, but still cracking wise. "Facing off against me? I'd be scared too," he grunted as he turned and blew a hole through the raider that had shot him in the back.

I hurried forward, geiger counter ticking as Oswald reached him first. Oz waved his hands, glowed a little brighter, and conjured up some magic.

"Holy shit," Hancock breathed and stood straighter. "You need a job after this, I know a whole town of ghouls where you'd be real popular."

Oz blinked. "Oh. I'll… consider it."

I shot the raiders coming up behind them. "You know there's still a war going on?!"

"Stick with me, brother," Hancock grinned wickedly, and headed into the amphitheater.

Oz nodded, grabbed a machete off a dead raider, and followed.

"Strong kill all raiders!!!" came the bellow from inside.

"C'mon big guy, you need help!" Hancock scolded back.

I figured they were fine.

The marketplace, on the other hand, had a problem. A couple Minutemen had been attacked while they tried to haul some wounded inside. Curie leaped into battle to keep the raiders from entering, and help arrived in the form of a very angry redhead with a baseball bat.

"Bloody fuckin' nobs!" Cait shouted as she swung. "Get yer arses back to whatever shite spawned ya!"

Deacon suddenly appeared next to me, "Raider on the lift!"

"What?!"

"A raider took the lift up! Saw the lift moving but I was out of range for the shot—"

"Help Cait and Curie!" I was already running. I had a sinking feeling I knew who I would find.

Gage hadn't counted on a mercenary being on the Fizztop Grill's patio; he and MacCready were grappling over Gage's rifle near the door. Gage's side was bloody but that wasn't slowing him down as he head-butted MacCready before knocking him back and clocking him with the butt of the gun. I shot at him from the lift, but only nicked him as he made it inside.

I ran to MacCready. He was unconscious with a broken nose, but he was breathing. I took the moment to reload, stood up, and was knocked backward by a mini-nuke launcher swung at my skull.

"This would have worked if it weren't for you!" Gage growled.

My optics were flickering, couldn't aim straight. "Holmes would rather be dead than be your Overboss."

Gage rolled his eyes, "People say shit like that all the time, until it comes time to die." Bastard tackled me against the bar, shoved a hand through my neck and grabbed my spine to hold me there. Hurt like hell, so much I dropped my gun to claw at his hand, try to pry him off without making it hurt even more.

"How're you… planning to get out?" I managed to gasp.

"Your idiot soldiers worked their way in, but didn't leave anyone standing guard behind them."

"Those 'idiot soldiers' just turned your big dream to ash."

I tried not to scream as he squeezed. "You may have decimated these assholes, but there are plenty of gangs out there. We took Nuka-World once, we'll do it again."

Then I was on the floor in a heap, watching Gage walk off toward the lift with the Nuka-Launcher. I couldn't let him get away and form whole new raider gangs equipped with Quantum-powered weapons, had to act fast…

"Gage!"

He looked over his shoulder as he stepped onto the lift and laughed. "And what the hell are you gonna do with that?"

I smirked, and held the water gun steady. "Just thought you could use a drink."

A ball of blue fired straight at Gage's chest, exploding on impact in a blast of glowing smoke and flame. The raider slumped against the lift's rails, scorched and hopefully dead. I carefully approached, on my guard, and grabbed the launcher and it's ammo. Then I dumped the body to the ground.

MacCready groaned.

I hurried over, "You ok?"

"Sure… soon as my head stops hurting."

"Stay put, don't move. I'll signal for help."

He tried to sit up, "The guy that hit me—"

"Ain't a problem anymore."

MacCready relaxed, "Good. I'll just lie here then."

I chuckled, "Good idea."

From the patio's view, I could tell the Minutemen we're winning. Gage had been right, there were raiders escaping through the gaps, but annihilating them had never been the plan. The Minutemen were here to rescue their General and free the traders, and they'd done it. Every raider in Nuka-World would shortly either be dead or on the run.

It wasn't long before Danse came marching through, leading a squad of Minutemen to root out any remaining raiders. I watched the military maneuvering for a moment before taking the lift down. "Hey, Lieutenant Colonel! MacCready needs a medic up top!"

Danse nodded and gave an order to a soldier who took off running. Then he looked me over, "Do you require assistance, Valentine?"

"Me?"

"It is unusual to see you look… tired."

I smiled, "Do I? Something must be a little out of alignment after getting my spine strangled."

"After what?"

I sighed and tried to change the subject, "Where's Holmes?"

"The General is in the Marketplace visiting the wounded and taking stock of our losses. How severe is your misalignment and is there a mechanic in this godforsaken place that can be of assistance?"

I lit a cigarette, "Anyone ever tell you you're worse than a mother hen?"

"Not in those exact words, but I believe Preston has implied similarly." The soldiers were all trying really hard not to smile. "I will remain here until medical assistance arrives for MacCready while you find Holmes in the Marketplace."

"Alright, alright," I gave up. "Thanks, Danse."

"Of course."

I heard him giving orders to his people to continue the sweep while he guarded the lift as I headed toward the market. Knowing Danse, of all people, was looking out for me was a weird sensation… though I guess I shouldn't have been surprised after everything he and Preston had done for my family. One thing getting kidnapped by raiders had done was show just how big our little family really was.

I found Holmes talking to Curie, his power armor left to the side. "How bad is it?" I asked.

He turned to me, relieved for a moment before putting on the General again. "Not as bad as I thought it would be. Nearly all of the Minutemen were injured, the ones who weren't are on patrol now with Danse and Preston, flushing out any remaining raiders. We lost a few. Dr. Bridgeman is keeping an eye on Corporal Brown's condition as we speak."

"Damn," I shook my head. "You know he just recently got that promotion?"

"So I was told," Holmes sighed. "He's not the only one we may yet lose before the day is done."

I put my hand on his shoulder, "They knew what they signed up for."

He nodded, "I know. I still…" he trailed off as he finally looked fully at me. "What happened?"

"Bit of a tussle with the Overboss's right hand man."

His face hardened, "You're hurt."

I shrugged, "A bit out of whack, nothin' Chip can't put back in place. With Curie here too, should be a cinch."

And just like that he was off across the other side of the market, striding back to me with the handyman in tow.

I feel it worth mentioning that I was right. Curie and Chip had me right as rain, MacCready was treated and soon on his feet, and Corporal Brown pulled through, some significant scarring aside. His friend Jackson assured him facial scars were sexy. He didn't believe her, but he laughed anyway. Danse and Preston confirmed Nuka-World was free of raiders, leaving Dr. Bridgeman with the awkward task of figuring out how to remove everyone's collars.

While she discussed options with Curie, Chip, Danse, and Deacon (the latter two having seen slavers in the Capital Wasteland employ a more lethal version,) Holmes and I went in search of our other allies.

We found Strong in the amphitheater, perfectly at home sitting on Mason's throne. He was eating… something. I couldn't tell what, and I didn't want to ask. Hancock and Cait were up in the seats, chatting over a flask. Hancock was drinking more of it than Cait was, I was glad to see. And every now and then he'd hand it over to the magician sitting a little father away, presumably to keep from accidentally exposing Cait to his radiation.

"General Trouble!" Hancock called as he spotted us. "Next time you get yourself kidnapped, think you could do it in less of a fortress?"

"If this had been less of a fortress, Mayor Hancock," Holmes dryly replied as we climbed the steps, "I wouldn't have remained kidnapped in the first place."

"I'm glad for it," Oswald said softly, then realized we all heard him. "I'd still be waiting for a miracle that would never happen if you hadn't come," he hurried to explain. "I don't know how long I would have stayed in that castle. Or," he looked at me, "if I'd have kept going."

Cait was tapping Hancock's shoulder with a questioning look, but he just shrugged.

"I'm glad some good came of all this," Holmes said, sincere. "Valentine tells me he offered to introduce you to the scientists in Covenant, our Minutemen Research Center."

Oz nodded, "I'd like that, I think. I, um," he glanced at Hancock, then back at us, "I'd also like to see Mayor Hancock's town, if that's alright? A city of ghouls… I lived in similar for over a hundred years."

"Might not be the sort of town yer lookin' for," Cait warned.

I nodded, "Goodneighbor follows a do-it-yourself security mentality. Anything goes, as long as it's not done out in the open."

"Hey," Hancock said, "I don't appreciate all this casting my town in a bad light. Yeah, the Goodneighbor way of life ain't for everyone, some folks don't do well with a lack of rules, but at least everyone's free."

"The solution is simple," Holmes said. "Covenant is first on the trip back. Then we'll go to the Slog, a tarberry farm run completely by ghouls, and then Goodneighbor. That will give our new friend plenty of exposure to the Commonwealth, the two primarily ghoulish settlements, and he will have time to decide what he wants to make of his life."

Oz blinked, "Friend?"

"Oh!" It hit me, "I gotta get back to the Safari Adventure, let Cito know it's all over. And someone should put the S.T.A.R cores back in the Galactic Zone, get the robots back under control." I started moving and called back over my shoulder, "Tell the traders the World of Refreshment is one hundred percent off limits, Oz's friends can wander the place in peace, but we should figure out what to do about that secret lab."

"Is he always like this?" I heard Oz ask.

Holmes laughed fondly, "No, actually. Usually I'm the one leaving him to trail behind the whirlwind. Now I know what it's like."

Cito was happy to hear we won, and even said he might visit Nuka-Town someday. The traders didn't have a problem with never going near the bottling plant, and we got the robots back under control in the Galactic Zone. Holmes decided he'd have a couple scientists come over from Covenant to investigate the secret lab and make sure there wasn't anything left over that could one day come back to bite us. This would be easy, thanks to the new Nuka-World/Commonwealth Express. Harvey was happy to act as conductor. Trade and the occasional Minuteman visit via rail would hopefully be to everyone's benefit.

With all that taken care of, it was time to finally go home. We hopped aboard the Nuka-Express and headed back to the Commonwealth. Holmes and I sat on one of the few intact benches, my arm around his shoulders as he looked out the window, oblivious to the car packed with his soldiers and friends. “What do you think is the first thing that Piper’s gonna ask us when we get back?” I joked.

He smirked, “Ha. 'Spill, Blue, gimme all the details.' What do you think is the first thing our secretary will say?”

“‘I’m so glad you’re back, how many times do I have to tell you to be careful.’”

“Mm, Ellie does say that a lot, doesn’t she?”

He leaned into me, and I chuckled. “You know, I don’t think anyone here would blink an eye if you got some well-deserved rest, Sherlock.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m fine,” he muttered. “Just thinking about Shaun.”

“Seeing him is the best part of coming home,” I nodded. “Makes all this worth it. Ha, now that Nuka-World isn’t run by raiders anymore, maybe one day we can show him what an amusement park used to be like.”

Sherlock was quiet for a long moment. By the time it occurred to me to glance down, he was fast asleep on my shoulder.

Sure enough, the ferris wheel was slowly turning, the teacup ride was spinning, everything that could move was moving as if it had never stopped, though I imagine a bit creakier than two hundred years ago. Honestly, I was a little impressed that nothing went spinning off into oblivion.

"Guess Chip got his wish," I chuckled.

"Who?" Preston asked.

"Local handyman, mentioned to Holmes how much he'd like to see the park powered up properly again. Guess Holmes made it happen. Sure as hell wasn't the raiders."

"But why now?"

I shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. I think I've been away from Nuka-Town long enough, I should check in with Holmes."

"Of course," Preston nodded. "Oh, before you go, how far from the Pack's camp in Nuka-Town is the arena?"

"Amphitheater's right across from the Cola-Cars, but there's a marketplace in the way. Why?"

"I figure we'll come in through the entrance by Fizztop Mountain, head south to the Parlor, then hit the Amphitheater. By then everyone in the Cola-Cars arena will hear the fighting, hopefully we'll draw them out. The tricky part will be keeping the fighting out of the marketplace."

"And why are the raiders going to be in the arena?" I drawled. "That's the end of their sadistic Gauntlet, Holmes isn't…" I stopped, and Preston kept his face neutral. "That's the big distraction?" I demanded. "Holmes is gonna open the Gauntlet?"

"That's the plan," Preston said, terse.

"Something tells me you don't like the plan."

Preston crossed his arms, "Unfortunately, I didn't have a better one. The guy who delivered the General's message, Harvey, also gave us a description of the traps inside, but said that could change."

I nodded, "And probably will. We only made it through by moving slow and stealthy, disarming every trap we spotted, and even then there were too many close calls."

"That's why I don't like the plan," Preston huffed. "Everything hinges on one person not dying inside of a death trap."

I shook my head, "Something doesn't add up. Why would Holmes send someone through that thing?"

"It's certain to pull a large number of raiders out of the town, into one isolated area." Preston sighed, "The plan makes sense, it'll be easier for the Minutemen to take control of the raider bases if half of them are off watching some blood sport. I just wish there was another way to keep everyone distracted."

"Hm. I hate it just as much as you do, but these raiders despise each other at the best of times. The only reason they're willing to work together at all is the promise of more power, violence, and caps. Getting them to all look in the same direction takes… well, a hell of a show."

"They'll definitely get that," Preston smirked, still a bit bitter.

"This invasion of Nuka-Town of yours going to happen before or after you take the rest of the parks?"

He sighed again, frustrated, "That's the other thing. When we got the General's message, I scrambled to gather as many Minutemen as I could, as fast as I could, but still kept it a small enough force that we could travel quickly without drawing too much attention. That means we can't afford to lose anyone before the big fight, but I can't just leave a bunch of raiders in the other parks ready to swoop in and flank us."

"That's a predicament."

He laughed, "No shit!"

I chuckled, "Sorry I can't be more helpful. Battle plans aren't exactly my forte."

"You've been a huge help, Nick," he said, earnest, "Your information is the only reason this insane mission might be pulled off successfully."

"Don't sell yourself short," I smiled. "There's no rescue without rescuers."

Preston scoffed, but he was smiling.

"There are always raiders on guard inside the marketplace," I thought out loud. "If none of the Minutemen go inside the market, the raiders might come out."

"Or they'll just shoot us from the doors."

"So you need a couple people on the inside, someone who can take the raiders out quick when they start shooting."

"Deacon?"

I shrugged, "Sure, maybe Cait could go with, pretend to be tourists looking to spend some caps. Unless you got some Minutemen with acting skills?"

He shook his head, "Not that I know of, but it's not like I know every soldier's personal interests."

"MacCready could certainly play the part—"

"I need him up on the tallest building we can find, taking out as many as he can."

"Fair enough. Well, whenever Deacon comes back from his infiltration, you can ask what he thinks of the idea. I'll be back tomorrow morning, unless Holmes sends me back here sooner."

I made my way out, taking a moment to marvel at how different the place looked with everything moving. Still eerie, no people around, but you could picture what it must have been like in its heyday. It was kinda nice, until I heard Hancock shouting for help from the tunnels.

"Radaway! Hey! I need some fucking Radaway down here!!"

For a moment I actually wondered why a ghoul would need Radaway before realizing what had happened. I ran over to the closest entrance in time to see Hancock exit, hauling Deacon over his shoulders. “Shit,” I swore and reached for him.

“I got him, took a buffout,” Hancock protested, moving fast, “just gotta get him to Curie.”

“Hang on a sec, I got something better than Radaway.” I took a bottle of X-111 out of my pocket, “This stuff’s stronger, Holmes helped a scientist in the Brotherhood cook it up, way back.”

Hancock carefully put Deacon down. The spy looked… well, like he was dying of radiation poisoning. “You just keep a bottle of this shit on you all the time?” Hancock asked as I gave Deacon the medicine.

“After seeing my partner drink from a radioactive stream once, I started carrying it with me everywhere.”

“Holmes did what?”

“It was in Far Harbor, he needed to infiltrate the Children of Atom.”

Deacon made a sound somewhere between a cough and a laugh, “Detective’s a special kind of crazy.”

“Don’t I know it,” I chuckled. “How’re you feeling?”

“Less like dying, so that’s good?”

“Hancock, hurry on over to Curie and grab some stimpaks, will ya’?” Hancock nodded and hurried on. I shook my head with a sigh, “Speaking of special kinds of crazy, I’m guessing you went for a swim?”

“No swimming,” Deacon groaned, “just… wading through a reactor pool and down the much longer than expected drainpipe. Opened the grate, we can get in now. So you’re welcome.”

I frowned. “Why do we need to get in?”

Curie arrived, gently scolded Deacon as she fussed over him, and assured him he’d be feeling better soon. Preston and Hancock were close behind, along with a crowd of curious Minutemen and allies.

“What happened?” Preston asked, genuinely concerned.

"All that nuclear waste in the tunnels is coming from a secret lab in the bottling plant where the soft drink inventors were making weapons for the military," Deacon said, sounding stronger by the second. "And they succeeded. The lab was inaccessible until the power came on. We now have a very limited amount of time to make sure no Operators figure out how to open the door and gain access to blue glowing grenades and mini-nukes."

“You got out through the drain pipe,” I filled in the blanks, “and now that’s how we’re going to get in and take the Operators by surprise.”

“That was the plan.”

“Nick,” Preston said, all soldierly this time, “I know you need to get back to Holmes sooner rather than later, but I need your help on this. I want to send through Strong, Mayor Hancock, the two Minutemen with me who are ghouls, and you. It’s a small force, but a capable one, and most importantly none of you will have to worry about the rads taking you down before you get to the fight.”

The lab was an impressive set-up, if you ignored the skeletons. According to the terminals, the lab’s purpose was a military project called Project Cobalt. The chemists that used to design soft drinks were put to work designing a new weapon payload, “sort of like nitroglycerin, but safer and with a much stronger yield.” Tweak it a little, and they got a soft drink out of it too. Go figure.

Anyway, after the bombs fell the team kept working until one committed suicide and one went a bit nuts and killed the other two… but before the last one died, he completed the project. Deacon hadn’t been exaggerating when he talked about blue-glowing grenades and mini-nukes. If this stuff was as powerful as the terminals made it seem, it was stuff we definitely didn’t want raiders getting their hands on.

“Hey, at least we’ve got some mini-nukes now,” Hancock said.

“Sorry, Mayor,” one of the Minutemen said, “but Colonel Garvey won’t use ‘em. Too much collateral damage.”

His fellow soldier spoke up, “We should still take them with us, just to keep them out of enemy hands.”

“Strong hear something,” the super mutant said from his position by the door.

“Shit, we’re outta time,” I grumbled. “Everyone get ready—”

“Strong smash raiders,” Strong swung his hammer back, ready to strike, “metal man and ghouls stay out of way.”

The two Operators that stepped through the door never knew what hit them. They certainly weren’t expecting a sledgehammer aimed at their unprotected heads.

"Ew," a Minuteman muttered.

"Too easy," Strong scoffed.

"You got the drop on ' em," I warned, "and we were lucky there were only two. Won't be the same on the other side of the door."

"Good! Strong want fight!"

He sure got it. The Operators wisely tried to keep their distance as the super mutant charged through the rest of the plant, but that's what the Minutemen were for. They took up positions under cover behind Strong as he moved, giving him ranged support with their muskets while Hancock and I spread out a bit to take advantage of Operator focus being on the big green distraction. It was going well at first, element of surprise and all that, but we were still outnumbered.

"We should fall back!" a Minuteman called from across the room, "Strong's moved too far ahead, we're too exposed!"

"You just gonna leave him?" Hancock growled.

"Look, I know he's an ally, but—" his comment was cut short by an Operator bashing him in the side of the head with the butt of a rifle. The Minuteman went down, the Operator aimed, I saw Hancock running to get in shotgun range… and a feral ghoul tackled the Operator to the floor.

Panicked cries arose from the Operators as a swarm of painted ferals attacked. Over the chaos I heard a showman proclaiming, "Stay close my friends! I'll keep you fighting!"

A blast of radiation sent my geiger counter ticking crazy for a moment. "Hancock! Tell Strong not to attack the ghouls!"

"What?!"

"Better chance of him listening to you than me!"

Hancock started running to the mutant, "Why am I telling him not to fight ferals?!"

"Because they're the goddamn cavalry!!" I checked on the injured Minuteman, hauling him a distance from the feral and Operator scrapping on the floor. The Operator lost, though the feral lost an arm in the process. I called to the other Minuteman, "Try not to hit the ferals!"

"Sure!" was the sarcastic reply, "Do my best!"

At least he was actually trying, but it was admittedly difficult to use a thing that would happily eat you to attack enemies. Running from ferals to lead them toward more Operators seemed to work, sort of, as did staying far away and shooting if you could get a shot that didn't risk hitting one of Oswald's friends. As complicated as the ferals made the fight for us, their presence sure as hell shortened the fight for the Operators. It wasn't long before the gunshots stopped… and a dozen ferals noticed the three ghouls, a super mutant, and one old synth standing together.

"Nick?" Hancock muttered, "I think the cavalry's about to turn on us."

Everyone aimed as the ferals started to charge, and Oswald ran between with his hands up at his friends, "Stop!" When they didn't, he switched to a harsh, threatening growl. The ferals hesitated. My geiger counter was doing cartwheels again, and from the suddenly energized looks on the faces of the ghouls with me, Oswald was emanating some pretty strong rads. Oswald gave another growl, and the ferals backed off.

“What glowing one do?” Strong grumbled, curious.

Oswald sighed heavily, “Told them no. They used to follow my orders easier. I think the other ferals in Bradberton were a bad influence.” He watched the remains of his friends walk away, his voice tight with grief, “Oh god, so many of them are gone now…”

“Oswald?” I carefully put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped a little, but turned to look at me. “Thanks for coming back. You and your friends turned the tide, right when we needed you.”

He took a deep breath, let it out slow. “Thank you.” He gestured to the ferals, anxious, “They'll get restless soon, let's not stay, just… let them roam. Please.”

I nodded, “You got it. Everyone back in the lab, lock the door behind us.”

Our little troop started moving. “Lab?” Oswald asked.

“Turns out, all that highly irradiated water you folks were living next to came from the reactor of a secret lab.”

He scoffed, “I knew it.”

“Drain pipe leads from here to Kiddie Kingdom, that’s where we’re headed.”

We made sure to grab all the weapon prototypes and schematics from the lab as we made our way out. Strong took point again, without being asked. Oswald had been eyeing him warily, “The big green one…”

“Never seen a super mutant before?”

“Super mutant?” Oswald shook his head, “No. The only things that ever attacked our home were raiders and wildlife. The sprayers and the Afflicted took care of them.”

“You lucked out. Super mutants are big, violent, and eat people. Have a weird habit of storing their raw meat in hanging bags. Strong's a little different than his brothers. Likes Shakespeare, though his interpretation is… unique.”

“Shakespeare.”

“Yep.”

“... that sounds insane. And kind of amazing. Mostly insane.”

I chuckled, and changed the subject. “So what made you join the party?”

"We were headed back to Kiddie Kingdom, but I saw a massive creature I'd never seen before dead in the lake behind the bottling plant. It looked like a horseshoe crab the size of a whale. I was curious, heard the fighting as we got close. When I saw a few 'ghouls' fighting raiders, I decided to help."

Hancock turned to Oswald, "Why'd you say 'ghouls' like that?"

Oswald got quiet. "We never called ourselves that, in the park. When the raider attacks started, we heard the word shouted among them. Ghouls. Ferals. I didn't realize that was just how others in the world all called people like us until recently."

Hancock blinked, "Wait, how long did you live in that amusement park?"

"Since the day the bombs fell."

"Holy shit. You never saw anyone from outside?"

"Safer that way."

Hancock laughed a little, "Brother, you been missing out."

"I doubt that," Oswald hesitated, "but I guess that's why I'm here. Rachel told me the world outside isn't as bad as we thought."

"This Rachel of yours make it?"

"No."

Hancock's face fell. "Shit," he sighed, "Sorry to hear that. Hey, you won't believe it for a long time, but she was right."

Oswald took a deep breath and nodded, "I hope so."

As we emerged from the drain pipe and made our way out of the tunnels, I said, "Oswald, meet Hancock, Mayor of Goodneighbor, town out east in what used to be Boston."

Hancock laughed, "Trust Nick Valentine to make sure we keep some fucking manners in the world."

Oswald turned to me, "Nick Valentine?"

"Pleased to meet you," I grinned. "Didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself before."

Oswald smiled, "Well, I did try to kill you on sight."

I chuckled, "Water under the bridge."

Strong and the Minutemen exited the tunnels ahead of us, so the camp was already buzzing as folks tried to get details from Strong and the Minutemen reported to their Colonel. We were headed toward the theater as Cait hurried over.

"Hancock! Made it back… what the hell?"

"C'mon Cait, really?" Hancock rolled his eyes.

The former cage fighter got defensive, "Never seen a glowin' ghoul in a top hat and fancy clothes, alright? Surprised me. No offense," she added in Oswald's direction.

"I'd be surprised too," he said graciously.

We continued on, Hancock and Cait chatting as we went. She wanted all the details of the fight, which he exaggerated, and which she called him on every time.

"Uh, Mr. Valentine?" Oswald started, trying to keep up while staring at the Minutemen preparations at the same time. "Is this the militia you told me about?"

"As many as could be gathered on short notice. We hadn't planned on using your old home as a base, just sort of worked out that way."

"When did the power come on?"

"Just earlier today. Quite the shock," I joked.

He was looking around, wistful. "Must have been. None of these people have ever seen an amusement park before. A working one, I mean."

We got inside the theater just in time to see Preston dismiss the two Minutemen ghouls. Deacon, MacCready, and Curie were standing with him on the stage. Preston noticed us coming, "Nick! I just heard about the mission. I take it this is the man you were telling me about? I hear his timing is impeccable."

We joined them onstage, "That's right. You've probably heard the announcements about his show being sold out."

"Once or twice," Preston said sarcastically with a chuckle. "Oswald the Outrageous?"

Oswald made an amused sound, "Ha. It's been a long time since I was called that. Oz is fine."

"Oz, this is Colonel Preston Garvey, second in command of the Minutemen," I said.

Preston smiled kindly, "Ready to help at a minute's notice."

"This is Curie," I continued, "scientist and chief medic, friendly mercenary Robert MacCready, and this is Deacon. Works for the Railroad."

"Railroad?" Oz asked.

"We help synths," Deacon said. "The new models that look like people mostly, though that's only because the older ones tend to shoot first." Deacon nodded my way with a smirk, "Not counting one-of-a-kind prototypes."

Oz shook his head and looked at me, "Synths?"

"I'll explain later," I said with a smile, "a lot of stuff happened in the two hundred years you and your friends were hiding out here. For now, we should focus on Nuka-World's raider problem."

Preston nodded, "With the bottling plant occupied by—"

"Oz's friends," Hancock interjected.

"Preston took the hint and continued, "That's one less park to worry about. We can't afford to lose the momentum. Safari Adventure is next, and we'll have to take out Dry Gulch and Galactic Zone in quick succession after that."

"Colonel, you cannot take all three without rest," Curie said. "There is bound to be injury, and you cannot risk mistakes born from exhaustion."

"I've got an idea for the Galactic Zone that'll keep the Disciples plenty busy without risking any Minutemen," I said, "but it'll require some disguise and a stealth boy will be useful." I looked at Deacon, "No radioactive water this time, promise."

"Already a plus," Deacon said. "What new and exciting danger am I exposing myself to this time?"

"Nuka-Cola branded robots, though honestly I think the Disciples might be worse."

"Huh." He shrugged and looked at MacCready, "Guess we're going shopping again."

"This is all grand," said Cait, "but what happens when raiders come poking their noses about?"

"They'll think the bottling plant was overrun by ferals," Preston looked at Oz apologetically, but continued, "and according to Nick there's no reason for them to come into this park because it hasn't been assigned yet—"

"You don't think they're gonna wonder how the feral-attacked corpses got bullet holes?"

"I'm hoping they won't stick around long enough to look that close. We don't have the luxury of time to prepare properly, or enough people for that matter." Preston was in command before the troops, even if none of the people he was talking to were actually under his command, but it was impressive nonetheless. Danse would be proud. "I'm going to split our forces into two groups; one for Safari Adventure, one for Dry Gulch. Deacon, MacCready, and Cait will head to the Galactic Zone. After the Galactic Zone is taken care of, Deacon and Cait will infiltrate the Nuka-Town market and be ready to take out the guards when the fighting starts before any traders get hurt. MacCready will go with them, but his job will be to scout out a sniping location for when the invasion starts."

"Which is gonna be when?" Hancock asked.

"Sometime tomorrow."

Deacon whistled, "Tight timetable."

"It's not ideal, but that's when the distraction will be in place." He laid out who was going where, and which Minutemen to take with us. "Oz? If you're willing, your help could be the edge we need."

Oz was doubtful, but willing. "What are you planning?"

"I've got it all mapped out over here, I'll explain. The rest of you, assemble your teams."

For once, I didn't need to worry.

"Mr. Valentine?" a voice softly called from the second floor.

"In the synthetic flesh. It just us in here?"

"Yes, sir," the Minuteman hurried down from his post and I relaxed. "I'm glad to see you're ok, Mr. Valentine."

I recognized the guy from Sanctuary, I'd saved him and a settler from a yao guai once. "Private Brown, right?"

"Corporal, now," he smiled, clearly proud. "Colonel Garvey will be glad to see you, the General's instructions were, um. Vague?"

"Ha, I bet. He in the theater?"

Brown nodded, "Yes sir, if you go—"

"I've been inside before, Holmes and I are responsible for the dead ferals lying around."

He blinked, "… all of them?"

I shrugged, "Any wearing clown makeup, anyway."

"Clown…? Oh, the stuff that looks like paint on their faces?"

"Yep. Clowns were a type of entertainment way back in the day, tried to make families laugh. Weren't any ghouls back then, of course."

Brown shuddered, "Yeah, I can't imagine what you're talking about."

I chuckled, "Probably for the best. Always found 'em unsettling, myself. I'll let you get back to being a watchman."

"Wait, you can go through here," he hurried over to a door and knocked before opening a crack, "Jackson, Mr. Valentine's here, let him—"

"Valentine!" A woman in Minutemen uniform opened the door and stuck her head through to look at me, "Well damn," she grinned. "Good to see you sir, come on through. You'll get to the Colonel faster this way."

The door connected the tower to the backstage area of the theater. I followed Jackson with relief. “You folks got a real thing for castles, don’t you?”

She smirked, "Colonel took it as a good sign when we spotted this place on our way in."

Jackson opened the door to a dressing room turned into a command center, and there in the middle stood Preston Garvey talking with someone I never would have expected.

"MacCready?!"

"Hey, Valentine," the merc said with a grin. "Heard you and Holmes needed a rescue."

"I'm glad you're here, Nick," Preston said, "and unharmed. We were just trying to figure out how to get in touch with the General."

"Good thing I decided to go for a walk," I joked. "When did you get here?"

"Before dawn this morning," Preston said.

Holmes’s instinct to take out the Gunners right away had been spot on. I turned to MacCready, "Who's watching Duncan while you're here?"

"He's staying at your place with Shaun. Codsworth and Piper are keeping eyes on them."

"I was sure surprised to see him running behind us as we moved out of Sanctuary," Preston said with a grin.

"Hey, I owe Holmes everything," MacCready protested. "Without him, the Gunners would still be harassing me, and my son would probably be dead. You can't put out a call to arms to rescue him without me doing something."

"We appreciate it," I said.

"Curie insisted on coming too," Preston said, "since we had no idea if Holmes would need medical attention or not. We've got a handful of Minutebots with us, in addition to the troops."

"You're still outnumbered," I warned.

"Sure," a voice said behind me, "but wait til the raiders see the super mutant on our side."

I spun around and saw a bald man in a Minuteman uniform, plus a pair of sunglasses. "Deacon?!"

"I still don't know where he got that uniform," Preston grumbled.

"Any other folks I know joining the party?" I was incredulous.

"Deacon already mentioned Strong," Preston shrugged. "Cait and Hancock are around somewhere."

"How the hell did Holmes make friends with a super mutant, anyway?" MacCready asked.

"Long story," Preston and I said in unison. I followed up, "As flattered as I am and I know Holmes will be, we're still outnumbered. By a lot. Each park has a small settlement's worth of raiders inside, and they've all got their own specialties."

Preston nodded, "Which is one reason why I'm glad you're here, Nick. Tell me everything you know about this place."

I gave them the full story, everything about the parks, how they were laid out, the gangs and their leaders, the traders in slave collars. After a while, I realized who was missing from the room. "Say, where's Danse?"

"The General had a mission for him," Preston said, "and gave orders that no one else was to know about it."

I scoffed, "He would. So, ideas for a plan?"

"The parks are far enough from each other that we might be able to keep the fighting in each one isolated, if we attack quickly and keep everyone else distracted from what's going on. The problem is that we don't have enough people to take them all simultaneously, and we don't have enough time to go one by one and risk the raiders becoming alarmed."

I sighed, "Well, for what it's worth, there's a guy inside Safari Adventure that'll lend a hand. Name's Cito, raised by gorillas, mean swing with a sledgehammer."

The three of them were skeptical, understandably. “Gorillas?” asked Preston.

I shrugged, “It’s a zoo.”

Deacon put his hand up, “I want to meet this person.”

“Oh,” I remembered, “one other thing; if you happen to see a bunch of ferals with paint on their faces in the company of a glowing ghoul in a tux and top hat, don’t shoot ‘em.”

“You sure you don’t have any circuits crossed?” MacCready asked.

I rolled my eyes, "I know how it sounds. When the bombs fell, the Kiddie Kingdom staff made a shelter out of the employee tunnels. They all turned ghoul, and then slowly they all went feral, except one."

"Top hat guy," Deacon said.

"Exactly. His name's Oswald, used to be a magician. Holmes and I convinced him to leave town with his, uh, friends. I don't know if he'll show up here or not. If he does, I'd rather he not get shot by a panicked Minuteman."

"I'll let everyone know," Preston nodded, "just in case. How far do those tunnels you mentioned reach?"

"Easier to show you," I said, and started walking.

I saw quite a few familiar faces as I went through the theater-turned-camp. Curie was happy to see me, wanted a full report on Holmes’s health. Cait was taking a turn on watch duty, shouted a mildly vulgar hello that was probably her version of friendly. Strong and Hancock were talking, sort of. Hancock was asking questions and Strong was answering, anyway. The gist I picked up was that Strong was less here to save Holmes, and more here to fight raiders. “Raiders capture leader, not kill. Raiders must be strong but stupid. Strong will kill them, eat their flesh and find milk!” Which still worked out positive for us in the long run, so I wasn’t complaining. The Minutebots Preston had mentioned sat in standby mode for now; imagine an armored Mr. Handy with gatling guns for arms and you get the general idea.

I led Preston, Deacon, and MacCready through the tunnels. Curie followed, curious as always. All of them were impressed with the set up, until we got to the water supply.

“You think they went ghoul before or after the water turned green?” MacCready quipped.

“Before,” I muttered. “Storm blew in from the east, fallout from the bomb hitting Boston.”

“Sirs,” Curie spoke up, “this level of radiation? This is to be expected as waste from a nuclear reactor, not simply a polluted water supply.”

“Reactor?” Deacon was skeptical, “In an amusement park?”

Then it hit me. “Nuka-Quantum has a radioactive isotope, that’s why it glows. I’ll bet that pipe leads to the bottling plant.”

It was Preston’s turn to be skeptical, “A bottling plant run by a reactor? Seems a little extreme.”

“What if it’s not just a bottling plant?” I reasoned it out, “They had to do the research somewhere. Some of the terminals around the park mention a thing called Project Cobalt, some sort of private contract that used up a whole hell of a lot of the park’s resources and manpower. Something like that might need its own private power supply, keep it self-contained.”

Deacon raised a hand, “So what I’m hearing is that we need to get into the bottling plant.”

I nodded, “World of Refreshment and the plant connected to it are currently occupied by the Operators. Real slick, well dressed, care about caps more than anything.”

“Cool. Hey, MacCready, wanna help me do some shopping?”

MacCready crossed his arms, “You want me to snipe a guy so you can steal his clothes?”

“Pretty much.”

We had two Minutebots with our group. I ordered one to head around to the north entrance, while the other was going to stay put at the main south entrance. Their job was to keep anyone from escaping. We couldn't risk one of the Pack running back to base to spread the word about the attack. I wasn't looking forward to the slaughter, but sneaking out of this mess wasn't an option.

We moved in. The Pack had spread out through the zoo, which meant a constant stream of raiders to fight, but not in overwhelming numbers. The Minutemen watched our backs and kept the Pack at bay as I led Curie along the east wall, headed for local assistance. We reached the primate house in time to see a Pack member literally thrown out the door of the building. Curie confirmed he wasn't going to get up again, something about a broken neck, and I called inside, "Cito? You alright?"

He came running, a gorilla just behind him. "Friend Nick! This one," he gestured to the dead Pack member, "come into home with weapon ready to shoot. Cito stop him, fight, kill him. Easy fight. Fight all Pack now?"

"You got it," I nodded. "Your family gonna be safe inside?"

“Yes, Chris will guard door,” he gestured to the gorilla behind him. “Any Pack that enter are in for big surprise. Wanted to show him friends, just in case. Now you will not be attacked by gorilla if you enter,” he smiled cheerfully at Curie.

“I have so many questions,” she started, but I cut her off.

“Time to ask later, we gotta keep moving. Let’s go.”

We could hear the rapid fire of Minutebot guns in the distance, in both directions. The bots were sturdy, but they could only take so much punishment. I hated to split the group, but I sent half the Minutemen and Curie north while Cito and the other half of Minutemen went with me to the south.

Now, normally I'd say bringing an unarmored brawler to a gunfight isn't a great idea, but when half the thugs you're fighting come at you swinging baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire, a man raised by apes with a sledgehammer comes in handy. The Minutebot was pretty dinged up, one eye gone and an arm lost, but had successfully kept anyone from leaving the park. I told the Minutemen to stand guard or patrol or whatever it is that soldiers do to keep people from leaving someplace, and Cito and I moved north through the park to see how Curie was doing.

We found a hell of a fight; the Minutebot was in the same shape as the one at the south entrance, and multiple Minutemen were wounded but still fighting. The Pack had greater numbers up here, and we needed an edge.

“Get friends into treehouse!” Cito suddenly shouted and took off running toward an animal enclosure.

I didn’t have time to ponder. “Minutemen! Treehouse! Now!”

“I will navigate!” Curie said, and we headed into the hedge maze. The Pack took the retreat as an excuse to focus their fire on the Minutebot… until Cito came running, tailed by an enraged yao guai.

We watched from the treehouse as the mutated bear tore through the Pack members in its way, the Minutemen and Curie shooting from on high as Cito hurried into the maze. I made my way to meet him, “You got a knack for distractions.”

He shrugged, a bit out of breath, “But not so good at mazes. Cito follow?”

I led him back to the treehouse to catch the end of the show. A few of the Pack took off south, but I was confident the Minutemen I’d left there would take care of it. The rest of them were either shot or mauled to death. The last Pack member standing ran, a heavily wounded but no less angry yao guai in pursuit.

“Exit, pursued by a bear,” I chuckled.

Curie lost no time tending to the wounded, and I lost no time filling Cito in on what was going on. “The robots are going to stay here in the zoo, to help keep any raiders from finding out what happened here.”

Cito nodded, “Cito can wear animal mask, try to find outfit that fits. Look like Pack, fool others!”

I grinned, “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Anyone who walks into this place is gonna see the dead bodies pretty quickly.”

Curie gasped, “We cannot simply leave them! If your friend is living here, it is an unsanitary situation.”

“Un-san-itary?” Cito looked at me, confused.

“She means there’s a chance you could get sick from it. Dead bodies aren’t good for living next to… hey, what happened to the gatorclaw corpses?”

“Pack take skins and cook meat, put bones out to dry in sun. All bodies by Anaconda ride.” Cito looked pleased with himself as he said, “Cito can do the same to Pack bodies. Never go near ride, not get sick.”

A Minuteman put her hand up. “Sorry, Mr. Valentine? What the hell is a gatorclaw, and why is Grognak the Barbarian here?”

I told the story as Curie finished her work, and kept telling it as we rejoined the Minutemen at the south gate. Cito didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, but he was pleased that his new friends seemed impressed with him.

Well, the Minutemen had their orders, and I still had my part to play. I headed out of Safari Adventure and started toward Dry Rock Gulch, hoping for some sign of success for Hancock and Strong. I didn’t hear any fighting. I had to trust that was a good sign; if somehow they’d failed and an Operator spotted me poking around, they’d put two and two together real quick. We’d find out tomorrow if everything went according to plan.

As the sun set, Nuka-World’s lights came on. I hadn't seen a place lit up in so many colors since… heh, I guess I never have, but it touched on some of the old Nick's memories. Oh, Diamond City's lights are a sight, to be sure, but this was a whole new level. I don't know what it is about carnival lights at night, but for a brief moment, it sure was lovely.

Then I straightened my hat, lit a cigarette, and headed back into Nuka-Town.

Gage stood at his usual post. “And here I was, hoping you’d been smashed to pieces by a deathclaw or something.”

“Guess neither of us gets what we want,” I drawled.

“You missed a hell of a day," Gage bragged. "Overboss is doing great.”

“Glad I missed it.”

He stepped in front of me just as I was about to get on the lift. “Why the hell are you still here? Overboss doesn’t need you anymore. You don’t have to eat or sleep, you could take a long walk back to the Commonwealth anytime.”

I took a long drag, let the smoke billow, “I’m gonna stick around a bit, if it’s all the same to you.”

It wasn’t all the same to him, at all, but he shrugged and let me pass. “I don’t think you’re gonna feel that way when you get up there,” he grinned, and I’ve never wanted to hit something so badly. “Like I said. The Overboss is doing great.”

I went up. There was a suit of power armor on the patio painted quantum blue. It took me a moment to remember where I’d seen it before; it had been in the display case in the Galactic Zone. Which meant Holmes had been in the Galactic Zone at some point today. Today, when Deacon was supposed to be setting all the robots loose on the Disciples.

I rushed inside. Holmes was at a workbench, glaring at the schematics for a modified Fat Man launcher on the counter, along with three Nuka-Cola red mini-nukes complete with a ring of glowing blue.

Shit. “Where the hell did you get those?!”

“John Caleb-Bradberton’s office,” he muttered. “Damn, these things are going to be devastating. No practical use at all inside the…” he looked up, “Oh. You’re back.”

I frowned as I hurried over, voice low, “Holmes, the big day’s tomorrow and we got a hell of a lot of ground to cover, so start talking. What the hell happened today?”

He folded up the schematics, "William Black was causing a ruckus this morning because he found a holotape with a recording of the Disciple Dixie killing an Operator. The holotape also contained said Operator contemplating murder of a Disciple, but as William was quick to point out, thinking of doing something and doing it are two different things. Dixie broke the rules, and therefore should be punished. Nisha, to my mild surprise, agreed. Her only rule is to not get caught, and Dixie had."

"So Nisha killed her," I said.

He shook his head, "Nisha put it on me to choose the punishment. Enforcing Overboss rules." He wouldn't look at me, walking to another work bench where his armor was laid out, "So I assigned Dixie to reset the Gauntlet for tomorrow's show."

"You what?"

"I couldn't execute her, even if she is a psychopath." He checked and double-checked the condition of his gear, "Nisha appreciated the irony, William was satisfied, and Gage thought it was hilarious."

"You know the maintenance workers don't always make it out again."

"Far better it be her than one of the traders being sent in."

I sighed, "Then what happened?"

"Then I turned the park's power back on so that I could retrieve the power armor currently on the patio from the Galactic Zone. I'll be wearing it tomorrow in the arena."

"You notice anyone familiar in the Galactic Zone?"

He stopped fussing with his armor and looked at me, puzzled. "Such as?"

"Friend of ours with a fondness for sunglasses paid a visit, but I guess he arrived after you left."

Holmes's brow rose, voice hushed but no less incredulous, "Deacon is here?"

I nodded, "Along with others, but finish your day and I'll get you caught up with mine. Where'd you find the heavy weaponry?"

"I told you, John Caleb-Bradberton's office. The inventor of Nuka-Cola secured a contract from the military to develop weapons in exchange for eternal life. He did not anticipate eternal life would mean an existence as an animate head in a glass dome."

I stared at my partner a minute. "Sounds rough."

He smirked, "Yes, well, he begged me to end it, and I complied. Miss Petrovita wasn't pleased, but—"

"The dame with the Nuka obsession? How does she fit in?"

"The Cappy contest unlocked the office door."

"You've been keeping track of those damn clues this whole time?!"

He looked offended. "Of course I have."

If synths could get headaches, I probably would have had one. "Ok. Anything else I need to know about?"

"Gage thinks using the Gauntlet to pacify the masses is a fine idea at the moment, especially given that I said I would announce the new owners of Kiddie Kingdom after the show. In anticipation, he had me speak with an individual named Shank to start planning an expansion into the Commonwealth."

"An expansion that's never gonna happen."

"Assuming we manage to pull off the most ridiculously ill-planned invasion of a fortress in history," he grumbled.

"Hey, now, Preston's been working real hard to turn your message into a functional plan."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god. Please, tell me everything, we've so much still to do."

"Less than you think," I said. "You told me about your day, lemme tell you about mine."

I laid out everything that had happened, from finding the Minutemen that morning up to the present. He was thoughtful afterward, and asked, "I wonder what Preston plans for Mr. Oppenheimer's role to be?"

"Couldn't tell you," I shrugged. "All I know is that once most of Nuka-Town's raider population is watching the arena tomorrow, things are gonna happen real fast." I watched him stand there in thought, finger tapping the work bench. "Which means you should get some rest," I prompted.

He rolled his eyes, "How can I rest?"

I crossed my arms, "Well, there's the whole physical exhaustion thing. Add mental and emotional onto it, and the bigger question is how you manage to force yourself to stay standing."

"Practice."

"It was a rhetorical question," I drawled with a smile. "C'mon, Sherlock, you're gonna need to be at your best tomorrow, get some shut-eye."

He sighed, but headed for the bed. "We only have one chance at this, Nick."

"I know. We've got a hell of a team backing us up. We'll make it."

We both rushed over to Holmes, who had just dispatched the third mirelurk. He was drenched, must have been knocked under the water at some point, but he just gestured that we move on. The place was crawling with mirelurks of all sorts, and inside the plant were robots still on guard duty. It was a bit of a slog to clear the place out, but at least it was straightforward without any surprises. Except for the dead Gunners.

According to a holotape found near the bodies, they were part of a recon team that tried to secure the plant and were overrun by the mirelurks when they breached a nest. The tape indicated there was a camp somewhere near the park grounds, which annoyed Gage quite a bit.

“A Gunner camp?” he scoffed, skeptical. “It sure as shit ain’t inside the park, which means it’s gotta be either somewhere in Bradberton north of here, or on the overpass to the west.”

Holmes hoisted a flag for the Operators, and said we should find the Gunners sooner rather than later. Given that they would have come from the west, we checked out the overpass first. The first glimpse of a guard was all Holmes needed. "Gage, I want that Gunner camp taken out. Gather however many raiders you think sufficient, a mix of gangs. We'll attack tonight."

The raider grinned, "Done and done. Good to see you show a little initiative."

Holmes didn't comment. I kept my mouth shut as we went back to Nuka-Town. Gage went to assemble a strike team, and I followed Holmes up to the room.

"I'm going to have to fight the Gunners without your assistance, I'm afraid," he said as he changed clothes.

"Like hell you will."

"Nick. The Gunners must be removed, or they will be an obstacle to the troops hopefully on their way."

I stared, everything clicking. "You sent Harvey to summon the Minutemen. They're coming over land, instead of the train."

"Just as the Gunners must have," he nodded. "The Gunners starting a fight with an invading force is the last thing we need, it would ruin everything. The fact that Gage didn't even know the Gunners have a base near the park means it will work as an access point, but only if everything stays quiet."

"Makes sense. Now why aren't I making sure a Gunner doesn't kill you?"

"I need you to find someone. His help will be useful, if he's willing to give it."

My brow rose, "Oh? And who's this mysterious assistant?"

He quirked a smile. "An appropriate turn of phrase, given he's a magician. I only hope he and his friends haven't gone far."

I stared at him. "You can't be serious."

He was, in fact, very serious. While Holmes was doing his best impression of a raider boss against the Gunners on the overpass, I was headed north to Bradberton. The tiny town was built to house Nuka-World employees and shorten their commute. I hoped that it would have been the first place Oswald would look for his missing girlfriend, and that he’d still be around. It was a long shot, but it was the best guess I had. I was able to sneak past most of the ferals I saw wandering around, though a couple took me by surprise. Fortunately, none of the ones I had to fight had any sign of clown make-up on them.

I found Oswald. Didn’t take long to realize why he hadn’t moved on.

“Oswald,” I whispered, creeping forward. He was on his knees on the floor of a wrecked house, looked like he’d been that way for a while. A couple ferals wandered nearby, and I tried to hunker down behind a piece of remaining wall. That was when I finally noticed the ghoul dead on the ground with a gun in her hand and a hole in her chest.

“Oh, no,” I sighed.

“She couldn’t find a cure,” he growled. “Ghouls… just go feral eventually.” I could hear how much he hated those words. “She felt it. It was going to take her, and she…” his voice stopped with a sob.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, sincere.

“Your friend was right. I was a naive idiot, believing in a fairy tale.”

“Hey,” I cautioned, “you were a man in love, believing in her. Don’t ruin that now. You think she’d want you here like this?”

“It doesn’t matter. We go feral eventually. There is no cure.”

“Not yet.”

He spun around, his green glow flashing angrily, “Don’t patronize me!”

“I’m not, friend. I know plenty of ghouls that have lived as long as you have, but you know what? Not a single one of them glows. Every glowing ghoul I’ve ever met has tried to eat me, except you. No one knows why ghouls go feral. You haven’t. You could still make a difference, find out why, perform a miracle. Goodness knows the world could use a few.”

He looked away. “Why are you here?”

I sighed and got to business, “We could use your help. Holmes is trying to get rid of the raiders in Nuka-World. He wants to turn it over to the traders, like it used to be. The Minutemen are coming from the east— I know you don’t know who that is, but think of them as a sort of militia. A bunch of people trying to change the Commonwealth for the better, and Holmes is in charge. The plan is for the Minutemen to set up base in Kiddie Kingdom, and attack from the park while everyone’s distracted. If there’s anything you could do to help us…” I sighed. I wasn’t getting any response, not that I expected any. He had years of grieving to do. “Well, you know where to find us.”

I started to leave, but stopped. “There’s a collection of scientists,” I slowly offered, “some of the best minds around. It’s called the Minutemen Research Center, it’s in Covenant now, a settlement west of… anyway, if anyone could help find out why ghouls go feral, it’d be them.”

I carefully made my way out of the house. As I moved, I heard a holotape quietly play. I was able to make out the last few words, “You can still make a life out there. It's not all as bad as we thought. I love you, Oz.”

“You kill monster!” He demanded, “You friend?”

Holmes, Gage, and I all looked at each other with a similar expression. Holmes nodded and said, “I hope so.”

The fella smiled, “Good. Cito happy to have strong friends. You kill monster, monster hurt Cito and Cito family.”

“Why are you talking like that?” Gage asked, exasperated.

Cito shrugged sadly, “Cito family not talk. Cito not talk to other man in long time.” He looked at me, “Not see man like you ever.”

“I’m friendly, don’t worry,” I said.

“Cito not worried, just not see Metal Man before. New thing.”

“That’s a refreshing reaction,” I muttered with a small smile.

Holmes tried to move us along, “Well, you don’t have to worry about the monster anymore, Cito.”

Cito strongly disagreed. “No! Many more monster. No stop. Cito kill monster. New monster come. Cito kill monster again. New monster come again.”

“We get it, they keep coming,” Gage grumbled.

“Monsters not stop,” Cito persisted. “Help Cito stop monsters?”

“I knew this would be a pain in the ass,” Gage grumbled.

Cito was confused. “Not doctor, but maybe find medicine for—”

“He’s not serious,” Holmes interrupted. “Of course we’ll help.”

Cito was delighted. “New friends follow Cito!”

It was no surprise when Cito led us to the primate house, but we were still a little shocked to see him calming his alarmed, uh, family with gorilla sounds. “No worry, they not hurt you,” he assured us. “You friend Cito mean you friend family.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gage started, but I talked over him.

“How’d you end up being raised by gorillas, Cito?”

“First family killed when Cito very small,” Cito said sadly. “First family look like Cito. Cito not die, just walk and walk. Find zoo place. Find new family.” He gestured to the gorillas, “New family give Cito food, water, keep Cito safe. Now Cito big and strong, help family fight monsters. New friends help Cito.”

“We’re going to try,” Holmes said. “Do you know where the monsters are coming from?”

Cito nodded, and told us a story about a "wrinkly man" (what we recognized as a ghoul) who stumbled into the primate house one day, wounded. The ghoul claimed to have created the monsters, and apologized. He gave Cito a holotape before he died, promising it would stop the monsters. Cito of course had no way to access the data, but held onto it after he buried the ghoul.

He handed the tape to Holmes, "Now give shiny thing new friend. Help Cito."

"It’s a start," Holmes muttered, and played the tape on his Pip-Boy.

"This is Dr. Darren McDermot, last known survivor-*cough*- at the Safari Adventure Replication Facility. This is my final recording. I've done something horrible... the thing I created... the thing I called the Gatorclaw-*cough*-... they must be destroyed. They can't be tamed, they can't be controlled-*cough*- their sheer ferocity is like nothing I've ever seen. And now the Nuka-Gen Rep-*cough*- Replicator is out of control. It's producing them at an alarming rate. Please, somebody. Anybody! Find my passcode, or Dr. Hein's. Shut down the Replicator before it's-*cough*- before it's too late. And if this recording should reach Dr. Hein. Please tell him… to forgive me."

Holmes made a considering sound, "It seems the gatorclaws, or monsters, are coming from an animal cloning facility somewhere beneath Safari Adventure."

Cito was hopeful, "Shiny thing help new friend?"

Holmes nodded, "Yes, it was very helpful. We just need to find the cloning facility."

"Cito have idea!" Our host was excited, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet, "Cito see Wrinkly Man come from Big Triangle House long time ago. Go to Big Triangle House. Find," he concentrated on the new words, "clo-ning fa-cil-ity. Stop Monsters. Cito come with new friend. Cito help!"

Gage snorted, "If you don't mind being gator bait, sure, tag along."

Cito suddenly focused on Gage with a smile more in line with a tiger than an ape. "Cito not bait. Cito hook."

Holmes laughed. Gage scowled for a moment, but huffed and decided to go back to ignoring everyone. That was just fine with me.

The "big triangle house" turned out to be the park's Welcome Center. There was a locked door of the sort that neither Holmes nor I could pick; we needed the passcode Dr. McDermot mentioned in his tape. I checked the employee terminal, hoping for a hint. What I found was a two-hundred year old ransom note for a kidnapped scientist by some save-the-animals organization. Bad timing on their part, what with nuclear armageddon happening the same day.

"A Dr. Hein was being held at something called an Angry Anaconda?" I reported with a questioning look at Cito.

And sure enough, he had the answer. I figured he would. "Oh! Maybe doctor under giant metal snake!"

"Giant metal snake," Gage sighed, "Of course."

Cito was amused, "New friend funny. How not see giant metal snake? It big... what word? Ride? Ride like big snake. Cito see from everywhere. Very big. Very snakey." He illustrated this with a wavy hand movement.

“Oh yeah, because what this place needed was another friggin' roller coaster,” Gage grumbled.

"It up hill behind zoo,” Cito was unfazed. “Maybe Doctor Man there?"

"Excellent, Cito," Holmes said. "Let's head there immediately."

"How did you know an anaconda was a kind of snake, Cito?" I asked.

"Cito try learn words from zoo. Lots of words in zoo. Words and pictures. Cito see an-a-con-da in house with snakes."

"Snake house, huh?" Gage commented, "Now that's a place I could've gotten into back in the day."

"They'd never let you leave," I joked. "Mistake you for part of the exhibit."

We found the remains of Dr. Hein at the roller coaster construction site, along with his passcode. We were getting pretty good at taking down gatorclaws by then, and all of us were ready to never have to fight another one again.

We carefully made our way inside the cloning facility, moving through a research hall with holding spaces for animals, workstations, and cold storage.

"Cito no like this place," he said in a nervous whisper.

I nodded, "You and me both, friend."

The sound of something moving through water further in brought us to a stop.

"Can gatorclaws swim?" I whispered.

Cito nodded.

"Great," I sighed.

"Where'd the water come from?" Gage wondered.

"The park's river," Holmes said. "Let's see what's ahead."

Fortunately, the flooding of the Nuka-Gen replicator control room wasn't as bad as I was imagining. Unfortunately, one of the two gatorclaws wading through it was significantly bigger and paler than the other one. Maybe sensing our goal was in sight, Cito charged the albino gatorclaw with a wild yell. Not to be outdone, Gage opened fire on the other one, while Holmes and I tried to keep either of them from getting killed.

Ok, I’ll admit Holmes helped Gage. I focused entirely on Cito. Either way, the gators went down and Holmes wasted no time getting to the replicator controls. A few commands entered, and the replicator was shut down.

“There,” Holmes said as he turned to Cito, “that should do it.”

Cito was cautiously hopeful, “No more Monsters?”

Holmes nodded, “They won’t be coming back, at least. Your family's safe, Cito, once we eliminate the ones still roaming the park.”

I got the impression Cito barely held himself back from hugging my partner, “Cito so happy! How Cito thank new friend?”

“You just did,” Holmes chuckled. “Let’s get out of this place, hm?”

We made our way out; I kept my eye on Gage. Now that the gatorclaws weren’t going to make a comeback, the park was fit for some new residents to move in… and Gage was going to make sure the flag was raised, whether Cito’s family wanted new neighbors or not.

“Once your family is safe,” Holmes asked Cito as we hunted down the remaining gatorclaws in the park, “will you stay here? There’s a lot more of the world to see.”

Cito thought about it, “Zoo Cito home since small. Zoo family home since forever. Cito want to stay. Only place safe for Cito family and Cito.”

Holmes sighed, "Of course. Cito, there are some people who will be coming to live here. I think you could get along with them, though they're… different."

"Cito trust you. Cito like more new friends!"

Once the park was gatorclaw-free, Holmes hoisted the Pack's flag on top of the Welcome Center. We said one last goodbye to Cito and headed back to Nuka-Town.

"You think that was wise, Holmes?" I asked.

Holmes was adamant, "I’m not kicking him out of his home."

"Pack gets a new toy," Gage shrugged. "That’ll sweeten Mason up."

"I’m going to talk to Mason immediately," Holmes glared, "before his people move in."

"Talk?" Gage rolled his eyes, "Good luck with that."

Holmes ignored him. We followed Holmes back to the Pack's amphitheater and watched him stride through like he owned the place. Which I guess he did, in a manner of speaking.

Mason stood from his throne as he saw him coming, "Just heard Safari Adventure has our flag! About time you got around to us."

"I thought you'd appreciate the selection," Holmes said. "There is one caveat; You will not harm, trap, or otherwise harass any of the gorillas living there, or the human living with them."

"What?" Mason growled.

Holmes was firm, "This is not a request, Mason. Cito and his family are not to be harmed. They leave you alone, you leave them alone."

"Or what?"

Holmes stepped up to the throne's platform, displaying their height difference and literally looking down on the Pack leader. "Or I will annihilate your authority as Alpha."

Mason bared his teeth, fists clenched… then he scoffed. "Hmf. Overboss has a backbone after all…" he trailed off and looked at Holmes with honest confusion, "Did you say this guy's family are gorillas?"

Holmes smirked and took a couple steps back, "I did."

"Huh. Alright, fine," Mason shooed us away with a wave of his hand, "I'll make sure everyone knows if they touch 'em, they're mole rat chow."

I sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke, “You did tell him why we needed him, right Holmes?”

“I said I required his services,” Holmes said with crossed arms and an adorably defensive frown.

He’s cute when he’s worried about me, what can I say? It’s flattering. Also unfortunate for whoever is in the way. “Look, Chip,” I said, “we know you’ve never had to fix a synth before, but something’s out of whack and you’re the best bet for putting it back in place. I’m pretty sure it’s just the knee joint. I’d try to fix it myself, but I don’t have the tools.”

"Oh," Chip said with some relief. "Well, I'll do what I can. I, uh, never worked on a… what'd you say, synth?"

"Yep," I smiled. "Just take a look at the joint, tell me what you think, we'll go from there. Holmes ain't gonna murder you if you don't know how to realign whatever's wrong."

Chip took a look, "Oh! Ok, I can work with this. Can I just…"

"Do whatever you have to, I can handle it."

"Something must have hit you pretty hard," Chip muttered as he started working.

"Bloodworm queen with perfect timing."

Chip made a sound of disgusted sympathy, "My definition of a good day is one where I don't find a nest of bloodworms in a utility tunnel."

"I imagine it's pretty thankless work."

He shrugged, "If I said I loved my job, I'd be lying. At least the raiders find me useful, so they mostly leave me alone. I spend half my time trying to squeeze every ounce of power I can out of this place. Never feels like enough, though."

"One more reason you want the power turned on."

"Yeah," he smiled a little. "It'd make my job easier, and also probably harder. Once things start moving, more likely something will break… but it'd be nice to see the old park the way she was meant to be seen, just once." It was unfortunate timing that whatever was out of place was suddenly back in place. My pained shout sent the poor guy scurrying back in fright. "You can feel pain??"

"Are you alright, Valentine?" Holmes asked.

"Fine, fine," I waved it away with a chuckle and stood up. "Feels pretty good in fact. Whatever you did, did the trick," I offered my good hand to the terrified man on the floor. "I told ya,' Holmes ain't the murdering type. Neither am I."

Chip breathed and let me help him up. "Ok. You're either fucking with me, or you're the strangest raiders I ever met."

"There is a third possibility, Mr. Morse," Holmes said, "and it's one we don't want anyone outside this room speculating on."

"Not until we find a way out of this mess," I muttered.

Holmes changed the subject before Chip could process that, "Are you familiar with the sewer system?"

Chip blinked, "Familiar enough to know you wouldn't believe some of the stuff that comes out of the pipes around here. To call it 'sewage' would be paying it a compliment."

"Hm. What about the surrounding parks?"

"Sorry, all my expertise is about Nuka-Town. Well, I guess now that the Disciples are setting up camp in Galactic Zone, I'll have to learn how she works. And Dry Rock Gulch, once the Operators move in…" he paled, "... oh no I'm gonna be the handyman for the entire park. I'm never gonna sleep."

"Can't you get some help?" I asked.

"Not many of the traders know about machines, that's why I'm always the guy that gets called to fix things."

"Choose a few people you think could learn," Holmes said, "and teach them. You have my permission."

"Huh. That might not be too bad. I'll think about who I want to train. It's a thankless job, not a lot of folks are going to be willing."

"That's not surprising," Holmes nodded. "Do what you can."

Chip thanked us, told me to let him know if I needed anything, and hurried out. I turned to Holmes, "Sewer?"

He sighed, "It wouldn't be the first time we crawled through a drain pipe to invade or escape a facility. I'm merely trying to account for all our options."

"Hm. Say for the sake of argument we could get a message to the Commonwealth. What's the plan?"

"In that event, I would send word to Sanctuary explaining the situation. I have far more faith in Danse and Preston's abilities to plan an invasion than mine. But I have to give them something to work with, and right now all I have is a walled fortress surrounded by…" he stopped, his eyes widening in realization.

Then he ran out of the room.

I chased after him, "Damn it, Holmes, could you not do that?"

He was already on the lift, "Imagine how I felt when you ran after Winter."

"That was one time," I huffed.

"Distract Gage," he said as we neared the ground.

"What??"

"Hey, boss," the raider in question said as we stepped off the lift. "Saw Chip made it out in one piece. Guess he did his job."

"Yes," Holmes said as we walked past.

Gage fell right in beside us, "Where we headed tonight?"

"I want to find Harvey. Tomorrow morning we'll clear out the next park."

"Harvey?" Gage frowned. "You thinking of starting up the Gauntlet?"

"I was under the impression it was popular."

"Sure, but we still got work to do."

Holmes spotted Harvey. I figured this was my cue. "There a reason you're in such a rush?" I demanded.

Gage glared at me, "Colter spent all his time in the Gauntlet and didn't get shit done."

I got as close as I dared, had to keep his focus on me instead of Holmes, "Holmes is nothing like your old boss. He's gotta keep a whole park of raiders happy, and he's gonna do that. Biggest risk in a Gauntlet run is you stabbing us in the back with a contestant."

"Then don't give me a reason to," Gage growled. "Just follow the plan."

"You ever consider the possibility that your plan's rotten to start with?"

"I don't know why the boss lets a talking scrapheap follow him around, but you're on your way to being nothing but parts."

"Funny, I don't know why he didn't shoot you in the head the first chance we got. Should have left you in the bloodworm nest."

Gage sneered, "Yeah, good luck surviving this place without me. You need me to pull the strings, or you're both screwed."

"You ain't the only manipulative son of a bitch in this park."

"What the fuck does that even mean??"

"Enough," Holmes ordered. Harvey was scurrying away as fast as he could. I didn't know what Holmes had told him, but whatever the plan was had been set in motion. "Gage, tomorrow morning we'll investigate the bottling plant attached to the World of Refreshment ride. That could be another location for the Operators, and the day after that I'll give Safari Adventure to the Pack."

Gage frowned, "Pretty obvious favor for the Operators."

"There are five parks and three gangs, someone is going to have less than the others. That is unfortunately how mathematics works."

Gage shrugged, "They ain't gonna be happy is all I'm sayin'. Who's getting Kiddie Kingdom?"

"I haven't decided." Holmes pushed past headed back to the Overboss's quarters, "Whoever has irritated me the least this week."

Gage chuckled, "I guess that's as good a reason as any. You wanna get started in the morning?"

"We'll see you bright and early, Mr. Gage."

We took the lift back up, leaving Gage to his usual spot on the ground floor.

"Manipulative son of a bitch?" Holmes cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Not my best work, I admit."

"You certainly succeeded in confusing him."

I chuckled, "At least there's that."

We went into the bedroom. "So which one of us is the son of a bitch?" Holmes asked.

I grinned, "C'mon, partner, that should be obvious."

He started removing his armor, "You're far too hard on yourself, Mr. Valentine."

"Ha! Always the wise guy. Hey, do I get to be part of this grand scheme of yours?"

"Scheme?"

"Don't give me that look. Spill, Sherlock. What's the plan?"

He finished taking the armor off and sat on the bed, his voice low despite no one being around to overhear. "According to Harvey, it's not quite as long a walk to the Commonwealth as we thought. At least not for a small team of properly prepared individuals trained to move and fight efficiently."

My brow rose, "You sent Harvey to Sanctuary??"

Holmes nodded, "Under the guise of scouting out a challenge for the Gauntlet."

I shook my head, "I hope he makes it. Assuming he manages to get there in one piece, then what?"

"Then he'll deliver a message. All we have to do is wait, continue the charade, and keep the raiders out of Kiddie Kingdom."