POV Rio
The Alliance Research Facility managed to hold out for almost 5 weeks before it set off the bomb. I knew they only did that because they had evacuated their personnel to Vault 120. I was fine with that as it meant we could now jam all teleportation from Vault 120, thus making them trapped. MIMIC had done an excellent job making sure that the Alliance couldn't leave the Vault in any other way. We didn't plan on starving them out, as that would take years based on the intelligence we've gathered. But a frontal assault wouldn't be easy either.
"I hate sieges," Guto complains.
"You and me both," I reply.
"How many troops are in there?" Preston asks.
"I'd say 300. I might have missed a few when I was investigating them, but I am pretty sure that should be about right," I reply.
"Then what're we waitin' for? Just let us take the front, and they'll break after we don't die," Cait offers.
"And risk giving them leverage? No, that would only make this situation ever more difficult. Don't forget they have those collars," I shoot down her suggestion.
"Just give me my super suit, and I'll show them some tough Irish love," Cait doubles down.
Before I can argue against her, Loona backs her up.
"She's got a point. Anyone who becomes a companion can't die, and while I'm sure it'll hurt, they can be the perfect solution," Loona says.
"And if this is a trap, you can rescue us," Hancock adds.
Several more companions add their agreement.
"Let us take the lead for once. And don't forget we have a score to settle with them," Piper says.
I raise my hand, and they all quiet down.
"Very well. If you want to do this, I won't stop you. But... If you're going into battle, you'll need weapons," I comment and turn around and hit the wall.
The wall shifts around and reveals a massive wall of weapons.
"Gentlemen, and women, lock and load," I say with a wide smile.
Cue gun loading and cocking sounds.
Everyone gets the best of the best weapons I can offer. Then I have them all equipped with my own X-03 Power Armor. I based it on the Mjolnir armor series used by the Spartans of the Halo Universe. But they were a lot bulkier than the models that were usually used in the Halo Universe, but given the somewhat bulky nature of Power Armor in Fallout, it made sense.
[Image Here] (Just without the Shield)
These armors were all custom-made. I couldn't produce them via the system and had to build each set myself. It was a bit of a side project I had been messing with for a while now. They had built-in shield generators, heavy metal plates, a basic combat AI, magical shielding, runes to improve speed and resistance to most elemental damage, built-in night vision, auto-inject stimpak devices, jetpaks, it's vacuum sealed, and EMP Shielding. Honestly, I had basically taken all the various mods a set of Power Armor could and put them in this suit. Overall, it gave a flat +5 to all SPECIAL stats and made anyone wearing them a walking tank. And the best part was that since the suits were made to be used by Companions, they would never run out of power. As long as I didn't add weapons, that is.
Everyone had slack jaws when they saw the suits, and when I explained what they could do, I swear it looked like Cait was going to have an orgasm. She was also drooling a lot. Once she put on the suit, she looked me dead in the eyes.
"I'm never givin' this back," Cait said with a dead serious tone.
I was going to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, I led them to the waiting LAAT Gunship and had time to begin the operation. The Gunship could easily carry us thanks to the weight-reducing enchantments on the armor. Without them, the Gunship would seriously struggle. The suits were very heavy and dense. In fact, they were well over a few tons without the enchantments. If the enchantments were disabled or dispelled, the wearer could still move around without a problem; it was just enchanted to ensure ease of transportation. Regardless, the gunship took us to the coast where the Yangtze was waiting for us.
When Zao went home, he found the empty wasteland and was intent on dying there on the beach, but when we offered a deal, he jumped at a chance to work towards something better. I was almost certain he had no intention of living through this mission, as he had nothing left to lose. But I would accept the help, as the submarine would be perfect for breaching into Vault 120.
"Everyone ready?" I ask everyone as we approach Vault 120.
They all nod, and I tell Zao he can begin the breaching.
"Hold on," Zao says over the radio.
SCREEEEEEEEECHHH CRAAAAAAAAASH
The entire sub shook as it crashed through the Vault wall. We opened the hatch and dropped into the main atrium that was slowly filling with water. I quickly froze the water and stopped any more from pouring. in. The Yangtze was surprisingly in good condition for crashing through the Vault wall.
"I shall stay here and await your return," Zao says to me.
"Copy that," I reply.
We split into three groups of 6. I would make up one of those groups by myself using magic clones. The other two groups would head to the two main wings of the Vault, while I would focus on the areas that had been added and thus we didn't have schematics for.
'Of course. Just my luck.'
My area had the elite agents led by Horrigan, and they were waiting for me, by the looks of it.
"Well, it seems we meet again," I say to the agents I recognize.
"Indeed. It seems our fated meeting has finally arrived," Horrigan responded.
"I'm surprised to see you have survived your injuries," I joke.
"You cannot imagine the depths I would go to stay alive. Fueled by my singular hatred... for you," Horrigan says with hatred.
"That may be so, but I've defeated you before, and I can defeat you again," I reply firmly.
"Hehe, don't be so certain," Horrigan mocks.
I grab out my lightsaber and ignite it. The deep blue blade creates a hiss. Horrigan responds by pulling out a massive chainsword and turning it on. The loud revving of a chainsaw built into a sword drowns out the sound of my lightsaber hum. I stand ready to attack, and Horrigan does the same.
"I wanted this to be a one-on-one duel, but I have my orders, so your ride ends here, mutie," Horrigan says with disgust.
"You can come all at once or one at a time; it won't change the result," I say with a smirk.
"I will not be undermined by a creature bred in some laboratory!" Horrigan says with anger and with a burst of speed attacks me.
My magic clones respond by attacking the other agents. They were of little consequence as my main focus was on Horrigan. I had to admit he was a bit stronger than when I last fought him. But that wasn't a good thing, as that was his peak in power previously, and it's now his base power level.
Horrigan misses me and carves a massive trench in the floor. I counter with a slash, but he dodges it by a hair. He then follows up by attempting to kick me, but I block it in time, and I am still sent back several steps. I drop to the floor as he slashes at me again. I respond by striking his wrist with my palm and slashing at his Achilles tendon at the same time. He ignores my palm strike and dodges the slash. I slam him with my full force, but it doesn't manage to disarm him.
It should be noted that I was dodging all of his attacks because I was in Wolf Mode this entire time. But I knew once that ended, I would be in trouble. As such, I chose to use my Hulk Mode while I was still in a decently advantageous position. It allowed me to get a very solid hit into him as he was off balance.
CRACK
The crack from the impact of my fist was satisfying, but I didn't let up and started a relentless combo. I managed to cause a lot of damage for almost 30 seconds, but before the effect even ended, Horrigan had increased massively in stats and was quickly able to overpower me, and I paid the price very quickly. The counterattack was brutal, but I expected it. I turned into my shadow form after the 30 seconds ended to avoid the double-handed strike. Horrigan responded very quickly and activated a device that created a massive amount of light, causing me to be forced out of my shadow form.
It disoriented me long enough to allow Horrigan to grab me and put both of his hands on my skull, and he started to squeeze. I punched as fast and as hard as I could, and right as he was about to kill me, I dropped several dozen grenades from my inventory and smiled. Horrigan felt confused as I was about to die.
BOOOOOM
"It was clone, clever," Horrigan says while walking away from the blast with hardly any damage.
"Well, they lasted long enough. I just needed time to kill your men," I replied.
Horrigan looked around and saw that I had killed all the other agents, and it was now 2 clones and I vs him.
"Useless, every last one of them. But I guess I should stop playing around," Horrigan says while pressing a button on his wrist.
HISSSSSS
A massive amount of gas is realised and his armor starts falling off, and my eyes go wide as his form grows more and more dense. His muscles grow muscles and I don't even get a chance to react before his chainsword is back in his hand and cutting through my waist. I fall to the floor and poof out of existence. My two other magic cloens don't last much longer. As such, I am forced to attack before I am ready. But I at least make him suffer. Instead of taking off his head, I take off his right arm. He doesn't even flinch and punches me with his only remaining arm. I make a magic barrier but it doesn't matter.
SHATTER
I am punched hard enough to instantly shatter into wood splinters, which is ridiculous, as I take 40% less melee damage. I reappear a small distance away, and I activate Moonfall Veil to create a dome of darkness that prevents them from attacking me temporarily. I use that time to start charging a powerful lightning spell. As the darkness is about to fade, I release the spell, and for the amount of mana I put into it, it was decent. Horrigan closes the distance nearly instantly and chops my head off, causing me to shatter into crystal.
I activated Mirrorheart and turned into a pure crystal state, and activated Unbreakable Oath at the same time to make me immune to all damage for 15 seconds. Horrigan immediately attacked, which caused him more damage than it did me. I also combine the effect with Glacial Cataclysm, causing a very concentrated blizzard that further stacked on massive amount of frost damage. Then, after 15 seconds, the form shattered and caused a large amount of damage, but that still didn't stop him. But thankfully, the Ice magic had slowed down Horrigan enough that I could barely keep up, not before he killed me again, causing me to use up my third life-saving skill. I only had one remaining, and I was getting nervous.
I activate Chrono Collapse and use those 15 seconds to start casting a crap ton of spells and debuffs. I also buff myself. I then attack him with whatever other weapons I can, which means when I return to normal speeds, a massive amount of damage is inflicted, and Horrigan is almost brought to a knee.
I activate Nightmare Eclipse, which gives me free casting for 15 seconds and inflicts the panic status effect on enemies. It also slows time for me. By the time the 15 seconds are over, Horrigan is a bloody mess and is barely standing.
"COUGH COUGH! If you think you can defeat me like this, then you are a fool. Nothing will stop me," Horrigan says while coughing up blood.
I go to respond, but my vision is suddenly falling over, and Horrigan has vanished. I was slightly confused, but as my head hit the ground, I realized Horrigan was twitching uncontrollably and looked to be in severe pain.
"You really pushed me this far, but this is the end for you," Horrigan says as he smashes my head into pulp.
Horrigan breathes heavily but freezes when a blue blade of plasma shoots through his chest.
"I'll admit you got me good there. You would have succeeded if I weren't casting a healing spell," I reply before bisecting him.
Horrigan is split in half, but his top half didn't die and instead looked at me with shock. Now that I looked closer, I realized his veins were turning black from some unknown substance, and I could tell he would be dead in an hour or less, even if I didn't cut him in half.
"Fitting this is my end. Cut in half by a mutie scumbag," Horrigan replies.
"This is the end for you. Can't say I'll miss you," I reply.
"See you in hell," Horrigan says before dying.
Of course, I knew what was coming next, so I used Temporal Seal and ran away from the bomb implanted in Horrigan and his team. I escape the blast and seal the door, preventing the ocean from flooding the section of the Vault. Not that there was much left, as those bombs took out much of what was in my search area.
"So we meet in person," says a voice I know all too well.