by HL TRUSLOVE
This building is huge, and so is the collapsed balloon. Even when not inflated to its usual size the thing is still vast, spilling over the floor like a rippling, off-coloured pond. No wonder the guards were looking at it with such deference. It is truly magnificent.
But, in the hands of the raiders, also dangerous.
You rummage in your pack and feel for something to start a fire. You’re lucky to scoop out a couple of pieces of flint. Clutching them tightly, you strike them together and watch a couple of sparks spit out, needing a few attempts before the flame catches on the material of the balloon.
Whatever it’s made of, it’s flammable. The fire grows quickly and grows tall, flames engulfing it easily. Thick plumes of smoke start to come off of it. It’s time to leave before the plan backfires and you choke yourself.
You steal back the way you came in, tucking yourself round the corner of the building and making sure to leave the door open. It isn’t long before someone spies the grey clouds coming from inside the building and raises the alarm, and soon raiders are running to and fro from the site to try to extinguish the blaze. This commotion is exactly the sort of thing you need to explore the area unimpeded.
Add Balloon Sabotage (E.20) to your character sheet.
* * *
Look for prisoners – Turn to 18.9.
* * *
Find who’s in charge – Turn to 18.15.
18.18
Flinging the guards as hard as you can, you try to make them let go of you… and then you feel a hard punch to your stomach. You double over in pain and retch as an elbow is slammed down onto the back of your head. Dizzy and with your vision swimming, all you can do is try to keep your feet under you as you’re dragged along by unforgiving hands, your gaolers taking you by force when you won’t go quietly. You watch Gaia disappear into one of the other buildings and try to fight off a wave of nausea.
Add Instability to your character sheet.
* * *
Turn to 18.10.
18.19
You try to step out, to go off towards one of the other buildings, but a raider walks past you and you’re lucky to pull your leg out of the way in time. They don’t spot you and continue on their patrol. Furrowing your brow, you take a quick look around and notice just how busy the place actually is. You can spy at least a couple dozen other people around.
No, if you want to explore, you’re going to have to cause a distraction… and that means sabotage. It isn’t the way you wanted to do things but it looks like it’s the way you’re going to be forced to act.
Add Resolve to your character sheet.
* * *
Turn to 18.7.
Chapter 19
Return to the Base
19.1
You grip the strange box tight in your hands. You vaguely wonder if you should be wearing anything more protective – you can’t imagine that your overcoat and gloves would do much to shield you from the radiation waves. You really don’t want to carry it for any longer than you need to.
Dagger’s base doesn’t loom over the horizon so much as it gradually appears. It’s difficult to loom when the highest building is only two storeys, and yet the place still gives off waves of malice. Of course, that’s because you know who’s in there. A tribe of vicious raiders, led by a woman who doesn’t really seem to fear anything... and of course, Gaia, who’s at their mercy until you return.
You suppress a shudder. You can’t stand here and worry about Gaia. All you can do now is try to get her out, making good on your part of the trade and hoping Dagger lives up to her end.
You’ve got a feeling keeping promises isn’t something she’s known for.
There are two guards stationed at the gate of the compound. They don’t seem to be paying as much attention as they should be, and one of them violently elbows the other out of his daydream as he sees you. They both tentatively put their hands on their guns as you approach, as if they have no idea how to use them should the need arise. You really hope it doesn’t.
“Stop!” calls out one of the guards, which you do immediately. You’re only about ten feet away from them now, close enough to talk without shouting, close enough that you can see the looks of uncertainty on their faces – close enough that if they fired a shot, it’s unlikely to miss.
“What do you want?” asks the second guard after a moment’s pause, as if they were silently trying to decide between them who should speak next.
Ask to speak to Dagger – Turn to 19.2.
* * *
Show them the Uranium – Turn to 19.3.
* * *
Show them Dagger’s Letter – Turn to 19.4, Needs Letter from Dagger.
19.2
“I want to speak to Dagger,” you say. You were hoping that your knowledge of her name would be enough to get the guards to let you in, but they stand steadfast. Perhaps her infamy is more far-reaching than you thought; perhaps Dagger is a name known throughout this place.
“Yeah? Lotsa people wanna talk to Dagger. Why should we let you in?”
“Because she told me to go and pick this up for her.” You wave the box as best as you can.
“She wanted you to go and get her a box?”
“No, she wanted me to—”
They don’t give you time to answer. The first guard tugs at the other so his ear is down to mouth height. They put their heads together and discuss something quietly before straightening up again with firm expressions.
“Let us look inside the box,” says guard one. “We’ve gotta make sure it’s not a bomb or something.”
That doesn’t seem like a brilliant idea, you’ve done your best not to open it yourself. In fact, you have no idea what uranium even looks like. It could be a remarkably bad idea.
Explain why it’s dangerous – Turn to 19.5, Needs Knowledge.
* * *
Let them look – Turn to 19.3.
* * *
Push past them – Turn to 19.6.
19.3
The box is only kept shut by two deadbolts. It looks like there was once a place for a lock, but instead there’s a slightly lighter patch of metal, suggesting it was ripped off long ago. It’s a simple matter for you to open the box, and with a sigh you lift the lid and show it to the guards, sneaking a look at it for the first time.
It’s a box of metal discs. Grey, almost silvery flat things, maybe half a dozen of them. They aren’t glowing with a green buzz like the vault had cartoonishly suggested irradiation looked like, they just sit there. You worry that keeping the box open for too long will be bad for the three of you, but you don’t feel any different. Just apprehensive.
The guards come closer and look at the box with furrowed brows. One of them pokes the quarry with the nose of his gun. Nothing happens.
“And why do you have this?” asks the first guard, still eyeing the box suspiciously as if he doesn’t quite trust it not to explode.
“Dagger sent me to get it” – Turn to 19.7.
* * *
“It’s a gift for the boss” – Turn to 19.8.
19.4
Awkwardly, you hitch the box onto your hip and use your free hand to reach round your back and root around in your bag. The guards watch you curiously as you hold out the wrinkled piece of paper to them. One of them takes it with his forefinger and thumb and smooths it out.
“What the hell does this say?” he asks. Right, of course. It’s written in your language.
“It’s a letter from Dagger asking me to come here. And she won’t be very happy if you’re making her wait just because you don’t believe me…”
You trail off just long enough for the guards to pale. They can clearly fill in the blanks themselves. They shuffle to the sides and wave you in through the gate; it’s easy enough to remember the way to Dagger’s building of choice, you just hope she’ll be glad to see you.
If you have Radium, turn to 19.9b.
* * *
Otherwise, Turn to 19.9.
19.5
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“I wouldn’t open it if I were you,” you begin, your voice holding just enough intrigue for the second guard to pipe up with a ‘why not?’.
You begin to run down the history of this box, what uranium was used for, what caused the Old World to be levelled to the ground. The guards are in turn enraptured and scared, looking from you to the box as if they expect it to burst from your arms and knock them both dead. As you finish explaining about atomic bombs, the two of them just stare at you, dumbfounded.
“So if you open that box, it might melt our faces off?” asks one of them, who’s unable to keep the tremor from his voice.
“Yes,” you say. No is the real answer (probably), but it’s easier to lie to them and get this whole ordeal over with.
“Then why did you bring it here?” asks the other, bewildered.
“Dagger sent me to get it” – Turn to 19.7.
* * *
“It’s a gift for the boss” – Turn to 19.8.
19.6
This is exhausting. You don’t have time to stand here and go through the intricacies of atomic warfare and why this box is dangerous, and why you really, really want to get it off your hands. Taking advantage of their surprise, you cross the few feet to the gate and shove them both out of the way.
Yes, they have guns, but neither of them look like they really know how to use them.
You hear them shout as you push past, but you don’t stop; you haul the box onto one hip and throwing open the gate in front of you. You get about twenty feet into the compound before you feel one of the guards butt you in the back with the end of his rifle. You fall forward, winded, and turn to see them aiming down their sights on you.
“You’d better get on the ground right now,” says one. It’s likely if you comply you’ll still end up in front of Dagger, but in a much less pleasing position… or they’ll throw you in jail. Neither option sounds ideal. But then again, you might see Gaia. It’s worth the risk.
Fight them off – Turn to 19.12, Needs Hand-to-Hand Combat.
* * *
Demand they take you to see Dagger now – Turn to 19.10.
* * *
Let them take you to a cell – Turn to 19.11a, Needs Gaia Seen.
* * *
Let them take you to a cell – Turn to 19.11.
19.7
“Dagger sent you to get it?” parrots the first guard.
“Yes, I went over to the base in the ruins and got it out.”
“On your own?”
“Yep.”
“But there must be like, thirty guys there!” says the second guard, eyes wide with awe. You shrug.
“I guess.”
“How did you do it?”
The first guard elbows his companion, clearly unhappy to see him getting so interested, but they both listen when you launch into your story.
It’s a shortened version of how Dagger struck a deal with you and you got into the base to retrieve the uranium. You consider leaving out some of the more unsavoury details, but then you imagine the guards would probably enjoy hearing them so you don’t skip over anything. When you finish, the second guard looks like he wants to burst into applause.
“You’re like a one-person army! No wonder she wanted you on her side!”
You shrug. Maybe, maybe not. You’ve done what you’ve had to do to survive. And right now, all you really want to do is get to Gaia.
“Al right, you can go in,” relents the first guard, holding open the chain-link gate for you. “But you better know we’re keeping an eye on you.”
“Sure,” you say, doing whatever it takes to get this over with. You walk into the camp and with your prize heavy in your hands you make your way over to Dagger’s favoured building.
If you have Radium, turn to 19.9b.
* * *
Otherwise, Turn to 19.9.
19.8
“A gift, eh?” asks the first guard, cocking a brow at his companion.
“A gift…” replies the second, catching on. Before you can react, one of them has shoved the butt of his gun into your stomach, causing you to double over in pain, and the other snatches the box from your hands.
“We’ll be taking that, then,” he grins. You watch them scurry through the gate with your uranium with pained, teary eyes.
It takes a while for you to catch your breath. The guard hit you quite hard; you’re worried they might have ruptured something. But that’s not the worst thing – the worst thing is that the uranium was the only bargaining chip you had to free Gaia. Without it, you’re basically powerless. You have no way to get her out now. Not unless Dagger has something else she wants you to do, something worse.
It’s only when you’ve managed to crawl up into a sitting position that you see the two guards coming back with a third figure, a larger, far more dominating one. As they get closer you can see the smaller two have strange looks on their faces. They look… almost embarrassed. When they get to the gate the first guard shoves the uranium box into your hands as their escort watches them coolly before turning to you.
“Dagger will be happy to see you now,” says the taller man, who you recognise as one of Dagger’s entourage. The two guards don’t look you in the eye. You feel a smirk on your lips as you realise it’s likely they’ll be punished by her, if they haven’t been already. You follow the tall raider into the camp, off towards Dagger’s building, gripping the uranium that’s rightfully yours.
If you have Radium, turn to 19.9b.
* * *
Otherwise, Turn to 19.9a.
19.9a
The building is just as small and stuffed as you remember it being, but there’s been some rearranging since last time you were here. The war table that took up the majority of the space has been cleared off and moved to the side, allowing room for an impromptu sparring space. Being watched by the rest of the crew, Dagger and another raider are circling each other. He has at least a foot of height on her and holds a mallet as a weapon. All she has is a dagger. How fitting.
The crowd cheers as the man takes a swing, but she’s fast, very fast. The head of the mallet slams onto the ground with a loud bang! Before he can pick it up again, Dagger is next to him, slashing him with her blade over and over. He cries out in pain but she doesn’t relent, a look of glee on her face as she draws blood. The man roars and smashes into her with his shoulder, knocking her off her feet. It only lasts for a second, and she quickly rights her posture; this time she nimbly leaps onto his back. He tries to shake her off, but she locks her ankles together over his stomach to keep her grip, plunging the dagger over and over again into his neck. He yells in pain and falls to the ground, unable to take the frenzied attack. As he drops, she dismounts from him and lands softly on her feet.
You’re entranced. She makes fighting look like… not a dance, exactly, but she adds a grace to it that you haven’t before seen in this place. Here violence has been, well, violent, but Dagger makes it look like an art, nonetheless. Now you understand how she got her name.
A couple of crowd members rush to the man and pick him up from where he moans on the floor. Dagger is wiping her hands on her clothes when she spots you and smiles.
“Ah, you’re here! Sorry my guards held you up. Rest assured, they will be punished.” There’s a shine of glee in her eyes as she says that. “Anyway, how did it go?”
You don’t want to answer that. Instead, you just put the uranium down on the nearest flat surface, a small table with a couple of unloaded pistols on it. Dagger grins and opens the box eagerly, observing the contents and nodding before snapping the lid shut, gesturing with her hand to summon a couple of men to take it away and put it god knows where.
“Well, I’m certainly impressed. You did exactly what you said you would. But…”
Your heart lurches. You knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Dagger does a fake little pout as if she’s mulling something over.
“But I’ve grown so fond of little Gaia… it seems like such a shame to let her go now�
��”
Remove Uranium from your inventory.
* * *
Reason with her – Turn to 19.13.
* * *
Attack her – Turn to 19.14, Needs Hand-to-Hand Combat.
* * *
Remain silent – Turn to 19.15.
19.9b
The building is just as small and stuffed as you remember it being, but there’s been some rearranging since last time you were here. The wartable that took up the majority of the space has been cleared off and moved to the side, allowing room for an impromptu sparring space. Watched by the rest of the crew, Dagger and another raider are circling each other. He has at least a foot of height on her and holds a mallet as a weapon. All she has is a dagger. How fitting.
