We debated for half an hour about how we would save our friends.

Our first plan was somewhat suicidal; sticky and I would take out the guards that were circling the raider base while Jericho and Arkansas took out any opportunities. Then once all the outside guards were gone, Sticky and I would activate the stealth-boys and take out as many as we could and cause chaos while Jericho put our nuke pack in a good place.

That idea got shot down when we remembered the bomb had a five minute timer. There was no way a two man team could kill all the raiders in the mall ruins and get out with a dozen injured slaves, even with a three man back up team.

The second plan was for Jericho to attack the front doors with his overpowered rifle while Arkansas and I attacked from the clifftop. While our forward assault occurred, Sticky would use his stealth boys to sneak in over the walls and plant a few explosives and blow a hole in the walls. While the raiders were confused, the nuke pack would be set and Bittercup and I would rush in and raise hell.

Between the multiple holes in their walls, the attack at the gates, and me raising hell then hopefully there would be a chance to get our Megaton friends free.

The only hitch in plan B was Lucas Simms. He was tied to the post in the middle of the ruins, and butt naked. It would be very difficult to get him free and out of the cross fire.

Our final idea was a cross between plan A and Plan B. I took the eighteen frag grenades we had and tied them together in groups of four. Arkansas rigged them together with Egg timers he had stashed in his beat up NCR truck.

We had four pseudo-bomb packs with two grenades left over. I kept the remaining grenades for myself. The next step was difficult. The raiders were semi-smart. They had three groups of raiders each in a three man team. Each raider team had two guys with rifles, then one guy with either a flamethrower or, in the case of the third team, a rocket launcher.

Sticky and I took out each team, rushing them under the cover of stealth boy. From the cliff Arkansas took out the heavy weapon guy each time using my old rifle. Each kill was swiftly hidden up against the walls of the raider base, and a bomb pack left on the remains. I felt a minor morbid since of humor using the dead raiders to hide our bomb present. Also, we took the rocket launcher.

Even without the pressing attack on a fort I could think of plenty of uses for a racket launcher and three spare missiles in the capital wasteland.

We returned to our little camp, where I unloaded the launcher on Bittercup. She took the weapon with a shy smile that scared the hell out of me.

With the bomb packs and patrol guards dead, all we could do was take position and wait. Bittercup set up the launcher so it aimed at the open areas of the base. When the party started she would fire a few rounds at random, hopefully send them into a frenzy.

Jericho was getting into position. I was hoping his oversized assault rifle would be able to put up a decent distraction.

"We got a minute left boy." Arkansas interrupted, with a pre-war pocket watch in his hand. "Get your sights ready."

We prepared and waited. True to Arkansas timing, the bombs went off less than a minute later, a staccato of explosions erupting from the sides of the raider base. Jericho unleashed a rain of burning lead upon the front gate raiders while Bittercup unloaded the first of her rockets at the base. Arkansas fired a rhythm of shots from my old rifle, each cough of the gun undoubtedly marking the end of a raider's life.

Sticky grabbed the nuclear pack, and I rushed forward, rifle prepped in my hands. As we gained closer I would pause for barely a second to shoot any raider that emerged near our target entrance.

The plan was working, between the initial blast and the rapid death of their fellow raiders the inside was degrading into chaos quickly. I could hear the shouts of one particularly pissed off raider screaming for them to get back into order and fight back. I pulled the pin on one of my grenades and tossed in as hard as I could towards the sound of the yelling leader.

I was rewarded with a terrified scream of pain and a female screaming "Eulogy!" at the top of her voice. I grinned. Less leaders meant less chance of them organizing in time to stop us. As if they could.

Another rocket strike from Bittercup hit at the same time as sticky and I hit the ruined walls. A raider in car tire armor rushed out only to receive one of Sticky's darts to the head. "You remember your part right?" I asked him. The kid nodded nervously. "Do not hit the switch unless we are clear or dead." He nodded again and flipped the switch on his stealth boy, disappearing from my sight.

I counted to fifteen, grabbed a grenade, counted to fifteen again and tossed the pineapple. I strapped my rifle and prepared for a close quarters slaughter. When the blast went off I rushed in, a dagger and my shock-sword in hand. I kicked the nearest raider in the face, beheaded the one beside him and thrust my dagger into the chest of the first. I grabbed an assault rifle from a corpse nearby and unleashed a stream of lead in the backs of a group heading for the gates. I kept firing until the clip ran dry, before retrieving my knife.

The next group of raiders was prepared for me, as I rushed them two opened fire, grazing me a few times. I was lucky they were a bad shot or this would have sucked. I rushed them, screaming like a devil. The furthest back dropped from Arkansas sniper fire, the front fell to me and my gore covered blades.

The raiders were losing moral fast, they're numbers dropping faster. Bittercup's third missile hit, the signal that I needed to hurry up and free the slaves. I ran for the back, cutting down another half dozen of the bastards along the way. According to Arkansas the slave pens were in the very back, built into the remains of the restrooms.

The cage locks were easy to clear, the locks and chain link fence no match for the plasma-like edge on my sword. In less than a minute the captured folk of Megaton and other wasteland towns were free. Except for two, Lucas Simms was still in the middle of our firefight, naked and tied to the post. After a quick headcount I realized I couldn't see Moira anywhere either. I asked one of the closest slaves, a young girl that looked in her teens. Her answer annoyied me to no end. "Mr. Eulogy took her, he always takes the new girls to break them..." She shuddered, and I hopped my grenade from earlier only clipped them.

I took my rifle off my back, and removed the silencer from it, and fired five shots into the air, evenly spaced. The signal I had freed the slaves. We gathered the nearest weapons, and headed for the closest hole in the walls. A building we passed had a sign that stated, "Eulogy's Pad", I told the freed slaves to head for the cliffs. "Sticky! Front and fuckin center! We got a change in plans."

The kid rushed me, fading into view, "What now? Do we blow the bomb?"

I shook my head no."Set the bomb now, then get Simms and get him the fuck out of here."

Sticky looked at me, "What about you?"

"The head honcho took Moira to break her, I'm gonna get her back and kill him if I haven't already."

"Good luck boss."

I entered the building, and found it decorated with old Christmas lights, gaudy silk curtains and other fashion disasters that would be noticeable by even the worst fashion sense.

In the middle of his fashion disaster stood a man in what I swear to god was a pre-war red leather pimp suit. "Where the fuck are you bitch!" He yelled. I grinned, he hadn't noticed me yet. I sheathed my blades, and loaded my rifle with a fresh clip. The click of the rounds locking in alerted him to the fact I was aiming at him with my very rifle. He glared at me, "Who the fuck are you?" He demanded. I noticed blood dripping from his limp left arm. I grinned, it seemed my grenade hit him after all.

"Where is Moira?" I asked.

"The bitch is hiding from me! Little slut needs to be put in her place."

I shot him in the left foot, the fifty caliber bullet obliterating what was in its path. "Moira, You here?" I called out.

"I'm here!" She called from behind a bar. Eulogy pulled a 10mm SMG and fired at the bar, Moira screamed and I unloaded another round, cutting off the bastard's arm at the elbow.

"He's down Moira, we need to get out of here." I called. Eulogy was spitting curses, using his limp hand in a vain attempt to stem the flow of blood.

"Why?"

"Arkansas rigged six mini-nukes to blow and the timer is counting down."

"Who's Arkansas?"

"No time for questions dammit! We gotta run!"

Moira and I booked it,running out of the building, running past the raiders, running from death itself.

Bittercup's final missile struck, hitting the path behind us mere feet away.

We were halfway up the cliffs when the blast erupted from what was once Paradise Falls. The force of the six blasts simultaneously firing removed the remaining slavers from the planet's surface.

We finished our climb after a moments rest, and celebrated our victory while walking back to a greatful megaton.

As we walked to our home, I looked back and wondered, how much longer could I fool myself that I was still human.