Jeurridam Ch. 11: The Vault Matrix

"Okay, what do you advise?" Zanir asked, completely at his wits end with this information. Beth looked at him, equally as lost.

"Just don't get mad... Since we don't know the extent of the control of your powers, only that they're tied to your emotions, you need to stay calm." She responded.

"Wow... the one thing I thought I lacked enough of actually has the power to wipe out the city entirely. This fucking day!!!!!!!" Zanir sighed full of frustration.

"Zanir..." Beth said, looking out the window.

A sense of weightlessness came over us all. Zanir suddenly scrambled to his hands in knees.

"Shit!" He shouted as we suddenly came crashing to the ground. We were thrown around the cabin, hard but the durable analog buggy kept on trucking, "This shit is scary..."

"It is..." Beth laughed nervously.

"You think I can take out the Revivalists?" Zanir asked, truly hopeful.

"Without taking us all with you, no..." Beth quickly refuted, "All things considered though, I'm not against you using it if shit takes a turn. Destroy it all, everything..."

"Hopefully, it won't get that bad." Zanir chuckled, quite nervous.

We reached the highlands, overlooking Jeurridam. Zanir read the map of the Vault Matrix, looking for the vault in Dredge Valley.

"It's not on here..." Zanir said, looking hard.

"It's not?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, so the vault must be new or something." Zanir responded, fidgeting with his watch, "Orb will have to get scans..."

"I need a signal booster. I need to get into contact with my boys back in The City of Rust..." Alistair said.

"Okay." Beth said, "Gimmie your watch." Alistair handed over his beacon, the girl connecting it to the laptop, "Zanir, can you make one of your blades produce a sustained EMP for broadcast?"

"Sure..." He said, a blade whipping out of the rear of the truck. It hovered above the laptop, beth connecting two wires to it. The blade then began to rotate...fast!

"We're live!" Beth said, pressing the H key. Alistair walked over to the laptop.

"Sandles, come in... Come in Sandles..." He said.

"Yes boss?" Sandles responded.

"Any new details?" Alistair asked.

"Actually, yes. This is in fact a take over... The Revivalists are here permanently and are starting with Henderson. As for Ezekiel, we sent informants into the inner town to ask about him where he worked. Um... The Revivalists came in and put up a chase with him and eventually caught him as well as others who were considered affiliates. Ever since then, things in Henderson have been taking a sour turn. The Revivalists have gained complete control and have pushed off the Logatti who protect Star Nursery. Informants say that the next step is to come for Paradise, get rid of all the smaller gangs and last, take down the City of Rust..." The informant explained.

"So they do have Zeek and are planning to add Jeurridam to their roster..." Zanir said, not liking this one bit.

"They already have control over California, have pushed the UCNC out completely. They're working their way up the coast, from here to the Temperate Rainforests of Vancouver up to Beringia." Sandles added.

"Damn, so it wouldn't have made a lick of difference if I headed north across the great spine. The Revivalists are all there..." Zanir said.

"Yeah, it was better you stayed." Beth nodded.

"I guess I really am stuck here. I might as well push these fools out of Jeurridam. I think I may have an idea but we must see what Orb's scans say about the vault in Dredge Valley." Zanir said.

"We're listening..." Alistair said.

"A diversion from the west so we could come in from the east and get into the vault." Zeek responded.

"And how do you suppose we do this?" Beth asked, not too pleased at how brash this plan sounded.

"I don't know yet but I'm going to have to think of something. Alistair, do you have antitank weapons you can outfit on your buggies?" Zanir asked.

"Yes... But those are the least of our concern..." Alistair responded.

"I know. The ship batteries are the issue. They're incredibly long range. I know how to take them out though. Beth, this will require your delicate touch." Zanir said.

"What are you gonna have my daughter do?" Dale asked, quite concerned.

"She's going to remote control all my blades. First thing she's gonna do is take out the main communications. Then she's going to go after the ship's batteries and last, propulsion... Alistair, you're going to tell your forces to ready all antitank weapons and engage them! Dale, you're going to provide anti-personnel forces and place a wedge between the Revivalists and Dredge Valley. But this is just preliminary. The plan could change depending on what Orb discovers..."

"Okay. I'm liking where this is heading. If we cripple the Revivalists main defenses, escape and communications, the playing field will be more even." Beth nodded.

"This is about causing a big enough distraction to get the prisoners out... We still don't know where they could be in this massive network of vaults. " Zanir noted, looking at his watch, "And she just arrived." He began projecting the image.

Orb was flying quite low and fast, homing in on the vault. Her scans showed that this vault was connected to a network of tunnels near the dredging factory. They ran for four miles, facilitating something akin to a lab, deep beneath the surface of the Bay of Vegas. Further scans showed that a huge underwater base was hidden beneath the Hoover Dam.

"What the hell?" Dale asked, having to look closely.

"This puts all my suspicions into perspective..." Zanir sighed, sad to confirm what he had been suspecting, "The Revivalists never left here... The dredging project was a cover up for their operations in the quarantine zones. They've made some considerable advancements all under the rug..."

"This also means they may have another coms system somewhere." Alistair noted.

"Most certainly... That one will be hard to find but we just need a diversion. My blades can locate Zeek once I'm inside." Zanir responded.

"You're going inside the facility? I don't think that's wise. We just discovered this base. We don't know anything about what they have inside of it!" Alistair advised.

"Which is why I need you all to hammer the hell out of the fleet." Zanir said back.

"What about us?" June asked, pointing at himself and I.

"You know what you'll be doing! You're getting us in there!" Zanir nodded, "And Beth, after you take down the ships and the coms, launch the turrets into the air and sit them closer to the action. Anything that comes to the dam or becomes too much for the Merchant Clan to handle, make sure the turrets shoot it!"

"Please! There are are these fast little dog looking racers that are super annoying on an analog buggy potentially deadly on anything with light armor. We'd need the extra ranged support." June noted.

"It's now or never." Zanir responded, ready to pop things off.

Things went underway. We began driving back to Jeurridam, Alistair mobilizing his forces. Beth, destroyed the intended targets, the Merchant Clan attacking within a matter of seconds of the incident. The explosions could be seen from way over here. Things were going as planned for now. The blades returned to to the buggy, returning to Zanir's control.

"We got a small window of time..." Zanir said as we arrived at Hoover Dam. We drove down the steep slope, eventually stopping near the base of it, "You guys, provide gun support if anything comes our way. I'm going in for Zeek..."

"How?" Beth asked, looking at the dense concrete.

"Really now?" Zanir responded as his blades began to carve into the the dense concrete.

"Wow..." She she said as a man sized hole began to appear.

"I'm rescuing all the prisoners! Make room in the buggies!" Zanir said as his blades rapidly carved into the dam wall.

"Boss, we're decimating them," Alistair's radio buzzed, "They didn't see this coming!"

"Keep the pressure up. When I say withdraw, withdraw..." Alistair responded.

"Roger..." Sandles responded.

"I'm going in..." Zanir said, leaping from the buggy to the hole.

"Be careful!" Beth responded.

"I will..." Zanir responded, disappearing into the Vault Matrix.