Chapter 527 - Trap Yet Sprung

"*Bzztch!* Hm, seems like the Cloud caught you off guard like it has so many others." Elijah's voice states from Christine's collar. Christine herself immediately tenses at this and furiously glares down at it, as if she were mentally commanding it and him to explode.

Dean chuckles at this, "Yes, how strange considering you have control of the town's systems right now... Let me guess, trying for round two?" he asks, sneering with crossed arms.​​

"Round two?" Afton questions, having already expected Elijah to be responsible for his ruined vehicle... Though, there was a small chance of using [Mechanicus] to fix it... Still, that would reveal his supernatural abilities to everyone here, included Elijah... Who knows what that man would try to do if that was revealed.

Dean shrugs, "It means, the old man wants to try and breach the Casino again."

"The Ghoul is correct... The only way to get out of the Sierra Madre is to gain control of the Casino, and more importantly, the systems held inside..." Elijah's gruff voice explains.

Afton frowns, "And what stops you from lying to us? For all we know, the key to our escape is out here amongst the town... Maybe where you're currently located?"

Elijah chuckles through the radio, "Believe what you want, but if you ever wish to leave this place, YOU'LL LISTEN. Now, do we all understand each other?"

The group glances at one another (excluded Anja for obvious reasons), looking to see if anyone had a better plan than simply following what Elijah says... Unfortunately, simply walking out of the Sierra Madre isn't possible with the Cloud blocking all possible pathways.

"Good. As you all know, I've been in this place for a while now, and have slowly been unlocking the secrets to this place... The door is the Casino, but finding the key is the hard part. The Casino's security systems are on almost permanent lockdown, reinforced doors, windows, and walls that even Mini-Nukes wouldn't be able to breach, and those are just the defensive measures...

Offensively, the Casino is fitted with thousands of auto-turrets, from machine guns, laser fire, and even missile turrets. That's just the beginning of it however, thousands of Holograms patrol the outskirts, vaporizing anything that steps anywhere near the Casino's boundaries...

The only way to destroy the Holograms is to destroy their emitters... Unfortunately, their emitters are protected by a sort of Forcefield, one no doubt provided by those creatures at Big Mt." Elijah lists off the various defences, the group's eyes all going wide at the picture Elijah just verbally painted.

For all intents and purpose, it sounded impenetrable, and if you add the everpresent Cloud to all the defences he'd listed off, not even the Brotherhood of Steel's headquarters could even match up to it. If what Elijah said was true, it was probably the most well-protected thing in the entire world, nothing even came close to it.

Afton scowls, "And do you want us to break in somehow? Yeah, fat chance!" he scoffs at the man.

Elijah growls over the radio, "I said LISTEN... Fortunately for you all, the Sierra Madre wasn't built to be a fortress, but a Casino... This means there's an avenue of entry, though, this one is only possible due to the Great War occurring on its opening day." he explains.

"The Gala Event." Dean states.

"Indeed." Elijah grouses, "The grand opening event. Once started the doors to the casino swing open, the Holograms are set on passive, and the automated defences are temporarily turned off. Access to most of the Casino's rooms, halls, and apartments are granted to all who enter. Though, some people of interest still hold higher permissions..." he trails off ambiguously.

"And I suppose we need to open it?" Afton asks, feeling like they were playing to Elijah's tune.

"Correct. For more information on your tasks, speak with the Ghoul, he's done this once before after all.*Bzztch*" Elijah states before turning off the modulator.

The group all look at Dean with appraising looks, wondering whether or not the Ghoul had more secrets that he wasn't telling them. Clearly he hated Elijah, and the collar around his neck made it obvious that he wasn't his ally, but that didn't mean he was their ally either.

Dean just limply shakes his head at their suspicious gazes, "Before you ask, yes, I've been trying to get the Sierra Madre treasure for many, many years. And no, I've never willingly worked with HIM."

"Didn't stop you from failing to tell us about this..." Veronica sniffs, Christine slowly nodding her head in agreement.

Dean shrugs, "What do you want from me? My life story? All you need to know is that I've spent two hundred years trying to claim the treasure of the Sierra Madre, obviously, with not much success... To think it took a madman with explosive collars to crack the first layer, only to fail on the second." he chuckles with a hand over his face, clearly resenting that fact.

"Alright, enough of this... What do we need to do to trigger the Gala? I know we don't all trust Elijah, but I think getting inside the Casino is probably the best place to start looking for an exit..." Afton says, not mentioning his intentions to find whatever system controls the Cloud.

"Well, there are four components to it that need to be attended... Puesta del Sol Switching station needs someone versed in technology to reroute the power elsewhere.

The south of Puesta del Sol has a damaged cable which would require repair or.... Someone to connect the circuit with their own bodies... I wouldn't recommend this one lightly." he states with a shiver before continuing.

"The south of Salida del Sol has a fenced off switching station, from what I remember, the switches are heavily rusted and corroded, meaning we someone with immense strength to operate it." Dean says, sending glances at Afton and Veronica.

"Last but certainly not least, the actual activation switch which sits in the most dangerous part of the Sierra Madre by far... The north of Salida del Sol, the switch itself is atop the belltower, but getting there in the first place is the hardest part... That should be everything unless something else has been damaged since the last event." Dean explains.