Chapter 597 - Marked

Tamia and her troops march through the Railway tunnel for hours, occasionally coming across other Bulwark patrols that were observing the place. This stops around halfway through the tunnel however, as most signs of Tunnelers slowly disappear.

The draft blowing towards them gets harder and harder the further they venture, and eventually, the group reaches the exit, coming out onto some sort of cliff? The railway bridge that snaked along the cliff seems to have completely collapsed, leaving a desolate and rather dangerous pathway as the only way forward.​​

Tamia attempt to scan the surroundings around the cliff but the sandstorm that was currently happening was simply too thick to see through... Though, she could vaguely see various red and green lights off in the distance.

She was thankful Afton had those modified Ultimo-Bots, otherwise they'd not be able to follow her down this path... As for where she was actually going? That red light off in the distance looked like a good place to start... "Maybe going there just to jog my memory is a bad idea...?" she mutters but keeps walking despite her thoughts.

The path is long and the sand storm doesn't seem to be easing any time soon. Night eventually falls without anything happening, and Tamia finds a small cave for the group to rest in. The Cyberdogs in the meantime gathers the coordinates outside the cave in case they need teleportation... Though, the sand storm would probably prevent any escape even if they wanted to.

The night, again, was uneventful. The sand storm seems to have eased up slightly in the morning but hadn't completely disappeared...

*Bzztch!*

Just then, Tamia's eyes shoot down towards her Pipboy that'd suddenly bursts to life, the sound of her radio automatically going through various signals... Until it stops on one unknown number.

"*Bzztch!* Hmph, thought you would miss the fireworks... Cutting it close, aren't you?" the familiar voice asks, in the same raspy tone as always.

"You... Who are you!? What do you want!?... Are you stalking me?" Tamia demands, not having expected this guy to be around to, nor for him to have seemingly hacked her Pipboy.

The man chuckles from the other end of the radio, "It's not me who wants something... Why else did you come here? To find something you lost?... Or is it for that new flag you wear?" he states, causing Tamia to look down at her breastplate where the Bulwark emblem sits. She cautiously looks around but spots no indication of the man's presence.

Scowling, she looks back down at her Pipboy, "Stop hiding and show yourself, coward. You think I'm scared of some creepy fucking stalker!?" she exclaims.

"No. But you must remember that it is you who came to me, so you only have yourself to blame." the man says, but Tamia's eyes are drawn towards some strange shadowed figures ahead. They're obscured by the sand storm but her helmet's visor allows her to get a better look at them.

Her eyes widen as her magnified view locks onto their faces, revealing bloody flesh that looks to have been flayed completely of all skin, only leaving muscle and sinew behind... It isn't just their faces though, their whole bodies look the same and it is only their clothing that provides some degree of protection against the sand particles assaulting them.

"Oh, and if you want my advice... Watch out for the locals.*Bzztch!*" the man chuckles over the radio before disconnecting.

"AAAAARRRGGGGHHHH!" one of the bloody skinless men suddenly shout as they raise their weapons towards Tamia.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

They fire but all the bullet easily bouncing off of her armour and deal no damage whatsoever... However, it does anger Tamia, who draws her Proton-Greatsword from her back and ignites it, charging the men who continue frantically screaming in agony and firing their weapons.

The six Cyberdogs split into two groups and maul two of the men, while her Ultimo-Bots fire upon them, forcing the rest into cover. While they look utterly insane, they seem to retain some amount of intelligence and combat ability.

Despite that though, it doesn't matter, Tamia reaches them without issue and begins swinging her large blade, cutting the men to pieces as they do everything in their power to fight back.

The energy blade leaves large cauterized cuts in its wake as the flayed men fall to pieces. Tamia looks over and watches the last man get torn to pieces by the Cyberdogs. She makes he way over and manages to stop them before their tear the man's throat out, but his wounds were already fatal.

"Who are you!?" she commands, only now realising that the man was wearing NCR Trooper armour.

The man doesn't reply to her question, instead just continually sucking in air and shuddering as if in agony... It isn't surprising either, she could see sand in the air bouncing off and getting stuck in the man's bloody flayed skin...

Shaking her head, she stabs him through the chest with her greatsword, bisecting him due to how wide it is. "Any more hostiles?" she asks the nearest Ultimo-Bot.

"NEGATIVE." it states in a harsh robotic tone.

She nods and begins examining the corpses, curious at the NCR's armour being present. Most of the men present were wearing similar attire, but she was surprised to fine a man wearing Legion armour as well...

She'd thought that they were probably just scavengers who'd come across the armour... But was quickly cleared of that thought when she found the NCR soldier's dog tags, and many Legion coins on the Legionary... Clearly, they had each been a soldier at one point, but she was still questioning why they were fighting together... And the fact their skin looked like that, they kind of resembled ghouls, but she couldn't recall any feral ghoul being able to wield weapons...