With Rei disarmed temporarily, the rest of my companions on this trip joined us. "Okay, here is what's going to happen. Gramps, you take everyone around back with you to the loading area of the facility along with the vehicles and hold position there."
"Whatever you say, kid. You're in charge." The old man said simply, having handed the leadership responsibilities to me long ago.
"While you guys are waiting, I'm going to go into the facility, take control of the central controller, and gain administrative privileges over the robot inhabitants, so we don't have to waste our time fighting them. Does anyone have anything to add?"
"Nah, it sounds like as good a plan as any, bro." Big Tom commented.
"You know more about this place than we do, dear, so if you haven't come up with anything better, I doubt we'll be able to." Alice added.
That was then followed up with similar responses from the rest of the party.
"Alright, I'll catch you guys in a bit, then. Let me know if you encounter any problems."
"Will do." Gramps said lastly before leading the way to the rear of the structure.
Watching everyone besides myself begin heading around back within the perimeter of the facility's deteriorated and rusted column walls, I stowed my Mulcher away in my item box and walked to the expansive facility's entrance. Keeping my stealth field active, I arrived at the metal double doors of the entrance, swung them open, and stepped inside. I could've taken a peek inside to see what was going on the other side of the doors, but there was no reason to when my perception field covered the entirety of the entrance lobby and then some.
What I saw on my initial entry was a typical business lobby area that had seen better days. Paying no mind to the distressed state of the place, I proceeded in the direction of the server room. However, when I made it to the right set of double doors, I sensed a group of 5 CD1 Security Robots coming right this way from the long hallway that led into the depths of the manufacturing plant. Not wanting to provoke some sort of security response this early into my attempt at a takeover, I hid in the shadows next to the doors and waited patiently.
A very brief couple of minutes later, the small group of robots pushed a button on the other side of the door, opening them. They then came on through when the doors slid into place and as they were about to scan the surroundings, I slid past the bipedal robots and entered the hallway, unbeknownst to them. Having made it past them, I turned around to check them out with my Observant perk just to see their stats before I went on my way.
| CD1 Security Robot |
Armament: 2 x Inbuilt Palm Lasers
Carry Capacity: 150
Health: 100
Resistances: DT 20
Power: Fusion
Value: 10,000
Description: A cheap mass produced bipedal robot shaped similarly to humans. This model of robot was created and marketed as an affordable replacement for human security personnel that would never need to sleep or take breaks besides refueling. Designed by Cyberdynamics.
That's great to see. The stats are the same as they were in the wastelander games.
Happy to see that things remained as I knew them, I rapidly moved through the hall, all while being as stealthful as possible and not making a single sound. Due to my insane inhuman stats, I flew down the hall and arrived at one of the many security checkpoints in this factory. Directing my attention ahead of me, I saw 10 CD1 Security Robots, 4 Sentinel units, and a number of AAEL Defense Turrets.
Staying hidden in the shadows, I used my Observant perk again and obtained the stats of the new robot and turret models.
| Sentinel |
Armament: 1 x 4 Tubed 80mm Rocket Pod, 1 x Gatling Laser or 5.56 Minigun
Carry Capacity: 1,000
Health: 1,000
Resistances: DT 125
Power: Fusion
Value: 850,000
Description: The Sentinel is a tracked heavily armed combat robot that was usually used to guard or assault important targets. The robot's standard fit is normally a combination of a gatling laser or minigun and a four tubed 80mm rocket pod. Due to these armaments, it is advised to avoid this robot model at all costs. Designed by Cyberdynamics.
| AAEL Defense Turret |
Damage: 30
Fire rate: 500
Health: 50
Resistances: DT 20
Power: Supplied
Weight: 20
Value: 15,000
Description: The AAEL Defense Turret is a small laser turret meant to provide increased security for sensitive and valuable locations. Designed by American Atomic Energy.
Yup, the stats are the same as they were.
Having obtained that bit of information, I kept to the darkness, easily made it past the checkpoint, and continued going deeper into the facility. I pushed further and further into the massive structure when I eventually came across an elevator and a stairwell a slight ways ahead. Forgoing the elevator because of a number of safety concerns I had and it not being conducive to stealth, I proceeded to the stairwell that lay ahead, wading the dust filled hall. Reaching it in no more than 10 seconds, I gave the handle a pull and quickly found out that it was locked.
Looks like it's time to put my Skeleton Key perk to use and gain a smidgen of exp.
Upon completing that thought, I did just that and instantly understood what sort of lock I was dealing with. So with that knowledge in mind, I withdrew my lockpicking set from my item box and got to fiddling with the lock in front of me. Seconds later, I heard a distinct click from the last of the pins being set and had the metal security door wide open in no time flat. With nothing impeding my path forward now, I stepped forth through the doorway and entered the stairwell.
Examining my surroundings briefly, what entered my vision was a concrete stairway with walls of peeling grayish paint and a small dust covered directory located on the wall to my right. Already knowing where I needed to go, I didn't spare the signage a glance and swiftly headed down the steps to the lower underground levels. I went down three flights of stairs, reaching the lowest level of the place where all the systems that controlled this plant were located.
Despite my excitement rising as I neared, ever closer to making this massive robot manufacturing facility mine, I had another door blocking my path, an armored blast door at that. So I broke out my Skeleton Key perk once again and figured out how to unlock the tough bastard in the blink of an eye.
*Shnunk*
That was easy.
With that door open put into the open position, I stepped through the opening and sped off in the direction of the servers. On my way there, I had to make it past several more checkpoints and a whole host of security measures, but I eventually made it to my destination. Looking at the defenses put in place to keep the central controller safe, I was wholly confident of getting past them without triggering any sort of response.
Although there are 5 Sentinels blocking the way along with a couple dozen laser turrets, they can't stop me in any way whatsoever.
Forgoing the more difficult option of getting by them, I activated Ghost and phased through the solid reinforced concrete floor and snuck by them via the ground with the robots and defenses none the wiser. On the other side of security measures, I popped up out of the floor and entered the server room that was lined with numerous racks of computers that had remained functioning because of a combination of factors. Those being that they were hardly used, and them being maintained by teams of Mister Maintenance robots that were completely unaware that someone had invaded this incredibly secure space.
Whilst the maintenance robots were unaware of my presence, I stuck to the shadows as per usual and slowly but surely made my way to the back of the large, spacious computer filled room. Less than a minute in, I arrived at a big computer station with a nice comfy looking leather chair placed in front of it. Walking up to the 200+ year old chair, I took a seat in it but made sure not to put all my weight on it to ensure it wouldn't break under my 450 plus pound body weight.
Directing my attention to the objective at hand, I turned on the flat screen monitor and before long it came to life displaying a login screen that was reminiscent to the ones from my old world.
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Just a heads up, I'm working on 3 different webnovels right now, so I'll be using power stones, comments, and other such things to gauge what people want me to be working on. Meaning, whichever work is getting the most support through those means is probably the one most of my free time will be focused on.
Also, I posted all the auxiliary information up on Patreon, so if you've been wanting to look up what certain perks do again, for instance, you can find all the information over there without having to go through a bazillion chapters looking for certain perks effects.
Shameless plug, I have a Patreon you can read ahead and support my work on. It gives you access to every chapter I have written across all my works, including those I've yet to release, and the ability to vote in monthly polls that will determine what I'll be working on for a portion of that month.
If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, you can find the link for it in webnovel's description, in my bio, and on the discord server. Also, I run chapter announcements through the discord, so if you want to know when the next chapter is out, you can find out there.
Up to date on Wasteland Conqueror? Looking for something else to read? Then go check out my other work, Fallout Wastelander, it's what got me started on writing this.