(Nico and Wernher arrive in the pitt trainyard, and they hear some footsteps)
(Nico leaves his stuff in his bag, which is buried under an old rail sign. His pip boy is also in there)
Wernher: Someone's coming. Let me do the talking
Nico: I'll follow your lead
Wernher: Hey hey! What are you guys doing here?
Raider: I might ask you the same thing. You got a lotta guts coming back to this place, Wernher
Wernher: Yeah? Well, that's the difference between us. I got guts, and you don't
(Wernher pulls out his pistol and shoots the raider in the face)
(Nico grabs the submachine gun from the dead raider as his gang opens fire)
(Nico and Wernher get into a huge shootout with the pitt raiders. Both sides send bullets flying towards the other, but with Nico's accuracy, he was able to kill a large amount of pitt raiders)
(Wernher shoots the lock on a gate)
Wernher: This is as far as I can go. It's up to you from here on out. Put down the gun and keep those clothes on, and you should be able to get past the gates without a problem. You might be able to sneak a small gun or a knife if you conceal it just right
(Nico drops the submachine gun, tucks his pistol into the back of his pants, and puts his knife in his shoe)
Wernher: Once you're inside, find a slave named Midea. She should be able to help you. Remember, your goal is to locate Ashur and find the cure. After you have it, I'll contact you. I'll keep the raiders on the outside busy so you don't have to deal with as many. Go!
(Nico heads into the gate and goes down the path while Wernher heads in the opposite direction)
(Nico sees a bridge, but it's been rigged with a bunch of frag mines. He climbs on top of a car and starts hopping across the tops of cars and trucks in order to avoid the mines)
(A bullet narrowly misses Nico's head, so he jumps down. He rips the mirror off of a car and uses it to see behind him)
(Sure enough, he sees the glint of a sniper rifle scope on the higher part of the bridge right before a bullet shatters the mirror in his hand)
(Nico looks up and sees some support rods on the sniper's perch. He does a roll across an open space and is covered by another car, then quickly grabs a frag mine from off the bridge)
(Nico runs full sprint, barely dodging a couple of sniper bullets. He plants the frag mine on the support rods, then runs a distance back)
(The sniper looks confused as he looks down, but then he sees Nico pull out his pistol)
Sniper: Well, that sucks
(Nico shoots the frag mine with his pistol, and it blows the support rods, making the sniper perch come crashing down)
(The sniper falls, hits the edge of the bridge, and plummets into the depths below, and his rifle along with him, much to Nico's disappointment)
Nico: Hmph. I could have used that thing
(As Nico approaches the gate, there is a slaver named Mex waiting for him)
Mex: HAHA! I love it. Another slave wandered back here, huh? What's wrong, couldn't get over the bridge? You're lucky I don't fucking paste ya. You know what? Maybe I should-
(Nico pulls Mex towards himself and stabs him in the chest with his knife)
(A couple of pitt raiders open fire, but Nico uses Mex as a human shield, and uses his pistol to kill the raiders. He then drops Mex, who has a bunch of new bullet holes)
(Nico opens the gate himself and walks into the pitt, where he does his best to blend in with the crowd of slaves)
Adan: Hey there! Welcome to the family
Nico: You seem cheery
Adan: I'm not cheery, really. I've just accepted my role here. I found a book once. Midea read part of it to me. It said "the master doesn't try to be powerful. He is powerful. An ordinary man keeps reaching for power, and thus, never has enough". Don't get me wrong, I'd like to be free, but I'm not. And the harder I cling to that idea, the more miserable I'll be that I'm stuck here
(Nico wanders around the pitt, until he finds a woman without a slave collar. She doesn't recognize Nico, so she walks over to him)
Nico: Are you Midea?
Midea: Wernher sent you, didn't he?
Nico: Yeah, he did
Midea: Good. He finally found someone. We can't talk out in the open like this. Follow me, and we'll talk in my house. No one will hear us there
(Nico follows Midea into her house, and she shuts the door behind the both of them)
Midea: Alright, we can talk now, but we shouldn't take too long. They all saw you come in here, so they'll come looking for you if we're in here for too long. I have a plan for getting you into Ashur's palace, but we need to wait. In the meantime, you're just going to have to blend in
Nico: What is it?
Midea: Outside of the mill, there are a bunch of old steel ingots just laying around. Every so often, the foreman puts out a work order to collect them. It's practically a death sentence, and they never assign it to anyone. They make us pick who's going to do it. Bastards
Nico: Let me guess, the area is full of super mutants?
Midea: I wish. The area is full of trogs. They're what most of us hope we never become. The contamination gets to everyone to some degree. For most people, it's like some form of cancer. Sometimes harmless, and sometimes not. For others, the contamination drives them insane. If it doesn't kill them, it changes them. They become animals. Deformed and inhuman. It's not pretty. They're everywhere, and they kill on sight. Wait, what was-
(A raider named Jackson kicks the door open)
Jackson: What's going on in here, Midea? Who's this scab?
Midea: Nothing. I was just telling this new worker about the job that the foreman posted
Jackson: Oh yeah? So he's the one that's going out into the steelyard, huh?
Midea: Yes. I told him what he needs to know. 10 ingots, and as fast as he can
Jackson: Well then, I hope you also said goodbye. HAHAHAHA! Alright, play time's over. Get to work, grinders
(Jackson walks away)
Nico: Just one more thing. I need to know more about the cure Wernher mentioned
Midea: The cure is the key to healing the sickness that's been going on around here. Look at us. We've all got it. Slaves and raiders alike. The more they force us to work in this mess, the worse it gets. People are turning into trogs faster than ever before. The cure is the first thing in this place that hasn't been infected
Nico: Then I'll need to find it. The steelyard will be my starting point
Midea: Good luck
