Silath's Journal: Day 19 - November 6, 2281

I traded some of my random junk with the barkeeper this morning. Caps are slowly adding up... I can even afford that regenerative implant now! Too bad the clinic is so far away from here.
Spoke with Major Knight, and convinced him to send some troops to protect Primm. It'll pay off in the long run. I asked if there was anything I could do to help around base, and he told me to talk to Ranger Jackson. Found him nearby, and he said I could go clear the road to Primm of some ants that had been causing trouble.

The ants were easy, just a .308 shot to the head each. Not so long ago, they probably would've been quite a chore. The pests were located around an underpass (I guess thats what you would call it) and set into the wall on one side was a door. Me being who I am, I decided to go exploring.
The door led to a series of maintaince tunnels, inhabited by raiders and super mutants alike. They seemed to be battling for control of the area. I killed a few raiders, one of them had a set of metal reinfoced leather like mine, but of superior make and backed in several areas with 'plates' of thick, stiff black woven fabric. Ballistic... nomex, nylon, neoprene? One of those synthetic fibers I had read about in an old pre-war article on combat armors. It was a little heavier than my old suit, but I felt more agile in it regardless.

Deeper down in the tunnels I located a stairway leading down, and behind some of those cool, folding metals doors were the sounds of battle. I waited until the gunfire had stopped and then stepped out; a painted hallway, full of dead mutants and raiders.
On the other end I discovered some sort of raider base, which I quickly cleared of enemies. The lower levels were half-flooded with irradiated water, so I popped some Rad-x pills and waded in. In one of the back rooms, in a locked safe, was a strange fist-sized electronic device. Just holding it made me feel lighter, less burdened by all my gear. I attached it to my backpack and the effect remained. I guess this is what those 'prospectors' are always looking for, some unopened safe with an amazing piece of technology tucked away inside. Cool stuff.
One of the hallways was guarded by some still active laser turrets and a locked cage. I took them out, and of course on the other side of the cage was a terminal to turn them all off. Figures. Another door led down another series of stairs, deeper into the complex. It was becoming clear some sort of military base had been built under the service tunnels.

Well, this area was guarded by an absolutely insane assortment of robots. Fortunately their armor wasn't all that great and I took them out easily enough, and the various turrets guarding the hallways. Found a reloading bench inside a room with shelves full of ammo cans, and reloaded as many .308 rounds as I had primers for. I also decided to swap my 5.56 rounds to armor piercing.
The thing about armor piercing is, when you don't need it, it does almost as much damage as normal rounds. And when you do need it, you REALLY need it, because nothing else will do the job. I think I'll stick to AP rounds all the time from now on.

Further along on that floor, I found ANOTHER staircase leading down. Figured I must be pretty deep by now. This area was pretty irradiated, so I popped some more Rad-x and a shot of Radaway.
If you can believe it, even more robots guarded this area, some of them looked like little wheeled tanks, with some pretty heavy firepower and thick armor. I was glad I had switched to AP rounds for my R91. Nothing else will do.
After fighting my way through hordes of robots and laser turrets, I finally came to the end of the complex; a reasearch room with various laser weapons and ammunition scattered about. The crown jewel of the piece was a big ass laser cannon.

To be honest I was dissapointed. I'm not a big fan of laser weapons, and even less a fan of the really big, unwieldy ones. It should sell for a pretty penny though, and after I trade off all the other energy ammo and whatnot, I should be pretty much rich. That's going to mean a run up to the Strip to trade with the Crimson Caravan and gunrunners, though.
I guess that's what I'll do tomorrow. Although Cottonwood Cove is close by, now. Damnit! I'll just... screw it. Tomorrow I'll stop by Cottonwood Cove, drop my gear off somewhere safe before I go in so I'm not all weighed down. Then head north up to the 188 trading station, then to the Strip, rest up at the Luck 38 and check in on Yes Man, and then loop back around to Redrocks and give that damned woman Diane her proof, whether or not I find it!