Chapter 1: Those Damn Enclave Soldiers
"Listen to this, Three Dog: The Enclave is winning the war! It's that damn vault 101 guy; he's ruining what's left of this country!" Cooper complained. He was a middle aged man, war hardened and hair starting to gray. His skin was a pale tan, even though he was outside most of the time.
"Don't I know it, my roaming friend. I met him a few times, and he helped me out, but this just ruins it. I'm sick of all of these wars altogether! Even in the west, there was a democracy formed, and someone decided to mess that up! Whenever this country gets something good going for it, someone else gets jealous and has to screw it up." Three Dog agreed.
"I just wish the world were simpler, back the way it was before the war. Hell, if we never had invented guns that would be even better!" Cooper exclaimed. "That would be the perfect world, no guns, no Enclave, no Brotherhood, and damn well no vault kid. That guy is a grade A asshole."
"Well, we're doing pretty good here, so let's just tough life out, eh? Maybe there's an afterlife, and we…" Three Dog was cut off by the door slamming open.
"Sorry, Three Dog. I keep forgetting how easy these wooden doors are to open." said the speaker. The possessor of the voice was a large super mutant (a radioactively mutated human, much stronger and much bigger) named Fawkes. He had long been friends with Three Dog, and more recently, the roaming rogue, Cooper.
"Hey there, Fawkes, What brings you to the headquarters?" Three Dog inquired.
"I came, as I usually do, to complain about a recent comment about super mutants. I have feelings! I may be a big ugly monster, but you don't have to call me that for the entire Capital Wasteland to hear!" Fawkes complained. Three Dog just chuckled.
"You are a big ugly monster, but you have a heart of gold. Now, get over it. It's done, and I will certainly insult your race some more. It's what the children want!" Three Dog said. He often called his listeners "children'. He never told anyone why, and he doesn't quite know it himself.
Meanwhile, an angry Enclave official was keeping a close eye on the building. They were now powerful enough to attack that Brotherhood bastard Three Dog and survive it. He publicly slandered and mocked the Enclave, on a daily basis.
"Keep your sights set in on the building." He said to a nearby soldier. The soldier held a Fat Man, which was a miniature nuclear missile launcher. He steadied his aim and watched.
"Sir, there are two others in the building. One of them is an ally to us," reported the soldier, still motionless.
"Really? Well, in that case, fire away. He's buddying up to the enemy." the official ordered.
"Yes, sir." The soldier said. He steadied his aim and launched the missile. As it flew, it produced an all-too-familiar whistling sound.
Cooper's ears, keen from hunting his whole life, heard it first.
"Do you hear that? It sounds like…" he said. Then the others could hear it.
"Aw, hell, that's a damn bomb!" Three Dog cried. The humans went for cover, but Fawkes just stood there.
"It's just a missile. It's not like it's a mini-nuke or anything like that." He said. He looked out the window and saw the quickly approaching mini-nuke. He paled and dove through a wall to get to cover. Then the world around the trio was lit ablaze with nuclear hell-fire.
The world was black for what seemed like an eternity, then it was pure white. Cooper woke to find that he was laying on a hard surface. He sat up, his head pounding and looked around. Three Dog and Fawkes were laying near him, also beginning to wake.
"Yo, Three Dog, where the fuck is this? You know the wasteland better than I do." he said.
"I don't know, my good friend, I really don't know." Three Dog said, looking just as confused as Cooper.
"Ugh... That was not fun." Fawkes said.
"You are no longer in your Capital Wasteland." a voice boomed from overhead.
"Oh... Ooookay... Then, where are we?" Cooper asked, hesitantly. He had been a situation like this where a vault owner kidnapped him and screwed with the world around him inside the vault.
"You are in a world known to your people as 'purgatory'. You were murdered as innocents." the voice said.
"Are you God?" Three Dog asked, more confused than he was before.
"In a sense, yes. I won't go into detail."
"So, what happens now?" Fawkes asked.
"You get a second chance at life. Anywhere you want to go, any other world, real or fiction, you can go to it." the voice promised.
"I just want to go to someplace like the Capital Wasteland, but... simpler. No nuclear weapons, no bombs, and no Enclave. No technology. Something easy to live with." Cooper said.
"I agree with my man over here. He usually knows what he's talking about, so I want to go where he does." Three Dog agreed.
"Well, I don't want to go anywhere that people don't accept me, and these guys are the only ones that don't care that I'm a big ass mutant, so I'll go with them as well." Fawkes said.
"Then it is settled. I have the perfect place in mind for you. You will, however, be separated If you find each other, then so be it, but as soon as you get there you will be on opposite corners of he land." the voice decided.
"So, when do we leave?" Three Dog asked.
"Now."
The world went into a blur of at least fifty shades of gray, slowly forming into colors around the three. Cooper looked to either side and saw his friends drifting off into the colors. The colors started to slow, and green and brown showed up more frequently now that it could be seen.
There was no sign of the others at this point, but the colors were coming to a stop. They stopped, and Cooper was dropped on his feet on the ground. He looked around and saw something he hadn't seen since he'd gone far north to a super mutant outpost: living trees.
It was beautiful to him. There were plants all around, and he could smell that the air was free of radiation and gunpowder. It was paradise. And, as promised, there was no sign of the others. Cooper looked around and saw that he was on a dirt trail. As signpost was there, but the overgrowth had consumed it and destroyed the words on it.
He walked along the path until he came across a man in a metal helmet wearing blue cloth around him. He was carrying a wooden shield and a sword.
"Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where I am?" Cooper asked him.
"Why certainly," the man said. "You're just north of Shor's Stone."
:OH, uh, okay. And can you tell me what country this is?" Cooper asked, still very confused.
"What kind of person are you, not even knowing the name of our beloved Skyrim?" the man said, taken aback. "I must say, though, I do love your armor. It looks... very sturdy."
Cooper looked down. He was still wearing his Brotherhood of Steel power armor. It hadn't been removed when he died, and it was still perfectly intact. He checked the pip-boy 3000 he had taken from the crazed vault owner he'd killed, and saw that he still had a few of his weapons in storage. He selected his 9 mm handgun and pulled it out. Still there, still had ammo.
"What is that device that game out of your gauntlet?" the man asked. Cooper was startled by his ignorance.
"It's a gun. It shoots things." he said
"Oh, so it's like a bow!" the man said, finally understanding.
"Yeah, I guess. Dude, what's with the get-up? Why are you in that armor and carrying a weird shield?" Cooper asked.
"Oh, I am a Stormcloak army soldier, and also a guard at Riften." the man said.
"I'm not gonna ask what that is. Thank you for you help." Cooper said.
"No problem." the guard said. Cooper checked his pip-boy's map and saw a new territory. It was unfamiliar, and there was nothing on it but the town he was just told of, Shor's Stone. He turned south and began walking towards it.
Fawkes awoke to find himself near a small camp with large tents. He stood up and saw what looked like a taller and thinner super mutant. He watched it for a minute, then turned and began walking away. He heard a roar behind him and saw the beast charging towards him.
He readied his trusty Super-Sledge sledgehammer and got ready. As it approached him, he dove to the side. He quickly got back up and attacked the thing from behind. He swung the hammer with all of his strength and saw his skull cave in. It was dead.
Fawkes looked around and in the distance saw many more of these creatures, and a few large hairy hings he couldn't name either.
"This is gonna be a fun day." Fawkes aid, walking towards them.
Three Dog awoke to see that he was surrounded by large cats.
"Have I gone insane?" He said.
"I sure hope not. We just want to help." One of them said. Three Dog stared at it, then passed out, still believing that he was insane.
Hey readers, what's up. It's BigBadFluttershy here with a new story for you. I just wanted to point out that Cooper is not the vault dweller, just in case you didn't get that. He is an original character. As always, I will be taking OC submissions, and reviews are appreciated. Stay classy, San Diego,
The pony that only cares a little bit, BigBadFluttershy