The Fallout universe doesn't belong to me, and I have drawn inspiration from New California Dreaming, by Hotpoint, as you will see in later chapters. No infringement is intended, no profit is to be made and I'm just not worth the hassle of suing anyway unless you want a share of the basically non-existent wages of a student.

This is not strictly a crossover, although it could be argued that the games Fallout 2 and Fallout 03/NV are so different, with the former being much more rife with moral ambiguity and being outright darker and more adult in tone, that it sort of is despite the fact they take place in the same universe merely being set on different sides of the country a few decades apart.

The Fallout games are set in a post-apocalyptic United States years after the Third World War wiped out most of the population of the planet (most of those that did survive had been inside gigantic Nuclear Bunkers called Vaults) and left most of the country a blasted, radioactive wasteland. However this is not our future, the Great War of 2077 happened in a parallel Earth which diverged from ours after World War II and the pre-war culture and society was different enough to ours to make it an almost 1950's version of the future... with nuclear bombs dropped on it. This story takes place in the Mojave wasteland, and later the ruins of Washington DC and the surrounding region (known as the Capital Wasteland) the setting for Fallout 3 (set in 2277) however it starts four years later than the game does and features original main characters, one of whom is from the West Coast where Fallout 1 (set in 2161) and Fallout 2 (set in 2241) took place.

Let me know how I'm doing as the story progresses, I don't have a lot of story writing experience.

I've been many things in my life. Explorer, Warrior, Healer, Diplomat, Commander, Businessman; But above all of that I was a Courier, I brought messages to people. I was born in a different universe, onewhere the NCR was a republic, Legion, Caesar's legion existed and where it was under the control of an absolute despot. This is the story of my adventures in this universe:

I woke up in a strange room, with an intense pain in my head. I opened my eyes to a spinning world, but that was probably just from the pain of being shot in the head.
A mechanical voice then said "Welcome back to the world of the living, Partner! Your possessions are being held with the nurse. Please, allow her to fill in your medical history, as the CCMD is currently offline. Have a good day, Partner!"

As the panel in front of me popped out and slid to the right, I was greeted by a brown haired, Leather Armor clad, athletic built woman in her mid twenties, and a dog.
The dog growled menacingly at me, but then the woman said "Shh. Cheyenne, Down! Don't worry; she won't bite unless I tell her to."

To which I replied "Thanks, but who are you and where am I?"

"I'm Sunny Smiles, and you're in Goodsprings."

"How did I get here?"

"Our Sheriff, Victor, Brought you in here. Look, before you ask any more questions, I've got to do a Medical History on you, or the Auto-Doc won't treat anyone else." "O...K..., that's an odd directive for an Auto-Doc, they're supposed to treat everyone. What's first?"

"First is going to be your Name."

"I'm called Caine"

"OK, Caine, Next is gonna be Treatment Efficiency... Your alive, so speed gets a 5; here, tell me how close it got to what you look like."

"My face is perfect, even the scar will be hard to notice, but it cut my hair & changed its colour, can you fix that?"

"Yeah, I have some Perma-Dye; we should be able to get close. I'm guessing you give it about a 4?"

"That sounds about right, what's next?" "Next is a Psychological Test,... Come in to the Living Room."

"Sit down on the Couch, and then I'm going to say a word. I want you to say the first thing that comes to mind."

"Alright, go ahead"

"Dog", "Train."

"House", "Renovate."

"Night", "Campfire."

"Bandit", "Swiss Cheese."

"Light", "Torch."

"Mother", "Caretaker."

"Okay. Now I've got a few statements. I want you to tell me how much they sound like something you'd say."

"First one, conflict just ain't in my nature.", "Disagree"

"I ain't given to relying on others for support.", "Disagree"

"I'm always fixing to be the center of attention.", "Agree"

"I'm slow to embrace new ideas.", "Strongly Disagree" "I charge in to deal with my problems head-on.", "Disagree"

"Almost done here. What do you say you have a look at this? Tell me what you see." "A Broken Chain"

"And this one, what do you see?" "I'm too embarrassed to say what it looks like"

"Last one." "A light in the darkness."

"Well, that's it, just let my plug this into the Doc, so it doesn't get difficult with us."

"So, why did they have you baby-sitting the Auto-Doc, while I was in there?"

"It wanted a Nurse for when your surgery was finished. It could tell men from women, and I know the most about medicine... so one thing led to another. Not to mention, Vic doesn't usually dig up dead bodies, so that piqued my interest."

"Well, thanks for your help! Uhh, the Auto-Doc said something about you having my gear?"

"Oh! I almost forgot. All the stuff you were brought in with is in the footlocker by the door and there's a Vault Suit, since your clothes were covered in blood, are on top of that. I'll fit the Pip-Boy to you once you've got all your clothes and gear back on."

"Pip-Boy? I didn't have one, not that I don't want it though."

"Yeah, it seems like you could use it, though. It's a little old, but no one else wants to use it. So it's yours if you want it!"

The footlocker contained a laser pistol, a combat knife, a leather suit from Vault 21, 5 stimpaks, my NCR Ranger's badge, a Sheriff's hat without the pin, the disassembled pieces of my old combat armour in a backpack, a note that described my orders, and on top of everything was a Pip-Boy 3000.

Like Sunny said, she helped fit the Pip-Boy to me, then told me "Hey, go see Trudy over at the Prospector, she's kinda the town mom, and she'd be mighty cross with me if I didn't tell you to go and have a visit."

I nodded, grabbed the hat off of the hat rack, and stepped over to the door. I put on the hat, and then opened the door to a blinding, searing white light. I then stepped outside. It took me a few seconds to acclimate to the difference in light, but I still kept walking down the hill that the clinic sat upon, towards the Prospector Saloon. An old man was sitting in a chair near the door, but he didn't say anything as I walked past. I opened the door and heard shouting over by the far side of the bar. I then pulled out my laser pistol and knife and readied myself for a fight. But when I came around the bar, no one was fighting, only yelling, so I put my weapons away, but kept my hands ready. The man that was yelling was wearing an NCRCF guards uniform, except that it's shirt was red and it said CLCF on the back.

Since everyone was looking to the woman behind the bar, I guessed that she was first thing I asked her, stupidly, was "CLCF, I thought the legion didn't take prisoners... Shouldn't that be NCRCF?"

To which she responded with "That bullet must have done more damage than the Doc thought! Regency ain't ever been the takin' prisoners type. Just kill em and stuff their mouths with sand."

"Regency? How is the Republic fighting this 'Regency' and Caesar's Legion?"

"Don't know what you're talking about, friend. There's only ever been the New California Regency and Consul's Legion. I ain't ever heard of this republic or 'Kaisar'..."

"But... Never mind, just pour me your strongest whiskey."

* A few drinks later *

"So I heard your argument, what was that about?" I asked. "About a week ago, this trader, Ringo, Comes into town. Survivor of an attack, he says. Bad men after him, needs a place to hide. We figured he was just in shock, so we gave him a place to lie low. We didn't actually expect anyone to come after him."

"So, where's Ringo now?"

"He's holed up at the abandoned gas station up the hill."

"So, who was that guy?"

"Joe Cobb, one of the so called "Powder Gangers", just chain gangs without chains, really." "Why don't you just kill Cobb and be done with it?"

"What, you mean murder him? That's not our way, even if Cobb is scum. He can bluster and threaten all he wants."

"Ok, but why not fight back?"

" Because there isn't a reason to. The scum ain't hurt any of us yet, just hollered at us. Some of us feel like you do, like Sunny'd probably jump up and help Ringo if he asked."

"Alright, where were the guys that shot me headed, if you know?"

"They were headed back towards New Vegas, by taking the I-15 South, I assume."

"Why's that?"

" Well, the northern stretch is covered in beasts that just get mad when you shoot 'em. If you're looking to chase after them, I'd go south, through Primm, then walk east through Nipton and then Novac"

"Well, thanks. Is there somewhere I can catch a bit of shuteye?"

"Yeah, I got a room in the back you can stay in for the night. I'll let you stay for free tonight, seein' as you just woke up from an awful surgery. Normally it'd cost you 20 caps a night."

"Thanks!"

After hearing all of that, and sleeping off the whiskey, I decided to help Goodsprings fight against the "Powder Gangers", so I went to the gas station that Trudy had said that the Crimson Caravaneer, Ringo, was hiding in, to see if I could get him to help. He wasn't much help in terms of supplies, but he told me to go talk to Sunny again, to see if she would be able to help. So I did; I went back to the clinic not even 24 hours after I had woken up.

Sunny exclaimed "I had hoped you wouldn't need to come in here again so soon!",

To which I responded " I don't need any medical assistance, at least not yet. I plan to fight the Powder Gangers so they stop threatening the entire town."

"Ok, I'll help, I can give medical assistance during the fight, or I can fight and have you help me later."

"We're gonna need every gun we can get, so I'll do what I can to help you after the battle. Who else could we get to help? We need boots on the ground, and that means weapons, armor, and people."

"Well, If I were you, I'd talk to Chet, Trudy, and Easy Pete."

" Who are Easy Pete and Chet?"

"Well, Easy Pete is, or at least was, a miner at some point, because he has a large stash of dynamite. He's the old guy sitting outside of the Prospector most days. Chet runs the town's general store, and I seem to remember him getting a shipment of Leather Armor in last week, that he could let us borrow. But he's a cold hearted scoundrel who'd sell his own mother if it made him good money. You're gonna have to make it worth his while to give it to us."

"Alright, I'll go see Easy Pete first, then."

After that, I left the clinic and went over to the Prospector again. I stepped over to the old man in the chair, and asked "Are you Easy Pete?" To which he replied with, "Yes I am, Son. Whaddaya need?"

"I'm trying to prepare the town to fight off the Powder Gangers."

"You want to fight them Powder Gangsters, you say? You're looking for my dynamite, then. I ain't gonna give it to you if you don't know what you're doing."

"Well, I don't really, but you could teach me, right? It'd mean fewer deaths for the citizens."

"Well, alright, but don't you go and use this against good people." He then showed me how to use the dynamite, how long I should wait to throw, and how much damage it can do if misused. "Well, thanks for the help. I trust you'll have the rest of your stash ready soon?"

"Faster than you can say brahmin, son."

After I convinced Pete to give us his dynamite, I went into the Prospector again. I asked Trudy if she would support our little militia, and she told me she would if I could get Easy Pete AND Chet to support me. So, my next step was to go talk to Chet. I asked him if he would let us borrow the armor, and, in an arguable fail in judgment, I told him my plan to fight the Gangers.

He asked me "How do I know that my Armor won't get destroyed? That's a big investment for little gain."

But I retorted "But it is for your own job security. If you don't give us the armor, and we all get killed out there, they'll loot and destroy your shop. Either give us the armor and run a calculated risk, or definitely take a huge fall."

"Fine, I'll lend your militia the armor, but if I can't make it look like new again, YOU are paying for it."

"Fine by me, just make sure everyone gets a set."

After that, I went back to tell Trudy the good news, and she reluctantly agreed to tell everyone. After talking to Trudy, I went to tell Ringo the good news. He was ecstatic about that, and said that he was ready whenever I was. I had heard a report of geckos near the town's water tanks, and felt that it would be a good opportunity to watch the prison as well. I went to get Sunny, so we could go and clear the tanks, and spy on the Powder Gangers. We went up, cleared all three of the tanks of geckos with no problems, we went to check on the gangers. I looked through a pair of Binoculars that i had bought from Chet, and saw gangers start moving towards the Long 15, towards Goodsprings.

All I said to Sunny was "Run, get ready!" before I bolted back towards the town. When I got back into town, I yelled "Ready the Militia" as loud as I could, and people came out of various buildings, carrying whatever rifles, pistols, and melee weapons that they could get their hands on, and all clad in Leather Armor, courtesy of Chet.

The battle itself was long and difficult. During the battle, I ran out of ammo for my pistol, so I grabbed a 9mm Pistol off of one of the dead gangers. Even with that pistol, I began to run out of ammo. One of the gangers pulled out an SMG and sprayed us with bullets. The man next to me took the brunt of the blast, killing him instantly. One of those bullets sunk into my right shoulder, blood came splattering back out of the new hole, a spreading stain on the jumpsuit accompanied with a blinding, and searing pain and limpness in my shooting arm described in gruesome detail the extent of the injury. I pulled a stimpak from my belt, stabbed it into my shoulder, and sweet, sweet relief flooded my veins. But, the bullet was still there, so I couldn't move my arm without risking more damage. I grabbed the pistol out of my right hand, and began shooting at the gangers with my left. Alas, my left arm was to shaky from the shock of injury, and being my off hand, to hit anything decently. I fell back behind the rest of the militia, taking cover behind the Mojave Express drop box in front of the general store, and used it to rest my left arm on, to steady my shooting. We eventually killed all of them, but not without losses of our own. By the time the smoke cleared, 4 of the militia laid dead, and as many as 15, myself included, were injured. But 35 or 40 of the gangers were killed by us.

After checking the dead, Sunny ran over to me and said "Caine! Let's get you to the Auto-Doc, I need another skilled medic, and that's you; but not in this state! Don't worry, I can keep the injured alive, but I won't be able to make any progress in healing them until your back."

"I'd better hurry then, yeah?"

After saying that, she started yelling to people to help her bring the injured into the saloon.

As she said that, she called to me "When you're done getting fixed, bring all the med supplies to the Prospector!" After that, I stuffed my "new" pistol into my belt, stumbled up to the clinic, laid into the door and spun the handle, and almost tumbled into the Doc. It had a touch screen interface, so I tried to hit the buttons, but I was in shock from the injury, even though I had stopped the bleeding. Luckily, my random tapping made it realize that it was a medical emergency. It said "Voice Command mode enabled, what is the nature of the medical emergency?"

"Gunshot wound, shock, possible nerve damage. Activate Combat Redeployment mode."

After saying that, it changed from its normal cowboy-esque voice to that of a drill sergeant, "Affirmative, Combat Redeployment mode active, step inside, Soldier." With that command, I stepped into the Doc, It grabbed me by the waist, injected a sedative, and started to work as the world faded.

Less than an hour later, I woke up to that familiar metal panel, and the Drill Sergeant telling me the time and date (with the surgery having only taken 35 minutes) , and to return to duty. I hit the button to return to standard mode, grabbed all the meds and doctor's bags I could, stuffed them into a Duffel Bag, and went over to the Prospector. I ran over, and when I opened the door, all I could hear was laboured, pained groaning coming from the tables, presumably the injured.

Sunny called "Good, you're done! Come help me treat the wounded!" She grabbed a Bag out from the duffel, pulled a roll of gauze, and started wrapping a guy who had cuts from what I was guessing were grenades.

I asked "You did pull the shrapnel, right?"

"Yeah, what am I, dumb?"

"No Ma'am, I'll go work with the patients now."

I went over to a table with a man on it who had taken a bullet to the side. He was wrapped; with the Stimpak still suck in his side. I pulled out the 'pak, and called over a group of patrons turned orderlies to help me carry him to the Doc. Luckily, Trudy had put cloth on all of the tables, making it easier to carry the patient. We got him over there, unwrapped the bandages, put him in the Doc, and set it to work. I left one of the orderlies there to help him when he got out. I spent the rest of the day helping the injured and checking the powder gangers for anything useful. The next morning, I noticed what looked like an old Chrysylus, from before the war. I asked Trudy if it ran, and she told me that no one had tried. She said if I could get it running, I could take it and the pull-carts. I thought I could get the engine running, but the thing definitely needed some work anyway. I made a note of it, hoping to go back soon.

After checking on the patients, and asking what Ringo would do, to which he responded "I'll stay here a few days, then head back to the Crimson Caravan."

I then began walking towards Primm.

Note from the Author:

First of all, if this sounds familiar, it's because this note is adapted from Hotpoint's New California Dreaming

You don't have to have played the Fallout games to enjoy this story I hope but greater familiarity with the universe will help you appreciate it far more. There will probably be quite a few in-jokes and references that only fans of the Fallout games would likely get but I've tried to make the characters interesting and entertaining enough in themselves.

If you're not a Fallout aficionado, or even if you are and you just lack my ability to remember obscure facts about fictional universes, I heartily endorse the Fallout Wiki for all your Fallout Universe information needs.

I'm going by the fallout timeline including the unreleased game Van Buren (what was originally to be Fallout 3) which has the Brotherhood of Steel going to war with the New California Republic some time after the events of Fallout 2. The BoS had better weaponry but the sheer size of the NCR population (700,000 citizens, a vast number for the era) means that its military made up for in quantity what it lacked in quality and the war stretched on for years.

Our original character, Richard Aradesh Caine is a veteran of the war who transferred from the NCR Regular Army to the elite New California Rangers (paramilitary police who roam the wastes wiping out raiders and slavers and looking out for enemies of the Republic). His mother was one of the Vault 13 survivors and his father a tribal from the original Arroyo, both rescued from the Enclave by the Chosen One in 2242 (thirty-five years before Fallout 3, he's in his early thirties by this point).

The NCR, in the Prime Reality, knew that the BoS had sent people to the East and they wanted to know what they're doing, suspecting the Brotherhood was looking for advanced weapons to obtain some new advantage. As far as Caine is concerned, even though the Brotherhood attacked his country, he felt that they could have had the right idea, if only they had helped people instead of hoarding.

The currency in Fallout 1 (set in 2161) consisted of bottle caps taken from Nuka Cola bottles. As civilisation re-established itself on the West Coast however real coins made of gold and silver replaced them (the gold being mined from Redding) and by Fallout 2 (set in 2241) caps were no longer used as money there. However the East Coast is not remotely as well recovered from the war in terms of re-opening mines and factories so caps are still used as money in the Capital Wasteland as of 2277.

The 10mm Heckler and Koch MP9 sub machinegun is a constant fixture of the Fallout games. The 7.62x51 NATO FN-FAL however only features in Fallout 2 where it is noted to be back in production in NCR service. In Fallout 3 the standard US assault rifle is the R91 firing the considerably less powerful 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge.

There is a ludicrous quantity of whiskey bottles to be found around the Mojave Wasteland, it was that that made me think of Caine driving a car running on the stuff. Bio-Diesel is basically super-whiskey, and although most vehicles don't run on fossil fuels, they could, with a little bit of ingenuity.