Commander Shí sat in the Command Centre of the World Eater. He turned to Lieutenant Chí.
"Blue Squadron. How is it doing?" He said, speaking in Mandarin Chinese.
"Blue Squadron is bringing the satellite back. They will arrive within three days, four if the enemy prove an issue. Respectfully, Commander, may I ask what will happen should we fail to make contact with command?"
"We follow our orders, and fire the missiles. "
The Orders that Commander Shí's ancestors had received two centuries ago. He had grown up on this submarine, learning that his purpose was firing the World Eater's missiles. The Missiles that had been unable to be fired due to a broken firing mechanism, that none had successfully fixed before he did. He sent a small party onto land and raided the supplies to fix it. Now, the only thing left was to secure a satellite to make sure orders were the same, and fire. There was always the issue if Command was no more, if Command hadn't survived the two centuries between now and the start of the bombing. Then, he would avenge them, and take down the Vaults.
Commander Shí smiled at the thought.
OOO
The Courier sat in a booth while the Lone Wanderer's Robot Butler gave him a shave. The Butler sprayed water over his chin to clear the suds off his face.
"Thank you, Wadsworth." The Courier said.
He got out of his seat and walked outside. The group had stopped to move a ruined car off the road, and the Courier had used the time to get a quick shave. He saw Lily and Fawkes finally toppled the car off into an alleyway. Raul was just finishing his work on the engine and looked over at him.
"Engine's good, Boss. Should be able to take us to Washington without any problems. The only thing that could go wrong is if you did something stupid, like let Brotherhood men get close to it, like the distance between here and the Water-Giver."
"I know you don't trust them, Raul. But we need them."
"I know, Boss. I just don't like the way that robot looks at me.
The Courier got into his pick-up while Wadsworth floated off into their military truck. Boone turned and looked at him.
"What's the plan with the Washington group?"
"What do you mean?"
"They're Brotherhood. This could be a trap."
"The East Coast and West Coast Brotherhood are different. East Coast helps people, West coast are glorified techno-raiders."
"Revenge can change a lot of people."
"You don't have to explain that to someone who survived two bullets to the head from Benny. I've made sure the dogs don't start trusting the Washington group, and I have a back-up."
"What?"
The Courier chuckled, and pulled out a detonator.
"I planted C4 under the truck's fuel tank. I'm not letting the Water-Giver, or the Lone Wanderer, or whatever the hell he's called, get an advantage over me."
Boone nodded.
"That's smart. I don't trust any of them."
"They have a gangster-barber, a Paladin, a Ghoul Mob Enforcer and a psycho War Robot, as well as the Lone Wanderer, who supported Brotherhood with his two 101 Goons. The only trustworthy ones are Fawkes and the dog, and they just follow orders."
The Courier popped a piece of bubble-gum into his mouth, and started driving.
OOO
The Lone Wanderer sat in the passenger seat of the truck, with Cross driving.
"I've heard of the Courier." Cross said.
"He's the one who wiped out the Slaver Army."
"He wiped out the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. He convinced them to let him join, pickpocketed the three access cards and started the self-destruct sequence. He fought with Enclave for control of Hoover Dam, the Doctor one's a member of the Enclave as well. The Nightkin fought in the Master's Army, the Ghoul maintained a radio for a Mutant Army Splinter at Black Mountain, and the robot's also Enclave. We can't trust them."
"I know that."
"So why the hell are we taking them? With a bit of luck they could take us in a fight!"
"They won't try anything."
"That's what the men in Hidden Valley said. Look what happened to them. This will only lead to death when the Brotherhood discovers him."
"If he tries anything, we can take him. But he won't. The World-Eater's going to wipe out his home as well as ours."
"But…"
"That's the end of the discussion."
Star Paladin Cross sighed and continued driving.
OOO
Sgt Kang peered down the sights of his assault rifle and took a deep breath. He saw a group of twelve hostiles, wearing Jumpsuits with 108 on the back, reinforced by a Protectron and two dogs. They looked incredibly similar, and Kang wondered if they were Androids designed to look exactly the same, or whether centuries of inbreeding gave them the same look. They had fought for several minutes in the abandoned supermarket they were now sitting in and Sgt Kang and Blue Squadron had been forced to abandon the new supply of food they had found. He tilted his head and saw that the hostiles were attempting to defend the food, which were several back-packs filled with Cram, Dandy Boy Apples, Nuka-Cola, Sugar Bombs, Salisbury Steak, Potatoes Crisps, Blanco Mac and Cheese, Instamash and Fancy Lad Snack Cakes. It would have provided a great boost to morale and extended the World Eater's supplies substantially. Sgt Kang snarled, and decided he wasn't willing to let the savages get their food.
The Hostiles were all armed with mines that sprayed bottle-caps, scoped magnums and machetes. They jumpsuits were armoured with pieces of leather armour, and the leader of them wore metal armor and a helmet made out of an Eyebot. The Leader turned his head and looked directly at Kang.
"GARY!" He yelled, and Kang fired as the savages dove into cover.
The bullet bounced off the helmet, and scraped off the leader's leg.
Kang swore. They had lost the element of surprise without any kills, they were outnumbered two to one and his men were tired from moving their newly acquired satellite.
"Gongji!" He yelled.
The Squadron charged forward down the aisle, but the man leading the charge stepped onto a mine and exploded in a mist of blood. A second soldier's neck exploded as a magnum round went through it, and fell.
"Daotui!" Sgt Kang yelled, giving his men the order to retreat.
Sgt Kang turned and ran towards the doors. He felt someone punch him in the back, and realized he had been shot. He gritted his teeth and barrelled out the doors of the supermarket. The Brahmin pulled carriage they had captured was there, with the satellite placed in the back. His men clambered inside and took up shooting positions. The Carriage started moving, and Sgt Kang rolled a grenade inside the doors. It exploded, and he heard a voice yell Gary. Kang started firing into the smoke as the carriage picked up speed. Kang smiled as he saw a leg being blown off from his round.
"Death to Savage!" He yelled in broken English.
All of a sudden there was a flash, and he felt a terrible pain in his eyes. He dropped to his knees and screamed. He realized the Protectron had hit him in the eyes, and he yelled at his men to leave him and go. It was better to die here than return a coward. He pulled out his pistol and started firing blindly, before a dog bit his arm and he dropped it. He swung a fist at the dog but the flat of a machete him in the face.
"Gary!" A Savage said.
Kang tried to pull the pin on one of his grenades and kill them both, but a savage stepped on his hand and stopped him. Sgt Kang tried to shout, but a boot hit him in the face and knocked him unconscious.
OOO
The Lone Wanderer woke up to the sound of gunfire. He turned to Charon, who had taken over driving.
"What's happening?"
"Relax. We have stopped lunch."
"What's with the gunshots?"
"The Courier wanted meat, so he started hunting ghouls."
"He eats them?"
"Apparently, he does."
The Lone Wanderer got out of the military truck and drew his Wazer Wifle.
"I have to go to the bathroom."
He strolled towards a wrecked car and started taking a piss. Boone whistled, and the Lone Wanderer turned.
"If you ever want to have sex again, you should back away quickly."
The Lone Wanderer raised an eyebrow, and began backing away. He noticed a ghoul, crouching behind the car. He aimed his rifle as it growled and fired, blowing the ghoul's head off.
"Thanks." He said.
"Don't mention it." Boone replied, before beginning dragging the ghoul over to a campfire that had been previously been set up.
The Courier appeared and walked over. He pulled out a straight razor and cut off a hunk of cooked meat from the ghoul already over the campfire, before stuffing it into his mouth.
"You want some?" He asked.
"God no. How the hell can you even eat ghoul?"
"Open mouth, place meat inside, chew, swallow. It's remarkably easy."
"You know what I mean."
"In the Wasteland, you do what you have to do to survive. I wouldn't expect a Vault Dweller to understand. Anyway, how long till we get where we're going?"
"We'll be at Washington by tomorrow. I need to pick up supplies. Then, it's only a few hours."
"Perfect."
Boone tapped the Courier on the shoulder, and pointed down the road. A Huge Mole Rat was limping along the road, covered in blood.
"If there's fresh blood, there's got to be a predator out there." The Lone Wanderer said, aiming his rifle.
The Courier started jogging back to his pick-up truck to get his incinerator. All of a sudden, a group of two dozen men ran down from a side street. They all wore hockey masks and carried machetes, with various jumpsuits, suits of metal armour and pieces of combat armour on.
"Exiles." Lily said from her seat in the back of the second pick-up.
"Who?" The Lone Wanderer asked.
"Grandma's dealt with them before. A Tribe made up of boys who didn't do what they were told. They go around smashing up everything. Very nasty, they even attacked Grandma's friend, Tabitha, and broke her robot back in the Master's Army days." Lily said, before smiling. "Grandma's medication doesn't seem to make her as forgetful as it used to. Isn't that good, Dearie?"
"The worst behaved wasterlanders exiled from their various tribes, all put together in one place. This'll give me a lot of fingers." The Lone Wanderer said.
One of the exiles ran forward and kicked the mole rat in the head, before rolling to avoid its attack and slash it in the face. He laughed, and another jumped onto the mole rat's back and attempted to ride it. A third exile lifted up his mask, hacked off a piece of flesh from the mole rat and started eating it raw, blood running down his face. The group surrounded the mole rat and started hacking it to pieces, ripping off chunks and stuffing them into their packs.
"What's the plan?" The Courier said.
The Lone Wanderer was already creeping down the street, running from building to building to sneak up on the Exiles. Fawkes climbed up onto the ruin car and aimed his minigun. Cross, Butch Cass, Boone, RL-3 and Charon took positions behind buildings, and ED-E and the dogs started creeping down the street. Lily, Elizabeth and Sean and Raul begin flanking the Exiles from an alley.
The Courier sighed.
"You're expecting too much from group of junkie psychos." He said, and started walking down the street, directly towards the Exiles.
He drew his magnum and walked up to the Exiles, who were all busy fighting over the meat.
"Get back here!" The Lone Wanderer said in a loud whisper.
The Courier opened his duster and pulled out a piece of dynamite, before lighting the fuse. He placed it on the ground, and started to walk away. One of the Exiles turned and saw him as the Courier got out of the blast range and leaned against a building.
"Who the hell is this?!" The Exile yelled.
The Courier smiled, and held up three fingers.
"Where you from, Cowboy?"
The Courier grinned wider, now holding up two fingers.
"You messed with the wrong people!" The Exile yelled, drawing a shotgun.
The Courier dropped another finger, leaving his middle finger up and pointing it towards the Exile.
"Boom." The Courier said.
The piece of dynamite exploded, and the Courier drew his magnum and fired six shots at the group of Exiles. Fawkes opened fire with his machine gun, and a firefight erupted. Most of the Exiles had been knocked down or wounded by the explosion, and struggled to get to their feet. Most grabbed machetes and charged at the Courier, who was now firing his Incinerator. The bullets and lasers from both the Washington and New Vegas groups cut down the exiles before they could do anything, and the rest began to retreat down the street. The Lone Wanderer aimed his rifle and fired several expertly placed shots, turning four of them to ash. Lily and the dogs charged after the Exiles, catching all but the fastest man and killing them instantly, ripping them to shreds. Boone dropped to his knees and took a deep breath. He aimed his rifle and paused, before pulling the trigger. The Last Exiles dropped, a bloody hole appearing in his chest.
"Nice shot, Boone!" The Courier said. "That was fun, right?"
The Lone Wanderer slung his rifle over his back and began walking over to the Courier. He swung his fist and knocked the Courier into the building.
"What the hell was that? What if they had seen you, and killed the rest of us? What if Boone had missed, and that guy told his friends about us?"
The Courier stood up, his nose bloody. He looked at the Lone Wanderer. The Wanderer was much larger and stronger, but the Courier didn't care.
"What if during your waste of time they had radioed for help? What if you were about to step on a mine while flanking them? What if I had shot you in the head as soon as I met you? The world is full of 'What if's, but the point is that didn't happen? Show next time you hit me, you better make sure I can't get up after?"
"Why the hell did you come if you were only going to cause trouble?"
"Because I didn't want to stay in New Vegas, chancing my life on the hope you can win a fight. I'm a lucky guy, but even I wouldn't take that gamble!"
The Lone Wanderer snarled.
"Next time, we do things my way."
The Courier holstered his magnum and started walking back to the pick-up truck.
"Come on, then, Wanderer. Let's go."