Revisions made on the 10th of September 2017


Mojave Drive-In, Mojave Wasteland

2285

"Retribution!" roared a man in crimson football gear as he charged forward, machete in hand before a red mist appeared above his head and his body fell limp to the dirt.

The Courier could feel the bright, merciless sun bearing down on his dark duster and metal helmet as he clung to the cover provided by the satellite hull, what little it could provide anyway. He could only listen for the Legion, unsure of whether to test his luck and return fire or be picked off by a sniper round to the skull. He was dealing with Legion, however, and they weren't exactly stellar shots.

Holding a grenade in the palm of his right hand and holding his rifle by the shroud in his left, he thumbs the grenade ring and motions toward Cooper, who is kneeling on the ground.

"Sick 'em," he mumbles to the dog, whose ears perk up at the command.

Almost immediately, Cooper charges from cover and towards the Legionaries as the Courier rises from cover and chucks a grenade towards the rubble before he shoulders his rifle and chambers a round, resonating a satisfying noise of metal slamming into metal. An explosion rocks the area as screams echoed from the rubble. The Courier aims through the scope and quickly spots two approaching men wielding spears and guns, quickly dispatching them with two shots each into their chests. The football gear doing little to stop the rounds. He then spots another assassin to his right firing an Assault Carbine at him. Ducking slightly, he levels his rifle and fires off two round, severing his right knee and dropping him to the ground on his back. Then, Cooper rams into the man and wraps his jaws around his throat, shaking him violently as he screams and claws at the dog's neck. The man in the duster then turns and fires shots at the rubble before he is forced down by rifle and machine gun fire from the rusted hull of a car not too far away.

'They're not usually this numerous,' the Legion target notes, observing how this assassin party was significantly larger than others sent in the past. 'Must be getting desperate.'

Grabbing a grenade from his pack with his left hand and waiting for their fire to die down even for a moment, he rolls from cover and fires rapid shots at the car, forcing the assassins to take cover as he throws a primed grenade at them and dives to the car on the other side.

An explosion rocked the other side as dirt and body parts were sent flying over, kicked-up dust enveloping the Courier's form. He stays crouched beside the hull for a couple of moments and rises swiftly with his rifle aimed at the horizon, scanning for any other signs of hostile life. It almost seemed clear, but his head snapped to his back as he heard thumping footsteps.

Rolling to the side as a giant metal mass slams into where he was, he looks back to see a Legionary wielding a giant hammer, supported by an advanced system of hydraulics and pulleys: A Super Sledge. The brute is also wearing a large panel, what seems to be some type of shield decorated with the banner of the Legion, a yellow bull atop a red background. The man charges, and the Courier fires off shots that bounce harmlessly off the shield until it smashes into him, knocking him into the satellite and knocking his rifle out of his hands - now dangling by a strap. The Courier kicks the Legionary in the shin to offset his balance and sends a right hook to his masked face through an opening between the hammer and shield. The sudden and notably strong punch staggers him but he quickly regains composure and swings his hammer towards his enemy. The hammer, instead of crushing the Courier, smashes into the console of the Big Mountain satellite. The sudden burst of electricity shoots through the metal weapon and forces the Legionary to let go and drop the hammer. As the shock distracted him, Cooper comes from behind and sinks his canines into his left leg, staggering his balance. It wasn't long until he bashed the side of his shield against the dog, forcing the dog off his leg with a yelp. Suddenly, the Legionary screams and his body flays out as four shots ring out in the air behind him, the crimson on his back becoming darker and wetter around four new wounds. His body collapses to the ground and the Courier slowly approaches the body, keeping the muzzle of his .45 leveled with the corpse, before finally lowering it and releasing his finger from the trigger. Hearing loud crackling and electricity fizzle, he looks to his left and sees the console of the satellite, mangled and broken in by both a spear and a giant hammer. He goes up to the console to further examine the damage, Cooper joining suit at his side. A couple of sparks cause him to hold up his left arm to shield him. He didn't have the time to fix it up, and there wasn't a real need to. At least, for now.

Getting up to leave, he pulls up his Pip-Boy to check the map and see how long a journey to the bounty collector will take.

"Retribution!"

He lowers his Pip-Boy and looks towards the sky, grumbling.

"Always one asshole left," he mutters to himself, readying his rifle and preparing to unload half a magazine into whoever was left.

Instead, he sees a black and green blur land next to him. A plasma grenade.

"Cooper, run!" he orders his dog as he attempts to bolt from the grenade.

However, he trips and falls flat on his helmeted face as something grabs at his foot as he tried to run to cover. Surprised, he looks back to see the hammer Legionary, barely alive as he had his bloodied hand wrapped around his target's boot.

"Time to die..." the Legionary rasped out, the sound muffled by blood.

Seeing running was no longer an option and the grenade was mere seconds from detonating, the Courier's hand shot out behind him, wrapping around the handle of a device. A device that sparked with electricity as if it was a Tesla ball. He brought it to the front and raised it in the air before his finger clamped down on the trigger. He disappeared in a bright bolt of blue light, and not even a millisecond later, the grenade detonated into a plume of green plasma.


Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Mediterranean Sea, Europe

2076

Lena and Winston were being showered in a bright blue glow as they witnessed the ball of crackling energy before them become bigger and bigger with every second. Winston, being the scientist he is, concluded that it would be in their best interest to get the hell out of the room as fast as they could before they find out what happens from a "Chronal Shockwave".

"Do you think that will hold?" Lena asked, her feet becoming jittery.

"I don't know…" Winston responded, feeling his heart thump loudly in his chest. "We should at least get out of the room and tell the others. Athena! Get on comms and-"

Before he could finish his order, the ball of raw energy caved in on itself and erupted into a shockwave that raced through the air in every direction. Papers, chairs, tables, equipment, and people were thrown around the room, making the already unkempt abode even more so. The two friends were flung against the wall with great force, knocking the wind out of them both. The room grew dim as the lights and electronics fizzled into silence as if an EMP went off. Then, as chaotically as it began, the room became silent save for the moans and groans of the two affected in the blast.

Writhing in pain, Oxton was the first to try and prop herself up. After gaining some semblance of balance, she went over to her furry friend and tried her best to give him some support. Winston scoured the floor for his glasses until he finally found the pair and placed them on his face, opening his dazed eyes. He wondered for a moment why the lights were out until recognition grew on his face and his eyes widened.

"Athena," he murmured, before letting go of Tracer and jumping up to the deck and to his computer. Then, stopping and waiting when he realized he couldn't do much without power. "Athena?"

He held his breath for those few silent moments until the room's lights slowly flickered back and Athena popped back up on the monitor with her signature tune. He felt relieved, as did Lena, who was looking up at the deck in suspense.

"Rebooting systems…" said the AI. "Defragmenting Caches… Systems Check Complete. All systems nominal, Winston"

"That's good to hear," said the relieved scientist. "Now, I think you should inform the others and show me any sca-"

"I'm sorry, Winston, but I am detecting an unidentified life-form within the facility."

Winston's eyes widened at the news.

"Where?"

"Right in front of me," he heard his friend call from behind.

Quickly looking over and barreling towards the rail, he overlooks the lower floor and sees Lena facing some brown lump on the floor where the device exploded. The "lump" slowly began to move, until it sat upright and started to stand up, albeit unsteadily. It now revealed its helmeted head, which was shiny and had a brown and silver color scheme with equipment welded to its right temple. Winston saw his left arm exposed, dangling to the side with some type of huge bracelet attached to it. This man had his back turned to them, and almost seemed confused in where he was. The room was deftly silent until someone decided to break it.

"Um… Hiya-!"

Almost instantly, the man spun and pointed a silver handgun with his right arm in the direction he heard the noise come from; now cradling his stomach with the other arm.

The Brit seized up before a hulking mass in white armor flew over her and towards the figure at breakneck speeds. The man with the gun notices the huge shadow and looks up, before trying to dive out of the way. He almost succeeds, but the force of the creature crashing down knocks him further back, tumbling towards a table and some lab equipment. Dazed from knocking over some gadgets, the man in the coat quickly gets back on his feet and tries to level his handgun towards the threat. The sight of a large fist coming down didn't permit him to, and he swiftly rolled to the side as the fist crashed down onto the black floor.

Gaining some distance, he faces the threat and finally has a good look on who he's fighting. His eyes widen in surprise under the helmet from what he saw, or at least he thought he saw.

'A... gorilla?' the Courier thought to himself, in disbelief. 'And what the hell is it wearing?'

Before him was indeed a large ape, something he'd only ever seen in pre-war textbooks. However, he didn't remember reading anything about gorillas wearing white armor and having red electrical sparks around their face. At least he knew it was pissed off. Not wanting to be crushed to death, he levels his gun towards the creature and pops off rounds in quick succession at it. The gorilla brings ups its arms to shield itself as the rounds bounce off. As the man fired off the last round and slide locks back, he quickly ejects the empty mag and tries to insert a fresh one until a blue flash quickly fills his vision and pushes him slightly.

"I don't think so!" a woman's voice exclaimed, in a foreign but familiar accent.

Blinking, he is shocked to see that his gun wasn't in his hand anymore, seemingly disappearing in that blue flash.

A roar catches his attention, and he looks forward to seeing the sparking charging towards him and raising both his arms to pound him into the ground. The coated figure quickly dives out of the way a second time and unslings his Brush Gun in the process. With the gorilla behind him, he spins around and slams the stock of his rifle into its head, dazing it as it clutches its face with one of its hands. Spotting an opportunity, he quickly levels his game rifle and aims for the head of the creature. Not even able to fire off a shot, there's another flash of blue as the rifle in his hands disappear. Large hands barely gave him time to react as he is slammed against the wall with immense force, the shock of it sending tremors through his body. He sees the animal's face, snarling, and inches from his as he's being choked. Struggling, he claws at his hands with his left hand, while rummaging his belt with his right.

"Who sent you?!" it bellowed, surprising the man but not distracting him from his task. "Are you working for Talon?!"

Ignoring his question, his hand wraps around a cylinder on his belt and thumbs a ring. He slowly brings up the flashbang to the animal's face, whose eyes widen in shock as he pulls on the ring and lets the spoon pop off.

"Fuck off," he mutters under strangled breath.

In a bright flash, the animal becomes disoriented and stumbles around the room, haphazardly knocking tables and equipment about. The man lands on his feet, unaffected thanks to his riot helmet. Grabbing his Carbine that is slung around him, he was about to unload an entire magazine into the beast until that pestering blue flash appeared again. This time, however, the gun stayed in his hands as the sling tightened with tension. He now felt a different set of hands on his rifle, alarmed and confused to see a woman grappling onto the shroud. She had light skin, had brown spiky hair, and was much shorter than him. She also had this strange glowing chest-piece, which gave him the idea that she was responsible for those blue flashes.

He kicks the woman away and knocks her to the ground. He points his rifle at her, but she disappears in another bright blue flash before he could even get his finger onto the trigger.

'How the fuck?!' the Waster thinks to himself.

Then, a flash sets off behind him and arms wrap around his throat and legs around his waist, trying to overpower him. He grabs at the arms and tries to uphold his balance. The woman wouldn't budge, so he opts for backing himself into a wall and slamming her body into it as hard as he could. Subsequently, she lets out a cry of pain and loosens her grip a bit. He slams himself into the wall two more times, feeling her grip get slightly weaker and giving himself more leverage. He tries to do it a third time, but the woman disappears in the bright flash and he just slams himself into the wall and hurts himself. She then reappears in front of him and delivers a swing with a stray wrench to the left side of his helmeted head, before supplementing that with another to his right. He stumbles from the force of the blow rather than the pain and leans against a nearby table. The quick woman was about to deliver a blow to the back of his head until he swiftly delved out of the way, only making her hit the tabletop, instead. She turned to watch as he delivered his right fist unto her face. Nearly getting knocked out from the energy of that one punch alone, she faltered and grabbed a screwdriver before he followed up by grabbing her throat and hurling her smaller frame towards the wall.

Oxton slumped against the wall, clutching her head before her eyes widened as the man forcefully holds her against the wall. Out of desperation, she jabs the screwdriver into the man's shoulder and eliciting a pained yell beneath the mask. He retaliates by deliberately jamming an armored knee into her stomach, just below the center of her glowing chest piece. She lets out a pained cry, as the force of his knee reverberates throughout her chest and knocks the wind out of her, making her clutch her torso as she collapses against the floor.

Breathing heavily, the masked man takes a step back from the writhing woman and looks around at his unfamiliar surroundings. Everything was a mess and he didn't want to stick around any longer. That's when he noticed his shirt feel damp around his shoulder and looked to see the screwdriver she had graciously shoved into him.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, as his hand wrapped around the handle. "Gotta get the hell out of here…"

He turned around and makes his way to a large doorway to be greeted by a clear night sky. The Courier was about to sprint off in a random direction until he felt a sharp tinge of pain appear at the side of his neck. Grunting in surprise, he quickly brings his hand up to his neck and pulls out a syringe. It was black and had golden substance within it, most of it gone now. Crushing the vial in his palm, he looks to his right to find the perpetrator and sees an… Angel? Before him was a blonde woman in white armor, with what appeared to be metallic wings protruding from her back. She had some kind of dart gun in her hands as she was backing away slowly.

"Now, Reinhardt!" she yelled, in a foreign accent, as well.

"What?"

He turns around to see a huge fist fill his vision and knock him back, flying through the air and slamming into the rocky surface of the wall behind him, before ungracefully crumpling to the hard floor. A wave of pain echoes throughout his body, tensing his muscles before they slowly start to go numb. The sedatives were beginning to take effect. Turning his back on the floor, he sees the blonde woman standing over him with the dart gun at the ready and a giant of a man with hulking muscles and a gray mane of hair come beside her. The Courier tries to raise his arms but the man forces them down and against his chest with one arm. He resists, but his blurry vision betrays him as his eyes shut and bring him into blackness.