wow it has been a really long time since i've updated, disgraceful! Due to technical difficulties i've had to stop updating but now i'm back and pumped to write once more! i've had do with using notepad, so please bare with me as i may have to use it for the next few chapters

Ranger compound Alexander, Sarah, Gallows and Fawkes had been the last to return, everybody had been waiting in the courtyard for them. Alexander saw his old friends, comrades, family, seeing them made Alexander feel a lot of old emotions, mostly warm ones but at the back of his head he could hear his voice say 'she should be here'. He couldn't linger on his thoughts however, because his companions despite their problems were overjoyed to see eachother.

"H-holy shiiiit! A-and here I was thinking the big legend was never gonna show that mug o'his" Sydney slurred, obviously drunk as she sat at a table with an unconcious brick and several bottles of vodka.

"Brick bet her fifty caps she could drink her under the table, took two hours for her go down" Butch said chuckling, the two shook hands and moved towards the rest of the group standing by the entrance. "So man I'm just gonna go ahead and say it, didn't we take out Talon? What the fuck are they doing with Burke, who by my memory is supposed to be dead." Butch asked with concern. Alexander saw that Butch had grown up since last they spoke, he seemed less concerned with the whole 'badass' thing, more intent on getting the job done.

"Comander, this is irrelevant! Why he is alive is irrelivant, since he doesn't have the guts to do the world a favour and kill himself, we will have to do it for him!" RL-3 said in his loud mechanic voice. The others looked at him with baffled expressions, RL-3 seemed to be aware of the world around him, seemed to see people as people and not just 'commies'.

"As crude as what the sergant said may be, he is not incorrect, we can focus on how and why later, right now we must focus on stopping the madman" Fawkes said in his deep and gentle voice. Charon and Cross simply nodded in agreement.

"Yeah well it could be even worse than what I heard from the rangers, you remember Moriarty, of course you do, asshole tried to blackmail me so i paid a little visit to his shit hole, thing is, he was protected, six guys, all of them talon shit heads, could be Burke's trying to muscle into Megaton, and if that's the case could be aiming for other places too." Jericho said as leaned against the wall besides the entrance terminal.

"Your right, there's way too much we don't know, but we can't take the time to investigate, we'll have to do this like the old days" Alexander said in a serious millitary like tone. Sarah was confused, as when Alexander said this Butch, Sydney, Fawkes and even Cross and Charon began to chuckle.

"Uhh what did you guy's do in the old days?" Sarah asked, slightly concerned at what the answer might be.

"Wing it and hope for the best" All of the Wanderers said, RL-3 included. Sarah had to fight the urge to shoot them all in the face right there.

The Satesman Hotel Burke for all of the suffering he had endured, all of the humiliation, all of the sacrifice couldn't help but laugh. He stood, stood! He walked all around his room until his newly functional legs began to burn. As he enjoyed his recovery he stood by a large window in his suite and watched the ruins below him, soon they would once again be glorious, soon they would be rebuilt over that disgusting wanderer's lifless corpse. Burke had been trapped by the past, he couldn't stop replaying that event.

Megaton (Moriarty's Saloon) (Several months ago)
Burke sat in his armchair in the truly disgusting saloon as he contemplated all of the people he could use to enact his plan, to remove this pustule of a town from the map. He began feel his frustration grow as he thought of how long he had spent in this town, how long he had been kept from his comfortable, and more importantly CLEAN hotel suite at Tenpenny Tower. But just as he began to think of leaving for the night his prayers were answered, a lost looking young man entered the saloon and began talking to the ghoul bartender. He wore a vault-tec jumpsuit with a '101' on the back and looked to be like a perceptive boy, as he took in all of the details of the grimy saloon. "You, yes you, come over here" Burke beckoned as he fought the urge to allow his grin grow too wide. The boy slowly walked over and leaned against the wall on his shoulder as he waited to hear what Burke had to say. The conversation was civil and Burke was satisfied that he had finally found his recruit to rid himself of this disgusting town. Burke had waited a few hours and had just gotten up to leave when the local sheriff, a fool who fancied himself a cowboy called Simms burst through the door and tried to place Burke under arrest. Burke had kept his calm and waited for his oppertunity, when the sheriff reached for his rifle Burke managed to shoot him in the throat and had been gone before the blood began to pool around his corpse. Burke had been betrayed by that insolent little fool! How dare he! Burke had returned to the Tower and swore vengence against that vault dweller, little had he known then, the vault dweller had plans of his own.

The Statesman Hotel Burke shook his head and returned to his armchair, he could hear footsteps approaching, and not just the major's. "Ahh good, my hostages are here" Burke whispered to himself in a very gravelly voice.