In the cocktail lounge of Lucky thirty eight, seated in front of the bar was no other than Courier Six, slowly sipping Ice-Cold Nuka Cola from a glass, with a small umbrella, two ice cubes and a bit of Nevada Agave Fruit inside it. He was alone, as always, the casino being his fortress where noone outside of those he trusted could step in. The number of which could be counted on one hand nowadays. He sighed as he played with the umbrella inside the glass, a frown evident on his face.
It was quiet, peaceful, but yet, it lacked something. Lucky thirty eight never felt like home to him, more like base of operations with a lot of bad memories attached to it. It was dead, remnant of the past, standing in it's full glory of the age long forgotten. Still, he came here on his own volition after meeting with Yes-Man. He needed some time alone, especially after the recent events.
After introducing Yes-Man to Sierra Madre vending machines, getting holograms set up on Strip, upgrading all the securitrons to mark six, things started to get better as the weeks passed. The crime dropped down significantly, the roads became safe, communities were thriving, while the robots secured borders out of the Mojave, protecting it from any and all outside or inside threats. However, it all came with a price to pay, to put it simply, he was bored beyond belief. A few years back, he had nothing but a single vault jumpsuit, a nine millimetre pistol, a pair of sunglasses and a hat, back when he first recovered from getting shot in the head by Benny. Only after paying with his own blood, sweat and tears, he began to climb the ladder of the wasteland. Even before reaching the Madre, he was already pretty strong with a reinforced combat armour and a ripper being his one of the main weapons. He kept getting stronger, stuffing his body with implants, exposing himself to potentially suicidal things like the Cloud or Divide, gaining experience with every kill, every quest he finished, becoming a force of nature, a legend that kept bad children awake at night. If you don't eat your carrot, Courier Six will come for you and blast you with a shotgun to the face. He snorted at that one, letting out a dry chuckle.
However, ever since he came back from that other world, he became painfully aware how weak he was compared to the monsters back there, how weak the humans were, without advanced tech, basically on the mercy on almost any monster. Humans were weak, back in his world, back in that world, it was annoying. He wanted to become stronger by himself, to prove to monsters, Ilias and everyone else to not underestimate humanity, not be given power by some kind of magic bullshit. It was infatuating, but at the same time, without his newfound powers his chances of survival were pretty limited. Sure he could take care of some monsters, hell, he could probably beat up a dragon if he went all out. That was it though, and if some stronger monsters rushed him, he wouldn't stand a chance, especially if they attacked in group. So, he had to get better at using his angel powers, become more accustomed to them and learn all the skills he found at Heaven's library, which he spent the last few weeks doing.
But, there was one more thing to keep in mind. The technology of his world. Sure, he couldn't fight monsters, but upgraded Sierra Madre holograms should be able to deal with most of the threats coming his way. He also had a few more ideas he wanted to implement to make himself even stronger, like upgrading his armour and weapons such as Elite Riot Gear with Saturnite Alloy. Those should be fairly capable of dealing with most of the monsters that infested the other world. He also had things to take care of in the other world, such as Luka, the son of one of the first seraphim to be ever created, Lucifina. That boy could become extremely powerful with proper guidance, he was a living example of that and that was when he barely started. Still, it could wait, Luka was still young, about twelve years old, give or take if he remembered correctly. He was going to wait, till he turned sixteen at least, before he decided to help him out, although, the boy was probably scarred for life after his mother 'died' and was forced to grow up fast. In fact, he might still hold grudge towards him for not being able to save his mother back then. I am so not looking forward to dealing with this.
With another sigh, he finished his drink, stood up, put away the glass in his duster, before he made his way out of the Lucky thirty eight, back to the Strip. The holograms were patrolling the streets, no longer bound by the same limitations as their predecessors, being far more effective, faster to react and deadlier than ever before. The crimes were limited, but he refused to put them inside the casinos, since he was worried someone would be dumb enough to try to dissemble the emitters, after all, greed is in the blood, as the Sierra Madre proved time and time again, so he rigged them up with plasma grenades just in case. He could see, people looking his way, averting their gazes as soon as he turned towards them, not wanting to end up on his bad side. He clicked in annoyance, before he made his out of the city and went inside the Freeside. The district outside of the Strip was patrolled mostly by securitrons instead as he didn't want to put holograms too close to certain shady elements. There were also a few cyberdogs from Big Mountain here and there, patrolling the streets, their armoured chassis and keen senses providing a huge help tracking illegal drugs and bandits.
The few exceptions were the gates of the Freeside, guarded both by Securitrons and Holograms alike and places such as Old Mormon Fort, where Followers of The Apocalypse resided. Of course, they pestered him to make all of his technology widely available and he had to convince them to drop it, since it would be too dangerous. Their hearts were in right places, but they were too naive at times and way too altruistic. He had to explain how dangerous would the world become if someone were to reprogram the holograms and such and that the robots could still be taken out by EMP, unlike the holograms which were basically invulnerable unless one targeted the emitter. One exception was the King's School, where the king resided, he refused to let holograms in as he referred to them as 'ghosts' and settled for a few robots here and there. Still, it was thanks to his influence things didn't ended up way worse as he kept Freeside safe to the best of his ability, so the Courier respected that and abided by his request.
Speaking of which, he decided to swing by, say hello and check how Rex and King were doing, the first had his brain replaced a few years ago, so he should be in a pretty good shape, which made the King very happy, if he remembered correctly. He opened the door to the building, a single king dressed in jailhouse rocker and a securitron guarding the entrance. Inside the building one could see a lobby, a pair of doors and mostly importantly Pacer, who gave the Courier a nod acknowledging his presence and opened the door to the stage for him. He went past the man, returning the nod and walked up to a single table, where a middle-aged man and two cyberdog were sitting. The first one was Rex, King's faithful companion, the other was known as Roxie, a cyberdog from Big Mountain.
The King smiled, as he gestured to the Courier to sit down, which he did, while Rex recognized the scent and wagging his tail, walked up to the man, who began petting the loyal dog. "Good to see you, Six. Last I have heard, you were quite busy dealing with scum of the wasteland and bringing back the order to the Mojave. So, what brings you here?" The King asked at the man, who helped him out a lot a few years ago.
"Mostly to say hello and see how are you two doing," The Courier answered and gestured at the dog.
The King chuckled and smiled at him, before turning towards the dog. "Rex here has been jovial ever since you fixed him up. Also, he made himself a bit of family." He gestured at the other Cyberdog and began petting her as well.
"I am glad to hear it that, did they have any puppies?" Six asked, while Roxie approached his other side, so he had to start petting her as well.
"Yep, plenty of puppies. I couldn't hold them all here, so I gave them away to some people, like Julie Farkas, Garrets and Mick and Raul," The King, answered, while the Courier gave him a glance.
"Hmm… I am actually a bit surprised about that. Well, as long as they don't do anything stupid it's fine I guess," He responded and shrugged.
"Well, outside of it, one day, cyberdogs just like Rex and Roxie here began appearing over the Mojave, keeping many settlements safe, which prevented the raiders from doing however they pleased," The King added.
"They sure did, still, I wonder where they came from?" The Courier asked, while the King shook his head in response.
"Hell, if I know, but whoever did it, deserves a cold one at Atomic Wrangler," The King answered and the two chuckled.
The Courier of course knew where did they come from, however, he couldn't exactly talk about it. Not in details at least. Due to being almost lobotomised, he couldn't speak freely about the Big Mountain and its' secrets. He could give some vague statements about it, but that was about it. Not like people would believe him anyway, the less they knew, the better it was. When someone questioned him where did the holograms or some other tech came from, he simply smiled and shook his head or refused to answer. It was for the best honestly, if someone were to find out about Big Mountain and claim it for themselves, the results would be devastating as Elijah had already proven. He hadn't spoken of the name, it's location, what could be found inside, where did some of the things like nightstalkers and cazadors came from, etc. It was simply too dangerous.
"Well, I will be off then. There are still some things I need to take care of and I am afraid I can't spend a whole day chatting," The Courier said and stood up, the King following his movement.
The two shook their hands and bid their farewells, before the Courier made his way out, giving one last petting session to both cyberdogs, before making his way out of the building. After that, he felt his body relax a bit. Simply seeing both Rex and Roxie in a good shape was something he took great pride in. It took a lot of effort to find a good replacement brain for Rex and keeping Roxie alive during his trials at Big Mountain facility was quite an achievement.
With his mood improved, the current ruler of the Mojave Wasteland began his journey out of the Freeside, his next destination, the edge of the Divide. There was a person he wanted to meet, someone he had more in common in than anybody else in the entire wasteland. As he crossed the gate of the Freeside, the scorching sun of the Mojave Wasteland greeted him. It was hot, unbearably so for an ordinary person, but for him it was pretty mild all things considered. He got used to it over the years and nowadays he only needed three bottles of water a day to not get dehydrated. Also, he preferred being too hot than too cold during the night.
He took a look around, the ruins of the Old World still surrounding him. Buildings long abandoned, many of them falling victim to the unfavourable weather. Still, every now and then he could see some adobe buildings in their place, like the Shady Sands used to look many years ago, back when it was still a tiny settlement. Shaking his head, the Courier began walking through the Mojave on his own pace, just like he did five years ago, while being a one hundred percent human. Now, the angel powers made him faster and stronger, but he didn't care about it right now. He just wanted to reminiscent on the old times, when the things were simple, raiders needed to be killed and things like angels, monsters and magic were nothing more than a myth.
Of course, he still had to put limiters on his body to stop himself from going overboard. Even after few weeks of practice, he tended to go too far and often crushed utensils in his hands or straight out pulverized cups he intended to grab. So instead of trying to get used to using them on regular basis, he instead restricted his power to that one of a human, whenever he needed to do something. It was a bit annoying, but it was like trying to relearn how to read or drive a bike. So, he took it slowly, experimenting on things he could see getting destroyed, like bandits, deathclaws or just straight out junk. That way, even when he destroyed something, it wasn't that much of an issue.
Putting those thoughts aside, he began walking towards his destination, only a couple of minutes later, when he was far away any human settlement, he removed limiters on his body and began exercising control over his current body. Simply walking without making huge dents with each step required his attention and concentration. It would be worth it though. Once he had full control over his powers, he would be able to adjust to battle much more easily than switching limiters on and off each time he needed to do something. That could wait though.
A few hours later, give or take, he made his way to Sloan, where he could see machines and workers doing their best at Quarry Junction. Some waved at him, which he returned. Who would have thought that clearing entire area out of deathclaws, which could slice a man in half with a single swipe would earn him both fame and respect? Smiling under his mask, he continued his trek, slowly making his way to the edge of the Primm.
As he traveled the I-15 road, he noticed NCRF, where Powder Gangers used to operate, before he helped wipe them out. While the NCR was not perfect, letting Powder Gangers roam freely was worse, as they were nothing more but a bunch of raiders with dynamite. I swear to god, if I hear another 'Never gets old when something blows up' from a Powder Ganger, I am going to shoot somebody in the face. Shaking his head, the Courier continued on, passing by Goodsprings, but not stopping by. From what he heard the town was doing fine, it didn't need his help, not anymore at least. Saying hello to Chet, Sunny, good Doc Mitchel would only delay him further and honestly, he didn't feel like talking to them, not today.
It didn't take long until he arrived at the entrance to Primm, which looked like it managed to bring Old Bison Steve hotel into operational state. It was a proof that the town was doing fine, so he decided to skip by. There wasn't anyone there he felt attached to anyway, not anymore. He bit his lip as he remembered a certain eyebot he let down, back at the divide. Shaking his head to clear out his thoughts, he made his way to entrance of the Canyon and pushed open the door of the bus that separated it from the rest of the Mojave.
The Divide was a violent land torn apart by quakes and skin-flaying wind storms, a home to tunnelers and marked men, which even today seemed as prevalent as five years ago. It used to be a thriving community, before nuclear warheads exploded underneath the ground, transforming it into what it was today, all the result of his actions, which he did not know about for a long time. The winds strong enough to peel of flesh of living beings, as the Marked Men proved. The Courier scowled as he remembered what Ulysses told him, before making his way towards the cliff near the entrance. There he could see the man in question, sitting on a ledge, just as vigilant as he remembered. The man acknowledged his presence with a nod, before turning his attention towards the Divide. The Courier in the meantime sat next to him and the two gazed upon the Divide, neither saying anything.
"So…, Ulysses, I see you are still alive and kicking," The Courier began, glancing towards him.
"So it seems, just like the Old World. Full circle, walked your road – now back again," The man answered. It was a bit of a tick of his, he tended to talk like this, not in whole sentences, but in single words, enough to get the point across or riddles, tons of riddles.
"I have questions for you, questions that I have got no answers to," The Courier replied, before he sighed and leaned back a bit. "Do you believe in gods, Ulysses?"
"I do not, not anymore, if the gods existed, would they really let the world come to an end like this?" He answered, giving a glance to the Courier.
"Well, maybe, but this only our world. Honestly, a part of me still doesn't believe it is real, but I met Goddess, a real one, who was also a massive bitch," The Courier said, gaining the attention of the other courier.
"A goddess made out of metal, just like Big Empty?" The Ulysses asked, while the Courier shook his head.
"No, different one, yet almost as mad. If you saw her, you wouldn't be able to tell how wicked she was just by seeing her, wielding a power that makes nukes seem like tiny tots," He answered, his companion raising an eyebrow at that.
"A power that dwarfs the Old World, yet with the same kind of madness, dangerous, unpredictable… Will she come her?" He asked, while the Courier shook his head in response.
"No, I don't think so, she can't come here, but I can come to her. Anyway, that's not important. What I would like to know is this: If you saw a world, different from ours, untouched by the war, full of life, but at the same time very dangerous? What would you do?" The Courier asked.
"Give them a chance, make sure they do not repeat the history," The man answered, while the Courier chuckled.
"Great minds think alike it seems. Thanks, Ulysses, I appreciate it," The Courier responded and the two sat in silence for the next few minutes.
"If you intend to go back, you should take this," Ulysses said, gesturing to boxes of ammo and supplies he scavenged over the years, sitting on his right, a bit away from the edge.
"Thanks, I appreciate it, you should come to New Vegas, you know. I will show you around and let you inside the Lucky thirty eight," The Courier said, before standing up and stretching, while the Ulysses shrugged.
"I will think about it, take care, Six," He said, before the Courier walked up to the supplies, filled his pockets with them, before the two bid farewell, the Courier used teleporter and disappeared from the Divide.
Somewhere in the desert desert in California, dozens of miles away from any and all humans stood Courier Six, his angel powers fully activated, as he began doing some basic exercises to whip himself back into shape. After talking with Ulysses, he felt much better, but more importantly, he wanted to give that world a chance. He wouldn't become it's saviour or sacrifice the future of Mojave for it. However, letting Ilias do however she pleased would only lead to it's destruction. He was pretty certain of that, especially with her hatred towards the monsters and how she acted towards him, the rest of her angels or humans. At the same time, rushing forward to stop her was simply not possible. At least not now. He needed to get used to his angel powers, make holograms even better, improve his weapons and armours and many other things he couldn't remember at that moment. The best he could do is play for time and hope that Ilias would not attack during that time. Well, if there was any consolation was the fact that he could visit the other world any time he wanted, thus making sure things were still not completely screwed over by a crazy goddess.
So, without wasting anymore time, he began his new training regime, using the knowledge he acquired at Heaven to further bolster his abilities. Every day he would spend eight hours using the magic, practising swordsmanship, learning the limits of his body and developing his angel powers. Another eight hours were spent dealing with Mojave, paperwork, bandits that didn't get the message, rouge NCR soldiers and so on. The last eight hours of a day were spent with Think-Tank, keeping an eye on them, helping them out with experiments and improving the current designs.
What followed that was industrial and technological revolution of the Mojave. The Sierra Madre Vending Machines allowed to manufacture huge number of appliances, medical supplies, ammo, weapons, etc. The Holograms were improved with each year, increasing their range, their damage, allowing them to see in every direction and keeping their emitters safe and away from prying eyes. The securitrons became a constant remainder on the roads and streets, keeping them safe and allowing the trade companies to prosper, with few exceptions like Crimson Caravan and Van Graffs, who Courier killed after discovering their scheme.
It also allowed the Wasteland to manufacture their own vehicles, powered by Microfusion Cells, Small Energy Cells or even Fission Batteries, including cars, trucks and even tanks or APCs. The latter two were limited to few in numbers, with two of them being personal property of the Courier. They also managed to salvage some of the data from REPCONN Headquarters, which saved quite a bit of time on researching rockets from scratch. It wasn't that important anyway, not with the Hoover Dam secured, which also needed fixing to one hundred percent efficiency, same with Helios One and rebuilding many forgotten buildings like New Vegas Steel, etc.
However, as far as the Courier was concerned, his two favourite things were an APC and a prototype V-plane known as Helion, it was based on pre-war schematics the Think-Tank somehow got their hands on, he had no idea how. Right now, he was currently standing in front of the of plane, in one of the Big Mountain facilities, the rest of the Think-Tank standing right behind him. The plane had to have some of it's part redesigned from scratch, since it was meant to use JP-5 fuel to let it fly through the air, which was in really low supply nowadays. The first thing that needed to be done was replace combustion engine with small nuclear reactor, saving space on the fuel tanks as well. The main thruster was replaced with jet powered engine, similar to that of Mister Handy, but bigger and much more powerful. It allowed the plane to easily break the barrier of the sound and thanks to all secondary thrusters it could stay in the air, akin to Helicopter. That was only the beginning of the improvements the have made to the aircraft. First of all, it's main structure was created from saturnite alloy, which was made it far more durable than any other aircraft ever created by man. The metal was hard to manufacture, so they couldn't afford to make everything out of it, not to mention it could get into wrong hands. The weapons systems were also upgraded, such as: the dual sixty millimetre cannons, which were replaced with gauss miniguns, which could tear through almost everything. The bombs were replaced with their plasma equivalents and the rockets were able to track a moving targets in the air. To top it off, it was also capable of generating a forcefield just like those in Big Mountain, which could easily shrug off mini nukes fired from Esther. He wasn't sure what to do with it, just yet, but he really wanted to test this baby out as soon as he could.
The second vehicle was known as 'KRUGANIEC-15' and it was an APC, aka Armoured Personnel Carrier. It resembled a tank in some ways, with it's armoured chassis, threads, cuboid structure and a turret. However, that's where most of the resemblances ended. The turret was much smaller compared to most tanks. It was outfitted with dual Gatling lasers, a rail cannon and two sets of missile launchers on the each side of the turret, which was remotely controlled from inside the vehicle. The vehicle also had a pair of water turbines in the back, allowing it to swim on lakes, oceans and such. To top it off, almost all of it was created with saturnite alloy, unlike the Helion, which made it almost impossible to damage. It also could generate forcefield as a first measure of defence, but most of the time it wasn't necessary. This one was Courier Six's favourite, since it had enough room to house three crew members and additional six fully geared soldiers, like NCR's Rangers or those that used Salvaged Power Armour. Not even monsters and angels from that other world would be able to crack his APC, not unless they used some serious firepower.
"You know what, at times like these, I am really glad that you are on my side," Courier said with a massive grin on his face.
"Glad to hear it, Six. So, what do you think about our two pet projects?" Doctor Zero asked, a core member who helped design both of the vehicles.
"Very impressive, if you ask me. Now, what about the rest of the improvements I have asked for?" The man asked, as he turned his attention towards the rest of the Think Tank.
"We, the great scientists of Big Mountain have succeeded in our endeavour with SCIENCE. The powerful space age alloy Saturnite was successfully integrated with Power Armour and Riot Gear and with limited quantities with your duster, not to mention the weapons as you have asked for," Doctor Borous boomed as he explained their situation.
"Great, well done everyone, I am proud of you. Now then, if you excuse me, I am going to take these babies for a ride, but first," The Courier said, before he walked up to the tank and stored it inside his dimensional pocket and the aircraft as well. "Okay, that should do it, I am going back into the Mojave, you have plenty of things to work it, so unless something urgent comes up, I will be back in sixteen hours give or take. Have fun!" The Courier bid his farewells, before he used his transportalponder and teleported himself back to the uninhabited part of the wasteland.
There, he materialized the APC again, opened the back door, went inside and sat inside the driver's seat, making himself comfortable. The interior was pretty bare, all things considered. There were six seats dedicated to human troopers in full gear, a driver's seat with a set of motor sticks for precise manoeuvrers, a commander's seat located next to the driver with it's own hatch leading outside the vehicle and of course the gunner seat, which had a full fledged console allowing the crew to fire without exposing themselves. So, without wasting anymore time, the Courier started up the engine, which began humming at low volume. It was the result of replacing the engine with it's nuclear powered counterpart, which didn't work nearly as loudly as it's predecessor. The man flicked a few buttons, getting himself set up, before he began driving on the sand of the Wasteland.
The vehicle moved like charm, plowing through the sand easily. It was very nimble and without need for water or air based cooling it could also protect the crew from harmful gases like poisons, toxins and such. He accelerated as much as the engine allowed, which let him traverse at speeds of up to sixty kilometres per hour on a sand, which would be even more on a dirt road or something similar. Of course, he didn't have proper driving license and never bothered to have one since he didn't need most of the time. It's not like many people could afford a car, except some higher ups from NCR, like that idiot, Oliver. It was only after an hour or so, before he finally felt satisfied and dematerialized the APC. He enjoyed it quite a bit, it definitely beat walking hundreds of miles on your own two feet. At the same time, it made Wasteland and the rest of the world feel small. Many of the things he came across were the result of going on foot, places like Zion, Camp Guardian, many caves or Deathclaw Promotory, which he wouldn't have come across if he used APC all the time.
As he dropped that line of thought, he decided to get back to important stuff. Still, as much as he felt anxious or bored at times, the Mojave kept him busy with the number of issues still prevalent. There were also spies, betrayals, rogue NCR troopers, you name it, now more than ever. Still, his powers grew with each passing day and it didn't take long until he managed to master the power of a Lowly Angel, gaining new skills and abilities along the way. He also managed to learn a Darkness based skill, few monsters could use, by studying the content of Heaven's Library. However, when he tried to use it, he was hurt by the backlash, since the skill sacrificed his own life energy to use, more than he expected. It also had an effect on his angel power, which seemed to absorb just a tiniest amount of the dark energy he used. It didn't seem to have negative impact outside of that. In fact, he would describe it as pleasant in some ways, like some kind of a good pain. Not to mention, his body healed fast without angel genes before, now it was simply ridiculous. In fact, after he lost about a quarter of his health, it only took about twenty seconds to be back at full health, while still being a human. Now it took only five seconds of passive regeneration to recover.
After that, he went back to his races tab and noticed another curious thing was that he now had three more additional races available to him like Cupid, Valkyrie and High Angel. The question was which one was the best in the long term and if you he could use more than a single race. Still, from what he read High Angel could become seraphs in theory, but it hasn't happened before for some reason. So, that's why he selected the High Angel and found himself in massive agony as he felt his body burn from the inside out. He dropped to his knees, his Holy Erosion raising by four hundred points, getting him to Advanced Holy Erosion. However, his appearance also changed, his wings grew bigger, his halo got bigger as well, but his right eye began shining, it had this aura of holy energy changing it's appearance, making it look like it was on fire. He gasped, his breathing hectic, before he managed to calm down and stand back up. A quick look in the pipboy told him everything he needed to know. It looked like trying to 'evolve' or get higher in ranks would not come cheap. He had to restrain himself otherwise, he could end up dead. So, with that out the way, he turned off his angel powers for now. However, it didn't fix everything. His eye still looked like it was on fire, which would bring a lot of attention. So, in order to avoid that, he began practising every other skill available to him, most importantly magic, which he found fascinating. And as the time went, he became even more powerful. He spent every waking moment he could afford on practice and keeping everything in order. That's how days turned into weeks, weeks into months and moths into years. Five years passed like a blink of an eye and the Courier found himself standing in front of the portal he checked every half a year.
The portal itself looked like a giant metal ring, with copper wiring running on the outer circle. The facility itself was located in one of the corners of the Big Mountain. It was time to get Luka and put him through training from hell, also save the world and kick Ilias ass, while he was at it. Currently, he was dressed in full suit of Elite Riot Gear with a matching helmet. A Blood-nap attached to his left shin, a Light Shining in the Darkness to his hip on the right side and All American slung over his back along with Old Glory, a flagpole given to him by Ulysses and the necklace he received from Micaela. The armour itself was the best in it's class with huge durability and resistance, further boosted by implementing saturnite alloy in it's construction. He nodded towards the portal and the Think Tank standing right behind him turned on the power. A small spark appeared, then it started to grow larger before it turned into the same kind of vortex that sent him to the other world in the first place. However, there were still two more things to do, which he was looking forward too.
"Before, I go, there is something I wanted to share with you, my fellow scientists, especially you Klein and Borus," He said and pressed a few buttons on his pipboy. Then out of the speakers across the Big Mountain his voice boomed sending a clear pre-recorded message to everyone able to hear it. "Klein is a pathetic copycat, whose sole invention was copied from Chinese! Also Borus, a full video of nightstalkers and cazadors reproducing will play on from now on on the big screen in the Dome for the next whole week. Have fun, you lunatics!"
A voice of pure outrage reached his ears, but with a massive grin on his face, he jumped into the vortex, not wanting to hear Klein or Borus' voice for the next few weeks if he could help it. Not to forget about Mobius, who had his monitor fixed, and was supplied with books, a lot of fixer to help kick his addictions and other miscellaneous stuff. Unfortunately he didn't manage to take him to the Strip, since the old scientist wanted to keep his eye on the Think Tank as long as possible.
The vortex opened itself just a few hundred meters away from Iliasvile, before the Courier managed to get through and it closed behind him. Having the vortex open wherever he wanted was something he managed to do thanks to his modifications on the transportalponder. As he stepped on the green lush grass, he breathed in the air of the world not touched by the nukes, the sun shining brightly. Even if it was infested by crazy monsters, who would love to kill you, eat you and rape you, it was still beautiful. Maybe in a different order. So, without further ado, he began his trek towards the village, his right hand resting on the pistol.
It didn't take long, before he finally found himself at the entrance. The village itself looked pretty much the same as it did, five years ago, when he last saw it. There were a couple more houses here and there, but overall the things stayed relatively the same. Not wasting anymore time, he made his way towards Luka's house and knocked on the door. He waited, and waited and waited for the next fifteen seconds, but nothing happened. Just as he was about to knock again, an elderly woman spoke from behind him.
"Oh, by any chance, are you looking for the owner of this house?" She asked, while the Courier turned towards her. She was dressed in plain clothes and had motherly feel about her, but one could see that she was suspicious towards him, judging by the way she asked the question.
"That's correct, I am looking for the owner of this house, going by the name of Luka, have you seen him?" He replied, his attention focused on the woman in front of him.
"Well, you have just missed him, not so long ago he went on a journey to become a hero…," She sighed and shook her head. "He didn't even receive a baptism, I am worried about him. You look dangerous, but could you please look for him?"
"I can, there is a reason, I want to meet this young man in the first place. Very well, can you tell me, which way was he headed?" He inquired, while the woman sighed in relief.
"He went north towards Iliasburg, if you hurry, you might still catch him," She answered.
"Very well, now if you excuse me, I will take my leave," The Courier said and left the woman behind, her expression worried. For the love of god, please don't tell me, he got himself killed! How could I forget about baptism? If he dies, Lucifina is going to kill me or at least hate me guts till the end of time. He was trying real hard not to panic, as he began running as fast as his human body used to be able to, quickly leaving the village behind. He began running down the road, looking around in the search of any sign of the boy. It wasn't long before he noticed the boy, blood leaving his face as he could see him being raped by a monster that resembled a slug. Reacting on instinct, he drew A Light Shining in the Darkness, aimed down the sights and pulled the trigger. The effect was instantaneous as the monster's head exploded in a shower of blood and gore, her body twitching a few times, before going limp.
"Uuu…," The boy moaned, his life energy drained by a monster, before he fell unconscious leaving Courier to deal with the aftermath.
"… I hate my life, what are the bloody odds?!" He growled, before he looted the slug for some thin red paste and then kicked her body hard enough to send it flying into the trees. He checked the pulse, and breathed out, once he noticed Luka was going to live for now. Still, his clothes were gone, and there was no way, he could simply wait for him to recover. He didn't even know how to deal with this kind of thing, the Heaven didn't contain any details on how to recover after being raped by a monster. That left bringing him back to Iliasvillage or taking him to Enrika. Both options sucked, but in Enrika he would be safe, unlike him. Great… Now, how am I going to explain it to Lucifina and Micaela? Eh… I don't really have a choice, do I? Let's just get this over it, but first let's burn the body. No need to leave it here, last thing I want is for some angel to get it and grab it for 'experiments'. With that in mind, he walked up to the body and threw a molotov cocktail at it. It lit up almost instantly and with a dose of Cleansing Flame it was burned to an ash in a matter of minutes. With a groan, he walked up to the boy, holstered him over his shoulder, before he pulled the transportalponder, set the coordinates and pulled the trigger. Blue light engulfed the two, before the two vanished.
Cries of surprise welcomed him as he found himself surrounded by the elves and other residents of the village. Then the out of the door walked up both Lucifina and Micaela their expressions alarmed, before they settled on Luka. He could see Lucifina's horrified face, before it turned furious, directed back at him. However, before it could escalate any further, Micaela blocked her path and the two shared a stare, before the former stepped back. It was then when the latter, turned towards him, her eyes narrowed.
"Long time no see, Micaela, Lucifina," Courier said, before he gently put Luka on the grass, making sure not to harm him further.
"That voice… Six?" Micaela asked as she walked closer, her attention switching between two males, Lucifina right behind her.
"One and only," He replied and took of his helmet, a weak smile evident on his face. It was then, when the tension seemed to break, the elves dropping their weapons, while Lucifina rushed towards her son and quickly checked his vitals, before hugging him tightly.
"Luka…," She muttered, tears dropping down her beautiful face.
"What happened, why is he like that?" Micaela asked, while the Courier smiled sadly.
"What do you think? A monster attacked him and raped him," He answered, which made the angel clench her fists in response, till they turned white, before she sighed and calmed down.
Lucifina on the other hand was glaring daggers at him, not happy with the response. "Why didn't you help him?" She demanded, her eyes colder than ever.
"Because I was too late, once I found him, he was already being raped. I am sorry, it was never my intention to see your son hurt. If it is any consolation, the monster that killed him is already dead," He apologized.
"Pity, I was hoping to kill her myself," She said, before she lifted her son of the ground and carried him back to the house, the two seraphim came from.
"… I have got many questions for you, Six, but for now, thank you for saving him," Micaela said and holstered her weapon.
"I am sorry, but there was nothing I could do," He said, while the angel shook her head in response.
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault, Lucifina overreacted, but I can understand why. In any event, please follow me, we have much to talk," Micaela said, while the Courier followed the woman inside the house. Once they were inside, she lead him to the same saloon where it all started and gestured him to sit down, which both of them did.
"So, how are you doing, Micaela? Last time I saw you, was before a bunch of angels ambushed me and dragged me to hell to be Ilias' personal sex toy," The Courier started, while Micaela bit her lip in response. "You knew, that I was captured, didn't you?"
"...Yes, that's correct. A report came not long after that," She answered and sighed, "For what it's worth, I would like to apologize. I have never expected Ilias to try to capture you like this, it was due to my mistake that you ended up as a prisoner. I don't expect you to forgive me, but if I can, I will make it up to you," The angel declared, while the Courier chuckled and smiled at her.
"Glad to hear it, honestly, I am even angry, not at you at least, more at myself. I underestimated my opponents and paid the price for it. Not to mention, I can understand why you didn't try to save me, since all you would have accomplished is getting yourself captured or killed. Because of that, you are forgiven, having said that, I have got a way that you can make up for it, but first, I want your sister Lucifina to come here," The Courier said, while the angel looked surprised, before smiled at him, which he found beautiful.
"That's reassuring, but don't you think you are too quick to forgive me like this?" She inquired, while the Courier shook his head in response.
"Well, you may think that, but despite being captured, I have learned quite a bit and gained some new abilities. Also, you didn't strap a bomb collar to my neck any forced to work for you, it was my own decision, so there is that," He answered and shrugged, while Micaela's eyes went wide open hearing this.
"Somebody strapped a bomb to you? Who was it and why did he or she do it?" She asked, not expecting this kind of response.
"Yes, Elijah, wanted to get to Sierra Madre, aka greed. It's a long story, and the bomb is not even the worst part of it. I might tell you later, if you are interested, but for now, let's focus on our current situation," He replied, while the angel nodded in response. A moment later, Lucifina came down stairs, calmer than she was five minutes ago. She made her way to the saloon and sat next to her sister. "So, how is Luka?"
"He is fine, he will need a few days to recover, but his life is not in anger. I would like to apologize for lashing out on you like this, I am grateful for saving my son," Lucifina said and bowed, while the Courier waved his hand.
"Don't worry about it, if I were you, I would have acted similar," He answered, while the Seraphim smiled hearing that. "With that out of the way, we have got a lot to talk about."
"I agree, you should start by saying what happened over the past ten years, especially during your time in Heaven," Micaela said.
"Well, basically I was captured, spent five years in captivity being a sex toy, which I want to pay Ilias back for. I learned quite a bit, about monsters, angels, six ancestors and you, including some details that I wanted to ask you about. Ilias told me how ruthless and efficient you were during Great Monster War, I want to ask you how true is that?" Courier asked, while the two sisters glanced between each other.
"I am afraid most of it was true. I used to be a commander of all Heaven's forces. During my time, I have to ambush countless monsters and win many battles, despite being outnumbered by the sheer number of the monsters," Micaela answered and gestured to her sister.
"We have both quenched many lives, more than we should have. Daystar, that's what my enemies called me, which very mention sent many monsters running away," Lucifina admitted, not comfortable with admitting her own bloody past.
"Hmm… well, I want to say I am surprised, but truth to be told, I expected that. The Great Monster war seemed like a blood bath. To be perfectly honest, I have killed my share of sapient beings as well, so I am not judging you for that," Courier said, while the two looked at him, surprise evident on their faces.
"You have killed your own kind?" Lucifina asked, while the Courier nodded in response.
"Plenty of, more than six hundred at this point," He admitted, the angels' eyes spread wide open.
"May I ask why? We have both rebelled against Heaven and Ilias, but we didn't kill our kind, so, why?" Micaela asked, definitely not expecting such huge number.
"In my defence, more than eighty percent was done in self defence. I didn't want to die, so I had to kill them, they didn't give me a chance. The rest were bunch of evil dicks, that killed their competition, slavers, rapist, drugged out psychopaths with bounties on their hand, you name it. Your world is dangerous and full of monsters, my world is broken and deadly," He explained, the two studying him intently.
"What kind of world do you live in, that would require you to kill so many of your own kind?" Lucifina asked, her attention fully focused on the man sitting next to her.
"A world that was burnt by massive explosions, which took the lives of around seven billion people. An exchange that lasted a total of two hours," He answered with sad smile, while both of the seraphim gasped at the huge number.
"Then how did you survive, when so many perished?" Lucifina inquired.
"Simple, I didn't. The war I mentioned happened over two hundred years ago, long before I was born. Right now we are slowly recovering, there are bandits, raiders, mutated monsters, unlike your that can cleave an adult man in half with a single swipe. Things are better now, than they used to be" He answered, while the two seraphim glanced towards each other.
"That would explain a lot, I suppose we are all monsters when compared to ordinary people," Lucifina said, while Micaela smiled.
"Isn't that right? Still, you mentioned something that you wanted to share with both of us?" Micaela, asked, while the Courier nodded, stood up and walked up to Lucifina.
"The easiest way is to show it. May I take your hand, Lucifina?" He asked, while the seraphim nodded, stood up and obliged by the request. Once he held the woman's hand, in both of his hands, he breathed in then out and let the holy energy course through right to the angel. She gasped, while Micaela looked alarmed for a second, before she recognized what was going on, her mouth going slightly agape. He poured as much holy energy as he could till he ran out and looked back at Lucifina. She looked like she got younger, more full of life.
"I didn't know you could channel holy energy," Micaela said, as she watched her sister sit down.
"I have learned a thing or two, during my stay in Heaven. I have also spent five years practising every single day," He answered and shrugged. "My point is that I can slowly restore your holy energy. That way I can slowly bring you back to your former glory. However, I do not wish to stay in Enrika to do so, not when Ilias had ten years to do whatever she wanted. And here comes the way you can make up for your mistake, Micaela."
"And what do you propose we do instead?" Micaela asked.
"Simple, I want you to travel with me and help me get current Monster Lord and the rest of the monster kind on our side. I may be able to use a bit of magic, but a single bloody Valkyrie easily overpowered me and I have got no intention being stuck in Heaven again," He responded, while Micaela bit her lip in response.
"What about Enrika and my son?" Lucifina asked, while Micaela sighed.
"The way I see it, if I were to transfer my energy you, you should be capable of defending Enrika by yourself. To top it off, Luka is too weak to go on an adventure, at least right now. That way, I will be able to slowly restore my energy, while you can stay here and teach Luka art of combat," Micaela deduced, while the Courier nodded with a smile.
"That's exactly what I intended to propose in the first place, so what do you think?" He asked, while the two glanced towards each other and lost themselves in thoughts for a minute or so.
"I don't think we have much choice. Wasting anymore time in Enrika will only allow Ilias to get stronger," Miceala said and stood up. "I think that's the best we can do."
"And is nobody going to ask my opinion?" Lucifina asked, as she stood up as well.
"I never intended to do that. Are you alright with this development, Lucifina?" Courier asked, his attention on the seraphim.
The woman sighed and shook her head. "I want to say yes, but that would be lying. Still, I don't see any other option. Somebody needs to stay back to keep Enrika safe in case Ilias attacks. All I ask, is that you keep my sister safe," She answered.
"That I will do, I have kept your identity a secret all this time, you can trust me to keep Micaela safe," Courier said, while the seraphim sighed and smiled.
"Very well, I will take your word for it. Take care, sister," Lucifina said and the two shared a tight hug, before letting. Then Micaela grabbed her sister's hand and transferred most of her energy to her sister. However, she staggered after that, barely able to stand thus needing to rely on both of them to stay straight. "Are you alright"
"Yes…, just tired, I gave you too much energy. We shouldn't waste anymore time," She said and took a step, only for the Courier to stop her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't push yourself, I still have got some energy to spare," Courier said and trasfered more of the holy energy towards the seraphim. He winced inside as his Holy Erosion raised one hundred points, before he stopped. Still, Miceala looked a bit better, so it was worth it as far as he was concerned. "Now then, shall we head out?"
"Just a few minutes, I need to prepare myself," She said and headed upstairs, leaving both Lucifina and Courier alone in the room.
"Keep her safe, will you," Lucifina muttered and glanced towards him.
"I will, no matter what," He said, radiating confidence, which helped Lucifina relax a bit.
"I will keep you to it," She muttered, her fists clenching in worry.
IT IS FINALLY HERE!
BUT FIRST. NO UPDATES TILL FEBRUARY. Why? Because College sucks.
Anyway, we are finally moving the plot along. Luka won't play a central role in this story for a few reasons.
First of all, if you want to read about Luka and Alice you can read a trilogy.
Two, my goal is to explore different parts of MGQ verse and different characters.
Three, I completely forgot about Luka and Alice interactions and I don't want to replay the game again.
Also:
I had troubles writing this chapter, since my initial plan was dumb (Luka gets trained by the Courier and obliterates everything). Instead we have got Courier who will keep his angel powers under wraps for as long as he can.
To top it off, you might have guessed it, but it's not the same world as trilogy. Certain events will change, for example there were no necklaces hiding from Ilias sight in trilogy. So, look forward to it.
Ediros signing out.