Update: I've decided to use my profile summary as a board to give updates about my stories. That means if you want to know about my fan fic and their status just hope on to my profile summary and you'll know what's being worked on.
There's also the matter of this storying coming to an end. Which will be in 2 to 3 chapter. Which means I will be promoting another story I'm writing and I can start another mini-series but that's the question. What will I work on next? I have three things in mind.
1. Mass effect X fallout- where a Citadel exploration ship crashes on the fallout world and they have to meet the inhabitants. This will be using the same courier of this fan fiction but the whole gate thing never happened.
effect X Stellaris- This is where I cross over my in-game empire into the mass effect universe and have them cause trouble.
Mass Effect X warframe- This will have a Joint Citial exploration fleet get stranded in the origin system and have them attempt to survive the chaotic system.
Please PM which one you're interested in being written or don't. If no one responds, I'll just go with my gut. Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the chapter. All feedback is welcomed.
Chapter 14- When God closes a door, he opens a window.
The sergeant held an injured Courier in his arms, a bloody stump of wood protruding from Six's torso. He moved around in an embassy thrown into chaos, as both brotherhood and Vegas personal moved around attempting to tend to the problem nearest to them. The only ones with a clear objective were Six's Desert Jackals as protocol dictates that they must organize themselves and receive orders from the senior officer. The Sergeant was that officer and he gave orders to assess the damage and then figure out who to blame.
The Jackal leader saw the infirmary pact with people with various injuries being forced to wait for each patient. Lucky for them is that medical treatment is a requirement to live in the wasteland and those who are fit to work tended to those needing it. When they saw the Sergeant carrying the mythical courier in his arms bleeding a river, they knew to part or suffer trampling under staturnite boots. A few did get in the way and an armored elbow or armored toe shoved them out of the way. The inside or the infirmary was even more crowded as the bleeding and burnt were being treated by both Vegas's doctors and Followers of the Apocalypse. The Sergeant stood a head taller than most men and that allowed him to find a brotherhood scribe bandaged at the torso getting off a medial bed. He rushed towards it, knocking those who got in his way out of it.
He dropped the courier on the bed and stared murder into the Follower surprised eyes. "Treat him, or lose those hands." The Sergeant growled.
The woman stood their stun, eyes wide in fear. The Sergeant snapped at her. "NOW!"
She got to work and moved to treat the wound that held the wood stump in the courier stomach. He couldn't stay and he hated that. The couriers augmented body was notoriously difficult to treat, as most medical instruments couldn't affect him and removing any shrapnel had to be done by an auto-doc as it sensors are the only thing that kind find them after his body regenerated. He just hoped a chair leg was an exception to that rule.
He thundered out and moved to the through the embassy towards the rather sizable entrance all. He found seven more Jackals there, armed with their weapons. 50 cal rifles, plasma repeaters, Gatling lasers, and Tesla cannons were visible on their persons. They all forgone pleasantries and moved to the matter of facts. One jackal with the number seven adorn on his chest plate spoke first. "The explosion was detonated a few blocks away and caused major damage to the Japanese city and injured 55% of our personnel. Expect hostile actions from the Japanese."
The Sergeant didn't question the why, only thought about what to do. If that was true, then the locals must think it was them who detonated the explosive. They wouldn't assume that unless they got some solid evidence, which means they were set up. It didn't matter, whatever it was must mean that they are going to get blamed for it and they have no good solid evidence counter it.
The Sergeant started to issue orders.
The Sergeant decided he was the best man for clean up. "Jackals 1, get the brotherhood and have them destroy all samples of tech we can't take with us." He jerked off his head and the man moved to issue his orders. He wasn't given specifics, that would take too long, instead, he was expected to solve the problem by any means necessary. It wouldn't be hard anyway, the brother was keen in keeping the tech away in the first place.
He knew the man would get the job done, his expertise as an ex-prospector who was known for finding the treasures of the old world gave him an edge. Hell, the man's obsessions made him nearly unstoppable at reaching his objective. One time he even cleared out a cave filled with a family of deathclaws to get a holotapes holding a list that held old world supply cashes.
He turned to Jackal 2. He wore a suit of power armor with extra thick plated of Saturnite and with Tesla coils doubled, creating a statue wreathed in lightning. If you wanted anyone by your side deep in tunneler territory, it is this guy. "You and activate the sonic diggers." The walking tank nodded and with speed that betrayed his size. In a few heartbeats, he was gone.
Jackal with multiple optic lenses stepped forward. "I can organize the eighty-three non-combatants ready to move in five minutes and have the fifty-three combat-ready personnel under your command in eight minutes." The sergeant turned to Jackal 3 and wasn't surprised at her forwardness. She is the one who would gather any important tactical data and is known for her curious personality. It sometimes gets scary around her as she is quite vindictive. The Sergeant nodded his approval and the jackal went stomping off.
Another Jackal in white power armor with a red cross step forward. Also known as Jackal 4. "I'll go join him, he'll need my medical expertise to get it done." The fourth jackal was off without confirmation. He already had the green when he was radioed about Six's condition. The sergeant knew that the courier's personal doctor would no just stabilized him but likely to speed up the recovery. Hell, he once took a man ripped in half from the waist down and got him to walk again, it wasn't pretty but he did it.
The other Jackal readied their weapons and had explosives primed. The Sergeant spoke. "We have to make sure that we at least try negotiation." The Sergeant receives multiple clicks of acknowledgment from his radio and he turned to the wooden double doors that led to the outside. He was sure there was a sizeable garrison already form to get an answer. The five power four power armored Jackals stomped off ready to salvage the situation but expecting a fight.
When the pushed the heavy wooden doors open, they found what they expected, a massive blockade of APC's and armed troopers. A floodlight illuminated the area. The five Jackals were out in the open with dozens if not hundreds of barrels aimed at them and itching to be fired. The four elite warriors were nervous but cool under the pressure. The Sergeant stepped forward, his plasma rifle holstered and armed raised. He calculated that forty percent of the weapons held by the Japanese would be more than enough to pound his armor until the meat juice. He hated the fact his armor would let him survive a bullet but not being pounded into meat paste.
He turned up the volume of his armor speakers and tired his best to talk down the angry people who had a fission generator detonate in their city. "Ummm, hi!" He said with his best poker face.
Things were quiet and he assumes they wanted him to speak. "I have no idea what that explosion was all about but it clearly wasn't us!"
They didn't seem to budge. The Sergeant probably thought it was the chain of command telling them to not engage until the representative was present. That would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't like the look of the Japanese soldiers. The bunch of them looked raddled or angry, both of which are not good for intense negotiations. It was made worse of the sight of some men in uniform covered in black ash and bandaged limbs. He knew these men were the ones nearest to the explosion and were most likely shell-shocked. One wrong move and a scared private would fire off their gun by accident and the whole thing will go to hell.
"I understand that most of you must be scared of what just happened. I have to assure you that we intend to cause no violence during our stay." The Sergeant should have picked his words better. At the utterance of violence, multiple young looking men and women hugged their weapons closed and kept their crosshairs planted on him. His Jackal reacted calmly but did notice that one of them primed the shoulder mounted plasma motor.
"I'd be more than happy to negotiate with one of your representatives. Anyone will do, just send them forward and we'll talk." The Sergeant said in his rough uneasy diplomat's voice. His gun felt uneasy in his hands as if having it lowed made him physically uncomfortable.
He waited for a solid minute. No one coming forth, making him wonder if he should have stayed quiet until someone did come forward or they are just disorganized as them. The entire scene was quiet for the time being until one of the troopers screamed. "Murderer! You killed my brother and now my father!" One of the Japanese troopers screamed at the Jackal.
His comrades let him vent his frustrations. Most likely because they felt the same. "You got away murdering our comrades in the special zone and now you bombed our city! You won't get away! Murderer!" One of the men of the line broke off to restain the man. Trying to haul him away to somewhere safe or at least out of sight.
This made the Sergeant somewhat nervous but knew he had to remain solid. More soldiers screamed their insults towards the man they saw as a mass murderer. A burning city lit behind them. He really did understand them. To meet an outside force and to watch as your home burn at their arrival. Them claiming to know better, only masking their ugly insides. The screams and accusations came to a silence as superior officers came to discipline their soldiers.
It became tense as every second past is another moment of fear and anger piling up. He needed someone to come forth before this wall of frustration broke and a firefight finally gave out. That something came in the form of an old man in a nice pressed suit. He came from the crowd of soldier filled with authority and confidences at least that's what he showed to be.
With a fix of his tie he spoke. "I am from the Japanese government and the one who will start communication. There will be no more conflict today. The soldier here will stand down but we require you to do the same."
The Sergeants release some of his tensions. "I will, but I need to know what's happening first before I let my guard down." He said in broken Japanese.
The representative nodded. "There was a bombing in the sewer system and the person who committed it was identified to be with the new vegas organization known as the Brotherhood of Steel." He said those last words as if he making it up as he goes.
The Sergeant cursed under his helmet. He liked those sons bitches and it was difficult to see them do something this extreme but a few did stand out to be unhinged. He continued to listen to the man's explanation.
"He admitted his actions to be hostile and calms your Courier to be the one who sent him." He said without stuttering.
The Sergeant froze for a minute. "Well Shit." He said to himself. He raised the volume of his speakers. "When everything starts calming down, we'll talk about it, for now, we must return and have our injured dealt with auto-docs."
At this, the Japanese representative gaze hardens and sadden at the same time. The Sergeant optic lens was able to zoom in and notice the expression. If he was going to say what he thought he was going to say then shots will be fired. There were contingency put up but with the miniature nuclear explosion that just went off, he had doubts if they were going to help him. He needed them too, with the armored vehicles aiming their large guns at him. Their power armor isn't tough enough to withstand the 50mm munitions and even if it could the sheer kinetic impact would snap their necks or turn them into red mush inside their armor.
The leader of the Jackal snarled at the representative's response. "I apologize but I must take him in. It's non-negotiable, the leaders of my nation insisted on it." There was a silence after that and the representative noticed this. "He will be treated with the utmost care under our custody."
The Sergeant gridded his pearly whites. This man really needed to watch what he said. The four desert jackals behind him started marking their targets, he was forced to tell to knock it off with his radio. These guys don't know that prisoner is different to them than it is theirs. He was used to the changing world, but some of the other Jackals are tribals who definition of prisoners is torture. Their massive bond of loyalty to Six also didn't help, if he died then their homes would lose the support the man gave. It created effective bodyguards but poor diplomats.
The sergeant tried one last chance to smooth something out. "I can't, he suffered greatly and is currently injured to the point where our auto doc is the only thing that can deal with his injuries." He was disappointed by the response he was given.
The well dressed representative gave a nervous smile. "I assure you that our medical facilities are more than adequate in treating any physical injuries. He will be treated with the utmost care but again, I have to bring him in. Please understand that the entire city is shaken due to this current attack." He pleaded with increased furver.
The Sergeant responded with a stronger tone. "We can't and won't. You have to see it in our boots. We don't know what's happening, that explosion had nothing to do with us and-" He was cut off by and solder that made up the blockade.
"Fuck you!" Screamed a trooper.
"Lier!" Screamed another.
"Monster!" Another Screamed.
Soon the entire crowd was screaming and moaning about a terrorist act or the people of New Vegas getting away with another mass murder. The soldiers were in no position of being of sound mind, the attack was something that Japan never experienced this generation. The death count was likely in the hundreds and a lot of them were soldiers that served with them. It didn't help either that this nation had decades of peace. With it being them shattered like glass with one swift motion of the hammer.
The Sergeant started to see people coming from the direction of the blast, they were covered in dust and wounds. Climbing out of the shattered windows and broken concrete, some were being carried out. The soldiers didn't seem to take notice, they were being calmed down by their officers and more level-headed of their number. The Sergeant knew that this could be broken off and time could be won if he could get them to focus on the survivors.
"Hey look! You have injured, you have to go and help them." He screams at them with a few steps taken forward. No one listened, they were becoming disorganized and more guns seem to shake in the hands of the younger looking ones in their ranks. The Sergeant tired again to warn the soldiers but it only seems to irritate them even more. He started to scream and inch forward, creating even more tension. It wasn't about disabling the situation anymore for the Sergeant, he saw more survivors climb out of the ruble and they seem to be in worse condition. He started walking, screaming his lungs out to tell the men to react about the dying. In frustration, he pointed a power armored finger at the direction of the survivors of the blast and it finally put it over the edge.
No one knew who fired the shot or whether it was on purpose. They just knew that when the bullet bounced off the chest plate of the Sergeant, his teammates reacted in kind.
The first plasma mortar was flying across the air before the second Japanese bullet could be fired. The green grenade arched high up in the sky and then quickly started dropping, aimed towards one of the lightly armored vehicles with the turret on top. The Sergeant knew what was coming next and radioed in to get the force field fence up. Both when the plasma motor exploded, the big M. pattern force field sprung into life and just in time to receive the 12.7mm bullets.
It was war, no more question, and no more peace talks. The heart of the Sergeant sunk, to see another moment of stress and fear being up another war. It was going to happen because war... war never changes, regardless of time, location or reality.
The Sergeant activated the escape plan for them and the rest of the staff inside the now-defunct embassy. Left stranded in the middle of an enemy city with more injured than capable fighters, which made the Sergeant feel so much better. His area of expertise is life and death situations, not talking with silver tongue fat cats. It was like flipping a switch and now knew exactly what to do.
"Jackal 7, 6, and 5 unloaded your explosives into the blockades and get them to retreat. " he ordered on his radio and almost mechanically they loaded another motor and prepared their grenades. The Sergeant drew his own and with their implants and installed V.a.t.s. Systems they threw all four grenades at the remaining APC's. Green explosions lit up the night and the other Japanese soldiers kept on their fire, peppering the force fields that protected the building.
The Sergeant turned to his Jackals. "Everyone that can hear me on the radio, get everything set for a full retreat to the Gate, shit went up the river and were at war. I repeat we are at war!" A chorus of responses and questions assailed him and made them all wait, the only thing that mattered was one thing. He ran into the building and his other four Jackal followed him. "Fuck any questions, we have ten minutes to get everything packed and destroy anything we can't carry. Get the injured who can fight a gun and those who can't put them on stretchers. We're going in ten, I repeat were going on ten!" He orders to everyone that was one the radio.
He turned to see the other Jackals already getting explosives rigged up to slow any incoming enemy advance. He felt proud of them but knew it wasn't going to do much in the long run. Still, he wondered how well the fields were going to hold, the gunfire was intense and they must be ordering reinforcements in the form of tanks or aircraft. He hoped the latter was tied up on something else, but it was likely they were sending them here to fly over the force field and dropping troops on top of them. It was a glaring weakness in there defense and decided it was worth investing in.
He clicked his radio on. "Jackal 7 and 6, get your asses up on the roof and make sure no one surprises us." they gave their confirmations with efficient speed. The Sergeant turned to his last two Jackal left to him. "Jackal's get the field ready and expect the force field to fail soon. Back then the engineers said this thing could hold for an hour but with the bomb that was set off, I'm not so sure." They both nodded. The three of them got to work in creating the hallway into a Killzone.
Jackal 6 and 7 were known for their teamwork together as they both came from the same origin. both were ex-slave to the Ceasars legion and both waged a hit and run war against them. It was when they became an actual threat was when the legion decided to concentrate on them was when they form an alliance of all resistance groups ready to fight against their suppressors. It was a horrible slaughter for the resistance and only when the courier came with his Securitron army where they able to save what remained. Now the two of them pledged their loyalty to the famous courier and his goals.
The Sergeants was correct in his assumption that the Japanese would drop troops in the roof. The two jackals watched as floodlights washed over the roof of the damaged embassy, never passing over the two power armored figures. They were clocked with stealth boy technology and were using it to set up cryo mines. The two finished just in time as ropes extended from the flying vehicles and Japanese men in both tactical riot gear and military camo propelled down, their rifle dangling in front of them.
Jackal 7 aimed the newly created 50 cals. Assault rifle with explosive ammunition loaded in the magazine. He also prepared his back mounted motor to fire a single flash grenade when Jackal 6 got into position. Jackal six ran to the opposite side were his teammate laid in waiting he made in time to see around twenty-four Japanese soldier spreading out, sweeping the area to find any hidden surprises. They did and scream out that the enemy had laid out landmines. They reacted quickly and started to move away from the minefield but realized it was laid out in such a way that it would fondle them in a choke point and would allow a machine gun to mow them down.
Jackal 7 chuckled at his trap being sprung, he raises his rifle and opens fire at the group up men. Both heavy caliber rifle fire and screams filled the air and soon after Jackal 6 switched to his Tesla cannon to aim it at the helicopter providing overwatch. The beam of bright white lanced towards the flying vehicle and it circuits where overloaded, causing its propeller to stall and drop like a rock. It slammed onto the roof and causing it destabilized the building further. The Japanese reacted with inexperienced but their training kept them together. Their lines rushed for cover as the machine guns on the other helicopters pepper the general area where the gunfire came from. The Jackal also planned for retaliation and Jackal 7 fired his motor, its oversized flash bang blinding anyone not wearing photoreactive lens. The soldiers from Japan were caught off guard and suffered from the flashbang, falling into disorder and becoming easy victims to the Jackal assault rifles. The pilots in the helicopter were also caught by the blast and reared away for a bit but was a fatal move for their comrades. Half their number was cut down and they still couldn't see their opponents.
After a few seconds of firing the Jackals retreated into the shadows and reappear somewhere else, laying down murderous fire to any expose trooper in their sight. Some of them were unlucky enough to step on a cryo mine and set it off, creating a cloud of coolant and flash freezing the soldier. Creating a statute with their faces contorted into one of pain and horror. It was enough for the Japanese commanding officers to call a retreat but the Jackal continued to harass the fleeing men.
The armored helicopters landed to retrieve their men and get out of the ambush. The Jackal 6 radioed their success as he aimed his Tesla cannon at another fleeing helicopter, pulling the trigger and watching it suddenly stall mid-flight. The Sergeants voice came in. "Alright good but we're leaving now. Meet us at the basement we gonna collapse the building and dig our way out." The two jackals shared a look but decided it wasn't the weirdest order they've received.
The two Jackal rushed to their objectives and made it to a cramped basement filled with brotherhood and Vegas soldiers alike. Behind them were the injured piled on wide stretchers and strapped together. It was a mess of misery and fear filling every inch of the room. There were both scribes and vegas diplomats armed with weapons they knew how to wield but were comfortable with. Jackal 6 saw their medic working on the bandage of one of the injured, it was a brotherhood scribe with a 9mm submachine gun. They turned to another Jackal, his multiple optical lenses over his helmet marked him as an engineer, he was handing out the already scarce weapons and ammo to anyone who can wield one. Jackal 6 and 7 found the Sergeant in the front talking with Danse and Veronica. They both gave a click to announce their arrival and moved to help with their brothers in arms.
The Sergeant heard the radio click from both Jackals 7 and 6 filed it away for later. He turned to Danse and Veronica, both in a suit of heavy rig power armor. The Paladin was inside his suit of power armor when the explosion hit and Veronica suffered an injury on her leg making the suit she wears as a sort of crotch. The Sergeant feared one thing above all than anything else at that moment and that is leadership going to suffer due to friction. He hopes this conversation will advert any fears he holds.
"We don't have much time so I might as well make this quick. I need command of the current forces we have." He said as a matter factly.
The Sergeant couldn't see their faces as they were obscured by their helmets but knew it was disapproval. Seconds past but the Jackal didn't have the time to spare. "I need an answer now, at any moment they could break through the energy shield and we need to be united when they do."
Veronica looked at Danse, they both were having a private conversation utilizing their helmets comms. Then she looks back at the Sergeant. "Look, I of all people understand how stubborn the brotherhood can be but I can't just give the command of the brotherhood to you."
He knew if he couldn't get Veronica to budge then convincing them could take hours. Something he did not have. "Damn it! Look I have a plan but I need command." The Sergeant pleaded.
Veronica was going to talk but Danse interrupted. "That's not going to happen. Brotherhood forces were never commanded by a non-brotherhood officer in its history." Danse told The Sergeant.
The Jackal leader gritted his teeth and decided subtlety was not in his skill set. "For the love of, we are literally surrounded by thousands of well equipped and well-trained soldiers and you want to test your luck with our forces divided!" The Sergeant screamed at the Paladin.
Veronica decides everything was out of control and it needed to stop. "Alright! How about you tell me the plan and I can order the rest of the brotherhood forces to follow them." she suggested.
Danse shot an incredulous look at her which the woman ignored. The Sergeant's head turned to meet Veronica's visor. "That would work as long the Brotherhood is a flexible fighting force. If you can promise me that they can do that then It's a deal."
The two couldn't take any time to speculate on the details She knew of the brotherhoods notorious track record of stubbornness. A massive problem as she doubted her fellow soldiers would throw their decades of training and teaching to the gutter and follow another doctrine. She only had one answers. "Well they better of they are going to be forced to watch as their toys get picked apart by a curious scientist."
A loud blast of circuitry frying cut all conversation and the Sergeant knew his time was up. "I'll explain as soon I can but I have to initiate step one." The two Brotherhood leaders looked at the man incredulously.
"What is part one?" Danse asked with reasonable worry.
The Sergeant pulled out a detonator and told them exactly what he was going to do. "I'm going to detonate the strategically placed explosives and have them bury us." He pulled the trigger and ear piercing explosions were heard a second after. Then the sound of wood splintering and steel bending followed it. Everyone in the room didn't panic but were visibly scared at the building collapsing. Then the roof of the basement shook with dust and bits of ceramic falling to cover the besieged wastelanders. The Sergeant prayed to any being listening that the blueprints were right and the roof would hold. He felt his heart skip a beat when it groans with the stress of the wrecked building on top of it. People were stunned still at the stress of the situation.
The Sergeant in the other hand had to keep moving. "Don't stand there gawking! The building collapsing only bought us time to dig through the basement into the sewer system!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
The Jackal burst into motion, immediately directing the New Vegas personnel. The Sergeant turned to Veronica. "I need your scribes to help the mechanics." A Staturnite gauntlet grabbed his shoulder. The Sergeant turned to see an angry Danse. "I have no idea what's happening so you better start explaining."
The Sergeant turns to glance at the Doc in his bright white power armor hovering over the unconscious form of the courier. The stump of wood was removed from his stomach He turns back to the Paladin. "The plan is simple. We use eyebot equipped with sonic emitters to dig our way into the sewer system and sneak through it until where under the gates. After that, we use shock and awe to blast through their defenses and once we're past the gate we call in our vertibirds and mother zeta fighters to cover our escape."
The Paladin seem skeptical of the idea. "That seems like a complicated plan that needs a lot of details. Which doesn't seem possible for us, we've only been here for two days."
Veronica step in. "I bet it's our little friends the courier's plan, which means it's pretty thought out."
"How are you sure." Danse asked.
"Man, it all he ever did back in the Mojave. I think it is because he's paranoid about his luck." She answered with a bit of amusement in her voice.
The Sergeant chimed in. "Yup, he sent down a small amount of stealth eyebot using some sort of bat sonar radar to map down the sewers."
"How do you know these machines will work?" Danse asked.
The Sergeant gave a mental impulse towards the machine. From the corner of the room, an eyebot sprung into life and flew towards the three. The sergeant brought the attention of the two brotherhood representatives towards the sonic digger. "These are the same models we use to dig our way out of the tunnelers nests back home. I can assure you that they are combat tested."
Veronica smiled under her helmet. "By any chance did you bring any of the big guys?"
A click could be heard from the sergeant's helmet and in the background, multiple boxes shook into life and four massive Securitrons raised from the crowd, towering over the new Vegas personnel. In a booming mechanical voice, they announced their presence. "Securitron MK 3 reporting for duty!" They all said simultaneously.
The chaotic crowd didn't even flinch at the sight, the war with the tunnelers making them a common sight and making the new Vegas personnel numm to their presents. The two Brotherhood representatives could make any facial expressions with their helmets on so they settle for a nod.
"I'm off to do one more thing and then we go and start the emergency evacuation. I can trust you two can organize the troops during?" The Sergeant asked.
The Paladin was already walking off and Veronica gave the sergeant her goodbyes. "Always so diligent, I'm going to join him." She said with a wave.
The sergeant waved and slid amongst the crows, an action that was made difficult in his power armor. Still, he made to his objection and found his boss still unconscious laying on a cot. A different follower of apocalypse doctor was tending to him, alongside the Jackals medic who was working on some sort of pad version of teh pip boy. The sergeant saw the chunk of wood was removed from the courier as there was a set of bloody bandages were covering the wound. The Sergeant turned to the medic. "How is he."
The doctor looked up from his work into the orange lens of the Sergeants helmet. He sunk at his wither gaze and gripped his tools tightly. The Sergeant spoke. "His condition?"
The doctor placed his tools down and pulled off his rubber gloves. "He lost a lot of blood but thanks to his implants he will be up and walking in a few hours. Still, there is an anomaly."
The Sergeant twitched. "Is it bad?"
The doctor seems to shrink further at the question. "His bones are molding together and will eventually turn him into a living statue."
The Sergeant stumbled in his posture. "Is he going to be fine? He has to be fine!" The Sergeant muttered out instinctively, fear seeping into him. He never thought the man who rebuilt civilization capable of dying before him in such a way. He always imagined himself being the one who eventually saved him and repaying the debt of his life to him.
The memory resurfaced as he imagen failing his boss. It was a cold nuclear winter as his nomadic tribe wondered between territories and caught the sight of the NCR. They saw on how they traded in advance technology that no one else seems to have. They came to them and demanded that they showed them where it came from. He as the champion of his people stood up to them and demanded they leave. It was a mistake to think that they would.
An army was sent to pull the secrets they had from them, reasoning that their actions were justified if they got a hold of something that gave them an edge against New Vegas. They were able to fight back as the troopers were poorly equipped and undertrained, still, his tribe was a wolf facing a swarm of locust. He was forced to fall back to the hidden military base known as area 51 and make a last stand. His people fought with honor but in the end, we're left broken and at the mercy of the NCR. At his knees, he saw as the lieutenants ordered his people to be silenced, they could risk them laking the information of the military base. The young boys that made up the army hesitated and bought the few seconds needed to summon the demon, to summon the courier. Great machines cut down the lines of men like a scythe through wheat, great birds of metal were summoned to rain steel and fire upon his enemies. It was over within minutes but his people were saved and taken in. Their future and culture remained intact in exchange were their home and souls.
He made an oath to make sure the Courier lived as lone he drew breath. He learned to arts of war and adapted to the ways of New Vegas. He sacrificed his life to make sure that others could keep going and did so with the fate of his people on his back and it was all going to fall apart.
He felt himself lose focus and his mind started wondering. In a moment he was about to fall into a panic. He was saved when a hand clasped his wrist. The Courier was looking at him with disappointed eyes. "You still have a job to do Sergeant." His voice hit him like a truck and the man returned to himself.
"You… You're awake?" He said still shaken by the revelation.
"Damn right I am, you woke me with your whimpering and you know how much I hate that noise. Now get back to work or you're going to force me to do it myself!" He said with humor intended but this made the Sergeant nervous. He still needed to get everyone to safety.
He stood at the ready and saw his Desert Jackals giving him the thumbs up from every corner of the room. Brotherhood knight readied their various weapons for the breach. The unarmored men and woman stood next to the injured clutching both the medical stretcher and sidearms. Their faces show both determination and fear. The Sergeant stepped forward and raised an arm and everyone's attention was given to him.
"For now the Japanese are trying to dig us out of the rubble above. That has bought us time to escape." He turned to the Securitrons and eyebots with their sonic diggers sparking with energy. "We will use sonic diggers to reach the Japanese Sewer system and find our way to the gate. The Securitrons will be leading the way and the power armor units will be behind, the rest of you will be in the middle use us as cover." He pauses to see the crowd nervously shift at the present danger of the escape. He understood too well his next words will be dangerous. "If you are injured and cannot follow, you will be left behind and your laser pistols will detonate, cause both death and our technology safety."
The crowd murmured their worry to each other, some looking at their guns with both fear and longing. "The operation will start in five minutes, so get ourselves packed and ready." The Sergeant walked off to meet Veronica waiting for him. Danse was in the crowd, getting his knights ready for the charge. "Tell me how the others are taking the news." The Sergeant asked worriedly.
She nodded her head, the equivalent to a shrugged in her massive suit of power armor. "My family was always suckers for suicidal attempts at making our technology staying in the brotherhood of steel. You won't be seeing them shy away from a bit of self-sabotage." She said in a cheerful tone. She clutched her powerfist. "Still even if we make it out of the city, were running into a Japanese military base on the other side of that gate.
The Sergeant light tapped his wrist. "We got a few agents that will create an opening for our flyboys. Remember this was planned by the most paranoid man in the multiverse." He joked.
The two continued parted ways and it left the Sergeant to get a few things ready and after that, his helmet clicked. Time was up and in the top of his lungs her counted down to the operation start.
5. everyone scrambled into position.
4. Brotherhood knights raised their guns at the wall.
3. Securitrons moved to take point.
2. The Desert Jackals join in the ranks of the Brotherhood soldiers.
1. Six clicked his pistol Maria's safety off.
The Eye bots let out a sonic wave that was tune to turn concrete into the sand. The sound vibrated the walls and a small thin tunnel was created. No time was wasted as Securitron Mk 3 rolled out right behind them and the first of the personnel was following the massive machines. It took mind racking minutes to get them all out and for all of the time, it worried the Sergeant. If a Japanese squad of soldier found them, it would be a perfect time for them to make a crippling blow. The Sergeant let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he was able to get through the tunnel.
It wasn't over as they had to travel through the cramp tunnel systems. The square damp tunnels held a near impenetrable darkness. Making it near impossible to see beyond the person in front of them without the assistance of night vision. What made the situation nearly unbearable was the smell of human waste assaulting their senses. Minutes past as nothing happens as they traveled the tunnels. Creating a tense air of fear, making everyone twitchy. With their triggers. His radio came to life with an artificial voice. "Calculated time of arrival 26 minutes."
The Sergeant wondered of the Securitrons sensors. "Can you detect any other life forms?" He asked over his comms device.
"Only four lifeforms detected. Estimated to be life forms known as turtles. No other life forms found." It booms out in an artificial voice.
The Sergeant wondered what turtles where and if they were dangerous. He discarded the thought as the Securitrons would have told him if they were dangerous.
He moved through the tunnels for what seems like an eternity. Then his helmet ping with a warning. Movement up ahead, twelve sets of footsteps and most likely the Japanese soldiers checking the sewers for them. He gave the order to engage as soon as sight contact was made. The Securitrons gave their confirmations. He looked back towards his jackals and open his radio.
"Enemies are within our perimeter stay on your toes." His Jackals gave their confirmations.
The Securitions gave another Ping. This time two dozen more singles were found and this time heading towards them. One of his Jackals radioed him. "We should hurry, they somehow learn a way to track us."
The Desert Jackal leader contemplated the question, The pace they were moving at was short a jog but was perfect for transporting they're injured. Any faster and the critical ones might suffer from the increase in speed. He wouldn't hesitate to give the order but the courier was with them. "If there are more coming then we can double time it." He said in a monotone.
Then came another ping hit his helmet. More dots were heading towards them, leaving no doubt that they are being tracked. The question is how they were doing it. Then it came to him as soon one of his Jackals gave the order over the radio.
"Move it, people!" Screamed Jackal 7.
They must be tracking their radio chatter, it is something common here should be a simple trick of there to do and they fell for it. Like a raider gang being herded to a kill zone, they were blindsided by unknown elements.
The group ran and the radio chatter started to explode. Question on what was happening and brotherhood knights being given orders to rearrange their position. He reacted with a panicked voice, he needed to shut them up before they gave away their plan.. "Everyone quite the radio chatter they are tracking us that way!" He screamed and soon it was quiet.
They kept moving in a sprint and forced to scream at one another in an attempt to remain cohesive. Then it came, the Eye bot digger pinged him they were about to run into their first JSDF soldiers. Serg made sure to signal to his Jackals to keep a lookout. A minute passed as no contact was made. The Sergeant was sure it was just them waiting for backup and with another ping his suspicions were right. His helmets hid showed four dozen Japanese soldiers moving into a blockade formation. He cursed to himself for believing this might have gone smoothly. They were doom for a hellish firefight from the get-go.
It was far worse than the Sergeant first thought. He heard the Securitrons lunch the first barrage of missiles but there to set off explosives. The first was off in the distance from the set the Securitrons fired but the second was from the Japanese. They had brought mobile anti-armor weapons and they were a sight. The Securitrons were either blown to pieces or made unable to move. The people closest to the explosions were caught in a hail of shrapnel and fire, killing or maiming them.
The Sergeant pushed forward, pushing away all those in his way and making to the front. All of his Jackals followed except for the medic who moved to attend to the survivors and raised their weapons forward. They were assault with a minor amount of rifle fire and the Desert Jackal returned fire. A combination of plasma bolts, laser beams and 50. Cal munitions flew down the narrow corridor and the screams of the illuminated JSDP soldiers could be heard. The sight of large caliber rounds and energy fire showed the soldiers being ripped apart.
The Sergeant ran forward, accepting the return fire and letting his power armor shrug off the rifle bullets, him with his Jackals return fire without care for accuracy. The Sergeant radio the charge to the staff behind him and got a confirmation in return. The whole situation was a hell hole. The narrow corridor made shooting a simple matter of aiming forward and firing. They attempt to close the distance try ramming through them but the Japanese soldier only needed to fall back and continued to return
The Desert Jackals had the upper hand in close and outclassed the Japanese soldier but still, it was hell. The desert Jackals power with its Saturnite plating made it very resistance against small arms and it could take the constant pounding of the 5.56mm bullets, but the people inside were not invisible against the kinetic energy. Slowly but surely the soldiers inside were being whittled down. The Sergeant kept firing at the Japanese soldiers but his aim was being thrown by the impact of bullets on his saturnite plates.
Firing his plasma rifle towards the head of a Japanese soldier only for it go wide by a 5.56 round hitting his shoulder and landing a blow onto his vest. It was an ugly kill, the plasma superheated the combatant's harden steel plate protecting him and becoming molten slag. Slowly killing the man and forcing his comrades to slow their retreat and drag him with them. It was all pointless as he saw the molten steel plate start melting through the chest and killing the man by burning away at his insides.
The whole situation continues like this for fifteen minutes, the Jackals attempting to make accurate hits while the Japanese fall back and firing back. It was then the Sergeant got a ping on his helmet and saw a swarm of dots that was attempting to hit them by the rear. Then came the deafening sound of more gunfire coming from the rear. Shouts of panic came from New Vegas personnel behind them as the increased amount of projectile in the air made it possible for them to pass between the power armor soldiers and hit them. The Sergeant just gritted his teeth and push forward until he knew he was underneath the Gate.
It was then he got a transmission directly to his radio embedded in his helmet. After firing his plasma rifle toward another soldier he responded. "Whos interrupting me!" He yelled in frustration from the pain and stress.
"It's your boss jackass." The courier quipped.
This made The Sergeant snapshot another plasma bolt that went wide and missing a target. "What's the matter." He said as calmly he would while being pounded be enemy munition.
The courier responded with ragged breath as the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background."I know you're planning on sneaking underneath the gate and run toward the exit."
Another round impacted his knee forcing him to stumble but he quickly recovers and fired another plasma bolt in retaliation. He returned to his conversation. "Yeah so?" The Sergeant quickly responded.
"Then the enemy knows it. They are likely leading you towards a trap. You have to find another way. Gah." The courier said will grunting out a pained gasp.
The felt the sensation of burning as a grenade was lobbed towards him and exploded in front of him and soon after a stimpack was automatically injected into him. He was about to ask why but then he heard the sound of sartunite knees impacting the concrete floor and saw Jackal 3 clasping his neck seal of his armor. Crimson red was gushing out and the sound of an empty medical injector sounded. The man nearly doubled over before Jackal caught him mid-fall and started dragging him in one arm and firing his laser rifle in the other. The Sergeant knew they needed to get out fast but any deviation of their run might make it worse. "How do you know they'll be setting up an ambush?" the Sergeant asked.
"It's what I'll do and I believe these people are smart enough to plan for something like this." The courier stated.
He looked forward and saw in the flashes of their energy weapon lighting up the dark that regardless of how many Japanese soldiers he shoots down there seem to another waiting to take his place. Then he saw a Japanese soldier run up with what looked like a missile launcher and shoulder it. He reacted in a flash and threw a plasma grenade and activated his power armor V.A.T.S. firing a plasma bolt towards it in mid-air. It exploded in a flash of neon green and incinerating the missile launcher and anyone near it. It didn't matter if this was a trap anymore, they needed to get out or suffer an explosive death. He called out for a sonic digger and in an instant, it was at his side.
"Activate protocol dig. Get us to the surface!" He ordered in a panicking voice.
The machine compiled and it flew off to one of the walls. The Sergeant kept walking forward and offered to suppress fire for the Eye bot to do its work. The Japanese soldiers seem to double their efforts and tried their damndest to take the sonic digger down. The Sergeant and his Jackals didn't let them have the chance. They surge forward and bared down on them with unrelenting fire. His hands never moved swifter to reload his weapon as they blurred replacing the Microfusion cells. He felt confidence returning to him as it seems to be working but then a lucky bullet found a gap between the armpit of Jackal 6's armor. It tore through his undersuit and punctured a lung and ripping vital veins open. Blood gushed out of the jackal and his suits in-built medical system was failing to heal the wounds. It took only a few seconds for the man to bleed out and fall to the ground dead.
This shocked the elite units of Vegas to see another one of their number fall by sheer bad luck. The Jackal's leader forced himself to recover quickly and pushed forward and his Desert Jackals saw this and followed his example. The sonic digger kicked up dust it borrowed through the wall in amazing time. Creating a hole large enough for the Vegas personnel to escape through. The Jackals covered their approach and they stood defiantly against the native soldiers. Then they heard the countdown of Jackals 6 power armor self-destruct. It struck them that they had a moment to react before being swallowed in a miniature nuclear explosion. It was Jackal 7 who moved first. He grabbed the fallen body of his partner and bolted towards the Japanese who concentrated fire on him. The Sergeant bit down a response to the man, knowing there was no time for anything else. Instead, he gave support in the form of plasma bolts and so did the rest of the Jackals.
In a leap with the agility that would make a deathclaw blush he fell atop of the surprised Japanese soldiers and the power of Jackal 6 detonated, taking them and jackal 7 with them. The sewer tunnel became a fireball that headed towards the remaining retreating New Vegas personnel.
"Start running!" The Sergeant heard someone familiar scream.
He turned to see Six shoving as many people into the makeshift tunnel. He was clutching his bleeding bandages as he did so and tried to help but heard six give a quick order.
"Block with ice!" Six screams at Sergeant and he instinctively knew what he meant. In that split second he reached for his grenade pouch and pulled out a cryo grenade. His jackals mirrored his actions and pulled out their own cryo grenades. They pulled the pins and threw them with as fast as they could. The things impacted the blast wave when it was only a few meters away from the party and they exploded out with freezing cold temperatures impacting the superheat blast wave. The effect was similar to that of a tornado and a gust of wind near blasted the unarmored members of the New Vegas party off their feet.
The courier didn't take any time to catch his breath and continued to funnel more people through the tunnel. It disturbed quite as the last few made it to the other side into the bristling city filled with activity. Bother civil servants and civilians were running around in chaos. The Sergeant and the Brotherhood members who looked worse for wear turned to the now standing courier. Six drew Maria and checked the chamber with a click.
"Alright, how many rounds left until the gate?" The courier asked holding his wound.
The Sergeant checked. "We have about 0.2 miles left," he said with a gruff voice.
Veronica step forward with her pot marked power armor. "If we run we might be able to make it through before they get reorganized." She suggested.
Six nodded. "Possible but we need to take prisoners and then we need to keep them from putting up a defense." Six commented.
Veronica in the past would have flat out denied that order and chastised the Courier for even suggesting such an action but that was her past self, where she owned him nothing. Now she owes him her family and love of her life and everyone in the west cost future. It wasn't if she could even change his mind. The courier just wasn't a person you could deny in a dangerous situation. She turned to Danse wondering his thoughts on the matter. He reloaded his laser rifle and made sure all of his equipment was on him, making careful checks in order none of his technology was left behind. He was truly a glowing example of a brotherhood paladin, making sure the treasures of the old world never falling in the wrong hands, including civilians. She let out a pained sigh. "Make sure we don't put them in any excessive danger." Veronica said defeated.
The courier smiled and then wasted no time in giving orders. "Alright then, the surviving personnel and brotherhood knights will be joining me in taking prisoners and from the look of that crowd it won't be hard." He turned to the Sergeant. "You and Jackals are the most mobile of the group and are responsible for breaking up any form of counter-offensive the Japanese build up."
The Sergeant was half way of confirming before he felt a sharp pain stab him in his midsection. He lurched forward clutching himself. The pain soon faded when his power armor automatically injected him with Med x and another stimpack.
"Your suffering from internal bleeding. Stimpacks won't help that unless we drain the blood." the courier pointed out.
"I'll deal with it as soon we get back to base. For now, the power armor emergency protocols will do." The Sergeant said with audible strain.
Six nodded, understanding anymore hesitation will get them killed. "Alright, let get a move on!" The courier ordered and the party followed his orders without hesitation.
The Sergeant started moving purely on the power of the servos of his power armor. His armor would function as a temporary crutch and leave most of the strain off of his own limbs. He was stopped by the medic. "We lost Jackal 3 Serg."
The sergeant crushed inwardly. "I assume you stalled his armors self-destruct mechanism." He said without showing emotion.
Doc nodded. "I assume you wanted to fulfill his last within using him like a bomb. He would have wanted to take as many possible." He said with humor.
The Sergeant chuckled. "Just make sure when you carry him and don't let his body slow you down."
The medic nodded and when they heard the sound of Maria being shot into the air, it was a single that the courier started to take prisoners. "Beat feet everyone!" The Sergeant barked and in less than a heartbeat they were running with speed that the bones in their legs would have shattered if it wasn't for the armor.
The Jackals made out of the alleyway and saw the group escorting a group of civilians as meat shields and the Japanese soldier attempting to stop them but failing miserably. The Brotherhood of steel and the armed vegas personnel made pot shots towards the native soldiers. The courier although limping due to his injuries was able to make deadly accurate shots with Maria and hitting the Japanese soldiers in non-armored area's. Though the new vegas part was moving at a relative's snail's pace and we're going to be surrounded without the Jackals intervention.
In the corner in a dark alley was a disgraced lieutenant of the Japanese military and he watched in horror as he saw what he brought out to the world. The man clutched a fist and followed without being seen. Waiting for the right moment. Itami would not let his mistake take any more lives.
The squad of elite new vegas soldiers moved to intercept any problems that were going to cause problems. The local policing forces set up sniper nest that was intercepted by the Jackals own team sniper, firing their Gauss rifle in snapshots that left the Japanese soldiers headless. When they saw a team of riot shields approached they conservatively fired what few remaining shoulders mounted mortars they had and when the formation was broken they fired into the group their primaries
Then they came to a blockade of lightly armored transports with 50 cals. mounted on top. The Japanese moved them in the last second almost in front of the Couriers party on a cross-section. Their mounted machine gun crews fired with suppressive fire in an attempt to stall the group but Six new if they did they would be encircled and that would be the end. In the chaos, Itami was able to sneak into the crowd of civilians and pass by as a prisoner. He pressed forward in a show of unbelievable marksmanship he was able to get a critical hit on one of the gunners and taking out one of the machine guns.
The second one swiveled to fire at the courier but instead was engulfed an expanding ball of plasma. The jackals fired their last plasma mortar into the other transport but moved out of the way and retreated. Six gestured his thanks to the hidden Jackals and pressed on.
This sort of scenario repeated itself to the last stretch of the journey until they were met with a line of tanks aimed their barrels directly at Six and the survivors of the embassy. The two in charge were on top of a hatch of an armored transport. The one in front was Koji Sugawara in a dress shirt and with a military helmet equipped and next to him was Akira Yanagida with his usual confident demeanor replaced with a grim one.
The diplomat spoke with the speakers in full blast. "Courier surrender and release the hostages. If you do we will give you a fair trial and a grantee that this situation will be sorted." Koji said with clam practice.
Six step forward and rolling his shoulders and they snapped louder than one would imagine possible for simple stretching. "I'm going to make this simple. I'm going to give you an ultimatum and you will follow it."
Koji was taken aback at the brashness of the courier. "That's unreaso-" He was cut off by the courier.
"Look I'm not in the mood for an argument so I'll make this simple. Our guns are better than yours and those tanks are very squishy when it comes to plasma mortars. The deal is that you let us through and we will give you half our prisoners then when we're out of your borders we will send you the other half. If you don't accept this deal we will blast your way through you like wet tissue paper and we don't care for the collateral damage we create. You have five seconds to start moving."
The presents the courier was giving off was a hell of a sight. Koji may be a well respected Japanese diplomat and has had his fair share of a scuffle that needed a stronger will than most but he never really faced something like this. The courier stood with the aura of a man who would claim to threaten to be down hell upon you and actually follow through. It was hardest on Koji when he looked into his bright brown eyes that almost looked like a burning orange. They told him to accept the deal and it was too much for him.
Sugawara shakily raised the speaking device to his lips and spook. "F-fine." He turned to Yanagida. "Tell the men to create a path."
Six made a gesture with his head and the brotherhood knights parted ways to let half of the prisoners go. Six saw the men and women as they passed by him, all of them scared but unharmed. Six had to suppress a smile at the luck but then he saw something weird. One of them seem familiar and then he felt a fist smash into his face and then he felt cold steel press against his neck. Alongside his gun being thrown out of his grip.
Itami pinned down the courier with the same dagger he took from the first Empire soldier he killed. "Surrender or I'll kill your lea-" Itami demand was cut short as the courier both his dagger blade was taken into the courier's hand and was paid back for the punch he gave. The two fought for control and this created a panic. The civilian both being released and being held hostage went a full sprint. The New Vegas personal were able to get a hold of a few to make sure they weren't at the mercy of the Japanese tanks.
The Japanese didn't open fire with the large guns as they would cause too much harm to their people still being held but did fire at the overly exposed personal and cutting them down with extreme prestigious towards those they saw as mass murders.
The Jackals and Brotherhood members moved to silence the guns. The Jackals fired at anyone who both weren't new vegas and holding a gun. The Brotherhood knights in the other hand threw pulse grenades towards the tanks and when they detonated they did succeed in shutting the vehicle down but failed in taking down the emplaced guns as they didn't run on an engine. The two sides fought and each taking massive casualties as the close range of the engagement made it difficult to miss.
In the middle of this were Itami and the courier wrestling on the concrete floor. Itami wasn't the best fighter and if the Courier was at a 100% would be nothing more than a small bother to the man. Lucky for him Six had several broken bone and was missing 15% of his blood and had a dagger bearing down on him. Still, Six survived far worse with much less and wasn't totally unarmed. Six jerked his body to the side and let the dagger pass by him and hitting the floor and then smashed his fist at the side of Itami's head dazing the man. When he opened his eyes he found the Barrel of a 9mm pistol on his forehead. Itami eyes went wide and moved his mouth without him thinking it. "Shoot me and you have no cover!" He shouted.
Six just smiled. "I think I'm alright. I made a call to a few friends that you might know." The Otaku raised an eyebrow at that, then heard the explosion. His head snapped at its direction and saw a burning infernal coming from the gate. He saw the armored transport holding Yoji and Akira going up in flames. Then seeing another LAT come bursting through the flames and watched as its gunner opening fire with the 50 cals towards their allies. Then came a bang and the world going black.
Six got off the corps and didn't look back as he ran towards the synths that he placed in the Japanese base weeks ago. They spotted him and open the back hatch and he got in just as his own Jackal got them. Other LTA's came through the burning wreckage to pick up the rest and then the doors slammed shut. In an exhausted slump, he sat and let his head go limp. Then came one of them. The synth leader.
He saluted in a sort of mock gesture on who the man used to be. "Sir! We've received your message and sent the warning back to headquarters! We also detonated the explosive that will create a hole for long enough to escape."
Six summoned the energy to raise his head and ask a question. "I'm assuming the exploding tanks were your handiwork."
The synth nodded. "No, sir! We were able to swap a few of the engineers and replace them. They were the ones who sabotaged the vehicles and most of the Japanese gate base. They are currently making sure that our escape route stays open." He said as if addressing a superior officer.
Six was surprised at that. He didn't know that 111 made more. It worried him but moved it aside for another thing. "The Empire princess that came with us, was she taken?"
The soldier remained at attention. "From the last radio transmission that mentions her said she was in the Japanese custody.
Six smiled, he could use this. Last time he heard the empire was raising an army of wizards. With a few honey words and a few deals struck he could make this into an enemy of an enemy situation.
The transport bulked and six caught himself on his seat. A voice came from the driver seat. "Hold on, we're outside of the Japanese gate base. No one is perusing, the enemy base is in too much chaos."
Six felt relieved to be free and didn't need to remain awake. As soon he closed his eyes he fell asleep.
Sort story time.
Believe or not the courier has a love life. He's not a ladies man like his younger brother but that's because he's a romantic. He wants the special someone he can see himself grow old with. Too bad everytime he finds someone fate seem to break his heart every time. Sometimes the girl he fancies find someone else or just isn't interested. Those are the lucky ones, there are other relationships that end very suddenly and very violently. Like that one time where the Stacey, the current girlfriend of the courier got strapped to a missile and fired towards the moon by an old rival. Then there was the time where Marry another courier girlfriend was kidnapped by the super mutant and turned into a twisted amalgamation of dog and human.
Then there was marry. A Jazz singer from a dive bar who bearly made enough to pay off her sister's debts. Man, the courier thought she as the one, he fell for her when she snags her first note on the stage and he was downing a scotch at the bar. They were soul mates as she just wanted a normal life and the courier wanted to retire from his day of adventuring. For a few weeks, the two dated and six was quite happy but that day came. Marry's sister was in danger and she wasn't willing to abandon her sister to the loan shark's thugs.
It was then the courier decided to help out the best way he could, with lasers and violence. Marry told him he didn't need to but oh boy he insisted. A gunfight broke out the dive bar the courier met Marry and it was like a sight from those western movies where the courier made hip shots and leaving the loan shark goons with new holes in their heads. When the dust settled the courier came out victorious. Then he walked in the dive bar and found something that made him swear to never act so stupid. He walked over to the bar and found something that made him nearly fall to his knees.
It was... a break-up note from Marry.
She told him off for being a hot-headed moron who just killed off some people who weren't actual loan sharks. They just called themselves that to have some street credit and that they were quite the nice bunch who took care of her sister gambling problem and made sure they didn't loan her more than she could pay back. She took her sister and skipped town to get away from him.
After this, the courier stopped dating for a while and soon after the whole gate thing happen.