Old Conductor, Possessed Anew
Prologue
In the year 2077 A.D., the confrontation between the two giants of the world was coming to a close. The American Eagle had ejected the Chinese Bear from it's lands in Alaska, and had attacked their homeland in turn. As one army speared through the Coastal South while the other swung from the North through the Korean peninsula, to some it seemed that the war would soon come to a close.
Yet for others, they knew the truth. The faltering Asian nation would not go down quietly, and would unleash its nuclear arsenal upon the world. Combined with that from its rival counterpart and other minor nations, the world would be thrown into a nuclear holocaust. For years these people in the know prepared. Some dug deep Vaults within the soil to protect and experiment upon Humanity, while others pushed to defeat their foe quicker so as to lessen the blow. Yet during all of this, a select few remained idealistic, and wished to protect as many as possible from the nuclear storm to come.
Through these people, some parts of continental North America were spared some of the radioactive horror. The Mojave, when combined with Mr. House's defenses were largely spared from the nukes. Two of the three nuclear submarines and most of the bombers targeting Boston were intercepted and destroyed. And, most notably of all, one part of the nation was only hit by a few nuclear warheads- letting it adapt and in some cases thrive into something else completely.
And yet, we aren't focusing on these large regions- viewing all the horrors and wonders with one perspective. Not yet…
At an unknown location, a large armored truck raced on the highway, dodging the occasional wreck and explosion. The driver, cursing, glanced at a side mirror- showing several scrappy and malicious vehicles pursuing his own, just before a shot blew it off. Rekindling his cursing, the woman sitting right next to him leaned out her own window- several shots from her weapon flying at the raiders behind them. All the bullets would either fly past or ping off of their hulls, yet it would be enough to make several duck for cover- thus sparing them precious seconds.
As they made the turn, the woman leaned out again to shoot, only to shout in pain as her shoulder was shot- gun barely held onto as she ducked back inside. As the woman held her wound and the mobile raiders cheered, the man snarled in anger as he grabbed another weapon. Leaning out the window, both he and his grimacing companion failed to notice the sign they passed by. Levelling his weapon, the grenade launcher sent it's ordinance with a thump right into one of the vehicles, a bare-bones buggy armed with a heavy machinegun- sending it crashing to a stop in flames. The man grinned victoriously, his smile widening as all but another Buggy slowed down and backed off.
Loading his grenade launcher, he didn't notice the sight he was approaching until it was too late. All of a sudden a barrage of bullets and laser impacted the vehicle- shattering it's glass and melting it's front as it swerved to crash into an old sedan. Disorientated, the man barely got out with his now-dead companion's weapon, the long-used truck finally giving up on life as it went up in flames. His survival was temporarily extended as the raider vehicle pulled to a halt, the minigun on it spinning to life as it laid into the approaching robots. Bullets peppered a nearby armored structure as first one, then two robots fell. The man himself would get up and spray his weapon, taking down another robot. Yet soon they both met their ends, as the robots with deadly precision and unusual tactics killed the two promptly, their remnants feasted upon by nearby ghouls
Yet, the man would have a great effect on the future, as one of his fired bullets miraculously passed through a bullet hole left by a previous shot-shot, damaging a piece of running equipment. While it would continue to barely function for years later, it would eventually spark and die- a brief surge going through connected hardware and unleashing a new factor in the Wasteland.
A/N: Why hello there! This is my first time posting a story in quite a while, much more so on here. This particular one has been a vague thought bouncing around for a while, brought to clarity while the Sufficient Velocity and Spacebattles forums are both down. I intend on cross-posting there when they're back up, but in the meantime will get the first post. I will also note that not only is this story more me 'trying out an idea' then a 'serious story' for now, updating may become irregular in the future due to college.
If you like this story, don't forget to follow and favorite, and leave a reply if you have any thoughts on this.