I do not own Fallout or RWBY. Fallout is owned by Bethesda and RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.

Prologue: One Quiet Night

I sat quietly in a grey chair, resting my arms on the metal desk in front of me in my bedroom, the room was dimly lit by a battery-powered light. Needless to say it was a sight for sore eyes, the walls, floors, and the entire structure were made from a variety of metal plates, half of them stained with rust, the rest of the home that wasn't lit by battery-powered lamps was illuminated by LED lights that faintly buzzed as they lit up my home. The only other sound from within my home was from the radio near the corner of my desk. Closer to me was a near empty bottle of wine, leaving me slightly buzzed since I wasn't a frequent drinker. Next to that was a bottle of Aqua Pura, the Capital Wasteland's top brand of clean water.

A year ago, having a bottle of clean water was a luxury few here could have, and the effort to make it available to all came at a hefty price, one that claimed many lives. And I should know, I was one of the few who helped make it happen.

The music stopped, and was replaced by a familiar voice.

"Good evening ya'll, it's me, the one, the only, Three Dog! Back for some more news. Now, as many of you know, the Brotherhood of Steel hasn't been as active as they normally are these past few weeks, patrols have been seen less and less scouting D.C. This change comes just a few weeks after the tragic death of its most recent elder, the late Sarah Lyons, daughter of Owen Lyons, her predecessor. She lost her life fighting the good fight when-"

I shut the radio off not long after and let out a sigh. As much as I liked listening to Three Dog, this upcoming story was all to familiar to me already.

Before we go any further I should introduce myself, I go by a few names, the most popular of them being the Lone Wanderer, or "The Lone Wanderer from Vault 101" for those feeling formal. Some of my other names include, "Hero", "Humanity's last best Hope", "That crazy kid from Vault 101", and by raiders and Talon Mercenaries, "Holy Crap it's him", "Just keep shooting at him", and "Jesus Christ he just blew Barry's head clean off his shoulders". If you didn't already guess, none of those are my real name, that knowledge is given only to those closest to me, if I did go around giving away my name like that I'd be getting way more unwanted visits from Talon company hit squads than I currently get.

Now, despite having come here a year ago and being 18 at the time, I've already become something of a legend to the Capital Wasteland. Thanks to my involvement in the aforementioned project purity, along with other feats such as disarming a 200 year old nuke in Megaton, helping to destroy the remnants of the American government, and my various exploits outside of and beyond D.C. to the colorful lands of The Pitt, Point Lookout, and even an Alien battleship. Half of which I did while trying to find my dad.

Right now, I'm sitting alone in my home because becoming a hero to the people and doing half the stuff I do doesn't come without issues, issues that have been building up for quit some time, issues that have finally driven me to my breaking point and forced me to take some time to myself, all before the inevitable hurricane of issues that'll come as a result of the Brotherhood's withdrawal. To put it simply, I'm on the verge of a breakdown, and despite how often Three Dog praises me, I'm still as human as everyone else in this literal wasteland.

"Deep breaths, deep breaths...no worrying about that now, stay calm, and-"

My thoughts came to abrupt halt when I heard someone knocking at my door, giving a soft grunt, I leaned back and yelled, "Wadsworth! Can you get that?". The Mr Handy complied and I heard the door open with a creek. I stood up and left my bedroom, before reaching the stairs I took one more deep breath and softly exhaled, mentally preparing myself for whatever request I was going to get from yet another Wastelander in need of my help, because heaven knows that hardly anyone else in the Wasteland will help them.

But to my relief, my eyes fell upon a familiar face standing at the bottom of the steps, his dark hair was slicked up, and on top of his Vault 101 jumpsuit was a leather jacket, making him look like a greaser from one of those Pre-War movies I watched as a kid, funnily enough, my visitor would've been the last person I'd ever want to see as a kid.

"Hi Butch." I greeted as I descended the stairs, Butch was one of my companions, and like me, grew up in Vault 101, though in those days he was our resident bully. He and his gang the "Tunnel Snakes" were more often than not a nuisance to the rest of us, whether they were starting fights in the cafeteria, or harassing me and Amata . But since my brief return to 101, Butch and I have become good friends, having gone on all sorts of adventures in the Capital Wasteland, and even letting Butch pursue his dream of becoming a hairstylist, and he made for a great stylist to.

"Hey Al." Butch waved as he examined me, "Folks were starting to think you died you know, good thing you didn't" Butch said.

"I know, it's just.." I paused, my buzzed out mind trying to word my sentences right, "I needed a break." Butch took a seat by a table placed between two lockers, "Nothing wrong with that, if anyone needs a break here it's you. Though, it doesn't look like it's doing you much buddy." Butch said as I took a seat across from him, "You think?" I asked. "You own a mirror pal? You don't look sharp, and that's putting it lightly."

To be fair, I may not have owned a mirror, but I still felt that way on the inside, no matter how much I tried my mind somehow always found a way to wonder back to my current troubles, some days I was tempted to just start doing chems just to cool off, even if I got an addiction a trip to "My first Laboratory" would be all I'd need to go clean. But I didn't, I never was a [Party Animal] anyway.

Despite Butch's comment I didn't feel mad, "Is it really that easy to tell?" I asked, to which Butch nodded.

"I know you just lost that Sarah dame, but you still grieving that bad?" He asked. "That's only part of it Butch." I sighed, wishing I brought that bottle of wine down with me. "My plates not just full, it's brimming with troubles. For starters, raiders and Super-Mutants are out there killing and pillaging everything in sight as usual, then you've got the Pitt which is still far from being free of Trogs, and after that, I'm still working with Elliot on how to free the victims of the Zetan's centuries long experiments and cryogenic stasis." I explained, Butch opened his mouth before I cut him off, "And those are just my current problems, then there's what's to come." I started, "You see Butch, because the Brotherhood's withdrawn themselves, that's going to lead to a slew of problems later, Talon Company is probably going to try to make their grand return to D.C. along with Slavers wanting to reclaim Paradise Falls, and then there's all the Aqua Pura caravans with little protection from these raiders, mercenaries, slavers, and mutants, along with all the Wasteland's lethal wildlife, as a result I've had to help with escorting these more than before, and that's leaving me with even less time to myself than before, and just..." I stopped and took another deep breath after realizing I was starting to rant, "Sorry about that...but you get what I'm saying right?"

"It's alright." Butch said as he waved his hand, "Did that help you a little?"

"I guess." I said, feeling slightly less stressed, it wasn't often that I laid out all my problems to people, even to my companions. It's not that I didn't trust them, they were practically family to me at this point, I just didn't want to burden them more than I had to with my issues. They already had enough as is.

"By the way, how are the others?"

"Don't worry about us, we've got it all covered." Butch answered, before taking my break I asked my companions to help out with some of my tasks. I told Butch to and Sergeant RL-3 to help Rivet City security to help escort the Aqua Pura caravans around D.C, Fawkes is keeping an eye on the Super Mutants in the city, Clover's job is watching Paradise Falls and making sure no slavers try reclaiming it, Charon and Jericho (the latter being somewhat reluctant) working with the Regulators to keep the Talon and Raider populations low, and before the Brotherhood's withdrawal I tasked Star Paladin Cross with being my eyes and ears in Citadel, and to pass on information to caravans to me if anything big happens, since her last message reported that they aren't letting anyone out of Citadel even for patrols.

"Good, thanks again Butch, if you can, tell them I won't be gone much longer will you?"

"Sure, but only if you're really okay Al, you push yourself too much we'll be worse off than before." Butch said before looking around, "Where's Dog Meat at?"

"Asleep up stairs." Dog Meat was my only companion I had by my side currently while the others took care of the Wasteland, when anytime my stress got too bad he was there by my side.

"Well, if you're okay I think I'll head back out, hopefully the caravan didn't leave yet. Get well so you hear?" Butch said as he got up, "In that case, see you later Butch." I waved as he left.

I sat there for a few more minutes before checking my Pip Boy's clock, the time read 7:50. The sun had set at least three hours ago, a sign that marked my second winter in the wasteland, my first having been when I left the Vault. I wasn't bothered much by the cold that accompanied it thanks to all the clothing and gear I had gathered on my journey across the Capital Wasteland.

An idea soon came to mind to help clear my head, a short walk. Nothing too extraneous, just a walk and some fresh air to clear my head for the time being. Despite knowing the dangers, I was confident in my ability to defend myself should I encounter either a band of raiders, or a hungry Deathclaw.

So I did a quick inventory check, and when I was satisfied with what I had, I pet Dog Meat and told him I'd be back soon and went out into the night.

Dressed in my signature Armored Vault 101 suit with The Terrible Shotgun slung over my shoulder I went for my walk out into the wasteland, for at least an hour I traversed the grey, somewhat tan landscape where every tree in sight was dead year round and crumbling structures were a common sight.

The wasteland wasn't always this way believe it or not. Two hundred years prior the Capital Wasteland, called Washington D.C. then, was the Capital of the United States of America. Here, the nation's leaders met to keep order and run the nation. During this time just about anyone could leave their homes safely and not worry about getting shot to death by raiders. And the grounds were also green and full of grass and vegetation. But one day that all changed during the Great War, the grand finale to the U.S.A's feud with China, no one's sure who fired first, only that the two nations and their allies set the world ablaze in a nuclear inferno, curtesy of their stock pile of nuclear weaponry. Washington, being the Capital of the U.S. was hit the most and had it the worst of all, since two hundred years later, the water was still unsafe to drink. And D.C. still has no official governments or factions ruling the land either, the closest thing we have to a police force was the Regulators, though they aren't as big or powerful as the BoS, they still did their best for the Wasteland.

Though despite its many flaws and dangers, the Wasteland still has its beauties, such as the night sky. It was clear tonight, with the moon being the only source of light to guide my path besides my trusty Pipboy. To add to the positives was the fact that the wasteland held a silence that felt too good to be true, not once tonight had I encountered even the tiniest of radscorpions. I could feel more of my anxiety fade as I walked.

"Looks like things are settling down around here for once." I thought to myself, before my ears registered a *Beep from my Pipboy, looking down I saw a notification on the top left of the screen.

[You have discovered radio signal %*@\#%#%404ERRORERRORERRORERRORERROR]

"What the...?"

My eyes widened at the odd name of this new radio signal. I hesitantly scrolled over to my Pipboy's radio and paused as I hovered over the select button, but when I did press it I heard something odd, a weird wavy-like sound came from the speakers of my Pipboy, no voices could be heard either, the only other sound being something similar to a cricket's chirp.

"Just my luck..." I thought to myself, annoyed at how I had possibly jinxed myself earlier. Though maybe this would be different, maybe this wouldn't lead to me being dragged into another quest or-

It was then that I heard a familiar low rumbling sound, soon followed by an all too familiar static sound from my Pipboy.

"...damn it..."

Just as I feared, my Pipboy had registered a new quest for me.

-One Quiet Night...

-Investigate the source of the strange radio signal

The quest was now active, with my map showing me a general direction of where to follow the signal. To this day I'm still not sure how my Pipboy 3000A works like it does, especially with its quest tracker systems. Most of what I knew of this model came from Stanley, Vault 101's technician, who built my Pipboy. One theory I have is that the Pipboy contains an A.I of sorts, with a questionable awareness level to. However it works, this thing picks up on specific triggers and grants me a quest, and until I resolve it, this quest will remain active until I select another one, which I didn't have at this point.

"Fine, you win this time." I grunted to my device as I switch back to my radio, going in whatever direction the signal grew, until I stopped short of a building.

The building looked no different than the other depilated husks of Old World structures scattered across the land, it was at least one story tall, made of concrete, and partially hidden behind a small thicket of dead trees. Having looked at it for a small bit I recognized it as a landmark I'd passed at least several times before during my travels, though now that I thought about it, I don't remember having ever explored them. For all I knew I could find another stock pile of ammo and weapons left untouched for an untold amount of time, or I could even find another Vault-Tex bobble head to add to my collection at home.

I received another notification, signaling my current objective being complete, and was now replaced by a new one.

One Quiet Night...

-Search the building for the source of the signal

I made my way through the dead brush and trees and walked over to the door of the building, which opened with no trouble. Stepping inside, I saw that it's interior was no different than the other ruined buildings of D.C, I saw a few toppled over filling cabinets on the far wall, closer to me were some desks, with all but one still upright. After closing the door I crouched down, just in case I wasn't alone, best case scenario I have to stomp some rad roaches and call it a night. After scanning the darkness for any signs of movement and realizing I was indeed alone I flipped on my Pipboy light and started searching the building for anything off.

Just about all the terminals I found were broken, refusing to turn on, with age having taken their toll on them. In the desks I found some darts, two bottles of wonder glue, and a total of twenty caps. So far all was normal still, until I came across a bookcase near the corner of another room. At first glance it looked normal, but upon closer inspection I saw the faint outlines of a doorframe behind it, I tried to move the bookcase but it wouldn't budge, looking around, I found a working terminal on the other end of the room. It was locked behind a Hard level of security. On my third guess I got the right password and before me opened up a menu in green text. Searching through its files it seemed like it was all random at first, but after some more thorough digging, I discovered a hidden file, upon clicking it, I heard a *click, and the sound of something moving. Turning back to the bookcase, my suspicions were confirmed, behind it was a hidden door.

"Hiding a door behind a bookcase with the only way to open it being this terminal...guess my break is officially over now." I mentally lamented, not having to constantly worry about the Wasteland was good while it lasted, but the universe made it clear that break time was over, and was throwing me right back into the fray.

I quietly opened the door and found a concrete staircase dimly lit with industrial lights. I flipped off my Pipboy light and slowly crept my way down, before long I was in front of another metal door which led to a wide room full of shelves and old equipment of all kinds. As I crept through the room, I heard footsteps approach from another doorway, I hid behind some barrels and heard the figure enter, he turned to go to the doorway I just came from and heard him stop at the bottom of the steps. I caught him mumbling to himself "Sgt's going to have my ass served to me if he finds out I was late for guard duty again."

"Sgt?" These guys must have been some kind of mercenary group then, chances were they were with the Talon Company. I peaked my head out to see the guard clearer, when I did I had to stop myself from letting out a gasp.

The figure wore a distinct military outfit, wearing a dark uniform along with an officer's cap to match. Holstered on his hip was a plasma pistol, on the other side of his outfit was an ammo pouch containing micro fusion cells for the pistol. He also held a police baton in his right hand. There was only one group I knew in the Capital Wasteland whose members dressed that formally.

"The Enclave..." I whispered as I crept to the doorway the Security Officer came from. I could have easily killed him right then, but I couldn't afford to do that or else I'd have the rest of the guards alerted and I wouldn't be able to see what they were doing here. With the destruction of Raven Rock, and their Mobile Crawling base at Adam's Air-force base I had no clue what else the Enclave could possibly be planning, especially in this bunker in the middle of nowhere.

I spared the guard for now and made my way into a hallway with several doors on each side. Peaking into the opened ones revealed nothing interesting or helpful. But the door at the end revealed something else.

I found myself staring out a window from a viewing post, an array of buttons, flickered no lights, all on two control pads sat beneath the window, revealing a machine of some kind.

Four pylons stood near the edges of a metal platform in the chamber, in the center was an archway with some kind of Tesla coil on top of it. A few other rooms like the one I was in could be seen within the walls, manning them were Enclave scientists, dressed in their hazmat suits, doing who knows what in their rooms.

Once I was in the room I looked around while crouched down, I saw a terminal ahead of me and went to creep over to it, only to pause when more footsteps were coming in my direction, I quickly spotted a locker in the corner of the room and hid within it. From its slits I watched as two more scientists entered the room, taking their places at the control panels.

"Places everyone, we've got one shot to make this work, stabilizers are nearly fried to shit, get Squad Bravo in now." One of the scientists said into a microphone, he and his partner flicked a few switches above the buttons and started watching the lights, monitoring whatever it was the lights measured or alerted. Sirens began to chirp and the lights dimmed.

"Doctor, are you really sure this our last chance to do this?" The other scientist asked. "Wayne, that's the least of our worries as long as we get this right, if even one thing goes wrong, this whole facility would be reduced to rubble." The first scientist said grimly. "Had that Institute prick not run off with the device and tampered with the pylons we wouldn't have to be this cautious. Keeping this thing out of the Brotherhood's radar is enough of a challenge as is, with that damn radio signal it keeps broadcasting."

"ATTENTION ALL STAFF: MOLECULAR WARPER AT 5%" a male voice echoed over the speakers, in the distance I heard a handful of loud, metallic footsteps, that must have been Squad Bravo. And by the sound of it, all of them were wearing Power Armor. I checked my inventory and to my misfortune, I found that I had no laser or plasma weaponry on me at the moment, all I had were a few plasma grenades.

"Nice going me." If things went south, I'd just have to steal an energy weapon off one of the security officers or scientists after killing them. Energy weapons are the best against anyone wearing Power Armor, since normal guns didn't do much to them.

"Squad Bravo, you're goals are as follows." The first scientist announced, for a few seconds I heard him flip through some palates. "When the Reality-breaker activated, you will go through the archway, once there, your mission is to find and locate the rest of our forces. Be warned, we still know very little about the environment you'll be sent to, so act only with the utmost caution you can, we'll try to keep contact with you, so radio back when possible on your findings. When you find our boys, we'll update you on the next half of your assignment." He finished.

"Whatam I listening to?" I thought to myself. From what I heard it sounded like they had built some kind of teleporter. Not only that, but they had also gotten the Commonwealth's Institute involved too, I didn't know much about them besides what Zimmer told me back in Rivet City and rumors passed around, but what I did know was that these guys were pretty advanced compared to the rest of the wastes, assuming Zinmer's ego didn't make him bias that is.

It was then that I heard someone running towards my room, once they got here, the newcomer spoke, "Sir-I have something to report!" The newcomer said while catching his breath. "This had better be important Gregor, we won't be at 12% for much longer." The first scientist said in frustration. "Head of Security wants you to know there could be an intruder in the base."

I felt myself stiffen, "What? Why didn't he announce this over the comms then?" The scientist asked, "Since you guys powered this thing up, comms have been acting funky, not too mention he just ordered this, since it wasn't until two minutes ago that we found that the cameras were malfunctioning." Gregor continued, "We're working on recovering the footage right now, in the meantime keeps your eyes peeled." Gregor advised.

This was bad, I may have been pretty stealthy, but I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten in completely undetected. I slowly began raising my Pipboy, shifting my inventory and readying myself to materialize a weapon if need be.

"ATTENTION ALL STAFF: MOLECULAR WARPER AT 25%, PLEASE ENGAGE THE PARTICLE STABILIZERS." The voice on the speaker announced. As I listened, I didn't hear footsteps approach the locker until they were just outside my locker, then I heard someone grip the locker handle and open it. My mind switched to fight-or-flight and the moment the locker opened I lunged for my target. The scientist was shorter than me by a foot, and when he saw me his face paled and eyes widened, he opened his mouth to scream but I stopped him with a punch to his face, the direct blow knocked him out cold. He fell to the ground with a thud, which grabbed the attention of another figure, taller and older than the scientist I knocked out. Within seconds his fist hit another button, a red flight flashed over the room.

"ALERT: INTRUDER ON THE PREMISES, ALL ESSENTIAL STAFF AND BELOW RETREAT TO THE SAFE ROOM AND WAIT FOR THE ORDER TO EVACUATE ! ALL SECURITY PERSONNEL PLEASE DEAL WITH THE THREAT IMMEDIATELY!"

"Damn it." I muttered as I ran to the doorway, where the man I assumed to be Gregor was, holding a plasma pistol, he fired a few shots at me, which I dodged. One of them nailed the older scientist on his shoulder, causing him to stop what he was doing and drop to the ground.

Gregor rushed in and had his pistol aimed at me, but by then I had already materialized my baseball bat, I swung the bat and nailed the side of his face, sending the guard to the ground, where I delivered a kick to his ribs. I then grabbed the plasma pistol he dropped, from the looks of it I could tell he didn't take proper care of it, nor would I have the time to repair it. After de-materializing my baseball bat I hurried out into the hall, where I saw 3 scientists aim their laser pistols at me. I dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding the lasers and fired 4 shots, two of them hit one of the scientists, sending him to the ground, one was a headshot that hit another scientist, turning him into a pile of goo, the final shot missed. With twelve shots left I fired 6 more plasma bolts at the third scientist, three hit their torso and the last hit their head, killing them. Unlike his comrade he wasn't reduced to a pile of goo, but a regular dead body. The last scientist still alive raised his arm to fire his laser pistol, only to be met by two shots to his gun arm and one to his head. I quickly reloaded the pistol and looted the bodies, the latter taking a few seconds thanks to practice and experience. More footsteps were heard coming my way as four security officers came my way, I greeted them with a frag grenade just as they entered my corridor, all four were killed, scattering a few body parts and blood all over the corner they once stood at. I repeated the looting process and hurried down the hall.

Now, any normal person would try to leave the base rather than go deeper, but I'm not a normal person. I've infiltrated Adams Air Force base, which was crawling with fully armored Enclave troops and some of their best men to boot, if anything this bunker would be a walk in the park compared to that.

"ERROR: PARTICLE STABILIZERS NOT ACTIVATED, ERROR: PARTICLE STABILIZERS NOT ACTIVATED, ERR0R: MOLECULAR WARPER AT 45%, #?% M0L3CULAR WARP3R AT 50%, %@-" The speakers began to distort, it was then that my Pipboy updated itself with a new objective.

-One Quiet Night...

-Investigate the Reality Breaker

I was already going in the right direction by the looks of it, turning around became less of a possibility when I heard more heavy footsteps coming from where I came from. I quickly took out a plasma mine and planted it closer to the wall as a surprise to my pursuers. Ahead of me two Enclave soldiers dressed in advanced Mk II Power Armor started firing at me with plasma rifles. I ducked down and slipped through another doorway, behind me I heard a few screams that were cut off by a loud *SLPOSH, which told me my plasma mine worked, hopefully I killed most of them, anyone who survived the blast would be easy to finish off, with or without Power Armor.

However, my luck turned when I realized I was now in the chamber, now the Pylons had started to move, spinning clockwise at a steady pace, looking through the windows to the other rooms I saw that most were empty, all but the room I was in, the two scientists scrambled with their control pads, the older scientist barking orders to the younger one. They weren't my immediate concern, that went to the four Enclave soldiers in the chamber with me.

Behind my I heard more bolts of plasma fire, I ducked again, dodging one that struck one of the other soldiers, yet another bolt struck the right side of my back, I grunted as I felt the familiar burn of plasma burn my skin. Thankfully my Armored Vault suit took most of the damage, and when I check it, I found it was still intact.

"WARNING: REALITYBREAKER 60%, WARNING: REALITY BREAKERS AT 75%, PARTICLE STABILIZERS STILL NOT ACTIVE". As the speakers proclaimed this, the Pylons suddenly started speeding up, faster and faster, when the two soldiers behind me rushed to my, one of them was struck by the Pylons, sending him through one of the windows, the other tried firing more plasma shots at me, but the Pylons blocked most of them.

The four other soldiers raised their weapons, two had plasma rifles, one held a ripper, and the last one had a Gatling laser.

Not wasting any time I quickly used V.A.T.S, time froze as I aimed two headshots at the rifle-men, then two more head shots at the other two. Time resumed as my plasma pistol when to work, the two soldiers took direct hits, downing both of them, their other two companions got lucky when my shots missed. The one with the ripper then charged at me, swinging his ripper diagonally from the right as his buddy fired a burst of shots at me. I side stepped the ripper and fired at the other soldier's Gatling laser, a few shots hit his hands and he dropped the heavy laser weapon. After this I backed up to avoid the ripper soldier.

"WARNING: MOLECULAR WARPER AT 85%, PARTICLER-STABILIZERS NOT ACTIVATED!!"After announcing this I heard a frustrated yell from the room I was once in. I turned to see the younger scientist dragging the older one out of the room, both looked to be arguing with each other, but I couldn't hear it over the whirring of the machine.

While the other two were registering the announcement I was able to reload and fired seven shots to the ripper soldier, at point blank range they took him down with ease, turning the other soldier I began to fire a few more shots at him when we both almost tripped when the chamber rumbled. The announcer's voice started to speak.

"92%"

"94%"

"95%"

The Tesla coil above the archway glowed with a bright blue light, as did the spinning pylons. The archway began to flicker as a wall of light shinned from it. At this point I could hear the soldier hyperventilating beneath his mask.

"96%"

The facility's remaining lights shut off, including the alarm lights, leaving us with the light from the Reality-Breaker.

"97%"

My eyes were glued to the machine, only then did I realize I too was panicked, I dropped the plasma pistol and turned to find a way out of the chamber, but it was too late, the pylons were going too fast, they kill me the moment I tried to leave the circle.

"98%"

In that moment, my life flashed before my eyes, from when I was just a year old, to my tenth birthday, to my escape from Vault 101, meeting my companions, all of it as the light got brighter.

"99%"

"100%"

For a second, time stopped, the enclave soldier that remained had gone into fetal position, siting amongst his three fallen comrades, the lights coated everything they touched in a blue tint. My mind was almost blank, all focus I had directed to the archway, my hands raised so I could see it without the light turning me blind.

And then...

Electricity sparked from the pylons and the Tesla coil above the archway, the chamber rumbled as the pylons became a blur, the air around me took on a wavy appearance caused by molecular distortion.

The archway's light dazzled, before it exploded. Me and the soldier were caught in the blast instantly, as was the rest of the room.

Debris floated everywhere as did me and the soldier, this was then followed by another explosion from the archway.

And it all went dark.

Before I could scream

What happened next, I can't describe well.

I was weightless, floating within open space, not empty or dark, it flashed with a nightmarish mixture of colors, some I knew, others that man wasn't meant to observe, they flashed and danced across my vision in an incomprehensible mess of stretching and mangling. All around me were voices, screaming, whispering, and echoing across this realm of madness I found myself in.

I couldn't control my own body, I was frozen, the only motions I could make were opening and closing my eyes and my mouth, other than that I was forced to register all that happened as my body floated through this not-so-empty void.

The only way to describe it, was Chaos

Pure

Uncensored

Inexplicable

Maddening

Chaos

"Am I dead?" I managed to ask myself mentally through the chaos around me, "Am I alive? Am I dying? Am I going to be here forever?" I tried to call out, to make any noise, to call for help even, but the words never left my mouth, they were just another voice to add to the chorus of the damned that I heard around me.

Then, the lights went out, the colors vanished, and the screams became whispers.

And my vision faded to black.