Date: September 27th, 2287

Location: Big Empty

Five years… five long years since he was dug out of his early grave. Five years since he changed the Mojave. Five years after he escaped the Sierra Madre, saved Zion, unearthed the Big Empty's secrets, and returned to the Divide. Five years since he booted the NRC and Legion out of the Mojave. And over four years since the death of Mr. House.

They had been…encumbering for the young man to say the least. He had hoped that the people of New Vegas would govern themselves after the second battle at Hoover Dam but reality showed him otherwise. Arcade and the Followers were capable of teaching them medicine and maintenance, but politics was another animal entirely. Not everyone was equipped for leading large packs, let alone a nation. The major tribes had capable chieftains, but they had their own issues. In the end the burden of leading a new nation fell to him.

It was a herculean task for him to be sure. He was a capable fighter, scientist, medic, but he wasn't the most charismatic person out there. As much as he preferred diplomatic solutions he wasn't exactly one for rules. Not the best role model for maintaining the image of law and order. The Followers had been helpful in digging up old books on infrastructure and politics, but he still had to juggle the day-to-day matters at home. It's been suffocating for him.

Courier number Six starred at the Big Empty from the balcony of the Sink, adorned in Mobius's old garbs. When he first arrived here he was a prisoner. Now he was the warden, containing the Think Tank's deranged Science and leaking out whatever he deemed safe into the wastelands. Not as much a headache as leading New Vegas. If anything, Big MT was a place for him to escape from the pressures of home. A place for him to relax and exercise his real strengths.

Yet it does tend to get lonely though. He couldn't bring any of his companions with him due to Big MT's protocols, and even if he could there was the risk of them being lobotomized. Raiders he wouldn't shed a tear for but his friends… not over his dead body.

Some of his pals have scattered to the winds. Cass joined up with Happy Trails and has been traveling with them for years. Alice Murphy and the Van Graffs were killed in a caravan raid not long after, but the loot was left untouched. He had a feeling she had something to do with it. He prayed that she wasn't stupid enough to get dragged into any legal troubles with the NCR for it.

Veronica disappeared some time ago after the battle of Hoover Dam. The Followers have no idea where she went, but reports have popped up of technology miraculously being restored. Tensions with the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel have also risen in the following years. Between the attack on Old Fort Mormon and them harassing travelers for Energy weapons, Six was losing his patience with them each day. The only reason he stayed his hand thus far was because of his friendship with Veronica. Now that she's gone, he might just snap at any point.

The rest of his party remained in the Mojave. Boone, Arcade, and even Raul stayed in Vegas to teach the locals in their respective areas of expertise. The first already formed a militia force to work alongside the Securitrons. The second taught science and the occasional self-governing classes. The third mentored a new generation of mechanics and repairmen.

Rex had started a family of cyberdogs with Roxie, and they lent their paws to defending settlements. Lily continued getting treatment for her mental health while ED-E remained by his side. He never found his friends from the Sierra Madre or Follows-Chalk, though. They and Ulyssess vanished off of the face of the earth.

He had been hearing stories from the east coast. Some of it intrigued him, some of it brought concern. Super Mutants and the Enclave had made a resurgence at the ruins of DC. The Brotherhood of Steel and an outsider neutralized both threats but the latter vanished afterwards. The Brotherhood in the meantime took it upon themselves to govern the Capital Wasteland. That didn't give Six much hope for the Eastern coast. He had already seen what overzealous knights are capable of. And there's always the chance that the Enclave or some Remnant of them might make a comeback.

Worst of all he hadn't done much exploring in years. He had already charted Zion, Big MT, The Divide, and the Mojave by now. He was an adventure at heart, exploring in the scientific, historical, and literal sense. He wanted to see new lands, meet (or kill) new people, loot new gear, fight new monsters. Yet duty tied him to the Big Empty and New Vegas.

He sighed and returned to the Sink. His first stop was the Auto-Doc, still humming with power and with a catchy tune. Six felt like he had heard this one before but he couldn't place his finger on it. The Auto-Doc was running through some autopsies of strange visitors that came into the Big Empty recently.

A strange lightshow went off in the Big Empty a couple of days ran out to investigate and barged into the middle of a game of cat-and-mouse. The cat in the black garbs fought back and Six was forced to kill them. The mouse poisoned themselves before the Courier discovered them, but he didn't have any antidotes on him. They died before he could get them to Doc. They chose death rather than returning with the other stranger. They were terrified of something outside the mountain.

"Hey Doc," Six said. "How are our John Does doing?"

"Just about finished the scans, kid," the Auto-Doc said. "Say, are there any borgs where you come from?"

"Only ones I know of are the canine type. Not sure if Robobrains count technically. Why?"

Holographic images popped up over the Central Intelligence Unit. They were x rays and images of the bodies. At first glance they seemed like regular humans. But then Six noticed wires and hydraulics in their limbs. An image of an open skullcap revealed implants at the top of the brain. They were augmented.

"And that's not even the weirdest part," Doc continued. "Their DNA's almost a perfect match. At first I thought they were just relatives but..."

"You suspect cloning?"

"Yep."

Six put a hand on his chin. Very few places had the capacity to clone anything. The only one that came to mind was Vault City, but they merely flash-cloned flora and organs. This was the first time he heard of a full clone being produced. Could they be escaped test subjects from some Vault-Tec experiment? He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

"I'll take a look at the implants later. Might be able to track them to their source, or at least see if they're compatible with regular humans."

"Alright then. Speaking of which, how's your latest one doin'? Not having any hallucinations are ya?"

Six raised an eyebrow for a moment before his memory kicked in. "Oh, My neural HUD chip? The one connecting to any Pipboy on me? It's doing fine. My mental health's good too if you're wondering."

"I wasn't just talking about the implants, kid."

Six got uncomfortable with the implications and left the Auto-Doc to his business. He made his way to the Think Tank's chambers. It was bustling with activity as usual. Well, as much as any floating brainjar can do without limbs. Six made his way to Dr. Mobius' old private quarters and opened the door. Before him were several workbenches on each side. He renovated the room recently to accommodate some of his tinkering habits. And hanging on one was the pieces of a suit of T-45d Power Armor.

In the early days after the second Battle of Hoover Dam, Six came across a Red Rocket station at the Mojave outskirts. A trader from the Eastern Coast had set up shop there and he had all kinds of workbenches. Not only that but they were also selling stuff from the East. Stuff that Six had never heard or conceived of. The trader spoke of a prototype suit of power armor with an onboard medical system.

There was also talk of a newer model of the Pipboy 3000, but they never managed to get their hands on it. Something about 'biometric locks'. They did have a holotape with the updated OS on sale, though. They were even kind enough to draw up a rough blueprint of the model too when he asked. He'll have to make some personal modifications to his Pipboy when he gets the chance. For now he had to work on his power armor.

He started with the T-45. It was the basis of the medical prototype so it made sense to use it as a testing bed. One hour was spent disassembling and reassembling it, getting familiar with the architecture. The next one was spent studying the MKII Stealth Suit's systems. In theory he could reverse engineer it and build a similar system into the t-45. It took a couple more hours, but he finally got a working injection system into it. He was about to test it out when alarms started blaring.

"Sir!" radioed the CIU via his Pipboy. "There has been a disturbance at the Drive-in theater."

Six cursed and abandoned his project, racing to the Sink's main computer. There were a number of readings and alerts popping up on the holo-table.

"I'm here," Six said. "You said something about a disturbance? Is someone trying to scrap the satellite again?"

It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to tamper with it. He had to place some Securitrons around it after the Second Battle to ward off scavengers and the Brotherhood.

"I cannot say for certain sir. The readings are spermatic. I can't make heads or tails of what's going-AAHHH!"

An infernal orange-red glow lit up the CIU's platform as the AI screamed. In a few seconds that glow spread to the whole Sink, inflicting the same pain onto the other modules. Six wanted to cover his ears but he felt a burning sensation on his leg. He looked down at the holster holding the Transportalponder. It too was glowing in that fiery color, and it was hot as hell. Six instinctively threw it off of his person and blew the steam off of his dominant hand.

After a minute, the screaming and lights died out. Everything seemed to return to normal as the projections flickered out. Six slowly approached the table with a look of concern on his face.

"Everybody alright?" Six asked. "What the hell was that?"

"Honestly chief, I think hell's gates opened back there," the Auto-Doc groaned. "Damn, it sure felt like hellfire."

"Central?"

Several holographic images popped up. All of them were static, though. Nothing but white noise echoed from the live feed.

"I've lost the signal from the satellite and patrol. They're… gone."

Six stood there, trying to process the news. He ran back to his room and hastily changed into his Elite riot gear. Slapping on a custom helmet for the suit, Six grabbed his Transportalponder and ran outside. With a press of a button, he vanished in a burst of brilliant light.

The Courier rematerialized at the Mojave Drive-In. It was worse than he feared. The satellite was missing and he was surrounded by Securitron wreckage. But those weren't the only bodies around. Raider, dog, and other robot models scattered around him. But what surprised him were the suits of Power Armor present.

He activated an automatic beacon for all nearby Securitrons in the area. He needed to rebuild security while he examined the scene of the crime. He decided to examine the armored corpses first. These were Brotherhood alright. He recognized those paint jobs anywhere. But something was off about their condition.

One's paint was ruined, dripping off of the plating. Six placed a hand on the armor and instantly regretted it. He reeled it back and howled in pain as the heat bit back at him. That armor was scorching hot! Anyone inside would be boiled alive. It certainly smelled like it from where he was standing.

He moved onto the next one. This person had her helmet removed and seemed to be sinking into the earth. Six took a closer look at her face. Given the blue coloring and how stuffed the mouth was, it was obvious she suffocated to death. What confused him though was what she was choking on; earth. Not the dry desert under him but genuine soil and sediment. Something that you'd see out East (or so he heard).

The next fallen Brotherhood soldier disturbed him. The armor and torso inside seemed to have been eaten or dissolved.. An acid no doubt, but he'd never seen anything this strong. What kind of substance eats through Power Armor? He hadn't encountered any creature that could spit acid, so it must be man made.

If that one didn't spook him, then this next corpse sure as hell did. Lying around him were the fragments of a Power Armored soul. The pieces all felt cold to the touch and were covered in frost. Did he fall victim to a cryogenic weapon?

He next found a couple of Scribes among the dead. One of them was ripped to pieces while the other's robes lay in a pile of ashes. It didn't look as though the former was pulled apart but rather ripped from the inside. There were at least a dozen things that could pull that off. No telling which-if any- of them.

Now he was examining the non-Brotherhood corpses. These weren't the standard leathers of regular bandits. In fact, most of them appeared to be wearing armor plating of various robot models. And speaking of which, the bots themselves appeared to be heavily modified. Spiked armor, buzzsaws, drills, even gatling lasers. These guys were a mile above the average marauder.

One particular robot stood out among them. It was a humanoid shape, more so than the Protectrons. It possessed claws and a single red eye. There was steam coming off of the optic. Either it burnt out or it fired something. He prayed it was the former.

He looked back at a Brotherhood corpse and noticed some shell cashing near it. Six knelt down and grabbed one, bringing it to his face.

[Guns 35] .357 magnum. JFP. He looked over at a Securitron and noticed more. He went over to the remains of the unit and noticed some more bullet casings. Not just .357, but also 5mm and 20 gauge. Hell, even nails. All armor piercing. He even found fragments of a pulse grenade. They were prepared for an encounter like this.

Six searched each suit of Power Armor for anything useful. He found an intact holotape on the Paladin's armor and ejected it. He was gonna give it a look later. Right now he had to finish the investigation here.

Six made his way to two of the dogs. One of them was jet-black, the other white. Yet neither of them appeared to resemble any breed he knew of. He knelt down and examined each one. Both had some type of equipment strapped to their backs. Probably for monitoring them, giving the cameras.

Something was off about the white-haired one, though. There were some blue spikes growing on it. Some type of crystalline material. He reached out to break a piece off but pulled back his hand. There was some type of coldfront surrounding the corpse, biting at his fingers. Where the hell was it coming from? Was it a mutation?

Six finally turned his attention to the satellite's old spot. In its place was a crater with blood-red lights pouring out of it. Six slid down to inspect it for any evidence. The first thing that caught his attention was a round cylinder at the center. At first glance he thought that it was a grenade, but it didn't resemble any he had seen. There were some clamps at the bottom and an antenna at the top. Some kind of jammer perhaps? Might explain the signal loss with the Securitrons and satellite.

He was in for another surprise when he took a look around himself. There were black crystals scattered around the crater, some of them producing the glow. He looked at his Pipboy for any signs of radiation. The geiger counter wasn't reacting to them in the slightest. So they weren't radioactive. But they could still be a biohazard for all he knew. What weirded him out were the sounds they were producing. For some reason they reminded him of wind chimes. Maybe it was the rhythm.

He felt a slight vibration on one of his holsters. It was his Transportalponder, glowing a fiery orange. It wasn't as intense as before, but he wasn't taking any risks. Six put on some scientists' gloves and collected a couple of small crystals, placing them in testing tubes. He ran out of the crater and looked down at his personal teleporter. It had returned to its usual shade of blue.

He marched over to the cyclopean robot's chassis and unscrewed the head. Right now he had to guard the theater from any further intrusion. He waited for thirty minutes before backup arrived at the scene. Six approached one of the blocky robots and presented the head to it.

"Know any robot with this head design?" he asked.

"Yes sir. That is an Assaultron fragment you are holding," replied the robot.

"Assaultron?"

"A RobCo product designed for the frontlines prior to the Great War. It was primarily sold to the United States military."

"Sounds like some serious hardware. What are the capabilities of the robot? And why would any pop up here in the Mojave?"

"The Assaultron typically engaged in close-quarters combat with its claws and speed. If the situation demanded it, it could also fire a laser from its optic. As for how anyone could've gotten a hold of one, I cannot say. Perhaps some units weren't delivered to the frontlines when the bombs dropped."

He handed the Securitron one of the black crystals. "Take this to Arcade for study. Bring those dogs to Dr. Henry in Jacobstown. I'm heading back to the Big Empty for my own research."

"Understood."

Six drew out the Transportalponder and flicked the switch on it. Once again he disappeared into a pillar of light and vanished off of the face of the earth.

The Sink

Six reappeared at the balcony of the Sink. Central was waiting for him as always, but he didn't greet the hero like usual. If anything, he was deathly silent. That kinda made Six a bit worried.

"You okay, Central?" Six asked.

"...I cannot say for certain. There's this feeling of dread that's been bothering me, sir."

"Me too. I'm gonna pay your maker a visit. It's urgent. Can you keep Klien's nose out of the loop while I'm here?"

"Sir need not worry," The Sink replied. "The Think Tank and their recursion loops should keep him occupied. Shall sir make any purchase before entering the facility grounds? It can be quite dangerous."

The Courier shook his head and went to his bedroom. He grabbed a spare Laser Rifle and made his way to the elevator. As soon as he stepped in and pressed the right button, he retreated into his thoughts. He couldn't stop thinking about the aftermath of that attack. Ice-cold dogs, acidic attacks, shifting the earth under your feet. None of it was adding up. He decided to give the holotape a listen while he waited for the elevator to reach ground level.

~"Log 7. This is Paladin Greg Farron. Brotherhood of Steel Recon Team 315-Epsilon. Today is September 27th, 2287. My team and I have just broken off from the I-15 in the hopes of salvaging more technology for the Brotherhood. So far we have turned up empty handed and have been hesitant to venture near the local drive-in theater. None of us are in the mood to fight the Courier's death machines and-"~

~There is an audible 'BOOM!' before the Paladin can finish.~

~"What the hell was that?" Said a woman's voice.~

~"I dunno, but I don't like that lightshow," said another voice. "Should we investigate?"~

~"Negative," said the Paladin."That would be a breach in the treaty between the Brotherhood and New Vegas."~

~There were explosions and gunfire shortly after that comment.~

~"Sounds like someone's already tearing it to shreds. And they're winning!"~

~"What?"~

~Mechanical footsteps stormed their way to the theater. Six could make out the voices of various robotic models. Mister Gusties, Protectrons, even a Sentry. There was a slightly feminine one among them. Could've been the Assaultron. He also heard the usual banter of raiders shouting at the Securitrons.~

~"Never seen a bot like that," commented a Knight. "Or raiders ever using any for that matter."~

~"What's the plan boss? Hop in to fill our quota, or wait until the dust settles?"~

~There was a pause. "We strike after the last Securitron falls. We'll be doing the wasteland a favor and upholding the Brotherhood's mission. No one would be the wiser."~

Six growled under his breath. Typical technophiles. He thought to himself.

~A laser blast broke the atmosphere as a man screamed in agony. The sound of another one pleading for his life was barely audible under the sound of flesh and bone being torn apart. Their comrades swore and opened fire on the killer.~

~"Where the hell did that one come from!?" said the female Knight.~

~"Must've been cloaked," suggested her male counterpart. "And here comes the meatbags!"~

~More gunfire and explosions clogged up the audiolog. The raider's warcries bounced against those of the Brotherhood. After a minute of combat it became clear that the Brotherhood was on the verge of victory. Then something unexpected happened. There was a familiar whirring sound. The satellite's teleporter was activating!~

~When the sound died out, there were confused mumblings among the Power Armored warriors. In contrast to them was a dialect the Courier wasn't familiar with. From what little he could tell, it appeared to Asian. He could pick out pieces of English among the chatter but the pronunciations and grammar seemed wrong.~

~Then the battle resumed. Dogs barking, energy blasts soaring through the air. All the while he heard strange chimes. Maybe even prayers or soft singing. Earth moving under the listener's feet, ice and lightning crackling. Fire and acid sizzling. The screams of the Brotherhood personnel made it clear who won the battle.~

~There was a brief chat between the surviving raiders and the unknown party in the alien tongue, but he couldn't make heads or tails of anything they were the satellite's teleporter sounded off again. This time it sounded… wrong. Corrupted if he were to choose a word.~

A little 'ding!' brought back into reality and he found himself staring at the Big Empty. He took a deep breath and started his trek. He can think later. Right now he needs to get to Mobius. It didn't take long for him to run into resistance in the form of Lobotomites.

He frowned under his helmet. Every day more poor souls seem to find their way into the Think Tank's clutches. The only reason he didn't end up like them was because of his brain damage. The greatest injustice done to him became his saving grace here. And he hated the irony of it.

Six pulled out his Laser Rifle and started fighting his way through. Lobotomites, robots, feral Ghouls, and the occasional plant-zombie tried their hand at tearing him down. None succeeded of course. He's just too stubborn to die. At last he reached the Forbidden Zone.

The Courier flinched as he walked past the inert chassis of the giant robo-scorpion. That thing was a nightmare to fight on his first arrival here. It was fortunate that Mobius had the foresight to have a killswitch for it. If that thing had gotten out into the wasteland, he doubted that even the Brotherhood of Steel could stand up to it. Past the arena was the mad doc himself.

There he was, scribbling equations onto the floor and walls (despite the lack of servos. He never really did give a proper explanation behind his apparent telekinesis.). The two upper monitors- the optical sensors of a Think Tank unit- caught a glimpse of Six and spun around. The creepy images of eyes and mouth contrasted heavily with his warm elderly voice.

"Ah, yellow there young man," Greeted Mobius. "Erm, or was it YOLO? Nonono, what was it? Hell no? Bah, too rude."

"Hello?" Suggested the hero.

"Yes yes yes. That's the word. 'Hello there'. Well, two words technically but-"

"We have a bit of a problem doc. You haven't seen anything unusual around here have you? No Assaultrons or black crystals?"

The Think Tank's monitors shook at the mention of the robot. "Where in oblivion did you learn that word?"

The Courier showed him the severed head of the machine in question. "Oh. Oh my. You weren't probed by those things were you?"

Six shuddered at the thought. "Hell no. Someone already wrecked it before I found it. But that's the least of my concerns. You know the crashed satellite that brought me here?"

"Of course! Your brain told me all sorts of stories when you two first showed up. How is the tongue lad?"

Six knocked on his helmet a few times. "I'll give you three guesses."

"Oh, guests! Lovely. It has been rather dull around here in the past few- wait, what were we talking about?"

Six sighed. "You're not on Mentats again are you?"

"Of course I am silly. Wait, or is it Psycho? Hmm… ah yes! The satellite! What about it?"

Six laid it all out for the mad scientist. The dogs, the bodies, the crystals. He even played the Holotape from the fallen Paladin for him, letting him take in the sounds and voices. He was somewhat intrigued by how the shards reacted to his teleporter when he brought it up. He was also delighted at the sight of the other device Six brought back with him. Mobius was however rather disturbed by the foreign tongue at the end of the recording.

"That language is definitely Asain in origin," Mobius confirmed. "But it's hard to gauge which one precisely. Too many tidbits from all corners of the continent here and there. Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Cantonese."

"Could be a new one formed after the bombs dropped. I've met people using elements of Native American tribes and Spanish."

"Perhaps, but I don't know... The bits in Latin or English are just as strange. Synthetics, Columbia, Ursus, lungs, doctrines, tears? I am as baffled as you are."

The ancient brain hovered over to a large terminal. "I have been the guardian of this fallacy for as long as I can remember. No new visitor has retained their grains since your arrival here as far as I know. But then again there is my recursion loop, so I might not be the most reliable source. Take a gander at the security terminal here. Perhaps you can find something?"

The Courier took the man's advice and looked through the logs and footage. After several hours of reviewing it all, he hadn't found anything useful. But he did spot something else though. There was a section for off-site devices on the computer. One of them being satellites.

He didn't hesitate to click on that tab. Readings and reports popped up on every screen (sans Mobius') within sight. He had several views of the planet, showcasing its dirty brown-and-blue corners. Some of the machines were mapping out particular parts of old America. Washington DC. Nevada. Boston. Maryland. Canada. There were strange energy readings on the east coast but that wasn't what caught his eye. It was a flashing set of words; Fast Travel network.

"Hold up," He said. "Big MT built a teleportation network?"

"Did we? Hmm, I can't seem to recall. I've always wanted to play around with teleportation, but I don't recall ever pulling it off. Did you?"

"Kinda. I've been able to jump between certain points in the Mojave and beyond with my PIP-Boy. Hell sometimes it seemed to have a personal pocket dimension or something for loot. Honestly I assumed that Pip-Boy users had access to all of that. Could mine have been connected to our missing hardware?"

"Perhaps. This is all rather fascinating. A network of handheld teleporters and quantum storage... "

Six removed his PIP-Boy and brought it to a nearby table. "If there really is such a network, maybe we can track the thearter's node. Find out where it went."

Mobius' speakers emitted a recording of clapping hands. "Splendid! Mind if I tend a hand?"

Six chuckled. "Be my guest."

The two spent the next hour dissecting and studying the device. Part of the human wished he brought this to 8 instead, but that would risk turning the Think Tank's eye onto the rest of the world. It took an additional hour to write some new code and rewire some stuff, but they were proud of the end result. Hooking a cable between it and a monitor, the duo were finally able to track the rogue machine.

To the Courier's surprise, it was in eastern Colorado. Near Legion territory. He cursed under his breath as his brow furrowed. This was going to complicate things. And it certainly came with a new batch of questions. For one it was registered as being underground. Did the thieves drag the damn thing into a cavern? He sighed. He'll cross that bridge in due time. Right now he needs to prepare.

Mobius offered him a Mentat as he walked by. He accepted the gift and stuffed it into a pocket. He doubted he was gonna need it but he could sell it for a pretty cap down the road. He made his way back to the Sink and brought up his Transportalponder. With the flip of a switch he vanished into a pillar of light again.

The Strip

He found himself at the entrance in a near-instant. He shook his head as the vertigo wore off and went inside. When he reached the presidential suite, he found a rather amusing sight.

In the entry hall were ED-E, Victor, Lily, and Rex. The Securitron was standing between the Eyebot and Nightkin, the latter of whom was holding a snarling cyberdog in her arms. The floating robot twitched and bleeped at the hound while the others held them back. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight as he entered. As soon as everyone heard him the bot and dog calmed down. Rex in particular looked a bit ashamed as his master walked in.

"Howdy partner," Said Victor. "Just trying to defuse a situation here with Ms. Bowen."

"They're having another staring contest?" Jested Six.

"Oh you have no idea, sweetie," Said Lily as she set Rex onto the ground. "Rexy here tried to bite the little robot on the rod there. Poor puppy could've vaporized itself."

Six knelt down to the dog's level and looked him in the eye. "Is it true, boy?"

A whimper confirmed this.

"Why don't you pay Roxie a visit? Cool down some."

Rex barked happily at the mention of her and ran into the elevator. How he was able to operate it was anyone's guess, but they didn't question it too much. He was a smart dog after all. Six turned his attention to the companions before him.

"I'll be heading to Colorado for a few days," He announced. "ED-E, you're coming with me."

Lily was obviously concerned about this. "Are you sure, Jimmy? It can be dangerous out there. Especially with those bad men."

Six pointed a thumb at his chest. "Molemen take me down? Like hell they are," He placed a hand on his armored chin for a couple of seconds. "Although it might not hurt to bring you along, given your-"

Before he could finish his sentence the blue Super Mutant picked him up and ensnared in a bearhug.

"Oh, pumpkin, you make gramma so happy!" She shouted.

Six barely had the oxygen to say anything. "Lily… can't…" He wheezed.

She released him as soon as those words escaped his lips. He landed ass-first as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Oh I'm sorry sweetie," She apologized. "I don't always remember my strength."

Six rose back up as the air returned to his lungs. "All's forgiven." Then he turned to Victor. "Tell the others about my trip if they ask," He instructed.

"Will do, partner. Good huntin' out there."

The Courier nodded as they left the room. Once the trio were outside, Six pulled the trigger on the teleporter. A beam of light rained down and consumed them, disappearing after a few seconds. It left no trace of them as it dissipated. As far as any witnesses were concerned they vanished off of the face of the Earth.

A/N:

So here we are. Yet another Arknights/Fallout X-Over. Yet another one focusing on the Courier. This was obviously inspired by dereturd and Soldatgg1's works (The little skillcheck by the latter in particular). Why jump in when they're each already doing one, you may ask? I just got into Arknights recently and found the world to be fascinating. A sci-fi fantasy setting, kinda like RWBY or Destiny. I wanted to try my hand at it too and see where it would go.

And speaking of the latter, I contemplated crossing Fallout over with it or Halo, setting the story in the Commonwealth. I was gonna have it focused on OCs from the Bungie side of things but I scrapped the concept. I guess I thought that focusing on one protagonist was easier than juggling several. That and there's already a good fanfic with Halo and Fallout 4 right now. Check out Wrong Place, Right Time by DLTA-BOT. You won't regret it.

This was actually half of the prologue when I first typed it up. I split it up because I thought that 12 thousand words was too much for the beginning. I usually try to keep my stuff around 10K or below. The other half I converted into a separate chapter. That part's more action packed.

Some of you might also be wondering where the hell I got the title from. I was listening to some music for inspiration and picked out some lyrics from Mojave Song by Miracle of Sound. I chose them to reflect Six's state of mind (and low Luck stats).