Note; this is #3 of the Fallout Sandra Series. This prologue is a summary of everything that happened in the first two stories. I would highly recommend you read the first two stories (Legacy of the Capital & Misadventures of the Mojave) before reading this one. But, if you don't want to read the first two stories, then please read the prologue below. Otherwise, you likely won't understand this third story. Thanks for reading!
It'd become a weird world for the courier of the Mojave Express.
After the tragedies of the Capital, the lone wanderer departed the Capital Wasteland, unable to bear the place of her greatest despairs any longer. Sandra set off after Project Purity was won, leaving behind the loss of her father, her friends from the vault, and her closest friend in the world, the ghoul bodyguard, Charon.
But the long, aimless travels were as merciless as they were extensive. Sandra wandered, hitching rides with caravans and stowing away on trains and boats, repeatedly checking her broken and darkened pipboy, sometimes speaking to Charon, whom she imagined was still by her side, though he'd long since left the world.
The farther west she ventured, the more her sanity deteriorated. Hunger struck her, hallucinations plagued her, and Sandra meandered into Dog City Denver when her mind was little more than a hazy, foggy dream of the past.
That was where a fateful meeting took place—because the Legion invaded Denver the moment she arrived, and the lead frumentarius at the head of the charge crossed her path for the first time.
Sandra—suffering heavy PTSD from her recent war with the Enclave—was quick to retaliate to the war, grabbing a fat man and exterminating everyone in one fell swoop, leaving only the lead frumentarius alive. Vulpes Inculta.
Both of them stranded with no one else to turn to, they decided to travel together, making their way toward the Mojave for countless weeks on end. And, despite what either of them expected—they grew close, intimately close, keeping one another alive through sickness, weather, attacks, and even more.
And, to Sandra's great pleasure, the longer their travels carried on—the visions slowed, the hallucinations tapering off, and her regular awareness began to make its slow return. Because, as she ventured the wastes with her new companion—the need to fill that void had finally ceased to exist.
And even more amazing—Vulpes himself felt the same sort of connection, and the longer she was around, the more he wanted to keep her there, to place her on a wife's throne and to keep her by his side whenever his life within the Legion resumed.
But, as they drew nearer their destination in the Mojave Wasteland, the truth of the matter soon grew too steep for him to ignore. He knew Sandra wouldn't be guaranteed a life in the Legion. Caesar would have to approve of her. And even if he did—Vulpes would have to leave her within the Legion camp unattended each time he was assigned a mission, trusting that none of his Legion counterparts would lay a hand on her in his absence. There were simply too many risks, too many unknowns.
In the end, he couldn't take her back with him.
So—once they arrived beneath the Nevada night sky—Vulpes abandoned the caravan wagon just outside of the Mojave Express, unknowingly leaving the sleeping Sandra at the threshold of her soon-to-be new empire.
Thus, Sandra—awakened in a daze and still suffering bouts of amnesia—took on a job as a courier for the Mojave Express, and she carried on that work for the next four years in peace.
Everything was fine until the day she crossed paths with the backstabbing highroller, who shot her in the head, stole her delivery package, and buried her alive, a dangerous feat she narrowly survived before embarking on a whole new journey to get answers and get even.
The adventure led her to meeting the drifter junkie, Niner, a fun-loving Brit who grew up in California after arriving in the country on boat. He had loads of past stories, many about his brother in the NCR, and he was just the spark of fun Sandra needed to remember how wonderful it was to travel with a close companion.
It wasn't long before the adventure led them into Freeside, where Sandra and Niner met the doubtful idealist, Arcade. The intelligent Followers doctor soon joined their efforts, as Sandra took it upon herself to help the broken community of Freeside free of charge—and those tasks carried her into Vegas before long, where she uncovered the secrets of Mr. House, Yes Man, and a great opportunity to seize power in all of New Vegas.
But as she acted on and as she and her new friends made a reputation for themselves—powerheads soon took notice, and it wasn't long before Caesar himself wanted to meet the courier in question.
And thus—Vulpes was placed in her path once again.
After arriving in the Tops and intercepting Benny himself, Vulpes soon took ownership of the platinum chip, handing it off to Sandra when the two met face to face. He offered her the invite to the fort—Sandra still struggling to remember him, as her memory of four years prior was nearly nonexistent—but nevertheless, she and her new friends set off to the fort regardless, and they enacted a dastardly plan to assassinate Lord Caesar while they did.
The plan worked—Sandra and her friends just managing to rescue a young slave named Melody in the process—and once the time bomb exploded and Caesar was ripped apart, Vulpes was given the task of enacting retribution. The Legion sent him off to find and eliminate Sandra—and weeks later, the two of them shared a standoff in Quarry Junction.
The fight was shortsighted and hotheaded, and the two were forced to abandon the conflict between one another, as they were faced with surviving against all the deathclaws instead. Once it was all over—Vulpes awoke in a daze, resting inside a cave while Sandra worked to heal him.
The two spoke, traded ideals, and Sandra yet again attempted to remember him from her past, once more to no avail. So, she ended with offering him a way out; she told him to join her in Vegas at the Lucky 38 if he decided to join her side.
When he awoke again, he grabbed the vault 13 canteen she'd left for him, and he set off on a soul-searching journey, for the first time ever traveling without a destination. He spent a lot of time drifting in and out of towns, wrestling with his own thoughts and trying to determine his true alliance—and during this time, Sandra had set off on her own quest to find herself, abandoning the Mojave an discovering places like Utah, the Sierra Madre, the Big Empty and the Divide.
Nearly two months passed before she returned home.
Sandra arrived at the Lucky 38, eliminated Mr. House, and rejoined Niner and Arcade—and during this time, Vulpes was intercepted by his young ex-counterpart, a frumentarius in training named Lupis. Lupis and his group of legionaries attempted to assassinate Vulpes for his desertion, but Vulpes just managed to kill all his enemies—with some unexpected help from a sniper in a nearby tower.
Craig Boone fired off shots from the mouth of the dinosaur, unaware that he was actually rescuing an ex-frumentarius. Later on—after he and Vulpes spoke—Boone decided not to kill him, instead choosing to use him in his task of getting revenge for his dead wife. The two worked together to kill Jeannie May Crawford, and once it was over, they hesitantly set off to Vegas together—Vulpes intent on finally rejoining Sanda, and Boone choosing to follow whatever path might exterminate the Legion from the map.
Though unbeknown to all the players in the game—a few new arrivals from the far east coast had recently arrived in the Mojave by vertibird, forced to evacuate their home after an aggressive Brotherhood takeover.
Sandra's few remaining companions from the east—Sarah Lyons, Bryan Wilks, and Mr. Burke—flew across the country until they found a place rumored to contain a secret Brotherhood sector. And, after some searching, Sarah met with Veronica at the 188, which allowed her and Bryan to rejoin Brotherhood ranks on the west coast.
Mr. Burke, however, did not belong to the Brotherhood. So, he was forced to part ways with his two friends for the time being, setting off for Vegas and finding work at the Tops, quickly taking the place of the casino's now dead manager.
Before long, Sarah and Bryan rose up in the ranks of McNamara's Brotherhood—and Mr. Burke did the same among the families of the strip, being promoted to the position of peacekeeper. He often spoke with Omertas, White Gloves, and his friends in the Tops Casino, working to arrange business meetings and keeping everything levelheaded in doing so.
Eventually, Sarah and Bryan arrived in Vegas, excited to meet up with Mr. Burke again. And as fate would have it—the three of them reunited right around the time the Omertas were setting up their plan to assassinate Courier Six.
And thus—with Sandra, Niner, and Arcade walking into Gommorah—with Vulpes and Boone arriving on the strip—and with Mr. Burke directly tasked with overseeing the plan to kill Sandra in Gommorah—every companion soon came together, all of her friends both new and old, and a fantastic showdown took place, wherein the criminal family was slaughtered by every living ally that Sandra ever had.
She met Vulpes again that day—and finally, he remained by her side this time.
Mr. Burke, Sarah, and Bryan were quick to leave the building before Sandra could see them. Mr. Burke decided not to reveal their involvement, as Sandra seemed happier in her new life, and there was no reason to bring her dark past back to light.
So—as Arcade, Vulpes, and Niner argued and faced conflict inside the 38—Sandra intervened, and at long last, a compromise was finally made, and Arcade reluctantly agreed to defer to Sandra's judgment, allowing the Legion-banished frumentarius to remain among their group.
Melody, Eddie, and the securitrons stayed in the Lucky 38 while the rest decided to leave. Niner met with Mr. Burke, and he learned all about Sandra's past, but he kept it to himself, and he allowed Mr. Burke to manage the Lucky 38 in secret during their absence from the city.
And thus—Sandra, Niner, Arcade, Vulpes, and Scar the baby deathclaw set off on their next adventure, leaving Vegas in the hands of a manager most capable. They ventured into the wastes, seeking to hunt bounties, involve themselves with the top-tier factions of the wasteland, and work to fix the Mojave however possible before the fateful oncoming war would daunt upon Hoover Dam, when a great wave of irreversible change would follow the rising sun.