The stalker found himself in his mind, but unlike his previous encounter with the Dark One this was different. He found himself standing upon a tower, overlooking the world below. As he looked around, the young man found himself peering over the edge and saw a great fire burn throughout the surface. "What the hell?" Artyom wondered to himself.
He was surprised by the appearance of a Dark One standing beside him. Yet, it didn't focus on him. 'We prevented this.' The creature replied.
"What am I looking at?"
'Our potential destruction.' It answered.
Artyom glanced to the Dark One and tightened his grip into a fist. "So that is why you put me here, to remove me from destroying your kind."
'Yes, but for the good of your home.'
"My people suffered!" He shouted at it. "What good did that do?"
It only turned its head towards the young man. 'When the time is right… you will know.'
This gained his interest. "Why are you doing this? Why am I here?"
'The fate of the Metro is intertwined with Mojave Wasteland and there is a threat which we cannot take on alone.' The Dark One continued. 'Once it has been revealed to you, we will need your help.'
"Why should I help you?" Artyom questioned.
The Dark One lowered its head before it walked towards the stalker and placed its hand on his forehead. 'You have forgotten.'
Shifted away from the tower, Artyom found himself standing on the surface without the smell of chemicals entering his lungs. As he looked around, he recognized the familiar sight that he once saw long ago. "Where am I?"
The Dark One stood beside him. 'A long time ago, you were young and alone.'
They were standing outside the remains of a Metro entrance, where people once walked into the Metro for transportation. Yet, he saw three foolish boys walk into the open just for sightseeing. How could he forget? This was his first time he saw the world after he joined into the depths of the darkness. Among them was Eugene and Vitaly, but also himself. "Why are you showing me this?"
'You forgotten a memory of someone you miss.'
A group of watchmen appeared from the wreckage of man's folly, only to make their way towards their small prey. His two friends fled from the sight of the monsters of the apocalypse while Artyom remained frozen in place as they descended upon them. However, they were caught off-guard when a Dark One appeared before the terrified boy. At the simple presence of its hands, the watchmen writhed in pain before the protector while the survivors fled from its terrible power. Then the boy found itself under its shadow.
'You were a babe at the mercy of the wolves.' It explained. 'Such a life did not need to be cut short.' The Dark One brought its hand out to Artyom and began to bring an influence on the young man.
Memories of his early life in the Metro flowed through his thoughts as he recalled the images of his mother caring for him. Then there was one out of many that was iconic, the last memory before the bombs fell. Tears flowed from his eyes as he recalled his walks in the Botanical Gardens just to get ice cream. A cold treat which he will never taste ever again. "Why are you showing me this?"
'To make sure you never forget.'
Artyom's mother turned around just to see the young boy, but now he understood what was going on. He forgotten the face of his own mother, but here he was with the memory of her and taking in each detail of his mother. He should have felt sadness. Instead, he felt relief that he could see her once more after her death. "Mother…"
'I must stop, but you have a few more moments.' The Dark One commented. 'Be ready.'
A few more seconds were taken in as the stalker accepted the sight of his mother disappearing from his mind. Yet, Artyom kept the memory of his mother's face at heart. "My mother, I forgotten the face of my mother. Why did you show me that? Why do it for me?"
There was a moment of silence from the Dark One as it confronted him with a long stare. 'You deserve to know. You are part of us - a family member.' The creature stated before it disappeared from Artyom's presence. Then the mind conversation with the creature of the post-apocalypse began to end.
The young man's eyes opened, only to wake up to the words of Cass talking. "We will not be doing anything like that ever again." She began. "Bitch stole our guns."
As Artyom looked around and found his two companions walking around with discarded gun parts on the floor. "What happened he asked?"
"We got drunk… and Angelique ran off with our all of our guns."
The stalker facepalmed at the revelation. So it was her way to run off with their salvage and get away.
"I knew that there was something wrong with that bitch!" Cass continued. "She seemed too trusting from the beginning." Then she stormed off into another room as she growled in anger and he couldn't blame her.
As he rose from the ground, Artyom felt a weird strange feeling on his left arm and began to see what had happened. His eyes were shocked when his Pip-Boy was not where it was. Thankfully, his watch was still on his wrist, but the removal of the Pip-Boy suggested that she also ran off with it as well. That fucking thief.
After rose from the floor, he grabbed his backpack and began to ready himself to leave the prison in disappointment. All of that work in salvaging those weapons was all for naught and it didn't make him feel good. Yet, the young man noticed something strange about his bag. It was heavier than he remembered last time. Rather than shrug it off, the young man was quick to look into his backpack, only to feel the jingle of bottlecaps in small pouches. Where did he get all of this money from? Amongst one of the pouches, Artyom saw a note addressing him.
Hey,
about running off with all of your guns and that Pip-Boy of yours. Before both of you agree to hunt me down, I decided to keep twenty-five percent of the caps to myself while the rest are yours. The additional amount is to compensate for the Pip-Boy and I hope you won't hate me for it.
Angelique Duval, the Courier
P.S. The guy who shot us might have taken the road south of Primm just to slingshot north back to New Vegas. My best bet is that he went through Nipton. Meet me in Novac, we might have something there.
Once he knew where their missing friend, Artyom was quick to call out to his companion. "Cass, apparently Angelique left us a gift."
The cowgirl walked out of the room immediately. "Gift? That bitch left us-" She was never able to complete her sentence when he started to jingle the pouches of bottlecaps. "What the hell?"
"It looked like it was supposed to be two-thirds for us, but she also gave a little extra for taking my Pip-Boy."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe I didn't check your bag. What are we going to do from now on?"
"I don't know, maybe spend it on getting something." Artyom replied. "Perhaps I could spend these caps for finding information about the man who shot me."
"You know, there is a possibility he might have left a trail at Nipton. Why don't we start heading there and see what we can do?"
When they arrived at Nipton, Artyom noticed something strange about this place. Fires were burning from piled up tires while a banner of a bull was standing tall and firm in the ground. He didn't know what he was seeing, but he felt a gut-wrenching feeling inside. Whatever fate had befallen this place, it was not a good omen. Then he heard Cass speak up. "That symbol - Caesar's Legion was here."
He glanced over to his companion. "Do you think they did something here?"
"Definitely. They didn't come here to occupy the place, if they did they wouldn't be razing it to the ground."
"I don't like this one bit."
"Me too." Cass replied.
As they slowly crept into the town of Nipton, the duo turned their eyes to the left and found a grim sight set before them. There were skeletons of people nailed on the cross with a fire placed underneath. Whoever was the poor soul did not meet a merciful end. Yet, there were more crosses in the streets, but were empty. The town hall was not spared the sight as dead men were hanging from the lampposts.
"Shit. I don't know what happened here, but it seemed like someone caught the Legion in the act and strung them up there. I don't know why, but it's creepy."
There was one way for Artyom to comment on it. "I guess the people of Legion deserved it if they were going to be hanged for attacking the town."
"Strange, the Legion doesn't leave crosses behind unless they have bodies to put on the crosses." Cass noted. He had to admit, she was an expert in talking about this. "Either the guys who rescued the town found survivors and took them off the crosses or the Legion never had a chance to catch the people."
"What do you think will happen to the town?"
"I don't know. I haven't met too many people who are willing to live under Caesar unless they want good trade without raiders or enjoy being superior than women. This place might be abandoned for a very long time."
A surprise caught the duo off-guard. "You got that right."
Artyom reached for his Duplet and turned around, only to find a familiar face standing before him. "Ranger Ghost, what are you doing here?"
"Yeah, its me." The albino-haired Ranger replied. "Jackson gave me the go to check out Nipton since there have been radio reports from other stations about an incursion east. I didn't know the Legion would be this far from the river."
"Did you have anyone close here?"
Ghost shook her head. "No. I don't give a shit about the people of this town, but I was sticking around whether those two stalkers were leaving or not."
"Wait - those guys?" Cass questioned. "How can you be so sure that they killed these guys. The Legion are no pushovers."
"Neither are they. Those two nutcases managed to kill a patrol by the Legion and rescue anyone who could be saved. Apparently, the Legion was trying to state a message to the NCR through those two. I guess they didn't like courier work."
The cowgirl chuckled before bringing the conversation further. "What will you do from now on?"
"Major Knight told me that command is interested in these stalkers and I'm here to accompany them, but I just so happen to be a bit late to joining their group." The Ranger explained. "I could go alone, but if the Legion got this far I'm not taking the risk."
"Do you know where they're going?" Artyom asked.
"They're probably bypassing Outpost Charlie on their way to Novac. Now they could use the road, but there is a chance they'll be harassed by the Legion."
"Novac? Cass and I are just about to head there as well. If you need any company, you could join us."
Ghost nodded at the thought. "Since I haven't talked with the guys from Charlie, I'll accept. That is if you don't mind me."
Cass scoffed at her. "We won't."
"Let me check some things out with the mayor's office and we'll get going in a second."
Attacks on Exhibition continued to increase, more frequently than the Dark Ones' assaults. In fact, the presence of the Dark Ones didn't even occur to Sukhoi as he thought about it. This new enemy that threatened his home was not something to disregard either.
These men, this Legion, they were pressing their attacks despite the stiff resistance against the invaders from the north. Thankfully, the additional men from Riga was enough to fight in this war of attrition, but Sukhoi hated thinking about it. The Legion was becoming merciless in their attacks and he didn't like the thought of these savages breaking through and going after the people.
Thankfully, Riga was willing to take in refugees into their station despite their population problems. The only problem with this solution was the military-grade rounds. People needed this money to settle in or at the very least, buy some supplies before they leave for another independent station.
The leader of Exhibition decided to massage his forehead while he observed the map of the northern tunnel. Most of these tunnels were destroyed by demolitions because of the previous engagements against the Dark Ones, leaving only the main northern tunnel open. Although it was easier knowing where the Legion would come from, this funnel brought so many soldiers against his men, entire firefights would break out from the simple glimpse of red American football equipment.
Despite all of these problems and the stress he faced, Sukhoi understood he needed to hold the line for Polis and the rest of the Metro react to this incursion into the tunnels. His men weren't soldiers, but mere militia to stave off the mutants within the tunnels.
An old man, armed with a Bastard gun, ran into his tent while bells rang outside. "Sukhoi, we need you at the front!" He shouted. "Another attack is coming and they're coming in force."
Once more to hold the line. Sukhoi grabbed his modified Russian rifle lying on the table before him as he made his way towards the tent's flaps. "Assemble the men." The leader of the station garnered the attention of every able-bodied soldier in the militia to join him into the front as gunfire and explosions erupted from the northern outpost.
When enough men continued to gather behind him, the weary station leader started running towards the barricade as he immediately joined the ramparts alongside his men. From the sandbags and wooden walls covered in metal sheets, he saw dozens of Legionnaires running towards the defenses, firing their guns or charging towards the Metro defenders with blades and hammers.
It was a surreal sight to see. A long time ago, mankind fought one-another with the most modern weapons on the battlefield. Twenty years later, he was seeing the remains of mankind fighting against devolved savages using spears and swords.
More soldiers of the Legion charged forth, but these were far different than the ones has seen. Unlike the others Sukhoi had seen, these were far more armored with additional decorations. However, there was one flaw he noticed in their uniforms. "Shoot the legs!" Sukhoi ordered before joining the defense with his weapon.
Members of the Legion exposed in the open fell as their shins succumbed to the dirty bullets of the Metro. Yet, it wasn't enough to hold these armored Legionnaires back. In fact, they displayed their wounds without remorse while continuing their advance. When they reached the barricade, the defenders watched in horror as they climbed up the ramparts unfazed by the deaths of their comrades. Those that tried to confront them were cut down by gunfire from the enemy covering the climbers.
Sukhoi brought his gun to bear and swept the entire barricade with his finger on the trigger as he watched the climbers fall to their doom. Those unlucky enough to fall had landed on the wooden or metal spikes. Good, they weren't invincible. A smile fell on his face as he replaced his empty magazine for a fresh one.
That moment of relief was immediately changed when a warhead shrieked from the dark depths of the tunnel and into the barricade. Sukhoi was thrown off his feet, only to land on the hard concrete ground. The militia fell into disorganization as the leader of Exhibition rose from the floor, only to see the hole in the defenses. His greatest fear was realized.
"Retribution!" The Legion cried from the other side as a battle cry roared towards the opening.
"Get up, everyone get up!" Sukhoi shouted. "Evacuate the station, we can't hold them!"
Author's Note: Apologies for the wait, but I was busy playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R on my own time.
LanzCorporalAssWipe: Ah, I almost forgot about her. Thankfully, I didn't fall for that trick my first time.
Blaze1992: Why am I not showing the scenes? I'm crossposting this on several sites and I have to adhere to their rules. Going into the details would get me one hell of a ban. Aside from that, I'm bad at writing them.