Chapter 2 - Contact


AN: I am aware that the first chapter was fairly generic and can (and potentially will) be used as the intro to other crossovers. As I spent an ungodly amount of time creating this character, so intend to write about it until I run it into the ground. Reviews are appreciated as feedback is needed for improvement. This chapter will be first of the proper crossover.

"...bitch!" The Lone Courier finished as he was violently thrust from the portal and onto a surprisingly soft and very green surface.

Once the blinding light from the portal had subsided, the Courier could see where he had landed. The surface he had landed on was lush, living grass with the deep brown of wet soil underneath it. Upon looking up, he realized that he was in a forest. Not a series of burned husks or diseased pines, but an honest to God living healthy, forest. His first question was where this all had come from.

This place was healthier than Oasis or Vault 22 and seemed entirely peaceful. He heard nothing, nothing at all. Not that this place couldn't be hiding danger, but his first impression of this place was that he was in Eden.

The revelation of his location caused mixed feelings. While he was in the wonder at the sheer amount of life surrounding him, he was also worried as he now had no idea where he was. What was worse, was that upon checking his Pip-boy, he found that it could not establish a connection to a satellite. This further worried him as Rob-co satellites were supposed to have global coverage.

This meant that either the area he was in was being jammed, or something had happened to one of the satellites. The second option was the more likely. It had been two hundred years after all. There was plenty of time for something to have happened. This still left him with the problem that until he either entered the range of another of the satellites or found a paper map, he would be wandering aimlessly.

The density and health of the foliage suggested extensive use of a, or multiple, GECK(s). He could not see very far in any direction beyond the clearing he had landed in. Innumerable tree trunks and thick undergrowth blocked his vision. To the Lone Wanderer, it was unthinkable that this much life existed anywhere naturally. As much as he hated to admit it, Vault-tec seemed to have done some good.

Since he had not heard of any area such as this while travelling through the Capital wasteland or in the Mojave, he deduced that he was no longer in North America. Rumors of this place would have certainly reached him if it had been on continental America. It was much more likely he was in what was once Europe as the species of trees were not consistent with those native to Asia, Africa, or Australia.

Since he was no longer anywhere familiar, he felt his ultimate goal would be to find a way back. Despite how lush the land is, he felt a responsibility towards the people of the wastes and his companions not to abandon them. As well, there was not much for him to do in a forest, as nice at it was being there. There were problems that needed solving back in the Mojave. Pondering his return, the Courier turned his gaze towards the Transportalponder MK. II. that was still smoldering on the ground near him.

The plastic casing had melted in some places and the circuit boards were sparking. To attempt to use it in this condition would likely do nothing except damage it further. Digitizing the heavily damaged device, he drew his silenced M14.

His first order of business in finding his way home would be to find and make contact with any civilization that was in the area. Any attempt to repair the Transportalponder would require specialized equipment and advanced technology. Civilization was the only place where he could acquire either of those.

While it was entirely possible that the residents of this place did not speak English, the Courier had learned several of the European languages (Intelligence 10) including German, French, Russian, Latin, Spanish, and a little Greek as well as Asian languages such as Chinese due to a surprising amount of surviving literature being in languages other than English. His lingual ability meant that should the locals speak either a pre-war language or a derivation of one (like the tribes of Zion) he should still be able to communicate well enough for his purposes.

The Lone Wanderer decided to set off south from his point of arrival. It was as good a direction as any, and exploring was genuinely his best option at this point. The local map function of his Pip-boy remained functional and recorded his path.

The height of the trees obscured the sun making it difficult to estimate the time of day. However, the fact that it was getting slowly darker indicated it was the early evening.

The trees were spaced so that the Lone Wanderer had adequate line of sight to use his scoped M14. Eventually, he found a swift river of decent width and depth. It was strange for him to see so much pure water naturally. Even the water in the Mojave wasn't entirely radiation free. The rushing sound of the water was harsh to his ears and contrasted strangely with the utter peace he saw.

The Lone Wanderer knew that many cities and settlements were built along rivers in order to have a source of fresh water. Therefore, he felt that his best bet would be to follow the river. The only question was whether to go upstream or downstream. The purity of the water indicated that if there was a settlement it would be downstream. So the Courier adjusted his course to follow the river downstream.

It was concerning to the Lone Courier that he had yet to encounter any wildlife. Typically in both the Mojave and the Capital wasteland even if he couldn't see any animals, he could certainly hear them. If GECK's had been used, he should have encountered the local fauna by now. The lack of sounds of nature filled him with a sense of foreboding. He kept his M14 shouldered.

The rush of the river was briefly interrupted by a howl in the distance. In an instant he raised his rifle in the direction of the sound and shifted to a crouch. To the Courier it sounded much like a coyote. However, he knew that assuming he was in Europe like he suspected, it was probably a wolf or a mutated version of one. The initial call was answered by others. All sounded directly in the path of the Lone Wanderer.

He advanced silently, wraithlike in the long shadows of the evening. Then, he stopped abruptly, what disturbed the otherwise tranquil forest now in his sight.

To the Courier, the strange creature looked like a mix between a deathclaw and a Yao Guai. However, it appeared to be far weaker than either. It lacked the long claws and nearly bulletproof skin of a deathclaw as well as the sheer mass of a Yao Guai.

He scanned the creature with his AR scanner implant. The augmentation confirmed that the animal was both a low threat and hostile towards him. No surprises there.

He looked down his scope and aligned the beast's head in its crosshairs. Through the scope, he noticed a bone "mask," a kind of exoskeleton that covered its face. Other similar protrusions covered the creature's body. While this caused him to pause briefly to consider whether the mask would impede the round, he ultimately concluded that it was not thick enough. Bone was not a very bullet proof material as over penetration would attest to.

He exhaled, steadying his aim, and squeezed the trigger. The .308 full metal jacket round tore through the air. The subsonic ammunition lacked the kinetic force that standard ammunition possessed in exchange for also lacking the sonic boom that gave away the user's position. He did not want to draw more of them to him.

The bone mask was shattered by the hot lead before it messily exited the creature's skull, tearing a fist sized hole in its cranium, and tumbled through the air before embedding itself into a tree.

The Lone Courier cautiously advanced towards the downed animal with his weapon trained on it to confirm the kill. The creature made no movements. However, as he approached the body it suddenly started to dissolve. Not turn to ash or goo like from an energy weapon, but actually disintegrating independently. This defied all science that the Lone Wanderer knew of. Within a few seconds, the body had disappeared entirely. While it was nowhere near the strangest thing he had seen, it added further mystery to this land that he found himself in.

Despite the fact that his weapon is suppressed, it quickly became evident that the death of the creature had not been unnoticed by its fellows. For lack of a better name, the Courier came to mentally call the creatures Guaiclaws. While he realized that the name was terrible and uninspired, he decided to go with it until he found a better one. In his mind, the name was still better than those the Think Tank came up with. Not that he was bitter about that or anything.

Definitely not.

Several of these Guaiclaws came into view of the Courier.

Realizing that there were an unknown number of these creatures that were hid by the foliage, the Land Wanderer switched from his Courier duster into his elite riot gear. In the dull green colored armor, he was nearly invisible against the vibrant flora of the background. He switched to the infrared vision setting on his helmet and he quickly saw that his choice was a good one. The area behind the Guaiclaws that were visible with the naked eye was crawling with activity of more creatures that were of a similar size.

There was only one way this would end. He summoned his ZM LE-300 and detached the suppressor. He then switched to 5.56 hollowpoint rounds. It was time to go loud.

"Let's get this started." He thought to himself as he switched off the safety and flicked the dial to burst fire mode.


AN: So there it is, the first chapter of the Lone Courier on Remnant. I apologize if the writing is a little slow, however things should pick up once the Courier enters the actual series. I have at least that far planned out. In case you are wondering why the Courier knows so many languages, remember he is as smart as one can possibly be in the Fallout universe. 10 Intelligence lets you do some crazy stuff. The idea for this came from the fact that one can read the Chinese Spec. Ops. manual indicating that the character can read Chinese on an advanced level. Please be sure to review if you have any feedback or ideas.