Prologue
Date: September 27th, 2288
Location: Big Empty
Seven years… seven long years since he was dug out of his early grave. Seven years since he changed the Mojave. Six years after he escaped the Sierra Madre, saved Zion, unearthed the Big Empty's secrets, and returned to the Divide. Six years since he booted the NRC and Legion out of the Mojave. And over five 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 a settlement, let alone a city. The major tribes had capable chieftains, but they had their own issues and flaws. 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, and 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 helped dig 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… 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, though also collaborated with Boone on occasion.
Rex had started a family of cyberdogs with Roxie, and they lent their paws to defend 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 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 afterward. 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 adventurer 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 week ago or two ago. Six 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 technically count. 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 could 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 person being produced. Could they be runaway 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."
"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. Laser muskets, a revamped Power Armor framework, gamma guns. The frames in particular fascinated him. They weren't as stiff as the first wave of suits and didn't require wearing recon armor. Hell, you could just hop in and out of them with no problem. Much more convenient, but just as likely to give the local Brotherhood forces a heart attack. He quickly bought a few for himself at the earliest opportunity.
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 an 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 make some personal modifications to his Pipboy when he gets the chance. For now, he had to work on his power armor.
The trader spoke of a prototype suit of power armor with an onboard medical system in the ruins of DC. The T-45 was reportedly its basis, so it made sense to use that as a testing bed. One hour was spent disassembling and reassembling it, refamiliarizing himself 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 updated framework. 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 several 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. Once he was dressed, 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 on to 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 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 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 on its skin. 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 against 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 before 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, 2288. 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 Bot. 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 audio log. 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 be 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 saying. then 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 definitely sounds Asain in origin," Mobius confirmed. "But it's hard to gauge which one precisely. It at least holds elements of Chinese in it."
"Could be a new one formed after the bombs dropped. I've met people using bits 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 is such a network, maybe we can track the theater'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 result. Hooking a cable between it and a monitor, the duo was 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 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. The poor puppy could've vaporized itself."
Six knelt to the dog's level and looked him in the eye. "Is it true, boy?"
A whimper confirmed this.
"Why don't you visit Roxie? Cooldown 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 him in a bear hug.
"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 was 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.
Eastern Colorado, one hour later…
After what seemed like an eternity, the company finally rematerialized. As the white faded and gave way to solid matter, Lily stumbled around in a daze. There was a loud buzzing sound in her ears and her stomach was doing barrel rolls.
"Whraugh…." She growled. "Do you always have to put up with this, sweetie?"
Six groaned as his sight returned to him. "Not often," He admitted, rubbing his stomach. ED-E lay beside him for a few seconds before its systems rebooted. The robot let out some displeased beeps and clicks as it came back online.
Note to self, Six thought. Check for bugs in the Pip-Boy and personal teleporter before Fast Traveling again.
Six drew out Christine's sniper rifle and ran into the nearest shadow. Crouching down, he brought up the Pip-Boy's map. According to the GPS, he was several miles away from the satellite. He motioned for Lily and ED-E to follow him and they complied. For two whole hours, they threaded across the wasteland, keeping their eyes peeled for Legionaries. He may have allowed Lanius to live, but he doubted Caesar himself was all that forgiving.
The marker on his HUD led them to the Colorado River. There, not too far from them was an entrance to a cave. There were some old signs around it, designating it as Pluto's Mining Company. The entrance was littered with corpses on pikes. A standard calling card for raiders. What surprised him were the Legion scouts among the dead. Some of them were impaled on spikes, others crucified. A cruel irony he doubted was lost on the inhabitants. There was an Assassin on a cross of scrap and wire. He seemed rather fresh compared to-
A cough and sputter caused everyone to jump. The assassin spasmed and struggled, trying to free his hands and feet from the bolts that bound him. He looked him square in the eye, and though the goggles obscured his, he could sense the desperation behind them.
"...adiuva me, placere," he pleaded weakly. "Adiuva me."
Six couldn't believe his eyes. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked as he approached the cross.
"Sumus insidiis circumuentum tradant... Adprehendit daemonium metalli. Et scidit eas nos laniabunt. Ego nunquam vidi ante huiusmodi monstris."
"What's he saying, dearie?" Lily asked.
"[Intelligence 8] They got ambushed by robots from the sounds of things," He said. "They must've been tough as nails to get the jump on guys like him."
He looked at the bolts pinning the poor bastard up. If his medical knowledge was correct, they cut right through the arteries. The man's blood is still in his body for the most part, but removing the bolts could let it all out. Death by bleed-out. The Courier walked back a few yards and held his rifle up. The Legionary realized what was happening but he barely got a word out before the shot was taken. The bullet went through his skull and into the cross, putting the soldier out of his misery.
"Hmm," Said Lily. "Leo was happy until you pulled the trigger."
Six didn't respond. Instead, he creaked the entrance and peeped inside. He motioned for Lily and ED-E to follow him inside and they complied. The human popped a Stealth Boy and crouched down. The Nightkin followed suit, extending the cloak to the eyebot as well. The first thing to greet them was old machinery and pickaxes. The bones of their owners weren't far behind either.
It was a slow crawl down the first tunnel. Everyone had to tip-toe across bone and debris while keeping their ears out for any patrols. For all they knew the place would be a hornet's nest of Sentry bots. The last thing they wanted was to stir them up. Six had the foresight to bring some EMPs with him but he only had a few on hand. He couldn't trust Lily with any of them right now either, let alone any explosives.
The mine itself seemed fairly normal for the most part. From what he could tell it appeared that the original owners were drilling for limestone. He'd seen his fair share of them during his travels. (or at least he believed so. Memory hasn't been that good after his near-death experience). Hell the NCR reopened some mines out west. Obviously, not everyone appreciates the material these days.
ED-E's motion sensors hadn't picked up anything on the floor. Lily was about to say something when they heard a 'click', then a beeping noise. Everyone rolled back just in time to avoid being blown to bits. A trail of frag mines went off ahead of them, rocking the whole area. Within the smoke, they heard shuffling. Red dots popped up on Six and ED-E's HUDS and they were all running towards them.
No, not running. Levitating. Eyebots burst through the smoke and spread out. They were all beeping and chirping at one another as they scanned the area. Six cursed under his breath.
"Shit," He whispered.
"What do we do, Jimmy?" Asked Lily. "Smash them?"
"Bad idea. For all we know they could be linked to some type of network. If it notices that one of them's down, this whole place could go on red alert. No, we'll have to sneak past them."
Lily frowned in disappointment, but she didn't argue. She maintained the cloaking field as they waded through the eyebots. ED-E had it rougher than the meatbags, already floating at the same level as his fellow bots. At least Six and Lily could duck under the damn things. It on the other hand had to avoid bumping into them while maintaining distance from its friends.
Eventually, the trio reached the end of the tunnel. Before them was a freight elevator, large enough to hold boring vehicles. A hatch rested on the walls surrounding it, but they lacked any handles to open them. Maybe the Eyebots emerged from these after the mines went off?
Six pressed a button and the doors slid open. The trio checked for company before entering, noticing a panel as they slipped in. There were some buttons and a slot for a keycard. Some of them seemed to have LED lights and were in different colors. He pressed a red one and heard a buzzer go off. He frowned. Looks like some floors are looked off for now. Six pressed the button for the floor below and the platform began its descent.
After a few seconds, the doors slide open. More limestone lined up against the cavern walls, more so than upstairs even. Not as many skeletons or machines around either. As he took a step out of the lift, he thought heard something. Something rushing, maybe running even. But it didn't sound like footsteps. It sounded like-
A growl caught his attention. He snapped back into reality to see a dog sniffing the air. A dog with jet-black fur and crimson eyes. There was some equipment strapped onto its back. This looked like one of the hounds at the theater. And now it was looking straight at them.
It let out a howl, and several voices bounced around the walls to join its brief chorus. More dogs-ones with yellow eyes- joined up with their friend, taking their own whiffs of air. It didn't take them long to detect the heroes either and began barking at them. One decided to charge at them teeth first, but Six brought up his shotgun and parried the blow. A blast from it ripped through the critter's torso, spilling blood and gore onto the earth. Unfortunately, the blood ended up splattering all three, making them even more visible to the hounds.
Two more tackled him into the ground, knocking his weapon out of his hands as they pinned him down. One tried to go for his throat but he managed to catch its maw. A laser blast burnt out its eyes and it stumbled off of the hero. While it whimpered in pain the second one turned its gaze towards the offender. Six used the opportunity to shove it off of him and reclaim his shotgun. He fired a round into the creature's maw as it lunged at him, splitting the head apart.
The blind one charged at him again, but he just sidestepped it and shot it in the back. The thing went limp and slid across the ground. He fired another shell into the back of its skull to double-check. At least its suffering came to an end. Lily grabbed one more by the throat as it leaped at her. It didn't take much effort for her to snap its neck in half. She threw the corpse at another one, stunning it long enough for ED-E to vaporize it.
More charged forth. Six tapped into his VATS and began scanning them. He was debating on choosing between a headshot or crippling their legs. He opted for the current center of mass and selected three hounds. In rapid succession, he fired, insta-killing one and crippling another's cranium. The third one managed to duck under his pellets and sank its teeth into his leg. Six stifled a small yelp, shooting the offender in its spine. It went down without a struggle and he gave the limb a brief inspection. Didn't look like they pierced the armor.
The red one was running away from the fight. No doubt to alert its masters. Six was already switching out for Christine's CoS silencer rifle while the team gave chase. The Courier managed to cripple the mutt's leg, but not before it rounded a corner. When they caught up with it they were confronted with the sight of yellow-orange Protectrons. Their helms were white-and-orange with flashing yellow lights, with each unit being equipped with a rivet gun and a power tool. Some of them also rode on treads rather than walk around with legs like other models.
"Halt there, intruder!" droned one of the Protectrons. "Identify yourself!"
Six tilted his head. These definitely weren't regular protectrons. "You first," He insisted (partly out of curiosity and partly to stall them). "What kinda Protectron are you?"
"We are Utility-class Protectrons," Claimed one more. "Autominers built and designed by Pluto Mining Company. Now identify yourselves, you two."
Two? Thought Six. He glanced around to find only ED-E. Where the hell did-?
His answer came in the form of a diagonal sweep behind the robots. Three of them were sliced in half in the initial blow while another just lost their arm. Six shot off the other arm of the last bot, causing it to flare up in red light. He didn't like where that was going.
"Take cover!" He shouted.
Lily found a bulldozer nearby and hid behind it. Six and ED-E ran back around the corner they came from as the glowing robot self-destructed. The one on caterpillar wheels survived the blast, but it did lose its gunarm and faceguard. It rolled towards Six with its buzzsaw forward, but Six shot out its mobile platform. It could only flail about as he and ED-E fired from a safe distance. Lily meanwhile was punching the slower humanoid models into oblivion.
In the span of thirty seconds, all Protectrons were reduced to scrap metal. Six approached the threaded bot and examined its insides. From what he could tell the wheels appeared to be similar to that of the Robobrain. But those never reached full production, did they? He shook his head. The autopsy can wait later. Right now he has some missing hardware to retrieve.
Something was also sticking out from the wreckage like a sore thumb. Six picked up the offending object and brought it to his face. At first glance it appeared to be a cattle probe, but no. No this looked more like a soldering iron. Printed on the stick was the phrase 'Robot repair kit'. There were more of these among the Protectron corpses. Six pocketed the items for study later. Could come in handy.
He began combing through the tunnels. There were some security boxes sitting around, no doubt for guards to watch the workers from a safe distance. He also found some stands and picnic tables too, presumably for announcements or recreational purposes. Six laughed at the idea of an underground picnic, though. Who the hell would want to eat food while limestone rained down on it? Then he remembered how ruthless corporations were to their workers before the Great War. Suddenly he felt a ping of pity at the thought.
One of the workers' bodies stood out from the rest. It was in a lab coat rather than utility garbs and hardhats. That piqued his interest a bit. Searching the skeleton's pocket revealed a green keycard. The ID on it was Blake Llyod. It didn't say what the card itself led to, though. Why would a scientist (or at least their assistant) be eating with blue-collar workers? Time to find out.
Six and company strode back to the elevator… only to find the eyebots from earlier rushing out. They must've heard the commotion from upstairs. At this point, they remembered the blood splattered on their bodies, and it wasn't long before they were found. Thankfully they were less armored than the Protectrons, so they were easily gunned down. It was too early to celebrate, though. Reinforcements could be on their way.
Six slid the keycard into the panel and the elevator descended some more. That sound came back, this time it was stronger. It sounded like something flowing, running. Like a river. Part of the Colorado River must branch off into an underground reservoir or something. Lily didn't seem to hear it, though. She seemed lost in her jungle of memories. Probably slacking off on her medications again.
When the doors opened back up, there was something different. There were tents and makeshift cabins now. Enough room for a bed and some more furniture, from the looks of things. What perplexed him were the crimson veins on the wall. They seemed to carry a faint fiery-orange glow to them. They were connected to a bunch of grooves and holes on the walls of the caverns. Something must've been mined from here. And he was betting that it ain't limestone.
Six crept through the tunnel, peaking into each tent and box. These were the living quarters alright. Probably where the survivors of the nuclear holocaust hunkered down after the fallout. The way blankets were laying around indicated that someone was still living here ages ago. All that's there now is dust. What disturbed him was the lack of bodies. Where did they go?
A rotting hand answered the question for him. Something bit into his arm and threw him out. As he scrambled back onto his feet a hunch-backed figure walked out of the tent. More would follow suit, hissing and growling at the heroes.
Ghouls. Ferals. And not your standard husks of them were Glowing Ones, others Reavers. They all wore scraps of lab coats, jumpsuits, or utility coveralls. A Glowing one unleashed a blast of radiation and his Geiger counter flickered to life. The zombie-like creatures charged at the company, forcing them back towards the elevator.
There were so many. Six counted at least a dozen or so. Even with Lily, they'd probably rip them apart. So he prioritized crippling their legs over killing them. He didn't expect the limbs to go flying off when the bullets hit, but he wasn't too concerned. The fallen Ghouls became living speedbumps, clogging up traffic behind them. Many tripped over their friends trying to reach their prey, but some did manage to leap over the piles. Lily's broadsword was the first to greet them.
Six plucked up a Plasma Grenade from his inventory and tossed it at the roadblock. Five of the Ferals were instantly reduced to glowing goo while more were crippled in some way or another. The ones at the far back were unharmed, though, and a Glowing One unleashed another blast. Any Ghoul retaining all of their limbs were healed and invigorated by the energy wave. Six took out That Gun and proceeded to retaliate.
Lily had a plan of her own, though; spring out from the shadows and pull a spin attack, hacking and slashing with her broadsword. Those that weren't caught in the whirlwind of death sped past her. Six ordered ED-E to shift his firing away from the Nightkin, not wanting to risk friendly fire. Both found themselves backing up against the elevator's doors as the rest of the swarm closed in. They could slip inside for protection but Six wasn't willing to leave Lily by herself. He didn't need to worry about her. She was already throwing some Reavers aside like ragdolls.
A Glowing One caught up to the human and unleashed its energy blast, knocking the human onto the ground. His robo-buddy wasn't fazed, though, and ED-E swiftly vaporized the abomination. The Reaver it fired on next wasn't so squishy and managed to bat the eyebot around like a tennis ball. A bullet pierced its throat before it could continue. ED-E stopped spinning to see the Courier rising back onto his feet.
Lily had squashed the last of the Ferals, whipping their radioactive blood off her hands with a smirk on her lips. "You said it, Leo," She said to no one in particular.
Six knelt down and inspected the bodies. Judging from the stage of necrosis they've been Ghouls for some time. Maybe months or even years, but that was him being generous. It's more likely that the majority have been here since before the Great War. Poor bastards probably had the misfortune of being Ghoulified when the bombs dropped. His Pip-Boy wasn't detecting any radiation nearby, though. Either they changed before arriving at the tunnels, or their transformation occurred further below.
The trio went back to scavenging through the abodes. Some caps and bullets here and there, the occasional preserved food package. It wasn't until they reached the end that they found something peculiar. There- resting in a makeshift workshop was a massive suit of power armor.
It bore some resemblance to the T-45, but seemed to be more heavily armored and updated. Six walked around it, taking note of the gaps in it. As he made his way to the back, he noticed a hatch. There was a round slot in the center of the wheel. Probably for a battery of some form. Turning it caused the whole thing to open up like a metallic flower blooming. Peering inside confirmed his suspicions when he saw the label inside; West-Tek.
Six climbed inside, the armor closing itself up like a venus flytrap. There were several gauges at the bottom of the helmet's internal HUD, along with some type of glowing image in the center-left corner. It also had an internal compass and motion tracker, not unlike his PIPboy's. There was a beeping sound as he tried to move the armor around. One of the gauges was flashing red, its arrow sitting right over the number 0. Didn't take a genius to deduce what that meant.
Six exited the armor, cursing under his breath. Bad enough that groups like the Brotherhood and NCR had access to suits like these. The thought of raiders or mercs wearing one of these bad boys sent shivers down his spine.
Let's hope this is the only unit here, He thought to himself.
There was another skeleton nearby. This time it belonged to a person in army rags. So the military (or at least some surviving troops) set up shop here. Probably to keep a lid on any potential protests or riots down here. In the fallen's pockets was another keycard. A blue one. Six snatched it up and ran back to the elevator. As soon as Lily and ED-E joined him, he slid the card in and pressed the blue button.
The sounds have gotten louder as they descended. Now it sounded like Hoover Dam. Was there another dam down here, or at least a waterfall? Just how deep was this place? He was in for another surprise when the doors slid open. Instead of rock and dirt, he found himself before a rusty metal garage. Like something out of a James Bond holofilm.
Six whipped the optics of his helmet before removing it, then rubbed his eyes. He wasn't hallucinating after all. All sorts of questions were running through his brain now. The sound of treadmills brought him back to reality though. Quickly he slipped on another Stealth Boy and crouched, while Lily extended the field to herself and ED-E.
Roving out from behind a ruined army truck was a Robobrain in green armor-plating. It glanced around for a moment before rolling down the hallway. Six and friends used the opportunity to sneak up the steps and into the nearest room. There wasn't anything too remarkable at first, just an office with a terminal and charging station for the robot. Six took a seat and brought up the computer's interface.
WARNING: Network offline. Please see Communications for restoring connections.
Six frowned in disappointment. He crouched back down and resumed exploring with his buds. More Robobrains were roaming the halls now. Their sheer size made it tricky to move around them. Lily had to squeeze against the wall just to slip by. At last they came across a room with the sign 'Communications' emboldened beside the door. They entered to find a room filled with terminals. One stood above the rest, literally speaking. It was on a separate floor behind a glass window, not unlike an Overseer's office.
The trio snuck up the steps to find a skeleton at the computer. Six gently removed and sat the bones on the floor. It was dressed in civilian attire, befitting a white-colar. He snatched a red keycard out of his shirt's pocket and examined it. The name on it reads Jane Doe. Slipping it into his pocket, he went to work on hacking the terminal. It took a few tries, but he managed to get the right password.
He smiled as the desktop was summoned before him.
Pluto Mining Company - Digging for glory, building an American future!
Security System
Inbox
Log out
Six selected the Inbox.
Sent
Received
Trash Bin
He inspected each tab. The only one with anything was the Trash bin. Looks like the people down here were rather paranoid, if the Robobrain was of any indication. What could they be hiding? Could it have something to do with Big MT?
A new energy source?
We have examined the item you shipped to us. And I must say this is quite the find. At first glance, it appears to be a mineral with a self-producing electrical charge. Our Gieger counters aren't reacting to the crystals, so it doesn't appear to be radioactive in nature. Further research into its energy output and generation is currently pending.
Pluto has always been looking for an avenue into the energy market but has hesitated due to Poseidon's monopoly on the industry. This could be an opportunity to compete against them. I'm looking forward to further studies of their miracle material.
~D. Walton
Hostile Takeover
Nick, we've got a situation. Word of our mysterious ore has been circling around the market. Someone's leaking our findings to every company within earshot. Damn bastards are probably orchestrating a buyout for one of the big boys. Our stockholders are already receiving offers from Poseidon Energy and something called "Big MT." It's not looking good mate.
I might have an idea, though. One of them's bound to buy us out eventually, but we can shift their attention towards each other for the time being. The CEO's gonna run an auction down here and demonstrate the substance we've been digging up. Try to get them to compete with one another. That'll buy us some time.
~S. Monday
Re: Status Report?
We're still analyzing our latest samples of Compound 061R10N1CN. We've been able to run some of our generators on the stuff, but we had to use small quantities. These crystals are pretty potent on their own but tend to lose stability the more they bunch together. One of our engineers was sent to the infirmary after being caught in an explosion between seven of them. His body is having a rather curious reaction to the particles in his system, though. There's too much to list on this email, though, so I'm sending you the medical report on a separate one.
We've also dug up something just the other day. There's an underground lake here, but that's not the weirdest thing. No, that honor belongs to what lies at the center of it. There's a small island with an… obelisk is the best way to describe it. Hard to tell if it's natural or artificial. As far as I can tell, it's carved from the same mineral we've been studying. Picking up a lot of energy spikes from it too.
We're setting up equipment around the lake as we speak. Hopefully, we'll have some answers before Halloween. Tell our new bosses up in the mountains to expect some treats in the coming week.
~B. Llyod
Six leaned back on the chair to process the intel. None of the Think Tank ever mentioned a deal like this before, let alone left records. If they knew anything about this place then they'd probably forgotten it by now. But it didn't explain why the raiders stole the satellite and dragged it down here. He had a feeling that the answers were down below.
He clicked on the security tab and found the robot's network. Turned out that it was locked behind a password. He frowned and logged off. Looks like he was gonna have to-
"Hello Mr. Lloyd!" Said a voice.
Six spun around and pointed a gun at the source. It was the Robobrain from earlier. But it hasn't attacked them yet. Wait, what did he call him?
"I see that you have finally awoken from your beauty sleep. You are, hmm… two hundred and six years, five months, three days, and thirty-eight hours late to your shift. Best get to it, sir."
The Robobrain rolled back downstairs after that. Lily and Six looked at one another, the former shrugging at the human. The two walked to the elevator, hoping that the other brain-jars were as merciful as the last one. Thankfully they noticed the card on Six's person and left them be. When they reached the lift Six inserted it into the slot and pressed the red button.
The elevator started going. Way down. Further than any of the previous floors. For over three minutes it did nothing but descend. How deep was this place? The waterfalls had gotten louder by now. Even Lily was starting to hear them. Now that he thought about it, he was starting to smell the lake too. Smelled like… the ocean? No, wait. Hold on…
The doors swung open again. Now they were staring at a large hallway with glass windows and sprinklers. This looked like a decontamination chamber if he ever saw one. Two steel doors slammed shut behind them as they exited the lift. A mist descended upon the heroes, much to ED-E's ire. Then he started chirping like mad. It didn't take long to see why; there was movement behind the other door.
The cloak had worn off as Six drew out That Gun. The blast doors began sliding to the side. No sooner than that he spotted something speeding their way. Something fast, something small. He instinctively raised his firearm and shot it. An explosion rocked the world and he was thrown to the ground.
Two projectiles bounced inside before he could reach. One gave off an EMP, knocking ED-E offline. Another clouded the chamber in a green mist and Lily started coughing and gagging. Six ran to her side and tried to hold her up, but she was too heavy. She collapsed onto the floor and went limp. Six checked her pulse. It was still there. That stuff merely knocked her out. Good thing his helmet had filt-
Something pierced his arm. He snarled and pulled out the offending object in question. A tiny dart. Before he could ponder any further he dropped to the floor in daze. The last thing he saw were figures striding up to him and a boot crashing into his skull.
Later…
Six awoke with a groan and a throbbing headache. When his vision cleared, he found himself surrounded by water and miniature islands. There was lab equipment littered everywhere, the purpose behind most of it lost to the ages. He was hovering in the air somehow. No, he was strapped onto something. But what-
He turned to see an agonized ebony face. He nearly screamed as he tried to move back but to no avail. He looked and saw more faces- more people. All of them are carved from the same substance. All of them fused to the same structure, screaming in agony. But wait, there was something off about some of them. Some of them had animal ears, tails, horns, even scales if one looked closely enough.
A 'psst!' caught his attention. He twisted his neck around to see a large gloved hand.
"Are you okay, dearie?" Asked Lily. He didn't need a good look at her to notice the concern.
"I'm fine," He whispered back. "Where's ED-E?"
Lily pointed somewhere ahead of Six. He looked to see a table holding a number of weapons and parts. The eyebot lay among them, dormant. The place was crawling with Raiders in strange armor. From the looks of things, they seemed to have salvaged it from robots. And speaking of which, there were some among them. Protectrons, Mister Gutsies, Eyebots, a Sentry bot or two. There was even a new kind of robot among them. From their head designs, he guessed that those were the Assualtrons he's been hearing about.
He took a glance at the ceiling. There was an opening at the top, allowing water to flow down and form waterfalls. So that's what he's been hearing. He also couldn't help but notice the glowing black crystals around him. They were all dead ringers to the ones left behind in the crater. This has to be where they came from.
He noticed flakes of them falling into the lake as well. There was a faint fiery glow underneath the currents. He looked right above him to see the tip of an obelisk. And there- strapped and welded around its tip- was the satellite. The way the panels moved was erratic, panicked. As if it were in pain. Any blue that had been on it was now blood-red. There were cables connected to it, and they ran all the way to a terminal further back.
There was a hulking figure there. His first guest was a Super Mutant, but he didn't see any green or gray skin. The way it moved about was also more mechanical. As it got closer into view he could see a frame underneath. The same type he climbed into earlier upstairs. The armor had been replaced with salvage and scrap metal. So these guys have a working set of Power Armor after all. He cursed under his breath.
He could hear the armored bandit speaking into something at his post. He had to squint his eyes, but he saw something small and rectangular. A radio? Was he receiving orders from someone? Was their mysterious friend the one behind the theft?
The obelisk and the crystals began to glow and hum. A surge of energy entered the Courier's body and began eating away at it. He tried to stifle a scream, but the pain was too much, even for him. He could faintly hear Lily under all the noise, dishing out death threats as she struggled to break free. Bit by bit he could feel his vitality fading. His Pip-Boy was spasming like crazy from all of the interference, flickering between every screen every second. And there was something building up inside of him too. Something primal. Something angry.
[Nerd Rage] With a howl he ripped his bindings off and rolled onto the floor. A surprised Raider tried to pull his 9mm pistol on him, but he was swept off of his feet with a ranger takedown. Six caught the weapon in midair and fired it at his exposed chest. Four bullets burrowed into his ribcage, probably hitting a vital organ by the sound of things. He found Lily's broadsword not too far from him and reclaimed it.
Dodging gunfire he ran back to the Nightkin and slashed at her chains. The Super Mutant let out a triumphant roar as she fell down to his level. The Courier handed her sword and she gently petted the top of his helm.
"Thank you, sweetie," She said. "Such a nice young man."
One of the goons rushed at her with a shishkebab but she grabbed and hoisted him up by his face. "But I can't say the same for these ungrateful bastards!" She howled as she crushed the marauder's skull. She threw his limp corpse aside and rushed into battle. Six used a couple of stimpaks to heal himself, his strength waning as his vitals stabilized.
He ran back to ED-E and plopped him onto the floor. Then he flipped the table over to use it as cover while he repaired the bot. Thankfully the EMP didn't do much. He just had to push the reset button inside. The robot buzzed back to life and flew over to its partner. It chirped and bleeped at him in a frenzied tone.
"Hey, you're not the only one with a headache," He retorted. "Now come on, we've got some scum to wipe off."
Six and ED-E charged into battle, raining bullets and lasers down on the opposition. The Raider chieftain drew out a missile launcher and began firing. He rolled to the side as a rocket flew by, ducking behind cover. He cast the pistol aside for his own and fired at another bandit's legs. He dropped to the floor and let out an agonizing howl, earning him a bullet to the head.
Lily leaped onto the platform where their leader stood and swung her broadsword at him. To her shock, the bastard caught it with one mechanical hand and shoved her back. Then he swung the launcher at her, but he missed. Six fired That Gun at him to draw his attention back to him. He rolled forward to dodge another rocket, but he wasn't able to fully escape the blast radius. The shockwave sent him tumbling forward into another raider.
The woman grabbed him by the shoulders and bashed her head against the hero's. She didn't think this through, though, and ended up splitting it open. Six was about to fire another round when he heard a whistling sound. He leaped into the water just in time to avoid being blown to bits. His opponent wasn't so lucky. Gibs flew everywhere, slashing the Courier in H2O and blood. Six swam for a bit before finding a platform to climb back onto.
By now Lily was engaging in fisticuffs with the Power Armored jackass. And from the looks of things they were evenly matched. The man had raw strength, but Lily had skill and experience under her belt. Eventually, he was able to grab and hoist her up above his head before throwing her onto another platform below. He hopped off down with the aim to crush her skull under his hydraulic boot, but she rolled away in time to dodge it.
When the dust cleared, she was gone. He looked around frantically before his suit came under fire. Six had drawn out the All-American and was chipping away at the armor with it. A sizzling sound popped up behind the raider and he turned around to see Lily decloak just in time for her to ram into him. He was thrown off the platform and into the lake. It didn't look like he was walking out of it any time soon.
An Assualtron ran towards her, its optics glowing like a fireball. Six knew what was coming and tried to warn her. He didn't need to, as she twisted its head around and redirected the blast at some Raiders. They all turned to ash. Then she ripped the machine's head off and tossed it aside. Another one lashed it with a flurry of punches, but she blocked them with her sword.
Meanwhile, Six and ED-E were hiding from laser and missile fire. A Sentrybot had joined the battle and was unloading its ammunition on them. This model was larger than the other ones he fought before. To make matters worse it had grenade launchers attached to its backside. One of its frag grenades managed to get behind their cover, causing them to panic and run further back before it detonated. They were in for another surprise when its armored chassis rammed into Six's back.
Six flew headfirst into a pile of scrap. ED-E provided covering fire while the human dug himself out. It tried to ram him again, but Six managed to dodge the attack. Then it just... shutdown. It lay motionless as panels and pistons opened up on its back, glowing red. Six reached his hand out but pulled back. That steam was boiling hot! Wait. Was it overheating? He could make out something in the center of its back. A battery?
The panels closed back up and the Sentrybot resumed its assault. Six threw out an EMP grenade, stunning the drone. He drew up his Plasma Defender and fired at the arms. One of them shorted out and crumbled apart. The Sentrybot came back online and fired a cluster of grenades at Six. He kept dodging until the robot overheated again and ordered ED-E to soot the battery. The Eyebot compiled and destroyed its power source. Then the robo-tank self-destructed with the force of a mini-nuke.
Two more raiders- twins if their faces were of any indication- rushed at him with shishkebabs alit. He drew out Chance's Knife and proceeded to dance around the crooks. One of them went for a vertical swing but Six stopped it by jamming the dagger into their wrist. With a twist he severed their hand, earning a horrified cry.
The other one came to his aid and managed to press the blade against his breastplate. Six coughed and gagged as the heat slithered past the armor and into his organs. He kicked the raider between the legs and shoved them back. While they were clutching their prized jewels the Courier bashed in their skull cap with the blunt end of his knife. Forcing the scum onto their knees he jammed the blade into said cap and twisted it around. The man's eyes twitched as his corpse fell to the ground.
The first twin went berserk and charged at the Courier with their remaining fist. Six merely sidestepped and slashed at his throat midcharge. The man toppled and slid across the earth, drowning in his own blood. One more jumped from cover to fire what appeared to be a pipe pistol at him. A blast from the Plasma Defender reduced him to a glowing goop. ED-E had been dealing with a couple of Protectrons, with some type of cryo-weapon grafted onto their arms. Neither got close enough to test them out.
Six examined the chamber around him. The floor and lake were littered with scrap and gore. Lily was splattered in blood and motor oil, giving the Courier a sheepish grin and thumbs up. The hero stepped up onto the platform with the giant terminal and tpok a seat. He brought up the machine's interface and waited.
Welcome Mr. Jigsaw! Please present your fingerprint in the scanner.
Six growled. That was the raider in Power Armor, wasn't it? Bastard probably drowned in it after his tango with Lily. Getting a hand off of his corpse is gonna be a pain in the-
An explosion hit the computer, sending Six rolling down onto the platform below. He reared his head to see a lone raider with a missile launcher walking up towards them. He was soaking wet, leaving a trail of water where he went. He couldn't help but notice a tattoo on the man's left check. No, not a tattoo. A black crystal. The same kind littered all around them.
"You got some fucking nerve coming here, asshole," Jigsaw snarled.
"And you have the balls to steal from Big MT," Six shot back.
The Raider chieftain raised an eyebrow. "Bit MT? They the eggheads that built that doohickey?" He pointed at the satellite.
"Yeah, and it's also my property."
Jigsaw laughed. "Your property? That's not what I heard. Last I checked, that thing was built by Robobrains. Fucking brains in jars!"
Now it was Six's turn to laugh. "Robobrains? Who gave you that brahmin-"
The computer exploded. A surge of pinkish energy trailed through the cable connecting it to the satellite. The instrument began flashing every shade of warm colors, from red to orange to yellow to brown and back around. The look on Jigsaw's face screamed 'oh shit'.
"Look what you fucking did, retard!" He screeched.
"Me? You're the one with the missile launcher, remember?"
Jigsaw growled and let out a deranged battle cry. Six thought he was gonna fire at him again, but no. No, he had a different target in mind. He was unloading everything onto the ceiling above. And the structure in turn was crumbling down on everyone.
"Time to go!" Six shouted.
Now the obelisk was glowing like a bonfire. That same energy was being emitted from it and snaking around in the air. The trio were running back to the elevator but Lily was thrown forward by one of the raider's rockets. Before she could get back up, she was locked in the decontamination chamber. She banged on the doors and clawed at them, but she couldn't open them.
Six and ED-E fared no better. He tried Plasma grenades but they hardly made a dent. His first instinct was to kill Jigsaw and grab the missile launcher. Maybe shoot off the blast doors with it and escape. But fate had other plans. A piece of the ceiling crushed him and his weapon, with the missiles inside detonating from the pressure. Six's hope of escape died with the raider.
The last thing he saw was the satellite exploding, unleashing a wave of the alien force. It enveloped him and ED-E, shorting out the former. Six felt something burning up on his leg and looked down to see the Transportalponder. Realizing what was happening, he threw it off of his person and watched it explode into a ball of blue-and-crimson flames. He fell onto his knees as the energy sapped him of his strength. Then darkness took him.
The blast doors finally opened. Lily ran out to assess the situation. She called out for the Courier and ED-E but she got no response. She searched the whole cavern for them, flipping every rock and pile of scrap over. She even dove into the lake itself, but all she found was the bastard's Power Armor. She found no trace of the hero or his robotic friend.
But then she stepped on something. There, lying on the ground was the Courier's teleporter. Smoldering and sparking like mad. She initially reached down to pick it up, but suddenly she fell onto her hands and knees. He lost the strength to pick it up. It finally dawned on her what became of the hero and robot.
For the first time since her transformation into a Super Mutant, she wept. The closest thing she had to a grandson was gone.
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 originally split in half when I first typed it up. I split it up because I thought that 12 thousand words were too much for the beginning. I usually try to keep my stuff around 10K or below. After cramming over 20K into Chapter 10, I thought I'd go back and stitch the prologue back together. Hope deleting the old half didn't cause any issues for y'all.
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).