Arc 1 - Legacy of the Capital
Chapter 1
Wayward Wanderer
The restlessness of the nights grew maddening ever since leaving vault 101.
"Wake up! Come on... you've GOT to wake up!" Amata's voice rang.
She sat upright in bed, attempting to stare dazedly into Amata, but suddenly her childhood friend vanished... her small, air-conditioned bedroom, with the metal walls and the Grognak poster hanging crookedly overhead... was gone. Instead, she found herself crouching in the Metro Tunnel again, fresh out of the vault... hunched behind a trash can, hiding desperately from the horrible ear-splitting gunshots flying amok all around her... her heart hammered... no... not this again... anything but...
Sandra shot bolt upright, glimpsing around frantically and trying to figure out where she was. The scent hit her like a bag of bricks. Yes—the smell of mildew and rot, the familiar scent of Underworld.
She'd paid for a room for the night so that she and Charon could, for once, actually sleep on a couple of comfortable old mattresses. Her black gothic tank top was sticking to her torso in some places, her body coated in sweat, her heart still pounding uncomfortably.
It'd been weeks since she finally earned the money to purchase Charon's contract, and ever since then, Sandra was finally able to venture the wasteland somewhat safely. She knew since the first day traveling the Capital by herself, she wouldn't be able to continue the journey on her own; she'd almost died more times than she could count.
Now, accompanied by Charon the ghoul, who served as a magnificent bodyguard, Sandra felt much more comfortable traveling. Charon wasn't the most social individual. In fact, he rarely spoke unless Sandra spoke to him first... but he was the closest thing to a friend she'd obtained thus far, and despite him only being in her company because she owned his contract, Sandra was overwhelmingly relieved to have armed and combat-ready company now.
"Mistress," his raspy voice spoke, breaking through her thoughts.
Sandra, sitting in her rented bed and halfway wrapped in a thick, musty blue blanket, glanced upward.
Charon marched into the room and crossed his arms, examining her distantly. He was wearing the sunglasses she'd gotten for him, but she suspected that he only wore them because she'd asked him to once a few days back, and he always seemed to take his orders seriously. He'd even been wearing the sunglasses at night time.
"Is there anything that you require of me at the moment?" Charon asked.
Sandra let out a long, shaky breath. "No. No, I'm... fine."
"I didn't ask if you were fine. I asked if you needed anything," Charon growled. "Breakfast... water."
"No," Sandra said more forwardly. Charon was very blunt, and often needed very straightforward orders, which was something Sandra was still getting used to. "I'll buy us both something to eat when we head out today. Don't worry about it."
Charon let out a muffled grumble, then made his way to the nearby desk and sank into the chair. He began fidgeting with his combat shotgun, examining it and presumably trying to determine whether or not it required any repairs.
Sandra hadn't realized that her eyes were lingering on him.
Her life had become incredibly lonely ever since she was driven out of Vault 101 almost a month ago. She was still in pursuit of her runaway father, and she wouldn't be able to get to him without finding this Three Dog DJ. Gob gave her a tip back in Megaton indicating that her father was headed to Galaxy News Radio—and Sandra, in all her 19-year-old impulsiveness and wit, ended up getting lost and nearly killed three times now.
So, after assisting Reilly's Rangers escape from the hospital filled with mutants, and barely getting away with her own life in the process, Sandra was rewarded, and she was finally able to purchase that old contract from Ahzrukhal that'd been on her mind ever since her first visit to Underworld.
Something about that tall, intimidating, quiet ghoul always standing in the corner of the bar seemed to captivate her attention...
She'd never forget the day she finally got the money that Ahzrukhal demanded for the contract. She knew she wasn't right for it, but she was overjoyed to buy herself a friend, even though she didn't believe in slavery or the ownership of someone else's person. Still, better than nothing.
Sandra swiped her bangs aside, her shining blue eyes still resting on Charon across the room. Her hair was short and shoulder length, and it shone a deep crimson in the proper lighting. She didn't have any armor at the moment, as she couldn't afford it; the closest thing to armor she owned was the armored vault suit Moria had fashioned out of her old vault outfit.
And after dressing herself in the wasteland-ready vault suit, Sandra draped her backpack over her shoulders, double checked her 44 magnum, and approached Charon, who was still sitting quietly at the desk.
"Ready to head out?" she asked him.
Charon glared up at her, cradling his shotgun. "If you are, Mistress."
"You don't have to call me that," Sandra said. "I told you... you can just call me by my name."
"And that's fine for you, Mistress, but I was raised not to defy my contractual obligations for any reason whatsoever. Referring to my contractual employer as an equal falls under that category. I'm obliged to refer to you as such," Charon explained almost grumpily. "I'm sorry if that's not pleasing to you."
"So... you're defying me in order not to defy me?" Sandra said, smirking. "That's... weird."
"I'm doing what I've always done. That's all," Charon replied.
"You don't have to act the way you used to... I'm not..." Sandra began, unable to specify exactly what she meant. "I'm not..."
Charon stood from his seat and strapped on his own camo-colored backpack. He held his shotgun loosely by his side as he watched her and waited for her to finish; he was easily a foot taller than her, if not more.
"I'm not... I'm not into this 'contractual obligation' stuff. I don't believe in it," Sandra told him. "I just want you to call me Sandra."
"Mistress," Charon responded. "I'm sorry. I'm not at the liberty to defy my contract, regardless of your beliefs regarding it."
Sandra sighed. "Okay... one step at a time, I guess... whaddoya want for breakfast?"
Charon blinked at her from behind his sunglasses. "Whatever you wish me to have."
"No, Charon, what do you like?" Sandra pestered him. "Whatever it is, I'll grab us some."
Charon exhaled. "Very well... steak."
"Steak? What kind?"
"Any kind you like, Mis-"
"No no no—tell me what you want!"
"Brahmin, dammit!" Charon snarled irritably, then sighed and quickly composed himself. "Ugh... I... apologize."
"Don't apologize, dipshit," Sandra smirked. "You're allowed to get annoyed. See... that means you're not a freaking robot. Come on!"
Sandra gave him a friendly tug on the arm and gestured for him to follow her out of the room. She purchased two brahmin steaks and two ice cold Nukacolas. They hardly had the money to get by, but they wouldn't be living without quality, she'd see to that.
After their meal, Sandra wandered into the Capital Wasteland again, wide-eyed and marveling at the wonderous post-apocalyptic world that she once thought she'd never have the privilege to lay eyes upon, Charon following along silently and seriously along the way.
The two traveled the DC wastes for hours, finding little trouble on the roads and taking extra care to dodge the more dangerous areas and duck behind walls of debris when they heard the distant echoing voices of raiders on the air.
"Charooon!"
Sandra darted up two large chunks of debris, then climbed her way atop a massive pile of rocks and overlooked as much of the inner city as she could see. It was about ten in the morning, and the sunlight's glare over the Capital was oddly gorgeous.
"Oh for..." Charon grumbled irritably. "Mistress... I wouldn't advise you be up there, or you might—"
"Oh shi—"
THUMP.
Charon sighed irritably, pinching the bridge of his nose. "... fall."
Sandra had toppled off the edge of the mound of rubble, but she landed safely on her side, with no injuries other than a slight twinge in the elbow she'd landed on. She reached her feet, dusting herself off and peering up the street curiously.
"Oh!" Sandra exclaimed, fixing her gaze on an interesting area ahead, the remains of a shambled building, complete with makeshift pathways and bridges extending from one platform to another. "Hey. Looks like somebody made something out of that place... wonder who lives there."
She sprinted toward the intriguing place at once.
Charon sighed.
He hurried his pace, quickly tailing after the lone wanderer as she drew dangerously close to the new area. And just when Sandra looked away, Charon caught a glint of movement out of the corner of his eye...
"Mistr—"
BANG BANG BANG!
"I'LL WEAR YOUR BONES—AROUND MY NECK!"
The sudden shouting and gunfire startled Sandra so badly, she ducked for cover behind a cylindrical fallout shelter nearby, narrowly concealing herself behind it and bashing her knees on the concrete when she'd hit the ground. She slammed a hand on the opening mechanism numerous times, and when the door to the tiny shelter finally slid open, she leaped inside and leaned against the metal wall, her heart thrashing and her breaths rapid.
The gunshots continued to echo outside, as well as the barely comprehensible shouts of the super mutants.
Charon advanced; his skill with his combat shotgun was always something to behold. He obliterated the first super mutant with no difficulty, then swiftly stepped out of the line of fire for the second, raised his gun, and fired again. The second super mutant's head erupted into a mess of bone and gore, and its huge body hit the ground like a giant sack of potatoes.
Hearing the return fire outside—a jolt of fear shot through Sandra in an instant.
Charon…!
Sandra's handgun was held at the ready now; she slipped outside, and when she met eyes with the final super mutant, her finger hammered the trigger.
The gun's recoil jolted her wrist backward as she fired, and she didn't stop until the revolver had emptied itself. The super mutant fell due to numerous shots—Sandra's 44 rounds as well as an endless flow of 5.56 fired from elsewhere.
When the super mutants were dead, Sandra glimpsed around until she spotted Charon standing yards away, thankfully unharmed. And, just across the jagged pathways, she saw a few heavily armored individuals carrying assault rifles, all of them eyeing her rather intently.
Sandra blinked at them. She gave Charon a curious look, then strolled up to the armored strangers with curious intrigue.
One of them removed its helmet, revealing the face of a pretty young blonde woman.
"Look... I don't know who you are, but you shouldn't be here," the blonde said shortly. "This isn't the place for an outsider to just... blunder in."
"Uh-huh. Who're you?" Sandra asked, ignoring the girl's attitude.
"I'm Sarah Lyons, of the Lyon's Pride. We're clearing out the super mutant infestation to secure Galaxy News Radio," Sarah explained. "And you...?"
"Just... trying to get to the radio place," Sandra told her. "Uhm..."
"All right, you can tag along. Just keep your head down, and try not to do anything... stupid," Sarah said, then turned away and began barking orders at her comrades.
Sandra faced Charon and waved for him to follow.
Charon, arms folded and expression grim, stepped toward her. The two of them tailed at the back of the Brotherhood group.
"Mistress. If I may speak freely..." Charon uttered, stealing small glances at the environment as they walked.
"'Course. You don't have to ask," Sandra replied simply.
"This place is not safe," Charon told her. "And storming into a super mutant infestation is completely fucking st—"
He stopped and sighed, then finished.
"It's... unwise. Completely unwise."
"So? We have to get to the radio station," Sandra replied as she quickened her pace.
Charon's reddish face formed into a scowl.
Today would be the day, Sandra knew. Her body filled with a static-like anxiousness as she marched along, filling to the brim with hope and excitement. Today would be the day she'd get whatever information she needed to find her father. Hell, she might just see him again before sundown...
The Brotherhood members were rallying at the end of the alleyway, muttering to one another and scoping out the area ahead as they determined what their plan of action would be. Sandra cradled her 44, blinking and watching them ominously. In her partly armored vault outfit, she didn't fit in with this crowd of well-trained and heavily armored individuals at all, but it felt nice to be surrounded by professionals, at least.
The Lyon's Pride stormed in, and when the super mutants revealed themselves, they eliminated all the muties without breaking a sweat. Sandra simply strolled along behind them. She and Charon didn't have to lift a finger now.
"Reddin. Cover my ass!" one of them yelled to their initiate member, who obliged and fired off more rounds than necessary at the nearest mutant.
Sandra and Charon followed them until they made their way through another broken down building. They gathered at the end of the place, and across the way, Galaxy News Radio was finally in sight. It was surrounded with at least five more super mutants.
The Brotherhood flooded out of the building and began their assault again, gunshots ringing through the air. Sandra emerged, and this time, she decided to join in the fun. She fired off two rounds, nailing two of the muties one after the other. When the mutants fell, everyone stood in the clearing and looked at one another.
"Yeah!" Reddin cheered, holding down the trigger of her assault rifle and firing into the air.
"Cut that out! You're wasting ammo!" her mentor scolded.
"Aw, come on. We just kicked their asses," Reddin replied. "I don't see why we can't... wait... d'you hear that?"
All of them glanced around.
There was a low, distant rumbling echoing somewhere off in the city.
Sarah Lyons began pointing in different directions, ordering her people into their positions. Reddin charged toward a large junk wall before receiving her orders, gun held high and ready and waiting to kill whatever might show up.
The tremors became thicker.
The ground shook every few seconds, almost as though a gigantic beast was stomping through the Capital...
Sandra looked between the other Brotherhood members and the lone initiate, separated from all of them. Reddin's mentor called out to her.
"Reddin! Get outta there!"
Reddin looked over her shoulder, unable to hear them clearly.
Sandra, feeling suddenly panicked, darted toward Reddin. She was in danger...
"Mis—"
BAAAAAAAAANG
The junk wall came apart in a great explosion. Reddin was obliterated, and Sandra went flying.
A towering behemoth mutant charged into the scene, crackling the concrete underneath its monstrous body as it swung its enormous club around, hoping to squish the humans below. The Brotherhood attacked immediately, and Charon began firing off 12-gauge rounds.
The monster zeroed in on Sarah, making a forceful swing and sending her soaring through the air. The club made a loud, echoing CLANK when it met with her Brotherhood armor.
Charon caught sight of Sandra, who was lying crookedly in front of the broken fountain yards away from him. She stumbled to her feet, dazed and disoriented, then marched forward and prepared to join the fight, completely oblivious to whatever injuries she might have had; the behemoth was the object of everyone's frantic attention.
The behemoth took a step too close to Charon, crunching the ground only a foot away from where he stood.
Sandra appeared by Charon's side, then unloaded her revolver into the beast's leg. When the gun had emptied, the behemoth became enraged by the pain in its leg; it delivered a rough kick, knocking Sandra into Charon.
They both flung through the air and over the fountain, landing harshly and awkwardly on the pavement, sprawled over one another.
"Uuurgh... you... idiot," Charon grumbled as he tried to sit upright with Sandra lying on top of him. "You just irritated the goddamn thing."
"It almost crushed you, stupid!" Sandra shot back angrily, attempting to lever herself off of Charon and failing, as her balance was attempting to abandon her now, and everything had become incredibly rapid and hazy.
"You're making my job real damn difficult, Mistress," Charon exhaled. "Don't blunder in, goddammit... just let me handle it."
"I don't want you to do everything!"
"I don't CARE what you want!"
Charon stood in one swift movement and tightened the grip on his shotgun. '
"Just shut up and let me do my job—let me protect you!"
Together, Charon and the Brotherhood tore through the gigantic mutant like tissue. When the monster was riddled with bullets, it finally stumbled and began to collapse.
It had a long, dramatic fall, landing lopsided atop the old broken fountain and making the ground shake with a slight, dull tremor.
A silence fell.
The rest happened in a quiet blur, everyone wandering into the building and feeling rattled to the core, trying to gather themselves and shake off the imminent battle fatigue weighing heavily on all of them.
During the time when Sandra stood in the DJ room of Galaxy News Radio— Charon stood behind her as she spoke with Three Dog. He hadn't realized that his frustrated thoughts were beginning to elevate beyond his control, or that he'd been glaring angrily at Three Dog from over Sandra's shoulder for seemingly no reason. He simply stood stock still at the top of the stairs, waiting for their conversation to be finished.
"So, basically... get this satellite thing, fix the radio signal, and you'll tell me where Dad went?" Sandra clarified, trying to mask her disappointment.
"That's right," Three Dog confirmed, spotting the look of despair on her face. "I'm sorry, kid... I wouldn't ask it of ya' if it wasn't of the utmost importance. And tell ya' what... when you get back here, you have a round on me. I'll have a couple of clean beds and cold Nukas waiting for you both. Sound good?"
Sandra nodded and gave him a polite half-smile, then turned to leave with Charon following closely behind.
They both left the radio station and marched past the dead behemoth, as well as Sarah Lyons and her followers mourning their dead initiate. Sandra glanced at them sadly in passing, then continued onward.
She and Charon strolled through the city silently for about half an hour.
"Mistress." Charon's raspy voice eventually broke the quietness. "We're headed back towards Underworld. There will be more mutants in our path very soon."
"I know," Sandra told him without stopping. "We have to get... to this other museum... here." She fiddled with the map on her pip-boy, tapping the screen. "We're not far."
"That doesn't solve the problem," Charon grumbled. "Just keep the eyes peeled."
They walked in silence for another moment.
"Charon. Can I ask you something?" Sandra said as she peered around, taking in the sights of the inner city.
"You're entitled to ask me anything you like," Charon replied.
"Are you..."
It took her a moment to verbalize her thoughts properly.
"Are you only looking after me because you have to?"
Charon blinked at her from behind. "I don't understand."
"I mean… is the contract the only thing keeping you around?" Sandra said. "Do you care about being like... friends, or something?"
Charon continued marching along, his feet crunching a few loose rocks as he did. He didn't answer right away.
"I've never had any," he told her. "So… I don't know. I've had employers. Nothing else."
"It doesn't have to be that way anymore." Sandra spun around and began to walk backwards, making eye contact with Charon. "I didn't just buy your contract so I'd have someone to take a bullet for me. You and I are both pretty lacking in friends out here. That's kinda why I thought we'd be good together."
"Whatever you wish," Charon agreed dismissively.
"No, I want you to want to. I don't want you to agree just because I want you to," Sandra argued. "You don't have to do what I want just because I want it."
Charon blinked. "What?"
"I mean... just… give me your honest thoughts. What do you want?"
"Nothing."
"Liar. You're angry underneath, and I can see it. Hell, you let that anger out all over your last employer. You're passionate under there. So what do you want?"
"I want to do my job. Nothing else."
"I don't believe you."
"Suit yourself."
"Dude, you wouldn't have executed Azrhukal if you didn't have more going on in your head—"
"That was different. I don't feel the need to do anything like that now. I just wanna do my job."
"Pfff. I know you want more than that out of life—"
"Will you please—just—shut up?!"
They'd both stopped walking at this point, and they glared into one another heatedly.
Then, Sandra let slip a smirk.
"Sorry for speaking out of turn," Charon growled almost forcefully. "Mistress."
"No, don't be sorry. I want you to talk to me like an equal. Now we're getting somewhere."
"For fuck's sake..."
"Come on. Please?"
"I don't—"
BANG
Sandra ducked swiftly down to the pavement.
She rolled around and whipped out her 44—and with the quick movement of her arm, a searing pain struck down her shoulder. She'd been shot; it was only a flesh wound, but a deep and burning one where her shoulder had been grazed.
The sound of deep, maniac laughter filled the air.
The mutant revealed himself, rifle at the ready—
BANG BANG BANG.
Charon unloaded three rounds; the mutant crumbled and hit the cement.
When two more mutants emerged from behind the nearby cars, Charon yanked Sandra to her feet and began pulling her away from the threat. They retreated behind the closest building as the echoing sound of gunshots filled the city.
"Fucking—!"
"Don't! Dipshit—let me handle it!"
Sandra was livid; she attempted to break free of Charon's grasp, her revolver clenched tightly in her hand, but the ghoul had a firm hold on her. He held her against the wall until she stopped resisting him, then raised his shotgun and began toward the building's edge.
Sandra, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and the blood trickling down her sleeve, was close behind him.
Charon fired off a fourth shot the second one of the mutants entered his view; the beast hit the ground, and the second one was close by, gun raised—
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.
Sandra hammered her trigger, unleashing almost all her bullets within seconds.
The second mutant went limp and fell to the concrete.
There was a small silence following their close victory.
"Well that was fun," Sandra said, wincing as she examined her wound. "Let's go."
"You've gotta be... seriously... Mistress... we're still going down this road? Down this... mutant-infested fucking road?" Charon complained as Sandra marched off. "You got a goddamn deathwish…?"
"There's no other way there. We kill everything in our path, and we'll be fine." Sandra responded with a strange nonchalance. She slipped her hand into her bag and pulled out a few loose medical supplies, and she began dressing her injury as she walked. "Come on."
Charon crossed his arms and grumbled to himself, rolling his eyes at the sky and growling several curses under his breath as he followed suit.