Chapter 63 - No Rest For The Post-Living
"Courier." Ulysses nodded, not moving from his spot, as he spotted the familiar figure emerging from the sandstorms of the Divide, followed closely by a second. "And..."
Ulysses blinked, his words dying in his throat.
"..."
""...""
"... found a new companion, Courier?" Ulysses finally tried.
"Hell no!" Ruby protested, glaring at the Courier.
"Fuck no!" Pyrrha spat back, glaring at the Lone Wanderer. "She's just a brat who can't mind her fucking business."
"I'm telling you, my partner and teacher is my goddamn business!" Ruby exclaimed angrily.
"Your partner and teacher?" Ulysses echoed, a feeling of premonition descending upon him.
"Ignore her, Ulysses." Pyrrha interjected, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I need your help. It's about Jaune."
Ulysses blinked again, and looked back and forth, between the Courier, and the power-armored swordsman, involuntary understanding slowly dawning on him.
Truly, ignorance was a bliss.
Before he could say anything, Pyrrha clarified: "A week ago, House asked Jaune to check out a crashed satellite. Four hours after that, House informed me that Jaune disappeared without a trace... after noting that the satellite bore the words "BIG MT"."
Ulysses's heart froze, as he processed the last few words.
"So that's what happened to Jaune?!" Ruby shrieked, rounding on the Courier. "And you never told me?!"
"It's none of your fucking business, blasphemous heathen." Pyrrha snarled defensively. "I didn't ask you to follow me!"
"We could have helped!" Ruby shouted back. "The Brotherhood's got access to technology that not even House could dream of!"
Ulysses felt like laughing bitterly, as he processed the swordsman's words.
Fate and history were cruel mistresses, it seemed.
Instead, he cut into the conversation, shaking his head as he warned: "Leave your technology. Brotherhood of Steel... already been tested, and found wanting, by the rulers of the Big Empty."
That immediately got their attention.
"You've been to the Big Empty?" Pyrrha demanded.
"What do you mean, tested and found wanting?" Ruby added.
Ulysses sighed, and motioned to the campfire he'd been sitting at, inviting them to join him.
As the pair refused, he merely shook his head, and began: "Finding the crater, the Big Empty, was an accident. Was following the weather patterns; the Divide sky torn like that, man's violence, not nature's. That violence in the sky, had a source. Tracked it. Like following a river current.
"When I thought sand and wind would never end... came to the crater. And there... there was an Old World facility, a weather station, at the edge, still raking the sky with electricity and generators. And beyond it... saw the rest of the Old World hell there, all carved up like garden plots. Had to see what was there, couldn't leave it be.
"Things sleep in the Big Empty, the Brotherhood woke them up. Can't move quiet, any more than the two-headed Bear can. And when they woke up, it was like all of history waking up at once. Almost didn't make it out. Almost. Left with answers I never intended."
"What did you find there, Ulysses?" Pyrrha urged her fellow Courier.
"What did the Brotherhood do there?" Ruby frowned, wondering what the hell the Mojave chapter had done.
"There's old stories about gods and men, past history, into myth - where the gods, they're like children... petulant, cruel." Ulysses continued, shaking his head, fighting to control the trembling in his hands. "Those were the voices of the Big Empty, the past. Couldn't leave well enough alone, had to ask. Had to ask the why of it.
"Their answers were madness. And power, stronger than me, would take a hundred Elijahs... someone tougher than him or I to best them in their Dome. They didn't know why they were there, what had led to that point, their names - like serpents devouring themselves, cannibalizing their own thoughts. When all seemed lost, thought it was the end - my anger gave me strength to ask them my last question."
"Who are you, that you do not know your own history." Pyrrha breathed, remembering the question he'd thrown at her.
"Yes." Ulysses nodded. "That question... awoke them. For... a short time.
"The flag you wear, they said. We remember. America.
"It wasn't just a flag to them... it was a place, an idea they had cared for. Once. They told me what it was like to grow in that world... all they had done to lift it up... protect it. They... didn't know it was gone, that...
"...yet they had cared once. Before forgetting their history.
"And I...
"In my anger, my grief, my obsession, I listened. I asked. I showed them the package the Courier had brought from Navarro. And the rulers of the Big Empty taught me how to awaken the giants in the heart of the Divide."
"That's how you launched that nuke, wasn't it..." Pyrrha breathed, finally putting the pieces together. The Big Empty... was a secret treasure trove of Old World Tech, ruled by some ancient madmen.
"Wait, you're the one who tried to nuke the Long 15?!" Ruby almost drew her sword.
"I was." Ulysses admitted. "The Crocea Mors showed me the error of my ways... showed me another road. And until I am ready to walk it, I remain here, ensuring no mistakes of our past emerge from this road, to haunt us once more."
"Jaune said he deserved a second chance, as we all do." Pyrrha defended the other Courier.
"..." Ruby just looked at the two couriers, before sighing, and sliding her sword back into her sheath, murmuring: "It's Jaune..."
"So... who's this Elijah you mentioned?" Pyrrha finally asked, watching Ruby cautiously, refusing to let her folly interfere with the Arc-Angel's grand plans. "Can he help us get Jaune back from the Big Empty?"
"Father Elijah... no." Ulysses shook his head. "Former Elder. Disgraced. Fled, after HELIOS ONE. Fell so far that another Brotherhood member came to kill him. Failed, though. In the end, I pointed him to the Sierra Madre. That's a special kind of hell. He won't come back. Someone smarter, tougher's going to kill him, if the Madre doesn't. Maybe Christine's even succeeded, after all this time..."
"Former Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel?" Pyrrha shared a look with Ruby, her gaze lacking hostility for once. "Do you know anything about it?"
"I'm from the Capital Wasteland, remember?" Ruby shook her head. "Different Elder, different doctrines. I'll be sure to pass it on to the current Elders, ask what they know. But in the mean time..."
"We should make haste to the Divide." Ulysses gravely intoned, finally rising from his spot by the fire. He'd been chewing on it, and he'd finally come to a conclusion. "I know not who would win, between the Crocea Mors and the Gods of the Big Empty, but I do know this. If they manage to control him, as they have many others... there is nothing that could stop them from inflicting their cruel sadism upon the rest of the Wasteland. East and West, Bull and Bear... all would fall."
-UAC ARGENT FACILITY, MARS-
"What did the Brahmin say to the Deathclaw?"
"..."
"Uh... knock knock?"
"..."
"... I guess you sure rendered them 'armless, right?"
"..."
It had been fifteen minutes, and Jaune Arc was ready to throw in the towel.
He'd tried everything, even a few of Moira's and Ruby's material from the Wasteland Survival Guide (original copy, signed by him, Moira Brown, and Ruby Ironwood) with absolutely no effect!
He really couldn't tell whether he'd had the fortune of running into a Yang with a proper sense of humor, or the misfortune of running into a Yang without one!
Honestly, it felt like he was trying to talk to a statue, as the power armored figure had simply continued storming forward, and he tried to keep up.
The most life he'd seen out of it so far had been when it had poked him and snorted (he didn't know why, but he felt insulted), and when he had asked what had happened, to which it had just growled and pointed a finger down.
He didn't know whether it was saying they came from below, or if it would bury him if he continued asking questions.
Suddenly, his Aura screamed at him, and he warned the figure: "Movement ahead."
The figure looked down at him, slowing down momentarily, before it looked back up, and cracked its knuckles.
Jaune just shook his head and sighed, as the figure began sprinting forward like a charging bull.
Yup.
This was definitely, without a doubt, a Yang Xiao-Long.
He pulled out his pistol, and ran after the figure, before coming across a bloody corridor.
The good news was, there didn't seem to be any more of the weird fireball-throwing creatures, or giant eyeless behemoths.
Instead, the room was full of what he could only describe as zombies.
The figure simply stood motionless, staring at them, before staring at him.
Then, to his surprise, the figure pointed at him, before pointing at them.
Jaune blinked.
The figure repeated it's gesture once more, much more slowly this time.
"You... want me to take them out?" Jaune asked.
The figure nodded.
"Uh... okay, I guess..." Jaune murmured, taking careful aim.
One.
Two.
Three-
The barrel of his gun suddenly jerked up, and he looked up, startled, to find the figure gripping it.
"Hey!" Jaune protested. He didn't exactly have many 5.56mm rounds left! "What gives?!"
As if to reply, the figure simply yanked the gun out of his hands, before gently kicking him into the room.
He said "gently" because he'd seen it cave a creature's skull in with a stomp, but it was still hard enough to almost knock him on his ass.
He glared back at the figure, who simply made a dismissive motion of with its hand, waving him forward.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." Jaune murmured. Bad enough his afterlife was full of monsters that cut through Aura like it was nothing, but now he was in the clutches of a Yang who was apparently also a Glynda Goodwitch.
Something told him the figure wasn't going to relent, though, and so he drew his sword and shield, and charged into the horde.
A small slaughter later, he stared at the figure, as it effortlessly lifted two zombies by the neck, looking at him expectantly.
He raised his sword, preparing to finish them off.
The figure growled and shook its head.
"... what do you mean, no?!" Jaune felt like he was playing the weirdest game of charades in his life.
The figure nodded towards his sword, before jerking its head to the floor.
"You... don't want me to use my sword?" Jaune asked.
The figure stared blankly at him, though he could swear he could feel its eyes rolling.
"... then what do you want me to use?!" Jaune demanded in frustration.
In response. the figure quickly dropped one of the zombies to the floor, pressing its boot against it with just enough force to keep it pinned without crushing it into a red paste, before cracking the knuckles in its now-free hand.
"... you... want me to punch it?" Jaune asked incredulously.
The figure nodded.
"Are you serious?"
The figure nodded again.
Jaune stared at the figure.
The figure stared back at him.
"... fine..." Jaune sighed in exasperation and tossed his sword to the floor, before sloppily cocking back his fist, trying to copy how he'd seen Yang and Yang do it.
Before his fist landed on the poor zombie, though, the figure easily caught it.
He glared at the figure, who just shook its head at him.
Great.
He was actually getting lectured about not punching properly as well!
The ratio of Glynda to Yang just tipped firmly in Goodwitch's favor.
Why did this have to be his afterlife again? Couldn't he go back to Sugar Bombs and Grognak?
Jaune huffed, before taking a deep breath, and looking away.
Damn it, he knew Yang and Goodwitch could be strict... but he also knew they only ever had his best interests at heart.
Oum, he was really stressed out about going from a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland to an actual apocalypse, wasn't he?
"Fine, fine... I'm sorry." Jaune held up his hands as a peace offering. "Look, I clearly suck at this... why don't you show me how it's done?"
Nodding at him, the figure cocked its fist back, rotating its knuckles slightly, before throwing a punch at the gap between the creature's head and neck.
As the zombie's head flew off, and it's body burned away into nothingness, the figure bent down and gripped the other zombie, before looking at him expectantly.
Jaune blinked.
That had been way too fast.
Also, he'd thought that he'd always been told not to aim for the joints and the bones, since those could hurt his knuckles...
Oh, right.
Aura.
Jaune wanted to smack himself.
Then again, it wasn't like he'd ever been taught on how to properly punch a person while he had Aura...
Jaune attempted to copy the figure's motion, channeling Aura into his fist as he did so.
While he didn't knock the creature's head off, he did manage to snap its neck with the blow, and the creature fell limply from the figure's grasp, burning away.
The figure looked at him once, before nodding in approval as it handed him back his pistol.
Jaune felt a surge of pride... which was quickly tempered as he remembered just how absurd the situation was, and how lucky he was that none of those other creatures had shown up during the impromptu lesson.
Or was the figure relying on his senses to detect them?
Looking at the figure, he honestly couldn't tell.
-HIDDEN VALLEY BUNKER, MOJAVE WASTELAND-
"Are you sure you want to do this, Veronica?" Elder McNamara asked, looking at the young scribe. "You heard the Sentinel's report. Elijah clearly isn't the man we once knew, and you know the stories about the Sierra Madre..."
"I have to, Elder McNamara." Veronica Santangelo answered firmly. "There has to be something we're missing here. Father Elijah would have never done something so reckless without a reason, and Christine..."
McNamara sighed, studying Veronica closely.
He knew what Elijah and Christine had meant to the young scribe, which was exactly why he was reluctant to let her go.
She'd always been governed by her heart more than the other members of the Brotherhood, and now she wanted to go after the person who'd raised her when her parents had passed, and her long-lost ex-girlfriend.
But at the same time...
The Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood needed Elijah to answer for HELIOS ONE.
The Knights of the Citadel needed to know that the Mojave Chapter weren't hiding anything from them.
And Veronica needed some closure.
"Excuse me, but what's this Sierra Madre?" Vargas accidentally interrupted the pair as he entered the room, having also just gone through the report Ruby Ironwood had sent. Then he noticed the atmosphere in the room, and made to apologize and leave.
Elder McNamara forestalled him with a hand, as he answered: "Vargas. Please, stay. The Sierra Madre is... well, we never believed it to be anything more than a Mojave legend, the equivalent of what El Dorado once was."
"A city of gold?" Vargas's brow squinched, recognizing the reference.
"Pretty much, yeah." Veronica nodded.
"... so, this Elijah is chasing a myth?" Vargas couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Well, we all thought the Big Empty was just a barren crater..." Veronica pointed out, folding her arms. "Most of all, if Father Elijah says there's something there..."
"HELIOS ONE." McNamara reminded her gently.
Veronica's face flushed, but she conceded the point.
"Well, in any case, do you know where we can start looking?" Vargas asked.
"We?" McNamara echoed, lost.
"Elder Lyons has authorized the Pride to look for it." Vargas explained.
McNamara was once again reminded that the Knights of the Citadel, for all that they'd deviated from the word of the Codex, took action quickly and decisively.
Veronica looked at him, eyes shining.
McNamara met her gaze, before looking away, hoping he wouldn't regret this.
"If you don't mind... could you bring Veronica along with you?" McNamara forced out. "She... has a history, with Elijah. She might be able to get through to him."
-UAC ARGENT ENERGY TOWER, MARS-
"No." Jaune firmly put his foot down, staring into the Slayer's blank visor.
The Slayer growled and gestured to the airlock again.
"Yes, I know that I can't breathe outside." Jaune conceded, having found a terminal ten minutes and five rooms ago.
He still couldn't believe he was on another planet (although at least it wasn't his first time in outer space), and the knowledge that the figure in front of him was called the "Doom Slayer" made him wish he had an awesome title as well (though he'd probably want one that struck less fear into the hearts of demons).
And he definitely needed some time to come to terms with the fact that he was facing an interdimensional incursion of demons... though at least it wasn't his first experience with interdimensional invaders.
He still remembered Skyrim, after all; it'd been less than half a year ago, from his perspective.
If they can jump dimensions...
Jaune shook the treacherous thought out of his head, not knowing where it had come from.
He couldn't afford to think about Remnant, not now.
Not when there were people that needed helping here.
The Slayer grunted, apparently pleased that he knew he couldn't breathe on a planet with no atmosphere, and held up the dead Elite Guard to him.
"I am still not wearing that!" Jaune insisted. "There's a dead person in there, for crying out loud!"
The Slayer snorted, and he could just feel its eyes rolling at him.
Baby.
"Hey!" Jaune protested. "We don't even know how he died! For all I know, the suit has a breach or something!"
The Slayer grunted, appearing to think it over, and Jaune mentally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the facility's AI spoke from a nearby speaker: "This facility's Elite Guard were rendered non-operational on account of the activation of their suit's killswitches by Olivia Pierce, during the initial Lazarus Wave event. The killswitches functioned by shutting down the wearer's neural and cardiac functions. I can assure you, the suit's integrity remains intact."
Jaune cursed overly-helpful robots, as the Slayer once more held the red suit of armor up to him, looking at him expectantly.
"But, what about the killswitches?" Jaune pointed out.
"Do not worry; the killswitches were designed for one-time use, and another Lazarus Wave event will not activate them." VEGA reassured him.
Jaune's eye twitched.
The Slayer smugly gestured to him, and then the suit once more.
At least the suit wasn't too uncomfortable.
As Jaune tested his movement inside it, flexing his arms and legs, getting a feel for the suit (and pointedly ignoring both the Slayer and the dead cyborg on the floor), he found himself reflecting that this was a lot more flexible than the suit of power armor he'd used in the Brotherhood of Steel.
The Slayer gave him a thumbs-up.
Jaune just rolled his eyes as he put on the helmet, refusing to give the Slayer any satisfaction.
The Slayer just snickered at his pout, before activating the airlock.
The air in the room vented and howled, as the room's pressure was lowered until it was equal to that of the rest of Mars.
The doors slid open.
The Slayer immediately began sprinting out, before leaping up.
At the height of its jump, much to Jaune's surprise, thrusters on the frame of the Slayer's boots suddenly and briefly fired, giving the Slayer an additional boost to its height and momentum, and allowing it to grip hold of the level above them.
As the Slayer easily pulled itself up, it looked back down at Jaune.
Jaune just glared at it, getting the message.
There was no way he could jump nearly that high!
Fortunately, he didn't need to.
Instead, he did what he always had.
He cheated.
He plunged his sword into the ground, and a wall of ice suddenly sprang up, creating a ramp for him to run up, to get to the next level.
Jaune savored the look of surprise he imagined was on Glynda-Yang's face, as he ran past her.
Author's Note: And the events of Old World Blues and Dead Money kick off in the Fallout-verse, with Ulysses, Pyrrha, and Ruby heading to the Big Empty, and Veronica and the Lyons' Pride heading to search for Father Elijah.
Meanwhile, Jaune tries and fails to get the Doom Slayer to open up, and the Doom Slayer reins in her anger just long enough to help Jaune try and survive.
And no, I'm not confirming that the Doom Slayer is Yang (or Goodwitch for that matter). I'm saying that Jaune is assuming that the Doom Slayer is Yang. As for who the Doom Slayer really is? Just look at the people in RWBY who have big guns. Other than that... well, as I mentioned in Chapter 61, it's not Weiss-Slayer. Does that mean it's Weiss Schnee? Weiss Blazkowicz?
... no, I'm not that much of a jackass. This isn't the multidimensional Weiss I'm using. Why? Because, while Weiss-Slayer was good for a one-off gag... writing an actual story around her is...
Also, while his Aura may basically be a spider-sense against the Neverborn, he's not actually used to such a sensory overload. Five imps are enough to give him a headache... and the big boys haven't even shown up yet.
And may I just say, my respect for Rooster Teeth, and especially Monty Oum, has gone up. Why? Because it is really not easy to give characterization to a mute. And Neo and the Meta are some of the best characters in Rooster Teeth. Then again, they at least can use body language and subtle cues, which isn't quite so easy to pull off with writing (unless you want to blatantly draw attention to some things)...
And no, I'm not going to downplay the Doom Slayer's rage. But I'm also not going to downplay the fact that the Doom Slayer is a huge dork when it comes to non-demon things (seriously, look at the Fortress of Doom). The Slayer's brutal when it comes to demons, but when its just people and probably-unwilling Possessed? A bit of the rage simmers down, some humanity shines through, and we get a glimpse of the soldier who punched her superior officer rather than fire on unarmed civilians.
