Shepard looked down at the man her hand resting on her useless pistol thinking for a moment before replying:
"The name's Shepard, my crew and I mean you no harm"
The man gestured to the mechs to lower their guns and reached into his duster to withdraw what looked like bottle caps. He handed the bottle caps to smirking woman behind him before to Shepard. With an intense glare, the man examined them; his vison first going to Shepard then Grunt then Thane before returning to Shepard. Letting the glare slip into an aloof expression, the man lit a cigarette and began to walk slowly towards Shepard.
As the man walked, the man's duster parted slightly revealing the large handgun at his hip. Sunlight glinted off the black metal of his left hand, and a small green computer screen was wrapped around his left wrist. When the man had climbed aboard the Normandy's wing he extended his metal hand.
"I'm Rex Craster, the owner of the tower you just dinged"
"Sorry about that, we've been experiencing some technical troubles" Shepard said shaking the man's hand "we can compensate you for any damages we caused"
Rex looked around at the shimmering hulk of the downed Normandy with an expression of almost total apathy. As if he didn't consider Shepard a threat, but Shepard noticed the quick darting glances at their weapons and the slight twitches in his biological arm. The aloof expression was an act she realized; he was still very much on guard.
"The only thing you've damaged was already in ruins beforehand; thankfully you managed to miss the residential section" Rex said finishing his sweep of the banged up and smoking ship "it seems your ship here has suffered some heavy damage; it just so happens I have some of the finest mechanics in the region"
"Thank you, but we should be fine" Shepard said as her Omni tool activates displaying a vid feed of engineering. Rex raised his eyebrows as the image suddenly appeared from Shepard's wrist.
"Commander, we have a problem" Tali said "The damage is far more serious than I thought; the Normandy's superstructure has degraded rapidly, we need to get everyone off the ship as soon as possible"
"Dammit" Shepard turned to see Rex picking through an exposed section of wiring on the Normandy's hull "Hey do you mind?"
Rex looked up and said, "Sorry old scavenging instincts kicking in; I couldn't help overhearing your little predicament if you would like, I can help with lodging your crew and supply you with resources to repair your ship"
"That would be appreciated" Shepard said "but you don't strike me as a man who would just help us out of the kindness of his heart"
"There's always a price especially in New Vegas, but considering your ship could literally collapse any moment we can hammer out a price later" Rex said as the first of the Normandy's crew began streaming out into the desert sun.
"Commander I will lock down all sections of the ship after the last of the crew have been evacuated" EDI's monotone voice explained over the com.
"Thanks EDI" Shepard turned to look as the rest of the squad and crew exit the Normandy carrying boxes of supplies.
"So, tell me would you prefer a room facing east or west?" Rex asked taking a drag from his cigarette.
/
Rex sat behind his desk in the Lucky 38 listening carefully to fast talking creature in front of him. He, Veronica, Shepard, Mordin, Tali, and Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels had spent the last hour discussing the situation at hand. Shepard at first was very cautious of revealing too much to Rex, but after Rex made it abundantly clear that he could supply the materials need to repair the Normandy she decided to tell him the basics of the situation.
"Device activation problematic caused tearing in quasi dimensional border between our world and this one" Mordin says as he paces across the room "Trans-dimensional travel stressed hull almost to breaking point"
"We'll need several tons of dozens of types of metal to repair the Normandy's hull and super structure; it would be easy to get these things in our universe, but it will be impossible here" Tali said looking over some read outs.
"Actually, don't write us of yet" Rex says standing up and walking over to the massive computer that once displayed Mr. houses' visage (now moved to the opposite wall) and pressed a few buttons. The computer screen came to life displaying a complicated set of code.
"Miss Vas Rayya, do you happen to have the atomic structure of the alloys you need?" Rex asks as Tali opened a display showing the atomic structure of the different elements.
Rex's hands move swiftly across the keys rewriting code segment after code segment and then with a final flourish pressed the enter key. The code blinked out and was replaced with a diagram identical to Tali's. Rex inputted one more command and a small panel next to the massive computer screen rose upward revealing a small pad of electrodes. The electrodes begin to glow and in a flash of blue light a cube of silver materialized.
"Keelah, how did you do that?" Tali asked as she examined the matter materialization device.
"Matter reorganization" Rex explained, "As long as we have fissionable material we can create almost anything. We have hundreds of these machines at my research facility Big Mt. scavenged from a pre war casino.:
"Yes about that war, can you elaborate a little more on that?" Shepard asked as Mordin and Tali continue their examination of the device.
"Oh sure, it happened around two hundred and seventy-six years ago in the year 2077; the Chinese and the United States fired Nuclear weapons at each other turning the world into the lovely cinder it is today." Rex explained casually "I take it large scale thermos nuclear war isn't a common thing in your universe."
"No" Shepard said doing the math in her head "It's the year 2283, isn't it?"
"Yeah, isn't that the year in your universe" Rex replied.
"Problematic" Mordin said returning to his pacing "device not just a dimensional travel tool but a temporal tool as well"
"Just great first I'm stuck in another universe and now we throw time travel into the mix" Shepard said rubbing her temples "Okay, can you get us home Mordin?"
"Yes, probably, maybe will need time and proper lab" Mordin replied.
"I have a wonderful facility where you can study this device; after you agree to my terms" Rex said grabbing the cube from Tali "I want a complete blueprint of your ship and all of your equipment, samples of all your computers, and this Codex I've been hearing about"
"And if I refuse?" Shepard asked crossing her arms.
"Well rooms at the Tops aren't cheap and the Chairmen don't take kindly to those who don't pay their fees" Rex said holding out his hand. Rex and Shepard held eye contact for several moments before she takes his hand and shakes it.
/
Several Hours later
At the end of the day Rex made his way home. He taken up residence in the former workshop of Michael Angelo, who soon after the battle for the hoover dam was killed by NCR soldiers as they attempted to fortify their section of the strip and hold it. They were forced out hours later and retreated with the rest of the NCR.
Rex had moved in after turning part of the penthouse floor of Lucky 38 into his office and giving the rest of the space to Veronica and Christine. He had turned the space into a maze of parts workbenches, and shelve of sketch books over the past two years. Above everything he built a small living area above where he kept his belongings and best prototypes.
Rex entered his home and climbed the stairs up to his living space. It was a large single room with a kitchenette in one corner, a small bathroom built onto the side, an armor stand holding a heavily armored version of his current duster worn by an upgraded version of the MKII stealth armor, and a weapons rack containing his multitude of modded weaponry. The space in between was filled by his bed a few armchairs and stacks upon stacks of books, ammo cases, and assorted bits of machinery.
Rex hung his duster and holster on the rack by the door and walked over to the kitchenette. A pot of Brahmin stew bubbled on a burner and when Rex took the top off the pot a plume steam washed over his face. He ladled himself a bowl and went to sit on one of his mismatched chairs.
Rex sat back and relaxed for the first time all day. First an assassination attempt and now aliens from another universe; he sometimes wondered why these things always happened to him. After wallowing in that thought for a few moments he pushed it out of his mind and began eating. After a while he relaxed and they came as they always did when his guard was down and he was tired.
They filled the room, sitting on stacks of books or his bed. All the people Rex had killed over the years, the ones he cared to remember anyway stood around him. He recognized Caesar in the throng silently watching alongside Benny and the decrepit form of Mr. House. They watched him with phantom eyes, and Rex tried to ignore them until she appeared before him.
A young girl no older than fifteen stood before him. Her red hair fell around her shoulders in ragged tangles and rimmed her bony face. Her grime caked feet were bare and a ragged sundress hung from her skeletal frame. A bullet hole smoked in her forehead and her dead eyes were emty of any life. Yet when Rex leaned forward and looked the girl in the eyes for just a moment life returned to them and the apparition said:
"Bye Bye Rexi"
And the apparitions dispersed without a word. Rex only bowed his head and muttered:
"See you soon Rosy"
"Talking to ghosts again, Courier six?"
Rex looked up to see Ulysses sitting in the chair opposite him.
"Hello Ulysses, I was wondering when you'd show up; want some stew?" Rex asked getting up and poured another bowl and refilled his own. He returned to his seat and hands the bowl to Ulysses before tossing him one of the many utensils lying around.
"Thank you, it would seem change is coming to the Mojave"
"So, you heard about the crash, Aliens from another universe I'm helping them in exchange for tech" Rex said as he dug into the stew "And before you go off on all the "Take care for we both know the consequences your decisions can make" I know what I'm doing"
"If you say so six." Ulysses replied coldly.
"So, tell me what you know about the new Legion." Rex said placing his bowl aside.
Ulysses finished his stew before replying "There are rumblings from the east that someone has risen to reunite the shattered fragments of the bull's armies. He's begun a crusade to take back the land the Midwest brotherhood of Steel took in the confusion after Caesar's defeat"
"Any idea who this new leader is?"
"A man calling himself Octavian has risen to the throne" Ulysses answered.
"You have got to be shitting me" Rex said chuckling "Is there any originality with these guys? seriously, he takes the name of Caesar's adoptive son"
"I came only to inform you of this threat. do not take it lightly courier six, because this Octavius remembers you and has his eyes set on the Mojave" Ulysses said standing up. Rex stands up as well and grabbed the bowls before taking them to the sink.
"Ulysses, there may come a time when I need what's in the Divide, and the question becomes will you allow it?" Rex said turning around to see a gun barrel pointed at his face.
"The day you return to the Divide is the day we finish what we started, especially if you intend to unleash the fury of the old world again" Ulysses knocked the hanging light casting shadow across the room and when the bulb swung back he was gone.
Rex lit a cigarette and leaned against his stove turning the stew off. Rex looked over at his bed and felt the day's trials all over again sending a wave of fatigue through him. He walked to his bed and without bothering to strip his clothes off fell into the bed and the peace of deep sleep.