Heyo! So this will come out after fallout four so I will start adding elements from that game into this fic. To be completely clear SPOILERS for fallout 4 ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Rex sat alone in his office staring intently at a small cream colored card in his hand. He flipped it over a few times in his hands as he smoked a cigarette examining the message written in the no nonsense handwriting of Colonel Moore. Morning sunlight shone through a window behind him casting golden light across the floor of his office and onto the dark monitor of the central computer. He places the card on his desk, leans back in his chair and sighs. He swivels his chair to look out into the wastes blocking the sun with his metallic left hand and sees a group of trucks leaving the city. They were carrying equipment, turrets and materials for the final segments of the eastern wall and its outposts. It had been six weeks since the attack, and the wall was nearing completion.
"Rex?" Veronica asks entering the room.
Rex swivels around to see Veronica standing there holding a clipboard.
"Morning Veronica" Rex says tapping his cigarette into an ash tray.
"Morning Rex, so what does the message say?" Veronica asks.
"Moore is demanding that we meet with her and a few delegates from the NCR to assess the threat from the Legion and hammer out new trade regulations" Rex says handing Veronica the note.
"Wow, she still hates you, doesn't she?" Veronica says reading over the message "this reads more like a death threat than a request for a meeting"
"Yeah, I don't think she's forgiven me for kicking her out of the dam" Rex says lighting a fresh cigarette "apparently she's planning to bring along members of the NCR's congress as well as military officials."
"Are we going to let her?" Veronica asks.
"Yes, I want to make sure we keep a good relationship with the NCR, even the parts of their government we don't like" Rex says taking the message from Veronica and filing it into one of his desk's many drawers.
"Good good" Veronica says looking around the room aimlessly as she nervously hummed.
"Go ahead and ask" Rex says rolling his eyes.
"How'd it go with Jack last night?"
"Fine, we went to one of those movies Joker's been playing down at one of the refurbished theaters" Rex says taking a drag from his cigarette "I preferred those star trek movies to the star wars he's been playing though, but Jack seemed to like them."
"And?" Veronica says expectantly.
"We didn't have sex if that's what you're asking" Rex says looking through his files for a document "I've been taking it slow with Jack. I want her to trust me; she's not some conquest."
"You're serious about this girl aren't you?" Veronica asks "In the two years I've known you have never been with someone longer than a week. Kind of refreshing actually."
"Maybe, it's been far too long since I've felt this way about anyone, not since Mirada" Rex says leaning back in his chair his face shifting into a dejected look "It feels nice, and maybe that's why it shouldn't go any farther for both our sakes."
"Oh come on Rex, you deserve to be happy" Veronica says sighing "what you did happened an eternity ago and you've more than made up for it."
"Have I? Will I ever do enough to redeem myself?" Rex says, his features hardening as he raises his hands to look at them "The people killed, the lives I've destroyed, all that I took away from the world, with these hands, won't be brought back no matter how hard I try; no matter what I restore there will still be people out there who know me as "the Crimson Gun" the man they paid to burn down towns kill mothers and fathers in front of their children. The man they watched destroy their lives."
"That man's dead, he died the night Benny shot you in the head" Veronica says walking behind the desk and grabbing a chair to sit in "the man I met two years ago wouldn't do those things today, no matter what he and his ghosts think."
"Sometimes I don't think he did" Rex says leaning back "I'm starting to slip Veronica. Every night it's the same, my ghosts come back and that rage returns, look what I did to Shepard, I punched her in the face and needlessly endangered her and Jack's life to show off."
"Well yeah I never said you had any since" Veronica says punching Rex in his metal arm "You're probably the dumbest smart person I know, and the only person I'd trust to watch my back. Now buck up and stop with the self-pity or I'll get ED-E to annoy you with that song you hate."
"Fine" Rex says chuckling "Where is E anyway? I haven't seen him since I installed that new blue box and memory disk."
"Oh yeah he's been palling around with that robot Legion" Veronica says getting up "The little guy's been lapping up data and from what I've heard has been trying to compute some quantum level math if Legion is telling the truth."
"Typical one day they're helping you kill bloatflies the next they're trying to crack the fundamental equations of the universe" Rex says "Where the hell has Legion been anyway? I barely caught sight of him when the Normandy and her crew arrived, but since then he hasn't been seen on the strip or anywhere else for that matter according to our newsmen."
"No Idea. ED-E says he found Legion in the old Helios one building examining what's left of the Archimedes control systems" Veronica replies "It still baffles me that you let that that terminal be destroyed, but apparently Legion put in a request to examine the design of the Archimedes satellite and maybe help us get the weapons system online again."
"Really? Give him clearance, but keep an eye on him" Rex says "And I didn't let that terminal be destroyed how was I supposed to know someone had rigged it with a pulse mine?"
"The fact that the last three had pulse grenades worked in" Veronica replies "I still remember your face when you failed that hack and the thing blew. How long did it take for your eyebrows to grow back again?'
"Shut up will you?" Rex says stamping out a cigarette when a chill runs down his spine and he looks forward into the empty area of his office "I don't think we're alone"
"What do you mean?" Veronica says going on alert.
Rex stands and draws his gun and a compact plasma pistol from a drawer aiming at the center of the room "You can come out now"
A man materializes in the center of the room. He wore a hooded grey duster with deep inlays of red and black and his face was obscured by the hood save for his chin and a pointy red beard. The grips of two shiny silver revolvers stick out of the duster and a composite piece of combat chest armor adorned the man's chest. He wore black plated pants with an array of blades and equipment and a pair of black combat boots adorned his feet. Behind this man a three other figures appeared seemingly out of nowhere standing in a line. At the center a hulking man adorned in red armor with a mane of dark black hair stood with the woman from the eastern battle wearing her black mask to his right and a young woman adorned in a red and black jump suit made of some kind glistening composite material to his left. The massive man spoke first:
"It appears your stealth boy designs still need some work Savant; the courier detected us far too easily"
"It was only a prototype Octavian; Father and I will adjust it appropriately for our next excursion" the young woman to his left said pouting "We are dealing with the courier after all."
"Regardless of his ability I demand the finest equipment and trust you will adjust accordingly" The man says with an evil sneer.
"Ah hello" Rex says aiming both his guns at the hooded man in front of him "Why are you in my office?"
"Oh, forgive me Courier, I am Octavian" The massive man says stepping past the hooded man to tower over Rex.
"So finally decided to try to kill me yourself?" Rex says pointing the laser gun at the massive man's head, realizing that it looked like he was aiming a peashooter at an elephant, and keeping his pistol trained on the hooded man.
"Oh no Courier, You have been deemed a worthy enemy and potential ally" the man says smiling his vicious smile.
"Let me be the first to tell you to fuck off; I'll never work for the legion" Rex says firing a blast of red laser light into the man's face and flipping his desk towards the man knocking the giant of his feet and Rex then fired his ten millimeter into the trio behind the man. The man apparently called Savant whips out his revolvers and effortlessly fires both at Rex and Veronica sending a bullet through Rex's metal arm and left shoulder as his own volley rips through the man's right shoulder and thuds into his chest piece. The young woman darts out the door drawing a small orange energy pistol and a tranq gun and before she fires a blast of blue energy out of the office towards Veronica's suite as the masked woman withdraws a dart gun and fires at Veronica. Rex tries to shield Veronica and is hit with three syringes filled with a brackish blue liquid. Veronica ducks behind the desk and grabs the pistol strapped to the side and begins firing at the attackers as Rex stumbles and falls against the window, his pupils dilated as the drug moves through his system turning his muscles to jelly.
A syringe hits Veronica in the left eye and she falls backward in pain screaming. Rex on the verge of passing out feebly croaks to Veronica and tries to raise his gun but stops short as the massive figure of Octavian rises from the floor and looks to Rex. His face was destroyed at least the skin was, underneath was a metallic face with servos and smoking wires. As Rex passes out the last thing he sees is the young woman grab the syringe from Veronica's eye in a trail of blood before shooting her in the arm with another syringe.
The massive form of Octavian picks Rex up and throws him over his shoulder before activating his Pipboy and disappearing the masked woman follows suit leaving Savant and the young woman standing in the office, alone.
"They put up more of a fight then we expected father" The woman says making sure Veronica was knocked out "at least we got one of the DNA samples we came for".
"More than you expected Persephone" Savant says "you must be ready for anything my dear daughter."
"I know father, I'm sorry" The woman says forlorn.
"Don't be, your mother was the same way when she was your age" the man says before looking to where Rex had lain just a moment before and grabbed the pistol from the floor before grabbing its mate off the wall "Regardless we have achieved our goal here, now let's go and retrieve your aunt."
They both activate their stealth boys disappearing silently leaving the ruined office silent and cold. In Veronica's suite Christine sat against the wall an energy burn across her left arm and syringe in her neck pumping the tranquilizer into her system, and just before she lost her battle with the drug she slammed her fist into the alarm button on the wall. Throughout the Mojave alarm bells rang and communities went into lockdown as each of Rex's companions receive a signal through the small transceivers on their persons.
Boone still recovering from his loss six weeks ago, lets the signal ring. Lily and Cass rush to a truck towards the Mojave, Raul orders his lackeys to take over for him and boards the elevator to the top of the dam. Arcade sits in the sink talking to Tyrone (Rex's brain) when he heard the call he flushed Tyrone to the command center and rushed after it activating the brain's special apparatus as he went. In the heart of Zion Joshua Graham finished loading one of his many guns and looked to the small communicator in his chamber, and straps his guns to his chest, side holsters, and leg holsters before activating the teleportation pad adjacent to his chamber and disappearing in a flash of blue.
Amongst the ruins of a forgotten city a nightkin sat watching a rad scorpion abdomen roast on a spit as he wiped blood from a wicked blade made from dark blue metal. His name was G.D, the product of the death of two voices he vaguely remembered. He vaguely remembered his old life or the strange ruin with the red clouds and green eyed ghosts, but one thing he remembered with absolute clarity. He remembered the Courier, the man that saved him from himself, and gave him the clothing on his back, the weapon in his hands, and a purpose he now upholds. His purpose was to use the echoes of hunger and the echoes of control within the deepest recesses of his mind to hunt all those who pose a threat to the Mojave. So here he sat cleaning the blood of a raider leader from his massive blade humming softly to himself as he waited for the rad scorpion to cook when the transceiver at his side began to ring its high pitched ring. The courier was calling.
In New Reno, a ghoul was diligently at work cracking a safe in the office of the Casino's owner when the small transceiver in the inner pocket of his tux began ringing. He quickly grabs the transceiver and silences it and hears the heavy steps of the guards entering the room. He quickly turns and presses a trigger button in left hand causing an explosion to rip through the floor under the guards and opening a hole in the wall leading out on the rooftop of the adjacent building. The ghoul ran across the roof top and press the switch again blowing out several power boxes on the roof covering his escape as he zig zagged down some scaffolding and into the street. When he was safe he pulled out the transceiver and sent the return signal before walking towards a burnt out garage where his car waited, a lovely replica of one he owned before the war, muttering curses as he walked. Dean Domino for a moment and not for the first time since he'd met the courier wished that he had stayed in the Sierra Madre.
?
"We need to find out where they went, now" Veronica exclaims as the last of the bandaging is wrapped around her head and eye. She stood in front of the high council of Community leaders with hundreds of aides, techs, soldiers, and assistants running equipment and messages throughout the building as the lockdown was coordinated.
"We're trying Ma'am" A soldier says "They're using some kind of modified stealth boy undetectable to any of our instruments and with little to know distortion."
"They can't have left our territory, unless they have a vehicle of some kind they'll be close" Christine says wearing a thick bandage over her badly burnt arm "We need to make sure all facilities are on lockdown; status report on the Dam and central power?"
"All locked down ma'am; we're seeing reports from all across the Mojave saying they're locked down but black sight Omega hasn't responded to our calls." An aide says displaying a holographic display of the Mojave in the center of the massive round table.
"Dispatch a unit of soldiers and securitrons immediately we can't risk any of those prisoners being freed" Veronica orders before turning to the collected leaders "As of now Rex is taking a vacation for some much needed R and R after the events of the last month and a half. Today was just a test of our emergency reaction procedures; we cannot allow the fact that Rex has been kidnapped go public at least until we get him back."
"Is that the wisest option right now?" Brent Buxton says standing "I don't think we should keep this from our people. They have a right to know"
"And cause panic across the Mojave? Rex is a legend to almost every single citizen of the Mojave if they learned he was attacked in his office for god's sake we'd send half the population into a panic and they'd lose trust in our ability to keep them safe."
"They have a right to know what's going on" Buxton says "Transparency is the best policy with my people, and they'll rightly pissed if they find out were lying to them."
"Oh grow up Buxton we need to keep this quiet for the good of the Mojave" Veronica says "Right now we're engaged in a war with two lunatics, one of which has an entire army of zealots on his side and the ability to sneak into our most protected zones. We need to stand together in this, and keep our people safe and as calm as possible."
"Regardless of whether we should tell the general populace of the attack, we need to find Rex and a way to counter act their advanced stealth boys" Alyssa says looking to Veronica as she stands "quite a few of my techs have experience with advanced stealth technologies. With your permission ma'am I'd like to pull them off project Zeta to find a way to detect them."
"Do it, as of now we are devoting all resources to developing counter measures to the legion stealth tech and any tricks they might have up their sleeves" Veronica says standing, she falters slightly as she does prompting Christine to stand to grab her, but Veronica waves her off "We can get through this if we stand united, and we don't do anything rash."
The council of leaders all agreed, even Buxton, and when the meeting was dismissed Alyssa approached Veronica:
"If you need any extra hands in the search for Rex, I'd be more than happy to help and my assistant Sally is one of the best stealth infiltrators out there"
"Thank you, but I wouldn't want to deprive New Colombia of its leader, but we will take Sally" veronica says smiling before wincing at the pain in her face "Rex's brain is trying to locate him, and an assault and recovery team is being put together to brake him out of where ever they have him."
"I tell Sally as soon as I get back to New Colombia, and if it's not classified who's heading up the Assault team?" Alyssa asks.
"I am, but Commander Shepard offered her help along with a few of her crew members along with the rest Rex's other companions" Veronica replies as a courier enters the room and hands her a message "Excuse me"
Veronica takes the message and reads it, her expression drooping.
"What's wrong?" Alyssa asks.
"Black site Omega has been compromised, the staff and all but one prisoner are dead" Veronica says slamming her fist on the table "They went after the assassin after kidnapping Rex, but why would they go to the trouble of attacking a fortified black site to retrieve a single assassin."
"Maybe she knew something important" Alyssa offers.
Veronica thought for a moment and remembered the obscured face of the man cloaked in the hooded duster and a revelation sent a shiver through her spine. She dashes over to a database terminal where the official records were kept and brought up the Assassin's lab data that had been collected and analyzed a week earlier, but had been shuffled behind several other proposals and documents on the list of priority for Rex's viewing. Veronica had scanned through it, but had paid it no heed apart from the genetic augmentations. Except for an oddity that she brushed off as inconsequential; the presence of hair dye in the Assassin's hair. Veronica pulled up the report and confirmed the dye's type; the kind of dye used to dye hair of intense or deep colors for long periods of time; specifically red hair.
?
Deep within a facility far to the east, Rex lay naked save for his underwear and unconscious strapped to a metal examination table, an IV dripped sedatives from a bag, while the young woman who attacked his office stood over him writing notes onto a notepad. Rex's head had been shaved during a medical examination, and his metal arm was detached and strung up to be examined on a table to the left. His equipment had been locked in a storage container and had been carted off deeper into the facility. The young woman, Persephone, checked various read outs from the array of equipment surrounding the bound Rex, and chewed on a lock of hair as she concentrated on the readings.
"How's the bastard doing?"
Persephone turned to see her aunt, Artemis, clunk into the room to once again glare at the bound Rex. Her legs had been encased in metallic armor filled with restorative ointments and stim fluid filled syringes had been jabbed into her legs to correct the damaged nerves.
"Fine surprisingly" Persephone says checking one final readout "I believe he has some kind of artificial heart, that's the only explanation I can come with considering we injected him with enough tranquilizer to drop a deathclaw."
"Savant should have finished him off" Artemis says looking over Rex's slumbering form with contempt "His sentimentality is wasted on this filth, and when he's done I'll enjoy slitting his throat"
"You have to admit the resemblance is striking; almost unnerving; though the alternate path has created a completely new individual" Persephone says rolling her eyes at her aunt's hatred and continuing her examination "His muscles show development towards stamina and heavy lifting rather than fighting. Repeated burns on his fingertips and caked in gun powder suggest skill with firearms and rapid reloading. Track marks on both arms indicate drug use within the last ten years, and other assorted scars suggest everything we've heard about Mr. Craster is true."
"Him versus me in the arena; I'd cut him down in an instant" Artemis says her scowl deepening.
"He's not for you to kill" Persephone says placing her notes in a container filled with samples taken from Rex and seals the container "If father gets his way he'll be an invaluable asset"
"Your father has always been an idealist" Artemis says turning around to leave "Ever since we were children, he always thought he could talk his way in and out of anything."
"I'd advised you not to doubt my father; his sentimentality only goes so far auntie" Persephone says, her voice dripping in venom "Keep in mind he's the only reason you're walking free, or living"
Persephone turned to face her aunt's back but found Artemis suddenly in front her holding a scalpel to her throat "Listen to me brat, I did not survive the wasteland, the Institute's relentless assignments, and your father's endless pursuit of his perfect world to be disrespected by my own blood."
Persephone shrunk back for a moment before she buried the butt of a small laser pistol into her aunt's stomach "Go ahead do it, this is a dead man's trigger I let go and you get acquainted with your intestines."
"Enough" A quiet voice said from the entryway.
They turned to see massive form of Athena enter the examination room wearing her casual uniform and for once not sporting her signature black mask, revealing a sharp almost painful beauty that accented her bright blue eyes.
Artemis withdrew the scalpel and placed it on the exam table next to the bound Rex and Persephone aimed her gun at the ceiling and released the trigger letting out a blast of blue energy into the ceiling.
"To see the two of you bickering like children makes me sick; I didn't raise either of you to act so juvenile" Athena says walking between the two and running her hand along Rex's face "If your father saw this Persephone, insulting your honored aunt like this, he'd be more than disappointed with you."
Persephone bowed her head and Artemis smirked triumphantly before Athena turned to her.
"And you Artemis, do you forget your brother's pursuit of the perfect world is why you live today" Athena says calmly eying the assassin "and why you remain so beautiful and young"
She begins walking to the door before turning her head and saying "Savant wants him up and awake for dinner, and Artemis, you no longer need to hide your true hair color make sure you correct it before dinner"
"Yes mistress Athena" The women says in unison.
Persephone turns and replaces the I.V with something to flush the sedatives out of Rex's system, while Artemis stalks out of the room scowling.
?
Through fuzzy greyness Rex returned to consciousness and sat up. He realized he was atop a medical exam table, and made to rub his forehead but found that his left arm was missing. Rex looked around the room he was in saw various health monitors showing readouts of his vital signs and a small rack with a suit carrier hung from it. He hopped of the table and examined the clothing; a complete black dinner suit finely made and freshly pressed, gold cuff links, a red handkerchief, and a pair of oxfords. Rex drew the hanger out and was disappointed to find it was plastic. He looked around the room in search of a weapon, and tried every shelf and cabinet for anything. Everything was locked and he was without a bobby pin or his kit.
"You won't find a weapon; we've prepared for someone with your level of… ah ingenuity" a voice said from the doorway.
Rex turned to find the girl from the office attack looking him over with mild annoyance from the doorway.
"You can't blame me for trying" Rex says shrugging facing the girl, and staring at her examining her every feature on her face, an eerie feeling of déjà vu sweeping over him.
"Stop staring at me and get dressed I have orders to bring you to Savant for dinner" The woman says scowling at him.
"Sorry you just look like an old ex" Rex says smiling his warmest fake smile as began getting dressed his old practice at one armed dressing was kicking back in, but still had difficulties "So Octavian's an android, huh? Must have been fun convincing the tech hating legion to follow him"
"You'd be surprised what, and who, people will follow when they have their world destroyed" the woman says rolling her eyes "he serves his purpose just as we all do to drive the legion forward into the modern era."
"Really? You don't strike me as the legion type, hon" Rex says sliding into the suit jacket and winking before rolling the left sleeve up and using his teeth to put the cuff link in on the right "but what do I know, I didn't even know they built androids that big."
"He's a custom job; built by my father, Savant" The woman explains turning and gesturing for him to follow "while self- aware all he does is serve as a figurehead for our control of the Legion"
"Very forthcoming with the info there" Rex says following her out into a cement hall way lit by sterile white overhead lights, and guarded by armed black masked men and women wearing the advanced legion combat armor he'd seen in the first attack on the strip "Secretly pulling for my side?"
The woman laughs before saying "I'm telling you this under Savant's orders, and because you can't leave unless we say so, so no chance any of your friends in New Vegas will ever hear this"
They remained silent as they walked in front of a set of massive glass windows overlooking a factory floor were rows upon rows of red power armor stood silent and foreboding. Atop each set of the massive armors were bull horns and glaring red eyes. Next to each set was a generator charging three separate fusion cores each. As they continued their walk Rex could see that the factory extended quite a ways and seemed bisected into different production areas as it went, but he couldn't see what the other areas were producing.
"Preparing for war?" Rex asks
"Yes, but your actions tonight will determine with whom" the woman says aimlessly chewing on a lock of hair as she stared forward. Rex noticed it and smiled a fond memory bubbling up from the recesses of his memory.
"You know my late-wife used to do that too" Rex says smiling "I used to tease her about losing all her hair."
The woman stopped for a moment and then continued walking letting the hair drop to her shoulder before continuing. Rex felt a chill run through him as he felt fingers run up his spine and then two hands rubbing his freshly bald head as he walked. He turned his head and saw the ghostly visage of Mirada walking behind smirking with her bubbly smile. Rex kept walking, now of all times was not the time for this particular delusion, but at every corner Mirada appeared attempting to catch his attention not saying anything only provocatively leaning or bending over to pick some imaginary item off the ground.
The pair came to an elevator and as they waited for it to come Rex felt warm breath on his ear and heard the delusion of his dead wife whisper "Rexxy, I need you". He shook his head to dispel the phantom, but she just switched to the other ear and whispered "It'd be like that time in the super duper mart on that salvaging run; hot, sweaty and dirty".
The elevator came and Rex and the woman boarded and just as the door shut Rex could feel Mirada's arms wrap around his chest from behind and he could feel her body pressed against his. The woman took notice of his discomfort and laughed thinking he was scared while Rex himself repeated the mantra of "she's not real you're just crazy" over and over again in his head. He felt her lips as she kissed his neck and when she found his ear again began to nibble at his ear lobe. Feeling he had enough turned to the young woman and said "Remain calm' before punching himself in the face as hard as he could.
The woman recoiled back into the wall of the elevator in shock yelling at Rex, but when he shook the pain away Rex found that the delusion was ended. At least until the elevator doors opened and she stood in a warm and inviting living room wearing a spotted evening dress. Only it wasn't the same delusion, this Mirada was at least ten years older her brown hair long and flowing, the scar on her face even more faded than when they were together. Rex reeled back for a moment and held his hands up asking "Mirada?" and realized with sickening clarity that this was no delusion. He had never been capable of imagining an older Mirada, someway somehow Mirada was standing in front of him alive and well.
"Hello, mom I brought him here just like father said to" The woman says stepping out of the elevator.
"Thank you baby, go and get him from the workshop will you?" Mirada says kissing the woman on the cheek before turning to Rex "Well don't just stand there handsome come in and we can get dinner on the table."
Rex stood there for a moment his mind racing with all the possible answers fro as to why his dead wife was standing in front of him, and quite frankly failing. He lunges forward and wraps Mirada in an awkward one armed hug.
"Whoa there tiger" She says returning the hug "Take it easy I'm a married woman after all"
Rex still dumbstruck releases her and looks beyond Mirada to see the young woman re-enter the room and say:
"Dad wants to talk to him alone before dinner" The woman says gesturing through a door.
Mirada walk around him and slaps him on the butt and winking before saying "well don't keep him waiting"
Rex walks forward numbly, still trying to process what was happening when the young woman chastised her mother:
"Mother do you have to be so unseemly?"
Rex didn't hear the answer because it was cut off as he entered another room and the door shut behind him. He looked around at the space realizing it was a massive workshop not unlike his own, and examined the custom equipment and schematics strewn across the space before his gaze came to a stop on a lone form sitting behind a desk smoking a cigar. The figure examined with intense grey eyes and a twinkling grin. Rex found himself not face to face with the man named Savant, but instead he stared into the eyes of none other than Rex Craster.