A/N: Well look who we have here. Back for yet another Chapter, eh? I guess I could make a few more of them. But only if you ask nicely. But in return I will ask for one thing. And that is for you to leave me a Review. A fair trade, is it not?
More importantly, you should Follow the Story so you never risk the chance to miss the opportunity to read a new Chapter as soon as I post it. Or if you enjoy more than just this one Story, you could Follow and Favorite my account as a whole. Now, please enjoy the next Chapter of A Needed Quest.
Chapter 18: A Needed Dying Dream
The safety of the rest of the Companions was the thing that Courier Six would always place above all else. Whenever an enemy managed to injure one of the Companions, Six would almost always respond in a graphic manner. Unless they were willing to apologize that is. Only the most supreme equipment was distributed among the Companions. Every now and then the equipment was carefully inspected and even the most minor of scrapes were repaired.
But this fact doesn't mean she always managed to keep them from nearly getting killed. In fact she did that with each of them almost every time she ventured out to explore uncharted parts of the Mojave. Hunting Deathclaws and other Mutants, gambling and sipping moonshine were among their favorite activities.
Hunting Deathclaws was great for two reasons. One, the reward people would pay for their eggs was quite charitable, and two, there was a specific thrill you got when getting chased across the Mojave by one of those large creatures. Of course it wasn't so fun to get swiped in the back courtesy of their ridiculously sharp claws. Most folk had to get a absurd amount of stitches every time they wandered too close to Deathclaw territory. At least they did.
Quarry was empty of them and had been for a while. Six told anyone that asked that the reason she cleared the place out was to make travel to Vegas easier for the NCR and other travelers. It's not a secret among the Companions and the people of the Thorn that she only did it to get closer to Red Lucy. Very close as a matter of fact.
That wasn't the only thing they would venture out to prey upon. Boone and Six found that the greatest sport to chase after was any of the Legionaries they came across. The two of them created their own saying. ''The more armour they wear, the more points the kill is worth.''
So every once in a while they would go out seeking their favorite targets. Despite all the attempts, the Courier never managed to get the highest amount of points. It was all thanks to Boone's determination to avenge his wife. It was something that Six admired and respected.
Today she would admire something far greater than that. It was a plan Boone had come up even before joining the Companions. He just didn't possess the required resources to go through with any of it and come out alive. It was a plan that would get rid of the plague named the Legion forever. They were at last going to strike directly at the Fort and put an end to the Caesar's reign of terror once and for all.
Every single detail, small or large, was planned out to absolute perfection. It had to be that way, otherwise things wouldn't end well for them. They made a plan concerning the method they would use to execute the beginning phase and actually infiltrate the Fort itself, all the way to how they would eventually escape back to Vegas.
Six had previously killed everyone stationed at Cottonwood Cove, aside from all of the Slaves of course. So they wouldn't have to worry about taking any additional ammunition. A small team consisting of the Courier, Boone, Raul, Veronica, Rex, and ED-E would take the raft and hopefully make it back in no time at all.
Upon returning, the NCR and the rest of Vegas would see them as true paragons. A status that Courier Six already possessed. After saying goodbye to the Companions that would remain at the Lucky 38 and keep watch over the Strip, they set out for Cottonwood Cove.
Veronica and Raul were in charge of steering and maintaining the raft's course. While they did, Boone observed their surroundings through the scope of his Rifle. Rex, known as the greatest Dog in the Galaxy, did very little on the ride aside for sleeping most of the time.
There was a decent amount of silence among everyone for a few minutes. They were all thinking things through. Some of them wondered if this was really a good idea. Raul ended the quiet by asking the Courier, who was making a few important adjustments to several pieces of weaponry, a question.
''Boss, you got a minute to talk?'' He asked, getting Six to put away the weapons. She nodded and Raul continued. ''We all know Boone has his reasons for wanting the Legion out of the Mojave.'' In reality, Boone wanted them gone from existence as a whole. ''Personally, I don't have too much of a problem with the guys, I told you that already.'' He was still willing to join them on the mission despite his neutrality. It was admirable to Six. ''Veronica doesn't really have the highest opinion of them. ED-E and Rex... well they can't even have an opinion in the first place. But what about you, Six. Why do you seem to despise them so much?''
That was certainly a great question to ask. It was one that many people craved to get an answer for. Even the Courier's own lover, Veronica, never received any kind of answer. She made the decision that now was as good of a time to get it off of her chest.
She released a quick sigh. Then she coughed a few times, wanting the words she spoke to be as clear as possible. ''Every single one of us has lost something. Boone, you lost your loving Carla. Raul, you lost everyone in your family. Veronica lost Chri-'' Hoping that no one would take notice, Six ceased and switched words. ''Your old lover. Even Rex lost his chance to experience what it's like to be a real Dog.''
Sitting up, Rex walked over to her and sat his head on Six's lap. ''That's a good boy, Rex. My point is that despite the fantastic and cheerful person you see sitting in front of you, I have also gone through quite a lot of loss. I can only remember a few things before I was shot in the head. Anything between leaving my Vault and Hopeville getting destroyed is a blur. But one I thing I remember above all else is the Legion.''
A pain moved around in the Courier's head. It physically hurt remembering the past for her. ''I had this small pact of friends, all of us pretty young and stupid at the time. One night in our travels we came across this gigantic stash of Jet, Med-X, and every other chem you can think of. While they wanted to get high, I tried to warn them how dangerous the shit is. They didn't listen though, and needles started to go into their veins.''
Noticing she was in quite the sum of pain, Boone tossed Six some moonshine. ''Thanks.'' She said after taking a few quick swigs. ''I... I gave into the pressure. This cute girl used a lot of charm to get me to follow along. Hate to say it... it felt really good, amazing even. We felt that way for so long as we traveled all across the Wasteland. While we were hiking we came across this camp filled with Bandits. I blacked out right after that. I'm assuming that we were trying to be the good guys and so we attacked the camp. And you know what, we actually were able to kill most of them.''
''I felt like total shit once I woke up. Partly thanks to the fact that I was recovering from several things of Jet. But I think it was mainly because I had been shot in five different areas of my body. But while I was bleeding out, my friends were celebrating by yelling at the top of their lungs. That earned us the attention of a nearby Tribe. Fuckers caught us completely off guard. Had us tied up before we could even realize they were there.''
After finishing the moonshine, the Courier digitized the empty container into the Pip-Boy's vast inventory. ''Needless to say, they all seemed impressed with the work a couple stupid kids had done in such a short amount of time. What they weren't impressed with was our use of chems. When Caesar approached us I think the asshole said something about us having a lot of potential and it was clouded by chems. It was some really stupid shit like that.''
''He wanted to show his men what would happen to those who rely on chems. That sick fuck! He made us...'' Six began to tear up, remembering the faces of the friends she watched die. Veronica stopped steering the raft and knelt down to comfort her. It didn't bring any comfort, not even a little. But the story had to continue.
''He gave us these makeshift weapons and forced us to fight each other until only one of us was left standing. My mind was clear... But the others were still suffering the effects of all the chems. I didn't have any choice but to kill them all. Even after all that you would think Caesar would let me go?'' Didn't sound like his preferred style.
''But you would be wrong. He tossed me in a cave and sealed it shut for what felt like an entire week. There was nothing aside from darkness and the echo of my own sobbing voice. After I was free from that cave they decided to let me go. From that moment on I vowed that I would kill him and avenge my friends. I'm going to make him suffer, give him something to truly fear. I hope that's a good enough answer for you?''
Raul couldn't speak for a few seconds, unable to find even a single word to use. Then the Spanish Ghoul manged to get a few words out. ''Boss... it was.. a lot more than I was expecting. Sorry, I don't even know what to say. Never seen you like that before. You're usually the sweet, ignorant, and cute type. Not the serious, no offense.''
To everyone's alarm Courier Six started to giggle like a small child. ''None taken.'' She said, reverting back to the lovable Six everyone knew. ''I'll never get made when someone calls me cute or sweet. Ignorant though, we're going to talk about that later. And just so we're all clear, when we get there, Caesar's head is mine.''
She was awaiting some kind of response from the Companions. But none of them seemed to want to respond to anything. In fact they seemed to be in a completely frozen state. As was the raft they sat on and even the world around them. Then, out of nowhere, the world began to alter even further.
Most of the change occurred behind Six. The water was all gone and in its place was a wide field of grass and flowers. It didn't take long for Six to understand that she was in the middle of a dream and that any minute now she was going to wake up somewhere in the 38. Then they would actually get to finish the Legion.
''Why can't these things ever be something cool or even a little bit exciting?'' The Courier said out loud despite appearing to be alone. ''Like with a bunch of Dragons or maybe even a few zombies? Or you know what, maybe a couple of Ali-'' She was stopped from talking to herself. An unfamiliar voice finished her sentence for her.
''Aliens?'' The voice said, causing Six to face its owner. She turned to see someone she had only heard legendary tales about. Someone she admired for years. Someone who inspired her to follow the "Path of the Hero". It was that same Vault Dweller from Vault 101. ''Trust me, it's not fun dealing with them.''
Being a large fan girl, the Courier reacted by yelling, ''Holy shit! It's the fucking legend himself. Forget Dragons, this is way better than any of that. Are we going on a Quest together? We gonna stop the end of the world, travel to China to finish off the Communists, or unite the Galaxy in order to stop the threat of the Reap-''
''Please stop.'' The Lone Wanderer begged. His request was granted and Courier Six awaited an answer with a smile on her face. ''I hate to disappoint you, but this isn't any kind of dream. Or if it is, I guess it's a Dying Dream. You don't remember dying?''
Suddenly Six's smile disappeared from her face. ''What the Hell do you mean that I'm dead? I'm at the 38 right now sleeping next to my beautiful Girlfriend. Do you really expect me to believe that I killed from the safety of my own comfortable bed?''
''Memory loss. That's new. You should really consider yourself lucky. That machine is bringing you back right now as we speak. Hopefully all of your memories will be back. I'll be quick about things then. You're in the land of the dead kid. A special kind, where only heroes like us get to go. I'm not a dream, I'm the actual Wanderer. Got here a few years ago. Before you even started to get famous. Been watching you for some time now.''
This time the Wanderer was verbally halted. The World was beginning to fade away. It was quite literally blinking out of existence. The Wanderer sighed. ''I think that means it's time for you to go. Hope I don't need to see you again for a while, no offense. Something tells me that Academy is gonna need your help. Oh, and if you see either of those Doctors, tell them I said they're arseholes.''
''But, I still have so many questions I need to ask you.'' The Courier explained to him. Afterwards she realized a few different things were starting to change. One, she was now on some type of Hospital mattress. Two, the room was white and devoid of any grass or flowers. And three, her head was beginning to hurt like hell.
The reason it hurt so much was because recent memories were flooding it at a sporadic pace. Memories of discovering a entirely different world, getting to meet new and interesting people. It was all coming back to her at once. With all of that, one of the more recent memory was included. It was during the moment when her life had been taken by Coco.
Hearing the sound of a door open she turned her head. ''I'm sorry, but nobody here is able to explain anything.'' Someone that was most likely a Doctor said. Next to him was Ozpin and Goodwitch. ''We're unable to get a heartbeat from her. In fact we can't even get any brainwaves. It's as if she just-''
The Doctor stopped talking when he saw the Courier was still alive and well. Physically well anyway. She stood up and began to speak to them. ''Wait, don't start freaking out.'' She advised all of them. But it was a little too late for them to follow such advice. In a few seconds the Doctor fell to the ground and passed out from shock. After sighing, Six continued to speak to the Academy's staff. ''Well, at least you guys can't say I didn't try. Hey wait a minute, what the hell happened with my clothes?''