Some Things Never Change

by The Great Wizzard

Courier Six has had enough. His companions have abandoned him, assassins hunt him wherever he travels, and despite everything he has done for the Mojave and it's people he has received no thanks and was even demonized for his actions. Alone in the Big Empty while trying to drown his worries in alcohol and chems, Six abandons his world only to find himself stuck in another.

7. 6 Gone With the Dust Cloud

Chapter 6: Gone With the Dust Cloud

Frost carefully inspected the 'best' men and women that The Major had been able to rally together to kill the Grimm Wanderer and wondered exactly what it was that they were supposed to be the best at. As far as she could see, none of the soldiers that had been gathered before her had bothered to make any adjustments to their weapons beyond those required by Mantle so as to make their weapons unusable should any animals get their hands on them. This clear lack of initiative would certainly be expected given how inexperienced they all looked, trembling as they awaited to hear her orders. The same also went for their bravery, as not a single one of the troops in front of her made any attempt to hide the terror that was showing on their faces. The only thing that Frost could possibly see any of the troops now under her command being good at was getting killed once the inhuman monster lurking in the depths of The Camp was finally free to walk the streets once more.

Allowing that monster to roam free once more could not happen. Even if it cost the lives of everyone that had been gathered to stop the menace plaguing Mantle and The Major for the past several days, she would make sure that the Grimm Wanderer would be stopped before he could go on yet another rampage. Frost knew it would be a small price compared to all of her countrymen that she would save with the sacrifices made today, but even so it wasn't one she enjoyed making. It was with a heavy heart that she addressed the soldiers in front of her for what she believed would be both the first and last time.

"Attention, men and women of Mantle! We have been given the important task by Major Ironwood himself to hunt down another animal!" She shouted in an attempt to rally her troops.

Out of the twenty two gathered soldiers in front of her, not a single one of them had given her the thunderous applause, cheers, or rigid salutes she had been expecting. Instead glares of all kinds were sent her way after mentioning what she believed to be the greatest threat to their kingdom and collective future, a people that had been proving themselves more capable of slowing down Mantle's efforts to take control of the city and kingdom of Vacuo. The emotions behind the eyes staring back at her and whatever agreement or lack thereof that they came with went ignored as Frost continued her speech now that she had the full attention of her people.

"I can tell by how serious you are taking this that you already know the threat that these others pose to us, so I will be quick with what I need to tell you all. As many of you already know, the savage monster who has already killed so many of our kinsmen and allied himself with the enemy was captured earlier today." She said as her audience suddenly looked panicked at where her speech was implying. "Yes, the 'Grimm Wanderer of Vacuo' that has been the talk of the barracks for days has been captured."

A wave of relief washed over the crowd of soldiers as Frost said this, but she had no intention of letting them move forward in blissful ignorance. "And as of thirty minutes ago, he has broken out of his cage and is ready to come after us all. The only thing standing between that animal's murderous rage and the lives of everyone we care about is us, and us alone." She said.

The revelation that they were gathered to face the very threat they all hoped was ended brought that fear back stronger than ever. Only a few, perhaps those who Frost's words resonated with or those who had a reason to fight against certain death did not give into their resurgent fear. It was the confidence brimming from these individuals that put a smile on Frost's face and gave her some hope that everything might go the way she wanted them to.

"I will not lie to you, none of you were gathered here because you were the best people for the job. The people our kingdom needs most are on the frontlines at home and surrounding the very city we are in now, protecting us from the hordes of Grimm threatening to overwhelm us should the Grimm Wanderer's wrath prove to be too great for us to handle." Frost said, her icy tone reminding everyone of the most recent call to arms that went out through Vacuo following the inevitable end result of several days of slaughter.

A large horde of Grimm had been seen approaching the city and surrounding areas thanks to the fear the Grimm Wanderer had been instilling throughout the human population of Vacuo. His capture was the sole reason that the patrols that had been searching for him and other sources of insurrection were able to be redirected to the surrounding towns and fortifications around Vacuo before any Grimm could enter the city.

Everyone gathered knew what would happen should the defenses set in place fall to a ravenous horde of Grimm. The most or least fortunate of them, depending on what one considered to be fortunate, were never able to forget the fates of such cities they had seen fall under attack from Grimm. Although Frost didn't say it, the implications of what would happen if the Grimm Wanderer was free to do as he pleased once more were more than enough to prevent any of the gathered soldiers from deserting their doomed mission. They only needed to look at each other's faces to see how appetizing their fear must be to those monsters and how stronger those emotions would be should the Grimm Wanderer start wandering once again.

"No, we are not the best people for this job… but we are the only ones who can protect this city." She continued. "This may very well be the most dangerous opponent any of you will ever fight, and should anyone choose to not fight the Grimm Wanderer I will not fault you for it. If anyone would like to leave this mission and explain exactly why you have chosen to refuse his direct orders to The Major himself, then I will let you do just that." Frost said.

Between the high likelihood of dying while fighting the Grimm Wanderer and certain death for trying to explain that refusing a direct order from The Major, no one dared to leave the open lot in front of The Camp when given the 'choice'. A few courageous freethinkers looked between their comrades, weapons, and Frost for a third option but in the end decided it was better to face one questionably insane killer than an entire army being led by dozens.

"Good, I'm glad to see that you are all so dedicated to your kingdom." Frost said, her icy smile doing nothing to hide what she really thought. "In order to begin our assault against the Grimm Wanderer, I will need one of you to make a sacrifice for the well being of our kingdom. This volunteer will have to travel down into The Camp, alone, and draw out the Grimm Wanderer from wherever he is currently hiding so the rest of us can finish him off once and for all."

In other words, what she was asking for was bait for a trap. Not a single person gathered in front of her bought her 'well being of our kingdom' bullshit because they had all heard it before. Whether it was during their brief time in the army, when Mantle started claiming their family businesses and properties to 'ensure they were used properly', and the ongoing attempts to wipe out their kingdom's culture in the name of survival, they were all used to the lies Frost was telling them. She wanted a volunteer to kill themselves after their attempt to bait him up with an empty elevator failed, it was as simple as that.

"How stupid do you think we are?" Shouted one particular soldier, Elias, who lacked the same foresight and self-restraint of the others gathered around him.

"Who said that?" Frost shouted almost immediately after hearing some dissent among her new troops, pulling out a stocky looking sword at the same time.

All of his comrades that were gathered, all of which knew better than to talk back to someone who showed no fear when speaking of The Major, parted away from the poor soul who had voiced his opinion. Whatever support he thought he had clearly wasn't willing to defend him, and he slowly turned pale as Frost walked up to him as they locked their eyes together.

"Do you have something that you wanted to say? " Frost asked him, looking down on the poor man with her weapon in hand to help him realize what any further outbursts would bring him. "If I am not mistaken, it sounded like you volunteered to be the brave soul we needed to go down there and bring the Grimm Wanderer on to the surface?"

"Fuck."

"What did you say to me?" Frost said, the venom in her voice becoming impossible to mistake for anything else but absolute hate.

"I said 'fuck', because I'm fucked no matter what now." The soldier said, not completely wilting underneath Frost's gaze but accepting that there was no way of avoiding the inevitable now. "I'll be your damn suicide runner, but only if I'm not the only one going down that elevator!"

"You are in no position to make demands, soldier. I could have you executed right now for denying a direct order from The Major himself if I wanted to."

"Last time I checked, you weren't Ironwood."

"True, but I am acting on The Major's behalf after he personally told me to lead this mission himself. Unless you would care to explain to him why you shouldn't be tried as a traitor for refusing orders, talking back to your superiors, and allying yourself with the animals in this city that are fighting against your countrymen you will be going down in that elevator. Alone." Frost growled as she pulled out her Scroll and flipped it open.

"But I am not as unreasonable as the filth that calls this city home. I will give you a choice, either I can press one button and end your life and those of everyone you know and love, or you can press a different one and possibly survive to see another day." She said as she let a finger hover above her Scroll's keypad. "Choose wisely."

Elias ran to the elevator before pressing the button that would seal his fate before anyone had a chance to say anything. Although he didn't quite believe the rumors that Mantle carried over the penalties for treason to the families of the accused, he knew that his kingdom was not above such actions either. While he didn't have many people he cared about left after a Grimm attack left him an orphan years ago, he did have some people he had feelings for. Just because he didn't think that anything would happen to them if he let some other idiot march forwards to certain death didn't mean he was going to take that risk and draw more people into his death than necessary.

---

-"This is just great! I was going to end my shift early today, maybe grab a few beers too. Now I'm going to die just because Ironwood's damn harpy felt like making herself useful for once!"-

"All you need to do is say the word and I will bring you back up and arrange a meeting with The Major for you."

-"Frost, for the love of all that is good, shut the fuck up and let me do my own thing here. I would love to see what would happen once The Major learns about your 'side projects' in Vacuo."-

"Are you threatening me?"

-"No, I'm just trying to enjoy the last few moments of my life. So can you please shut the hell up before I actually consider having a candlelit dinner with Ironwood while you're sucking his dick alongside all the other idiots running this city?"-

"I can have you pulled back up to the surface and shot at any time I want. I would be careful about what you say or else-"

-"Or else what? You'll kill me? Sorry Frost, but I think The Major would have a lot more to say about you if you personally escort me to his office instead of doing the mission he 'specifically gave you' or whatever bullshit you were trying to sell us. So go ahead, make my fucking day. I don't have anything else to lose right now."-

"..."

-"That's what I thought. Just be glad I want to kill this guy more than you, or else I'd be showing you what real treason looks like… huh, the elevators stopped."-

"Good, you should be on the seventh sub-level right now. The Grimm Wanderer will most likely be waiting for you to open the doors before striking."

-"Great. He knows I'm coming. That's just perfect."-

"I'll be telling security to open the door once they check the cameras to make sure you aren't immediately ambushed once those doors open, wait until-"

-*SCREEEEEEEECH*-

-"What in the- OH SHIT IT'S HIM!"-

-*DAKKA* *DAKKA* *DAKKA*-

-"Heh heh heh."-

"Soldier? What is happening? Talk to me!"

-*DAKKA* *DAKKA* *DAKKA*-

-"Hah hah hah haaaah."-

-*DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA*-

-*EEEEE~EEEEEK*-

"Elias? ANSWER ME!"

-"IT'S HIM FROST! HE'S PULLING OPEN THE FUCKING DOORS!"-

-*DAKKA* *DAKKA* *Click*-

-"Oh…"-

-*Click*-

-"Oh no…"

-*Click* *Click* *Click*-

-"OH YES."-

-*CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK*-

-"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO N- AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Elias? What is happening?!"

-"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH- *SQUELCH* -AAACK… aaah… aack…"-

-"Aww. I broke another another one."-

-*Th-thump*-

-"aah… ah… ah… ah…"-

"E… Elias?"

-"What the fuck is going on with the people in this place? Not even those things from the Sierra Madre could crawl away after I ripped their legs off. Of course, they didn't moan like bitches over a little flesh wound. You are really lowering the bar there buddy. Oh, what the... for fucks' sake!"-

-*Crunch*-

-"HAH! Let's see you crawl that one off! Now… what the hell is stuck on the bottom of my shoe? It doesn't look like part of his skull… wait a minute, this looks like…"-

-["ZZZzzzt… zzzt… zzzzttz…"]-

-"Keep on bitching all you like Toasty, I'm a professional when it comes to stuff like this. AHEM… check, check? Is this damn thing working?"

"Oh my Brothers…"

-"There we go, I told you it'd work! Now let's see here, Frost was it? You are Frost, aren't ya?"

"..."

-"Oh, who gives a fuck anyways? If you're not Frost then yeah… you better start running now and hope to whatever gods you pray to that I don't ever find out who you are once I get out of here. If you are Frost, I am going to enjoy taking my time with you. I made the mistake of killing the last bastard to personally fuck me over way too quickly. Burning that slimy shit stain alive was way too good for what he deserved. I will NOT make the same mistake with you for running my ass over, Frost. Be seeing you again real soon!~"

"Oh… oh no…"

-"Oh, it is you Frost! Looks like I won't need to wait a couple of weeks to get even with you, unlike the others. Today just keeps on getting BETTER AND BETTER!"-

"Soldiers, get into position! The Grimm Wanderer is coming for us!"

-"Not 'us', JUST YOU. Well, you and everyone else that gets in my way. I hope your other soldiers don't break as easy as this guy did. It'd be a real shame if I can only tear you into two pieces before we can call it quits."-

"W-why you… you animal! DON'T YOU DARE-"

-"This conversation is over."-

-*CRUN-zzzzzzzzz*-

"What are you… DON'T HANG UP ON ME YOU ANIMAL!"

-*Zzzzzzzzzz…*-

"Somebody get my car ready!"

---

I couldn't help but laugh at how incompetent Mantle was proving themselves to be after checking the lone idiot I killed for any ammo. The guy didn't have any, not surprising since that was pretty much I could tell he was out when he stopped firing at me and started screaming instead. That is the whole reason I went from trying to scare him into submission to making good on my promise to my help on the outside, but only having a few dozen bullets to work with didn't worry me any. I had more important things to worry about instead.

As stupid as it was to send down only one man down to kill me, not filling a small metal box with a dozen jumpy soldiers that were more likely to shoot each other than me was a stroke of genius on Frost's part. Although it was clear that she was as smart as I was badass if she managed to capture me, sending one poor bastard down to see what I was capable of wasn't what I was expecting from her. That's the kind of shit I expect to see from Caesar's boys, not an army that looks as organized as the NCR and advanced as the Enclave.

Maybe it was just Frost who knew better than to run in guns blazing unlike the rest of Mantle. Maybe I was pissing off a whole nest of moody Deathclaws just like her. Either way, I had a feeling that my original plan of shooting everything that tried to kill me and ignoring the rest wasn't going to work as well as I thought it would earlier. I would have gladly shat all over my own pride and asked Julia or whatever my fellow messenger's help in figuring out how best to kill a couple dozen soldiers that weren't as stupid as they looked, but I decided it would be better if I let her do her own thing while I did mine.

Sure, asking her about the movements of the soldiers up top would have been nice since they probably weren't all standing in the open anymore if Frost really was competent at her job, but I didn't want to risk some other eavesdropper listening in on us as we planned our attack. If I could manage to listen in on my help's conversation from earlier, then someone else probably could too if they felt like it. After seeing exactly how fucked up things could get when someone was messing with a radio thanks to my time working for the NCR, I knew that anything important was better said in person where only a handful of people could know what's going on.

Still, as good as things were looking for me right now they were not anywhere close to how I wanted them to be going for me. I've dealt with worse odds than twenty something against two before, but I also had my guns and a fuckton of chems back then too. So, as always, I started looking at what I had in my inventory to see how I could fight my way to freedom.

*************************************************
* Weapons & Ammo
* _ A Courier's Choice
* X Auto-Rifle (Mantle #1)
* _ Auto-Rifle (Mantle #2)
* X Extra Strength Incendiary Ammo (Unknown Caliber) x13
* _ Magazines of ESI Ammo (Multiple Unknown Calibers) x 3
* _ Maria
*************************************************

I had some more weapons I could use, but since I didn't feel like blowing myself up because a couple of microfusion I duct taped together weren't as stable as they should have been, I thought better than to try Jury Rigging something together. Explosives and me had a long relationship that involved a lot of crying, screaming, blood, and near death experiences. Although most of my weapons had that kind of relationship, the people that were usually doing the bleeding and dying weren't me. That was rarely ever the case whenever I used explosives… or found a landmine the 'exciting' way…

I could have used Maria and A Courier's Choice, but those were more like trophies than usable weapons. Besides, Benny's old pistol clearly couldn't kill anything as tough as me and as for my other option… I think I'll keep on reserving that for special occasions. It is my choice after all...

Jokes aside, going ahead like I usually did was definitely going to get me killed so I needed something more than a fuckton of chems to fight my way to freedom. I was already feeling a bit more like my old self thanks to taking some Rebound and a quarter dose of Slasher once the lights turned back on, so I wasn't completely writing off another blackout massacre quite yet. It was a decent enough last resort, but I still want to have at least a back up plan to avoid getting my ass shot again.

Odds are I'd find something to work with once I reached the surface, but if not then things were certainly-

"Hey Six, what're we going to do once we reach the surface? There's no way they are just going to let us walk up there and slaughter them all like Brahmin." Toasty said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"I don't know about that. You'd be surprised by how many people try making a last stand instead of running for their lives or trying to just keep themselves from being shot full of holes."

"Well, I don't want to get shot because you feel like acting like a Lobotomite all of a sudden. You got some sort of plan so I don't get shot? Maybe shield me with your body or something like that? Your armor is tough enough to handle a couple hundred bullets, right?"

"Uhh… no. No it's not." I said as I scratched at the exposed scars on my back.

Even if I wasn't running around with half of my armor torn to shreds, I still wouldn't blindly charge a couple dozen psykers on my own. Maybe if I had some half decent weapons and the heavy duty East Coast models of power armor I've heard so much about, but there was no way in hell I was going to do it right now.

As much as I hate to admit it, Toasty was right. I needed a plan.

Unfortunately, any plan that didn't involve a suicidal charge needed weapons that I didn't have on me right now. I mean, I could try drop kicking a Mini-nuke out of the elevator and hope for the best... but I have a gut feeling that it would detonate the moment I kicked it somehow. That would definitely fit in with how absolutely shit my day has been and I really didn't feel like tempting fate when I had other things to work with instead.

I say that, but in the end I had little more than the usual junk I carried with me. All I had to work with were a couple of magazines of ESI ammo that would probably blow up in my face if a stray bullet hit them, some duct tape, two halves of a fresh corpse, and a few other odds and ends that wouldn't be of much use to me. As much as Graham said the word of his God protected him, I somehow doubted the book he gave me would be stopping bullets anytime soon.

It's not like I was going against a couple of zealots that shot first and asked questions later. Wouldn't need to do much to trick them if that was the case.

...wait a minute. The Mantle fucks I have already seen were trigger happy before I even started shooting at them so the others waiting for me probably are too. And if they aren't as jumpy as I think they are, Frost definitely seems like the type of person to push them over the edge. She seemed all too eager to please The Major earlier, so if she wouldn't try to finish things up quickly for him then odds are she's just naturally reckless if trying to run me over with a nuke on wheels is anything to go by. If that really was her barking orders to that Elias guy or whatever my most recent victim's name was, then she is definitely going to try and order a firing squad to blow their load the moment they see me. Of course, that's if she doesn't try ramming a car into the elevator instead and taking us both out in the mushroom cloud it would create.

...I think I can work with this. All I need is something to keep me alive long enough to find an opening to dive into and take them out before they even know what happened. And I had enough stuff lying around to the perfect thing to make that opening too.

"Hey Toasty, remember when I told you about that one guy I met outside of Goodsprings that one time?" I said as I materialized a roll of duct tape from my Pipboy.

I tried to look for the roll flashing back into something I could catch, but the tell tale sound of something dropping to the ground behind me told me that my Pipboy's storage feature was still broken. At least, I hoped it was broken. If almost everything I pulled out of it was supposed to appear out of my reach and behind me instead of right in front of me where I could catch it, then it's no wonder Big Empty went the way it did. If Mr House thought this was okay, then I can only imagine what kind of shit wasn't in that jackass' eyes.

"Was this the one with the Powder Gangers, that red head, or the other one?"

"The other one. How the hell do you know about the other two?" I growled at the appliance on my shoulder.

"Uhh… you told me about it after you raided Mobius' Mentat supply. Remember?"

"Oh." I said.

Well, that explains why I can't remember anything. Pretty sure there were over a hundred of the damn things in one of his rooms… and a fuckton of Psycho too. At least, I think there was. I lost track after hitting twenty and I wasn't even close to halfway done counting the ones I could see. There were a lot of crates in that room too… guess I know what they were filled with now and why I apparently killed everything in sight for a few days.

"I still can't believe your heart and brain didn't explode from taking all of those." Toasty said, snapping me back into reality.

"Yeah… I can't possibly imagine why that didn't happen either." I said, trying to gloss over that little discussion until later.

What Toasty didn't know wouldn't kill him. If it made him finally shut up in awe of my sheer badassery, then I would gladly take that added little bonus too. Then again, it does take a certain kind of badass to keep on keeping on without their own heart or brain too.

"Whatever happened to your brain anyways?"

"Oh, he's back right where he belongs." I said.

That's right my brain is being kept in a jar underneath the toilet, right where that little shit belongs.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Huh, and here I thought you said you always kept your word no matter what." Toasty mumbled.

"Hey, that was before I knew he was as much of an asshole as the rest of the chumps back there so all of that shit is his problem and doesn't have a damn thing to do with me. Now are we going to keep on opening up old wounds or are we going to go ahead and get shit done already?" I said as I tried to turn his attention back to the current situation.

"Hey, I'm just a toaster. What the hell do you expect me to do?" Toasty whined.

"Start acting like a toaster and shut the fuck up." I said as I tore off a strip of tape from the roll in my hands and finally got to work.

Definitely adding that line to the list of shit I never thought I'd say too once all of this is over, alongside the others.

***** LINE GOES HERE *****

Nearly two dozen guns were all pointed at the elevator on the surface, each of their soldier breathlessly waiting for the doors to open before firing at the monster that had already claimed one of their own. While no one wanted to admit that Frost's plan to lure the Grimm Wanderer had been a success, they were more thankful that they weren't the ones used as bait than they were concerned with each other's safety. Seeing Frost grow pale from the screams that came from her Scroll not long after Elias sacrificed himself did nothing to change that. If anything, it made them all the more determined to do whatever it took to survive and avoid their fallen comrade's fate.

The twenty one Mantlesian soldiers that had been waiting for the Grimm Wanderer at the surface felt uncomfortably exposed as after seeing Frost running back to her vehicle, and had taken cover behind the various barrels, dumpsters, and the few Bullheads they could see the elevator from. None of them had been trained to fight in an urban environment, but the handful with experience combating the local resistance in Vacuo knew better than to stay out in the open where death could come from any direction. Seeing just how effective aura was against Dust rounds specially made for humans and faunus rather than Grimm quickly conveyed the importance of cover in a firefight and how over reliance on one's aura would lead to a quick death.

As for the majority of the gathered Mantlesians who hadn't fought anything other than a few stray Beowolves of Sabyrs back in Solitas, they either followed their slightly more experienced comrades or acted on fear alone as they hid. From there, all they could do was wait for the Grimm Wanderer to show himself so they could finally end the terror that had been plaguing the city before he found them.

And so, they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Every second felt like an eternity in the cold desert night as dawn approached and every gust of wind that pierced through them like knives was a reminder of the fate that was in store for them if they failed. Although it hadn't been more than a few minutes, whatever courage or reason that had encouraged them to stand against certain death was being worn thin with the passing of time. The few Mantlesian soldiers closest to the elevator regretted how their chosen position had no one else between them and the Grimm Wanderer to act as a target, but they didn't dare expose themselves in exchange for a better hiding spot. Those farthest from the door regretted their decision to stand and fight rather than run for their lives when they had the chance for the same reason as the others. Regardless of what was going through their minds they still kept their guns aimed towards the door as best as they could with their trembling arms.

It was only when they heard Frost roll up behind them, as well as one exceptionally jumpy soldier firing off a shot in panic, that the door to the elevator opened revealing a man standing at the entrance ready to leap at whatever was unfortunate enough to be in front of him. All twenty one soldiers began firing at this lone target, desperately hoping that enough Dust to take out a small army several times over might be enough to kill a single person.

The barrage of bullets lasted no longer than ten seconds and yet the hundreds of fire, ice, thunder, and other Dust infused rounds had created a thick fog obscuring the area between the Mantlesians and their target. It was a common sight down in the mines where Dust, as well known for its more dangerous properties as well as its benefits among Dust miners, and rarely occurred anywhere else in the world. Most experienced armies knew better than to mix different types of Dust that could potentially negate each other or create such a toxic Dust Cloud that could obscure the battlefield, but these soldiers were anything but experienced.

Their lack of foresight when mixing different types of Dust only added to the growing tension outside The Camp, for both the Mantlesians and anyone else who hadn't fled at the first hints of danger. No one was confident that the Grimm Wanderer was dead, not until they saw what was left of his body despite seeing chunks being blown off of him before the Dust Cloud created an impenetrable wall between them. No one was willing to run out to check either as no one wanted to risk the slow, painful death that came from Dust poisoning.

"Is… is that it?" One hopeful soldier hesitantly asked as they waited for the Dust cloud to settle.

They were immediately hushed by the others surrounding them in case the Grimm Wanderer had heard their outburst, and without either him or Frost rewarding that small moment of stupidity they grew slightly more confident. No one could survive being shot that many times whether they were Grimm, human, faunus, or anything else. While it did seem strange that their target had just stood there doing nothing as the doors opened and a rain of gunfire poured into them, they thought nothing of it. The Major had claimed that the Grimm Wanderer had been using various drugs to assist him in his rampage, and it wouldn't have surprised anyone gathered if a druggie didn't have enough common sense to expect an ambush.

It was thanks to their growing confidence in the Grimm Wanderer's demise and a general lack of experience that not a single one of them noticed that several of the small lights that had sparked into existence inside the Dust Cloud. It also became quite apparent that none of them noticed the magazine of Fire Dust and Electron Charge Pack that had been hastily fastened to each of the lights, or what purpose they were meant to serve...

---

"HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!" Toasty shouted at me.

I knew that we were in for a bad time the moment those elevator doors opened, but I have to say, even I was surprised by how much attention they were giving the decoy I set up for them. Mantle's soldiers proved themselves to be just as inept as the NCR's because apparently the only thing that the welcome party outside the elevator could accomplish was turning two halves of a corpse and a quarter roll of duct tape into a fresh coat of pain for everything in the elevator, including me.

Now, I'm not one to shy away from a bloodbath but fucking hell, at least when I do it I don't go overboard with it.

...okay, maybe I do go a little overboard, but that's only after taking a hit of Psycho. The rest of the time I am at least trying to leave the bodies recognizable, and not just because I want to make sure I keep my kill count accurate. The thought of losing out on whatever loot I didn't have enough time to grab off of my decoy's corpse disgusted me, but the feeling passed as soon as I scraped a couple of blood sausages off of my chest and had myself a well deserved snack for a job well done. The thin red paste that they were covered in made it go down real smooth too, and even though I didn't need to eat them to get their full effects I felt better than ever after getting something in my stomach for what was probably the first time in a few days.

"Ughh, what did you just eat?" Toasty asked me with genuine disgust behind his words instead of his usual bravado or whiny tone.

"Not what you think I ate. I ain't a fucking cannibal." I growled at him as I slunk further towards the sides of the elevator after feeling an icicle slam into my elbow.

Apparently the corpse I set up wasn't the only thing that had been blown to pieces, because once I made sure I wasn't going to be the next thing used to paint the elevator I got a good look at exactly what these fancy magic bullets were capable of. The doors weren't so much blown off as they were melted off. Whatever bullets those idiots from earlier gave me with their guns packed one hell of a punch if they could manage to do that to a few inches of solid steel in a couple of seconds.

No wonder my armor got torn to shreds when I, *ahem*, tactically retreated into that repair shop. Maybe that wasn't a bitch move on my part after all, not that there was any doubt about that. Still, they barely did anything to me after they tore through my armor. Maybe those magic bullets just tear armor apart instead of punching through it like normal armor piercing rounds do? That would make a whole lot more sense than anything else I can think of.

But what the fuck are these people fighting that they need ammo this strong to soften them up first before using normal bullets? Maybe Deathclaws are a lot more common outside of the Mojave than I thought they were…

"Hey Toasty, do you remember seeing any Deathclaws wander through you little slice of Big Empty?" I asked him, hoping that wasn't a case.

"What a Deathclaw? If it can't get us out of here without getting turned into a pile of ashes then I couldn't care less." He shouted back at me, leaving me to go back to my thoughts in silence before I suddenly realized something.

I could actually think in peace right now. That's not something you usually do when people are still shooting at you, and after poking my head out into a thick cloud of smoke I could clearly see why they stopped firing. A wall of fog that you couldn't see more than a few feet through definitely would make it a little harder to know what you were shooting at, or if what you were shooting at was dead yet. That wasn't exactly the best thing I could have asked for, but I'll take what I can get.

"Toasty, keep your voice down. They think we're dead." I whispered at him.

"Great. What happens when they find out that we're still alive?" He growled back at me.

"I'll figure something out. Just keep your yap shut so you don't get us both killed."

I took one look at what was left of the corpse I set up for the decoy which was little more than a pair of shoes on the ground and a lone arm dangling from the ceiling now and got to thinking about ways to keep myself from ending up like that. I might have had the element of surprise on my side since those Mantle fucks couldn't see me, but I also couldn't see them either making it a moot point. What's worse is that I didn't know where they were and they sure as hell knew that I couldn't exactly escape the elevator without making a scene. I could very easily get a better look at things by abusing V.A.T.S. so long as it didn't leave me paralyzed afterwards, but there was no way in hell I was risking that. Not only was I unwilling to risk presenting myself to a couple dozen armed and angry soldiers if V.A.T.S. decided to fuck me over again, but I still didn't know if the magic bullets I picked up were any more useful than my usual ones. They sure did a lot to clothes and metal, but not a damn thing against flesh.

Overall, I looked like I was knee deep in shit and staring at the ass end of a Super Mutant Behemoth with diarrhea right about now. My original plan of shooting everyone dead before they shot me dead clearly wasn't going to work out again. Maybe I would be able to kill a handful of them before they gunned me down, but I wasn't willing to go out in a blaze of glory quite yet. I had things to do, people to kill, and a list of names that needed to be scratched off of my shit list before I could even think about stuff like that.

What I needed right now was a Plan B, because my usual Plan A was not going to happen any time soon. Although I wasn't in the best state of mind right now, I still had a ton of junk in my Pipboy since I never did get the chance to store it away on account of the surprise party that got me into this mess in the first place. I had duct tape, an elevator that was starting to fall apart, more ammo than I could ever use. I've gotten out of worse situations with less, so I knew I wasn't screwed yet.

Hell, this wasn't even the first time something like this happened since I crawled out of a dumpster a while ago! If I hadn't been going against some of the strongest psykers alive, I hope, then I'm sure those gunpowder charges would have killed them long before I had time to test out that one made from those magic shotgun shells.

Huh… come to think of it, I also have quite a few magazines full of the stuff instead of a handful of shells now. They are fire rounds too, and there is no way in hell that they would just create another icy mist like those ice shells did...

Well shit, I think I just found Plan B!

I tuned out whatever complaints Toasty had for me and instantly materialized the three spare magazines of ESI ammo I had in front of me as well as an equal number of 'batteries' or whatever energy weapon ammo is called. I about shit myself as they all fell into a pile at my feet, and once I got over the fear of almost blowing myself up I tossed the roll of duct tape on my belt beside them and got to work gathering the last material I needed for my ingenious plan. With all the grace of a drunken chem addict, I pulled down the entire set of lights down from the elevator ceiling to the floor, shattering most of the bulbs in the process.

It took me a quick second to find three lights that weren't completely shattered and pull out a handful of wires to hook everything up. It couldn't have taken more than a couple of seconds for me to throw everything in a pile and start taping everything but the ESI ammo so that way nothing blew up in my face when the lights lit up. The lights weren't nearly as bright as I wanted them to be, but then again that was probably for the best. If I had a hard time seeing them when I knew where they were then those Mantle fucks wouldn't have a damn clue they were even there. With the lights situated I carefully slapped a magazine of ESI ammo onto each portable light I made, making sure that no sparks made my whole plan go up in flames along with me and Toasty.

The whole process took me about thirty seconds and I had what I hoped to be three bombs strong enough to at least ring a few psyker's bells and tell my fellow messenger to start popping heads. Not quite sure how well they would work, but even if they didn't kill anybody I doubt that even a psyker would appreciate being set on fire. There was only one way to find out now.

I raised my hand and got ready to throw them, but hesitated. It's not because I was afraid they were going to blow up like some wimp, but rather because I wasn't sure if those Mantle fucks would notice what I was planning.

"Is… is that it?" I heard someone ask as if they were purposefully trying to answer my question.

And with that, I knew that there was no fear of having my bombs being discovered. No one with half a brain would say something as stupid as that, so I didn't even bother being stealthy as I slid one makeshift bomb towards whoever was so kind enough to expose their position to me as my way of saying thanks. The other two went to either side where they were just far close enough that blowing one of them up would set all three off while also making sure that I would get the most bang for my caps, so to speak.

The genius from earlier didn't say anything about the strange lights that just made their way through the fog. Yes, surprising, I know. I was feeling a bit giddy now that I was able to try a Plan B for the first time in ages since I never bothered with one unless I was at a disadvantage like I was right now. I really wish I still had Raul, Gannon, or hell, even Boone with me so I could see their faces as I saved their sorry hides after running into impossible odds again. They might have been right about me not being the sharpest tool in the shed… or sharp at all, but I always made sure we always got out alive when shit hit the fan. I might not be the best at thinking things through but damn it all, I was damn good at doing things and seeing them through until the very end. Hopefully things would keep on going that way too.

"Great. We're going to get killed by a couple of dumbasses and you're over here playing with some stupid kindergarten arts and crafts project." Toasty wailed, snapping me back to reality.

"Hey, I'm not… wait, what's a kindergarten?" I said, holding off on any comebacks until I knew what the hell he just called me.

If it wasn't for the wave of nostalgia hitting me right now, I would have just brushed off his jab and been done with it. Unfortunately for him, I was feeling a bit talkative and really wanted to know what this 'kindergarten' thing was I saw mention of sometimes when prospecting.

"Doesn't matter, nothing will now that instead of blowing up the world… again, I'm going to die stuck to YOU!"

Damn he is never going to let that little detail go, is he? I never should have told him that.

"Toasty, Toasty, calm down. This is me you're talking about. I don't have any plans on dying until I get some goddamn payback on all the dickheads that have been tried fucking me over the past couple of months." I said, trying to coax some confidence back into him before his depression became contagious.

There was nothing much worse than feeling suicidal in a gunfight, and no quicker way to either. Well, either that or high on chems. You never could tell with some people, I sure as hell never could with most raiders that thought attacking a guy packing more guns than most tribes had ever seen before could be stabbed to death with a rusty switchblade. Fucking idiot savages.

"Oh? Are you toasting up some sort of plan?" Toasty asked me, sounding a little less hopeless than he was earlier.

" 'Toasting' up… don't you mean..."

I almost finished that sentence before I could just feel the smugness radiating off that bastard. Then again, there was no way I didn't soak up any rads after I dropped a Mini-nuke at my feet so maybe that was why I felt so tingly now. Geiger counter wasn't going off so it sure as hell wasn't from any active radiation.

"Fuck you Toasty, fuck you." I said.

I swear, he makes one little joke that goes over my head and he starts thinking he is some sort of evil genius. Still, I'd rather have him be murder happy and smug than wanting to chuck himself in the first bathtub he found, so I just let him off with a 'New Vegas Hello' instead.

"It wouldn't be the first time someone's tried that." He said with a disturbing amount of resignation in his voice.

Well... I could have lived my life perfectly fine without hearing that. I really didn't need to know what those Lobomites were doing to you in that cave, Toasty.

Wait, he didn't have his personality chip installed back then. How the hell…?

Dr 8, you are one sick son of a bitch. At least, I hope Dr 8 was the one horny enough to do that. The only other person it could be was Dala, but she's… a she. That wouldn't work, would it? I mean there's only one real thing she could try, right? But Toasty is so big... and those sharp corners of his too and... and no.

No. NO. NO.

…

OH SWEET LORD!

...

Welp, that's one more thing I will never be able to unsee.

"You okay there Six?" Toasty asked me as I tried to purge that image from my mind.

"Uhh… yeah. I'm just really eager to kill some people and not think about what the Think Tank did in their free time before becoming brains in jars. Or after."

After offering that quick explanation so I wouldn't have to go into any more detail about how one of the last few bits of my innocence just died, I quickly grabbed the rifle holstered on my back and aimed for one of the lights that I could just barely see through the fog of war. I hesitated for a moment thinking maybe, just maybe, I was still going to somehow get caught in the blast the moment I fired at my improvised explosive. Then I thought about what would happen if I didn't take the shot and how if I really was going to die no matter what then I might as well take as many people as I can with me.

As chemed out of my mind as I was I still hit my mark with a single shot. A huge ball of fire erupted from where I had been aiming and for that blew away the fog in front of me. Before I could duck my head behind cover another two miniature mushroom clouds flashed and threw me against the back of the elevator. While I had been expecting those bombs to have some kick to them, I wasn't expecting a Tiny Tots Mini-nuke quality explosion from my hastily assembled bombs but I wasn't complaining. Killing those soldiers wasn't what I was really going for, but since I got my ass thrown against a wall and I was a good twenty or so feet away from the blast zone I could only imagine how much worse those Mantle fucks had it.

The cloud that had been acting as my one and only source of cover was gone now, along with destroying a good chunk of the asphalt between me and whatever those soldiers had been using for cover by the looks of things. As I picked myself up off the floor, I could hardly tell the difference between rubble from the crater and whatever charred barrels and crates were lying all over the parking lot. Whatever element of surprise I had now was gone with the dust cloud, but then again, I wasn't really planning to take advantage of it once the fighting started. Not wanting to wait for the survivors to recover and start shooting before I did, I rushed straight out of the elevator before they wisened up and tried chucking a few grenades at me to return the favor.

"YES! KILL THEM ALL! NO SURVIVORS!" Toasty shouted as he surveyed the carnage from my shoulder.

I didn't pay him any mind, because instead of listening to more of his cries for blood my attention was fully focused on the bark of an anti-material rifle from somewhere off in the distance. I had plenty of experience with .50 caliber weapons from both the sending and receiving ends of them so I damn well know what I'm talking about when I say that I heard one of those things fire. Since I didn't have a gaping hole somewhere on me and no one else had bothered shooting at me, I could only assume that my fellow messenger figured that was the sign to join in the fight. Her timing was absolutely perfect because if throwing a few explosives at these Mantle fucks hadn't created a clusterfuck of epic proportions, having me and a sniper picking them off while they try to recover certainly would.

Not wanting to leave a lady to do all my work for me, I honed in on a group of three people that looked like they had just pulled themselves to their feet a ways away from me. There wasn't any real reason that I decided to go for them in particular, they were just the first people I saw after leaving the elevator. They didn't look like they would be much of threat, but since they were the only soldiers I could see staring back at me I thought it was better if I was the one to start shooting first.

Before any one of them could realize that they weren't looking at a friendly face barreling towards them, I emptied whatever ammo I still had in my rifle into one soldier and was pleasantly surprised by the results. Only the first two of my shots were blocked by his psyker powers, the other nine that followed left cauterized the holes they made in him which left him looking like one Brotherhood of Steel's practice dummies. He didn't so much as scream by the time he hit the ground, but his two friends were more than willing to relieve their fallen comrade of that job.

"IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" The soldier on the left screamed, both of them firing at me before they even bothered aiming their rifles properly.

Although I wanted to soak up their fear for just a while longer, I was also particularly fond of staying alive and didn't want to add another hour of work repairing my armor just because I felt like being Lord Death again. I threw my now empty rifle at the soldier that was brave enough to make herself heard and hit her square in the face. The impact managed to throw off her aim, not that it really mattered since neither she nor the other guy beside her came anywhere close to hitting me, and closed in on the two of them. With the girl more focused on her aching face and her partner shaking so badly that he was more likely to hit her than me, I reared back my punching arm so I could end the fight before anyone else could join in.

I threw a one handed Legion Assault towards the guy once I got close enough and my fist landed square on his jaw, dropping him straight to his knees. His partner recovered from getting a gun thrown at her in the time the moment I hit him and she tried to fire at me point blank, but unfortunately for her I had experience when fighting against trigger happy idiots like her. I grabbed the front end of her rifle with my left hand and yanked it up and away from her, to both save myself some pain and see how she reacted. To my surprise, she held onto her weapon despite nearly being lifted off the ground as I brought her off balance. I rewarded her dedication to keep a grip on her gun with a kiss against my helmet as I drove it into her face. The familiar sound of a nose getting crushed and her skull cracking from the force of the blow was like music to my ears, with her fall to the ground acting as a well deserved encore for my effort.

She didn't have so much of a tight grip on her rifle that I had to let her collapse with it, no I still held onto that thing and gave it a little wave just to make sure she wasn't trying to fake me out or something. I swear, I wasn't doing that just to show off… but if those cameras kept recordings of what they saw I was absolutely going to download that file for later. From there, nothing stopped me from firing off the last few shots she had loaded straight into the back of her skull for a lethal bit of irony. If she wasn't dead after having her nose driven into her face earlier, then having a smoking stump on at the end of her neck instead of a head made sure of that now.

The sound of her partner trying to get back onto his feet kept me from checking her body for any spare ammo. Since the weapon in my hands was no better than a club in its current state and lacking any better options I changed my grip on it and slung it around at the guy's head hoping he would stay down this time. I saw a couple of teeth fly out of his mouth when my hit landed, but the guy was tougher than I thought or smart enough to stay standing so I couldn't curb stomp him like I had been planning to. What's more was that he somehow pulled out a knife too, like a serrated six inch blade would stop me now when he couldn't come anywhere close with a rifle. I do have to admit that without that quick hit Rebound I took before entering the elevator he might have had a chance at killing me. Unfortunately for him, I was compensating for my low agility just fine with chems and pure adrenaline.

His thrust looked like it was moving in slow motion. Whether that was because he never used his knife before or I brained him twice in a row a few moments ago was something I would never know. I easily caught his fist with my right hand and squeezed it with all my strength, breaking most of the bones in his hand as I savored that look of pain and terror in his eyes as I did so. The guy must have realized he was screwed no matter what he did now because instead of trying to run for his life or scream in pain, he tried to throw a left hook at me like a complete amateur instead. He was so committed to getting one last hit on me that he never noticed that he dropped his knife when I crushed his hand or that I picked it up the surprisingly weighty blade before it even hit the ground.

Not wanting to deal with this guy any longer, I stabbed his arm right before it hit me and jammed my elbow into his, breaking his skewered arm and whatever momentum he had left in his punch. The guy's wails sounded like music to my ear as he tried and failed to pull his mangled arm away from me, but I wasn't about to let him go quite yet. That son of a bitch was still breathing and I didn't like that one bit, so I simply ripped his own knife up through his arm until it came out after hitting his collar bone. From there I shut him up permanently by bringing the serrated edge of the blade across his throat, spraying a good bit of his blood on myself in the process.

"YES, BLEED FOR YOUR GODS MORTAL!" Toasty shouted as he enjoyed the front row view he had. I would have told him to shut up if something else didn't grab my attention just then.

Another bark from an anti-material rifle told me that the fight wasn't over yet, so I turned away from the guy bleeding out at my feet and looked for my next victims since the guy bleeding at my feet wouldn't be able to do much of anything for long. The sound of someone crying out in pain and a few others from the shock was all it took for me to hone in on my next targets. I took a moment to appreciate how my sniper on the roof was sending Mantle the right message, even though she was taking her sweet-ass time to do so. She must not have been too familiar with rarer, stronger varieties of firearms if it took her a couple of seconds to fire off another shot. Then again, the only other sniper I could compare her to was Boone and he was about as deadly as me!

Ah hell, I'll cut her some slack until after I talk to her for a bit. Thinking about shit like that right now won't do me any good. I had more important things to do than worrying when I had a bunch more victims waiting to live up to their title.

To my right there were four dirty white uniformed idiots looking dumbfounded at one of their friends as they rolled around on the ground holding a bloody leg. Not quite what I would have done if I was them, but hey, maybe they all had some sort of secret psyker powers that kept them from getting sniped in the leg unlike their friend. The only things I knew about psykers before coming to Europe was that they were supposed to be rare and they could do just about anything they wanted so long as they built up their powers.

Guess that meant psyker powers were sort of like a muscle, they have to be built up to be useful or something like that. If that really was the case, then that would sure explain why some people can take a bullet to the face like a champ and others can't do a damn think about having their neck broken. I'll have to ask about that later.

It was only the prospect of going up against yet another couple of psykers as strong as the assassins that attacked me in the repair shop that kept me from laughing at the bunch of fools who weren't doing everything they could to not end up like their injured companion. They were all thankfully more focused on finding whoever shot the unlucky bastard and getting him up to his feet than running for cover or getting ready for a fight. That was too bad for them, because I tackled the closest one to me to the ground just as she heard me running up to her and raked my knife through her chest as I rolled back to my feet, ready to take one the next person to try their luck against me.

I briefly regretted doing that when I noticed how I was now standing in between three very pissed off looking soldiers holding rifles. Then I saw that they looked about as fresh out of boot camp as most NCR troops in the Mojave and just like the other trio I had made quick work of. My regret disappeared just as quickly as it went as I saw just how easy it would be to take care of them. The soldiers raised their guns in unison and got ready to fire at me, acting more on instinct than experience judging from how they had me surrounded. There were two directly behind me and another one right in front of me, and since I didn't feel like wasting any energy taking them out I just smiled as I ducked down. It was while I was crouched down below their aim that I witnessed one of the stupidest things I have ever seen.

Two different streams of bullets passed over me, soon followed by a pair of painted shouts from behind me and a panicked apology from the lone idiot staring back at me. Apparently they had all been about as trigger happy now as they were when I came up the elevator because they actually managed to shoot each other instead of me. I glanced back at the two guys that had more holes in them than a ghoul from Dayglow before I looked back at the only one that wasn't on the verge of bleeding out and laughed in his face. He did NOT look happy with himself as he noticed how all of his allies were dead or dying and the numbers advantage he had against me had been erased by his own hand. He tried to turn around and make a run for it but I simply grabbed him by the scruff of his neck before he could escape. From there it was painfully easy to pull him close and put him in a choker hold that he was powerless to break out of.

He was completely at my mercy and for a moment, I struggled to decide what to do with him. I first thought about giving him a taste of The Voice or braining him with Toasty before letting him go so that people would start thinking that I might not kill them if I ever saw them. Considering how I was being talked about like I was one of Caesar's boys or an angry Deathclaw, a bit of good publicity would definitely help convince some idiots that running away from me was a better option than fighting me to the death. There wasn't any enemy more annoying to deal with than one that didn't expect to live to see the end of a battle, and I could definitely take advantage of cowards that wanted to run rather than fight. I really didn't need a bunch of suicidal wackjobs trying their luck against me, not after having a few close calls with those kinds of people in Zion.

On the other hand, I really wanted to kill the fucker and anyone else in a white uniform too. After all the shit I have gone through I wasn't in exactly the most generous of moods, especially towards anyone that didn't think twice about trying to kill me. Hell, all these Mantle fucks were acting like I was some sort of monster so if that was what they wanted then who was I to tell them that they were wrong? Besides, I'd never hear the end of it if Toasty thought I was going soft on him.

With about the same effort I put into opening a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla, I popped the guy's top off and kept his head handy just in case I needed to throw it at somebody else. The only other thing I had on me right now was the knife, and there was no way in hell I was throwing away the only weapon I had if I knew it couldn't kill anyone.

With everyone in this group all downed but not dead, I started stomping skulls so that way no one could accuse me of playing favorites. They didn't put up much of a fight, although since two of them were probably going to bleed out from their wounds at any second and the other one was definitely going to lose a leg if everything went right for him, I'd like to think I did them all a favor in the end. At the very least, I didn't have any loose ends to deal with by letting them live to fight another day.

After I finished picking the bits of bone out of the bottom of my boots I looked back to the eight dead soldiers lying dead because of me and me alone. I gave a quick look around the place for anyone else that could have been ready to fill me full of lead or whatever those magical bullets were filled with and found… no one else, much to my disappointment. Not disappointing in the sense that I was going to walk away without much more of a fight, but rather the only people I did see were more intent on trampling each other to get away from me. I have no idea why they didn't just take the car behind them since it looked like it could still run, but I guess they were more intent on outrunning each other instead.

What was it that Follows-Chalk told me about Yao Guai hunting? I think it was "You don't have to outrun it, just the person you're hunting with" or something like that. While I wasn't happy about being the bear in this situation, it was a lot better than having to run for my life again.

The lucky bastards that kept on running after passing the gates out of my newest Murder Mountain were the smart ones. They knew that they were screwed and were doing all they could to get the hell away from me before I could finish what my bombs started. I could have chased after them and toyed with them for a little while longer, but I was running low on chems and didn't want to risk losing their effects the moment I started another fight. Knowing my luck, the Rebound I took to offset my severe chem withdrawal didn't wouldn't last nearly as long as it did last time.

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they somehow cancelled each other out already since I was starting to feel stiff and sore all over. Of course that could just be my hangover coming back with a vengeance. Who the hell knows at this point? I could always check my Pipboy to make sure, but I don't want any of these Mantle fucks to get any bright ideas and start aiming for it so that ain't happening until I find a place to rest.

Anyways, out of the twenty two soldiers that had been waiting to ambush me only five of them were running for their lives and another eight were dead. Actually, nine were dead. I just found a headless corpse that had to be the handiwork of Julia or whatever her name was. Guess she wasn't as shit of a sniper as I thought she was, but still a far cry from Boone. Still, I was happy that she at least killed one person so that way I wasn't forced to kill everyone on my own… even if only nine of them died in the end.

Those were pretty damn good numbers considering what I was up against, but not the ones I was looking for. Eight bodies were unaccounted for if I did my math and counting right, and that's a big if there. I was expecting some sort of big, climactic fight once I started strolling around the craters I made for my missing eight and after nearly tripping over a severed leg I knew that any amount of searching I did would have been pointless. If those ESI rounds could tear apart a parking lot worse than a Mini-nuke could, then there was no way in hell a psyker's bullshit could keep them alive. I picked up the leg I nearly tripped over, black from being flambéed and brittle enough to snap in two after waving it around a couple times, then threw it away feeling satisfied. If anyone had been caught in that blast then I'd need a mop and a bucket to gather all the pieces before telling who was who and I didn't have the time or patience for that shit.

So yeah, that worked out pretty damn well if I do say so myself. If I wasn't Vilified in Mantle's eyes earlier then I sure as hell am now. Maybe they will be the first people to be smart enough to NOT send a couple dozen assassination squads my way just so I could turn them into meaty confetti like I did with the Legion and NCR ones. I could only hope that wasn't the case, because assassins usually carried some damn good weapons and I sure as hell needed something better than a random knife with a big-ass blade if I wanted to get shit done in the future. I wasn't going to take out an entire kingdom with just a knife and a severed head, but that didn't mean I couldn't use them to get started either.

With that thought in mind, I turned away from fleeing soldiers and started making my way back towards the elevator to rub yet another name off my list. I slapped my geiger counter back into silence since it was going off for some reason too, probably reminding me of how many rads I soaked up earlier or something like that. Then again, maybe if it wasn't a friendly reminder that I was one step closer to ghoulification. I didn't give a damn either because I had bigger fish to fry, namely whoever trapped me down in that fucking sex dungeon!

Whoever that person was, they were not going to enjoy the last few moments of their life once I showed them exactly how creative I could be with a roll of duct tape and some elevator cables. After that I'd have to deal with Major Ironcock or whatever his name was, but I doubted the guy in charge of Mantle's forces in Vacuo would be going anywhere anytime soon. Frost sure as hell wasn't going anywhere, she got lucky when she got blown to bits. If she hadn't then odds are that she'd be trying to run my ass over right now.

Come to think of it, I just turned my back to a car too…

*Vrrrrrr-*

"Fuck."

---

Author's Corner:

Alright, I have a lot to say and I'll try to keep this quick..

First off, happy belated Valentine's Day to you all! Whether you spent it with someone close to you or with a mug full of rum like I did, I hope that y'all were able to celebrate it in style.

Next, I have to admit that this is only half of the chapter I was planning to release. I would have taken longer to get the rest of it done, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do the story justice without testing out the word cap limit. Because of that, I'm instead adding I'm throwing in another bonus chapter with this upload to make up for any disappointment. That's right, this'll be a double whammy!

Speaking of bonus chapters, I'll also have a poll set up (if I can get it to work properly) to hear some input about how they are set up. I am still on the fence about uploading extra chapters on their own or tacking them on after my little messages to you all. I currently have two different types of extra chapters/storylines planned that will have no impact on the main one, aside from explaining an offhand comment or joke, and feel that they deserve to be separate from everything else because of this. If anyone feels like making their voices heard about this, go find the poll and vote.

Ordinarily I would say my goodbyes here… but I'm not.

After seeing how a certain recently disgraced mod for New Vegas crashed and burned I felt that it should be addressed sooner rather than later. And by sooner, I mean now. Is it a cheap shot? Maybe, but then again those are the best kinds of shots to take.