NOTE: Rough translations posted near end of chapter.

Time since last contact with RobCo GPS services.

7 days, 2 hours, 1 minute, 58 seconds...

7 days, 2 hours, 1 minute, 59 seconds…

7 days, 2 hours, 2 minutes, 0 seconds…

Chapter 12: A Shi-ty Situation

Depending on how thin the walls are in the place you're trying to lay down for the night, or at least fake getting some shut-eye so you can start making plans to skip town instead of losing a fight with insomnia, you can overhear quite a few juicy bits of information you wouldn't be able to get your hands on otherwise. To someone like myself who usually doesn't mind hearing what secrets some people might tell each other in the 'safety' of their own room, receiving the room next to Bunny Boy's was a blessing in disguise.

Oh was I wrong about that one.

"Oh Alex~"

"Oh Julia~"

"Oh fuck me." I groaned as I prepared for yet another restless night thanks to those two damned younguns going at it again for the third fucking night in a row.

Thanks to how thin the walls were in this supposedly secure hideout, I learned firsthand that 'fucking like rabbits' is a saying for a reason. I don't know how the hell either of them were able to walk in the morning after humping each other every chance they got, let alone how no one else seemed to hear the wonderful noises they were making, but I guess I can chalk that up to the psyker bullshit that these Europeans have going on. Guess that stuff is as good at stopping bullets as it is at blocking sound and keeping people from getting rubbed raw.

As much as I wanted to spend yet another couple of hours listening to those two celebrate being alive after Alex's plan went off without a hitch thanks to my flawless distraction, there were places I needed to be and people I needed to kill. I don't know where to even begin looking for either of them, but I knew neither of them were anywhere within earshot of those two idiots fucking each other's brains out. I swear to God, if I go through another night locked up in this room listening to those two playing hide the sausage all night long again then I'm sure I'll figure out where to start real fucking quick. I won't even give 'em the courtesy of pulling their pants up when I pull the trigger on 'em.

Ah well, even if I couldn't find another kingdom to piss off and bring down in a matter of days, I could at least finish getting the last few things I needed to leave Vacuo behind and start finding my way back to the Mojave. Alex wasn't exactly generous with the materials he gave me to repair my armor a second time, something I could hardly blame him for since I had seen junk yards with better tools and materials than his hideout's armory, so there were quite a few things I needed to grab before I could even think about leaving Vacuo… the city, not the kingdom.

First of all, I needed ammo to make my guns better than a couple of glorified paperweights. No one asked me to return the sniper rifle I had strapped to my back since I killed Ironcock and the only way I would be giving it up is if they pried it away from my cold dead hands, but I couldn't exactly rely on a long range weapon and a larger than average knife if something got close enough to try tearing my asshole inside out on my way back to the Mojave. There was a chance I might find some decent loot if a few bandits made the last mistake of their lives if they tried robbing me, but since the likelihood of a bunch of feral savages carrying anything worth stealing was next to zero, I figured it was best to make sure I had enough weapons and ammo before I left the city of Vacuo.

My long range options were covered by the assassin's anti-material rifle I claimed for myself, and the bowie knife was the best option I had for close quarters. I'd have loved to trade the both of them for a half decent ballistic fist, but since I was better geared now than when I woke up in Goodsprings, I suppose I didn't have much room to complain. I was severely lacking in the midrange department of ass-kickery, but thankfully I only needed ammo for the weapon I had in mind to shore up that part of my arsenal. Penetrator, Ironcock's pistol, the name which just so happened to be engraved on the barrel much to my amusement, seemed to be the perfect gun for taking care of anything my anti-material rifle and knife couldn't handle… just as soon as I get my hands on some ammo for the damn thing.

The Major just had to give me one last 'fuck you' before dying by using up the last of it during our fight, and although I could have tried using the experimental 12 gauge magazine I executed Ironcock with, that mistake was better left untouched. The end result of a night of heavy drinking that single handedly put an end to my attempts at crafting anymore unique ammunition was better left abandoned before it could blow up in my face again. Believe me, pulling a handful of bird shot and other bits of metal out of your face is a real bitch when you are miles away from the nearest auto-doc, and I had no intentions of going through that mess ever again.

In order to avoid ending up terminally unarmed in the near future, and wanting to be as far away from the love nest adjacent to my room as soon as possible, I set out to solve two problems at once. Alex had been really pissy about me not leaving the Spirit of Vacuo's hideout for some reason, but the way I see it, if he doesn't know I left his gilded cage for a couple of hours then he won't have a problem with both of us doing our own things, and if he isn't, I can ask Julia if she's feeling sore right in front him. That should get the asshole to shut up real quick.

Luckily, with all the partying that these wannabe rebels had been doing ever since I threw Ironwood's head on Bunny Boy's desk, no one was around to stop me from stepping out of my room for some much needed peace and quiet. My descent down a few flights of stairs also went unnoticed, although it was a little touch and go sometimes thanks to some creaky floorboards. Hell, there wasn't anyone one the final floor to stop me on my way down to the sewers either, aside from Giles, who was stuck on guard duty again tonight.

"Damn, don't you ever sleep?" I joked as I approached him.

"Oh, Courier, it's you." He grumbled, sounding no less tired than he usually did. "Alex has me working nights now that we have a few extra people to spare during the day."

"Huh, is that so?" I said, feigning interest as best I could.

"Yep, but between you and me, I prefer working nights rather than days. There's a whole lot less to worry about at this hour." He told me, as if it wasn't obvious enough since that was all he seemed to do.

Compared to how we were ready to go at each other's throats when we first met, we were practically brothers with how friendly we were now. After drinking him under the table when he tried to see which one of us could hold their liquor better after I threw The Major's head on Alex's desk, courtesy of Bunny Boy's unwitting generosity and his now empty stash of whiskey (a shit drink is always better than no drink), me and Snake Eyes really hit it off. Sure, we definitely didn't trust each other worth a damn, but there was still an unspoken sense of familiarity and respect between us. Whether or not walking up to him with Ironcock's head hanging from a sack on my belt had anything to do with it was beyond me. I could care less of why he was acting so friendly with me so long as he kept on treating me like a human being. It felt good to feel appreciated for once, even if the guy was just pretending to keep me from gutting him like a lakelurk.

"Say, what are you doing up this late? Some of the other guys were telling me that you barricaded yourself inside your room at night. Did something happen between you and Alex?" He asked me, pointing out the obvious as he did so.

Ever since a particularly rough wake-up call courtesy of some cannibals on the road to Nipton, I made a habit of only sleeping in places that were thoroughly barricaded to ensure that I wouldn't wake up to some random shitbag trying to gnaw off my leg again. I sure as know my companions... my no good, backstabbing former companions always thought I was weird for doing that. So did the Nightkin and kid I met in the Sierra Madre, up until Dean Domino and I had to save their asses from a pack of ghost people one night. I'm pretty sure they did the same thing for the rest of their lives, right up until that fucking technology obsessed Brotherhood of Shit dickbag detonated their collars just to prove a point and piss me off.

Damn, no need to start feeling sentimental now. I can do that later once I return to the Mojave and start cracking skulls, preferably starting with every single Legionnaire that hasn't done the smart thing yet and ran for their lives before moving on to whatever guys and gals the NCR decides to send after my ass once they bump up the bounty on my head again.

Focus on getting enough gear to make it home in one piece Six, all of that other shit can come later.

"Let's just say that the walls are a little thinner than I'd like them to be and leave it at that." I told Giles, forcing back the memories that were trying to crush me underneath them once again.

Snake Eyes must have either known exactly what I was talking about or trusted me enough to not ask questions. "I'll take your word for it. Nobody seems to want that room Alex put you in for some reason."

Oh, that fucking rabbit…

And here I thought he didn't know what he was doing. The bastard's been screwing Antlers and me on purpose! SON OF A BITCH!

"You don't say?" I asked him as I did my best to not start shouting every curse I knew at the top of my lungs.

"Yeah, nobody has said why either. The most anyone has done was complain about strange noises or something like that." Giles explained.

"Well, let's just say that's only one reason why I feel like going on a bit of a walk through town tonight." I told him as I tried to make my way past him.

Giles once again proved that experience and age can hone a man's natural instincts better than anything else ever could. Before I could get a foot past him, he prevented me from leaving the Spirit of Vacuo's hideout by body blocking my way to the sewers. If I didn't think anything of the guy, I would have trampled him for getting in my way. Since stomping on the face of the closest thing I have to a friend in Vacuo seems like the stupidest thing I could possibly do, I decided to make that my backup plan for dealing with him and tried a more diplomatic approach instead.

"What the hell? Can't a guy just go for a walk." I asked him.

I didn't bother to hold back the chuckle that followed afterwards, just like Giles didn't bother to hide his scowl when he heard it.

He clearly wasn't buying the bridge I was trying to sell him. "A walk?" Yep, definitely wasn't buying it..

"Okay, okay, you got me." I told him, deciding to come clean, for the most part. "There's a couple of things I've been meaning to do ever since putting down Ironwood, and one of them just so happens to be checking out what Vacuo has to offer a courier that's expecting some, *ahem* company on the road."

"You want me to let you buy some guns and ammo so you can start killing more people again." He said as if that was the only thing I was capable of during a night on the town.

Just because it was one of the few things I was awesome at didn't mean it was the only thing I could do with myself. Violence, while it was sometimes the answer to life's problems, was also one of the best damn questions to ask everyone that looked at you funny. Naturally, whenever violence was the question, my answer was always HELL YES or MORE, because so long as whatever was trying to kill me was still alive I clearly wasn't trying hard enough. MORE usually solved things very quickly, and left quite the Bloody Mess to clean up afterwards too.

"Weapons are only part of it." I told him. "In case you don't remember, I'm not from Vacuo but I am from a desert just like it. As much as I need another weapon on me to make myself lethal at all ranges, I won't last a week outside of the city without taking any food and water with me when I finally leave this place."

At least, I don't think I could. I know that I haven't really eaten much ever since waking up in Big Empty after those eggheads cracked my egg open, and whatever that fungus I picked up in Vault 22 was, it couldn't keep me alive forever. No matter how much sun I could soak up, I wasn't a fucking plant monster.

At least, I don't think I am…

I did have some food stored away in case of an emergency, but the only way I'm eating that slop is if I absolutely have to. Starving was only a little worse than eating the shit that stupid sexy sounding machine kept on trying to feed me. The way he described it certainly made it a whole lot harder to stomach than it should have been.

"Wait, you're going to leave us?" Giles asked, putting my train of thought back on track where it rightfully belonged.

"Yeah, I am. As much as I would like to stick around to help you and the rest of the Spirit of Vacuo out, this is your battle, not mine. This ain't my home, the place for me is in Mistral… same with anyone that might still be waiting for me if they don't think I'm dead and buried yet." I told him, glossing over the Mistral part because I still wasn't entirely sure if that was the name the people of Vacuo had for the east or west coast of America yet. I really didn't want to get my hopes up only to find that I just finished half of my journey back home once I crossed the damn ocean between me and Mistral. Or Anima. Or whatever the hell these Europeans call it.

"Until I know that there ain't anything left for me to come back to and any unfinished business like the stuff I sorted out with Ironwood and Frost, I don't plan on sticking around any place for too long." I said, playing up my 'amnesia' for all it was worth.

Nevermind that I'd be a human working for a group of mutants that are willing to murder anyone in charge that they don't like, and that they also don't seem to be too fond of humans in general. That is just a recipe for disaster, and I have no intentions of being within a hundred miles of this place when shit finally hits the fan. There was a clear line between flirting with disaster and presenting yourself for it, and I wasn't looking to cross it again anytime soon.

I was there at Zion when the White Legs were wiped out to the last man, woman, and child. I know exactly what kind of shit 'good' people are willing to do once they finally have their tormentors and their families at their mercy. I am NOT going through that experience again so long as I can help it.

Of course, there was no way in hell I could ever tell Giles, Julia, especially Alex, or anyone else around here anything about the way things were looking in Vacuo. That'd be suicide, and I'd rather not die sober if I can help it. Not after burning through the last of Bunny Boy's whiskey yesterday.

"You're seriously going to leave us." Giles said, taking my lies at face value. "Have you mentioned any of this to Alex?"

"Why the hell would I need to do that?" I shrugged. "I'm only here because he said he would have another job for me soon, and I never agreed to becoming his personal lap dog and ending up like Antlers."

Giles winced at the nickname I had for Julia, but he still kept his calm despite me poking at some wound of his. "I… understand." He said after an uncomfortably long pause.

"Just be sure that if you do decide to leave without mentioning anything to Alex, have a plan to get out of Vacuo as fast as you can." He told me with sudden seriousness.

"The kingdom or the city?" I asked him.

I never could tell which one people were referring to. Fucking Europeans and their shit naming sense.

"Both. There's been other people that have tried leaving in the same way you have." Giles told me.

"And let me guess." I said. "None of them were heard from again?"

"We didn't have to hear from them, we saw them. What was left of them anyways..." He trailed off, making me feel a bit more motivated to arm myself as soon as possible. "Alex might not seem like it, but he has more friends outside of Vacuo-"

"The city or the kingdom?" I interrupted.

Never could be too sure! ~

"Both. Of. Them." Giles growled, clearly fed up with my shit. "Look, you didn't hear this from me, but some of the prisoners we've had over the years have mentioned a couple of interesting things while we were interrogating them."

"What kind of things?" I asked him now that he piqued my interest.

"Things that were happening outside of Vacuo-"

"The city or-"

"BOTH! People being taken off the streets and thrown into camps, nobles with faunus heritage and powerful connections being forced to flee to other kingdoms, the appearance of Grimm Wanderers all over Remnant, and other rumors I can only hope aren't true." Giles ranted.

Okay… the other Grimm Wanderers things concern me. The 'of Vacuo' part of the title those Mantle fucks gave me should have been a dead giveaway, but hearing Giles tell me that there are other people or 'Grimm' just as fearsome as me raising hell somewhere in the world didn't exactly fill me with confidence. On the off chance of finding myself threatened by another mutant bloatfly, I added a quick note in my Pipboy to avoid any places that those Wanderers might be lurking. I'm definitely going to have to ask about some details about them in the future, but first there's something else I have to know.

"So, which one of those happens to involve Alex?" I asked him.

"I don't know, and I don't think I want to know either." Giles said, shuddering a moment and making me take him a bit more seriously because of it. "All I know is that he was originally from Mantle and he left just as things got bad there. I can only imagine what kind of things he had to do to get out of that kingdom alive."

Uhh… yeah, that definitely doesn't sound like the clean suited prick I met earlier. Sure, Giles is more or less telling me that my gut feeling about the guy is right, but I don't really want to be proven right about him. I'm fine with being wrong so long as I don't get shot, so I always erred on the side of caution whenever it wouldn't get me killed. As incredible as it was to admit, my confidence in the rabbit fucker plummeted further than I thought it could.

"Well, that's his business and getting back home is my business. I'm sure me and Alex can come to some sort of agreement eventually." I told him.

Yeah… fuck that shit. I am getting out of town the first chance I get. So long as I get some maps of the surrounding area and maybe some food and water so I don't have to rely on yet another one of the Big Empty's big fuck-ups to keep me alive, I will be miles away from this place by this time tomorrow. All I need is a couple more guns, or at the very least a few dozen bullets for my new pistol, and then all I have to do is haul ass until I am home free. Hell, maybe I might have some fun on the way too. I won't know until I try.

"Now, as much as I would love to keep on talking about how fucked Vacuo is, I really want to just go outside and clear my head for a bit. Maybe reconsider leaving the city after having a chance to see what it has to offer." I said, hoping that would convince Giles to let me pass him.

Sure enough, after a moment's thought Giles let me go. "Fine, just make sure you're back before sunrise or else we're both going to regret this." He warned.

I promised him I would be a good little lapdog like him and Antlers, and after giving me an all too appropriate slap upside the head for yanking his chain, he said I was free to leave. He made sure I didn't have any weapons on me and to his credit, he took every single thing I physically had on me that could be possibly considered a weapon. That more or less left me with only my Desert Ranger Combat Armor and my Pipboy for visible protection as I entered the sewers.

I might have been a little hesitant to go outside again, but thankfully Giles didn't seem to know what my Pipboy was capable of and Julia still hadn't figured out I was using it to smuggle weapons yet, so I was still packing some serious heat in case of an emergency. As soon as I was a good way inside the sewer and away from the Spirit of Vacuo's hideout, I pulled out Penetrator and holstered it in one of the adjustable weapon slots I had on me. I tucked the huge pistol on the right side of my hip where it couldn't be seen by any idiot too stupid to realize who I was from looks alone and would let me draw it without any resistance when I found said idiot.

Why was I looking for an idiot when I was supposed to be looking for supplies to help me travel through the desert on my own? Simple, I needed guns, ammo, maps, and, if I could get my hands on them, a whole lot of chems as well. If I tried finding each one individually, it would probably take me a couple of weeks to find a legitimate business open at midnight with exactly what I was looking for. Mantle seemed to have really done a number on Vacuo in more ways than one if the corpses lying everywhere in the slums was anything to go by, and what got sold to who seemed like something they would have controlled to make sure no one got any bright ideas of rebelling against them, not that any of that helped them in the end.

So, odds are that I would get nowhere by doing things the right way. On the other hand, it always seemed to me that when a civilized government pissed people off by making certain things illegal, certain other people started making a business out of those things in secret. If it could happen in New Vegas of all places, it could happen in Vacuo. All I needed to do was find a couple of dark alleyways to stroll through, a henchman of questionable competence that mugs first then realizes who he is mugging later, and then I should be well on my way to meeting someone capable of getting me what I want when I break down his front door.

I wonder how long it will take me to find that someone this time.

Okay… I had been expecting to see a lot of crazy things the moment I crawled out of the sewers and onto the streets of Vacuo's slums. A crowd of starving mutant animal people all trying to kiss the ground I walked on was not anywhere close to the kind of shit I had been expecting to see. Maybe after a hit or two of Jet, but not when I'm sober...ish.

One or two people thanking me for castrating both of Ironcock's heads wouldn't have been out of the ordinary. Hell, The King still made sure to send a few of his goons to me with a few gifts even after I had been exiled from Freeside and most of the casinos for helping the place out, so getting a little bit of love from the faunus of Vacuo after I kicked Mantle's ass wouldn't have been much different from a couple Kings showering me with pinyon nuts. Having a fucking mob of random fuckers with a random extra limb growing out of their mutated bodies rushing to praise me for driving an army full of dicks out of their city single handedly, while appreciated, wasn't at all what I wanted. Not when I wanted to look mildly inconspicuous and easily muggable.

Apparently Mantle had pissed off quite a few people, because it took me about an hour to finally break away from the crowds roaming the slums that were all trying to tell me how thankful they were for putting down Ironcock and showing Mantle that they weren't wanted around these parts. The only reason I was able to get away from the crowd that Idolized me was because the crowds spotted a few Mantlesian soldiers that didn't skip town the day I killed Ironwood. The people that were showering me with praise soon turned about as wild as a horde of feral ghouls and tore those sons of bitches apart with their bare hands. Honestly, I couldn't blame them. There was something infinitely more appealing about personally kicking the shit out of the fucks that made your life hell a living hell than praising the guy that saved your ass. Believe me, I would know.

No, I'm not angry about my moment in the spotlight getting stolen at all. Why should I be? It's not like… it's all going to go horribly wrong or something… or that I finally found some people that knew how to treat a guy with some fucking respect for once.

I'm not bitter at all about that.

Yeah… if anything, I was happy I could start catfishing muggers in the alleyways an hour later than I would have liked to now. That was the main reason I was enjoying the cool desert night in the city after all, and it wouldn't be right if I wasted my time inflating my own ego after seeing everything I had worked for go right for a change.

Anyways, without any hanger-ons to worry about, I made quick progress combing the alleyways for any two-bit thugs looking for an easy target. It was only after an hour of searching that I realized that the chem junkies that would try to stab a guy in full power armor with a straight razor were not as intelligent as the crooks that ran as fast as their legs would take them the moment they caught sight of me. The one time I wanted a dumbass with too much time on his hands to try and mug me, I couldn't find one. Just my fucking luck.

"Well shit, nothing ever goes right for me, does it?" I grumbled to myself after failing to find any cutthroats once again.

I swear, I combed a quarter of the fucking city already and hadn't made a single sliver of progress. Sure, I probably scared every thug with half a brain I came across completely shitless, but as entertaining as that was to watch them piss themselves in terror before making a break for it, that wasn't what I needed right now. I swear, if I wasn't in danger of losing my balance at any moment I would have taught them all a lesson they wouldn't ever forget.

Although I tended to use brute force to beat most problems I faced into submission regardless of how many Stimpaks I would need to get the job done, even I could tell I wouldn't be getting anywhere without changing tactics. Finding some idiot cronies seemed about starting to look about as likely as finding a hidden cache of Enclave tech, but maybe I didn't have to find someone as smart as a brick to get what I wanted. Perhaps I needed to look for someone blinded by their… 'kindness' that wouldn't think twice about fighting the big scary guy in a long coat long enough for me to get my hands around their neck and start asking questions.

But I wonder, is there any overconfident thief or mugger willing to stop me from beating the shit out of a filthy looking guy roaming a dark alleyway? I definitely recall coming across a couple piles of corpses that were thrown together after the Khans, Fiends, and a few other factions found some wannabe tough guys muscling in on their territory. Judging by how many pieces the bodies I found were usually in, I think it's safe to say that no bunch of bandits take too kindly to someone else stealing their 'business' from them… or for them.

Fuck it. Only one way to find out I guess.

With the majority of a plan in mind, I entered the next alley I came across with my weapon drawn. looking for trouble. Instead of doing my best to pretend I was hiding a purse full of caps strapped to the inside of my pants leg, I flapped open my long coat so that way anyone that wasn't blind could see the massive sidearm I was carrying. A couple of bums in the alley, no different than the bums that could be found in most alleyways, took one look at me and made the wise decision to get the hell out of dodge before they could get caught in the crossfire.

That was good. That meant they were used to seeing people like me. For the sake of their buddies that were a little slower on the uptake than they were, I hope that someone saved their ass before I got too rough with them.

Picking out one of the remaining squatters at random, an older looking guy that reeked of cheap booze and wearing cleaner rags than most of the faunus I escaped earlier, I walked straight up to him making as much of a ruckus as I could. The two bums beside him, a gal and some kid, didn't pay me any attention when I stepped right beside them. That all changed the moment I grabbed the old man by the throat and pinned him to the wall, careful not to hurt him too much while still making it clear that I could change that whenever I felt like it. By the time I pressed the barrel of Penetrator against the guy's head, the other two had already ran to the other end of the alley and weren't showing any signs of slowing down any time soon.

"W-w-what the hell man? Don't you know what happened to the last guy that started trouble in this part of the city?" The bum I pinned to the wall asked what looked like an attempt to weasel his way away from me, swinging his legs in a weird mix between that of someone desperate to stand on solid ground and not give their captor a reason to pull the trigger.

"Sorry buddy, but I'm afraid I don't." I told him, before I decided to make use of him in a different way since he seemed a bit more talkative than I thought he would have been. "How about you go ahead and tell me about these people before something bad happens to you."

There was more than one way to skin a gecko, and even if I didn't attract a thug desperate to enforce some semblance of order his group's territory, the way the bum was trying to scare me off definitely made it sound as if he knew enough to show me to their leader's front door or tell me about someone who did. Since I had nothing better to do and all the time in the world to do it, I lowered my pistol from his head and watched his manic expression ease up once he thought I wasn't going to kill him, not that I had the ammo to do so anyways. Then I pressed his other head against the barrel of my pistol, and the guy instantly turned into a blobbery wreck as he realized what would happen if he pissed me off… if I had any fucking bullets to castrate him with.

The bum I was holding hostage was getting ready to spill his guts out for me, but all of a sudden his eyes locked on to something behind me and the terror filled frenzy he had entered wavered for just a moment. After having been in far too many brawls where I was outnumbered at least five to one, I knew exactly what the hell that change in his eyes meant. I instantly dropped the old man and ducked down as far as I could, knowing whatever weapon was being swung at me was likely aimed straight at my head since I wasn't looking behind me. The metallic screaming of metal on stonework told me that not only had the luckless bastard I had been looking for all this time finally showed up, but he was far more armed than the thugs I was used to. The sword I just got a glimpse of as it nearly took my head off was definitely a bit nicer than the switchblades and rusty hatchets most thugs carried with them.

Curious as I was to see what other goodies the bandit faction my attacker was a part gave their grunts, taking him down so I could find out was going to be an absolute bitch with just a bowie knife. Diplomacy was definitely the right way to go, even if I felt like flipping off a Deathclaw Matron while strangling her hatchlings in front of her right more than talking after that prick nearly shaved more than a few inches off my head. Boring it might be, but talking this guy down seemed to be the best option I had right now. At least until he was within shanking range that is.

"Great, right on time, compadre. You showed up sooner than I thought you would." I called out to the katana wielding man that had tried to cut my head off, not bothering to look at whoever it was just yet.

Apparently he wasn't in the mood for small talk, as he chose to focus on the bum I had been threatening instead by the sounds of things. "Run, now. I'll make sure this (1) Xiōngshou pays for his trespassing with his life." He declared.

Ordinarily, a pussy-ass threat like that wouldn't make me bat an eye, but because of the way he delivered it I damn near dropped my jaw on the floor listening to him. "WAIT A FUCKING MOMENT THERE! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" I shouted at the overly dramatic swordsman behind me, completely stunned after hearing what he called me. There was only one other place I could remember hearing that one word, as since my memory was absolute dogshit at best and I was still suffering from half a dozen different withdrawals, I wanted to make sure I wasn't just hearing things.

(2) "Wo bù huì làngfèi shíjiān hé xiōngshou shuōhuà. Xiàng nuòfū yīyàng zhàndòu bìng si qu." He barked at me, holding his sword in a stance I could not remember seeing outside of one town in particular. There was only one group of people I knew that spoke that language, and I could hardly believe I was truly hearing the words coming out of his mouth so far away from San Francisco.

(3) "Děngdài! W zhishì wēixié nàgè laotóuzi, wo cáinéng gēn ni shuōhuà!" I shouted back at him in the same foreign tongue, hoping I hadn't fucked up beyond all recovery.

Much to my relief, it seemed that at the very least, my mysterious assailant was at least willing to hear me out. "Where did you learn to speak Mistralian?" He asked me, lowering his sword a little bit but not yet sheathing it quite yet.

"San Francisco, a nice little city in the New California Republic." I told him as I lowered my weapon in a show of good faith. "Although where I come from, we call that language Shi, not Mistralian."

The swordsman seemed to be appeased for the time being, and finally sheathed his sword as I went to holster my own weapon. "I've never heard of this, 'Republic' or 'San Francisco' you speak of." He told me, crushing my hopes of finding my way back to the Mojave, or even the NCR, in the near future. "Why are you here? I didn't think there were any other true Mistralians here, outside of the major families and the emperor's armies."

Not wanting to create another misunderstanding between us, I did not attempt to withhold any information from him in fear of ruining my best chance at allying myself with someone that would most likely never think twice about stabbing me in the back once I outlived my usefulness. Say what you want about the Shi, Mistralians, or whatever the hell people who spoke the language of San Francisco, there was a certain degree of respect and loyalty for each other that other communities simply didn't have.

Except for the Hubologists. Fuck those greedy cultist assholes. They make the Children of Atom nutjobs look sane.

"I was abducted about a month ago, and after being turned into a lab rat up until I started shooting every single fucking Mantlesian soldier that might have had something to do with why I am on the other side of the fucking world away from home, I suppose you can say I'm a little lost right now." I told him, deciding it would be better to not tell him about the stuff that would make me sound like a complete madman.

"I see, so the (4) Lingdao was right." He muttered just loud enough for me to barely overhear him.

I was about to ask him what the hell he was going on about, but he raised up his hand before I could ask him anything. "Come with me, the Xiong Clan will want to hear what you have to say, Grimm Wanderer." He ordered, before adding. "If you're not lying to me."

"Wouldn't dream of it, pally. Lead the way! Oh, and call me Courier Six instead of that other name if you can. I'd rather not be thought of as a monster by my own countrymen." I told him as we made our way to wherever his clan was hiding.

Damn, I can't remember the last time I visited a place that reminded me of good ol' Shi-town in San Francisco. Sure… I can't remember much of anything from before Doc Mitchell found me, aside from some basic knowledge I even surprise myself with sometimes, but some of the few other things I can remember were all the bare knuckle fights in the middle of the streets and more plants than Vault 22… and I'm fairly sure those ones were mostly friendly. Probably. I never would have expected to see a little bit of Shi-town in Europe, but then again, I didn't expect to see or kill half the things I've already come across in Vacuo.

Shui Xiong, the very respectable swordsman I met in the alleyway, took it upon himself to lead me into the Xiong Clan's hideout. The entrance was hidden underneath a scrapyard, one with quite a few interesting bits of machinery and other loot I was already making plans to comb through once I spoke to Shui's boss. The guys armed to the teeth with swords and rifles hanging around the stairs that led underneath the scrapyard made it kind of hard to miss the 'secret' entrance, but they must have been damn good at discouraging anyone from stirring shit up if Mantle didn't crush them before their army was chased out of town.

The surface might have been a literal dump that hadn't been combed over by a dedicated prospector, for now, but below the piles of scrap was a nice little place that was just as fancy as the casinos on The Strip. The halls of the Xiong Clan's hideout were nothing short of extravagant. There were plenty of golden chandeliers with those fancy little crystals like the ones at the Ultra-Luxe, expertly crafted statues of people and animals that could be seen every couple of feet, and the fresh fucking paint on the walls and ceilings amongst others showcases of their wealth. Unlike the Spirit of Vacuo's hideout, this place didn't seem like it was trying to prove something. The Xiong Clan clearly had resources to spare, and every single guard me and Shui passed by had a katana and rifle on them that looked just as immaculate as their hideout.

Apparently Shui had told his people to expect some company while we were making our way to their base, because we had almost a dozen guards travelling with us by the time we reached our final destination. The final step of my journey through the halls of the Xiong Clan's hideout left me in a wide open room whose walls were lined with paintings of black mutant animals of some sort, probably their mascots or local FEV experiments gone horribly right.

The room itself was separated into two parts, and I nearly squealed in delight once I realized what I was looking at. The center of the room was little more than a pit, and judging by the deep scrapes in the floor and sides of it, I was almost certainly going to be ending up fighting something down there before I left. Not that I minded, of course. In fact, I was squirming with anticipation at pulverizing another wild animal or someone else in arena combat. Beating the ever-loving shit out of whoever or whatever they put down there with me would be an easy way to prove myself to the Xiong's Lingdao too which meant whatever I did down there wouldn't just be for my own satisfaction. The benches and other seats surrounding the pit my entourage was slowly leading me to were more than likely where they and everyone else of some importance within the Xiong Clan carried out their business and watching the pit fights they set up.

If everything goes right, I should end up sitting up there before I know it. If not… well let's just say there's a very good reason I'm not welcome anywhere near Westside after my final visit to The Thorn. Making enemies of these fancy guys might suck in the long run, but at least I'd be able to scrounge up plenty of loot after trashing the place if the worst came to pass.

"So… do you want me to go ahead and hop down in the little fighting ring you have set up here now or later, Shui?" I asked him since it looked like he wasn't going to say anything until his boss showed up or I did something stupid.

The suited swordsman turned around and gave me a surprised look after I voiced my question. "You know what this is and you still want to go down there?" He asked me.

"Of course. I always wanted to see what it was like being in one of those old kung-fu holotapes." I told him.

The guy gave me a strange look for a moment, but eventually gave me a shrug that seemed to me like he didn't care if I did or didn't leap into the ring. "Very well." He said, and the group of guards that had been surrounding us wordlessly parted to form a tunnel leading straight to the pit. "I'll be sure to inform the Lingdao of your willingness to prove your worth, if you survive your trial."

If I survive my trial. What a crock of brahminshit. Water Boy obviously didn't know who the hell he was talking to, because he would have been a lot more worried about the poor son of a bitch I would more than likely end up killing if he did. Still, I made sure to stride over to the pit with as much swagger as I could muster without falling over and leapt down in a suitably theatrical way, copying the heroes of those old movies I watched alongside that clingy chick from Vault 21 during our weekly movie night.

I'm pretty sure the girl called in a 'superhero landing' or some stupid shit like that. Thankfully she wasn't here anymore, because her trying to cling onto me all the time got really uncomfortable after a while, to speak nothing of the times she tried sneaking into my bed afterwards. Fucking girl had a few screws loose, I swear.

I didn't have to wait long for my hosts to arrive, as after only a minute or two after I hopped into the arena, a bald old man with a full fu-manchu and beard combo that went down to his crotch entered the room looking about as cool as Benny thought he did. He was wearing a plain white, loose fitting robe that exposed his muscular chest and a multitude of scars that adorned it. There were scars both old and new on him. This guy was definitely no stranger to a good rumble every now and then and more than likely my kind of guy. The harem that trailed behind him were also equally eye-catching, the young girls making my heart skip a beat before I could refocus on the man that commanded the attention of everyone else in the room. I didn't need to hear who he was to know he was the boss around here, but just like everything else I love about Shi-town and cheesy kung-fu movies in general, he put on one hell of a show regardless.

"Shui Xiong, who is this (5) lao wai you have brought before your Lingdao?" The Lingdao of the Xiong Clan boomed, causing every guard in the room to bow before him in an instant and the girls behind him to straighten themselves up.

"The man who offered to prove his worth to you is no foreigner, master. He claims to be one of our own, kidnapped from his home in Mistral and brought to Vacuo by the northern tyrants." Shui said, keeping his head lowered as he spoke.

"Is this not the very Grimm Wanderer that has aligned himself with one of the many scourges plaguing this fair city?" The Lingdao asked, looking quite pissed at both me and Water Boy at the mention of Bunny Boy's little butt brigade I was staying with for the time being.

"He is." Shui Xiong answered. "He told me that he is a courier, and that he only allied with them so he could deliver a message to Major Ironwood on the behalf of all of Vacuo."

Okay, that wasn't quite the way I would have phrased it or even close to what I explained to him on our way here, but I suppose if Water Boy feels like giving his boss a good impression of me, I sure as hell ain't going to stop him.

Apparently couriers really were given the respect they fucking deserved around here, because the Lingdao turned to me with a look of intrigue once Shui finished speaking on my behalf. "Is what my disciple tells me true, Grimm Wanderer?" The Lingdao asked me.

"Your disciple speaks the truth." I said, deciding that it would be best to be just as overly dramatic as everyone else here for the time being. "I am but a humble warrior that has been stolen away from his homeland, a courier that delivers messages of peace and war to anyone and everyone who is willing to pay my price... or deserving of my favor. I know not why I am in Vacuo, nor do I care to ever know. All I want to do is find my way home."

"Then why did my disciple find you trying to assault one of the citizens sheltered within my territory?" The Lingdao roared, a deep hatred starting to leak from his voice at the very mention of my previous actions.

"I heard rumors that a noble clan of warriors hiding from the Northern Tyrants somewhere in the city, and I knew that none of your members would be able to idly watch if I threatened one of the people you have sworn to protect." I lied, hoping I wouldn't get called out on my brahminshit.

I sure as hell wasn't going to say I changed my search from petty thugs I could scare into submission to a powerful group with more guns than brains, especially since I didn't have any ammo on me if things went sour, so kissing the Lingdao's ass was the next best thing I could think of. Apparently brown nosing seemed to be the right thing to do, because the Xiong Clan's boss let out a mighty, booming laugh after hearing me out.

"If you seek the finest warriors that Remnant has come to offer, then you have come to the wrong clan, Grimm Wanderer." He called out to me, seeing through my act but sounding no less distrustful of me because of it. "Tell me, what is it that you truly seek from us?"

Well shit, this guy doesn't beat around the bush like all the other shitheads I've gotten used to dealing with back home. I like this guy already. "Guns, ammo, maps, hooch, and anything else you'd be willing to pay a courier that has travelled all over the continent."

"So you are a courier? Intriguing." The Lingdao mused, latching onto my job just as quickly as everyone else in Vacuo once I mentioned my preferred occupation. I guess people in my line of work really are something to be feared if even a leader of organized crime thought I was something special.

"If you truly are as capable as you claim to be, Grimm Wanderer, then I will make sure you are given a task worthy of your skills and a reward of equal prestige." The Lingdao declared.

I was about to ask him exactly what kind of job he had for me, but all of a sudden I heard one hell of a racket coming from one of the walls of the pit. There must have been a secret entrance of some sort to let opponents into the place instead of just letting them jump down here on their own, and whatever was trying to get in sounded big, mean, and all sorts of pissed off.

"Grimm Wanderer, should you slay the beast that symbolizes the might of our clan, we will accept you as one of our own from this day forward. Now tell us, oh brave and foolish warrior! What is the name of the one that has sought to wield the might of the Xiong Clan as their own, and what weapons will you use to prove your worth to us?" The Lingdao shouted in a furor that was exactly like the cheesy holotapes I love so much.

I'm not going to lie, I was about head over heels with the way everything had been going so far and how fucking awesome it felt to be living like a real life movie star and I was not in a mood to stop anytime soon. Wanting to leave a lasting impression on Xiong Clan members gathered in front me that they weren't soon going to forget, I peeled off my long coat and threw it out of the pit alongside Penetrator and the bowie knife I had on me, leaving me completely unarmed and unarmored against whatever I was about to fight. An appropriate amount of gasps from the henchmen and what I assumed were the higher ranking members of the Xiong Clan pierced the silence, as did the startled shouts of the harem of my new favorite person in all of Vacuo. The Lingdao only laughed at my bold, and admittedly pretty fucking stupid, action, his booming, joyous laughter leaving no doubt in my mind that he was fully enjoying the show I was putting on for him.

"My name... is Courier Six!" I announced to the crowd I had fully enraptured with my performance so far, pausing for the appropriate amount of drama my surroundings demanded of me. By now the crowd was increasing at a far lower rate, making it look like the entire Xiong Clan had gathered to see what their boss was so amused by. "The only weapons I will use are my fists, for there is no greater weapon at my disposal than my own skill in a hand-to-hand fight."

The crowd started whispering amongst themselves in response to my declaration, a mixture of voices congratulating me for my bravery and others insulting my intelligence being the most common conversations that reached my ears. I let the insults go avenged for the time being, but paid close attention to the faces of each chucklefuck I would need to teach a lesson to in the future.

"I will pass whatever trial you have set for me to prove my worth, and I will be honored to finally be counted amongst those as mighty as yourselves." I declared, deciding it would be best to finish my speech by stroking the ego of everyone present to start building up a good reputation with them. Judging by the murmurs of assent that soon followed my speech, I'd say they definitely liked what they were hearing.

"We will see if you are capable of more than making empty boasts, Courier." The Lingdao said, pointing down to the wall on the opposite side of the pit from me. "Release the Grimm! Let us see which of the two beasts before us is the fiercest!" He cried.

Oh fucking finally! I've been hearing all about these Grimm for a few days now, and after being called what is apparently one of the worst of them, I get to see what everyone in Vacuo has been comparing me to this whole time. My full attention was on the wall panel that started sliding down slowly, revealing a mask of pure white malice with blood red symbols etched into it. The creature's eyes were two crimson orbs of evil, and its fur blended in seamlessly with the darkness behind it. The wall was only down to the creature's chin, and I was already eager to see what the rest of it looked like as the wall separating us continued to sink in the floor.

Lower and lower it went, revealing a strong, muscle-clad body with arms as thick as tree trunks with claws that looked large and sharp enough to slice a man in half. Even so, I was not scared of the creature at all, even if it dwarfed me by a couple of feet. I had beaten off countless abominations in the past, and even though the one before me was already looking to be as big as a Deathclaw and just as mean, there was no way it wouldn't be purified like all the others. I'll admit, I was feeling a little uneasy since the creature looked vaguely familiar with the wall only covering its lower half now, but even so I was still feeling confident about taking it down with just my fists. The wall kept on sinking, and the sinking feeling in my guy grew worse and worse for a reason that kept on nagging at the back of my head and making me think long and hard about why the damn thing seemed familiar somehow.

I had fought off countless abominations in the past, and none of them really gave me any troubles, except for those things in the Sierra Madre. Why I was feeling scared of a giant ten foot tall furry mole rat that was standing on two legs with… giant claws… and that maw filled with tons of sharp teeth… and that roar let out now that the door was finally gone and…

…

Goddammit. It's a fucking bear.

"You have got to be shitting me." I grumbled as I deeply regretted everything I did that led to this very moment.

It wasn't just any normal bear too, no that would be too easy. The thing I agreed to fight was a ten foot tall Yao Guai with an armored face mask that looked just as pissed off as Ghost of She was when I charged into her den back in Zion, because of course it couldn't be anything simple like their strongest member or an assaultron.

Just my fucking luck, I swear.

Okay, think Six, think. Smile, look confident, flex those ~sexy~ muscles of yours for the crowd, and don't let them know you would rather be anywhere else but here right now. Instead, think about how the hell you are not going to be mauled by a fucking Yao Guai again.

I was working my chem-addled mind as hard as I could to think of a way I could win against a bear that was probably smarter, faster, and just as durable as I was in my current state. I threw my weapons away like a complete dumbass earlier, so shooting and stabbing it weren't options anymore, and brawling a bear one on one was something I promised myself I would never do after only getting a shitty glove from the last time I bitch slapped a giant Yao Guai to death. Playing dead probably wasn't going to work out in my favor with the Xiong Clan if the bear somehow lost interest in an easy meal. I mean, sure, the thing was looking at me like it wasn't sure it wanted to eat me or ask for a belly rub like some sort of mutated mongrel, but that didn't mean it would let me do whatever the hell I wanted to it.

Huh… now that I think about it, it does look like it isn't sure what it wants to do with me. Yeah, I've seen plenty of smarter wasteland varmints with that same look in their eye before. That bear was deciding between fight or flight, and since it seemed to have about a half ton more pounds to it than me, I think it's safe to say that it won't be bitching out like I would like it to. 'Course, that doesn't mean it ain't afraid of me either. Fear makes people do pretty stupid things, and I'd be willing to bet my life that people and animals aren't too different when it comes to making lethal fuck ups.

Oh my Graham, this might actually work. What's the thing that Follows-Chalk told me about bears? Not the one about bringing a slower person than me when hunting Yao Guai, the other one. "Hit the bear on the head to make it lose it's will to fight," I think that sounds about right. Or was that sharks...

Well, on the bright side, if I'm wrong about a bear's greatest weakness then I won't have to worry about it for long once the giant thing starts tearing me to shreds.

Hah hah hah… shit. This big fella is a bit too tall to hit the head on it's shoulders. As for the other one...

I really hope this is male Yao Guai or else I am FUCKED beyond all belief.

As I prepared myself to make a do or die charge against the giant black abomination with me in the pit, it also seemed to have found the nerve to do the same and it let out a deep, booming roar as it charged me on all fours. Since the Lingdao and the rest of the Xiong Clan were watching me, I roared right back at the Yao Guai as I answered its headstrong charge with one of my own, trying to make myself look as big as possible as I ran towards it. The Yao Guai's glowing red eyes locked onto my own, studying my every move for any sign of hesitation as it suddenly stood up on its hind legs to absolutely dwarf me with it's height.

In any other set of circumstances, I would have fucked right off and away from the damn thing since it clearly wanted me to come closer so it could beat the shit out of me. Since I had stupidly thrown away the option of blowing its brains out from a comfortable distance away from the the massive claws on each of its paws, each one of them longer and sharper than the knife I also threw out of the pit, I continued charging towards the bear like a fucking idiot. The bear simply waited for me to get close enough to make escaping its superior reach impossible, swinging its big, meaty arms down in an attempt to either crush me with its massive claws or shred me into pieces with its claws if I tried to slow down. I saw it's attack coming from a mile away, and rather than trying to flinch or quickly leap back to safety, I took a gamble and dropped down to the floor fast, turning my sprint into a slide as the Yao Guai's claws came dangerously close to taking my head off.

The bear seemed confused at what I did, but that was all going to change before it could realize what I had been aiming for the whole time. With the bear's arms a safe distance away for the time being and my momentum carrying me closer to the Yao Guai's legs, I reared my right arm back as far as I could and prepared to unleash the mother of all nutshots as my moment drew near. The bear suddenly let out a pitiful mewling noise as it realized what was about to happen, but there was nothing it or anyone else could do to stop me now.

Putting as much of my weight and anger behind my arm as I physically could, my fist fired towards it's crotch with the fury of a thousand cazadors, and I was rewarded by feeling something burst once my first connected with what I hoped was the Yao Guai's bratwurst and sauerkrauts. I did my best to ignore the black tar-like substance I saw ooze down my arm shortly afterwards as I'd prefer to never know what the hell just squirted out on me as I continued to slide out from under it. The bear let out an almost human shriek of pure agony as it plummeted to the floor immediately afterwards, the only movement coming from Yao Guai afterwards was the token efforts it made to caress its ruined babymaker rather than attempting to avenge its cock and balls.

As much as I wanted to gloat at landing a cheap shot on my opponent, the fear of the Yao Guai recovering to return the favor with interest motivated me to get back on my feet and scramble around the abomination so I could stare it in the eyes. The crowd around me was going absolutely wild, cheering me on and shouting in pure astonishment at what I had done if they weren't too busy cringing as they thought about the pain that bear must be feeling right now. I for one couldn't give a single fuck about what they thought, because as soon as I was in front of the bear the only thing I could think about was beating its skull in before it could find the nerve to stand back up.

Lacking any real weapons and with my arm already covered in what I could only hope was the abomination's black blood from my opening shot, I simply started pounding on the boney plate armor covering its face hoping that I could pierce through it just as easily as I had done with whatever bullshit the people here used to protect themselves against bullets. My first hit was more than enough to inform me that the Yao Guai did not have the same protection that everyone else in Vacuo seemed to have when my fist let a giant crack on its mask without presenting me any unnatural resistance. From there, I only had to smack it a couple more times to cave it's head in completely, leaving me drenched in the creature's black blood and announcing the end of our battle.

I'm not going to lie, that fight was pretty fucking anticlimactic. I've fought geckos that put up more of a fight than that "Grimm" Yao Guai did, and if that's the kind of shit that everyone in Vacuo is comparing me to, then I would love to see what happens if these people ever meet a Deathclaw. Maybe they'd slaughter it with those magical bullets that seem to shred armor and anything else in their way, or maybe the Deathclaw would think of this place as an all you can eat buffet if it could shred through their bullshit as easily as my fists could. I don't know how things would play out, but I think it's safe to say that it would sure as hell be entertaining to watch the chaos as it happened.

My daydreaming was quickly interrupted by a deafening silence that spread throughout the room as the Lingdao rose from his seat and moved to the edge of the pit. Odds are that Mr. Old, Bald, and Beautifully Bearded had something important to say, and since I really didn't want to piss off the guy I just crushed a bear cock for, I gave him my whole attention like everyone else in the room did.

"You have proven yourself more than worthy of joining us, Courier Six. I am honored to welcome you into the Xiong Clan." The old man declared, his booming voice echoing throughout the entire underground arena and bringing a chorus of whispers from the peanut gallery that was watching the live-action holotape drama unfold in front of them.

"If there is anything we can do for, oh mighty warrior, then all you have to do is ask." The Lingdao finished, bowing towards me just like a master would to his disciple in a different type of holotape I was less than fond of.

I quickly returned his bow, since I really didn't want to deal with another Pacer after getting all buddy-buddy with the head of another group of badasses after proving myself before them. Still, just because I wanted to play nicely with them didn't mean I wasn't above asking for a few favors in advance.

"I thank you for your generosity." I said, playing up my silver tongue for all it was worth once again. "Perhaps we could discuss… 'business' now that you have seen my strength for yourself."

The Lingdao seemed pleased with my proposition, and I had a sneaking suspicion already crawling around in the back of my head that whatever he was going to ask in return for aiding me had been decided long before the Yao Guai even died. The old guy did know about me before I even arrived after all and set this shit up way too quickly for it to be just a coincidence after all.

"What 'business' does a warrior like yourself intend to discuss?" He asked me . I would have swallowed a whole pot of black coffee in one go, strainer and all, if he didn't already know what kind of job I was going to ask him about. It was in my fucking name for fuck's sake…

"How about we start with the easy stuff first? I'm sure a respectable group like yours has plenty of 'mail' they need to send out of the city, and since I'm a courier by trade, I'd be glad to deliver a few messages for you for the right price." I said, the shit eating grin behind my mask as I spoke almost growing as large as the one that was also starting to grow on the Lingdao's face.

Well hot damn! I can already tell this is going to be the start of a long and beautiful partnership. Here's to hoping this one lasts longer than most of mine.

Translations (Provided by Google Translate... and then converted to Fanfic's Story Format)

(1) Xiōngshǒu -oOo- Murderer

(2) Wǒ bù huì làngfèi shíjiān hé xiōngshǒu shuōhuà. Xiàng nuòfū yīyàng zhàndòu bìng sǐqù. -oOo- I will not waste my time talking to a murderer. Fight and die like the coward you are.

(3) Děngdài! Wǒ zhǐshì wēixié nàgè lǎotóuzi, wǒ cáinéng gēn nǐ shuōhuà! -oOo- Wait! I only threatened that old man so I could speak to you!

(4) Lingdao -oOo- Leader/Boss

(5) Lao Wai -oOo- Foreigner

Author's Corner:

Alright, here it is, the first chapter of the next story arc. With Mantle no longer a major contender for control over Vacuo, Courier Six is planning to leave all of that behind before he gets dragged into yet another war he had no business getting involved in. Whether or not he is successful is another matter entirely. What is certain, however, is that even with his victory over The Major, some things never change…

My apologies for taking a bit of a break, but I wanted to give myself some time to do things properly and avoid burnout, as well as start working on another project I have planned. Here's to the future everyone! I hope to see you all again real soon! If I ever get enough comments now that I'm back, you can bet your britches that I'll be doing something real special with them.

But in the meantime, how about finally posting some Stats in regards to various weapons, characters, and creatures every now and then? As fun as it is to keep these things a secret, I figured it was only fair I show y'all how I'm 'balancing' everything for this story...

BONUS:

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* Weapons (Useable)
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* Penetrator
* ST: 9
* DMG: 50 (7.2 * 7)
* DPS: 170
* AMMO: 12 Gauge (Magic Bullshit): 0/0
* WG: 6.5
* CND: 74%
* VAL: ?
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* Mantlesian Anti-Material Rifle (MAMR)
* ST: 11
* DMG: 150
* DPS: 60
* AMMO: .50 MG (Standard) 8/173
* WG: 25
* CND: 97%
* VAL: ?
* BONUS CRIT CHANCE AND CRIT DAMAGE
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* Bowie Knife
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