Author Note

This chapter takes place a few weeks after the last one if that isn't clear. The NCR has mostly pulled out of the Vegas area and Mr House's robot army along with the Imperials are now in charge of the Mojave Wasteland.

Reviews

Alan

I'm glad your enjoying the story.

Morkail

The woman was Reilly who was the leader of a small mercenary band known as Reilly's Rangers who were mapping out the ruins of DC during the Fallout 3 game. While doing that the rangers get attacked by super mutants and Reilly ends up in the care of a ghoul doctor in the Underworld. You have to wake her up as part of a quest in the game, but in this timeline the Palatine thought she'd been experimented on by the ghouls and so gave her the Emperor's Mercy.

Since the STC was invented when Human interstellar civilisation was at its technological peak it makes sense that the Ad-Mech see that technology as something that shouldn't be improved upon, but anything older than the STCs won't be perfect so they can upgrade it.

As for the tech changing things well the leadership of the IOM don't want the status quo messed with so they might try to limit the use of the new technology. Not that it really matters for the MC as he's focused on matters outside of the IOM so as long as he gets paid for the tech its not really his concern. After all he's a Rogue Trader not a High Lord of Terra.

The Eldar have a role to play, but its not as vital to the story as it might seem.

Oh yeah I plan for the Rogue Trader to pillage and burn quite a bit of the Terminus Systems since there's no one who can stop him and the only humans in that part of the galaxy are either slaves or crooks so they can end up as servitors or serfs. Should be fun to write when I get that far.

Hadrian Caeser.

That might seem like a good idea, but the Wraith were strong back then and the Pegasus replicators were also around. It would make much more sense to go to Pegasus after they are gone and Atlantis is in the Milky Way. Remember Atlantis isn't the only City-Ship in the Pegasus galaxy.

frankieu

The Ad-Mech do make use of robot soldiers they are called battle-automata however due to the AI uprising the technology to make them was lost yet the Ad-mech still do have some they are just rare and carefully controlled. The robots in Fallout, aside from Liberty Prime, aren't anywhere near as dangerous as the few robots the Ad-Mech can send into battle so the Ad-Mech won't cause a fuss about the robot army in Vegas. At least as long as they are under Mr House's control.

Given that the Eldar can see into the future it would be best to let them decide what universes they go to and leave them to it rather than try to put them in danger. The Eldar plan will take centuries to be fulfilled and that's just to place one craftworld in a few different universes. This is no threat to the plans of Lord Thrax.

Rogue Trader CYOA Story 2

"While the enemies of the Emperor still draw breath, there can be no peace"

- Captain Gabriel Angelos.

Part 6

Vault 3. Mojave Wasteland.

Things had been rather peaceful for the Imperials and their allies since Mr House's robot army took control of New Vegas and the NCR were forced to pull out of the Mojave for the most part. They hadn't withdrawn completely and for the most part Mr House's robots had been able to pick up the slack when it came to policing the Mojave, but this didn't mean that the newly made Free Economic Zone of New Vegas was free of troubles.

While the Rogue Trader who old Brotherhood Chapter had allied with, had spent most of the last few weeks in talks with the NCR and Mr House, Sarah Lyons had began training her own chapter during that time. Her chapter was called the Sisterhood of Steel by its members and others because of it having only women in its fighting force.

This was due to the fact that many of the men who'd wanted to sign up to join a Brotherhood Chapter had been sent to the east coast for training. Others had joined the Imperial sponsored militia known as the PDF. Even the red robed cyborgs were grabbing up people due to an extra need for manpower and inducting them into the lower ranks of their order when possible. Those recruited who had families were moving to DC to find work as labours in the new city.

Since she'd ended up with far more female candidates for training than male ones she'd decided to go for an all female force like the battle sisters only Sarah didn't have any reason to recruit children as she had no desire to indoctrinate anyone. Her only limits on numbers were the resources required and the time required for training.

The role of the scribes in her chapter had been lessened when compared to other chapters since the study and preservation of technology was the domain of the Ad-Mech within the Imperium, as such the scribes worked more as record keepers and the Sisterhood had a number of servitors as well as a Tech priest supporting them. She may have been a woman, Sarah wasn't quite sure.

Despite differences the new Sisterhood of Steel were much like the Sisters of Battle. Aside from all being female they wore power armour, albeit of a different make, and swore oaths to a higher authorities. There were also differences, the Sisterhood of Steel carried plasma rifles rather than bolters and the Sisterhood was much larger. Sarah already had fifty warriors under her command and even more undergoing training.

So as to avoid any conflicts between the Sisters of Battle and the Sisterhood of Steel it had been set down in the Sisterhood's character what exactly the group's purpose was. The Sisterhood worked directly for the Lord Captain and were sent after technology rather than to crush moral threats such as mutants or raiders. Unless those threats got in the way of a Sisterhood's mission.

This might seem as if they'd be stepping on the toes of the red robed cyborgs, only as it turned out they were quite happy to support the new Sisterhood. Sarah and her warriors had brand new sets of armour based on Brotherhood designs just modified slightly for the female form and they carried freshly manufactured plasma rifles as well as a 10mm pistol as a side arm, along with a Ripper for close up fighting. These were the weapons that Sarah had chosen to arm her sisterhood with.

Sarah could only assume that she and her lionesses, as they were also known, were getting so much support because the cyborgs were spread thin and because they'd get a share of any tech the Sisterhood brought in as part of their alliance with the Rogue Trader.

The politics of the Imperials didn't really interest Sarah. She'd only agreed to the arranged marriage with Lord Thrax so that she could have her own chapter and because it so greatly benefitted the east coast Brotherhood who'd been on verge of disaster for so long. Thrax had promised her an army made of hundreds of power armoured warriors if she desired it and she very much liked that idea as she could use such forces to make this world a safer place for everyone.

Now she making her dream a reality. Her Sisterhood was on its first operation, they were to clear out Vault 3 and do as much damage to a gang known as the fiends as possible while recovering any tech of value. From what Sarah had been told during a briefing Vault 3 was once an ordinary and somewhat happy vault, but then the water system started leaking one day and the lower levels were flooded, forcing its people to open its door to the outside to seek help.

Unfortunately, some of the first people they came across were a gang of bloodthirsty, chem-addicted raiders, lead by a man called Motor-Runner, who was loitering in the near vicinity of the vault at that time. The raiders took advantage of the vault dwellers' naivety and conned themselves into the vault, upon gaining entry they slaughtered every inhabitant and took Vault 3 as their own. Having firmly rooted themselves in this safe haven, the Fiends have since steadily grown stronger, and they now claim a large part of the southwestern New Vegas ruins as their territory. If not stopped soon they'd become a major hazard to life in New Vegas.

The gang were unexceptional in almost every way, only their growing numbers and the fact that they had unusually large number of high-tech range weapons like Laser RCWs and plasma rifles made them more of a threat than other raider gangs who terrorised the Mojave Wasteland.

The vault itself is wide-open, practically being a feral den for the Fiends and their huge packs of dogs. Whether it is murder, rape, or burning innocents for sport, the chem loving Fiends were more than happy to bring their chaos to this area, which was they had become a source of growing concern for the Imperials as well as Mr House.

Like many other raider groups, the Fiends split into small war-parties, usually between three to four members, which her sisterhood would have to deal with. The Fiends had little in the way of organization, except for their occupation of Vault 3, and groups of them could be often be seen aimlessly roaming the northern Mojave looking for their next chem score or an innocent waste lander who they could have some fun with.

Violet, Cook-Cook, Driver Nephi, and Motor-Runner seemed to be the most influential leaders, with Motor-Runner being the head that resided in and ran operations within Vault 3. All of the leaders would need to be taken care of assuming of course that the special agent who Lord Thrax had sent hadn't already removed the leadership so as to soften up the Fiends before the Sisterhood of Steel began their assault on Vault 3.

Sarah Lyons felt the upgraded vertibird touch down in the south Vegas ruins and as soon as she could the former commander of Lyons Pryde unstrapped herself from her seat and headed down the ramp. They'd not landed too close to Vault 3, but there was no way the Fiends in the area would have missed the sound of three aircraft touching down so close to their home.

This had done on purpose as Sarah wanted the Fiends to come rushing towards her people as a disorganised mob made up of smaller groups who wouldn't coordinate with each other. They'd attack the sisterhood piecemeal and with little concern for tactics or their own wellbeing rather than try to defend their vault.

The three squads under her command not only had weeks of training under her supervision they'd been members of the 2nd Thrax regiment or navy armswomen who'd served as security on the Rogue Trader's cruiser before they'd been accepted into the Sisterhood, as such they'd been trained to fight a long time ago and many of them had actual combat experience against things far more dangerous than some drug loving gang bangers.

Which wasn't to say that the drugged up thugs weren't going to put up a fight. Sarah discovered this as she took cover so as to avoid getting shot as while she wore brand new power armour she'd not survived all of her fights against super mutants by being careless and one of the raiders was firing a laser RCW a weapon that could threaten people in power armour unlike the small arms fire coming from the other Fiends.

Sarah kept as much of her body somewhat safe behind a large pile of rubble as possible before she took a shot of her own. She missed the feel of her trusty laser rifle in her hand, the old AER9 had gotten her through some dangerous missions yet the Imperial made plasma rifle which looked as if someone had taken an urban plasma rifle and given it a protective casing that had an Aquila stamped on it, was a superior weapon.

A bolt of green energy struck a Fiend and knocked him back while also burning a hole in his chest. The fool must have been preparing to throw an unpinned frag grenade because a second later the body exploded. Sarah barely took notice of this as more Fiends were on the way and she had firefight going on around her.

By the time it was done her troops had defeated many times their own number with only one of her people going down and she wasn't even dead as her power armour had down its job in keeping the Sisterhood member alive.

"Third squad your going to look after the birds" ordered Sarah "Second squad search the bodies for anything worth taking back to the base".

Those laser RCWs would be worth something to the Rogue Trader and the Sisterhood needed to prove that it was a worthwhile investment so returning with some spoils would be a good thing.

"First squad with me" she commanded "Second squad will follow when ready".

Sarah made sure that the women under her command took things slow. There was no rush as they knew where the rest of the Fiends would be.

The walls just outside of the Vault were covered with graffiti, presumably done by the occupying Fiends. Much of the graffiti in the Vault and just outside of it was an example of how little education there was in the Wasteland and it showed just how messed up the Fiends really were.

As for the two raiders who stood guard at the base they didn't react well to the presence of the Sisterhood. One of the two Fiends charged the power armoured women with nothing other than a pool cue and didn't make it three steps before a bolt of plasma struck her in the face. As for the other guard that guy proved to be a bit more rational as he took cover before opening up with his shotgun. Not that it really mattered as he was hit by several bolts of plasma that removed what cover he was able to find while also ending his life.

"Second squad secure the entrance" Paladin Lyons ordered when the women in that squad caught up "First squad stay with me".

All of the troops she had under her command were only Initiates since they'd never seen combat while part of the Sisterhood, but given what a good job they were doing she be calling them knights in no time. Although she had been considering changing the ranks and calling her knights by the rank of huntresses since their role was to hunt for technology. This was something Sarah would dwell on later when she had the time.

Since she'd been in vaults before Sarah noted right away that Vault 3 seemed to have a much larger recreational area than the others. The recreation area included several pool tables, a dart board and some sort of table that could be used for a number of games. Not that she had much time to check the place out as the Fiends who must have been sleeping or been shooting up had by now woken up and taken notice of the intruders.

As the Sisterhood moved through the corridors they maintained discipline and only fired when they were sure of a clean shot. Most of the Fiends charged to get into hand to hand regardless of what weapons they had on them if they were armed at all, and they died quickly. If anything their corpses proved to be more of a hindrance to the operation than the living Fiends.

Within the recreation area, there was a locked door leading to the maintenance wing the part of the Vault the over all leader was supposed to live in. Since Sarah didn't want to waste time trying to bring down the door when their could be another way into that part she ordered the second squad to come in and secure the area while she took the most experienced members of the Sisterhood, who had all been members of 2nd Thrax Regiment long before coming to this world, into the living area of Vault 3.

In the main room of the living quarters, there was a cage holding a number of captives, some of them looked as if they could have walked out of here, but Sarah held back from freeing them because she didn't want any civilians running about if another fire fight started. Besides once the vault was clear they could evac the captives back to the air force base so that they could be given food and medical attention. After that they'd be free to make their own way or join up with the Imperials who always needed strong bodies.

Some of the rooms in the living quarters contained deceased Fiends who had been lying on a bed when they died, judging by the empty syringes it wasn't hard to guess that they'd overdosed and there were living Fiends who were so drugged up that they hadn't even noticed that their home had been invaded. Sarah was too honourable to kill helpless people so she left them be knowing that it was more important to kill the leaders and take advanced weapons than to murder a few druggies who would mostly kill themselves before long.

The leader of the Fiends in the Vault, a man called Motor-Runner, was found in his throne room in the northern part of the maintenance wing along with his two guard dogs, all of which were gunned down by plasma rifles before they could do any harm.

"Any losses" Sarah asked over the vox unit that was built into her armour.

Her own squad had lost no one thanks to their training, power armour, superior weapons and team work, but a few sisters in her squad had been injured since even power armour did not offer perfect protection.

"No Paladin" reported the leader of second squad.

"All quiet here" replied the leader of third squad.

This was good to hear.

"1st and 2nd squad clear out the vault" she ordered "take anything that looks like advanced technology and we'll recover the captives on the way out. When we get back to base the drinks are on me".

There was a lot of cheering upon hearing that last part and Sarah felt that glad that at least she didn't have to worry about paying for stuff now she was marrying a very rich man. She was also happy about having made a real different in the Wasteland.

(Line Break)

Hidden Valley. Mojave. Wasteland.

Journeyman Scribe Veronica Renata Santangelo of the local Brotherhood of Steel Chapter came to my attention when one of the Magos at the air force base reported that someone was capturing servo-skulls and taking them apart so as to figure out how they work. Destroying a servo-skull wasn't that hard and many raiders took pot-shots at them, and we knew that some enterprising folks had been disabling some of our probes could be stripped for parts, but Veronica Renata found out a way to use a captured servo-skull to call us up.

Knowing what a useful ally she could be I'd decided to met with Veronica Renata in person and to ask her to aid me in something that Mr House wanted dealing with. He desires that the local Brotherhood of Steel chapter be removed from his Free Economic Zone of New Vegas and if I couldn't convince them to leave peacefully then he would send in as many robots as it took to wipe them all out.

That would be a terrible waste of lives and resources so I'd decided to give diplomacy a chance. I would take Sarah, who was fresh from her victory over the Fiends, and Veronica with me to talk with the Brotherhood Chapter. I would be quite happy to gift them with means of transport and supplies for their move, if only to keep Sarah happy with me, and I hoped to have Veronica join Sarah's Sisterhood of Steel as she'd be useful to them.

So as to not look like an invader I wasn't bringing along more than a couple of bodyguards and while this did put me at risk I'd done well in the diplomatic stuff so far and I shouldn't need to shoot my way out. One of my bodyguards was Black Widow and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that she could take out the whole chapter if she needed to.

"It's an underground complex, built by the US military before the war," Veronica explained to us as we approached the bunker "It was designed to be a self-sustainable complex for high ranking members of the military and the government, but the project was abandoned well before the bombs dropped".

So it was one of those places for the VIPs to cower in while the poor people died due a mess created by those VIPs.

"Sounds a bit like the Vaults," I said "Why'd they abandon it?".

Veronica shrugged.

"We don't really know" she admitted "None of the computer systems inside say why the project was cancelled".

By now I could see the way in. The walls of the bunker's entrance were covered in tons of graffiti, and most of it was very anti-establishment.

"I didn't think the Brotherhood were such fans of peace and love" I joked.

There was some standard graffiti to be sure but I saw other things like peace signs and "Give peace a chance," "Ban the bomb," and a picture of a warhead inside a no symbol.

"It's the last place anyone would think to look for us?" Veronica said with a smirk.

That did make a sort of twisted sense.

"Now watch the dust" the scribe warned "When dispersed by the bunkers fans, it'll blanket the valley in a cloud of chaff. It's supposed to make the bunker impossible to target by radar guided missiles, but from the ground it looks like the valley is suffering from a massive, and very concentrated sandstorm".

Thankfully my new friend had already mentioned this and I was wearing my power armour so I was well protected from the dust and grit that could have filled my lungs.

"Now, remember" the native woman said next "until I get done with the introductions, let me do the talking, alright?".

I signalled my agreement and watched as she opened the massive door that led into the complex. We went inside and the one of my bodyguards closed the door behind us, then we descended the stairs leading deeper into the complex. I wasn't concerned, but I did spend a moment questioning if this was worth while. I did need to leave Mr House an Independent Vegas to rule over once I was gone as the people I left behind wouldn't be able to manage things by themselves. This Brotherhood Chapter could get in the way of that.

After a lengthy descent, we found ourselves in large room with walls, floors, and ceiling made out of what looked like concrete. There was hardly any clutter at all, and the only thing I could see aside from some empty crates was a metal door directly opposite the stairs, and a small intercom.

"I've got this" the scribe said.

She cleared her throat, and pressed the button on the intercom.

"I'd like a large Atomic Shake and a double Brahmin Burger" the scribe joked "Go easy on the agave sauce this time".

Soon the speaker on the wall crackled to life.

"We gave you a password, Veronica," a gruff voice replied over the intercom. "It's for your safety and ours. You know better than to bring your friends home with you".

Veronica just shook her head.

"I know where you live, Ramos!" she yelled "Open up".

The voice on the other end of the intercom sighed heavily.

"Oh, for Pete's sake. Opening up" the male voice said.

The door popped open with a hiss, and slid into the floor.

"Welcome back, Veronica" said the gruff voice.

She turned and smiled before waving us inside.

"Told you I got this" she said.

I stayed still, motioning for her to go on ahead instead.

"After you" I insisted "This is your house, after all".

After a short elevator ride, the two of us were at another set of stairs. Unlike the ones at the entrance to the bunker, everything here looked like it was made out of metal rather than concrete.

"So, how deep does this place go, anyway?" I asked.

"Deep enough to withstand a direct hit from a 100 kiloton nuclear warhead" Veronica let me know "Not that I'd want to test this".

We soon came across a large man who wore power armour. He had a couple of guards with him and I could sense their confusion despite them wearing helmets. Sarah and wore power armour that was clearly better than theirs and much newer, this had be confusing for them.

"Hey, Ramos!" said said to the guy in power armour "Lookin' sharp, as usual".

"Hey yourself, kiddo," he said.

Ramos turned me.

"Listen up, and listen close," he instructed "I'm in charge of security around here. I can't say I'm too happy having so many outsiders waltzing around. However, since you came in with Veronica... I suppose I'm inclined to cut you a little slack".

The scribe must be more popular than she thought if her bringing us here hadn't caused the Brotherhood to go on red alert.

"Just behave yourself, outsiders" Ramos was now saying "and we won't have any problems".

I didn't intend to cause any problem,

"Oh, ease up Ramos," Veronica instructed as she rolled her eyes and batted softly at one of Ramos' arms. "I wouldn't have brought them here if they were going to cause trouble, and they wanted in we couldn't have stopped them".

The man known as Ramos looked down at Veronica with a raised eyebrow, and shook his head.

"It's my job to worry, Veronica" he reminded her "You should know that by now"

He smiled down at her, but his smile faded when he looked back at me.

"As for you" he said "The Elder is going to want to talk to you, outsiders. You can find McNamara down in the lowest level. Just take a right once you get down there. I suggest you don't keep him waiting".

Best to get this over with. It was unlikely that The Elder would simply agree to leave, but I was willing to try.

"Don't worry, Ramos, we're gonna head there straight away" my escort promised.

We soon got moving again.

"Don't mind Ramos. He just takes his job seriously, that's all" she said to me "Once you get to know him, he's really a giant softy. Like a power armoured teddy bear!".

The bunker had a strange kind of duality about it. On the one hand, the walls felt really close, more than enough to induce a sense of claustrophobia, but on the other hand it also felt empty. There were people around, they were just few and far between.

"Is it just me," I said, while looking around "Or are people avoiding us?"

Veronica shrugged.

"They're just not used to seeing anyone... new down here" she told me.

I glanced down a corridor as the group kept walking and saw a pair of lightly armoured Brotherhood members were staring at us, talking to each other in hushed whispers. I couldn't hear what they were saying and I had no desire to find out in case it made them hostile.

The deeper we went, the more crowded things became. It became much harder for people to avoid us, and that was when I discovered that Veronica knew everyone. There must be about a hundred members of the Brotherhood down here if you included scribes.

If Mr House sent his robots down here he'd lose many of them. Perhaps he would just collapse the entrances or lay siege to the place so that he could kill all of the Brotherhood when they tried to break out.

When we got into Elder McNamara's office I noted that it really didn't seem much like an office, so much as a missile silo with a desk in the centre instead of a big rocket. The room was a massive cylinder with a domed ceiling, and in the centre was a curved metal desk sitting on a metal platform, surrounded by four thick beams that ran from beneath the metal grates of the floor to the ceiling.

Two Brotherhood members stood guard on either side of the door, they carried Gauss rifles and were in full power armour. On the right side of the room, I could see a massive backlit topographical map, showing all the Mojave Wasteland. One wall also had the Brotherhood symbol painted on it.

"Hello, Veronica" said this group's leader.

The silvery-haired, blue robed Elder turned in his seat as soon as the scribe got closer.

"Why did you bring strangers here?" he asked.

I'd come here to make contact with the Brotherhood in the hopes of convincing them to leave but by the sounds of things this meeting would soon turn into a shouting match. Thankfully the talk remained at a reasonable volume level at least to start with.

"Elder, you must have seen how things are changing around here" said Veronica "Mr House has his robot army and new allies".

"We've outlasted the end of the world," replied the Elder "We will outlast these upstarts".

No they wouldn't because we were just some new tribe. The Imperium had come and this world would change, those who failed to accept these changes would be swept aside.

"Outlast them, how?" she asked.

Veronica's voice started to become more agitated, and the effect of that seemed to be amplified by the rooms acoustics.

"By waiting in a hole for everyone else to die!" she shouted.

"If we must" the Elder replied.

Even from this distance, I could see in his eyes that this guy wasn't going to back down. Veronica must know that.

"This is a dead end for us. Can't you see that?" she said.

Veronica's voice was pleading now, but the Elder's expression didn't change.

"No. I see no evidence of that" he said "Nor do I see anyone out there with a solution to our problems".

At this point Veronica hung her head.

"How could you? You're too scared to go look!" she yelled.

She turned and walked down the stairs, shaking her head.

"Let's go. We're wasting our time" she said.

Before I knew it, she'd already passed me and was on her way out.

"I'll be with you in a moment" I told her.

When I got close to his desk, I finally got a good look at McNamara. He was clean shaven with a head of silver hair. His face wasn't terribly lined or saggy like you'd expect of someone of his age, and he carried an aura of wisdom about him even if it wasn't the right kind of wisdom.

"When Paladin Ramos informed me that Veronica was approaching with a group of outsiders in tow," McNamara started by saying "I will be honest, I didn't know what to think".

Clearly the local Brotherhood Chapter had its head in the sand if they didn't understood who I was and the amount of support I had.

"Greetings, Elder McNamara" I said as I took off my helmet "I am Lord Thrax of the Imperium. By now I'm sure you've discovered that a new organisation has started to operate here in the Mojave Wasteland. We're allied with Mr House of New Vegas who has army of robots he intends to use to reshape Mojave and that includes removing the Brotherhood from what he sees as his lands".

I wanted it understood that I didn't wish them harm. In fact I'd have happily let them to wilt away to nothingness down here. Still I took the time to explain more about myself and the fact that I could support him in moving his chapter.

"Elder Lyons has a large chapter on the east coast that could use your support" I was now saying "Or you could relocate elsewhere, just don't stay here and die".

Of course he didn't accept my offer because he didn't believe me even if his scouts must have seen some evidence by now of much I could command. I considered messing with his mind, but this was a strong willed man not some savage from Planetos he would not be influenced so easily. There was no way I could break him unless I could have hours alone with him.

I left Sarah to give it her best shot. She was the daughter of Elder Lyons and so should be respected here. Alas I didn't think she did any better than I did.

"Listen I'm not giving up," Veronica said as she got up off the wall she been sitting against.

She cast a glance in the Elder's direction as he spoke to Sarah, then she looked back at me.

"You think he'll listen at all?" I asked.

I shook my head.

"Mr House will make his move" I said to Veronica "He'll find a way to break into this bunker and he'll either kill everyone or drive them out. You can stay here with them or join a new chapter that will actually make a difference in the world".

She asked for some time to think it over, knowing that she had a way to contact me so Sarah and I headed out once we were done here.