Another Galaxy but same Lifestyle

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout New Vegas or Star Wars the Clone Wars, they belong to their respective owners.

I do own MY version of the Courier.

Criticism Okay I guess.

No promises on this being a good story.

OOC's (Out of Character) are to be expected.


Chapter 5: Hostage Crisis

~Jedi Temple, Courier's room~

We see Howard in his room using a torch to weld something together, in his room are various pieces of metal and weapon parts that are primarily Republic and Separatist weaponry as well as some armor pieces, he was working on his project as he kept welding until there was knocking on the door.

The earthling would then stop what he was doing and sighed as he felt like he was being bothered so many times in a single week since getting back from Ryloth, he got up and put the welding mask and torch down onto the table with other things.

He approached the door and opened it "what is it?" he asked as he would see who it was, it would be Obi-wan Kenobi "Hello there Courier" the earthling would be surprised "oh Kenobi, what brings you to my room?" he asked as the bearded man would hardly visit and only seems to visit when the Jedi Council requires something of him.

The Jedi Knight replied "oh nothing just wondering if you wanted to walk with me, you've been cooped up in your room ever since returning back from Ryloth and its got some of the other council members worried, since you're keeping things in your room"

As if he would understand the courier would nod "oh I see they're afraid I'm making something that would help the Separatists, hell naw there's no way I'd work with them unless they have something I want" he would tell him as while he did like earning caps and letting out his 'psycho' side out his moral compass makes him primarily on the side of good, thanks to his grandma who instilled it into him.

That rolling pin was no joke when he angered his Grand-mama.

Nodding to the Terran's words "so is that a yes or a no?" he would be curious as to what the Earthling's answer be, Howard would answer "yeah I guess it's getting kinda stuffy being in here all day" he nods and would walk out of his room and locked the door, he used his pip boy to change into his Roving Trader outfit with hat included.

After seeing the change Kenobi looked at the blonde male "you really like that outfit don't you?" Howard replied "yep makes me more charming and gives good prices" he gave a joke as he stands next to Obi wan "so where to?"

However before the Jedi knight could answer a new voice spoke out loud "hey Obi wan, Courier" the two men turned and saw it was Anakin who approached them "I see you've finally managed to get out of your room" the non-republican nodded "yep but you don't visit me like Wan here, what brings you here Sky dude?" he asked the new arrival and wondering what he wants, after getting a good chuckle out of Obi wan's new nickname the Jedi knight would answer "well I was wondering if you would like to come with me, the Chancellor wanted to speak with you"

After hearing that Howard sighed a bit in annoyance "what the hell? He's been bugging me since I've arrived" he still had a bad feeling about the old man and him bothering him wasn't doing him any favors, espicially since they're usually about his home in which he will not reveal, as if sensing his frustration Skywalker would tell him "it's not about your homeworld this time, it's about your services in the war, I may or may not have spoke about you after liberating Ryloth" he would send a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck.

The earth human sighed as he would speak once again "fine I guess I'm going but only for the war part, anything else and I'm returning back to my room to be in there for another month" he grumbled as he would then walk with Skywalker to meet the Galactic Republic leader leaving Obi wan alone.


~Senate building, platform~

Howard sighed as he was in a vehicle with Anakin on the way to the Senate building, seeing the earthling's frustration he would speak "the Chancellor's a good man, he's doing great things for us and is trying his best to help stop the war and bring the galaxy to a peaceful state" he hoped that it would get Howard to at least see what the leader of the Republic was doing.

The Courier replied "I know you mean well sky dude but I just... I don't know I just feel like somethings... Off about him, I'm not a force sensitive like you but my gut is telling me he's not who he seems" he said as he would trust his gut.

Anakin wouldn't like the thought of the man who basically is his close friend being doubted but he had to remember that the Courier is not used to this galaxy yet so he had to let him off that time "we're here" he said as he would land the speeder onto the platform where they would be stopped by guards, "halt! Only Senators and representatives are allowed entry" at that the Jedi would immediately answer "I am Anakin Skywalker a member of the Jedi Order and with me is the Courier whom the Chancellor would like to speak with."

After hearing those and checking for confirmation the guards would let the two pass though one of them stopped Howard "halt, no weapons are allowed inside of the Senate building" at this the blonde male smiled "don't worry I won't be using them" he then would place his weapons in his pip-boy which stunned the guards.

The two males continued to pass as the guards were slowly recovering from their shock "every time" said the Courier as he would enter the Senate and walked with Skywalker to the Chancellor's office.


~En route to Chancellor's office~

After splitting up with Anakin as he wanted to go speak to a senator Howard would sigh as he began to think about many things, about his purpose in this war, returning home and ending Caesar's legion and freeing those who were taken and are still looking for freedom, but he also has to be worried about his friends.

As he thought about this things he would be stopped by a man "hello Courier" it was a friendly tone.

Hearing him being called out he would stare at a man he met once before, when he first arrived at this planet a week or so ago "hello there um... Bailey?" he wouldn't quite remember his name since it was short and not easy recognizable to him, the man chuckled "close but it's Bail Organa Senator of Alderaan we met only once but there has been good things said about you" he would send him a gentle smile.

"Oh well then Senator tell me, what's the news with the Senate?" the Terran male would ask as he's not good at making small talk, espicially with new people he's met but getting information about politics may just keep him from being awkward and gaining info about the latest news, at that the kind man would reply "well I've been informed to notify several Senators that there's gonna be a meeting to discuss about the privacy invasion bill in the main hall."

At that the Courier nodded "oh I see... But isn't that... I don't know risky?" he asked as he soon began to think the downsides of having several political representatives in one spot, at that Senator Organa would ask "and what is it that you find risky?" he wanted to know what made this person think it was so, he was given an answer "well if there's some sort of attack having so many political figures they would be used as a hostage against the Senate right?"

Thinking on this Bail Organa would think "yes you're right, there's never been an attack on the Senate building but the Separatist are using dirty tactics in their conquest, however even if we were given a warning this bill is very important to discuss"

Howard would just look at the man incredulously as he heard this but then again he couldn't understand politics and only the basics, he looked around and check to see if there's any guards. However while noticing he couldn't help but find that there are less guards than normal.

"Wait how come there's little guards if this place is of great importance?" he asked the man in front of him as he noticed that there was a bit less guards than last time he was here.

Answering him the Alderaan senator gave him a look "from what I've heard there's been some riots happening in the last few days, so some of them are working with the CSF to quell them"

"And the CSF are...?"

"Coruscant Security Forces, they're the ones who are making sure the city does not fall into despair and riots and rarely have in need of Senate Guards to work with"

Nodding the courier would nod, but something seemed fishy about it.

He shrugged it off as he would pulled out a bottle of Nuka Cola from his inventory and chugged it down and walked down his original path to the Chancellor and waving a farewell to Organa.

He was a nice guy, for Howard that was a rare trait and if he was in the wastelands he would have been seen as either a hopeful fool or one of the few and more kinder men basically a messiah.

But there was something in the Courier's gut that told him that today wasn't going to be peaceful, and so he only had one thing to say.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."


~Senate Platform~

"Put your hands up!"

Ordered a Senate guardsman as he and a couple of others were approaching an unknown craft arriving at the platform, they were wearing clothes that did not look civilized and in fact looked dangerous.

One of the new arrivals looked humanoid, they wore brown and dark brown leather looking clothes and had a had covering their face.

But the voice was anything but human.

"Step aside, I've got business with the senate"

Said the newcomer with a hint of threat in his tone.

They tipped their large hat upwards to reveal that they were in fact alien, to be more specific a Duros and he had two tubs connecting to his cheeks acting as if breathing apparatus of sorts.

The lead guard ordered once more for the newcomer to step down, he then motioned for a fellow guard to apprehend the Duros.

"Son, I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you"

As soon as the one guard who was going to cuff the Duros a distant sound was heard, moments later a red bolt of energy hit the guard in the head killing him instantly.

Immediately seeing this the others would get into cover with one of them spotting the sniper before being shot in the head by the attacker, a few of the guards tried to get away to warn the others but they were gunned down by the sniper.

The duros in leather clothing rushed towards the leader of the group and bashed him against the transport rendering him stunned, not long after he did that 4 other beings exited the vehicle the enemy came and with him were two commando droids.

'CIS! Here!?' thought one of the guards who saw the approaching droids and would try to run away in the hope of warning the senate to go into lock down but like his fellow comrades he was shot down by the sniper.

The leading guard was dead, the Duros put him into a choke hold and snapped his neck.

A couple of Command Droids approached one of the bodies as a communicator was activated.

[What's going on outside? We heard noise]

Not wanting to be detected the Commando Droid altered its voice filter to match the guards "protesters against the war, we've taken care of it" and soon after the Duros gave them the order to dispose of the bodies and make sure to clear the platform.

The two droids nodded and would proceed to do as they pleased, they now wore the armor of the guards which made infiltration easier.


~With Howard

Still not used to the Senate building's design the Courier made his way back to the entrance to the platform "I'm gonna ask some guards if they can point me in the right direction, because I am seriously getting lost" he sighed as he approached two guards there, however on his way he noticed something off about them but he couldn't exactly pin what that was.

As he approached them at the edge of his vision he saw something on the ground, darting his eyes to where it was he saw what appeared to be a black glove but as the kept approaching the two he noticed how there are some blaster marks and now his mind was going into overdrive.

"...Shit"

Without any warning he pulled out a Lever Action Shotgun and fired at the two 'guards' blowing one of them back onto the floor with a thud, the other 'guardsman' would quickly retaliate by pulling up it's blaster and aimed it at Howard. But being quick thinking the courier simply pulled the body of the dead 'guard' and used it to block the blaster bolts, before aiming his weapon at the defender and firing at it 'killing' the threat.

After that was done he removed the helmet of the guard and indeed his gut was right, for wearing the Guard armor was a Commando Droid that he had been told by Broker and Jun back on Ryloth mission.

"If Separatist Commandos are here then-" he stopped mid sentence as he looked at the entrance into the senate, after coming to a realization he gave out a soft but long breath "no..." and immediately after that he quickly ran in and tried to find where the Senators are gathering.

However as soon as he entered the doors closed shut behind him as the lighting turned to red for emergency.

The Senate was now under siege.


~Senate building, Senator meeting~

The Chosen one was sneaking around the hallways, he couldn't be detected otherwise Padme will be killed. He gave a small sigh "this is Obi-wan's specialty" he whispered to himself as he crouched over to a railing and looked down to see his wife and some other senators all huddled up together and were being talked by the person whom he thought was the mastermind for this attack on the Senate building.

He was a bit angry when the man who took his beloved was touching her face.

"You're too young and pretty to be a Senator" said he leader of the group as one of the grunts came back "what news?"

"Them two Droids ain't picking up, we think that they've been dealt with by a Jedi" said the underling as he revealed the news to the bounty hunter who gave an intrigued look.

"A Jedi here? That's interesting.."

It was at this moment that Bail Organa came to a realization,

He smiled as his hope got higher.

"Skywalker? After him!" ordered the Bounty Hunter and two of the male's group left to get and capture Skywalker.

"Yes Cad Bane!"

On the opposite side of the room and on the same floor there was a slight shimmering if one was observant and it moved as silently as it could.

The now revealed Cad Bane then turned to the rest of the group "now where were we?" he raised an arm and pressed a button to communicate with someone.

"Now Chancellor I have your precious senators hostage and the east wing is under control" said the bounty hunter to the Chancellor as a holographic appearance appeared showing the leader of the Galactic Republic and his companion a twi'lek.

[The Republic will not does not take kindly to such threats, if any harm are to come to any of the Senators it will be met by appropriate force] came the response as the elderly man stood his ground.

After he said that though the entire building became dark and red lights activated signaling that the building's backup generator is now operational.

"I'm in control, I make the rules now!" said Bane as he now had the control of the senate building if the power outage was any indication.

Above the shimmering was moving and there was a sound...

*Click*

The sound of a weapon cocking and ready to fire, a light and almost shallow breath could be heard as the shimmering took aim from their perspective and aimed it at Bane's head.

Without warning a red bolt hit the wall behind the shimmering, a low grunt of pain could be heard as the shimmering began to dissipate and Howard was wincing in pain.

The reason why is because that bolt grazed his shoulder, it wasn't new but it didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"It seems we've got ourselves an uninvited guest..." spoke the leading bounty hunter as the barrel of his blaster was sizzling and aiming at the floor in which Howard was at, he slowly turned to where he fired at and gave a low grin "Sing, make sure our esteemed Senators do not do anything stupid, I have to go and take care of a rat..." he said as he began to walk off.

The female nodded with a menacing smile as she kept aim of her blaster on them and keeping an eye to make sure they didn't do anything stupid.


~With Howard~

"Shit... That guy means business" muttered the Courier to himself as he used a stimpack to patch up immediately, he for sure thought he was as silent as a ninja and had him in his sights but that shot was unexpected coming from that bounty hunter, he made a low grin "but... It seems that my life is no longer boring"

He quieted himself as he hid in one of the rooms at a hallway, he heard the sounds of footsteps they were light but he knew that they held purpose, he pulled out his Cowboy repeater and loaded it up quickly.

The footsteps stopped moving and the blue eyed male leaned slightly out of cover to see, he quickly pulled back as a red bolt hit the stone past him. He returned the gesture by aiming his rifle down the hallway and fire, he knew he wasn't gonna hit but he won't take the risk.

Bullets and bolts were missing their targets as both Howard and Cad Bane were suppressing each other from moving.

Howard repeater was emptied out and he quickly reloaded it putting bullet after bullet into the chamber, he heard footsteps sprinting towards him and he knew that he was in for a fight so he replaced his rifle for a GRA hunting revolver.

He stepped out of cover and saw Cad Bane running towards him, he returned in kind as both him and the bounty hunter exchanged shots but only missed until they both were in range of each other.

Bane smacked the pistol out of Howard's hand and punched him with a right hook, he then gut punched the Courier. Howard retaliated by grabbing Bane's shoulders and head bashing him hurting the bounty hunter, he saw the alien's stun and performed a kick to the side of the other's gut to inflict pain. The bounty hunter however quickly recovered and and grabbed the ankle before connecting with him and elbowing it.

Reeling from the pain the Earthling glared at the red eyed alien and shoulder bashed him, after that he uppercut his chin sending him back a few feet. But the money maker wasn't unnerved as he activated his jet boots in time before he fell to the ground and scissor kicked the human's chest forcing him to tumble to the ground, he saw one of their pistols nearby and flew to it. Howard backwards rolled so he stood and saw Cad bane reaching for a pistol, he pulled out a Proton axe and tossed it at the Duros male's direction to prevent him from doing that.

Cad Bane turned and saw the axe and quickly pulled back before his fingers can touch the blaster, he turned to the human as he hovered and they both stared at each other.

"I'm impressed rat... You've got skill, too bad that you're wasting that talent with the Jedi" said the Duros as he tipped his hat to the human in respect for a man to keep and match him. Howard replied "not so bad yourself... I can see why you're more professional than the average bounty hunter's I've fought before... You're definitely a threat to be careful around" he gave the bounty hunter a grin.

The two warriors stared at each other before they both charged towards one another, both grappled each other but it would be Howard who put the Duros into a full nelson before he pulled back and slammed the alien onto the marble floor of the senate hallway. Cad Bane used his jet boots to recover almost immediately as he pulled a leg up and brought down the heel onto the human's chest he then put the jet booster against the blond male's face and intended to burn it.

The Courier wouldn't allow that though as he grabbed the forelegs of the attacker and used his strength to send him across just to get him off, he saw that the alien recovered once more and he grinned as they both were distant from each other. But Cad bane would surprise the Terran as he rushed at him and aimed his wrist at the male and fired, it would wrap around his wrist before he grinned and started to pull him.

Howard wasn't expecting that and was immediately dragged against the floor as the bounty hunter flew towards the edge of the atrium.

Cad bane detached the wire from his wrist as the blond haired man was sent falling down onto the atrium's floor where the Senators were located, as well as Anakin.


~Senate building, atrium~

"Ow.." mumbled Howard as he tried to get up but his wrists were tied together, he looked up and saw the Senator's and Anakin also there getting up as well.

"Have they been playing nice Sing?" questioned Cad Bane as he hovered down next to his companions as the two warriors began to wake up.

"They have" was the simple reply.

"Good... Now I have to speak with the Chancellor" he brought up his communicator and spoke to the holographic projection of Palpatine, this time his companion is missing "has Ziro been freed?" he asked in a demanding one.

"He has been..." replied the elderly man as he gave the bounty hunter a glare.

"Thanks for your hospitality Chancellor... Now we shall go and collect our bounty, we're leaving a gift as our... Appreciation for being so cooperative..." he said coldly as he cut off the communication and motioned for his compatriots to plant explosives.

Each bounty hunter assembled went to a pillar and put on explosives on them as red beams surrounded the hostages.

"If anyone wants to try and get away then these beams will trigger an explosion and kill all of you..." said the leader of the group as he turned around and walked off, he paused he slightly turned his head to Howard "thanks for the gift kid, I'll be sure to put it to use" he held up the Hunting Revolver and twirled it in his hand before placing it in the holster of where his blaster formally was in.

Seeing someone basically mock him the blue eyed earthling got up and tried to go after him but was held back by Bail Organa and one of the male senators "don't! You'll trigger the bombs" said Bail as he tried to calm down the Courier from making rash actions that could have all of them end up dead.

Seething with anger Howard back down and calmed himself as Anakin was beginning to wake up.

"Mmm... What happened?" Skywalker asked as he shook his head and got up, he looked around and saw that everything is red and there were laser beams pointing around them, he looked to the door and noticed lack of bounty hunters "oh... Well that's not good" he said as he then saw Howard who was merely glaring at the door.

Padme walked up to him "I think you need this Master Jedi" she said as she handed him a lightsaber that was hidden in her sleeves, seeing his lightsaber the Jedi Knight grabbed it "thank you Senator I was wondering where I lost it" he said trying to act all normal.

Unknown to them both Bail and Courier looked at the two suspiciously as the Jedi General activated his lightsaber and began to cut the floor around them large enough to center all.

Without warning rapid beeping could be heard as the gathered hostages looked to the detonators and saw them blinking at a rapid pace, but luckily for them they fell into the lower floor courtesy of the Lightsaber wielding warrior whom saved them all.


~Jedi Temple, Council~

"Do you know who this assailant who had captured you Courier?" asked Mace Windu as he and the other Jedi Council members were questioning Howard about what had transpired in the Senate Building, they were already done questioning Anakin from his perspective but now they're questioning the Courier's perspective.

"He called himself Cad Bane, from what I can gather he was a Bounty Hunter of infamy considering that... He beat my ass" answered the blond haired Earthling as he admitted to being defeated by a bounty hunter who, as much as he doesn't want to say, surpassed him in combat and managed to not only beat him but hurt his pride by taking one of his pistols with him.

"Anger I sense in you, Courier..." said Yoda as he could feel the anger radiating off of the human male, Howard nodded "yeah I'm fucking PISSED! He kicked my ass, I understand that part, but he had the FUCKING AUDACITY to take one of my pistols?! Oh it's gonna be personal!" he said as he was obviously showing signs of his rage out, which in turn caused some of the Jedi order to become tense.

Obi-wan looked to the Wastelander "calm yourself Courier, you need to calm yourself otherwise you won't get anything done in pure anger" he said sagely as they all can tell that Howard was indeed calming himself down.

"I apologize, I just don't like it when people use my own weapons against me... Also I fucking earned that pistol"

The entire council looked at each other before Mace spoke "the council will have to discuss matters about this later, but for now you need your rest after today's events. You're free to go" with that the blue eyed male didn't even wait to leave as he immediately turned around and left out of the door.

With the Courier now gone they all turned to one another. "The Courier seems to have a childish tendency" spoke Ki-Adi-Mundi as he witnessed their 'guests' outburst, Kit Fisto nodded "yes but you must remember that this Cad Bane now has a Slugthrower weapon and from what I could tell it was one of the Courier's favorite weapons... A dangerous Bounty Hunter we have on our hands"

"Agreed. At least with Blasters we can know where the shots are coming from but from slugthrowers? We have no way of knowing where they're originating from, plus this Cad Bane managed to beat the Courier in one on one combat and from the eyes of our guest that's not an easy thing to do" spoke Shaak-Ti as she cupped her chins and began to ponder on just how dangerous this 'Cad Bane' was.

"Too many things for us to focus on, there are" said Yoda as now not only do they have a dangerous Bounty Hunter with a slugthrower that can possibly bring down a Jedi, but with the war on-going and the planets on the outer-rim falling to Dooku's Separatists and their lack of Jedi Knights available to lead and train.

"Meditate on what course of action, we shall" spoke the Grandmaster as he closed his eyes and let the force be his guide, the other members of the Council nodded and closed their eyes too and let the force give them the direction they needed.


~With the Courier~

Howard Waller had just entered his room and looked at his workshop, there was a variety of parts and scrap that one would think he was a junker. He walked to a nearby workbench before pulling out some items "I have too much shit... Gonna have to strip them down, in fact..." he began to say as he then took off his Pip-boy and pulled out a chip before he inserted it into a slot in the device.

The small object buzzed and began to whir a bit before it paused making noises and the Courier picked it up and placed it back on his wrist, he looked down and he saw what he had done.

[UPDATE COMPLETE]

[PIP-BOY RESET]

[NEW PARAMETERS SET]

[PIP-BOY 4 INSTALLED]

After that it showed Vault-boy looking at him before giving a thumbs up.

The blue eyed male chuckled a bit before he began to remove everything from his inventory and transfer them to his new workstation.

He was working on several projects and may have in fact future projects in store, but for now this new upgrade from his so called 'Pip-boy 3' to 'Pip-boy 4' will be his new design...

In the words of a person...

Time to level up...


YEEEEEE!

I'VE ACTUALLY FINISHED IT ON AN AVERAGE NOTE!

Hiya peeps it's-a-me FantasyRider35, back from the dead and reporting for duty.

A lot has happened, in fact technically I already finished this chapter but then so many things happened, which I'll cover.

SUBJECT TIME!

Subject 1: I recently lost my Grandpa... So it's been hard and difficult to focus on many things, so I've been playing my Xbone (Xbox one) to not let it get to me...

Subject 2: Instead of being TOO technical I've given the Pip-boy an upgrade... It's a hint.

Subject 3: For those of you who got the hint or know then I'll say this, kudos to you and you get a freebie... I'm working on several stories and I may in fact rewrite some of my old one's.

Subject 4: Be sure to check out my other stories whenever they come out, I feel like this one and my Skyrim/DxD crossover are the only one's getting any attention, but that's my fault for not working on them.

Subject 5: If any of you want to give me ideas for what the Courier's next adventure is then PM me or write it in the reviews, I'm already seeing ideas and I want more.

And that shall be it for this chapter of AGBSL, until the next installment of Howard's journey in this Galaxy Far Far Away.

This is FantasyRider35 signing off.