Chapter 1

"War. War never changes.

When atomic fire consumed the earth, those who survived did so in great, underground vaults. When they opened, their inhabitants set out across ruins of the old world to build new societies, establish new villages, forming tribes.

As decades passed, what had been the American southwest united beneath the flag of the New California Republic, dedicated to old-world values of democracy and the rule of law. As the Republic grew, so did its needs. Scouts spread east, seeking territory and wealth, in the dry and merciless expanse of the Mojave Desert. They returned with tales of a city untouched by the warheads that had scorched the rest of the world, and a great wall spanning the Colorado River.

The NCR mobilized its army and sent it east to occupy the Hoover Dam, and restore it to working condition. But across the Colorado, another society had arisen under a different flag. A vast army of slaves forged from the conquest of 86 tribes: Caesar's Legion.

Four years have passed since the Republic held the Dam - just barely - against the Legion's onslaught. The Legion did not retreat. Across the river, it gathers strength. Campfires burned; training drums beat.

Through it all, the New Vegas Strip has stayed open for business under the control of its mysterious overseer, Mr. House, and his army of rehabilitated Tribals and police robots.

You are a courier, hired by the Mojave Express, to deliver a package to the New Vegas Strip. What seemed like a simple delivery job has taken a turn…for the worse."

"You got what you were after, so pay up" a deep voice woke me up. What the hell? Where am I? trying to get up I noticed my hands were bound with rope, fuck this isn't good.

"You're crying in the rain, pally" a different voice said. I have to get outta here… I started to struggle with the rope. Pointless they were tied pretty good, "Guess who's waking up over here" I heard a third voice say. I turned my head and finally got a look at my captors, the one on the left was a black man with a huge moustache, dressed completely in leather. The one on the right was dressed exactly like the first man. This one was holding a shovel, I looked to my left and there was an open grave. I only paled at the realization of what that meant. I turned my attention back to my captors

Now the guy in the middle wasn't like the first too. He was wearing a checkered suit, had greased up slick hair and overall looked better well-kept than the other two. Look like he was calling the shots here. He threw what was left of his cigarette and approached me.

"Time to cash out" looking towards me. Fucking hell, looks like this is it… "Would you get it over with?" Moustache man said looking not pleased with the situation. The man in charge put his finger up as to shush him "Maybe Khans kill people without looking them in the face, but I ain't a fink dig?"

He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the platinum chip I was supposed to deliver. "You made your last delivery kid. Sorry you got twisted up in this scene" he put the chip in back in his pocket, only to bring out a 9mm pistol, decorated in white plating.

"From where your kneeling must seem like an 18-karot run of bad luck. Truth is…" he pulled back the hammer of the pistol Fucking shit "The Game was rigged from the start"

A shot rang out and my vision went black

The sound of whirring woke me up, along with a splitting headache. I opened my eyes and noticed that there was a fan. My eyes followed the blades going in circles, which led to only furthering my headache. I tried getting up, only to regret when a wave of nausea ran over my body.

"You're awake, how about that" an elderly voice said beside me. I tried to get up again but found it difficult. "Woah, easy… easy there, you've been out cold a couple of days now" the voice belonged to an old man, he helped me get up into a sitting position. "Why don't you relax a second, get your bearings."

I looked around; I was in the corner of the room atop a bed, there were some shelves nearby with random stuff to fill it out. I did notice an operating table on the opposite side of where I was. This guy was most likely a doctor. "now let's see what the damage is, can you tell me your name?" he asked.

"Gwen. Umm… Maddox. Yes Gwen Maddox." I said. I was a little worried that I almost couldn't remember my name. What the hell happened to me?

"Can't say if that's what I would've picked for you, but if that's your name that's your name" the old man said, I was left wondering what he meant with that. "I'm Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings" I was about to say something about his name but upon hearing the town name I started remembering, I was going to cut through this town to deliver… something to somewhere, but I wasn't sure where.

"Now I hope you don't mind, but I had to go rooting around in your noggin to pull all the bits of lead out." The Doc interrupted my thoughts, but with what he just said left my mind a jumbled mess.

"l…lead? I was shot in the head?" I asked. "Then how the hell am I alive?" I asked. I must be a very lucky bitch to have been shot in the head and survived.

"Well Miss Maddox, I would count yourself as very lucky. If the bullet would have gone two centimeters to left, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now" Doc Mitchell said a little amazed. Guess I was right, I am a lucky bitch.

"Now I take pride in my needle work" Doc said as he passed me a metal square with a black screen in the middle. "you'd better tell me if I left anything out of place" he said as I looked at the thing he gave me, turns out it was a RobCo issued REFELCTRON. It was basically a High-Tec version of a mirror, a little overkill if you asked me.

I pushed the button near the edge of the screen, and it lit up with an image of my face. When I looked into it, all I could say is I looked like shit. Tried blue eyes, with bags under them looked back at me. My face was grimy and sweaty, and looked a little too pale than it usually was. My blonde hair was a bedraggled mess, I noticed the beginning of stitch work on the right side of my head. I moved my hair aside to find it running from the side of my forehead to the back of my head. It was pretty gnarly, but thankfully it looked like I could cover it up with my hair.

"How'd I'd do?" Doc Mitchell asked after I finished looking at myself. "Well given the injury, I'd say you did a good enough job" I told Mitchell, handing him the REFLECTRON back. "Well I'm happy to hear that. Ok then, no sense keeping you in bed anymore" Doc said as he got up from his seat and helped me get up from bed. It sucked, but I had to power through it if I wanted to move again. "Good, now why don't you make your way over to the end of the room by that vigor tester machine and give it a try. Take it slow now, it isn't a race." He pointed over to the end of the room.

It was a short walk, but I had to take it step by step. I was grateful that the Doc helped me every step of the way. I finally got to the vigor tester; it was an old worn out looking stand with what looked like a large display on the upper part. On the base of the stand was a lever with two buttons on each side of it. On the left side of the display were Lightbulbs numbered 1 to 10, on the other side were the words Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck. Each of the starting letter were highlighted with red, spelling out SPECIAL. I proceeded to move the lever in the middle.

The display lit up with lights shifting all over it. I saw individual flaps starting moving around to form words but was going too fast to make them out. Soon the lights and flaps started going faster and faster not stopping. I don't think it was supposed to do that. It started crackling and popping before it stopped with a small BANG came from inside of it. It started spewing out smoke from the sides.

"I don't think it was supposed to do that" I asked more to myself then the Doc. "Not really but I'm sure it was gonna go one of these days, so don't worry about it. I have other tests to make sure you are right as rain" he said leading me into the next room.

"These other tests… there not going to randomly combust, are they?" I asked with a nervous chuckle.

After a long series of psychological questions to determine if I was left coo-coo, I was finally given a somewhat clean bill of health. There were some gaps in my memory. Though he said that with time it would come back to me. After the questions the Doc led me to a bathroom to get changed. I didn't notice before, but I was in nothing but my bra and panties. He told me my old clothes were to bloody and dirty, so he had to throw it out. When I got to the bathroom I noticed a bright blue and yellow jumpsuit on a hanger. After further inspection I realized it was a Vault-Tec jumpsuit with the number 21 on the back. If I was going to go after the prick who shot me, I think I needed something more subtle. I'll get a change of clothes when I can.

It was a really tight fit and after putting it on I looked in the mirror. It left nothing to the imagination, and it felt that way. I took the time to clean myself up in the bathroom. After making sure I cleaned up good, I made my way to the front door. Doc Mitchell was waiting for me there already.

"Here this are yours" Doc said as he handed me my stuff and my pack "all you had when you were brought in." Doc said as I started going through my stuff. "Now I hope you don't mind but I gave that note a look, hoping to find next of kin but it was just something about a platinum chip" he said.

You made your last delivery kid

The memory suddenly ran through my head. The feeling of dread and despair that I was going to die. I hated it.

Truth is the game was rigged from the start

I needed to get the chip back from that asshole. I didn't know where to start but asking around town was my best bet. looking through my things I found a couple of stimpaks, around 50 bottlecaps, and the delivery order I was given for the platinum chip. At the bottom of my pack I found my .45 Auto pistol, along with around 55 rounds. I honestly don't remember where I picked this thing up, but I've had it for a long time. Maintaining it was tedious and the ammo was expensive, but the gun packed a hell of a punch.

"I don't mind, so don't worry about. Is there anything you can tell me about that night? Who shot me?" I asked. Hoping I could get a straight answer.

"I'm sorry, I don't know a thing. If you're looking for answers I might try that metal feller Victor. He's the one who brought you here and payed for your treatment." He answered.

"Metal feller?" I wondered out loud. "Victor. He's the only robot in Goodsprings, you can't miss him. Well if heading back out there, you ought to have this" He handed me what looked to be a Pip-Boy along with a glove. "It's a Pip-Boy 3000. I grew up in one of those vaults they built before the war, we all got one. Not much use to me now, but you might need it after what you've been through. I know what's it's like, having something taken from you." He said a little woefully.

I put on the glove first, weirdly it was a good fit, given the size of his hands. Then came the Pip-Boy, it was somewhat light, it was old and worn out. Well given its previous owner it should be. I latched it on my left arm, and pressed the middle button, and it turned on. A Weird tingling sensation went down my arm, but it soon went away. The screen lit up with standard RobCo coding, then an image of a cartoon man with what looked like a Vault-Tec suit came on the screen giving a thumbs up. The image soon went away as the stats screen came up, indicating that I was currently healthy. There was a whole bunch of other things and options, but I was gonna need more time with this thing, I guess I'll learn along the way

"Well thank you for patching me up Doc and giving me this" I said as I lifted up my arm. "Don't mention it, it's what I'm here for. Try talking to Sunny Smiles over at the saloon before you leave town, she could help you get on your way. Some of the other folk at the saloon could also help you out if you ask." Doc mentioned helpfully.

"Now if you ever get hurt out there, you come right back, I'll fix you up" he told me. I nodded at him, then made my way out the door.

"Fuck it's bright out" I said as the door closed behind me.