Author note: Don't expect an update like this to come in at a very early date. It just so happens I had time to construct this chapter even though real life is turning my rectum into deathclaw-souffle
Companion list: (This is for me and you...because in all honesty I forgot some of their names already...which doesn't say much because I forget things easily)
Courier's Eye-bot: ED-E
Followers of the apocalypse researcher: Renat
Great Khans Head Hunter: Mile
Great Khans Man-hunter Cyber-Dog: Agwang
Boomer Captain: Corbin
Boomer Elite Guard: Seymour
Boomer Spotter: Addie
Gun-Runner Head Engineer: Ida
Gun-Runner Head Guard: Helena
Brotherhood of Steel Paladin: Farran
NCR Veteran Ranger: Warwick
NCR Veteran Ranger: Warren
The Courier: The Courier (Yes, I know his full designation is Courier Six...But no one ever says his name...Or number designation)
If there is a fight, and if you can't keep track of who is who, just know this; Crap is going down in all kinds of ways.
"Then, what if the crew is getting their shit kicked in?"
"Then Courier ex machina hasn't kicked in yet"
"What if the Courier is not even close to them?"
"...Then I blame the Cainhurst Vilebloods"
Author note: (Can be ignored) : This is the reason why there is a companion limit...Imagine hauling around a group like this and all of their perks applied to you and each other. Everything becomes either blood puddles or plasma remains. Now imagine a Power-Armor intelligent deathclaw, Frank -fucking- Horrigan, and...just because let us add in Joshua Graham and Ulysses for that extra -You're fucked- atmosphere.
...Who is Frank Horrigan, some may ask...A badass and terrifying enemy, that's who.
One more thing: Originally, one of the NCR Veteran rangers was going to be a Super Mutant...Due to how...compact the B-29 is, fridge logic took hold and decided not to insert a hulking mutant on a plane...Would've been nice though (And a tear-jerker)
...Oh wait, a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin in his POWER ARMOR is in the B-29...With his Gatling laser...Uh...Logic be damned.
And yes...There are in fact Super Mutants in the NCR Rangers (NCR Veteran Rangers on the other hand is unknown at the moment, but it is probably possible considering the ghouls)
2 examples:
Gond, a super mutant ranger from Fallout 2
Chauncey, a super mutant ranger from Fallout: New vegas, however he was cut from the game.
The Jacobstown super mutants are a borderline kind of thing, but the NCR does tolerate them (At the ending)
'Hm...I wonder how big this mutated Colossal squid is' The courier casually thought as he was vigorously stabbing the side of the giant squid's equivalent of a head with his frosted knife. This location was in-between the eyes and close to where the head and mantle connected. After a big enough wound had been made, the Courier inserted his satchel charges, swam away, shot any Grimm that came close, then felt the explosive reverberations of his equipment. After the bubbles had cleared, the courier noticed that his explosives worked to great effect.
The satchel charges opened a gaping hole of a wound where the head used to be. The eyes were hit severely, the front connection between the head and mantle were flapping in the water and agape, and, hopefully, the brain had less protection. Just as the Courier was about to take aim, a low-rumbling sound went through him and down to his bones.
The man quickly gained his bearings and saw how the once fear-fueled creatures that were avoiding him were now assaulting the man by sheer hoards. As calm as one could be, the Courier fired upon the surrounding enemies. Due to the construction of the weapon, the Fletcher, the flechette metal darts moved through the water at high velocities and had a puncture and pierce effect on the Grimm. With minimal recoil and a high rate of fire, plus skill and the use of VATS, the Courier still wasn't able to fend off every enemy at bay.
Just as the Courier was priming his satchel charges, a long, black tentacle wrapped around him; immobilizing him almost completely. Not only that, but the aquatic Grimm started to gnaw, chew, bite, and stab at whatever exposed part the Courier had. Experiencing massive amounts of pain and humiliation, the Courier shouted various kinds of profanity and insults including the aquatic Grimm's mothers, eggs, and their asses. Then, the squid lowered it's tentacle to it's mouth and the group of Grimm nibbling on the Courier dispersed.
The last thing the Courier saw was a gigantic mouth nearing his head and the giant, ferocious beak inside of the mouth, "Ah, fuck-" The courier was released and the powerful beak snapped on him...
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The crew top-side were not having a pleasant time. At the locations where the B-29s gun placements were set, the Grimm managed to breach the gunner seats of the left and right while the tail-end was on it's last legs. The two NCR veterans posted there abandoned their station and started firing their own guns. Due to their contact with the Courier, Warren and Warwick were given their own personal guns as a sign of friendship and service towards the NCR. Warwick was handed two Arsenal 1911 pistols named "double-or-nothing" which are double-barreled M1911 pistols while Warren was handed the "Death-Adder", a modified Smith-and-Wesson 500 magnum with attachable scope.
Due to the close quarters combat, both Rangers used whatever one-handed weapon they had and shot at the invading foes.
Seeing as how their allies needed more manpower, Corbin and Helena got off their post and held off the invading Grimm inside. Corbin carried the M30 Luftwaffe Drilling rifle; a triple-barreled German airforce survivalist rifle that consisted of two 12-gauge shotgun barrels and a rifle barrel tucked underneath. Helena carried a unique gun named the "Matilda", a burst-fire 9mm pistol with built-in stock. They too started to assist their Ranger allies and fired upon the Grimm.
Once the front of the plane had been breached, those two came together and covered the Rangers' flank.
Once the tail-gunner seat gave away, Seymour pulled out an unique Thompson sub-machine gun named the "Spray n' Pray". Due to his equipment and perk, Seymour wasn't as damaged as he could have been when he fired explosive rounds at the Grimm in point blank proximity. Also, because of the type of ammo and how much Grimm were packed in a group, the weapon was super effective. Despite the fast-reload of the weapon, the amount of Grimm in Seymour's compartment overtook him and he was forcibly dragged out of his seat. The man screamed out bloody murder as the Grimm were tearing his flesh off and were about to drag him into the hostile waters.
The Great Khan hunter, Mile, took notice of this and sent Agwang to help Seymour. Once he looked through his scope and had begun shooting the Grimm's center of mass and equivalent of a head; he noticed that Seymour was flailing around with a combat knife and stabbing at random Grimm. Just as the Boomer co-pilot was about to be dragged into the water, Agwang ran up and sonic-barked the Grimm away; knocking down the majority and almost shoving Seymour down with them.
The man was sitting down and bled out heavily from the wounds in his legs, abdomen, and head. He was holding his right eye with his right hand while his violently shaking left hand tried to search his body for med-X. He was biting down on one of his bullets as a way to ignore some of the pain. Seeing his condition, Mile pulled out some very potent healing powder from his inventory and ran toward his ally's side. Agwang ran toward his original post and decided to assist ED-E, who was playing combat music and staying away from the Grimm's range by floating over them while firing from above.
As for the crew members on the wings, Farran, the Brotherhood of Steel Paladin, with his gatling laser, effectively suppressed the Grimm on his end and attempted to shoot out the tentacles that was dragging down his vessel. Even when Grimm did manage to get near him, the man simply smashed them down with his big gun. If Grimm latched onto him, and failed to pierce his power armor, he used brute force to remove them by punching them senseless. Despite his own abilities, he is just one mere man surrounding by all but one side.
One Grimm, who was a bit more intelligent than his kin, aimed for the Paladin's leg and somehow managed to break his sense of balance. The man fell and numerous Grimm swarmed him. Fortunately for Farran, his armor fended off against the Grimm's attacks. Unfortunately for him, the smart Grimm began to drag him off of the wing. Despite this, he was still firing his weapon and was vigorously moving around to get the enemies off of him. He was also insulting the 'mutants' and how he will make their entire nest extinct and described how he will turn their mothers' heads into trophies.
When Mile was dragging Seymour away from the tail of the plane, he noticed Farran being dragged off while the man was still continuously firing. He quickly propped up the boomer, set-up his sub-machine gun for him, and crouched behind him. The hunter took aim and focused on the most heavy-looking Grimm before firing. The now-calmed boomer had the hunter's back when he started aiming at Grimm coming from the sides. Despite his still-shaking hand, he reloaded and aimed as efficiently as possible.
Just as all of this occurred, the two women who took the other wing began to retreat onto the main body when the Grimm started to overtake them. Ida turned around, saw Farran's condition, and fired at the Grimm on him. Seeing as how two members were assisting Farran, Agwang decided to remain with ED-E. That was when both the eye-bot and the cyber-hound sense more enemies coming up on their end; forcing both to retreat out of the way of the bigger Grimm that arrived.
Inside the flooded vessel, due to overwhelming numbers, all of the members inside were injured in some fashion. Of course, due to the amount of noise in such a contained area, some of them even went temporarily deaf. Renat, the one operating the radio, was even repeating his message despite losing his hearing. That was before a Grimm went near him, broke the radio, and then charged him into the ground while biting his neck. Before he unholstered his energy pistol, Warren came up and shot the Grimm dead in the head, shoved the dissipating body of of the scientist, and held his arm, "Everyone evacuate the plane!" Corbin retreated back and opened the door to outside while Helena covered his back. Both of them were injured in their legs while the Veteran rangers sustained minor cuts and bite marks on their arms and shoulders.
The first to leave was Corbin and Helena, who carried out Renat with his slowly recovering neck injury from the self-injecting stimpack and med-x. The two who remained were the Veteran Rangers, who were still shooting the Grimm inside as they were leaving. Just before fully escaping, Warren was bitten in the arm by a large Grimm and was held down by other Grimm that took out his legs. With his spare hand, he fired on the Grimm latched onto him and his close ally fired all around him. Despite the efforts, too many Grimm began to fill the cramped interior. Plus, even if all three of the crew out the entrance fired, the chances of rescue were low.
Warren dropped his magnum then pulled out a NCR engraved Zippo lighter. Just as he did that, Warwick responded to the signal by pulling out a bottle of alcohol that the two were drinking earlier and then throwing it. The concentrated alcohol spread all around and ignited with the lighter. A purging fire was incinerating not only the Veteran but the Grimm as well.
Before closing the bullhead door, Warwick saluted at his comrade while looking straight at him. At that moment, a Grimm charged at the Veteran soldier and was immediately shot down with a single bullet. The bright light outside was closed off while the burning light inside illuminated the dull chamber of the plane.
Warren did not scream in pain, but the Grimm suffering with him did. He saluted while yelling, "Glory to the NCR!" The sound echoed in tandem with painful roars of the creatures around him. Then, some of the ammo on him exploded from the fire and it punctured not only him, but the enemies around him too. He held onto his dog tags and did a secondary salute; a hand placed where his heart should be while he steadfastly grinned behind his burning mask.
On his person, from what equipment managed to not explode preemptively, there was still a grenade and a good surplus of ammo.
Outside near the door was Warwick, who was still holding onto the door as Corbin and Helena were firing at the nearby hostiles. Corbin yelled at Warwick,
"Where the hell's your brother?!" Warwick quickly shook his head and pulled out his Anti-material rifle. He quickly glanced at the Boomer captain and replied,
"He's doing his duty!" Warwick repeatedly shot Grimm in the head in quick succession. The group of four, with Renat holding his neck wound while firing his recharger pistol, positioned themselves at the main body of the plane. Just as the group got there, they noticed something wrong,
"Where the hell's Farran!?" Corbin questioned as he looked around his surroundings. Not only was the Paladin missing in action, but the hunter was healing a gaping wound in Addie, the boomer, while Ida, the gun-runner, was fending Grimm off with the special 'Industrial hand'. The Industrial Hand is basically an industrial saw machine on your arm. While Grimm were being cut to ribbons with the saw, the hunter stood up and started fighting back the Grimm with a special, worn-out tomahawk. His co-pilot, Seymour, was in a horrible state. In spite of that, he was fending Grimm off with a combat knife and his sub-machine gun was laying on the ground near him; barrel over-heated and malformed, many empty cartridges scattered the ground beneath him.
Seeing as how hardly anyone heard him, the Captain checked his ammunition storage and saw his low supplies "Damn it" He cursed under his breath and decided to go into a close confrontation "How's your ammo supply?" He pulled out the gun-runner's 'two-step good-bye', a ballistic-fist weapon. Helena checked her supply and replied,
"Fairly good" The Ranger checked his magazines,
"I still have .50 Cal ammo" Corbin punched a near-by Grimm, making it explode upon impact and had the body fly off into the distance. Then, the Captain realized something,
"Where the hell is the Courier?!" At the same time the man said that, due to the hysteria going on, no one noticed that black tentacles slowly fading away into gaseous aura...
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"Bitch, that fucking hurt" The courier climbed out of the mouth of the Colossal Grimm, or what remained of it anyway. The man had cut his way out after using a surplus of his satchel charges to escape. As it turned out, being swallowed up into the creature's stomach was a viable strategy being the thing was rendered dead. Though the creature's allies still are on the attack, the Courier slightly smirked, "At least these weird, mutated creatures gave me a decent fight..." While he was ascending in the water, he shot and stabbed at every Grimm that attacked him. No matter his skill or strength, the man bleed out into the blue and black sea. From when the Colossal squid's beak bit down on him, it crippled his torso and left arm. In spite of those injuries, it didn't stop him from killing everything in his path, however, it did slow down his ability to swim up.
In the corner of his eye, the Courier saw a big, hulking Brotherhood of steel member being dragged down into the deep abyss. The man had released his gatling gun and was punching the Grimm on him to death, "Oh you have got to be kidding me" He deadpanned as he took aim from afar using VATS and shot accurately, or at least as best as a crippled torso and left arm could offer.
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Slowly, but surely, the crew was being pushed back near the center of the plane. With ammunition running low, except Renat's recharger pistol, the majority of them were resorting to melee weapons. The Veteran ranger Warwick was still firing his Anti-material rifle while Helena still maintained burst-fire and Addie was still able to use the Bozar rifle despite her wounds. Ida and Corbin were punching out Grimm that came too close while Seymour and Mile were duking it out blade and blade against the enemies on their end. Agwang provided crowd control with his sonic barking while ED-E floated above playing epic last-stand music that the Courier found up-north.
The little eye-bot was beeping worriedly until he spotted two figures breaching the water; Farran and the Courier, the both of them holding onto each other as they hit the surface of the wings. At that moment, ED-E beeped in excitement and relief. The ones watching that side of the plane also noticed, with their own comment
"Holy crap Farran's alive!" Ida exclaimed
"Brotherhood people can swim in those things?" Seymour coughed
"Is that where the Courier went?!" Corbin questioned
"Agwang!" Mile yelled as the two of them went off to cover the Courier and Brotherhood member's return to the group.
"Hey, Courier" Farran said at the two of them released each other and fought off the Grimm surrounding them, "Thanks" He coughed out and then bludgeoned a nearby Grimm with his fists.
"It's what I do" The Courier cut and frenzied the Grimm next to him and shoved the enemy into the water. Then, the cyber-hound and Great Khan hunter came to their aid and quickly escorted the two of them to the defense in the middle. Noticing the ammo situation of the group, the Courier pulled out a large amount of appropriate ammo types for his allies.
His crew mates systematically stopped attacking to gather the necessary supplies for their own weapons before they all ended up fighting at semi-high efficiency. The Courier brought out a special weapon for Farran; A unique weapon he salvaged from the Boston wasteland, a Gauss rifle named 'The Last Minute'. Happy enough about the new ordinance, the Brotherhood was now apart of the action once again.
With the hoards of Grimm still dwindling, the Courier stored away his Fletcher and his Blade of the North. The weapon he pulled out next was a special, worn .44 Caliber lever-action rifle that had a star embedded in the stock and engravings on the barrel itself which read "Texas Rangers". The name of the weapon was "The American Liberator"
In the distance, the sound of Atlas aircraft approached the downed B-29. At the same time, to the pilots, the sounds of battle of those who survived in the Wasteland were spreading towards them...
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The last Grimm fell and was reduced to black aura. The majority of the crew members were fatigued and exhausted; resulting in some of them laying down on the airplane's surface. The only ones who didn't run out of stamina were the Courier, Farran, Warwick, ED-E and Agwang. Mile, soon after, recovered his stamina and pulled out medicinal herbs to help with the crew's wound and fatigue. Renat and Agwang joined him in the health and stamina recovery of the crew. While Farran looked to the distance, toward the sun set high and to the horizon, Warwick opened the entrance door then walked inside.
The inside of the plane was heavily flooded. Damaged and burned; scrapped and clawed. The body of a NCR Veteran ranger was laying in the water; burned and slashed. The ammo situated on his front had signs of early detonation. Plus, there were signs of grenade fragments in his armor. In his hands, a bent NCR dog tag which appeared to have been used as a punching implement and the Death-Adder, which also appeared to have been used as a striking implement. Warwick stood over his comrade, crouched down, and was about to take his dog tag when he said,
"...Warren, please tell me you're still alive" After a long pause, Warren, while still lying still, responded with,
"Half dead, but I'm still alive...It's quite the situational irony that my grave actually saved my life, else I would've burned to death or my entire ammo stash would've blown up in my face" Warwick inspected Warren's body, "Besides, if I could survive radiation, I could survive a little bit of fire"
"You still can use your arms, legs, and you don't seem to be blind...Yeah, you'll be just fine" Behind his mask, Warren made a displeased expression
"Just...help me up here" The Courier walked in onto their conversation and commented,
"Okay lover-boys, how much stimpacks, med-x, and doctor bags do you need?"
After being bandaged, practically over-dosing on medicine, resupplying their ammunition, and managing repairs on equipment and, if it was possible, make sure the B-29 doesn't reside inside a new watery grave, the crew waited on top of the plane.
"Hey, Renalt" The Courier was sitting next to the scientist, who, with Mile's help, treated Warren's injuries "What do you think about these...mutations" Inside, Renalt was thinking about the oddity and the foreign nature of the body composition. He ran through diagnostic after diagnostic, observation and rule of thumb, theory and application, anything to describe WHAT they fought,
"Courier...Have you seen anything like this before?" The Courier sighed as he looked around at all of his companions,
"I've asked them all. None of them knew anything, not even me. And you know how much I've seen...It's odd, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it's quite a phenomenon...Do you think we're going to have to fight creatures like that again on the mainland?"
"Considering how the sky is clear, the water isn't irradiating us, and those creatures of...whatever the heck they are even made of, I'd say our road is filled to the brim with those bastards" The Courier had small chatter with each crew member. Some very arbitrary while others were made strictly to improve their morale and sense of trust in him. With ability in speech, he was able to do this without much a hitch.
Then, Farran and Mile saw the airships from a distance. Both of them pointed at their direction and the members who carried some sort of scope-device took a gander of their appearance,
"What kind of Vertibirds are those?" The Courier questioned
"Not everything that flies is a Vertibird, Courier" Farran quipped
"Didn't you meet an advanced civilization named the 'Shi', Courier?" Renat asked "They could be-"
"Renat" Mile said "Advanced technology does not equal advanced people" He quickly glanced at Farran before glancing back at the aircraft.
All of the Boomers made a similar comment about the durability and combat potential of the aircraft. The Gun-runners had more of an interest in how they designed those craft, and how they managed to polish them so cleanly in the wasteland.
Once the aircraft landed near their position, several armed soldiers dismounted alongside several paramedics. One person in particular stood out as the authority type and he quickly observed every crew member of the plane. Inside his head, the moustached officer thought, 'This is quite an odd-looking bunch...But they are well-armed nonetheless' After seeing their injuries, the man spoke, "How many people were on this craft?" The Courier responded with,
"Besides the eye-bot and cyber-hound, 11 of us" The Captain looked at the Courier's features and took a wager that the man before him was a terrifying man if provoked or peeved. Also, he now knew what the odd robot and dog's designations were. Then, he comprehended the number of people that actually held off the amount of Grimm they faced without losing anyone, especially since one of them was a Colossal Squid Grimm.
The man nodded his head and mumbled "impressive" All of the rescue members got the most injured onto stretchers and carried them onto the medical transports. Those who could still move on their own two feet were escorted in small groups by the soldiers into separate transports. Before that was completed, one of the gun-runners, Ida, ran up to the officer and asked,
"Are you going to help transport our B-29?" Despite the soldiers pointing their guns at her, the woman did not flinch nor gave a single damn,
'Is that what it's named? Interesting...' The man replied "Of course Miss, we'll take good care of it" Ida smiled, however, due to the Officer's wife, this smile was a clear threat that she WILL shoot him and his guards if they did anything more to the plane "We'll be careful" he reiterated before Ida jogged back to her place,
"Thanks" She sounded out as she entered with her gun-runner companion and the Farran.
The only person who entered with the Officer was the Courier. Both aged men sat face to face of each other. Just as the transports lifted off, the Courier questioned,
"Which faction do you belong to?" Wondering about the term he used, and the straight-forward nature of it, the Officer responded with,
"Atlas, what about you?" The Courier thought about the faction name and he couldn't think of any faction by that name. If anything, all he could think about are people who wander and wastes and mapping locations. Due to this, he thought the people of Atlas were explorers with nifty technology and gadgets
"I am a Courier. I, technically, belong to no one except the person whose contract I hold"
"Then...What about the people with you? You seem like a...special bunch" The Courier raised an eye-brow. For the Great Khans, Followers of the Apocalypse, and Boomers it makes sense. But the fact he didn't seem to recognize the NCR or the Brotherhood of Steel is odd. However, from this the Courier concluded that they are nowhere near America. Considering their direction, they were most likely across the Ocean. The man's appearance, however, does not match what a Japanese person would even look like...possibly a branching of countries if that is the case.
Then, the Courier had an idea
"Sorry to cut down your question, but what is the name of your Country?" The Officer was slightly confused before responding with,
"Atlas, the name of the Kingdom is Atlas" The Courier tried to think of a reasoning for this new name that he has never saw before, before coming to a new conclusion: The name 'Atlas' is a way to progress ahead of the old world. Letting go of the name that chained them by the past's burden and, considering the name associated with mapping, grow and advance, and explore the world for what it is now. Or that's what the Courier thinks and interprets. The term Kingdom, however...
"To answer your earlier question, all of us came from different factions. Considering your lack of knowledge of their appearances and-" The Courier stood up and demonstrated the NCR symbol on the back of his long-coat "You have never heard or seen of this" The courier sat back down "As a sign of trust, I'll tell you: The one in the stealth suit is from the Followers of the Apocalypse, the one with the cyber-dog is from the Great Khans, the two soldiers in riot-gear, long-coat, and gas-masks are the New Californian Republic, the one in the power-armor is the Brotherhood of Steel, the people with the number 34 etched into their equipment are the boomers and the ones in the grey uniforms are the gun-runners...You sure you haven't heard of any of them?" The Officer thought deeply about what the Courier just said.
'Those factions that the man referred to...I don't think he's lying to me, but I haven't heard one bit about them ever before. Not in the history books or by any flights of fancy...Odd...' The Officer looked deeply into the eyes of the Courier, and his every movement, twitch, or fumble. What he says, instead of a deceiver, was a man of immense experience. More than him, in fact. Plus, his eyes spoke of the truth.
"Ah right, I think it would've been easier to check, but have you heard of a country named the United States of America?" The officer reeled back for a moment,
"United States of...Sorry sir, never heard of it" To the Courier, that piece of knowledge is nigh impossible. Considering the faction's technological edge, then their education level should be high enough to comprehend the world. Plus, unless he got the interpretation wrong, then the faction should consist of people who know how to explore efficiently...Then, he had a thought. The possibility that the faction consists of a dictator-like system, because of the 'Kingdom' part of their faction name. A possibility is that they steal information from other places, or technology for that matter, change it around and shift history to their own liking. In short, a form of propaganda or control.
Or, simply put, the military/ government runs and controls everything. Just a guess though.
Then, the Courier remembered how they got into their predicament in the first place; something appearing in the sky. Of which he forgot to speak to his crew members about due to the chaos and aftermath. With stories he heard from the past, he remembered theories of wormholes and a legend about a place named the Bermuda Triangle. Too many different variables flung through the Courier's mind and too many possibilities kept smashing themselves against his skull.
Especially when he remembered about the story of the Chosen one actually going back in time, entering Vault 13, and then accidentally breaking the water chip which started his own whole adventure in the first place.
At the final crossroads of his decisions, the Courier had two theories.
One: The thing they saw in the sky was a weapon of some sort that brought down their aircraft into the ocean. Then, because of how prepared they were in not only dealing with the plane crash, but also the monsters that attacked them, the Atlas people decided to pick them up and do...whatever it is they do.
Two: They just went through a wormhole of sorts and they are either flung into the future or onto another world or dimension.
As much as the Courier thought, he recalled the capabilities of the science at Big MT and the capabilities of the scientists at the Institute. The only problem is, why did it happen? And did the Wild Wasteland trait he had just screwed with his entire thought process?
He also remembered how big of an asshole Vault-Tech is...As such, whatever choice is made, he will blame the creatures of darkness on Vault-Tec.
The Officer continued staring at the Courier, who seemed to be completely endowed in thought. Thinking it was not wise to interrupt his thought pattern, the man sat back and thought about their passengers,
"I wonder how the General will treat this matter..."
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After the Courier stopped overthinking himself half to death, he realized something,
"Ah, sorry for taking hold of the...discussion like that, we forgot to tell our names" The Courier introduced himself first "I do have a name, and designation, but because no one ever calls me by my actual name, and at this point I probably not even notice if you called my name out, you can call me 'The Courier' or Courier" The Officer looked at the Courier funny
"...The Courier?"
"Yes, it's a very long story, so tell me your name Mr...?"
"I'm Officer Kilduff" He held out his hand "Nice to meet your acquaintance...Courier" The Courier shook his hand, if a little bit over-extended
"Likewise...Kilduff" The Courier, at that moment, inspected Kilduff closely. Checked his minor expressions, the strength of his grip, and the heart-rate when he over-extended his hand onto the Officer's wrist. Seeing as how there were no malice, the Courier released his grip, but not his guard.
Officer Kilduff, seeing as how the Courier was not going to be close and friendly with him, thought, 'Are these...Factions, the Courier spoke of, of any significance anywhere? I'll need to get my researchers to check on this information...' Though the Courier seems extremely passive right now, the man knew, that somehow, someway, the Courier will blow a hole through his aircraft if anything bad happened.
In the Courier's mind, he took note on which of his members went with who:
Medical transport: Warren, Addie, and Seymour
Transport #1: Corbin, Warwick, and ED-E
Transport #2: Mile, Agwang, and Renat
Transport #3: Ida, Farran, and Helena
Transport #4: Courier
'If anything happens when we hit ground...' In his inventory, on his quick select, the Courier had the Experimental MIRV at the ready 'That kingdom will burn like the old world...'
Two things: Yes, I do know the Boomers carry pip-boys. Potentially, they also have the same functions as the Courier's own pip-boy. So why did they run out of ammo?
Hardcore mode, that's why. And who said that those were their only weapons? Well, besides real-life physic kicking everything in their shin and crippling their legs.
With this large amount of characters in the beginning, what stopped me from killing some of them off?
Are you not entertained?! At least I demonstrated that they aren't untouchable immortals!...Hopefully.
Plus, I wasn't about to subject some of them to the Worf effect. Or enlist them into the red-shirt army.