THE CHORNICLES OF MAVERICK: CHANGED LIVES

by hypn0s

War, war never changes, is a fact everyone has accepted, what can change however, is the life of a man, and the path he walks in life, he who was meant to reach a town never made it, but this deviation was just the beginning.

5. 4: Reunion

hello people, Hypn0s is back, that's right, i coime with yet another chapter of the chornicles of Maverick.

now i must say i am pleased in how this chapter went, and most of it how caught i was with it, truth to be told this is the longest chapter so far i have made for the story, everyone will notice it.

besides that, some answers you readers will be answered, especially the one where Amata became what she is currently, also i will be introducing OC's, mostly because the vault amount of characters i need for this to work doesn't match the number thaty appears in the game.

beside all this, all remains the same, now people, enjoy this chapter.

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CHAPTER 4: REUNION

"Sarah, you don't need to stand guard…or look at me while I'm changing" Maverick stated to the brotherhood sentinel who was currently leaning on a corner, watching him change from his damaged winterized combat armor to the clothes she found him.

"Is not the first time I see a man naked Maverick, I am ten years older than you, I was on a relationship that nearly ended on marriage, and most of the brotherhood, Lyon's Pride included, is composed greatly of guys, guys who I have helped off their power armors when they are too wounded to do them themselves, besides is not the first time I see you in underwear" she reminded to Maverick.

Maverick just rolled his eyes as he tossed the combat armor chest plate away, and examined his undershirt, fingering the three slash mark on it, including the one of the machete Decanus Severus had made.

Slightly touching his skin, Maverick could only wonder what else was done to him besides the procedures Sally had told them when she had come across his file.

"A cap for your thoughts" Sarah said, making him chuckle, "My thoughts are worth more than a bottlecap" he stated.

"Okay, a PENNY, for your thoughts then" she stated.

"Well…I wonder what was really done to me" Maverick began, slowly taking the white boots off, then unbuckling his pants, "I mean, you saw several more procedures beyond the ones Sally mentioned when she came across my file" he began, "I have to really wonder…what they wanted to accomplish with all that experimentation to me? Was I supposed to be some sort of prototype for a human super-soldier? Or just another sick experiment to be then discarded? I want to know, to really know…was I suppose to be some sort of test subject, to see how far they could go in their experiments without killing their subjects and then bothering to kidnap others or…"

"Maverick enough" Sarah commanded, not caring he was wondering about this while on his underwear, "You wondering about everything, without a proper way to find the answers is not the way to get your answers, trust me on this, I have seen my dad doing the same over and over, is not a nice thing to do" Sarah said, looking at Maverick as he put the clothes she brought him, specifically the pants and boots, she had to smirk at that, Maverick was perhaps the first vault dweller to ever wear wasteland clothes, in a way she was slowly getting him used to the wasteland life.

"Yeah…sorry about that" he stated.

"No worries there Maverick, just don't do it again, and to all this, why you wonder about that, you are basically invincible, untouchable, stronger than any other creature the wasteland has, yes we have yet to see how you fare against a Deathclaw, but I bet my armor that you would rip a Deathclaw's arm off, and use so said arm to stab the beast, so, why you wonder about this?" she asked.

"(Sigh) is Amata" Maverick confessed putting the red sweater on, and then tying both utility belts, one around his waist, the other over his shoulder and around his torso.

"She was experimented as well, god only knows what those aliens did to her" he stated reaching for the black vest.

"You are worried for her" Sarah said, more a fact than a question, "Of course I am Sarah, no matter what kind of atrocities she has done, she is still the Amata I grew up with, the woman from I grew up, who I knew since diapers, who learned to talk, walk and go to the bathroom almost at the same time, we were good friends back in the vault Sarah, we stuck through thick and thin, when Butch and his gang sexually harassed her, I was there to talk them out, when I was depressed because I got a bad date, Amata was there to cheer me up, we were basically the best of friends, we knew all of the other" he said as he put on the leather vest, and then reached for the remains of his old combat armor, reaching for the holsters still tied to the pants, removing them and then tying them to his new set, now hanging near his left armpit.

"I can't help it Sarah, you would do the same for someone who you knew your entire life" he stated to the brotherhood sentinel, reaching for That Gun and holstering, they started to empty the pockets of his old armor, adding ammo and stimpaks on his utility belt pouches.

Sarah by her part just rubbed the back of her head with her hands in exasperation, he had a point, she would do the same, but things rarely were that way.

"Maverick, listen to me very carefully" she began, seeing how he put the Ushanka over his head, "I really don't know how things ran back in the vault, and what kind of morals you all were taught, but the wasteland, it demands more than loyalty, you need to be strong, ruthless, cunning, fast, without that you cannot hope to survive" Sarah began.

"Beyond that you must understand that there are not people like you, who care about others, who care about friends and family, the vices of the wasteland are strong, I know it, I fell for some of them, the harsh truth is that few people care about others, my dad does care, but if he dies, so dies his care, and with it the care of the brotherhood for the wasteland, the we will return to the scavenging technology, even if we have to take it off wastelander hands, even if we have to raze towns to do so" she said, advancing to Maverick and then taking his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her.

"That's the harsh true, and the choice we all make once we take our first steps into the wasteland, Amata chose the Enclave and everything they stood for, purity and the reconstruction of a country that is already broken by killing everyone else, of a world that cannot be the same, no matter how hard we try, her choice has led her to make many enemies, including me, so I hope you don't get in my way" she stated with finality.

"Or what Sarah, are you going to shoot me? Kill me? Must remind you that so far a ship full of aliens and post-apocalyptic descendants of a dead empire have not being able to, including a freak of down there, what can you do now!" he snapped, then taking a deep breath and calming himself, the way Sarah spoke made him angry, it was so pessimist, like accepting the life down there and its predetermined rules as the only thing, not wanting to see the whole thing, he hated it.

"Listen Sarah, that way of thinking is depressing and overall piss me off, above all you are already accepting defeat, defeat by the hands of the Enclave, are you not a warrior Sarah, warriors don't give up, I know this, and I come from a vault, from a sheltered life" Maverick said to Sarah, by her part, she looked clearly shocked by his sudden outburst, both of them, she knew he spoke the truth on both accounts, so far nothing seemed to stop him, she had tried once, she nearly died, he killed an Overlord bare-handed, and on the second account as well he was right, dammit she is a warrior, she can just give up just like that…but war seems to wear you very fast, to break you.

"Look, I can't just tell you to change, and you can't hope to change me just like that, and yes I know the choice Amata made, Wally made it clear she wants me dead, but by HER hand, she actually made those Legion guys to take me to her, and kill anyone who was with me, I just…want to know what I did to piss her off, I mean she actually helped me escape, she was the one who woke me up, gave me the news, gave me a gun, and suggested the escape route" Maverick said, much to Sarah's shock.

"Whoa, I didn't knew she was so instrumental in your escape" Sarah confessed, "Yeah, makes you wonder what I actually did to piss her off, yes I beat her dad, but he deserve it, he ordered the security guards to shoot residents out of their dorms on sight, regardless of their situation, dammit two guards gunned a couple just because they wanted to get out, yes I broke his arm and surely other body parts, I used a bat you know" he said, as it held all the answers on the world, oddly for Sarah, it did.

"Maybe she is pissed because you crippled her dad, or because you escaped alone and not with her" she began, "I offered her a chance to go with me" he said quickly.

"Okay, we can discard that, maybe…just maybe she acts like this just to get you back, to try to get that semblance of normality you two had before your great escape" Sarah suggested, much to Maverick's shock, "Oh…didn't think of that" he mused.

"Or simply she is acting like a bitch, has an Enclave boyfriend who filled her head with ideas while on her weakest moment, and now believes them as such and wants you dead because you actually clash with all that" Sarah added, much to Maverick's irk.

"Great, so either she hates me because I nearly killed her old man, or she is brainwashed, neat" he said as he grabbed the Twin Boom and held it on his hands, "In any case Sarah, if we encounter her here, I want to talk to her, if I see she is indeed knee deep and I can't help her…well…"

"I get it Maverick, don't worry, I'll make it as painless as possible" Sarah assured Maverick, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"…That is not comforting at all you know" Maverick stated drily, "Hey, considering half the things the other members of the brotherhood want to do to her after the stun she pulled, I would be doing her a favor" she stated, turning around and glancing at Maverick from her shoulder.

"I'm actually letting you talk to her and get her side of the story because one, you deserve answers after all you have been trough, and two, I am curious as well why she is like this, for what I learned from you, she was far different than the one you described before, so I want to learn why"

"So do I Sarah, so do I" Maverick assured her, taking That Gun and holstering it on the holster of his left thigh, then checking around, like expecting something.

"Don't worry Maverick, the only way out of the storage room is where the Legion guys came in, this place is big, but beyond here is only junk and some very well kept cars" Sarah said, "Truth to be told, we found weapons and food in bigger piles than clothes and ammo, but to our group the little ammo we gathered is enough to supply a full regimen of the Brotherhood" she added quickly.

"I guess" he said, taking a deep breath, and then steeled himself, "I'm ready Sarah"

"Good, I was expecting it" she stated as she looked at Maverick straight in the eyes, "This is one fine problem we are, I admit it, but between you and me, we can pull this shit out, you're with me?" she said as she extended her hand, ready to clap it with Maverick's own.

"Yeah, you and me, we are just a couple of problem solvers" he said as he clasped her hand, hard.

"Let's do this"

---

"I am disappointed with this Butch, I really am, I expected the best of the past world to be…more"

"God woman stop being so picky, I mean yes they lack what make us vault dwellers what we are, but you got to admit, they are…pure"

"Their blood and genes might be, but their thoughts are not, if we let the breed with anyone of a vault they will contaminate our pure race, I want them eliminated"

"Uh, princess, in case you haven't noticed, they are armed, we aren't mainly because we are posing as harmless and gullible vault dwellers, second of all, that samurai guy, I don't know you, but I don't think V.A.T.S. will be enough against him and his sword, and third, we are all trying to get out of here, we need them, maybe as cannon fodder, but we need them"

"You made your point DeLoria, and I am well aware of our situation and plan, but I'm sick and tired of playing this game, besides, you heard what that girl who hacked the alien console said…Maverick is here"

The way she hissed that name in particular made Butch DeLoria, leader of the Tunnel Snakes to shiver, it was not like he hated the guy, he saved his mum of radroaches, later he would say he could, but seeing bugs of the size of your feet kinda scare any vault dweller before.

But Butch knew that Amata Almodovar, leader of the Femmes, and basically the epitome of being bad, and not an ass, had a bone to pick against Maverick, why it was anyone's guess, he assumed it was because Maverick had basically carved a bloody path on his way out, with a bat he had killed several guards, crushed several radroaches, had killed Wally's oldest brother, rather brutally he might add, and he had brutalized her father, the only reason Alphonse was alive was because Maverick had actually spared him for being Amata's father, nothing else.

Truth to be told, this had started even before the Enclave arrived, it seemed that after seeing her father, the many people dead, and the blood path Maverick carved, had snapped something in Amata, if someone were to ask Butch now about the new Amata, he would say he missed the old one, the one that was the butter to Maverick bread, they complemented each other, now if you put them together…is like trying to mix water and oil, or so the saying goes.

In any case, here he was, with her and part of their units, kidnapped by aliens while moving to Raven Rock, god knows what happened to Wally, his grandfather and Paul Hannon were missing as well, he hoped they were fine, especially his grandfather, considering what had happened, the experiments the aliens ran on them were nothing compared to the long list they had seen on Maverick's file.

It was long, it was painful, and according to the girl, who has live long enough and learned their language, Maverick had undergone a very deadly procedure that would have killed lesser men, and in fact had killed every single person who had been subjected to, all but Maverick, he had lived, he had survived.

And according to the girl, the aftermath of those experiments had left Maverick a super human, far stronger than anything the Capital Wasteland could pit against Maverick, not even a whole regiment of Enclave soldiers and Vault dwellers, with power armors and armed to the teeth could hope to take him down.

Amata wanted him dead, that was true, but she had seen also the file of Maverick and was greatly interested in his change, so much that she had hatched a plan out of the blue, capture Maverick, incapacitate him, escape the space station, take him to Raven Rock, brainwash him and point him against the Brotherhood of Steel, it was a foolproof plan, and was the solution against the BOS, but it had a slight problem.

It involved the very target, Maverick, he knew he would be looking for his father, he knew Maverick's father instigated a very high set of morals, morals that clashed with all the Enclave stood for, he was sure Maverick would fight with all he had, which considering the reason he was going to be used for, was comprehensible.

It was sad really that his father was not on board the ship, they could have used him to get Maverick and also get information about that massive water purifier back in the Capital Wasteland, now he had a slight idea of why Maverick's father left the vault.

"I grow tired of this, tell the rest to prepare the plasma charges, be ready to move out, we are blowing this generator" she said, looking at Butch with a stony gaze, there he recognize something else that was not of the Amata he and Maverick grew up with, something that reminded him that the old Amata was dead, dead and buried, the day Maverick left and she found the cold body of her boyfriend, radroaches feasting on his corpse, a blunt trauma wound on the head being the cause of his dead.

"Tell them also to set the charges on THAT room" she said with a smirk, one that Butch didn't liked, "But that place is filled with Super Mutants and feral ghouls, I swear I saw a dozen of Reaver ghouls and at least two dozens of Overlords, not to mention…those alien/human hybrids" Butch stated, truth to be told that room was something not even the aliens wanted to enter, it housed some of the most dangerous creatures ever to be found on the wasteland, all in cryo-stasis, he saw even bugs that had stingers of the size of his forearm, radscorpions of the size of a damn car, not to mention he saw what seemed a very deadly pair of Deathclaws that resembled nothing seen in the Capital Wasteland, one of those had stitches on the head, and presented signs of having its cranium removed and then reattached, that an a strange bear that seemed to look like a cross between a dog and a Deathclaw.

"Yes, I told you, I grow tired of this people, we will dispose of them…just make sure to grab that little baby of her mother's grasp, Sandra was it?" Butch nodded, not liking where this was going.

"You want Marie? How the hell I'm suppose to get her out of that woman and her ghoul bodyguard?" Butch asked, "Yes, I do and do not care, also task the rest to fetch those two girls and to grab Julia when the explosions begin, make sure the explosions start in one hour from the moment they are placed, make it do so" she said as she began to walk away, Butch by his part sighed, slowly looking around, staring at the multitude of people who had been awaken by Amata and company, at first this had been done because this people dated before the great war, and thus were pure humans, but it seemed that Amata had changed her mind, and now wanted them death.

"What would Maverick do" he asked in his mind to himself, he really didn't knew what to do now, this…mass slaughter was too much, even for him, a Tunnel Snake.

---

"It looks good on you" Somah complimented Maverick's new attire, making the vault dweller smile, "But I doubt it will stop bullets, let alone lasers" she added, making him roll his eyes.

"Give him a break Somah, you know we were unable to find anything that could protect him as well as the armor he found" Sarah stated, "Besides, protection is just half the battle, quick reflexes and perfect aim are more paramount than a power armor, Maverick has that…and a mean gun to boot" Sarah stated, vouching for Maverick new clothes.

"IN any case, how is the sergeant?" Maverick asked to Elliot, the field medic simply smiled at Maverick, "I was able to remove the lance and seal the wound with some biogel, this thing works good and fast, the wound is sealed and sarge is ready to go" Elliot said, motioning to sergeant Johnson, already healed and hefting the minigun.

"Well…what now?" sergeant Johnson asked, looking at Maverick and Sally, the current brains of their little escape operation, and he hates to admit it, also the muscle of the operation.

"We continue onward" Sally replied simply, motioning for Maverick to let her work on his pip-boy, as he did so, and Sally began to look the map saved on the pip-boy, everyone saw how her face lit up in excitement.

"We are in luck; there is a teleporter that goes straight into the core room" she stated with a smile, "Of course I bet those legion guys use it as well…or took the long road, my guess is the second, cryo labs are a little far of the core room, but are near the storage room"

"Then it means Amata is nearby" Sarah stated, she was more than eager to make a mad dash at the cryo labs, but the hand on her shoulder belonging to Maverick and him shaking his head stopped her.

"Not yet Sarah…haven't you heard? Revenge is a dish better served cold" he stated, making her nod, albeit with some hesitation.

"Then we can take the teleporter to the core room, then what?" Maria asked, "Simple, if we want to stop the aliens dead on their tracks, we need to either damage the core so it implodes alongside the space station, taking the aliens alongside, or killing their leader" Sally explained.

"But we need to secure a way to escape, a ship perhaps?" Somah wondered out loud, making Sally think, then to pipe up, "Of course, a space saucer, the aliens have on the docks a experimental flagship, it is basically a big space saucer from the old movies, death ray included" Sally explained.

"I came across with the files of the ship in my last attempt to escape fifty years ago, I guess that by that time, it stopped being experimental and became completely functional, I bet is stocked to the brim with weapons, both human and alien like" Sally stated, much to the surprise, then happiness of Sarah.

"If we get the ship and all that weaponry…we will have the edge against the Enclave, my god we could end the war" Sarah stated, looking rather thoughtful at that.

"Maybe, that is if we get to it first, and to Amata and company, I don't trust those Legion guys with alien weaponry" Maverick stated.

"Me neither Maverick, and for the weapons I meant the human kind in storage in the ship, we are lacking both manpower and weapons to supply, we get weapons, we get people to wield them" Sarah said.

"Sounds you have to fine-tune that plan girl, you can do it once we reach the core" Sergeant Johnson stated, "Little gal, can you take us to the teleporter?"

"With my eyes closed sarge, follow me" Sally proclaimed, motioning the group to follow her, which they did so, after some turns and covering some corners, they reached a space that was devoid of any kind of human-made loot, and instead found themselves staring at the strange teleporter in front of them.

"…honestly, I expected more" Maverick said, staring at the round panel on the ground with yellow squares all over the surface, near it, in a wall lay a control panel, one that Sally was currently working on.

"You expected a pod or something like that'" Sally asked over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes when Maverick nodded, "Well sorry to disappoint you, but they already passed that phase, it occupied too much space" Sally stated, nodding as she stepped away of the console.

"Okay guys, I was able to change coordinates of this transport matrix, originally it would have taken us the hangar" Sally began.

"It would have been better if we went straight to the hangars" Elliot stated.

"Are you crazy, I was there and barely got out, I sneaked my way out, there is no way I'm getting teleported directly once again, not without a plan of course" Veronica said.

"I thought the same, so I hacked their security cameras, check this out" Sally said, reaching for the console and activating the holographic display in it, there the group saw a massive alien mobilization, mainly aliens in red gleaming jumpsuits, carrying things and weapons inside smaller saucer like ships, on the background they could see the ship Sally spoke off, docked but surely filled with the items she told, also they could see several things in particular, one of them was a orange skinned alien, seemingly barking orders to the other aliens, at his side a massive human with something deeply grafted on the back of his neck, and surely on his spine as well, near them what seemed mechanical shaped human skeleton shaped machines, well in the torso and arms at least looked human looking, the legs, to Sarah, seemed like a pair of Deathclaw legs, their heads were alien shaped, surely to house their massive brains, and in their arms they carried what seemed the alien version of a minigun, all shiny looking, in silver polish and blue glowing areas.

"It seems the other guy who was subjected to the experiments Maverick was subjected to is not so dead as I first believed" Sally said with a clear frown, "Also those robots are the shock units, their elite, the aliens remove the brains of their best soldiers, and place them back in robot like chassis, those things can take a rocket face-first, and that's without the inertia fields" Sally said, making all groan.

"Like I said before, I didn't bring Pulse grenades" Sarah stated bitterly.

"Fortunately the thickest part of those machines is their head; the rest of the armor is compromised of pistons and is poorly plated, Maverick could easily punch their generators out, or punch a hole and place a grenade inside, they are as agile as an average human, that's because their massive heads cause a slight misbalance on their bodies, and the gyroscopes cannot compensate for that misbalance fast enough" Sally added.

"Basically armor piercing rounds should do the trick, right?" Johnson asked, "In theory they should, their most sensible parts are located in their head, but that area is thick, only the Twin Boom can punch a hole in that thick plating, however their torsos, especially the thoracic cavity mockery they made of, house the gyroscope and the generator, well placed rounds on that area can damage them both, causing immediate shutdown and if the gyroscope is damaged, they fall on the weight of their heads" Sally said, making everyone nod.

"Okay, if they have the inertia fields, just leave them to me, if they don't, we'll just shoot" was all Maverick summarized of Sally's explanation, "Thanks for that captain obvious" she snapped, then smirking, "Since you're so eager, how about you go first" before Maverick could formulate any coherent thought or vocalize it, Sally was already behind him, pushing him onto the teleportation matrix.

"Wait Sally, I'm not too comfortable with this" he finally said, not standing on the platform.

"Oh stop being a baby, I won't hurt" she stated simply, "Is not that, is just that I don't feel very comfortable with this thing playing pinball with my molecules, besides what if…like a fly goes with me and its DNA gets mixed with mine, I don't want to be the first human/fly hybrid, and by god if that happens I'm planting my mutated eggs on your brain Sally" Maverick snapped.

"Okay, first of all, Ewww, no really, ewww, second of all, this place doesn't has insects, is basically sterile of any kind of micro organism that might endanger the aliens, we are breathing a special solution of oxygen, so don't worry about mutating, they already messed with your organism in more ways than possible, and last, suck to be you if that happens" with that told Sally pressed a button, and the matrix came to life, enveloping Maverick in a yellow light, one that slowly began to fragment Maverick in small, yellow dots of light and sucking them onto the matrix itself.

"Holy SSHHIIIIIIII" Maverick, or what was left of him screamed as he was finally defragmented.

"Okay that went well, whose next?" Sally said with a cheery smile, immediately everyone took a step back, and then pushed Veronica up front, "Oh sure, push the naïve girl with stars in her eyes and a pneumatic gauntlet on her hand to her possible doom, how nice of you…jerks"

---

"GHAAAAA!" anyone who had been in that room at that moment would have been shocked to see how a human body is reformed after being defragmented in small yellow particles, traveling at the speed of light from point A to point B and then being put back together, molecule by molecule.

Maverick by his part made his way far of the dammed machine, as much as the room permitted him, the experience was not exactly as pleasing as the abduction itself, more because the molecules that composed his eyes individually caught the trip, and somehow all the molecules were still linked to each other, making the trip far worse, an experience he is sure will not get use to, never will, and if he had his way, he would never repeat.

Soon Maverick attention was caught when he heard one of the mechanical doors open, the sound was unmistakable, turning around he found himself staring at the end of the barrel of a 10mm handgun.

"Don't even…well…I'll be dammed, Maverick" Maverick by his part groaned in annoyance when he recognized the voice of the person on the other end of the gun.

"Ugh, Crazy Jackie" he moaned, then saw how the cannon got even closer to his face, "My name is NOT crazy Jackie!" the Asian girl with short black hair and blue eyes,, snapped at Maverick all while shoving her gun even closer to him, Maverick didn't looked intimidated by this, all things considering.

"You are surely unlucky Maverick, crossing paths with me of all people" she said with a smirk, Maverick noted she was still clad in a vault jumpsuit, but he noted that this one had metallic kneepads and metallic elbow pads, also had an utility belt around her waist in black, and the usual spots of yellow the old jumpsuit had now was black, she also had a holster tied to her right thigh, he also noted that the jumpsuit seemed bulkier, like if had something inside.

Maverick observed Jackie with a critical eye, long gone was the shuttering mess that was Butch's stalker, she was called 'crazy Jackie' because she stalked Butch and also was in love of him, and truth to be told, you had to be crazy to love Butch in those times.

"You're changed" Maverick said casually, "So are you Maverick, all wasteland clothes and weapons, and an Ushanka, where did you found one? Not even the officers in Raven Rock get one" Jackie said casually as well.

"A friend found me one" he replied, looking at Jackie then straight to the eye, "We didn't believed you were kidnapped, truth to be told when that girl found your file, picture an all, we were surprised, even more with all that crap done to you, six months is a lot of time to tinker someone, especially you" Jackie stated, smirking.

"Then you know what I'm capable off, don't temp luck, move that gun away from my face" Maverick hissed at Jackie, slowly moving to his right, forcing Jackie to do the same, giving her back to the matrix teleporter.

"Don't think you were the only vault dweller experimented, I got very fast reflexes now Maverick, I bet even faster than yours" she said with a smirk, "Don't think too highly of yourself, V.A.T.S. will not help you with me, I got V.A.T.S. as well, and I was experimented by the aliens to make a human weapon, your experimentation was just reflexes, I am far above that, also it helps I have the bigger gun" Maverick said, slowly moving Twin Boom to her, she immediately pressed the gun to his forehead.

"Don't think about it Maverick, you might have killed before, but I assure you, before you kill me, you will have a bullet in your head, I won't give you a chance, just like you didn't give a chance to Marcus" Jackie snarled.

"Amata's boyfriend? I never came across him, he lived on the deeper levels of the vault, you knew that better than anyone else, you lived there as well, you were his neighbor" Maverick reminded, "My room was two levels above his and yours, I made a straight line upwards, and you know better than anyone that Marcus bowed to the overseer law, if he said duck, Marcus would duck without hesitation…Tch, maybe that's why Alphonse approved him" Maverick said with a mocking smile.

"You were jealous of him and Amata" Jackie said, "You forget I set them up, yes there was a time I cared for her, crushed on her, but considering who was her father, that story would have ended as Rome and Juliet" Maverick stated, "Only in this story you or your father would have killed the overseer" he nodded at her remark.

"In any case…I'm sorry, I know how close you were to him" he said, "Don't apologize to me, even better don't apologize at all, you and your asshole of a father have a lot to answer for, releasing the radroaches, the fires, the dead guards, the dead dwellers, Marcus, Amata's change, all of that…but you and him have their uses, I don't know why the Enclave higher ups want your dad for, whatever the reason they want you as well"

"As a lure to a trap, typical, my dad will see it 100 miles away" Maverick reminded, his eyes gazing on Jackie's own, yet he was able to hear the hum of the matrix materializing another person, Jackie did not.

"A trap he will walk willingly, all for his son" Jackie stated, slowly lowering her gun, "Now…I wonder if Amata will punish me if I blow one of your kneecaps" she wondered out loud.

"How about I break your arm" Jackie turned around, brandishing her gun arm at the oncoming armored fist, just to scream in pain when so said armored fist shattered her gun and hand, when Jackie looked at her hand, she could only stare in shock at the pocking bones on the flesh and blood pouring out.

Jackie had little time to ponder how to make the robed girl pay when Maverick had seized her up by the neck, with his left hand, she gasped when he lifted her up, fast, and then released her, her back slamming hard on the roof, gasping on pain and then grunting when her body met the floor.

Turing around on the ground, Jackie could only gasp when she found herself staring at the twin barrels of the jury-ridged gauss rifle.

"Tell me…will Amata be mad if I smear your thoughts all over the ground?" Maverick's question was the last thing she heard for the moment as she fainted for her wounds.

"Fancy friends you have back in the vault Maverick" Veronica said, looking at the unconscious vault dweller on their feet, both humans recognizing the sound of the matrix powering up yet again to materialize another person.

Maverick by his part waited until Sarah materialized out of the matrix, oddly enough she was the last to do so, when he saw her, he immediately grabbed her hand and made her walk towards the unconscious form of Jackie.

"Sarah, I might know what happened to Amata" he said, looking at the sentinel straight in the eyes, "You do? Never mind that now, do you have any idea how important the capture of this girl is?" Sarah asked, which Maverick answered negatively.

"Well, ever since they surfaced, the vault dwellers have no accounts of dead on their ranks, let alone captured, they are sneaky as it can get, my dad was toying with the idea of sending the pride to Vault 101 and capture or kill them all, after all they have been the turning point of this war, have they not surfaced, The Enclave and the brotherhood would have been on a stalemate, but Vault 101, Megaton included, are deep within Enclave controlled territory" Sarah said.

"Now, with this girl…with this girl, we will finally know everything we need, their weakness, where they go, the patrols roads, the password of that door, albeit Tristan would be happy with just placing enough explosives on the entrance, setting them up and causing a collapse on the entrance, burying them in their tomb" Sarah said with a sneer.

"Enough Sarah, I know where this goes, but we are not going to lower ourselves to the enemy level, don't let revenge and rage consume you, remember, he who seeks vengeance must dig two graves, one for his enemy, and one for himself" Maverick replied.

"Well said kid" Maverick turned fast, really fast, Twin Boom already aimed to the newcomer, a woman, clad in a lab robe, long black hair and brown eyes, her face was dirty, and in her arms she held a small bundle of some sort.

"Lower your weapon now" Maverick turned his gaze of the woman, and instantly panicked, "Holy mother of mercy! What happened to you? Reactor activation procedure gone wrong? Never mind, Elliot, get me the biogel, lots of it!" Maverick called to the medic.

"Maverick…" Sarah began, "Yeah?"

"He is not some sort of extreme burn victim, he is a ghoul" she stated, looking at the tall ghoul before them, easily towering over Maverick and her, with a strong wide jaw, one that basically was set on kill mode, like of the rest of the burned like face of the man, like the rest of the ghouls, this one had just a handful of hair, and was missing his nose, the cavity where this once was replacing it, clad in a leather armor and holding a drum shotgun, a weapon usually seen in the Capital Wasteland.

"A ghoul you say, you said they looked like zombies, not like burned victims" Maverick snapped, keeping the Twin Boom aimed at the woman, the ghoul in fact seemed to get agitated by the gun aimed at the woman and pressed the shotgun muzzle on Maverick's chest, to the enhanced vault dweller, who had just been held at ground point by Crazy Jackie, a girl that back in the vault was known for fits of anger or joy depending if it was related to Butch, didn't like that action one bit.

With a grunt Maverick turned and grabbed the muzzle of the shotgun with is left hand, then sweep it away of the ghouls hands, hard, then he displayed what he thought of a person pointing a gun at him, by ramming the shotgun to the ground, hard, the poor thing had little chance against the strength of a being who tackled and Overlord and ripped its arm off without effort.

The ghoul only could look how Maverick returned to him the only part of the shotgun that didn't broke on impact, the bended cannon, "Next time you point a gun at me, make sure I'm not angry, I could have ripped your arm off" Maverick stated as he lowered the Twin Boom and looked at the woman.

"Sorry to point the gun at you ma'am, but…" Maverick trailed off, his eyes traveling to the still unconscious Jackie.

"Oh…I see you came across them I see" she said with a slight sneer, her eyes narrowed, "Charon, kill her" the ghoul now named Charon moved to actually kill Jackie, but Maverick and Sarah were already on his way, Sarah pointing her laser machinegun at Charon.

"Don't even think about it" Sarah stated seriously, "This vault dweller is under custody of the Brotherhood of Steel, she has answers to my questions" Sarah stated, the woman gave Sarah an ounce over, then sighed, "What rank you are?" the woman asked.

"Sentinel"

"…My god, you are Lyons daughter, Charon stop" the ghoul stopped immediately trying to push his way onto Jackie, also there was the obstacle named Maverick, Charon wouldn't admit it out loud, but the kid didn't moved an inch at all when he tried to push him.

"You look good girl, for someone reported dead" the woman said, looking at Sarah straight in the eye, then looking at Maverick, and going eye wide, "My god, is you, subject Zeta" she exclaimed.

"I have a name you know" Maverick reminded, "Of course, but that wasn't on the file the girl found of you, just all the experiments done to you, and your designated subject name, god, a vault dweller not loyal to the Enclave" the woman said with a smirk.

"I'm Sandra, you already met Charon" the woman named Sandra said to Maverick and Sarah, "Charmed" Maverick and Sarah said at the same time, "And, this is Marie" now their attention was focused on the little bundle on her arms, a bundle that, upon further examination, turned to be a baby.

"Ohhh, look at her, she beautiful" Maverick instantly was all over the little baby, cooing all the way, "Who's a little, chubby girl, cute to boot, yes you are, yes you are"

"…now that's scary" Sarah muttered, she also noted that Charon was advancing at Maverick for being way too close of Sandra and Marie, "No Charon" Sandra stated, making Charon stand down, but to look at Maverick with a suspicious glance.

"Okay, I'll be honest with you two, when my husband, god rest his soul, found out that Lyons lost his daughter, reported dead to boot, he was torn in either celebrating or sending his condolences, after all it could happen to anyone, and Ashur knew what is to be a father" Sandra began.

"Also, ever since the Pitt fell to those Legion bastards and they nailed my husband on a cross, I have been very…edgy, especially when I escaped those vault dwellers began to take pot shots at my escort, I was just sheer luck I was abducted alongside my daughter and that the aliens didn't started their sick experiments right on the bat, maybe that's why I escaped so easily" Sandra summarized.

"So in short I trust a vault dweller as far to be in the same room as me and Marie, and that's pushing it, but you are different" Sandra said, looking at Maverick, who still had only eyes for Marie, but he seemed to be paying attention, "But you are different from them, your file states you were taken six months ago, meaning you were out of the vault even before, you have no previous contact with the Enclave, that makes you the only dweller who is either neutral or hostile to them, and the experiments done to you…make you valuable for a plan I got" Sandra said.

"I don't know you or what you want to do, but I won't stand another minute in this god forsaken place, placing the life of my daughter in danger, I want to escape, some people want to escape as well, but we need you as our muscle, you're up for it?" Sandra asked, just to see Maverick rise his head, and chuckle.

"Woman, that's what we are trying now" he said, as on cue, every single member of Maverick's group showed themselves, Sandra slightly rose an eyebrow at the sight of Pre-war American soldiers, then she turned to Sarah, "Well Lyons, I must admit, a super human and three soldiers, not bad, but I can top it off" Sandra taunted, "Charon, be a dear and fetch us some ropes, we have a piggy to hogtie" she commanded to the ghoul who without a doubt turned around and walked away, returning minutes later with a set of ropes.

With a merry smile, Sarah tied the still unconscious Jackie and then motioned Maverick to carry her over, "Why the hell I should carry Crazy Jackie?" he asked in shock.

"One, because you are in default a vault dweller, so you get to carry her, second because I say so, and third…Crazy Jackie?" she wondered out loud, "Long story involving Butch, Jackie, a day of boredom and an altar of Butch made of noodles" Maverick said as he grabbed the woman by the belt on her waist, and an ease that everyone found shocking, hoisted over his left shoulder, all while holding the Twin Boom on his right hand.

"When we return to the Capital Wasteland, I'm so asking Glade to hook you up with a pair of miniguns, one in each hand" Sarah said with a smile as the group followed Sandra and walked away, Charon flanking Sandra.

As they left the small room, they found themselves walking on an aisle filled with trash on the ground, cans and pieces of metal poking around, alongside empty food boxes.

"The aliens are deadly afraid of human trash, can you believe it?" Sandra said, only to hear a snort of Maverick and Sarah, "Afraid of human trash, but not afraid of butchering human beings and tossing their remains onto cells and let them rot like trash" Sarah snarled.

"You saw that too huh?" Sandra asked, "You too?" Maverick wondered.

"My cell was not exactly five stars, the smell of rotten flesh was upsetting Marie, when I left the room I saw the source, a dozen of people dead, butchered and left there to rot, but I'm used to see humans disembowel, accidents with Auto-axes happened often and suicides even more, the Pitt is not exactly as friendly as the wasteland, and is either suicide of becoming a trog" Sandra said, slightly rubbing Marie over her blankets.

"A what?" this time Maria asked, "Don't worry about it now, all that matters is fine-tuning the escape plan, after that…after that…" Sandra trailed off, "I don't know, raise Marie, and wait until she is grown up enough to actually pull out blood without hurting her and ending that damn cure"

"Cure? What does a little baby has to do with a cure" Sarah asked, making Sandra smile bitterly, "Marie…is special, she was born with an innate resistance to radiation, basically she cannot be poisoned with radiation, also she was born without mutations at all and a natural inborn reistance to those mutations, in the Pitt there is a 100% chance that every baby born there turns feral and into a trog, thanks to the lingering radiation and the many toxics in the environment, but Marie resisted them all, most surprisingly I might say, hell even me an Ashur had to take a daily dose or Radaway to endure the harshness of the Pitt, and we were far of the radiation points, but Marie…"

"Marie was born for greatness" Maverick said simply, "Exactly, I theorized that any children she has in the future will inherit her inborn resistance, and the children of her children will too, and so on, and on and on" Sandra said.

"Of course I tried to found a cure for the TDC and those about to turn into trogs, but that would require some really invasive experiments on Marie, and I won't do that, I can't, not yet, and I doubt I would have…damn that Wernher and damn to hell Midea as well, those two betray us to the Legion, they actually lead their troops inside, killed everyone, albeit I found satisfaction in hearing the Legion soldiers scream when they found the trogs, I escaped out of a fluke" Sandra said, "All because Wernher told them that Marie was born with that resistance to radiation, I nearly got caught by a legion soldier called Vulpes, now he must be hating me, I kicked him hard on the balls and bit his nose off for trying to take Marie away from me" Sandra said.

"Lady, remind me never to get on your bad side" Sergeant Johnson said, "Noted soldier" she said with humor, then stopping near a mechanical door, "Okay, listen guys, the vault dwellers awoke many people, I roughly counted over a thousand people" Sandra began, much to the shock of the group, "But they were subjected to another brand of experiments of the aliens, I guess the worse" she said, motioning Charon to open the mechanical door, with a hiss the door opened, and everyone could see what she meant.

People clad in clothes of several eras were actually battling each other, a frenzy of death if could be described, all had feral like looks on their faces, basically crying blood and sweating blood, it was maddening sight.

"The hell" Elliot asked, "Is like seeing feral ghouls fighting for food" Somah said with a grimace, "Is not far from the truth, these people are their first experiments" Sandra replied, seeing the frenzy of battle in a bored fashion.

"Then why Sally is not like them?" Maverick wondered, "I said their first, most of this people date from 1200, even lower than that, so is not surprise that most of this people are over one thousand years old, even more" Sandra replied.

"Then…what the hell the aliens did to them, they act like berserkers" Maverick asked, "Not far from the truth, the aliens messed with the thyroid glands" Sandra began.

"The glands that control most of the body usage of energy, makes proteins and how sensible is against hormones?" she nodded, "Yep, in short words they messed with that, now instead of generating the needed proteins for growth, is generating another set of proteins, the gland is forcing the hypothalamus to release oxytocin, vasopressin, and corticotropin-releasing hormones, which in turn force the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormones, which in turn releases corticosteroids from the adrenal cortex" Sandra said, no one had any idea what she spoke of.

"I see, they are basically drugged to be in a rage induced state" well it seemed Elliot did understood her, "Not only that, they are basically running on adrenaline alone, no human body, well normal body can resist so many blows, pain and agony without adrenaline in their system, increasing their strength and pain threshold, but limiting their intelligence" Maverick added, Sandra by her part was impressed.

"I'll be dammed, you two know more than I expected, I'm impressed" Sandra said.

"Well, I was a doctor before I was shipped to Anchorage, and you would be surprised how many rage induced patients I had to tend before" Elliot said, "My dad is a doctor, I ended up as his assistant, according to the G.O.A.T. and trust me, with the limited number of people only going to dad for stress and drugs, I had plenty of time to read a lot of medicine books, books as thick as my fist" Maverick replied.

"Well, I am truly amazed, I hope any of you two know how to work with genetics and drugs, because as soon we leave this place, I'm going to recruit you and you're two going to help me find a cure to the TDC" Sandra added.

"This is odd" Somah muttered to Maria, "What, that Elliot and Maverick are getting job offers?" Maria asked.

"Well, that and the crazies are not attacking us" now that drove the attention of Maria, and of Sandra, "Don't worry, the crazies as you call them are driven by a protein that is generated in their bloodstream, once spilled and they get a sniff at it, they go and attack the source of the blood, no normal human, or Maverick has it" Sandra said, making Maverick scowl, "Trust me Maverick, I saw your file, I got that girl traducing me all the odd things they put you, and I know that you have zero chances of driving these crazies on a frenzy, just move and ignore them" Sandra said, taking the lead again and making her way alongside the frenzy people who were beating the shit out of each other with whatever they had at hand, some of them even lacked hands, or fingers.

The group made their way around, Maverick kept a close watch on Sally, "I am surprised they are not suffering from cardiac arrest" Maverick stated, "Hell, I'm surprised they are moving at all, the adrenaline on their bodies must be on historical charts" he added.

"No shit Maverick, is like…they are on Psycho" Somah said, "Psycho?" Maverick and Sally asked, making her shake her head.

"You guys are hopeless, well in any case" Somah began, seeing how the duo gave her dirty looks, "Psycho, in short words, is a drug that makes you badass, you become a fighting machine using that, but it makes you dumb" Somah said, "Pretty much like they are now" she added, Maverick by his part just looked at the crazies in pity.

"Doctor Sandra…is this everyone, everyone is…crazy?" Maverick asked, "No, in fact a small group of 75 people remain sane, all things considering, but if I discard the vault dwellers, our group would be fifty people roughly, and four children, three girls, a boy and my baby girl" Sandra said.

"And everyone wants to escape?" Sarah asked, "Yeah, I told them there is no much to look up, but well, living in space gets old after a while, and well, no matter how hard we try to deny it, that old mud ball is our home, that and also living in space, with aliens breathing on our necks is not too comfortable" Sandra said, "Besides, most of that group hold some of the brightest and unique, if not touched on the head, minds I have ever encountered, of both the pre-war and after the war, maybe we can do something to fix our world" Sandra said, finally reaching another door, once opened they saw what it was.

"An elevator…thank god" Maverick said with a smile, "You didn't liked the matrix teleported didn't ya?" Sally asked with a smile, "Like I said, I am not going to have my molecules being transported around, even more if there is the risk of me appearing with something missing" he said as he entered the elevator first, soon followed by the rest, as the doors closed, Maverick gave one last, pitiful glance at the crazies.

"Guess we can't save them all" he muttered as the elevator moved upwards.

"I doubt they can be saved, the damage to the thyroid was too great, not even the aliens have been able to reverse the damage, and most incredible of it all, they catch several of the crazies and turn them into…those abominations"

"We know" Sarah and Maverick replied together, "Maybe that explains why they are so hostile, they use alien DNA mixed with human crazy DNA, they have to turn hostile" Sandra replied, "Yet they have a full room filled with them on stasis, ready to unleash upon call on the world, we got to blow this place up, we can't settle with just cripple them" Sally added.

"I agree with the little gal, these freaks are getting their due" Johnson stated simply, "Okay, so where are going now?" Elliot wondered.

"We are heading towards the seventh floor, the first floor where I found you up to the sixth is crawling with crazies, not to mention the sixth floor has those abominations as well…what the hell, we are stopping on the sixth!" Sandra snapped out loud, making everyone actually stare at the door with some apprehension, even more when they stopped and the door opened, revealing on the other end an abomination that turned around, and wailed, pointing its arm at them.

"RRRAAAAAGHHH!" Maverick by his part equally roared, and then kicked the charging abomination on the chest, lifting it up and breaking any bones in the chest, much the shock of the group, the abomination sailed away like if it weighted nothing, and then head crashed on a wall.

"That fell good" Maverick stated as the elevator door closed and it continued its trek onwards.

"…Sally was right, you're getting stronger" Sarah stated, looking at Maverick straight in the eye, "The more you fight the more adept you get to your new skills, I doubt you would have done the same the first time we met" she added, much to the slight discomfort of the group.

Once the elevator reached the last floor, everyone made their way out, following Sandra, they noted that the floor, unlike the first floor, was pristine, or as pristine it can get with so many junk of the world below, and mines, who can forget the mines that made a custom made minefield and the three nuka-cola dispensers placed as a wall.

"Wait here a minute" Sandra said, taking some steps forward, "Han, deactivate the mines" Sandra commanded, not a second later, much to the shock of the three American soldiers, a lone Chinese commando emerged out, holding a small remote on his hand.

"Ah, comrade Kundanika, I see you are well, did you found the energy disturbance?" the Chinese commando asked, a thick accent present when he spoke, surely one of the very few Chinese who thought that it was a good idea to learn English, so they could understand the Americans during the Sino-American war.

"I have Han, right behind me" she said, Han, if they heard correctly, looked at the newcomers, and had his eyes widen when he saw the American soldiers behind Sandra.

"Ah, American pigs" he said, "Say what!" Johnson snapped loudly, nearly waking Marie, apparently, the little girl is a heavy sleeper.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, old habits die hard" Han stated as he reached for the remote and flipped a switch, immediately the minefield died out, "You all can come in, but I will be watching you" Han stated, his statement pointed to the three soldiers on the group.

Once the group crossed the minefield, Han flipped the switch again, and the mines came back to life, without anything else to say, Han sat on the ground, and pulled a small Chinese pistol and began to disarm it.

"That's Han, the only Chinese commando I know is not shooting Americans on sight" Sandra said, "The war is over…my war is over, I have no country to fight for, no reason to kill now but to survive" Han said out loud, making all grimace, especially the three soldiers, now reminded that the world they knew, the world they fought once was long gone.

"Let's go" Elliot stated as he walked away of Han, so did Maria and Johnson, making the rest to grimace, "They'll get over it…I know they will" Han muttered, only Maverick was able to hear it, "I got over it"

After that the group continued walking, noticing several things along the way, for instance the room where Han was alongside the mines was separated, after exiting that room, they came across what seemed a circular platform, surrounding what seemed a long crystal that held some sort of purple like energy inside.

"That's the core guys, from the top the energy is distributed to all the space station by capacitors, we need to damage the core, so all the energy that is wasted is diverted to life support around the space station, this will deactivate the turrets both inside and outside, also it will deactivate several contention fields around several labs, releasing the most dangerous creatures around, beyond that, I guess a Rocket Launcher could do the trick" Sally said, not caring, or not noticing the scandalized looks of her friends.

"A rocket launcher? Girl if you want to blow us up then I recommend you the Fat Man" Johnson all but screamed to Sally, "Hey, that's a good idea, I always wanted one, but dad said they were expensive" she said.

"…that was sarcasm!" Johnson all but snapped to Sally, "So was mine…where do you think we can find a Fat Man, they are rare back in my days, they are even rarer today" she added, making Johnson feel really stupid now.

"We will think of a way to damage the core, in the meantime let's see where Sandra wants to take us" Sarah stated, "Oh yeah, nearly forgot, where you're taking us?" the sentinel asked.

"I'm taking you to the girl who found the files on Maverick and the vault dwellers…I swear, ungrateful bastards, we help them and they ditch us, Maverick, be a dear and next time you meet one of them, punch their teeth out" Sandra said the Maverick.

"I don't think is a good idea, with his current strength he could punch their heads off, I must remind you that he ripped the arm of an Overlord Super Mutant and bash it to death with so said arm" Sarah said, much to Somah's shock.

"He did WHAT? Holy crap!" the dark skinned mechanic shook her head in utter fear, now she was sure, her new no-no, besides shooting a Deathclaw and then running away was to not piss Maverick, he will actually use your severed limbs to kill you.

"So the dwellers are not around eh?" Sarah asked, "Nope, and I don't care if they are around to be honest, they can all eat shit and die for all I care, well not you Maverick, you seem to be the good sort" Sandra stated, "Well…thanks…I guess" Maverick muttered with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, Marie didn't cried when you got close to her, every dweller that got close to her made her cry immediately, even when she was asleep, you on the other hand didn't, if she can trust you, so will I" Sandra said.

"Is nothing really, truth to be told I always attended the children back in the vault scraps, black eyes, small cuts, chemical burns that I'm actually afraid to even find out how they happened, I always had to console them, in time I learned how to approach them, talk to them, it also helped that I never buried my inner child, you could find me playing baseball with the kids as soon as I could" Maverick replied.

"It sound like fun" Sarah said, "It was, although many parents didn't like me, don't know why, maybe my dad got onto others people skin besides the overseer" Maverick added, looking around, he spotted at least a dozen of people, all armed, two of them were dressed as cops, holding actual military carbines in their hands.

Near the cops lay seated on the ground three women clad I pre-war sundresses, each one of them held a handgun, and in the middle of the ladies a pile of ammo.

He saw also a pair of men clad in brown soldier like fatigues, with their armor displaying the words 'NCR' in white and a two headed bear as an emblem, one holding a missile launcher, the other holding a pair of rockets on his hands.

This and many more people were seen around, like a small town, working together, gathering food and supplies for whenever they could find, but one thing remained whenever Maverick and company passed.

They all looked at Maverick, and the load he had on his shoulders.

And truth to be told, it was getting on Maverick's nerves.

"What's with these people, they are looking at me oddly" Maverick asked to Sandra, "(Sigh) let's say everyone saw your file, and those three women over there" Sandra said, pointing at the three woman with ammo around them, "Are gossipers, hear everything you can do, eventually this got out, also the fact you are carrying a vault dweller, and let's say they didn't left on peaceful terms" Sandra said.

"They left…but why?" Sarah asked, not liking this too much, it reminded her of something, but she had yet to put her finger on it, "Beats me, but they left unarmed, I guess they are on the fourth or fifth levels, since the crazies don't attack anything but themselves, is a safe place to be, well, relatively speaking" Sandra stated, stopping near what seemed a security room like the one Maverick and Sarah had came across the aliens and Maverick had downloaded the map for the space station.

"Okay guys, I'm off, Marie needs her diapers changed, and Charon needs a new shotgun" Sandra stated, "One word of advice, Julia has been a little edgy" Sandra began, just to Sally to perk up at that name.

"Julia?" Sally asked, "Yeah, well, she was browsing around the files of the several abductees of the station, and she came across the one of her little sister, apparently her sister is marked for termination, one that is yet to be carried out, she wants to find her, but she can't leave us, and truth to be told, while we want to help her, this station is too big for a group of fifty people to look for a single girl, so its better you don't mention her" Sandra said to the group, Sally by her part nodded seriously, but Maverick noted that she was slightly smiling, almost eagerly, also she was grooming herself.

"Okay then, we'll see you later" Maverick said to the departing Sandra, smiling fondly as he saw the bundle on her arms move, "Okay, let me do the talking" Sally stated, making the group stare at her oddly, "You? Uh, not to offend, but I doubt they will take you seriously, unlike us, they don't know you" Somah said, making Sally smirk.

"Oh trust me Somah, she knows me very well" Sally said cryptly, they group didn't know how to answer that, so they just settled with letting her do the talking, like she requested.

Taking a deep sigh, Sally reached for a console nearby, opening the mechanical door easily.

"By god Paulson, if you're still nagging me about your gun I swear…" a female voice snapped once the doors opened, everyone noted the baggy pants she wore, alongside the dirty sneakers and wool sweater, alongside the backpack that hung on her back, they noted also that she had the same hair color as Sally.

Currently the girl was sitting on the ground, Indian style, all kinds of alien artifacts lay dismantled around her, including an old looking revolver, and some of that alien epoxy Maverick and Sally had used to assemble the Twin Boom lay around her as well.

"I don't know you" Sally began, making the girl stop on whatever she was working on, "But I know my name isn't Paulson…sis" Sally added, slightly shocking the group.

As for the other girl, she slowly turned around, showing all that she shared more than her hair color with sally, she was like an older version of Sally, but with green eyes, instead of the dark blue of Sally.

"…S-sa-sally?" the girl said, shock evident on her voice, "Yep" Sally said happily, but the group noted how her voice slightly cracked, "I-t…oh my god…is you" the girl said, slowly standing up, looking at Sally with utter shock, Sally simply nodded, slowly making her way to the girl, "Hey sis…I'm back" she said, those words were the cue for both girls to make a mad dash to each other.

Soon everyone was seeing how Sally was hugging the teenager girl tightly, crying their lungs out.

"Come on guys, let's give' em some privacy" Maverick said as he walked away of the touching scene, the rest pretty much understood that this was a private moment and so they let Sally and the teenage girl to their own devices.

Fifteen minutes later…

"This place…is amazing" Veronica spoke, looking at the core in the middle of the room, "I know, bet ya my armor that any other brother or sister would have lose their socks at the sight of this place" Sarah added, "That I have no doubt, I would be more shocked if the elders didn't have an orgasm at the sight of the weapons" Veronica said with a smirk.

"Maybe, maybe not, after all this technology, while fits the targets the brotherhood stands for, is not human made, so we don't know how to use it, besides Sally and that other girl" Sarah reminded, "Yeah…" Veronica said with a far off sigh, then perked up.

"Hey, is possible when we make it back, that…I don't know might join your chapter?" Veronica asked, catching Sarah off guard, "…Uh, why?" Sarah asked, it was not unknown for members of other chapters to leave such chapter, and request to join another chapter, the reason vary, from simply boredom, to utter disgust with the chapter and the elder in charge.

This action went against the chains of steel, that which bonded everything in the brotherhood, the chain of command is followed strictly, and leaving a chapter is considered betrayal, no matter the circumstances.

In this case however, rules could be bended, if a little, after all Veronica comes from a chapter that has stuck to the brotherhood original directives, unlike her father's chapter, which had taken such directives as a secondary objective and has put the welfare of the wasteland and its inhabitants as the top priority.

Of course, if the member who wanted to chance chapter made it out alive of his or her former chapter, and found another one, he or she had to ask the elder of that chapter, the lead scribe and the highest ranked soldier for the transfer, after that is just a matter of adding the name of such person into the archives of such chapter, and notifying the chapter from which the person belonged of this, to prevents mishaps.

Now the question that the elder, the high scribe and the solider will ask to the person who wants to change is…

"Why?" Sarah said out loud, staring at Veronica straight in the eyes.

"Well, to be honest, word has gone out of your father's chapter's goal, the aftermath, the outcasts, everything" Veronica began, making Sarah sigh, this was just great, the Capital Wasteland chapter was the hot gossip among those in Lost Hills.

"And well…it fits me" Veronica confessed, making Sarah make a double take, "Say what? You actually agree with my dad's goals?" Sarah asked.

"Not only that" Veronica confessed, "Your dad is adapting to the situation, while no one knows about the war with the Enclave, they know he is recruiting from locals, locals are learning from us, and the brotherhood learns from them" Sarah there nodded at her reasoning, in the beginning, the only way to take down a Deathclaw was by pumping it full of lead, by three miniguns, and even there you didn't know you would be able to stop its charge without casualties, but when the locals began pouring inside the brotherhood, they came with knowledge, the use of poisons for starters, radscorpions poison mixed with an overdose of Jet, Psycho and powered mentats, to cause a Deathclaw senses to lag, after all no living being is able to fight properly with an overdose of the three main chems find in the wasteland, in short, now even an initiate with a dart gun with such concoction could bring down a Deathclaw, with a switchblade.

Sarah also knew why her dad began recruiting locals, and it was something Veronica and Maverick knew better than anyone else, the brotherhood was living a basic vault sheltered existence, at first all is good and dandy, then it began to see the after-effects if new blood wasn't introduced regularly, to both the vault dwellers and brotherhood members, it means doom, and having children with members of the same community only helped to ease the problem, but in time one realize that in the long run, it only makes it worse.

Lost Hills didn't seem to see this, and if Rothchild is to be believed, the cold war with the NCR is not helping at all, also shunning the wastelanders, basically diamonds on a rough, make it even worse, while the brotherhood has survived the 200 years, it has been, ironically, thanks to first, a Vault Dweller who destroyed a super mutant brain master know only as 'The Master' thus stopping the worse of the super mutant menace, then helped also by the grandchild of such vault dweller, only know as 'The Chosen One' defeater of the Enclave.

"Listen Sarah, is not that I don't like my chapter, and I care for the people there, is just I have tried so hard in trying to explain them that in the long run our sheltered lives will kill us, and if we don't start adapting, then we will die out, and then what? We will be just another name erased by the wasteland, but they listen, no, we don't need the help of wastelanders, the chains that binds are to be upheld" Veronica snapped bitterly.

"Sometimes I wish the chains didn't existed at all" she added, making Sarah sigh, "I know Veronica, sometimes, when I see an Outcast, I want to just shoot them, but I have to remind myself that they chose what they want, and if they want to die out, then so be it" Sarah said in a oddly subsided manner.

"But those who remained with dad knows that what we are doing is a noble cause, and it will bear its rewards in the long run, once the war is over, we will have more recruits, more weapons, the people will trust us, dad knows this, I know this, the initiates know this, is just a matter of fighting…and winning" Sarah said, making Veronica smile slightly.

"You sound oddly cheerful…all things considering" Veronica said, Sarah simply shook her head, "Well, all things considered I should be a bitter veteran of war, a thirty year old woman with no love life, nor friends, true the Pride is my unit and I trust them as brothers and sisters, but there is a great difference that of brother to friends…something Maverick made me realize" Sarah began.

"You should have seen him spoke of Amata, of an old Amata, she was instrumental in his escape of the vault, without her…Maverick could be dead or another puppet of the Enclave if worse, whatever the case, Maverick trusts Amata, he won't believe anything I tell about her, of her atrocities until he lay eyes on it himself…or confronts Amata himself" Sarah said, Veronica just sighed.

"As for your request" Sarah began, changing the topic altogether, "You have my approval, I'll have to talk with my dad and Rothchild about this, but they will accept you, we are short on people, and a scribe, even more one that can punch a super mutant head off will be welcome, hell, if word of this gets around, I am sure others like you will come to us, this in turn will bring the attention of Lost Hills HQ, and then…well, let's hope they are ready to accept reality" Sarah said, walking away of Veronica.

"Hmm…oh well, better star bonding with the others" Veronica said to herself, making her way towards the crowd of people around the area, obviously knowing that the two NCR troopers were looking at her.

As for Sarah, she made her way towards another section of the floor, this one in particular was filled with junk, mostly broken trash, clothes and weapons that could not be used at all, and this included also boxes of food and pieces of alien drones, like the ones that had attacked them back in the storage room.

But Sarah knew that there was another use for this area, one she and Maverick found, a place to hold and interrogate Jackie, while the woman had awoken just five minutes after Sally's and Julia's teary reunion, she had said nothing so far, at least no to her, Maverick had requested to talk with Jackie alone, after all he has more chances of intimidating her and making her talk, and he knew her better than anyone else, Sarah knew Jackie was not one of the regular dwellers sighted in attacks, she had to be new, a new recruit, someone who had been kept in the vault as a reserve until called upon.

As she approached the area, the trash became thicker, and while odorless, it didn't help a lot with the sight.

Once she arrived there, she saw Maverick kneeling in front of Jackie, the girl looking at the former vault dweller in defiance.

With a hiss Maverick stood up, then turned away of Jackie, "You can't help her Maverick, no one can! Not even her father, not even yours, not even you, she is lost" Jackie words seemed to be a premonition to Sarah as Maverick walked away, and taking her by the shoulder, forcing her away as well.

"Maverick? What was that?" Sarah asked, looking at the serious Maverick for a long minute, walking with him, even if forced.

"They are lost Sarah" Maverick said, now far enough of Jackie to not be heard, "I talked to her Sarah, she just kept spouting propaganda stuff, Enclave stuff, how they were going to roll around and kill every mutie on town, children included, god Sarah, they spoke of people like if they were trash" he said, looking slightly desperate, and she couldn't blame him.

"She told me every person in the vault is going to join the Enclave, and after they are done with the wasteland, they are going to look for me and my dad, and put our heads on pikes in front of the vault as a warning…not that they can now" she smirked at that, even if they could, Maverick would surely kill them all in such manner and numbers that it would be a hollow victory.

"And Amata…oh god I can't even start telling you what she has done, not only to others, but to herself…I…I don't know what to do" Maverick said, looking at Sarah, his eyes basically pleading her for an answer, albeit he knew what was going to be her answer.

"I don't know Maverick, I understand your situation, somewhat, the Outcasts are a faction of the brotherhood that left and follows the original goal" Sarah said, "But this is different, the Outcasts has never attacked us, got ahead of us and stole things, yeah, but outright conflicts and threats, no, I guess there is only one last thing you must do before making up your mind" Sarah added, looking at Maverick straight in the eyes.

"You need to confront Amata with this, all you have heard, all you know, confront her, do this, and you'll find your answer" she said as she grabbed Maverick by the shoulder and squeezed.

To Maverick, this was a sign of reassurance; at least it was comforting to know that in all this mess with the aliens, the Enclave and Amata, he could have someone he could trust on.

"Sarah?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we friends?" Maverick wondered, Sarah by her part also gave it a long thought, truth to be told she didn't have friends back in the Citadel, allies, many, brothers and sisters, a lot, a boyfriend, used to, but a friend, a true god honest friend, nope, she didn't had one.

"I guess, all things considering…but yeah, we are" Sarah said, Maverick slightly smiled, then looked at Sarah with a serious face, "Okay Sarah, as a friend then, I ask you to please not follow me when I confront Amata, I know she will be with the other dwellers, and let's face it, your head is a nice target" Maverick confessed to Sarah, making her frown, but then nod, with a sigh of course.

"Okay then, I'll let you do as you wish, but just because you ask me nicely and I know you have better chances against them than me, with all the V.A.T.S. thing and all that" Sarah confessed, to be honest, she didn't like the idea, but if she wanted the help of Maverick to take down the Enclave once they escape the space station, he first must see firsthand what has become of the vault dwellers, how depraved had become, and to make his decision.

Soon they had left Jackie behind, and had arrived where the group was, clearly surprised when they saw a lot of people, maybe fifty people in the area, all wearing different clothes, most of them armed, they also spotted the four children Sandra spoke off, three girls and a boy, all of them wearing more dirty version of the clothes Sally was wearing.

"Got anything good of that dweller?" Johnson asked to Maverick upon seeing him, "Just confirmed my fears sarge, I need time to digest it" Maverick confessed, making the sergeant grunt in affirmation.

The large group of escapees soon saw Sally emerge from the room, along with Julia; many were clearly surprised by her sudden smile, as most of them were getting used to seeing her frown and to be outright cranky.

"Okay people, listen up" Julia began, Maverick was able to hear something else, turning around, he saw what seemed an Asian man, clad in a strangely ornamented armor, holding a slim curved sword, being spoke off in a language that he didn't recognized by another Asian woman clad in a stripped sweater and a long smooth beige skirt.

"We have our means to escape finally" Julia stated, looking at each of the people gathered currently, "As you all know, we lacked two essentials, a distraction, and the muscle to carry it out" Julia said.

"And before anyone starts saying we are well armed and numerous, I must remind you all that while we are far tougher than the unshielded alien, they have more weapons and people than us, and I just learned that they have also someone of the level of subject zeta, or better known as Maverick…the guy with the Ushanka" as on cue, every single eye lay on Maverick who let a soft, nervous laugh and rose his hand up.

"Eh…hello all, how're you doing?" He asked, "Regardless of the fact they have someone on par with Maverick's strength, the plan will carry out, because we have another ace in the sleeve, Sally" Julia said, directing all the attention to the small girl at her side.

"Okay then, first of all we need to gather as much weapons as possible, and of course to no one to question my plan, is foolproof as long we carry it out well, okay?" Sally stated, if Maverick wasn't surprised by this, he hid it well, unlike the rest.

"As I see there is no questions, let me lay out our escape plan" Sally began, slowly walking around.

"Our first step is to blow this generator, the core is basically raw energy held by a thin glass, channeled to the capacitators, which distribute it to the rest of the station, turrets included, to our plan to work we need first to blow it up, this will cause all the defense mechanism of the ship to automatically to shut down to prevent and outage on the life support systems, unfortunately this will also make the cryo-labs to lose energy, this included pods with any creatures held inside, but by the time they are released, we will be half-way to our destination, in this part Maverick and Sarah Lyons, the girl on the power armor comes to play" Sally said, catching Sarah off-guard.

"Excuse me? Why me?"

"Is simple really, you of all have the better protection against anything the aliens will throw, including energy weapons, Maverick on the other hand is basically our buzz saw, he will cut a way through them, whenever they like it or not, because our escape route crossed with a heavily transited path the alien troops use generally, I am sure they know our current position, and have already set a blockade to stop us, is there where you two come in play" Sally continued.

"Maverick will open a path by any means necessary, I don't care how, he will open it, by that point they will deploy their shock troops, they are nothing against Maverick if he knows where to attack, as for you, well, whatever remains alive and Maverick forgot to kill, you will deal with it" Sarah nodded, now understanding Sally's plan.

"After this is just a matter of running like hell, the core, after damage, will reach critical mass within half an hour, by that time we must be through that blockade, after that we will only have fifteen minutes before the core collapses, a series of explosions will announce this, followed, five minutes later by a massive cascade reaction that will consume the space station and everything inside it, alongside anything within a 100 kilometer radius, it might be small, but let me assure you, the wave will be like being hit point-blank by a nuclear warhead" Sally stated, making all gulp.

"Now, as four our escape transport, well, we will just hijack their most sophisticated ship, used several times to abduct people en masse, the Mothership, codenamed Zeta, just like Maverick" Sally stated.

"Uh…who is going to pilot it, as far as I can see, we lack a pilot" one of the cops asked, "Don't worry about it, my sister and I have intimate knowledge with alien tech, thanks to the experiments they carried out, my sister is an amateur on this because she was awoken 25 years ago, experimented and put in stasis, but she gets the hang of it fast, don't worry, we will have that ship running as fast as possible, after that…well that depends on everyone, Maverick and Sarah need to return back to Earth, I bet some of you do to, other will find more comfortable a life inside a ship, I don't know, in any case, we will try to find a suitable place to set you all down and try to start over" Sally ended.

"I might know one" a little girl with dark skin stated, drawing the attention to her, "Well, is near us of course, sometimes I sneak around, there is a place called Oasis" She began, "I heard of it, supposedly is filled with trees, pure water, and actual paradise" Sarah stated, "But is just a myth, no one has seen it"

"Well I have, I come from there" the girl said, "Anyway, Oasis, if one of the adults is to believed, was once a mining town, but the bombs caused a collapse in the entrance of the town, yet I was able to find a way in, is small, but I'm able to fit inside, there are still houses there, grass, some trees, a small river that has pure water, and the trees bear fruits, is a perfect place to stay and settle, the only thing is…well my dad, he is not exactly fond of outsiders, even more with the war raging" the little girl said.

"We'll cross that bridge when the time comes okay?" Maverick stated, making the little girl smile at him, "In the meantime, I suggest gathering all you can, we leave…as soon as I finish something" Maverick said the last part with some hesitation, something everyone noted.

"Julia, do you have any idea where the vault dwellers are?" that caught everyone by surprise, "Yeah, what? You want to ask them for support, then you're wasting your time, they won't listen to reason" Julia said.

"They are scum Maverick, don't waste your time kid, the Legion at least has some standards" one of the NCR soldiers said to him, "They are dishonorable, not trust-worthy individuals, you do better with no associating with them" the Asian looking woman stated, Maverick simply sighed at that.

"That's the problem people, whenever I want it or not, I am related to them, I am a vault dweller as well, know every single person in that vault, grew with half of them, I know what made them tick…or so I believed, you'll understand I need to get some straight answers from the source, them" Maverick replied, taking the Twin Boom in his hands and moving a small crank in it, then handed it to Sarah.

"I reduced the power of the weapon so you can handle the recoil, a just in case if the aliens decide to get in while I'm gone" he said to Sarah, the brotherhood soldier simply rose and eyebrow, but accepted the weapon, knowing this was a sign of trust.

"They are on the fourth floor, but be careful, we were missing a box full of 10mm handguns, and a pair of .45, I guess they took it when they left, and that might explain the gunshots we heard" Julia said, Maverick simply smirked, walking towards the minefield and onto the elevator, "Grab anything you can use, weapons, foods, stimulants, be ready when I return" he said as he walked away.

"…Okay people, you heard him, get ready to move, we leave as soon as he returns!" Sarah all but snapped, her tone of voice had the desired effect, causing everyone to scramble and start gathering weapons and other items to carry food and stimulants.

Sarah simply smirked, she had enjoyed that, even more when both NCR troopers had actually saluted her and went to do the same.

"Oh yeah, I love being the one in charge"

---

Maverick took a deep breath as the elevator doors closed and it began its descend towards the fourth floor, he had left the Twin Boom at Sarah's care because he didn't knew if he could bear to use that overpowered weapon against the vault dwellers, his people, if they dared to attack him, but of course he didn't left unarmed, he had That Gun, and truth to be told, no handgun made before the war could compare now to the raw power of That Gun, maybe a magnum, or a handcannon.

In any case, there was no turning back now, he knew what he had to do know, reaching for That Gun, he drew the gun, and waited until the elevator stopped.

Once it did, he waited until the doors were open, once open Maverick was aiming at whatever might come to the door.

Seeing that nothing had tried to attack him yet, Maverick slowly made his way out of the elevator, once outside he could see that indeed Amata and the rest of the abducted vault dwellers had been there, nothing else could explain the number of dead crazies on the ground, each one of them with headshots, some of them were missing chunks of the back of their heads, some sides of their heads, most of them however were missing their heads outright.

"(sigh) Amata…" he groaned, looking around, and avoiding in stepping on a piece of jaw, or an eyeball belonging to a crazy, then slowly holstering That Gun.

"I know you're here Amata, come out, come out wherever you are" Maverick called, recalling a line he always said when he and Amata played hide and seek when they were eight.

Just this time the game of hide and seek wouldn't end with some of the carved cookies of grandma Palmer and Nuka-Cola to down them.

Maverick's HUD suddenly flashed him something, turning around he was welcomed with a shot on his left shoulder, yet the impact just made him stagger, the bullet, now flattened flying away, leaving only a hole on his clothes.

"I should have know sneaking past you wouldn't work, you tinkered with your HUD in a way no one would sneak behind you" a female voice sounded, yet nothing was visible, at least not to the naked eye, Maverick's HUD indicated someone in front of him, another feature of his Pip-boy nerve overhaul.

His sharp eyes caught the water like ripple effect in the air, and knew immediately she was there, "1, 2, 3, a cookie for me" Maverick stated as suddenly Amata materialized before him, on one hand a 10mm handgun, clad in the same uniform Sarah had to be forced to wear to cover her nakedness before finding the ATHENA armor, on her left hand she held what seemed a hi-tech watch with an antenna on top.

"4, 5, 6, you better share it with me"

"…you have a lot to answer for" Maverick said to Amata, the girl, no, woman simply gave him a long look, then pulled the trigger again, the 10mm round impacting Maverick, this time on the chest, now he didn't staggered, but the bullet was yet flattened again.

"Well, now I know where the experimental DIAMOND Implant went alongside with Doctor Pascal, pity I just found him…or his head for that matter" Amata stated in a bored manner, making Maverick sick.

"Cut the shit out Amata, you know why I'm here" Maverick snapped, making her raise an eyebrow, "My, such hostility, yet I didn't expected less of a mutant such a yourself" she spat.

"Mutant…how low have you fallen to believe that lie" Maverick stated.

"Don't even start with that Maverick; if you were human you would understand me and the goal of the Enclave, reconstruction, a new life, a better life" Amata spoke.

"And that justifies the mass genocide the Enclave wants to pull, Jackie told me everything about it, and I'm clearly disappointed in you, you were better than this" Maverick snapped, his eyes slowly tracking Amata as she slowly circled him.

"And you think that affects me at all Maverick, you made your choice when you left to look for your dad" Amata spat.

"Don't even start with that lie Amata, you and I both know why I left in the first place, you oh so loving father, the magnificent leader who ordered Jonas death because he was afraid he would lose whatever power he had on our lives!" Maverick hotly replied, Amata simply sneered, something that Maverick found alien in her.

"What he did was for the good of the vault! I was a fool in helping you!" Amata hissed, "Oh really, did he help you when that asshole of Steve was beating you? Oh I forgot, he wasn't, he was actually watching!" Maverick yelled.

"He did what every leader does, sacrifices" Amata snapped, looking at Maverick with pure loathe and hate, there he saw what used to be his best friend was long gone, gone and forgotten to all but him.

"And what you did? you killed outstanding officers, all died by your hand, in the line of duty, you nearly killed my dad by your unrequited vendetta against his authority, you and your dad actions nearly caused the death of Monica, Christine lost her mother and her face was burned beyond recognition, she, Paul, and Monica would have died if the Enclave hadn't roll in and saved them" Amata snapped.

"How dare you!" Maverick snapped, "I didn't start the fires! The guards attacked me! I acted on self-defense! You think I would simply lie down and get beaten to death because it was the right thing to do? After what they did to Jonas? I didn't do nothing more than to defend myself, it was your father, the hypocrite who caused all those deaths, he and his over the top actions caused more deaths that the radroaches! I saw the Holdens being gun down on sight! Don't you dare to pin their deaths to me you bitch!" Maverick snapped angrily, that was enough for Amata.

Maverick saw her swing from a mile, but in his rage he didn't measured himself, he brought his right fist rather violently to the weapon she brandished to him like a club, the impact shattered the gun in tiny pieces, leaving Amata with just the grip of it, but this wasn't enough for Maverick, with a scream he brought his feet to her stomach, hard.

Now Maverick found odd that Amata didn't outright died for the blow, yet it was enough to lift her up in the air, all while holding her stomach, then landing on her back, rolling around, then stopping, basically on her knees, and then vomiting blood.

"You're sick Amata! You need help!" Maverick snapped, his eyes sad, yet determined, Amata simply chuckled when she was done vomiting blood.

"So…you heard about my little adventure" she said with a smirk.

"Adventure? You sick bitch, you killed an entire family, children included, you sick fuck!" Maverick snarled, advancing at her, Amata didn't look intimidated by this, yet she grunted in pain when Maverick lifted her by the left arm and swung her to the other end of the room.

Landing roughly on the ground and rolling, Amata slightly groaned as she tried to stand up, "Well…it seems the NEMEAN works after all" she hissed to herself, yet Maverick heard her, "NEMEAN? And implant? Amata what have you really been up to with the Enclave?" Maverick demanded.

"A lot, let's just say I am far better than I was before!" Maverick was surprised when she shot at him and actually nailed him with a right hook, then grabbed he sides of his head and began ramming her knees to his stomach, following it with a kick to his sides, Maverick had enough when he tried to nail him in the groin, his hands easily grabbed the leg aimed to his groin, and then squeezed.

Amata tried to endure, but the pressure on her leg was too much, releasing his head was a mistake as he suddenly tossed her leg back, and then back slapped her, making her stagger and spit blood, then gasp when he shoved her back, the force send her reeling backwards and onto her butt.

But Amata was far from done, standing up she pulled a combat knife from the back of her clothes, and began to sweep it to Maverick as she tried to slash him, Maverick kept his distance, not because the knife would cut him, but because Amata didn't knew the knife would not have any effect at all on him.

Ducking a sweep to his head, Maverick brought his fists to her right side, Amata grunted in pain when the blow met her unprotected ribs, it felt like a power armored fist, she didn't knew however that Maverick had to tone his strength down to not kill her, he couldn't kill her, he wouldn't kill her.

Hitting her sides with 'soft' blows, Maverick topped when he heard a crack of one of her ribs, Amata dropped her knife and took several steps back, holding her left side in pain.

"Amata! Please stop this! This doesn't to end this way!" Maverick pleaded, Amata just snarled at him, "Well Maverick, unfortunately for you, this will end in this way, we have Project Purity, we just need your father to finish what he started and then all will fall into place!" Amata snarled, slowly making her way towards a door.

"Dammit Amata! You're crazy! My dad has nothing to do with this war!" Maverick snapped, only to see when the door opened, and Butch DeLoria of all people came in, holding Amata by the shoulders.

"You're wrong Maverick" Butch said, Butch was as Maverick remembered him, slick hair, a leather jacket under his vault jumpsuit, a switchblade hidden on his jacket, the only thing that didn't fit was the plasma gun on his waist.

"He has everything to do" With that Butch took Amata to the other side of the door as this one closed, Maverick, in rage pulled That Gun and let two shots out, only to meet the already closed door, the impacts bending the steel easily.

"Ugh, dammit!" Maverick snapped, checking the damaged door to see if he could open it, then sighing, "…Why…just…why?" he wondered as he turned tail and went to the elevator.

But before he could reach the elevator, a nearby explosion near another door shook him, especially when these explosions were mimicked in every floor.

Maverick's curiosity of what those explosions did where answered when the door where that explosion came from suddenly opened, albeit with some resistance, and his eyes widened when he saw what seemed a emaciated bubbling corpse walk out, pure white eyes starting at him.

"Oh shit" Maverick snapped as he entered the elevator and the door closed as soon the walking corpse pulled something out of his stomach, and launched it at Maverick, Maverick just ducked the projectile of gore and shot the thing in the head, the overpowered bullet tearing its head off.

As the elevator rose off, more explosions were heard, making Maverick worried, even more when he heard gunshots.

"No" he hissed, really hoping this elevator could hurry it up.

Maverick never realized nor noted the plasma charges set on the base of the core generator until these blew off twenty minutes later.

---

Okay people, that's a wrap for this chapter, I told you this was going to be a longer chapter, and to have a lot of OC's, and even people of the wasteland, I know some might ask why Sandra is there and why the legion attacked the Pitt, well I took the ide of the pitt being destroyed by the legion from another story, one where both Sandra and Ashur are killed by Vulpes I believe and Marie is taken away, and so far it has only one chapter.

whatever the case I am satisfied with this chpater, now all that remains is for you all to read and let me know if you liked the chapter, as usual review, it helps a lot.

oh and for those who are eager for the Rayearth srtories, i am alreayd working on the chapters, i needed some steam to get back, and right now i'm on a roll.

so till next time, Hypn0s signs off, be well!