Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a big thank you for giving my story a chance, hope you'll like it.

Edit: Just wanna let you all know that I received your advice, and I have made some adjustments to this chapter, I fixed the grammar, changed the format of the character dialog, and fixed some parts that bother me a lot, it's still mostly the same story, I just changed some minor details (mostly in the flashback), hope is less of a mess now.

Final Edit (05/09/2023): After gaining some experience as a writer, I decided to look back and fix all the problems I could find here. Which were more than I wanted or expected, so I went from paragraph to paragraph fixing the grammar and the structure of said paragraphs. Now I hope people can read it and enjoy it without much trouble.

Prologue: The wanderer.

Before the world known as Remnant existed, the void was not empty, no, two powerful entities coexisted in it, a force of light and life, and a force of darkness and death. These entities always struggle to maintain the balance between them, and after centuries of creation and destruction, the gods finally found a way to make a truce.

They created mankind, gave them their gifts, the world, and let them be, but after spending time with their creations, they became disappointed with them and left the planet. They promised not to interfere with their decisions and maintain the balance.

And so they did, until now.

Now these forces are clashing in a way that could make the mountains fall, the seas dry off, and the stars explode, such power could not be understood by a mere mortal, however, if a mortal could understand what was at stake, if their brains were to process what was happening, then they would most likely see a family feud.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Why is this my fault again?"

"Your creatures are the ones disrupting the balance!"

"No! They are not! They are being commanded by that mortal woman"

"No mortal should ever have that much destructive power! This is your doing brother! So, tell me, what are you going to do about it?!"

This was supposed to be an easy mission.

That is the thought that roams the mind of a young man in his mid-twenties while walking through the streets of a shady town established on what used to be the outskirts of Texas. With the sun on his back (as well as a hunting rifle), a sword on his hip, and an exhausted demeanor, he approaches his destination, a pub on the east side of town. A greyish-colored two-story building on the corner of the street, the sign on the front reads; Dante's, and the graffiti over it was; See you in hell.

Strangely fitting.

The bar also works as a hotel and sometimes as a brothel (when the girls didn't make enough money in the week).

*Sight* let's get this over with.

He was tired, not in a physical way, mind you, no, more like he was REALLY stressed and annoyed, but more on that later.

In the streets; a couple of kids play, merchants sell their goods, others eat and drink, and some houses began to light up. In all honesty, the place wasn't so bad, it wasn't one of the biggest or wealthiest settlements, but it does hold commercial importance, all caravans have to pass thru here to reach Legion territory.

Don't know much about them except that they are a massive force of slavers, who, for some reason, took their ideals and wardrobe from the Roman Empire, or at least that's what I've heard.

Nevertheless, you must be careful of what you say and do around here, someone is always listening, someone is always watching. The moment the young man steps inside the building, he sees some eyes turning his way, but they quickly dismiss him as they continue talking, drinking, and gambling.

"Hey, Snake! It's about damn time you showed up!"

''Snake'' turns his head to see a big man of dark skin, bald but with a prominent beard, who was all the way across this ''fine'' establishment next to the bar. The owner of the pub/Inn stood almost seven feet tall and had been waiting for his client with two really big duffle bags on the floor in front of him. Making his way across drunks and gamblers, this wanderer manages to reach his destination with no one trying to pick a fight or puke on him, so far so good.

"Evening, Robert."

"You knew your time was up at six, I was about to see if you had something good to pay me with."

"What happened to customer courtesy?" Snake asks as he leans down to check his bags.

"That one runs out once your time's up."

"Fair enough."

"What took you so long, anyway? That radio station ain't that far from town."

"Well, the pieces you provide me with weren't exactly world-class."

"Pfff you get what you paid for, you don't like it? Then tell our so-called major to stop being such a cheap bastard."

As a vault dweller, it had always amused him how in some settlements, a resident of said community could have equal or even more influence than the actual figures of authority. Since his arrival at this town, the Wanderer has been doing whatever job he could get, and today he was instructed by the major to fix the radio station that's on a cliff outside the town.

They use that thing to broadcast their position to any caravan close by, or since the place is on higher ground, give an alert if raiders came. But the only one with the parts needed to fix the antenna of the station was Mr. Robert, the Innkeeper, and he never gives anything cheap. After ensuring that all his belongings were in the bags, he proceeds to pay the big man for his last day at the Inn.

"That will be; one hundred caps, you know what, Snake? I was getting used to having you around, you're a bit nosey, but at least you paid with actual money."

The pot, calling the kettle black. The young man thoughts as the owner gives the money to the bartender, who, in turn, puts it in a little safe behind the bar.

"So, your last day on this dumb, huh? Why leaving so soon?" The big man asks as he leans back against the wall and crosses his arms.

As I was saying.

"Meh, not a real reason." He responded with a dull and monotonous voice as he raises his shoulders. "I don't like being held in one place for too long, just that."

"You mercenary types always on the move."

"Why do you ask?"

"Hmm, just curious, I know the place ain't exactly the best, but …"

Don't fall for his trap.

"But what?"

Dammit.

"Well, you have tried too damn hard to prove yourself useful around here, so it was natural for one to think you would stay."

"I just needed the caps, and I like to do a good job, after all, they are paying me for it." Said the Wanderer, not showing any change in his voice. "Plus, a gun for hire has a better shot with the caravans and the road rather than just a small town."

"That's debatable."

He's right.

"Well, I'm not an entrepreneur like yourself, Robert, but the road does give you a lot more freedom."

"Well, if money is the reason, why don't you work for me then? I'll always have a spot for people who can get the job done."

"As I said, don't like being held to one place."

"In the run?"

"And you say that I'm nosey."

The bar owner just responded with a small smirk to his remark. "Need anything else before you head out?"

"Now that you ask, dinner and a drink would be nice."

"The usual?"

"The usual."

"And for the drink?"

"Rum and Nuka, please." The Innkeeper smirks once again (in a more mocking way) and motions to the bartender, who starts preparing the drink. He wasn't, by all means, a drinker (he didn't like the taste) but needed something to relax and an excuse to stay a while longer.

"Where are you going? I could use some muscle. Have a packet that needs to be taken care of." Said the Innkeeper.

"Sorry, not a mailman."

"Didn't you say that you needed the money?"

"Let's just say that people who work for you don't usually end well."

"Only the ones who snitch on me."

"Still, no thanks, plus, I don't have any place in mind. I'm just going to ... wander around."

"Humph, yeah, of course, you are."

What does that even mean?

"Anyway, here is your girly drink." The big man says as the bartender passes the drink to its customer. "You're gonna have to wait for your food, so take a seat and make yourself comfortable, Snake."

The young man picks up his bags, takes his drink, and turns around to go and find a suitable table, not before shouting. "Stop calling me Snake!"

"Give me a real name and then we talk!"

The kid from Vault 101, well, not much of a 'kid' anymore, finds himself an unoccupied table near the entrance. With a heavy sigh he sits down at the table and starts taking sips of his drink. The vault dweller was wearing his full set of wanderer's leather armor under his tunnel snake jacket, a pair of military boots, and a pair of biker goggles over his short brown hair.

He has a lot of things on his mind lately, the first of which was that he needed to be better at concealing his identity. After so many years of roaming the wastes, he has won a big bounty on his head for several reasons, and even in places so far from the east coast, his name was well known. That's the reason he usually uses an alias; "The Lone Wanderer", but after a while, that name got him in even more trouble than the real one.

So, nowadays, he tries not to give any name at all if he can have it his way, and when needed to provide one (like, for example, let's say; while renting a room) he made something up, and yet again he failed miserably. The Innkeeper and some others saw easily through his bullshit, as the big man called it, and started referring to him as Snake.

He's relatively good at talking to people and was able to convince them to aid him or change their minds, but he wasn't capable of lying. This is just one of the many thoughts that roams the mind of 101, the most recent one being; what the heck was wrong with Rum & Nuka? But there is one that resonates louder than the others.

This was supposed to be an easy mission.

But then again, nothing is ever easy when the Enclave is involved. It has been six and a half years since the battle at Adamas Air Force Base, and somehow, small pockets of what just to be old government have managed to survive, even to go off the radar in the last couple of years.

The lone Wanderer didn't even know he was following their lead at the start of this journey, this all started three weeks ago while exploring the Midwest Commonweal, more specifically, the state of Minnesota. He was chasing some rumors that told the story of the single skyscraper that stood alone in the once-great city of Minneapolis, according to the rumors; big giants of blue skin with the ability to disappear in midair lived inside the old building.

The mission was simple then; go, scout the area, and get back with the findings to the ship, but the moment he got there, well, things got an interesting turn.

We see a man in a full set of black combat armor; with a helmet and a balaclava-type mask over his face, walking through the ruins of a long-forgotten city. Laser rifle in hand and sniper rifle on his back, he checks his surroundings to be sure he is alone. His destination is only a couple of miles ahead and can be seen since entering the ruins.

Now, you may be asking yourself, why was him of all people following rumors that sounded like tales from an old pre-war comic book? Well, to be honest, the explanation was rather dumb, he was hoping to find an old US government bunker.

Oh! And how do I know about the existents of such a bunker? Well … I heard a … rumor … okay, look, I know that following a rumor to find another rumor is redundant and stupid, but hear me out.

This was an old rumor from the Brotherhood of Steel, who also had some old records from the US military to support it, these records were heavily encrypted and somewhat damaged, so it took the scribes nearly fifty years to get something good out of them, the extracted files refer to a storage bunker for your average military equipment; lasers, plasma, power armor and the like, but what really pique the interest off the higher-ups were some items classified as experimental, however, the little information they got didn't exactly tell them the location of this bunker, and so they weren't able to do much.

They sent patrols to try and find any other records that mentioned something about these pre-war marvels, but they didn't find any. Even Lions had sent search patrols when he first came to DC with little to no results.

So, after so many years of what appeared to be a wild-goose chase, every brother and sister thought of this little treasure like one would think of a fairy tale. Maybe the bunker was destroyed, maybe the government had relocated the equipment, hell! Maybe the items had already been discovered! A lot of gear and weapons they and other factions use were classified as government-only or experimental by old-world standards.

Stopping his tracks for a moment, he aims the rifle to his left side, where rubble and dust were starting to rise from the ground, then a white pale paw emerges, and afterward, a similar-looking head with large incisors came to view.

"Hey, little buddy, you startled me for a second." Said the Wanderer as he lowers his weapon and gets closer to the big rodent. "Your type usually goes for packs of three to four, are you lost?"

The mole rat only growls in response.

"Relax, I'm not here for you."Said the wastelander while getting close enough to bend his knee in front of the little mole rattie and extend an arm to it.

This action causes the rat to flinch back, but then it takes a step forward, catching the scent of this stranger, and well, it was nice. Subsequently, the man starts petting it.

"There you go."

He likes animals, and after spending some time with a certain mad scientist/shop owner, he discovered a newfound admiration for mole rats. Now, back to the topic at hand, why did he think this place could hide the pre-war wonders that neither Lyons nor the rest of the brotherhood was able to find? It was mostly a hunch and a lack of options, according to reports in the citadel they had never been able to send men this far north of the country, always had something better to do than follow every drug-indulging tale they came across, but apparently, he didn't! hehehe … *sigh* I need to re-think my priorities.

They have already exhausted the options on other sides of the country, so it's more likely to find the bunker or a clue of its whereabouts here. If I don't find anything, I'll probably have to try other places like the Commonwealth or maybe even Hawaii.

Nonetheless, that skyscraper remains unique, not only for its rumors but because of the state of the 'city' itself, utterly destroyed, and yes, I know that's the norm for everything in the world, but when I said 'destroyed' what I meant; was obliterated.

That skyscraper was the ONLY THING that remains of Minneapolis. What used to be a great metropolis was now reduced to a pile of rubble, the land was made up of craters, and its only inhabitants were radroaches and mole rats. This place had been hit harder than DC, the vault dweller was thankful that time had helped mitigate the radiation, otherwise, he would have needed more than just a couple of radaways, and rad-x for this trip.

Which begs the question, why was Minneapolis a bigger target than even the Capital during the war?

In his search for answers nothing came up, there are no records that mention something of THAT importance in the city; no bunker, no military base, no important personnel of the government, nothing.

The more he knew, the more intriguing this place became. The old government had a missile defense system in case the bombs dropped (although it couldn't do much against the end of the world) and was the reason important and strategic locations remain mostly intact. So the only way for this building to be standing today had something to do with it being really high on the priority list, and that just makes it even more complicated. What secrets did it hide? As a member … sorry, as a former member of the Brotherhood, it was in his duty to retrieve any technologies that could aid or harm mankind.

*grrr* he hears the 'little' mammal growl, however, before 101 could see what happen, he hears it.

*BANG, BANG*

The so familiar sound of gunfire came to his ears, not long after, explosions could seem emerging from inside the building, bringing down big chunks of concrete and steel. Taking this as his lead, he started rushing through the rubble while taking cover until reaching the higher ground where he could put his sniper to good use, but the moment he draws the weapon, everything got quiet, as if his mere presence was able to put an end to all the fighting.

Knowing that wasn't the case, he uses the sniper to try and get a clear picture of the situation… and there was nothing, more accurately, there wasn't anybody. After a battle like the one he just heard, he would surely be able to see something. The winners replenishing ammo, taking care of any injuries, packing things up, and moving along before something bigger came, but there was nothing, not even the dead bodies of the enemy.

And it wasn't like they could just hide from his sight, the explosions from earlier had sent any remaining windows from the lowers floors flying away in pieces, the structure seems too unstable to try and climb it, and although there was always the possibility of a bomb shelter underneath the building, if he was right in his assumptions, then that shelter would be just as impenetrable as a vault.

Reevaluating the area with the scope, he didn't want to go inside with no intel on the situation, all of a sudden a pair of double doors busted open on the east side of the building, and two big crates, oh! No, three, three big crates came flouting out… I was sure a had taken my rad-x.

Tempted to check on his Pip-Boy to see if he had hallucinations caused by radiation poisoning, he dismisses the idea the moment he glances over said machine and sees the little yellow light indicating movement near him.

Seeing through his weapon once again, he got a glance of a slight shimmer beneath the containers, one he knew very well. Switching his scope from normal view to infra-red, the Wanderer saw what appeared to be the forms of at less a dozen heavily armed super mutants. Being unable to identify the weapons, he guesses flame throwers and miniguns by the shapes and the way they carry them.

Gathering the new information with the strange rumors of blue giants, the former sentinel quickly came to a conclusion.

Nightkin

An old foe of the Brotherhood

'They serve the master of the mutants, deathly warriors who use the night as their anonymity, one of the few cases where these abominations had shown intelligence, extremely paranoid and violent' I think it was something like that.

Recalling some old entry in the Brotherhood database, he had learned about their existence while conducting his own research on super mutants, and yet, he had never encountered them.

After the defeat of 'The Master' and his army on the west coast, the Brotherhood and other factions hunted down any remaining forces of this 'unity'. As high-ranking officers, the Nightkin were the first to go, but they proved their efficiency on the battlefield, with great training in weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and stealth, they were the perfect killers, going in and out without a sound, even without the help of stealth boys (something really impressive, considering their size) however, they had a major flaw; their dependence on stealth boys.

Prolonged use of the equipment had damaged their sanity; caused schizophrenia, dementia, and even dissociative identity disorder. After all, stealth boys and any other variant were still being tested at the time they were made. The side effects take a long time to manifest in humans, according to old medical reports, although, for some reason, they appear incredibly fast in mutants.

So yes, they are dangerous, however, their mental state makes them unorganized and delusional. I know a couple of strategies and battle plans to take them out ... yet again, this was a recon mission, and there is no real reason to fight.

Waiting until all the mutants came out of the building, the Wanderer kept a close eye on their movements as it appeared they were getting ready to leave.

Huh, so this isn't a permanent base, I'll better wait.

One more look thru the scope.

The crates have the RobCo logo on them, *humm* if they take something important, I'll have to track them.

Focusing on each heat signature, his gaze ended up on the one in front of the group.

He seems to be the one giving orders, why was it carrying a Brahmin skull? And was that one carrying a … oh no.

Switching his scope to its original view, the scene of someone in power armor being dragged on the floor appeared before him. The last Nightkin to get out of the building was dragging a poor bastard by his left arm like a ragdoll. The armor was a mess; the helmet lacked the lens, parts of the right leg were missing, the right arm appeared to be crushed, it had dents all over, and the left leg was bent in a way it shouldn't be.

But what mostly drew his attention was the type of armor this person was wearing; Hellfire power armor, Enclave armor.

What are THEY doing here?

After looking around for any other movements in the building or the surrounding area, and also checking the radar on his Pip-Boy, just in case, he didn't detect anything else.

Well, if the Nightkin are the ones walking out of here, it goes without saying that they are no longer a threat.

After dragging the corpse of the poor soldier a while longer, the mutant tosses it to the side near some rocks as it leaves the zone with the rest of the group. They seemed to be in a hurry.

Knowing their mental state, they probably don't like to be out in the open for too long.

Giving them a few more seconds to move along before approaching the old structure, the Nightkin leave the area. His objectives are now the following: get inside the building, find out what occurred here, and investigate that Enclave trooper for clues (optional). Crouching and carefully moving through the rubble to get closer to the east entrance without alerting anybody of his presence, the vault boy started to analyze the landscape.

(Perception Check: Pass.)

The state of the terrain indicates that the battle began outside, with several burn marks and bullet holes on the walls, by the size of those, probably 5mm caliber, Mutant's doing.

Getting next to one of the walls, he put his hand over it.

Although, these can't be resent, not with those rumors running around for a while.

Walking to the east entrance, where the Nightkin had come from, he encounters a long corridor holding half-broken and half-burned barricades alongside some busted-out terminals and other broken electronics.

Hmm, I doubt the equipment belongs to the mutants.

Turning his head to the sides, he saw more burn marks on the walls, although they are different from the ones outside.

Some of these were made by plasma, Enclave, and *sniff* is that gas?

Turning around to face the fallen soldier, he makes his way to them, wanting to see if the trooper had something useful before entering.

Let's recap; the rumors of the ''blue giants'' have been circulating on nearby settlements for quite a while now, but the evidence suggests that the Enclave was the one using this place as a base of operations or a hideout at least. There are signs of multiple battles fought within these walls, using the same type of weaponry, so I guess the Enclave sought out the site first, and when they finally set in, the Nightkin came and overrun them, with no other option they felt back to a ''safe'' place inside.

Our soldier quickly gives a second glance at the building and the used-to-be barricades.

However, being under siege is never an ideal situation.

The body was facing the ground, and the closest he got, the more beat up it appeared to be. They burned them soo badly that some parts of the armor got melted, the fusion core is leaking, and it was a miracle it hasn't exploded yet, although it did let the armor without energy, at this rate, it will not be long before the waste gets thru the metal and into the person's back. The left leg was bent to the side of the body, next to the hip, the other leg (the most exposed part of the armor) was completely cooked, the meat was red, and it was palpitating, chunks of metal now merged with the skin, and that was probably the state of grand part of the body. This was a mess, so you can imagine the Wanderer's surprise when the corpse started making noises.

"aaa ... aa... agh..."

No way

"agh ... agh"

No friking way

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

HOW?!

Running to the side of the power armor, the Wanderer uses all his strength to turn it around, ignoring the heat that it radiated. Now, facing its mask and seeing its bloodshot eyes thru the broken lens, he quickly reaches out for the helmet.

*Klunk Klunk shhh*

Hearing the mechanism unhooking the mask from the rest of the armor, he takes it off, revealing a beat up men with blonde greasy short hair (or what was left of it), his left eye had been popped out of his skull, and he could barely keep the other one open, the flames had managed to burn his forehead and the left side of his face.

And now he was spitting up blood.

Dammit!

(Strength check: Pass)

Lifting him by the torso and placing his upper body against a big rock so that he wouldn't drown in his own blood, the Wanderer tries to help him.

"Hey, hey, hey! Can you hear me?" Said our wastelander while giving him light slaps on his un-burned cheek. "Soldier, can you hear me?!"

"Wh ... wh-what?"

"Can you reach the manual override on the left side of your suit?"

"I ...I... wha...who..." Said the Enclave trooper, not entirely sure of what was happening.

"I said. Can. You. Reach. The manual override?"

"Wh-who are… agh!"

Seeing that the man wasn't capable of helping himself, the Wanderer tried to access the manual emergency opening mechanism on the lower back of the suit. With his right hand, he reaches out and opens a small compartment.

The handle should be around here … gotcha!

101 pulls the handle on the armor, however, the mechanism doesn't open.

What?

Pulling it once again only got him the same results.

Why isn't it working?!

"h...he...he-help" Pleaded the man.

This thing was designed so that no matter how bad the external parts and other systems got, the user could still get out no matter what ... unless.

"The armor's frame is damaged." 101 stated. For someone to make this much damage to one of the most advanced sets of power armor.

"What happen to you?" He inquired while facing the man.

There was little that could be done to aid him. His injuries are too severe and too many. Multiple fractures, second and third-degree burns, most likely internal hemorrhages, and to top it off, he was trapped in a bunch of worthless metal. He didn't have much time left, his armor had become his grave.

The young ex-sentinel stares right into his eyes. You can learn a lot about a man's true nature in his last moments, he saw resentment, hate, and regret, but mostly pain and fear. He doesn't know this man, in another time, he may just have gone for the kill the moment he saw him move, the Enclave was at war with him, and he was at war with everything they represent.

"Ple...please."

He was going to die, the Wanderer knew it, and he knew it. Was about to be returned to the land, to wastes.

''For dust you are and to dust, you will return''.

That's just how things are, but it didn't mean it made any less frightening.

*Pip, Pip, Pip, Pip*

The noise came from his Pip-Boy, indicating the incoming transmission, one of the many new features he had implemented on the machine.

"One Oh One here, over".

"Hey! Dude, the ship detected a lot of movement leaving your place, soooo umm, how are you doing buddy? Still in one piece?" Said a taunting voice over the transmission.

"Butch? Where's Charon?"

"Sucking my di... Hey! Give me ... *Bzzzz* Sorry for that, the brat is being a nuisance." Responded an annoyed and raspy voice. "Everything is all right down there?"

"Everything is fine, there was a battle between Enclave forces and Super Mutants, what you detected were the mutants leaving, over."

"Do you need support? Any survivors?"

"Negative, one man, but he isn't going to make it, prepare yourselves and the mother ship for extraction and recollection, Over."

"Got it, over."

*Sigh*

"Soldier, can you hear me?" The Traveler asks as he pulls out a sharp object from one of his back pockets.

He didn't even know his name, but he knew enough to understand what was in front of him. In front of the wanderer lays a soldier, a fighter, a survivor. A trooper who follows orders and will stop at nothing to complete them, who will scourge the land and humanity if needed, and all that for his ideals.

Ideals that I despise.

Rising his hand with the object, he inserts it on the man's neck and then pushes the plunger of the syringe, injecting him with a strong dose of med-x.

That should be enough. Thought the Wanderer as he extracts the needle.

"Soldier, you have fulfilled your duty, have fought the good fight … and now it's time to rest." In front of the Wanderer lays a man that is just like him. He was going to die, but his final moments didn't need to be filled with pain and fear, there is already too much of that in the world. There was still a hint of bad emotions in his eyes, reasonable, although it seems the chem was starting to do its work as the pain slowly dissipated from his face.

"T… thanks"

Everything that needed to be said and done was done. Now it was time to give this man some peace before passing away, but at that moment, the trooper decided to do one final act on this plane of existence. Something that if asked; why? Why did he do it? He wouldn't be able to respond, something he shouldn't have done.

"Ta-tag … my tag."

"Huh?" Understanding what he meant, our vault boy gets closer and carefully snatches the dog tags from his neck. There were two holotags that, like the rest of him, were burned and a bit melted, although the letters were still distinguishable. But what caught his attention was what appeared to be a … holo-card? It was a card that looked somewhat like the tags and other holo-type technologies, it seems like a type of passcard of some sort, but it was intact without any damage caused by the fire.

"Find ... the Do-Doctor"

"Doctor?" Asks 101, but time was up, and the burned man just stared into the distance.

"Long live … the Enclave" Said exhaling his last breath.

"Soldier? "Checking his neck for pulse, the Wanderer confirmed his death.

*sigh* Putting a hand over the man's face, he closes his eyes and recites a few last words.

"If you are out there, and if you can hear me, please give this man some closure in the next life."

After inspecting the body for anything else that may be useful, our Wanderer stood up and continued his way into the building, with the last words of the remnant echoing in his mind.

"Long live the wasteland."

"Sir?"

"Uh? Oh!" Dragging him out of his memories was the voice of one of the waitresses; a blue eyes woman with blonde hair caught up in a ponytail. She was wearing a torn-out and worn-out blue short-sleeved blouse that revealed a bit too much of her cleavage, with a mini skirt of the same color, ripped black fishnet tights, and a pair of black boots. She was bringing him his food.

I think her name was Sheary, Shary? Shaery? Shaery, it was Shaery.

"Thank you, Miss Shaery."

"It's Sharyl, actually."

"Oh, sorry about that"

"Don't sweat it, hon." She said while putting the plate on the table and giving him a soft smile. "You're one of the few who leaves us good tips. Need anything else sugar?"

"I'm okay" Said while returning the smile. "Thank you very much, miss -."

"Sharyl." Remarks the woman.

"Sharyl."

This makes her giggle.

"Sharyl!" Shouted Robert to the young girl.

"What?!"

"Move your sweet ass and get back to work! You have more tables to attend!"

With a loud huff, Sharyl complies and gets over to the bar to take more orders.

This guy could give Moriarty a run for his money.

Looking down on the table was his food, nothing special, just a brahmin steak with a side of mashed potatoes.

Thanks for the meal.

Okay, so, to sum up, what happened after his encounter with the burned man, is that he was right, there is an old US government bunker under that skyscraper, and the Enclave was using it as a base of operations, with a dozen men stationed there.

Well, a dozen and a half, I didn't find the torso of that last one.

And the pre-war Marvels? Used to be there as well, ''Used to'' being the keywords on that sentence. You see, after having to seek protection inside the bunker, the Enclave shut the vault-type door behind them. Being in a fortified bunker with enough weapons and armor to supply a small guerrilla group would have been all they needed to save themselves, but they didn't have access to any of them; at that moment in time, they were only able to open the main entrance of the bunker, and nothing else.

The layout of the complex was rather small, there were only other three rooms, and each one was supposed to hold different types of equipment; armor, weapons, and experimental respectably, but they were all stashed behind incredibly difficult locked doors. So they were trapped with almost no food, low on ammo, and no backup. They tried to get the weapons, their only hope of salvation, and after I don't know how much time, they ended up opening the experimental wing.

A lot of interesting gadgets and schematics, but nothing that could help them with the super-mutant problem.

They may have made it out if not for the mutants. Somehow the Nightkin managed to redirect what was left of the building's gas from the gas valves into the air ducts, and then they proceeded to blow them all to kingdom come. This act caused a chain of explosions detonating all around the building, and it was a miracle that the explosions didn't reach the mutants as well, even so, they did achieve their goal. The explosions inside the bunker wiped out half of the Enclave forces (the ones that didn't use power armor), leaving the other half damaged and confused, and activated the safety protocols of the bunker, opening the main door. After that, the mutants gun them down quite easily, tortured our burned man for questions, and lastly, took some crates with stealth-boys and left.

The explosions had also opened the other areas of the bunker and destroyed all valuable equipment as well! Everything was gone except for some stuff on the experimental wing (like the stealth boys). Since the system was hacked in order to open the room, it didn't respond correctly to the safety protocols and remained closed. There were some minor explosions inside that busted out the terminals but left the room otherwise mostly intact. He was lucky that one of the Enclave soldiers had managed to save some records and schematics from the experimental wing on the external memory of his armor.

I downloaded them to my Pip-Boy with any other files I could gather from the facility, and that brings us to the next topic, why was the Enclave there? And who is ''the Doctor''?

Those answers came in the form of personal logs from the fallen remnants. After Project Purity succeeded and the Brotherhood kicked the Enclave out of the Capital, the remaining troops succumbed to chaos. With no chain of command and the BoS hunting them down, a lot of them deserted or turned against one another. This particular platoon was at first going for the latter until someone contacted them; Doctor Patrician Stanley.

For the Enclave of all people to be so willing to trust an outsider, shows how desperate they were.

She promised them a place to hide, a place to re-group, supplies, and a way to give them back the power they lost. If, and only if, they followed her orders. With no other options, the remnants accepted and received their first order; find and secure the ''holo card''.

Apparently, this holo card is more than just some sort of pass card. Is a sophisticated, high-density data storage device created before the war by the US government and different high-tech corporations. The Enclave searched tirelessly until they found it in the ruins of Minneapolis, unfortunately, their achievement didn't last long.

According to encrypted records and schematics from the bunker, there are two holo cards, both have important data and computer systems needed to activate one of the most ridiculous and incredible pieces of machinery made by mankind, the Garden Of All Creation (GOAC).

I'm not kidding when I say that the schematics of this machinery make me want to look at it in awe and punch me in the face for how ridiculous and impossible it is.

The man didn't even know the full length of this thing's capabilities, even so, from what he could gather, it had two major functions (he didn't know one of the two, though); the first one being the ability to modify matter at a subatomic level without any type of restrainment. You could transform a rock into a grenade, and it worked on a grant scale too, say, you want to transform a town into a pool of water? Done. This… thing stretched the boundaries of science and fiction to a whole new level.

At first, I thought this was just a bunch of wacky nonsense … until I saw two things on those records. One was the amount of funding that went into its development (Both from the government and corporations) and the support of renowned scientists like Doctor Braun (the madman responsible for the GECK).

The number of people involved in the project was just absurd, General Atomics, Poseidon Energy, Vault-Tec, the list went on.

Kind of strange that RobCo wasn't on it, now that I think about it.

And two was that the machine was a hybrid between human Tec and alien Tec… I'm not making this up, that's literally what the schematics said, and I know how dangerous alien Tec is, I command a mother ship!

He's been studying the ship for five years now, and he doesn't even know how half of the things worked. He can also confirm that the files didn't lie, what they describe to be alien Tec is the same tec he has on the ship, the GOAC may not even work, but he couldn't take any chances.

The logs also said to meet on this settlement once the job was done, so he did, took some of his best equipment, and arrived in the town a week sooner to try and gather intel on the Doctor. While the rest of his crew followed the Nightkin, having a bunch of schizophrenic mutants with the ability to turn invisible running around unchecked is a recipe for trouble. The Doctor must know this place well enough for it to be a meeting point, but nothing has come up, she probably used a false name or alias.

Maybe the whole Patrician Stanley was a false name, but that is the only thing I have, this whole mission has left me mentally exhausted.

"Agh!" A man shouted from the other side of the place while holding his right hand. "This bitch broke my wrist!"

Who?

Walking away from the man was Sharyl, who was staring daggers at the guy.

"Learn how to read!" Robert shouted back from his spot on the bar while pointing to one of the many signs on the establishment, this one read: Don't touch if the girls don't want.

Okay, at least he doesn't force the girls. I'll give him that.

Right now, the Wanderer can only wait for the Doctor to show up. The plan is to pass as one of the Enclave remnants and get her to spill out what she knew, he has prepared everything and made plans for any contingency imaginable, and yet, his gut tells him something is off.

Looking down on his chest were the burned man's tags and the holo card hanging from his neck. For some reason, there was this strange feeling he can't suppress, it runs thru his whole body, like the one he got the first time he left the vault and the time when he left the Brotherhood and the Capitol. Thinking back to the list of people involved in the creation of the GOAC, there was a research center that he had never heard of, and just thinking of the name made him feel odd, a place called Big MT.

Thank you very much for reading my story, is the first fic I have ever made, so please help me be a better writer, leave a review, tell me if it's good, bad, horrible and anything in between, and if you like what I made I'll publish chapter two, that one will be from the Couriers point of view. English is not my first language, so I'm sorry if I messed up with the grammar (I'm using Word and Grammary to help me with it), I'm also taking an English class at my college, so, I'll improve. Thank you again and goodbye.