Snowflake on the Sand
Bonus chapter:
Troubles by the score
Hollow, would be a way to describe how Winter had felt for the last year. NCR flags adorned the strip as she walked by it, it left a bitter taste on her mouth. Her return to the Mojave was not how she had expected it, schematics on hand she was ready to begin the next step of their plan but when she got to the lucky thirty eight all she found was grief. Six had disappeared; the last time Sarah had seen him was too long for Winter's taste and so she ran to find him, Goodsprings was their first stop but there was nothing there, only blood leading to Primm. Winter then went from town to town searching for any trace of him.
She closed her eyes at memory, a part of her wished she never found him. But she did, or at least what was left of him. The scorpions had eaten most of him, leaving only part of his face intact. The sand did the rest of the work, leaving only a polished skull. Where, if one was morbid enough to do it, you could see two bullet marks on it.
Sarah had tried to see him but a crying Winter had stopped her, she begged her to not look. Winter cried and didn't stop crying for some time, she was alone on the wasteland for the first time. The news hit everyone like a truck, the Mojave changed, legion became more bold when they heard that their enemy had fallen, but thankfully Boone was there to stop some of the attacks. Six knew he was dying and Winter realized that he had left everything so that she could move forward.
Mr. House had been sympathetic to an extent but his vision and Winter's clashed in a way that she could not repair, he wanted Winter to kill everyone from The Brotherhood of Steel. Veronica's family and worse of all innocent, Winter had tried. She really did, infiltrated their base, acted as a double agent but she broke, she could not do it. She was not evil enough to kill people who were hiding in the dark, praying to live another day. The more she worked for them the more she realized that even if they really had no future, even if they were a bunch of assholes that thought every technology belong only to them. They deserved to live.
The NCR reached out to Winter, sharing their condolences but also suggesting that she did not support Mr. House further. The point of no return had come, so she delayed the inbetible she adided the NCR with their problems in Freeside. She went to Hoover Dam and stood next to Colonel Moore, it seems like the NCR wanted Mr. House gone and Winter was the soldier to do it.
"Excuse me mam, Courier Seven is looking for you" a member of the tops said, making Winter sigh and nod as she walked towards the once friendly girl. Sarah was no more, Six had a funny idea on how to save the Mojave and that was with training a replacement. Sadly, he had not foreseen the impact he had made on the small girl, she tried to emulate him but she was not a smooth talker or a fighter, but she was good at sneaking and apparently killing. Armed to the teeth and dressed in a Chinese stealth suit Sarah had wiped out her name from the face of the Wasteland and assumed the role of Courier Seven.
It was a mistake to let her like this, Winter had failed just like she had failed Arcade. And if she did not act fast she would also fail Veronica "What is it… Seven"
The blonde nodded at the name "Paladin Winter, sorry to keep you waiting… but I saw them, they are moving to Mexico"
The truce with the NCR had begun to fail already, Colonel Moore's hatred for her foes had won in the end and the hostilities began to escalate again. "What of the Legion?"
"Vulpes sent me a message, saying that he appreciates the weapons and that he's sorry… about your arm mam" Seven said as she looked away, Winter looked down at her arm and ignored the phantom pain. Lanius, monster of the East. Power armor meant nothing to him, he had shattered it against the rocks of the dam and before Winter could deal the final blow, Lanius ripped her arm off with his own hands and laughed. She was glad that the only time she would see him again would be in her nightmares. It took the combined might of the Brotherhood of Steel, the NCR and even the Enclave (their remnants) to make the Legion flee. Vulpes was the only one of the original power structure and so he was the new Caesar, the NCR tried to pursue but they could not catch them in time.
Therefore, they did what the NCR did in the past they began to expand towards their enemy. The power coming from Hoover enough to fuel their expansion, Winter now a decorated citizen of the NCR was given control of the Strip but as the months whore on Winter realized that the republic had no interest in helping her build a way back home. Their top scientist tried but their leaders refused, their time was wasted there they said, the rambles of a woman affected by war. They needed to focus on how to send the power back to the republic. Back to the greedy hand of the politicians and the Brahmin barons.
"Then if he's ready to attack, tell him that we will be there to support him" Winter said as she prepared her weapon, her sword was the only thing from her home that she had. But atleast she had a place to go, Sarah had refused to leave the Mojave when Winter told her of the plan she had prepared once the NCR made it clear that a civilian had no place with their military anymore.
She said she had a duty as Courier Seven to preserve the Mojave, Ulysses had agreed with her and so Winter had relented. The other courier was an addition to her party that she had not foreseen. Before the battle that had claimed her arm, Sarah had insisted on going to the divide, it was his last wish after all.
The Sierra Madre paled in comparison to the Divide, the wind alone could kill someone let alone the residents of the divide. So Winter took a shortcut, using her glyphs she managed to evade most of the creatures, when they reached the Temple of Ulysses Winter realized why Six had said that it was of most importance. Ulysses had barely turned to look at them when they entered, his sight on bombs that had yet to be activated. The key laid to rest along with Courier Six.
Sarah was the one who had approached Ulysses sharing her grief along with hope for the future, the older courier looked at the girl and said the words "So he succeeded in making a nation again" and had stayed by Sarah's side ever since. It had taken her some time, but Winter finally understood what he had meant, Vegas was going to get its independence.
NCR had once again spread too thin and their hold on everything was not going to last forever, looking down at her PipBoy she briefly glanced at the schematics provided by Doctor Mobius and for the first time in months smiled slightly, the brotherhood agreed to help her built the machine to get her back home all they needed was power and so she would give them all the power they would ever need.
"Yes Man"
The PipBoy changed as the smilig face of the AI came into view "You called?" Winter looked at the strip one more time and then her gaze lingered on the NCR embassy "It is time, contingency plan number five. Operation Beat Hunter is to be executed"
The AI flickered as the securitrons screens turned red, their weapons trained on every soldier of the NCR "As you wish!" and with that the pandemonium started. Courier Seven activated her stealth suit and disappeared into the crowd "Nu Legion should begin their attack right around now, the boomers have also cut off the long fifteen. No reinforcements will come to aid them"
"Then the brotherhood will mobilize, let us begin. For everyone we lost, we take the entire Mojave back today" Winter said as she walked towards the Mojave dessert once more to wage war and retake hoover damn with an army of securitrons behind her.
Winter Schnee was going home and there was no one who was going to stop her.
A/N: I actually wanted to kill Six believe it or not. I felt like it would have been an interesting twist, but the more I thought about the more it made less sense, Ulysses for example is basically useless without Courier Six story wise and he still has a big role he needs to play moving forward. So I scrapped the idea very early on, but I still wanted to give a glimpse into a world where Six was just not determined enough to get to the satellite (or just forgot to install de DLC). Winter would not be able to kill the Brotherhood I think and the NCR has always suited her better. How will this play out in the main story? Well you would just have to wait and see. Thank you for reading!