Sandstorm over Remnant
Chapter 10
Goodbye New Old World
Smoke rose from behind the highway man as Six felt the barely standing two hundred piece of metal groan in what could he only assume was the machine spirit saying "let me die". Six gave a gentle pat to the wheel to ease its woes.
"Hold on just a bit longer, get us to Vegas" Six head a snort next to him as Weiss looked at him from the passenger's seat with an unreadable expression "That's not reassuring like… at all" Six chuckled "Come on Weiss, have some faith I fixed this old boy myself"
Weiss gave him a glare "Ruby said you held the thing together with tape, a prayer and a lot of hits from a wrench"
"… I mean yeah, but I fixed it" Six gave her a grin. Weiss simply grumbled something inaudible as she tried to make herself comfortable on the ancient vehicle. She looked towards Ruby who was asleep on the back, envying her leader's ability to sleep like a log no matter were she was. Letting out a sigh she resumed to stare out of the window as miles of nothingness passed her by, the odd building here and there completely empty of life. But her mood did lift up when she spotted a heard of wild Big-Horners in the distance gently grazing the fields.
Six noticed this and smiled "Nice, Big-Horners. We're getting close to Vegas, I can't wait to get nice booze again. It's been too long" Weiss gave him a look "Didn't you say that you were trying to kick the habit?"
"I mean I am but... I wont drink much promise. Winter would skin me if I did go a little too happy hour on her" Six chuckled but Weiss simply remained silent. The courier turned to look at her to try and see what was wrong "Cap for your thoughts?"
Weiss looked at him and then at the gun he had place on the dashboard "… I feel bad for you"
Six raised an eyebrow "And why would you feel that?"
"You live here. In this place, I guess Winter's stories never really clicked until now. People live here without hope, with nothing resembling civilization and killing like monsters is just part of the day" Weiss looked outside again "And they fight for nothing… there is nothing out here to fight for."
Six shook his head "Not here that muc h is true you know. but that has more to do with the position this is in, we are in the border of the largest country in the wasteland Weiss. People do care about the land, not just here… some years ago this place was considered cursed by many" Weiss looked at the courier with no name with curiosity as he prepared himself to tell a story "The NCR was in need to expand after something happened with their government. This area was considered but back then it was infested by raiders and… other undesirables. The fall of Vault 18 triggered a set of events that made the NCR considered all this area a waste of time, not when there was something bigger on the horizon"
Six motioned with his head as in the distance lights could be seen forming across the sky, a beacon of humanity. Weiss stared in awe as little by little she could make out in the distance something akin to civilization. Still too far for her too truly glimpse what it was but compared to the pitch darkness behind her as they left the territory it was a god send.
"Vegas, the only city that survived the apocalypse. Along with the largest energy generator this side of the country, the NCR abandoned the cursed area and put all their attention on this place. It became their top priority and I don't think places like this will become important for a very long time… not until the Hub or one of the important cities needs it to be. That's how life is around here, only time can tell what happens now that Vegas doenst belong to the NCR"
Weiss hummed as she nodded "Winter mentioned something like that, you and your boss are the owners of the city right?"
"House owns the city and the Mojave dessert. I just help him out because I believe he is the best hope for humanity to not only get back to its feet but thrive once more. Maybe with your help we can do it again" Six said with a small smile as Weiss nodded with gusto "As heiress to the Schnee dust company I promise to lend a hand, we only need to work out a deal with my father. Something flashy to catch his attention should do and he would gladly send more than enough to restore some cities"
Six saved that bit of information for later as he placed a hand on the teen's shoulders "Thanks kid I can tell why Winter is so proud of you"
"S-she… ehem, she told you that?"
Six chuckled "Of course she didn't; you know your sister. But I can see it in her eyes when she spoke of you and how she would look at the moon when she missed home"
Weiss pouted a bit but she could not deny the warmth that spread across her chest at the thought that Winter, her idol and her closest family member thought highly of her. She would not let her down "Go to sleep kid we still have some time to go before we get to Vegas, take a note from your leader. She knows whats up" Ruby snored from the backseat as a response. The white haired heiress smiled "No, I don't feel tired yet. Besides you need company, I have a sneaking suspicion that if left alone you would drink from that flask of yours. Don't think I didn't notice that you filled it with whatever those savages back there called alcohol"
Six laughed "Sharp eye eh? Fine I won't… for now anyways"
The Legion dropped Winter and YB off in the outskirts of Novac and immediately turned back, the only reason they didn't try to slit their throats then and there was because they had honor(or fear of Lanius).
Winter simply glared at the retreating forms "Are you two all right?"
"Fine" Blake muttered as she rubbed her feet through her shoes "But I could use some rest, I think we have walked for hour without end"
Winter nodded "We did, but staying long in Legion territory is never a good idea. Those bastards… I can't believe they still control part of this region" it was naïve to think they would run with their tails behind their legs back to their feudal towns. But she expected them to atleast pull back a bit, without NCR presence Legion was content with watching with disdain towards the land they could never have, for Vegas and the other large settlements this was no problem. They could fend them off just fine but for small towns like Novac it was a constant worry, they could be raided or worse.
Yang for her part was busy trying to get scroll to work "Come on… come on, I want a picture with the large lizard"
Winter shook her head "I would suggest that you save that for tomorrow. The sun is begginign to set and you wont get a clear picture of it" she looked at Blake and Yang, both of the teens looked pretty tired and if they were lucky they still had a days walk to get to Vegas"
"Let's go. I own a small room in this place, we need to get our strength back" Winter motioned to the girls to follow her as she could see the sun begin to sink in the horizon. Some of the prospectors that were returning from their long days of work spotted Winter and the duo behind her and waved at her with gusto.
Winter waved back amicably as she entered the main town proper. Cliff Brisco walked out of the Dinosaur not noticing her until she coughed into her fist "Oh hello again! it has been some time since we last saw you"
"I was… busy"
The salesman laughed "I can imagine. I suppose you're looking for me for your key?"
"Yes"
Cliff emptied his pockets and handed her the key "Here you go. What happened to your key? I don't think we have another one for that room"
"Six has it, don't worry about it. I will give you the key back tomorrow, if you excuse me" Winter looked behind her at the two teens "I believe this two are about to pass out"
The man laughed as he motioned towards her room "Please, this is your place. Feel free to come and go as you please. Now if you excuse me" Winter watched him leave and then began to walk up the stairs, a familiar sight made her nostalgic for days not so long past.
Her bed was just like she left it.
"You two can take the bed for today. I need to check some things. Don't mind the noise" Winter commented as she reached under the bed and searched for a hidden cache of basic necessities she had left behind, submachine guns, ammo, weapons and all types of other useful things to travel the wasteland were inside but sadly no stimpacks. The old world tech was too valuable to simply have it laying around somewhere it might not be useful, but she was glad to see leather armor and… ugh a vault suit.
Her PipBoy made a small noise as she went to check her Inbox "Near Vegas, Nipton" Winter typed back quickly "In the dinosaur"
There was no reply, as expected. He was probably hurrying here, it would be bad if he got caught in the deserted stretch between Novac and Nipton. Nothing but raiders and molerats if she remembered correctly, to her surprise a snore broke her out of her thoughts with Yang already asleep as Blake quietly read a book besides her.
But the girl looked ready to pass out at any moment. Winter gave her about two more minutes awake before tiredness forced her to release the book she was reading. So with that in mind she went back to cataloguing her weapons and sure enough in less than two minutes she heard a small thud as the book fell to her side. Chuckling to herself she went to pick it up and stared at the cover, it was one of the books she had found on Repcon underneath a destroyed desk a story of love and betrayal.
But the first few pages had been ripped off and the cover was eroded with time.
It had been always a mystery to her, something she had wanted to ask but only ghost and ghouls might have the answer. A loud noise snapped her out of her thoughs and YB out of their dream "What the fuck is that a car?"
Winter opened her window to see what the noise was but let out a relieved sigh when she spotted a familiar figure, going to the door she opened it and waited. Ruby was the first up the stairs, throwing herself at Yang to wrap her arms around her older sister "Yang! I missed you!"
The blonde laughed as she returned the hug "Hey there Ruby, I'm glad you're safe" Weiss followed Winter the one wrapping her arms around her and nodding at her "I knew you would be fine"
"We had some help"
Six was the last to enter the room smiling at Winter "Safe and sound. We had to make a small detour but it turned for the best. Got a sweet ride from it" Winter nodded as she let go of Weiss "I could tell, how on earth is that thing even working?"
"Prayers… from me to every god out there" Ruby commented as she tried to forget the horrible offense against all logic she had witnessed when Six had "repaired" the car. The courier simply laughed "Nothing some American ingenuity cannot fix. Did you girls run into any trouble?"
Blake frowned "Not trouble, only a glimpse at the worst mankind has to offer"
"We also found bad guts. But erm Six took care of them" Ruby said as her eyes darted to the pistol on his hip. Yang and Blake eyed him with curiosity as he let out a sigh "Slavers, a small time band of raiders that got too cocky because the NCR had better things to do than exterminate their sorry ass. The last of Elsdragons goons"
Winter tilted her head to the side "Someone important?"
"No, not since I was a kid" Six commented as Winter's eyes narrowed at him for a second but nodded. She turned to the room and let out a sigh "It will be difficult to rest… it is kind of cramped here"
Winter heard a keys as the courier looked for one with a small dinosaur attached to it "Jeanie Mays place, got the key off her corpse. I don't think the people of Novac would mind and if her ghost gets mad then she should had helped the Legion"-"Sounds like a plan, girls be ready to leave first thing in the morning. I shall come fetch you" Winter tilted her head as Ruby raised her hand.
Gesturing for her to ask Ruby happily smiled "Can we take a picture with the big lizard before we leave?"
"I also wanted that! But scrolls don't work" Yang commented with a exagereted sigh, the specialist shrugged "If you get it to work sure, sleep and Weiss you are in charge"
Ignoring the cries about nepotism she closed the door and turned to Six "Arent they adorable? Almost makes me want to have a kid"
Winter blushed and slapped his arm "No more from you mister" they walked in confortable silence across Novac as most of the townsfolk prepared to close everything now that it was late at night. To their surprise a couple of Ghouls waved at them from a distance as they began their journey to their home "Guess not all of them blasted off in the rocket"
Winter shook her head "Or maybe Jason's promised land is just a big irradiated hole not so far from here, I would not be surprised if that was the case honestly… it would be funny and embarrassing for him if we showed up as his place"
Six grinned at that as he opened the door to their place for the night, a thin layer of dust had covered the house but it was not the worst place they had slept. Reaching into her bag Winter tossed Six a piece of ant meat wich was happy devoured "Oh amn that hits the spot, you can tell this was a fire breathing one. They are spicier" Winter ignored him as she laid down on the bed.
"Your sister is smart, she and her team leader are quick on their feet. Managed to free a bunch of slaves while they were helping me out, Remnant has more heroes coming right up" Six commented as he laid down next to her, Winter wrapped her arms around him as she laid her head against his chest "She has much to learn… but she is doing far better than I could have hoped. Family is an interesting thing wouldn't you say"
A distnan flahs in his mind tried to fight but he squashed it "I don't know, the closest thing I have to family is Sarah and Rex. Stripe is an asshole so he doesn't count" a soft glare met his eye.
"You leave the small baby alone, he only attacked you once"-""Winter it's a smarter than average miniature Deathclaw"-"HE is a baby and you will leave him alone" Winter said as she closed her eyes and sleep took over her, Six passed a hand through her hair and tried to sleep but his body was not feeling tired. A side effect of so many implants and artificial organs was that he hard a time going to sleep, his brain had been left behind on the Big MT for its own safety but it was bitch to sleep without him.
The tesla coils were great to keep his body going like it was but they sucked a normal bodily functions, something he would have to pester the brains latter but it was just something else to add to his giant to do list, so instead of sleeping he headed outside and watched the discarded junk that had been left behind by prospector.
Things they could not make heads or tails of or things that just didn't sell well. Among them a small machine caught his red eye.
"Everyone get up!" Weiss yelled as she heard a small knock on her door, she heard her bones complain as she got up from the (surprisingly) comfortable bed. Opening the door, she was greeted by a smiling Winter "Hello Weiss, slept well?"
Weiss nodded as she yawned "Yeah, you look happy Winter"
"I had great company last night that is all, is everyone ready to leave? I would like to get to Vegas before midday" Witner commented as she peered inside and saw Ruby stumble towards the bathroom to presumably wash herself "Yes Winter, we'll meet you by the car in just couple of minutes"
Winter snorted as she closed the door but did go towards the car, that team leader had super speed after all. Maybe they wouldn't be that long, Six looked up from the car with a small smile "They weren't ready huh?"
"As expected, can't really blame them. That bed is very comfortable, how's the vehicle doing?"
Six slapped the hood of the car with a smile "This baby still has fight on it, I don't know how those crazy bastards did it but using flamer fuel as a main source is pretty darn cool. Maybe I'll ask the brains to modify it so that it runs on nuclear power like the ones on those commercials from the Old World"
"I would prefer if you did not drive around with a giant nuke in the machine, it would be bad for my nerves" Witner commented as she heard team RWBY finally arrive "We're here" Weiss said with a nod. Yang and Blake looked at them with a disappointed face "Man couldn't you just wait a couple more seconds Weiss, Ruby was the only one that got to shower. I feel all icky" Yang complained, Winter shook her head at their antics.
"The lucky thirty-eight has plenty of showers, warm and cold. I would have waited until we get there honestly" Winter commented as Ruby looked like she had just kicked her dog.
Yang laughed at her sister while Blake simply suppressed a small smile.
"Oh wait we have to one small thing before we go" Six commented as he stood up straight, looking serious for once and reaching into his pocket as everyone looked him expecting him to pull out a gun or something like that "You almost forgot the picture!"
Ruby almost slapped herself as she remembered what she said yesterday, Blake looked at the gizmo with curiosity "And… is it working?"
Six gave her a look like he was offended "Of course, I fixed it"
"That doesn't make me feel better about it!" Ruby pipped up, Six rolled his eyes and pushed her forwards so he could take the picture. Team RWBY stroke a small pose as Winter watched on with a small smile.
Six handed them the picture when the camera had finished its duty, it had also died and wouldn't function ever again but there was no need to let them know that "Here you go, wait for it to dry" the courier sneakily threw the thing towards the other junk of Novac and walked towards the car.
"All right all of the young blood squeeze in on the back, Winter gets the passenger's seat and I drive until we run out of fuel. Which will hopefully be around Freeside"
The rest of the travel was quiet as the Mojave Dessert passed them by in a blur, Ruby would watch with quiet anticipation as the large building in the middle grew ever closer. Blake on the other hand paid close attention to the people around the area, many of the soldiers seemed to be leaving with sadness in their eyes while others walked with barely contained glee towards their destination.
Just like Six predicted the car started to die once their reached the large wall that protected the city of Vegas "Hey there boss man, nice ride"
"It's a gift for the King actually, it just needs to have some flamer fuel for it to work" Six commented as one of the Kings approached them. the gang member let out a small wistle and nodded at Mr. House's right hand man. Team RWBY stared in curiosity as more of the weirdly dressed group approached them and handed food and drinks, all to keep one man happy.
Out of the corner of their eye they spotted how the other people looked at them, quiet fear or respect. Winter got more respect, while the courier that rose from the grave seemed to be met with more worried eyes. The gangs offered to escort them to New Vegas through Freeside wich Winter accepted, Yang covered Ruby's eyes as they passed debauchery after debauchery "Hey there good looking, come down to the atomic wrangler where the booze is cheap, the tables are friendly and the women are just like the booze"
Yang suppressed a small blush as the scantly clad woman almost threw herlsef at her only moving away when the King that was escorting them gave her a look "Sorry about that, you know how Freeside is"
Six simply smiled "It's what makes it fun!"
Blake disagreed, a lot.
Everywhere she looked she saw poverty while the rich ones all walked with armed guards towards the pearly gates of New Vegas "We have to report back to the King about his new car, see you soon… oh and could you let Sarah know that I said hi?"
Six glared with his one eye making the one king sweat bullets "I might" was all he replied as the robots hid their second in command behind them, Winter slapped him on the shoulder "She is not a kid you know. you cant go around bullying the boy she might like"
"She might like that one girl who is a mechanic too, don't like either. Man they grow up so fast seems like just yesterday I was saving her from the Gomorrah" Six motioned at the securitrons to open the gates as Ruby gasped in shock "Welcome ladies to the last city of the Old World, welcome to Vegas"
The luxurious lights of the streets and the laughter of the drunks coming from the casinos were hypnothic in a way after a few days on the dessert and nothingness of the wasteland "Maybe is not all that impactful to you, because honestly after seeing your world the strip is king dwarfed in that sense" Six motioned with his hand to follow him as the doors to the lucky thirty eight opened "Take a good luck kids, this might be the last time you catch a glimpse of the Old World"
Team RWBY looked back as each one looked at different things, Ruby looked at the robots and the different weapons pranced around with careless abandonment, Yang looked at the bars and the casinos, Weiss stared at the people in the strip as they tried to forget the horrors that existed outside of New Vegas while Blake looked behind at Freeside at those who had to live with it.
"I- I think I am fine if I don't have to come back for some time to your world Six" Weiss was the one that broke the silence as they were ushered inside, Winter remained by Six's side for some seconds as they looked at the Mojave for some time. "Get the girls to the teleporter I'll have a word with House before we go back to Remnant"
Winter nodded and walked inside the building.
Six waited for the elevator to disappear into the depths of the Lucky Thirty-eight and then return to the main floor, letting out a long sigh he pressed the button that would take him to the penthouse. The coldness of the Penthouse was the first thing that always greeted him as the doors opened but he had grown used to that by this point. The securitrons made for him as he approached the big screen in the middle of the room, it took some time for it to come alive but soon enough the image of his boss appeared.
"You are here earlier than expected"
Six shrugged "Time passes by differently in their world, seems like our worlds are not as aligned as we thought"
Mr. House hummed, one of the securitrons brought a small bottle of wine and handed it to Six "Even if your arrival here is not what we expected this is still cause for celebration, transportation from this world to the other has been a success soon we shall be able to buy from them materials to rebuild this world and explore more from this universes wonders"
Six swallowed half a bottle in one gulp "We might not even have to buy anything at all, they are good people willing to help us out in our time of need… which makes the next part all the harder"
House waited patiently for him to articulate, Six reached for his PipBoy to see his notes "I might not be the smartest guy around but I noticed some things that I would personally consider a weaknesses, petty thieves outmaneuvering government, beasts almost driving them to extinction but above all they are not like us"
Mr. House hummed not really getting the last part "Not like us how?"
"Their souls boos, they are not as evil as we are. They are cruel sure and the oddball here and there might be comparable to a raider… but they are not us, they are a world of heroes and legends. Its almost comical to compare to our world, miles upon miles of green inhabited inly by monsters that hunt for souls. Their powder is magical, lights shit on fire and can even defy gravity but they are building shit on shaky ground. Most of their population lives in five kingdoms and I one falls the other might fall too, like a house of cards… I don't want this to be the case but if that were to happen maybe they need a different type of leadership" Six's red eye glowed slightly.
House calculated the information "So what would it be Courier Six, are you going to play hero with them?"
"For now"
House printed a document "But it never hurts to be prepared, in the document I have prepared there's some schematics that you might find quite useful. I think we begin to expand this enterprise, RobCo congratulates you on your promotion to ambassador of its franchise on the planet of Remnant Mr. Six"
A/N: Hi! Wanted to surprise you with this chapter. Six and House are scheming something and like good businessmen they are waiting to see when is the best time to make a deal.
Now the list on the next updates: Next up is Blood From Vault 18, after that I am thinking on maybe adding a bonus chapter for Snowflake in the Sand I was toying with the idea of a spider-verse type of deal but with different couriers from across the fallout universe (legion, ncr, etc but let me know what you think and if you would like to see that) and then we are back to this story.
Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again soon!