Sandstorm Over Remnant

Bonus Chapter 1

More than just war

Winter stared at the cameras with a frown as she suppressed her instincts to disregard orders and simply lock the man again, but Ironwood wanted to try something. "You look nervous"

"I don't trust him"

Ironwood nodded slowly "Neither do I, but that doesn't mean that what he is saying doesn't have merit"-"He is biased"

"And you aren't? You do have an emotional connection to the man he is accusing of an act of violence against his organization"

Winter nodded "I was there when it occurred, casualties were low. Almost all of them were granted safe passage to the Capital Wasteland or California, I helped in the evacuation efforts. I don't think letting him wander around is going to change that he wants to kill Six"

"Six did commit a crime, maybe not under wasteland laws but a preemptive strike against a mostly peaceful organization is still a crime and as for letting him walk around he technically committed no crime, he thought he would arrive at a hostile place. He was not aware that he would show up in our world. He is not an invading force… yet" Winter let out a sigh "Maybe, but they would have never let someone like Mr. House continue with his plan and he was… well turned out to be the best option for me to come back home"

There was a pause as both stared at the footage of the man out of time walk on the streets of Vale, he was being followed by undercover officers and a sniper was trained on him at all times and just in case, a little birdie was following him with a microphone to listen to what he was saying.

"General he stopped near a diner, shall we intercept?"-"Negative, but be ready to do so just in case"

Nate walked inside the diner as he was hit with such a nostalgic smell that he was almost lost in memory, taking a small booth near the corner he waited patiently for the waitress to bring him the menu, a cute looking blonde girl with blue eyes smiled at him "Hello! Here's our menu just give a call when you are ready to order!"

"Thanks" he simply nodded; it was like he was back. Looking at the menu he had to control every ounce of self-control to not let himself get emotional, Burgers, milkshakes and pizzas. He would sneak out and eat them with his friends after school, the things the soldiers wished to eat when they were at base eating rations.

The blonde returned and he returned the menu "A cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake please" he ordered without thinking, he had no money but he needed to taste it. To fool himself into thinking that he was back home, as she stared at his surroundings time seemed to fly and before he knew it the food was brought to his table. He thanked the waitress and took a bite.

"Is it good?"-"Its fantastic" Nate replied quickly as he let the flavor dance on his taste buds, out of instinct he looked at his PipBoy and there was no rads. The people here… they did not know, they had never had to down their food with RadAway and Rad-X, eating as quickly as possible so that he would not get shot from god knows were.

The waitress said something but he didn't quite catch that, but what he did see was the man that sat across him, Courier Six smiled at him and then turned to the waitress "I'll have the bacon burger and whatever soda you have. Here I'll pay for my friends and my meal" Six handed her the lien as the waitress prepared to give him change, Six simply shook his head and smiled "Keep it love, my treat" [Lady-Killer]-Successful, with a small giggle the girl moved towards the kitchen.

Now alone both waste4landers looked at each other, Nate frowned at him but pointed at his face "No scars huh?"

"Stimpaks are one hell of a thing, that and technology" Six shrugged as his drink arrived, taking a small sip from it he then turned at Nate "I figured you would stop here, it has the spirit doesn't it?"
Nate nodded and raised an eyebrow at him "And how do you know about… the spirit, was your Vault THAT American that it had diners and everything?" Six chuckled "Man I wish, no not really all I had was my comics and pictures from days past. My siblings and I used to fantasize, my sister would play the cook my brother would be the customer and I was the waiter"

There was a small pause as they enjoyed their meal in silence "Were you born there? In the Vault?"

Six shook his head as he looked towards the window with a confused expression "No… or at least I think I didn't"-"You think?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.

The courier nodded as he tapped the scars on his forehead "When I was shot on the head I lost almost everything, my previous life, my loved ones and my name. But as I traveled with Winter bits and pieces some times flash before my eyes, not that it really matters to me I am Courier Six now and that is all that matters"

"A clean start, huh wish I could have gotten something like that" Nate muttered as eh watched the burger that Six ordered arrive, Six gave him a look as he took a bite of his food so Nate obliged and began to tell his story. "I remember them so crearly, the last days, months, years even before I was frozen in the Vault. I close my eyes and its hard to me to believe that I survived the war, the meatgrinder that we had to endure day after day as the reds kept pushing forward and then it all ended"

Nate leaned back as he closed his eyes "The last days seemed to me like I was in a dream, I was back home. With my son… my wife, I could hardly believe that I was holding them in my arms again. The amount of death only meant that there was more resources to go around and maybe just maybe thing would go back to normal"

Six looked at him with sympathy "And then…"-"The end of the world, as my vault closed I watched as hellfire rained down on everything, the power of atom had been unleashed and it consumed everything. I thought that maybe… me and my family could live safe down there, when I woke up my wife was dead and my son had been kidnapped by the monsters of the Institute"

"Jesus…" Six said as he leaned back "Yeah, but I could still save my son. So I ran to the wasteland I had to find him or I would die trying"

Six watched as a deep frown formed on the tired face of the man out of time "Then… why?"

"Why did you become part of the Brotherhood of steel? They would never let things go back to the way the world was when you lived in it" Nate leaned forward and glared at Six "And that is exactly why I am a proud member of the brotherhood of Steel"

There was a pause as Six blinked in confusion "They are right, technology that advances faster than what should be allowed is what doomed the world the first time and it was almost what doomed us all when the institute tried to take over Boston and now look at you and your machine army. Don't you see how dangerous it is? One day when you and House are not around the machines could destroy all of Vegas, maybe worse"

"That won't happen, they are machines they can be controlled. They don't feel, they don't think all they are is a set of codes and if needed they can all be shut down" Nate scoffed "Lets hope you are right, the brotherhood is nervous about a city like Vegas"

Six glared "Because they fear progress, they know that as soon as they no longer have the advantage they fall like paper. The NCR made proved that, with their numbers they have kicked the mighty brotherhood back into hiding"

There was another pause as they continued to eat, but the tension in the air was palpable "And that's what worries me, we are getting close to the point of no return. We are about to doom the planet again"

"How?" Six asked as he leaned forward "War, the NCR or the Legion will move towards the capital Wasteland, the Brotherhood will mobilize with all their might and another civil war will erupt. Vegas will aid the NCR, and you and I will be on opposite sides of the battlefield"

Nate finished making the courier shake his head "That's a big IF, the NCR and Legion have been stopped. Neither is willing to make a move, if they want to survive they will stay put for decades to come and the Brotherhood needs to mind their own business in their side of the country, look I know you don't believe me but I don't want to fight the Brotherhood. I don't want to kill a group of people no matter how misguided I think they are"

"Misguided, yes but you fail to see the effect they have"

Six narrowed his eyes "Holy shit… you don't really believe in them" Nate let out a sigh "I believe in what they do, they take dangerous weapons and technology away from the common maniac and raiders. I might not follow their rules as a religion but they keep the world safe from another mad man with a thirst for power. They are necessary."

There was a pause as Nate remembered his raiders in Nuka World, another necessity that kept the wheel of the wasteland turning. But the courier did not need to know that, as he processed what Nate had said Six hummed as he looked out of the window.

"I remember some things from my past, the travels under the warm California sun. Faces that I no longer remember, with feelings I no longer have but you know what I remember the most?" Nate nodded at him to continue. \

Six looked down at his new PipBoy courtesy of Doc Mitchel and let out a long sigh "Fear, the nothingness of the wasteland. We hid in destroyed houses, seeking shelter in areas controlled by the NCR" There was a pause as Six looked at Nate with his red eye.

"I don't want to forever live in fear of the Old Night"

Neither of them said anything as they finished their meals, Six looked at the man that was slightly smaller than him and was reminded why he didn't go all out against him, use weapons that would actually do shit against power armor. There was a human there, a man that had no hope of understanding how this new world worked, forever destined to walk alone.

As for Nate he stared at the man that he had come to kill and let out a long sigh. Things had just gotten more complicated for him.

A/N: I have never thought about Ironwood as a bad person, a certainly not a bad leader. Just cautios and a little paranoid, so I tried to reflect that on the way I wrote him and as for Nate, I wrote him the way I see fallout 4.

A fantastic game but the thing about Bethesda Fallout is that its content with staying static, the cities don't progress and that's fine. Forces like the brotherhood and the institute make sure that the small towns remain that: small. Thanks to the Vault Dweller and the Chosen One on the other side of the country there is progress and countries flying their new flags under the sun.

That's the big difference between Six and Nate and I hope you enjoyed their conversation on this bonus chapter, thank you for reading!

Ps. A comment said that there was no way that Six dented the armor and that only a being like Frank Horrigan would be capable of that and I totally agree, I overexaggerated there a bit, sorry.