Author's Note: The grammar and whatnot is fairly rough in this, my excuse is that despite english being my first language I hate it. anyway there's a long note at the bottom for info on the story.
Chapter 1: Ain't that a Kick
Arc 1 - A World of New Solutions and Old Problems
"AAARRRRRGGHHH!" Arielle screamed a guttural tone as she lunged at the man attempting to kill her.
Glowing red eyes on the veteran ranger helmet managed to look fearful as she cleaved through his waist with the Blade of Minerva, a weapon given her by Caesar upon his ascension to Emperor becoming the most August man in all of the Wasteland.
Her immense strength and masterfully crafted weapon made short work of her assassins from the NCR remnants that struggled under the heel of a true master, one they could not possibly be worth making to understand.
The two others with the now bisected man scrambled back scared of her Terrifying Presence, the screams of another ranger- this one wearing a wide brimmed hat- filled the air as Arielle pulled free her Calico m960a and sprayed the woman down from behind, a shower of bullets ripping them apart painting the sandstone red as they hit the ground with a wet thud.
Turning on the final member of the assault squad Arielle tried her Luck and arced her arm back before throwing the Blade of Minerva at the retreating form-
"Gahck!" A pained scream echoed out as the steel sunk into the spine of the veteran ranger sending them to the Earth crying out.
Stalking forward with heavy footfalls the Daughter of The Bull stomped down on the lower back of the paralysed NCR member taking hold of the blade and ripping it free before kneeling down and placing the barrel of the gun against the bottom of their skull and pulling the trigger.
Silence filled the air on the open desert road outside of Boulder City.
Taking a deep breath the woman turned her attention to the bisected man and started stripping the soldiers for their belongings leaving only their dog tags and undergarments. Their weapons would repair hers and the armour would help maintain one of the few permanent fixtures in her equipment, the armour of the greatest man she'd never met- the very same armour she wore now.
Dusty tan coloured camouflage painted over a specialised Desert Ranger armour, glowing green lenses and a thick kevlar lined duster coat with repurposed mantel armour over her shoulders and collar from an Advanced Riot armour she had found some time back.
She only wished she hadn't been wearing it when the assassin's attacked as it was now coated in blood, dust and sand already dried into the metal and fabric, usually she tried to wander in the power armour she had taken from the Brotherhood of Steel as it allowed her to remain mostly anonymous and almost invincible to threats alongside its strength boosts. It making it nearly impossible to catch her unawares with gunfire was a great upside as well.
It took almost twenty minutes to strip the bodies and get back on the road again to Nova Roma the rebranded capital of Nevada and Caesar's Empire, the city had been turned into the very light of Rome.
It had been a long month not to mention the past three days of travel to get back after leaving Big Mountain, she had spent nearly a six months in the crater completing the tests and research of the failing minds of the Think Tank improving upon their designs until her satisfaction. It may have been against the doctrine of the Legion to abuse the Old World technologies and rely on the weakness they caused, but she lived in a Limbo of the ideals of the Legion and the benefits of the technology.
For example; She refused stimpaks, but she had implants that knitted her flesh back together.
Although as she understood the plans of the new Augustus he planned to integrate those things his Legion was missing from the NCR- however she didn't expect to still see so many remnants, or at least enough to gather together hit squads for her considering the entire east coast had been consumed into the Legions banner.
The humiliation she set upon the East from the Divide certainly helped speed up that conquest.
Arielle headed toward the buildings of the city that had been repaired since the last time she was here, as she approached the Legionaries on station stood at attention slamming fists over their hearts and calling out-
"Ave Augustus! Salve Rhea!" Her Legion name caused the corner of her mouth to twitch beneath the helmet's mask.
It had been some time since she heard it, almost forgetting it; the many titles she earned from the campaigns with Caesar had lost their value at some point. The name was taken from the mother of Romulus and Remus much to her chagrin, it was intended to show her importance to the foundation of the Empire after the crossing of the Colorado.
In the end it mattered little to her what they called her, she held her true name close to her heart and anyone other than the Legion called her Courier or Six.
"Salve Legionnaires," She greeted and they parted ways for her to enter the streets of the reformed city heading to find whatever quarters they would give her so she could clean her equipment and change into power armour before heading out again.
The citizens of the city offered greetings as she headed for the Centurions outpost in the Library, it almost made her laugh now how she had heard the NCR propaganda decry the Legions might saying that they might take away their freedoms and quality of life, but walking the streets showed her the opposite.
Not only were the buildings undergoing reconstruction they failed to get from the Republic, but things like food and services were actually able to be funded and offered to all those who earned it.
Although there wasn't a complete eradication of chems from the markets, they had otherwise cleansed a great deal of crime from the Mojave let alone what she had heard about California and its other new territories.
It wasn't long to find the Centurion's Office, the man offering her a Salute when she arrived and caught her up to date on the going ons of the city before helping her with the issue she was actually in need of. A home that had remained empty and been made to be a mobile operating base of Caesar should he visit was offered to her and so she headed for it finding a partially rebuilt stone building with tapestries of the Bull draped down the sides of it.
Inside was clean and mostly barren but it served its purpose and she used the opportunity to clean herself up before getting to her equipment.
[1]
The former Courier ran a hand through her shoulder length red tipped golden hair blowing a sigh out as she eyed her face in the mirror of the bathroom after finishing in the surprising functional bathroom suite, though considering there was paintings of House on the walls in the downstairs she figured it was like the Club by the lake.
Cupping her chin she tilted her head grimacing at the faded surgical scaring around her crown it had reached a point of being mostly unnoticeable unless there was direct lighting on it- like there was now- but it still made her cringe at the memory of her Kidnapping by the Think Tank.
The whole experience still felt like a mentat dream even with the extra time she'd spent there recently, nothing would ever compare to the insanity of that first month there.
Turning the frown that settled on her brow into a more neutral expression she turned away from the mirror and dried herself off before getting dressed and going getting a bucket of water and bringing her armour in the bathroom to use it to clean the blood and dust off.
Toiling away Arielle thought about that early morning sunrise she'd found the armour under, climbing that hill in Zion after weeks of stomping around helping Joshua and Daniel she finally found the resting place of The Father of the Caves. It had never been her intention to stay in Zion after helping deal with the White Legs- not necessarily anyway- but she had found the gifts and letters left behind by the Father and took it upon herself to see the final messages and hopefully make a grave marker for the man.
He deserved that much.
The Grim Reaper of the Powder Gangers had no misgivings about the quality of her own person to many people, but she hoped that when everything was all said and done- when only the dirt and wind had a say in anything- that people would think kindly of her, that they would be willing to venerate her deeds.
She had no interest in monuments, something that she'd argued with Caesar about somewhat extensively after they won the second battle of Hoover Dam. Caesar had wanted to celebrate his win with the construction of a statue in his honour and a smaller one of her, if she remembered rightly he had called them 'monuments of their triumph'.
Knowing full well now what a certain man would call them, it made her huff a laugh.
'A Monument to All Your Sins' she grinned rubbing alcohol into the fabric of the duster, cleaning blood off.
As far as she knew he didn't know about her own Legion banner which she imagined wouldn't have gone over well, gifted a crimson banner with a golden lion roaring.
"Hell I should get that tattooed" She commented aloud.
She had a few already, Caesar's Bull on her right shoulder, the Platinum Chip on her breast above her heart- though she would have put it over the gunshot wound itself if it hadn't hurt so much to get the first one she had.
Though that was a story for another time.
For now she just wanted her kit clean and her gear touched up after which she would head to bed and sleep for a few hours, seeing as she had been walking for nearly two days straight so now was as good a time as any to get some rest before heading on to Nova Roma.
Despite her attempts to wake up at a reasonable time after the nap through an alarm on her Pip-Boy however the Courier wouldn't wake until the next morning leaving the confines of the home in her Remnants Power Armour, she wished the design was a little more aesthetically pleasing but there was only two variants she had come across aside from it- the t45 and t51- although she could remember hearing something about the boogeyman of the Wasteland, the Enclave having their own more advanced set but she'd never seen any and the only thing she wanted to see from them was their super mutant behemoth they put in Power Armour.
Or she thought it was.
'What did they call him..? Frank something?'
It wasn't like it mattered the man was dead like the rest of the Enclave so it didn't matter.
'Man I wish I could have seen him in action' Arielle huffed a sigh into the air filters of the armour disappointed she'd never meet a man that tall who was cognisant of their being.
Super Mutants were only so impressive considering her own height being nearly six foot eight inches tall, shorter than Lanius but still much larger than just about anyone else she'd ever run into. Although she'd heard stories about building sized mutants in the north-eastern states.
'I wonder if it was the radiation in the water?' She thought with a laugh.
Letting her thoughts fall to the wayside Arielle turned the radio of her Pip-Boy on to Mr. New Vegas' broadcast and enjoyed the small comfort of his news update again after so long.
[2]
It was around seven in the evening when Arielle arrived in the revamped Freeside, now a massive extension of a military complex and housing for the Legions men. Cohorts training in wider camps around the walls of Vegas and Freeside almost as far as the eye could see, there were easily four or five Legions making their home here now.
She got the feeling there wasn't a presidential suite waiting for her in the Lucky 38 anymore but decided to head for the tower either way, her enormous presence cause for a wide berth as she walked through the streets to The Strip.
'Probably a good thing I painted my Lion on the chest plate otherwise I'd probably get stopped.' She thought, casting an eye around at the men she passed and the citizens amongst them.
The Courier wasn't sure how to feel when she reached the glowing jewel of the Mojave and didn't see hundreds of drunk NCR soldiers stumbling around between casinos, it was certainly a far cry from how she remembered it.
After some asking around to confirm she was headed the right way she bumped into a Praetorian and the man offered to take her to the Augustus.
Walking out of the doors of the Lucky 38s elevator into the penthouse Arielle immediately noticed how much warmer and less cold mechanical the place felt without twenty Securitron standing about. Walking around the balcony to the stairs she found in place of House's computers was a throne, though the man she was looking for wasn't there instead he arrived from another part of the Penthouse as she waited.
"The Illustrious and resourceful Courier Rhea appears for an audience, what do you need?" The man at the head of a new Empire asked from above as she stood by the throne.
Looking up she saw him draped in purple as opposed to the red the Legion was so well known for.
"You look good in purple Augustus." She said and the man rolled his eyes before coming down the steps to greet her properly.
"I believe when we last spoke you said you would come back with a miracle in tow?" Caesar questioned with an arched brow.
'Oh shit I forgot about that'
"Depending on your definition at least." Arielle offered.
The bald man looked her over with sharp eyes clearly disapproving of the technology but at least not of its repurposement.
"I don't suppose you came bearing more gifts of salvaged armour for my Centurions?" He asked shifting topics.
"I do have some actually, should I leave it with someone on my way out?" The man nodded.
A silence settled between the pair for a moment as the older man seemed to be considering something before asking it.
"Have you come to give me your answer finally?"
The Courier sighed mentally forgetting about the conversation she'd last had, it had been connected to his statue talk at the time it happened.
"I still have no interest in becoming a Legatus, my work warring is done, I helped bring peace and stability under your banner- but that's all." She answered and the man shook his head with a disappointed sigh.
"A waste of good strength, if that is all then you can leave." He turned away meaning to leave, Arielle moments from leaving herself stopped when his voice called back out. "Any other would have been considered a deserter and crucified for their betrayal, but by right of Mars you have earned the privilege above all else to be discharged. Do not come back lest my judgement be tested."
Letting out a breath Arielle let the tension in her muscles unwind, having thought for a moment he might have ordered the Praetorians to attack.
"felicior Augusto, melior Traiano and I hope too that you find a man as great as you to succeed your empire." Without looking back she said her final peace and left.
It was only as she left through the Casino doors that she realised she'd forgotten to ask the man about Arcade, she always felt bad about tricking the man into the service of Caesar and had enjoyed his company a great deal before the betrayal that led him to serving the opposite of his ideals.
She missed Arcade a great deal, he had been the only man she felt comfortable travelling with though she'd never figured out his past, the man had been a web of mystery she'd never been able to get through to completely.
He had also been the reason she spent her spare time learning Latin from the old world books she'd found, she was sure he would have loved what the Big Empty could have given to the people of the Wasteland. But she had no clue where he went, she hadn't seen him when she came back from the crater.
That said Arielle looked up at the glowing tower smiling as she turned the radio back up after lowering the volume when she entered the tower.
"-ou that you're nobody 'til somebody loves you. And that somebody is me. I love you." The Courier materialised the Transportalponder Mk. III as the next song started.
"How lucky can one guy be?" She sang along pulling the trigger of the space age device-
The flash of white that filled her vision blinding her for a moment as she felt her side lift off the ground slightly before setting back down, on soft ground instead of steel.
"What the fuck"
Author's Note:
So first things first, yes a Legion supporting Courier Le Gasp! I don't really know why but far as I could tell there weren't any or enough for me to see them at least Legion stories- all the popular ones are NCR or Yes Man endings which is fair they're the one most people go for and can relate to but I never really cared for the Courier of a thousand friends types you often read in those stories- no shade to them though I like reading them. I just don't feel like there's much of a way to justify them joining/helping every group and getting every companion in a reasonable fashion and in part the Legion forces that less interaction side of things in a way.
And I know its a laugh to call the Courier a reasonable person, by all rights they're fucking demented.
Anyway my point is that Arielle only made a couple friends out of the companions in her time and didn't see their stories through either like what is alluded to with Arcade in this chapter. As well she didn't stick her fingers in every pie because that's retarded and doesn't fit with how I made her character.
So she has power armour and is Remnants PA too, the reason she has it and doesn't know it's Enclave connected after that scene where she mentions them is simple, it's just that the logo is weathered mostly off and she's never seen an Enclave logo anyway so has no idea what to look for. On a note of why; I noticed a lack of power armour in stories and I get it- balancing it and explaining it is a pain in the ass as well as the requirements for getting it being joining the BOS which no one should ever be forced to do, I'm looking at you Fallout 3. But I thought it would be a nice change of pace as well as to hide some of her SPECIAL behind it until I decided whether or not it's worth sharing it. Also the last piece about PA is that I'm using the Titans of the New West mod as a basis for the descriptions of it hence why it will come up how massive she is in it as I like the mix of it being between the older style of the armour and fallout 4s version.
As far as weapons go and handling the Pip-Boy, I've decided to take a little from other stories and allow the Atomizing inventory but with the restriction of carry capacity(which grows when in PA), so she only has a handful of guns and a few sets of armour with anything else being clothes, food, aid stuff within reason and whatever money she keeps in it. Addendum to that is that like a lot of people she was created out of a modded playthrough of Vegas so I'm liable to mention some real gun names when talking about parts of her inventory like the Calico at the start of the chapter.
Moving on, someone might ask why I not only went Legion but why this Courier is a female Legionary and it's part of her backstory I've got in mind as well as her generally being convinced by what she saw, heard and experienced through her time in the Mojave that led her to the decision- I won't say much more though because I'd like for it to come up more naturally in the story.
Second to last: The cover art was mocked up by me, I would have drawn something myself but I couldn't be arsed.
Lastly, I'm going to try and keep a decent amount of combat/fighting in the story as I usually don't do very much but I wanted to take this chance to have more although it's still going to be a mostly slice of life? Story where most of the goings are relatively mundane as Arielle figures out her place and then the title comes into play.
Hopefully I've figured that title out when I post this because I'm torn between "Conquest of Paradise" after a song from a movie or "Remnant Delenda Est" in reference to the sacking of Carthage.
Also-also the chapters aren't really going to be that long so don't go expecting none of that 10k a chapter shit I see around on this site, those people are insane- I know a guy who posted 70k chapters and I can't comprehend it.
Finally for real this time-
Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and if things haven't been good I hope they get better for you.