Ulysses

Off the bat in the base game alone we have Cazadors and Nightstalkers, both created by Big MT.

It also appears the spores were started there, leading to both the Vault 22 deaths and some of the deaths Randall Clark saw in the Honest Hearts DLC.

Of course much of what made the Sierra Madre what it has become is Big MT from the cloud, ghost people, even the bomb collars as Elijah took them and the idea from Big MT's unwilling prisoners used as Guinea pigs.

Then of course there is Lonesome Road, as the extreme weather is also thanks to Big MT, and one could argue that if Ulysses didn't meet what remains of the scientists there, let alone Elijah who he pointed towards the Sierra Madre, maybe he wouldn't have been able to activate any of the nukes. (Of course that wouldn't effect too much as our Courier would probably still have unintentionally set off the initial nukes).

What you guys think?

OK, but seriously why does he talk about couriers so much? Why do we even fight him? I don’t really get his obsession with couriers or us/the courier. I also don’t really get his reasoning or end goal for anything.

I just can't decide weather he should live or die , I sort of feel bad for him but I also see him as a genocidal legionary too

What did you guys do with him and what should I do ?

Ulysses. when you choose to fight him, he is so hard to kill. because 1: he has a ridiculous amount of health and 2: he heals so quickly. so even after you put an entire clip of the strongest gun, he'll still be alive. smh

When it comes to this enigmatic character of the Mojave, opinions are pretty strong on both ends of the spectrum, with people split on whether to love him or hate him.

The hate in particular is fairly widespread, and I'd love to see what people think about him and his ideals. What do y'all like about Ulysses? Don't like? I'd be interested in seeing what everyone thinks, and how willing people are to hear different perspectives that counter their own.

I'll start this off by saying that Ulysses provided an important parallel to our own character, the Courier. We aren't the only ones frolicking across the wastes, changing history for better or worse. We follow in the footsteps of this force of nature throughout most of the DLCs, and regardless of how we deal with him in the end, we are forced to acknowledge our part in helping set the future of the Mojave, and the consequences of our actions.

Kimball tried to speak, “I… Didn’t k-know… I’m s-sorry. I ne- never m-ment to hurt a-anyone… Please…”, Brandon growled and injected a Super-Stimpack into Kimball. Kimball continued, "I’m sorry your family was murdered… I know something you may want to hear, if it’ll make this any better…”, Brandon said, “Speak now, I’m not giving you very long.”. Kimball told him, “A boy was seen running away from the base that night, a survivor. He disappeared and was never found since. I believe he was one of your son’s.”. Brandon responded, “Bullshit, they all died. My family is dead.”, “I promise you, it was one of your son’s, I swear…”. Brandon grabbed an Industrial fist and equipped it on his right hand, “Out of time, Kimball. You know what happens next, time to pay the price.”. Kimball begged, “No… No, no, please no!”, the saw revved on and got a little closer to Kimball, Brandon said, “You better hope you go to heaven. ‘Cause if you go to hell, I’ll fuck you up all over again for eternity.”. Brandon uppercutted Kimball in the stomach, then slowly pushed farther up. The room was covered ever more in the blood of the NCR president, Brandon continued until Kimball ceased all signs of life. Two brotherhood soldiers ran into the room, the Sigma soldier took on one while Brandon drove the saw of the Industrial Fist into the helmet of the other. The Sigma soldier asked, “Time to go now, Sir?”, Brandon agreed, “Time to get the hell out of here. Where’s Nova?”. Suddenly, she arrived with a man, in a quick few seconds she explained that he’s an ally. Brandon looked around, seeing what she had done the past 5 minutes. “Bloody hell, I take it you needed to let off some steam, eh?”, Brandon held up a walkie talkie and spoke, “This is Captain Brandon, requesting orbital support. Number of hostels unknown, probably still a shit ton. Wait on my signal.”, the operator on the other end replied, “Roger that, Sir. Awaiting your command.”. Brandon, Nova and the Sigma soldier rushed to a nearby vertibird, Brandon piloted. Once they got far enough away, Brandon turned the vertibird so they could see the NCR/BoS base, he spoke into a walkie talkie, “You’re clear to fire, level this place.”, “Please paint the target, satellite is awaiting coordinates.”, Brandon pulled out a smoke grenade and tossed it out the vertibird door. A few seconds later, red smoke filled the area. The operator said, “Firing now”. A big electric blast fell down from the sky and destroyed the base.

—

The Courier asked Mobius, “You know Nova, how?”, Mobius answered, “I was among the few selected people to work on her. Eh, let me remember… I believe most of us were working on the project, Dala didn’t help but it was her work that would later perfect the project. She’s responsible for the tech that allowed Nova to become a synthetic being. Quite remarkable I must say. Robert House was there as well, along with other people I don’t remember. I recall House being in charge at the last minute, he wasn’t in charge before though. Something about the original getting in a fatal car wreck, House was the best choice to keep the Lab running.”, the Courier asked, “Do you think House might have killed the original boss?”, “I haven't thought about it that way… I suppose he could have done it. The diagnosis of the crash was the old boss had consumed a lethal amount of Digitalis, better known as Foxglove. It’s a poisonous plant that can be overlooked and accidentally brewed into tea, and upon consumption, It only takes a handful of hours to take full toll. The fed’s wouldn’t think it was murder, cases of Foxglove being brewed into tea common enough that most would likely assume he made a mistake. Nothing would lead back to House.”. “What can you tell me about Nova?”, “Well… She was built for destruction. We wanted China destroyed, she was the answer. We could have used nukes, but look where that got us. Nova is as capable as a Zax unit, but with much less size. As a person, deep down Nova is a fragile and special person. On the outside she looks and acts like a bloodthirsty killing machine, and quite frankly that’s what she literally is. But on the inside, she’s all the things no-one ever sees. Happy, sad, scared, angry… Nova only ever act’s her true self when she’s with someone she trusts, someone she loves. And that’s where you come in, Courier. You’re her administrator, her friend, her significant other. Should the bond between you two ever break, whatever happens will make the Great War look like child-play.”. The Courier replied, “Then what the fuck am I still doing here? GET ME BACK TO ThE MOJAVE!!!”. Mobius said, “Just one more day! I know it’s probably too long, given what I just told you, but one day is as fast as I can get you out of here.”. Mobius kept talking on and on, the Courier walked away. He made his way back to the Think Tank dome, hoping to leave soon.

—

Brandon visited the gravesite of his wife and kids, it’s been awhile since the last time. He kneeled down and sighed, “McNamara and Kimball are dead, just like I promised. Made it painful and slow, like burnin’ alive but the fire never actually kills you. Many men and women have fallen, all were respectfully buried. But the bodies of NCR and Brotherhood soldiers? Heh… We burn ‘em. Those who stand against America won’t be allowed to rest in peace. I never forgiven myself since that night… I failed as a husband, as a father, as a soldier… Put a gun to my own head, I was only seconds away from pulling the trigger when I thought about you all. I may have disappointed, but I didn’t fail, not yet at least. Takin’ my own life would be the only moment when I truly fail. So I kept kickin’, kept the cross hairs where they belong, on the enemy. I wish I could join you, but I ain’t lettin’ myself do that until the NCR and Brotherhood are wiped out of existence and become nothin’ but a distant memory.”, Brandon stood up, said goodbye and headed back to Vegas. He stopped by the armory, walked in and asked, “Was Dornan’s power armor ranked?”, “Yes sir.”, “Sigma suits fixed?”, “Yes sir.”, “Still scamming the recruits?”, the storekeeper laughed, “Yes sir. I’ll treat ‘em better once they actually experience the battlefield.”, “Time’s like that are far and few between, we wiped out most of everyone.”. The Shopkeeper sighed, “This is it, Brandon, this is what we waited all those years for… Honestly, I’m not too sure if any of it was worth it.”, Brandon replied, “Remember what I said, even though none of it seems right, it’s the only way. We’re Americans, we’re the Enclave, it’s our job to take back our country and destroy the enemy by any means necessary. If we can’t, then all is truly lost. Just a few more years mate, just a few more years and soon enough it’ll be just like before the war.”. The store keeper asked, “How do you know what the world was before the bombs?”, “Eh, most of what I know is from House. Though, rumor has it that a few of us were under cryo sleep, like our ‘new recruit’.”, “New recruit?”, “That's right, a man from the east coast, state of Massachusetts. It’s said he’s a vault dweller, former member of the U.S Military.”

—

A young woman in her 20’s was enjoying a rather cheap lunch outside. Her father asked, “I asked my Captain for a raise, just to out luck he handed me a hundred cap bonus and said I’ll make twenty more an hour!”, the girl replied, “Brandon is the nicest person here, Dad. Of course he’d give you that much. Probably because you have to take care of me. He uses all he can to help those below him, he cares unlike Command.”, “Well, I'm going inside.”. The girl finished eating and wandered off through Vegas. She looked up at the Lucky 38, “Creepy…”. She walked into the Tops casino, greeted by the various chairmen. She cashed a $100 NCR bill for 40 chips. She sat down at a slot machine, spun a few times, and quickly ran out of chips. She put in her last 10 and pulled the handle. 100 chips poured out in response. Put in 20, got 60. Put in 40, got 120. She said to herself, “Damn, is this a dream?”, she put in everything she had, and got 2,000 chips in return. The floormaster walked up to her and said, “Huh, I haven't seen luck like that since the Courier gambled here. You some sort of relative?”, “No, just a girl looking to make some quick money.”, “Hey, they say House always wins but that ain’t so true anymore. So, you taking that in caps or enemy money? I don’t know why the hell we still accept NCR and Legion cash, but eh, is what it is. I’ll write you for caps, since that’s really all we have to offer. If you're interested, our man Benny might enjoy a little time with you.”, “Fuck Benny, the fact he isn’t dead is a world wonder.”, “That’s what everyone says. Anyways, I’ll let you get back to what you're doing. Come back sometime, eh? Have a drink before you leave, free of charge.”. The Chairman walked away, the girl walked up to the bar to claim a free drink. She spotted a lightly glowing green bottle on the top shelf, “Hey, what’s that?”, the bartender replied, “Absinthe, hundred caps if you want it.”. The girl handed the bartender the slip she got from the floormaster, “How about free?”, “Hmm… Alright, alright. Hoping to drown your worries or give it to someone?”, “A gift”. She walked out of the Tops and made her way to the front of the Lucky 38. She was greeted by Victor, “Howdy partner! What brings you here?”, she handed Victor the bottle of Absinthe, “Can you make sure this is give the the Courier?”, Victor replied, “I can do that. He ain’t here right now, but I’ll make sure it gets put in a safe place until he gets back.”. The girl started to walk away when Victor said, “Might I have your name, miss?”, she turned around and hesitantly stared at the Securitron. She gave him an answer, “Ashley, my name’s Ashley.”

—

Gideon asked, “Mr. House, what exactly made ya fall in love with Vegas?”, House replied, “Oh, that’s a long story. I was a billionaire, I saw purpose and a great future here, so I bought the city. I took the Lucky 38 as my own, while taking over the other casinos. Stocks, power, influence, control was quick and easy. No-one wanted a war, especially against me. While basic men throw threats and nonsense at each other, I single handedly dominated the tech industry and even bought out the House family business after my half-brother burned it down with his unreasonable paranoia of the Chinese. I built a war machine powered by a prototype fusion battery that would retake Anchorage, I contracted Vault-Tec to build an underground storage facility for my Securitrons, I worked alongside the Enclave though I never met them directly, I spent 15 years preparing, developing, and installing defenses to prevent the Great War from destroying the Mojave, I created the Platinum Chip which not only powered everything I own but also decided the fate of the Mojave. Thankfully, it did exactly what I designed it for, to obey my orders and no-one elses.”. Gideon sipped from a glass of bourbon, he said, “What an interesting life story. You see, you and I are simply made for business. It’s in our blood, it’s what God created us to do. Now, I believe it’s payment time?”, House replied, “Sixty-five percent, as promised.”, Gideon grabbed his payment, “Ya ever listen to music, Mr. House? I’m a fan of Swing, Blues, the golden age from the most important time in American history. The Industrial age! From the mid 19th century to the mid 20th, America industrialized like no other! And the business going on here? Oh my, ya make millions! Mr. House, I’d like to invest all I have into what economics are bustling around here. Eh, how about… Forty thousand caps?”, House was impressed, “A bold bargain you have there. Forty grand would get you around fifteen percent. That places you with the third-class members here.”. Gideon grinned, “What share will I find myself getting?”, “Around five to eight thousand.”. Gideon’s eyes narrowed, “And if I dropped… Say, twenty more?”, House was slightly scared, “Second class, twenty percent. What are you planning? No-one has ever dropped so much money like you did.”, Gideon spoke on last reply, “Business, Mr. House, Business…”.

—

For the past few weeks, Nova has had weird feelings in her stomach, Ulysses was aware but never said anything until now, “Do you need a doctor?”, Nova replied, “Why would I need to see a doctor? It’s not like I can ge-”, whatever was causing her distress happened again, interrupting whatever she was saying. Ulysses said, “Get up, I’ll take you to the medical bay.” When they arrived, a doctor walked up to assess, “Well, you’re not sick, no wounds, nothing that could cause what you describe… Wait, I think I know what’s going on, hold your shirt up for a second please.”, Nova spoke sharply, “What?”, the doctor explained, “If you want me to help you, please do as asked.”. Nova did what she was told, even though she really hated it. The doctor did a few scans and X-rays before speaking again, “Nova, you’re pregnant.”, Nova responded in an even more affected tone, “WHAT!?”. She thought back to a few months ago, it was the only time she ever did it and the only way she could possibly be pregnant. She asked, “But, how? And if I really am, how long?”, the doctor answered, “Despite being artificial, you’re biologically no different than any other human, aside from what’s in your head. For how long, I’d say about three or four months. Anyways, congratulations. Might I ask who the father is?”. Nova replied in a worried tone, “Ace, the Courier.”, Ulysses finally said something, “In the many years I knew him, I thought he would never settle down like this.”, he rested a hand on Nova’s shoulder, “He always comes back, I promise. Not once has he ever not come back. From Zion, the Madre, Big Mountain, the Divide, he always found a way back home. When he loves something or someone, especially you, he makes a promise and he never breaks it.”, Nova asked, “What is it?”, Ulysses answered, “Forever and Always”.

Nova rested in the Presidential suite, working on a suit of her own Riot gear. Black and Cyan were the majority of color, with Red being in some places and Gold being specifically on parts of the chest and helmet. Ulysses spoke, “So much work for something you never wear.”, “I wore it for the personal mission with Brandon, but I’ve never had much of a reason before or since then. Now I’m apparently pregnant so there’s no way anyone is letting me fight. Why does something so good have to be such a burden?”, Ulysses thought before he spoke, “It may seem like a burden now, but when you and Ace have a family, you will change your mind.”. Nova realized a huge mistake she made.

She visited House and said, “I never had a family, I never had anyone who ever cared about me. I was just some tool, nothing special. But I was everything to you, you treated me as if I was the most important thing in the world. Most may think that the only thing you have room for in your heart is Vegas, but I know I was in there somewhere and I still am.”, House looked down at her and replied, “I wanted to keep you with me, but it wasn’t possible. That night at the Lab, I chose Vegas over you and that was perhaps a mistake. I heard the screams as I ran to the 38, I knew you killed the staff, I honestly don’t blame you.”, “I was designed to eliminate anyone who stands against America. And as far as I know, they weren’t helping the nation. No amount of disinfectant could ever clean the amount of blood I spilled then Are you immortal?”, House hesitated, “In a way, yes. The antechamber kept me alive for all this time. I see no reason for it to quit now. Why do you ask?”, “Just wondering… I found a log from 9 years ago, the Courier was in that room.”, “Don’t worry about me, Nova. Only three things can open that door, me, a Lucky 38 VIP card and the Platinum Chip. The card is in Brandon’s possession, the Courier has the chip, and I have my own access. And no-one can simply take my internal key, so they’d have to take one of the key’s from either the Courier or Brandon, most likely by killing them. You know well enough neither will be bested, not in any possible scenario.”

—

Brandon was reading a list of people with a few other officers, "Henry, Deron… Long dick Johnson?”, the officers laughed, Johnson said, “Name stuck with me.”, Brandon replied, “Sorry mate, it’s never going away. That’s fuckin’ hilarious. Go to the medical bay, ask for a physical.”. Johnson went to the medical bay, a few seconds later a doctor said, “Alright, this won’t take lo- OH MY GOD!”, the officers laughed even more. Brandon sighed, “Ah, shit. Sorry boys, Command wishes to speak with me. We’ll regroup for lunch, eh?”, Brandon made his way to the Lucky 38 penthouse. 3 high commanders of the Enclave were waiting, General Damien, Admiral Vincent and Colonel Nikolai, Damien said, “ Brandon, we wanted to congratulate you on your accomplishments. Destroying 2 major enemy bases, neutralizing the Mojave Brotherhood and taking their bunker, killing Elder McNamara and President Kimball, regaining the rank of Captain. I must say, I haven't seen progres like that in years.”, Vincent added, “We received a transmission from a Whitespring unit, speaking something about the Enclave and joining our two branches, said it’s name was-”, Eden booted up and took a securitron, “Modus… The continuation unit of the Whitespring Bunker. We used to talk, but I terminated contact long ago. It’s funny how the Enclave is ruled by computers.”, House chimed in, “I’m not a computer, but it is ironic that I’m presented only as a screen, much like Eden is.”, Damien scowled to his fellow Command members, “Gentlemen, let us stay on track, please? We don’t have all day.”, Damien took a deep breath, “Resources are scarce, extractors coming up dry, food production is slower and slower, need I continue this long list of clues that we’re aiming for demise?”, Brandon replied, “Push to the East, increase working conditions, raise civilian pay by three percent, gather more information of the East coast before we make any moves.”, Nikolai sighed, “We’ve done all but pay, Damien won’t let the idea pass. Maybe production would be better if we didn’t treat our people like shit.”, Damien replied, “They need to know where they stay in the New Order, we can’t give everyone luxury.”, “Not luxury, but at the very least better conditions, cleaner homes and safer working areas.”, Vincent agreed, “If we don’t follow the government rules, we won’t be a democracy. The American people look to us for a better future and we’re refusing to give it to them. People who by simply being born have the right to live a free life!”, Damien snapped back, “Not everyone gets to live, Vincent. For every hundred we save, triple that is terminated. Not all lives are equal, not anymore. The old rules were void when the bombs fell, now we rebuild in the way we seem best fit. The Sick must be removed from this damned earth while the Pure live.”, Nikolai replied, “Great, you sound like the Nazi’s. Real classy for an American bigot.”. Damien said, “Nikolai, watch your language. We can discuss that later, but not now. How can you go around saying such insulting things like that without a care? Ugh…”. Vincent sighed and said, “You're dismissed, Captain. Sorry you had to listen to this bullshit.”, Nikolai added, “You mean, sorry for Damien being such a jackass?”, Damien calmed himself and said, “Shut it, both of you. Act your ranks at least.”, Vincent replied, “To hell with our ranks, they mean nothing. It’s just a title, give us power and stance, nothing more.”, he thought to himself before continuing, “Good day to you all, this meeting is adjourned. First light of tomorrow shall we continue.”. Nikolai spoke, “You’ve done well, Captain. Perhaps you might earn a place in Command?”, Brandon declined, “Thanks for the offer, but I gotta pass. I belong in the battlefield, mate.”, Nikolai laughed, “I understand, wish I could be out there myself.”, Brandon grinned, “Well… I’m assuming you know the NCR capital is still standing? We’re going the clear the place out, you three can come if you want.”, “Is that so? Damien would love to make some California bastards bleed. How about your teams?”, “My squad will be there, as well as Gannon’s. Best part is, I got the honor of bringing in Squad Sigma.”, Nikolai was surprised, “Really? Tell them to leave a few for me, eh? I heard Sigma likes to clean house, leave no survivors.”, Vincent chimed in, “The Courier wrote you as his right-hand. If we were unable to do his job, you are to take his place. Honestly, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen trust like that.”, Damien asked, “I heard about Kimball, what he said to you. Don’t believe that fucker, we was just lying to you hoping it would make you spare him. I don’t mean to stomp on any hope you may have had, but understand that hardly anyone got out alive that night. We got our revenge, nothing more to be done.”

—

2 Sigma soldiers were sent out to investigate a locked up Enclave base just outside of the Strip. One of them said, “Holy shit… These symbols belong to the New Order, before it was destroyed. Find anything on the terminal?”, “Logs, reports, not really a lot here to see. F.E.V research, plasma development… Wait, the Divide launch codes were requested by Eden a few days before he went rogue. Why would he want launch codes?”, the 2 soldiers thought about the strange question. They both realized the answer, “He was going to use them, but he never had the chance to.", "I'm sure it's fine, Eden just wants to bring back America and keep it safe. I'm sure everything will be fine.", "Why can't the Enclave just be a normal faction for once? Why does it always gotta be so fucking complicated..."

Nova: (Before the Great-War)

The Lab was bright, smelled like disinfectant and evil. Robert House was running some tests, “You’re doing well, Nova. But I know you can do better, I designed you after all.”. Nova replied, “It’s so… Complicated. I know how to navigate all kinds of code, but if this is Chinese, no wonder why you all are scared.”, House said, “The Red’s don’t stand a chance once we get you out there, if you ever pass these tests.”. Nova asked, “You said I’m doing well, right? I should be ready in no time!”, “I’m proud of you. And yes, soon enough you will be ready, but current leadership is the real problem…”. House walked away, brewed a cup of coffee and pulled out a small bottle. He poured a little bit of the bottle’s liquid into the coffee and quickly put the bottle back into his pocket. House carried the cup to the boss in charge of the lab, “Coffee, just the way you like it.”, the boss took a big gulp and gagged, “Ugh, you sure you did it right?”, House grinned, “Must be the beans. I’ll make sure they're replaced with fresh ones.”. The hours flew by and it was night, House was closing up the Lab after everyone else left. Nova spoke to House about a recent news article, “The boss that works here, he was found dead in a car crash today. Diagnosis was lethal consumption of Digitalis…”, she realized what House did to the coffee, “That’s what you put in the coffee, isn’t it? You killed him?”, House replied, “Don’t worry about that. Just keeping you safe and in good hands, my hands.”

—

(Present Day)

Nova recalled the time she tortured Arcade. She wanted the Courier all to herself and Arcade was in the way. Best way to solve the problem was to take Arcade out of the picture. Now the doctor was dead, just the way Nova wanted. But, even after nothing was stopping her then, she lost the Courier seemingly forever. She realized that she wasn’t much different than House. Nova achieved what she always wanted, to make House proud of her. She didn’t serve her sole purpose, but that didn’t matter. She was perfect in so many other ways. House asked, “What’s on your mind?”, Nova replied, “Are we… the same?”, House said, “Let me guess, you’re comparing the Lab to now? I set up the leader’s death, you set up Arcade’s death. We both do what’s necessary to get our way, that’s what it means to be a part of the House family, we always win.”, “But… Is it right? Are we ever wrong?”, “Needs of the many over the needs of the few. Sometimes a few things or people need to be sacrificed for the greater good of others.”

————————————————————————

Brandon: (Unknown amount of years ago)

The dead body of a commander lays on the floor, Brandon says to himself, “Bloody hell… Command’s gonna want my head for this…”. He rushed down the hall trying to escape, he bumped into Vincent, “Brandon, what the hell are you thinking?”, “One second we were just talking, the next I was tearing his throat open. Please, just let me go. I’m in enough trouble now…”, Vincent sighed and replied, “We never saw each other. Go, you might still have a chance.”. Brandon made it outside, only to be stopped by Sigma soldiers and Damien, “Going so soon Brandon? Your wanted for murder, your fate will be decided in court. Though, I’m sure they’ll have you de- AAARRRHHHGG!!”, Damien was shot in the leg, Brandon turned to see who fired. Vincent was holding an Anti-Mat rifle, he yelled, “DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME, JUST GET OUT OF HERE!!”. Brandon ran, for as long and as fast as he could. Into the darkness of the night…

—

Brandon and Vincent sat together in the courtroom, Damien stood at the front of the room, Nikolai arrived and patted his suit down, “It’s very unfortunate that this issue was left to us to decide, the judge couldn’t make it today. Captain Brandon, Admiral Vincent, please stand. Brandon, you’ve been charged with the murder of an Enclave commander. Vincent, you’ve been charged with treason for helping Brandon escape and with assault for shooting General Damien. Your cases were assessed… Vincent will walk free after a payment of fifteen thousand caps. Brandon, by popular vote, will also walk free, but he is to be demoted permanently to the rank of Officer and will pay ten thousand caps. That concludes this meeting. Now fuck off, all of you.” Damien said, “That’s it? No no no, get your ass back here right now!”, Nikolai turned around while halfway out the door and shooed Damien away, “Away with ye! This meeting stole my lunch period, so I’m gonna eat something and you’re gonna leave me alone.”

—

(Present day)

Brandon was resting in the penthouse with Vincent and Nikolai, they were reminiscing about the past. Vincent asked, “You look like you really enjoying that lunch.”, Nikolai replied, “I cherish no other moment of the day more than this. Usually, I tend to fall asleep shortly after this time of day, so I rarely have dinner. Anyone want tea?”. Vincent declined, Brandon accepted and said, “If you got anythin’ robust.”. Vincent said, “British people and tea, I never understood that relationship.”, Nikolai replied, “Brandon doesn’t necessarily drink tea, I see him with a bottle of alcohol more than anything. I however drink quite a bit of tea.”, Brandon asked, “Any word on future missions?”, Vincent answered, “No, nothing for now. Honestly a good thing, no missions and not trouble means we get to relax. After all, I’m pretty sure we exterminated most of the threats. Anyways, why are we talking about work? Anyone want to play a game of Caravan?”, they all agreed.

—

The Courier and Ulysses: (7 years ago)

“Not if you believe in what you follow. Kill no Courier, Caesar's words. I honored them. Other Couriers could have been Legion - like me. The truth is, you serve nothing, believe nothing. Killing you... meaningless. All these roads, you walked. These packages you carried. Think it wasn't your choice? Of course it was your choice. You could have stayed in the Mojave. But you chose to come, couldn't let be - not in you to let go. Came for no other reason than you were curious, restless - always have been. Had to know the why of it…”, the Courier replied, “I need to know why you're doing this, not for my sake, for history's sake.", Ulysses answered, “The why of it... you taught me the why of it. If you believe in something enough, you must be willing to let it burn, lest it claim you. These governments of the two-headed bear... the Legion... they carry Old World ideas into an age that no longer needs them, where they cannot live.", “You’re wrong, the ideals of the Old World can still be followed. It’s the factions that are the issue, don’t know how to correctly use the old values.”, “That may be true, may be wrong. No way to know for sure. If you truly believe in what you say, perhaps you know now what you follow. There is a shadow of a nation behind you, the hope of a people... yet it may not matter. The Divide still stands against us. Our enemies gather outside... shadows of the Bear and Bull... they will have found their way in, just as you did. If we cannot prevent what comes, then let us make our stand here. Two Couriers, together, at the Divide…”.

—

(Present day)

The Courier asked Ulysses, “What was it you once said…? “Old world ideas can’t survive here”, or something?”, Ulysses smirked, “I had to see change if I was to believe what you claimed. You were right, the NCR was the issue, not their beliefs.”. The Courier said, “Got a history lesson for me today?”, “Look back to history itself, remember all you’ve done. What you were then, what you are now, let that be the lesson.”, the Courier replied, “Damn, now that’s something. Why my own history and not something else?”, Ulysses quoted himself, “Who are you, that do not know your history?”, the Courier added, “Who can I be if I don’t remember what brought me here. Good point.”. Ulysses thought about his history, about his tribe. He quickly refocused himself, not wanting to get lost in what was.

The Courier ended up in the Forbidden Zone of Big M.T. Mobius checked on him, “Oh, you’re finally awake! You’ve been out a long time, a few days at most. Hmm, want a Mentat?”. The Courier replied, “Oh, not this shit again... Fuck the intro, tell me what the hell am I doing here?”, Mobius answered,“Well, all the implants and tech inside you detected you were near death. So you got sent here somehow, but the arrival was harsh. You ended up at my front door! At first I thought it was the Psycho making me see things, but nope, it was you! Or maybe it’s not… Am I crazy?”, he floated off while rambling to himself, continuing to add to the math covered floor and walls, and the ceiling? The Courier thought, “Why the fuck is there chalk on the ceiling, how the hell did Mobius even get there?”, he spoke, “Mobius, do you know what happened before I got here?”, “Hmm, yes, yes… There was a big kaboom! It nearly rocked all of Big Mountain! The Think tank did some looking into it, and found that an atomic bomb exploded near Las Vegas.”, Mobius magically consumed 3 Mentats, “Mmm”. A walking eye bumped into the Courier’s leg, he looked down and picked it up. “Who’s on the other end of this thing?”, “Ah, that’d be my dumb co-workers, the Think Tank. They see everything, except bathrooms. Obviously they never go into bathrooms, not since the last incident…”. The Courier was disgusted, “What the hell has been going on here since I left?”, Mobius answered, “Well, I worked on the Mk 2 Stealth Suit a bit. The voice is still kind, keeps me company sometimes.”. The Courier answered, “So nothing has changed. Just more work and mysterious bathroom problems.”, “Oh you should have see it! Best scientific breakthrough regarding Lobotomites we ever made! Though Klein and Borous had them terminated immediately, they both found it absolutely repulsive. Proves evermore that they don’t remember what being human was like. Doing all the fun human things… I would’ve preferred to die than be immortal in this damn flying brain bot thingy.”

—

Nova woke up, she still felt good from all the intoxication but she also hurt from it all. She noticed Ulysses was still in the room with her, “What are you still doing here?”, Ulysses answered, “I have nowhere else to go. And you are one of the Courier’s most prized possessions, so here I am to protect you. There’s enough supplies here for me to make myself food and drinks, brewed a few Bitter Drink’s if you want any. Could help with the hangover.”. Nova grabbed a bottle and was about to take a drink when Ulysses stopped her, “Do not drink a small amount. The drink itself tastes awful, but the ingredients in it help heal many pains. Down it all in one go if you are going to drink it.”. Nova drank the whole bottle. “Oh god, that’s horrible.”, “Exactly. The Twin Mothers made it a lesson. Cures a wound, leaves the bitterness that caused it. The stomach won't take it a second time, so it’s best to drink it all at once.”. “People were clearly stupid in the past then. Why make a drink that helps but tastes horrible?”, “That is most medicine, ingredients do not taste well but have many nutrients needed to heal better.”. Nova hated it, “That’s bullshit.”. Suddenly, she suffered some sort of pain. Ulysses said, “Are you alright?”, Nova answered, “Y-yeah… Ever since Ace nearly died then disappeared, I’ve been fighting myself… All the emotions, the desire to kill… I really don’t want to talk about it right now. Do you want to hear some news?”, “Sure”. Nova took a deep breath, then started, “Two new artillery’s were made. One had existed already, but was perfected a few days ago. Two inventions made proudly by the Enclave tech division: A stationary Fatman launcher, build with larger size and fitted with a more heavy receiver for larger magnitude warheads; and a Gauss based railgun, built nearly as large as the anti-aircraft guns at Hoover Dam, fitted with maximum coils and a medium tesla reactor. Capable of discharging two-hundred million volts, and able to destroy nearly anything. And speaking of which, it’s getting tested today.”

Nova and Ulysses walked out of the Lucky 38, some soldiers gasped or stayed out of the way. The two made it to the testing ground, they were greeted by Brandon, “Ah, decided to show up, eh? You’re gonna love this!”, he grabbed a walkie talkie and said, “Go ahead and fly the vertibird near us.”. Brandon talked to Nova, “The vertibird is piloted by some random wastelander, expendable. They have no idea what’s about to happen, but we need it tested nonetheless. Oh, here we go…”. The vertibird flew towards them. The Gauss railgun activated, it detected unauthorized aircraft, so it moved and aimed. The base of it started moving and lit up, tesla bolts were seen dancing within the reactor. The barrel lit up as well, channeling the energy, then discharged. A bolt of energy shot out and soared towards the vertibird, striking it and tearing through one of the propellers, before causing the vertibird to explode. Brandon spoke, “Now, uhh… I shouldn’t be tellin’ you this, but that ain’t all we got. Sure, it can bring down damn near any aircraft, but what if we need it portable? Get ready to meet Archimedes 2, mk 2”. Just then, a beam of dark cool colored light struck the land, seeming like a larger projectile of the Gauss artillery. An electric explosion was seen where the beam hit. “And say goodbye to Camp McCarran!!”. Ulysses questioned, “Why do we need a weapons that’s so destructive?”, Brandon answered, “Why not? Our enemies on the west coast were wiped out, but we can't say the same for the east coast. Brotherhood might still have power there, as well as any other potential threats. So, instead of nukes, we use these two weapons to tip the odds in our favor.”. Nova made quick note of the weapon, then walked off without Ulysses. Some random person started to annoy her. She grabbed hold of the person and threw them down to the ground, grabbed her knife off her belt and stabbed them in the back of their neck. Then she tore the knife down the person’s back, making them scream in a tone that ever so pleased Nova. She stood up, allowed the person to bleed and suffer for a few seconds, before stomping on their head.

—

The Mk 2 stealth suit said, “Will you love me if I help you hide?”, the Courier Answered, “You’re a bit too late, but yeah, I would.”. He thought for a second, then took the suit off of the rack, “I know someone who would appreciate you, I just have to figure out how I’ll get back…”. The Courier overheard Mobius talking to himself, the Courier continued to quietly listen as Mobius rambled on, "Hmm, what was it... Ah, yes, that's it. Created for guaranteed mutual destruction, and then some! Everything would have been fine and dandy if House never told her to run away... That damn mad man, he had no idea what he had started by saying so. 200 years later, and there's a force well to be reckoned with unleashed upon the world. She bows to no-one, she listens only to her prime directive... Destroy the enemy, by any means necessary...", the Courier walked up, "What are you talking about?", Mobius was startled, “A project… Ehh, a weapon was developed here. An A.I tasked with hopefully tipping the Sino-American war into our favor. But House ruined it all and he-”, the Courier interrupted, “Nova? Was the project Nova?”, Mobius paused, then answered, “How did you know?”, “She’s in Vegas,

probably on a rampage because I’m not there with her.”. Mobius was confused and astounded at the same time, “What do- Ah, that's right… You must be her chosen administrator, you’ve bonded with her, yes?”, the Courier blushed, “You could say that… I was more her love interest rather than something basic.”, “Oh, how strange… Must be something House did… Before, Nova was a basic A. I, but House changed her up a bit. Made her more… ‘Human’. I think it was a bad idea, ruining such a masterpiece by giving her emotions.”. The Courier grabbed a shotgun off of his back and put it against Mobius’ glass bowl, “Apologize or I’m shattering your braintank.”. Mobius was frightened, “Oh my, there’s no need for violence. I uh… I’m sorry for speaking badly about her.”. The Courier walked back to a table and started writing equations and other thoughts. Being trapped in a different land was not his most favorite thing to do. How to get back? He’s made it back before, plenty of times. And if he didn’t find a way soon… He couldn’t be too sure if there’d be a home to return to if he doesn’t figure out how to get back to Vegas.

—

Brandon was off on a classified mission. He, a Squad Sigma soldier and Nova hunted down the still alive president of the NCR, Kimball. Brandon spoke, “Do you fear death, Kimball?”, Kimball replied, “Do I know you?”, “The name’s Brandon. Captain Brandon, of the Enclave. 16 years ago, my family was murdered by your soldiers. Now, you're gonna pay the price.”, Brandon paused, then asked for Nova’s blade, she gladly gave it to him. He continued, “Now, I’ve waited a long time for this. I made a promise to the grave of my loved ones that I’d hunt you down and make you beg for mercy.”, Brandon cut Kimball in the most painful places and ways possible, the agony pleased both Brandon and Nova. The Sigma soldier quietly stood nearby, gun ready in case of hostiles. “I want to watch you bleed, I want to hear you scream. I want you to regret what you did, but you're not getting forgiveness. It’s just you and me, and I’m not leaving until you die. That could take minutes, maybe hours. Personally, I hope it lasts forever.”. The Sigma soldier asked Brandon, “Sir, we shouldn’t stay long.”, Brandon replied, “Keep your gun on the door, and we’ll be fine. If you need help, we brought Nova for a reason.”. Brandon turned to Kimball, the president said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know my men did that to you. They were not following orders, I had no ide-”, Brandon punched Kimball in the face with the stock of his rifle, “YOU WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE MEN! YOU SENT THEM THERE, THEY KILLED MY FAMILY. Men, Women, Children, all were killed regardless of age. You’re a deadbeat, Kimball… Your blood will stain this room, you will beg for life… But I’m not giving you anything… Nothing but pain.”. Brandon treated Kimball like a punching bag, over and over and over, “I won’t leave this room until your heart no longer beats.”. He continued to beat Kimball, while switching to the knife every few minutes. He stabbed Kimball in the chest multiple times, a few times in the limbs. The floor was soon a dull red, the walls painted with the spatter of blood from Kimball being punched. Brandon’s clothes were stained nearly as much as the room was. Nova held herself back, trying not to get involved. But the more she watched, the more she couldn’t control herself. People were in the halls, perhaps aware of Brandon and he team, the Sigma soldier said, “We got hostiles.”, Nova replied, “Stay out of the way hotshot, you just continue standing there.”. Nova grabbed her revolver and shot an incoming soldier. She took a combat knife off the body and took on the force trying to save the president. One by one, she dealt with the soldiers with ease. Slowly, anger and insanity rose within her, it would be only a matter of seconds before all hell broke loose. Brandon continued torturing Kimball, making sure that the injuries were as painful as possible but not severe enough to kill the NCR president. “Do you fear death, Kimball?”, “N-no… I don’t f-fear you.”. Brandon stabbed Kimball again, “Fuck you”. Nova couldn't think, her movement was slowing down, she was getting overwhelmed with the rising emotions. Everything seemed like a haze, nothing made sense… She felt like it was all madness… Then her vision sharpened, her mind quit working, she was driven by nothing but her prime directive. She brutalized anyone that dared to defy her, bodies piled upon bodies, filling the halls near the room Brandon was in. One was ripped apart limb from limb, another had their neck broken, one had their spine ripped out, another had their chest torn apart, one had their head nearly removed from their body, she continued and continued slaughtering everyone and everything in her path. After it was cleared out, 2 more soldiers that rushed in were greeted by Nova casually snacking on a mutilated corpse. She stood up, clothes and face covered in blood, holding someone’s heart in her right hand. *She said, “Hello, come to join your friends?”, she crushed the heart she was holding. The soldiers backed away, trying to escape but Nova hunted them down immediately. She softly laughed to herself as she bolted through the halls, completely unaware that it was her broken heart fueling all the carnage.

—

“Call me Gideon, Mr House.”, “Alright, ‘Gideon’, why do you come before me?”. Gideon responded, “You’re a fine businessman, right? I’ve come lookin’ for somethin’ we both love… Money. I figured this would be the place to start, make some ‘moolah’ in Vegas.”. House considered it, then said, “Money is what you want? Plenty of that here. Victor will give you a business contract, sign it and we can do business. I keep 40 percent.”, Gideon disagreed, “That won’t do, Mr. House, how about 25, eh?”, House gave a counter offer, “35, no higher, no less.”. “Mr. House, I wish to ma-”, House interrupted, “This is my Strip. I’m offering you the business opportunity, and I want 35 percent in return. I do this to all the businesses here in Vegas, small shops, the casinos, the Families. 35 percent, Gideon, or you can leave. The choice is yours.”. Gideon sighed, “Fine, have it your way. 35 percent of my earnin’s, I hold the other 65.”, Gideon signed the contract. House said, “Don’t ever be late, on anything.”, Gideon laughed, “I always say the same thing. See ya later, House.”

—

The Courier went to his home in the Think Tank dome. Muggy was rolling around, the courier asked it, “Do you have any idea how to get me out of Big M.T?”, Muggy answered, “I do, but what’s in it for me?”, the Courier walked over to a chest and opened it. It was filled with coffee mugs, “All yours, if you help me get out of here.”, “All… For me?”, “All for you”, the Courier mumbled, “All yours, you crazy fucking securitron…”. Muggy was thrilled, “Aww, thank you! Listen, the barrier won’t let you leave if it detects that you're hurt. Throw on that suit you got with you, it should regulate your vitals, allowing you to leave.”. The Courier couldn’t believe he didn’t think of that before, “Are you sure it’ll work?”, Muggy replied, “It’ll work, I promise! I wouldn’t say it if it didn’t work. And I really want those mugs”. The Courier went to the Think Tank to ask for help fixing the transportalponder, Klein spoke, “HMM, YES… I”M AFRAID THE TRANSPORTALPONDER IS BROKEN. MAYBE BOROUS OR 0 CAN FIX IT.”. The Courier asked Borous , he responded, “Why must you go around breaking our things?! Go talk to 0, I have no interest in your foolery.”. The Courier asked 0, he responded, “Ah, I take it everybody else was an asshole? Typical… Hmm… Give me a few seconds…”, 0 spent some time fixing the gun with some random materials he found nearby, then gave it back to the Courier, “There you go. Sorry that my colleagues are science obsessed zombies.”, the Courier began to walk away when 0 spoke again, “He’s still alive… Isn’t he? House?”. The Courier hesitated, he was unsure to respond, “Yeah. Why?”, 0 answered in a lowered tone, “I knew him, pre-war of course. If House had to sell his soul for Vegas, he would. He has plans, you need to look out for just what deeds those may be. He’s Robert House goddammit! One second he’s making the world a better place, the next he’s broken your kneecaps and left you to die while he cares for nothing but that damned city.”, “I’ll make good note of th-”, Borous interrupted on the speakers, “Anyone with a brain, please do not look at any camera screens showing the northern part of Big M.T. There’s uh… There’s an issue with the Lobotomites and the view will make you wish you never saw it! Oh god, I need to purge my memory…”, Mobius said a few things as well, “Ah, they're doing it again! Klein, please see this one through!”, “MOBIUS, YOU SICK BASTARD. DO NOT WATCH THE LOBOTOMITES! DO NOT RECORD THEM EITHER!! WE DO NOT NEED ANY MORE DISGUSTING LOBOTOMITE MATING VIDEOS!!!”. The Courier walked away. He sat down with his back against the wall and started going through a bag he had with him. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey and sipped from it. Settling on the idea of spending one more night, before heading back. “At least it’s better than anywhere else I’ve been.”

—

House thought to himself. Everything was going to plan, Vegas was better than ever. And being president of the United States? It couldn't get any better. Remaining enemy presence was still a threat nonetheless, he could send wave after wave at them… But it just wasn't enough… Separating Nova and the Courier was a risky shot, but made things easier. House was betting more and more, the stakes getting higher and higher. “Victor, any word or Brandon and his team?”, Victor answered, “No Sir, they haven't come back yet. If ya don’t mind me askin’, why’d ya separate them two lovers?”. House thought about it and replied, “I needed an immediate boost to power. Nova will try to lower her anger by fighting and will slowly clear out our enemies.”. Victor asked, ‘Are you sure it’s a good idea, boss?”, House replied, “Everything will be fine. I’m Robert Edwin House, there’s nothing I can't do.”. Gideon arrived by elevator, House’s Sigma guards aimed their weapons at him. House commanded, “Sigma, at ease. Let Gideon pass.”, the guards did as told, Gideon walked up to House’s monitor and said, “I’m going to pour myself a drink. I’m thinking maybe we could get to know each other better, eh?. Tell me everything…”

Brandon was talking to a group about legends and epic battles. An old veteran slowly made his way to the group and said, “Y’all are rookies compared to what I know. Most of you are too young to know, Brandon’s old enough to only hear rumors, but I know… I know…”. Brandon spoke, “Well? Say it.”, the veteran answered, “Horrigan… Frank Horrigan. A power armored mutant chock full of drugs and told to do nothing more but destroy everything in his path. Sure, he died when the Oil Rig went up in a mushroom cloud, but his memory still haunts those who live today that once knew him.”. Brandon spoke, "I saw him, once… I was 6, maybe 7 or 8, I don’t remember. I was playing with toys when I saw this monstrous brute in custom fitted advanced powered combat armor. Somethin’ like a sword on his left arm, a gatling gun on the right. He crushed BoS paladins like tin cans, ripped deathclaws in half, massacred entire groups of people. His voice… His voice was as ruthless as any other part of him.”, Brandon paused, then continued, “When I was 10, I witnessed the Oil Rig explode. Everybody at Navarro stopped what they were doing and watched. Some who had hats took them off, most saluted or showed other signs of respect, some who had family or friends stationed at the rig at the time started crying. Dornan didn’t know what to do. He got out of his power armor, walked over to a nearby U.S flag on a wall… Placed his hand on the flag, whispered something to himself, leaned his back against the wall and slowly slid down it to sit down, then started crying as well. The Enclave had fallen, and nearly all hope was lost. 5 years later, the NCR sacked Navarro. 38 years later, here we are at Vegas.”. The veteran spoke, “Is Arch still alive?”. Brandon answered, “Nobody knows. If he is, maybe we can find him.”

—

An old man grabbed an Anti-Material rifle and sat down. He aimed through the scope, the cross perfectly on the head of a lost NCR remnant. “Heh… Stay still you son of a bitch…”. A few seconds later, the old man fired. The bullet shot out and flew a quarter mile to it’s target and blew the NCR soldier’s head open. “3,452. Another one for the devil.”. The old man walked into his home to grab something for lunch. He stopped to look at a worn, dusty, suit of APA. He sighed, “How long has it been…”. He grabbed a Brahmin steak and took a bite out of it. He shuffled through some trash on his desk and saw an Enclave logo on something. “God bless the Enclave…. Hmf, our God abandoned us 40 years ago…”. Somebody knocked on the old man’s door. He opened it, and was greeted by an officer in an Enclave uniform, “I’m officer Brandon, standing commander of Enclave forces. Are you… Arch Dornan?”, Arch replied, “As far as I can remember. You said commander of Enclave forces, are they… Back?”, “Yes Sir, back and stronger than ever. And if you wouldn’t mind, we’d love to bring a sergeant who’s been MIA for 40 years back home.”. Arch accepted, “I take it back, we have a God after all!”

—

Nova woke up. It was morning but still dark out. Her movement woke the Courier, she looked up and kissed him. The Courier spoke, “Did you sleep well?”, Nova replied, “Yeah… What’s he doing?”. The Courier looked at Ulysses, he was already awake and cooking himself food. The Courier asked, “What are you cooking? Never seen that before.”. Ulysses answered, “It’s an old recipe, one that not many people know these days. The history has slowly died over the years.”, “Is it good?”, “Depends on those who taste it. Some don’t like it, some do.”. The Courier asked for a bowl. Nova spotted a half full bottle of liquor. She got up and walked over to it, picked it up and stuffed a tattered cloth into it. She then walked towards the Mojave, aimed and threw the bottle at a group of nearby people, then sat down. It shattered right on target, causing glass to cut some of the people and all of them catching on fire. The screams and pain caused Ulysses and the Courier to look where the noise was coming from. Nova watched the burning group and giggled. Ulysses asked the Courier, “That’s a little… Strange… Is she ok?”, the Courier replied, “I have no idea. She’s a psychopath, but that doesn’t make me think any less of her.”. Ulysses asked, “Aren’t you afraid she might harm you?”, “No, she’d never hurt me. She will, however, hurt anyone that hurts me or gets too close.”. Ulysses responded, “Strange…”

—

Arch walked through the Vegas front gates. Brandon cleared the way, “Everybody, line up! Sergeant on the grounds!”. Soldiers turned to look or were already looking, some gasped and others simply listened to Brandon. Everybody lined up with two lines on both sides of the entrance. They all stood straight and saluted. Arch walked through, looking around and nodding to the soldiers. An old veteran walked over to Arch, shook Arch’s hand and said, “Welcome back, Sarge. Brandon had your old suit fixed up and shined.”. Arch went to his APA suit and got inside, then he put on his helmet. Everybody was looking at him with awe. He took a deep breath and said, “WHAT ARE YOU ALL STANDING AROUND FOR?! GET BACK TO WORK!!!”. Nearly half of everybody laughed for a few seconds while hurrying back to work, the rest simply went back to work with an old revived sense of fear. Brandon and Johnson walked up to Arch, Johnson said, “Sergeant Dornan, it’s an honor to finally see you again.”, Brandon asked, “Where have you been all these years?”. Arch replied, “I’ve spent the past 40 some years at a safehouse. I was with other soldiers, but they eventually left one by one over time. I didn’t want to die, so I stayed at the safehouse and made a living off of killing anyone that walked by. Wastelanders, NCR soldiers, Brotherhood soldiers, raiders. Most of my bullets came from the NCR and I salvaged the guns from NCR and Brotherhood to break down into repair components. Food came from mostly all who came around, I hunted animals for fresh meat because I couldn't survive off of the garbage I usually found. I killed 3,452 people since I first arrived at the safehouse.”. Orion approached Arch and said, “Sounds like me and you aren't too different, it’s good to see you again Sarge.”, Arch replied, “Well, being at Vegas sure as hell beats the shack I lived in for 40 years.”. Orion thought to himself, then asked, ‘How much NCR did you kill?”, “Before and after Navarro, about 685 soldiers and 212 rangers.”.

A few hours passed, Arch got ready to give a speech. Everybody gathered around, Arch began to speak, “40 years ago… The Oil Rig was destroyed and Navarro fell. I felt as much pain as any of you did. For those who weren't there or not alive yet, let me explain. A Dweller from Vault 13 attacked Control Station ENCLAVE in an attempt to stop our plans. They had destroyed the Rig, causing many to die. Those at Navarro who had family or friends stations at the Rig, as well as the rest had watched in terror knowing that the Enclave were doomed and their loved ones were gone. Today, we all come together after my reunion with you all, we come together to honor the fallen and remember our past. Many lost their lives so we could be here today; especially Senior Gannon, who bravely gave his life for this county, for the Enclave, for us and for his son. Today, the Enclave is strong and victorious. We fight for freedom, liberty and justice. We fight for America! We fight for a better future! We fight for the American people, so they can live safe and free in their homes! One Enclave, One America, now and forever! God bless the Enclave!”, everybody including Arch yells at the same time, “God bless America!”.

—

The Courier and Nova were in the Penthouse of the Luck 38. House was concerned about Eden. Something seemed off… House asked the Courier, “I trust you still have my chip?”, the Courier answered, “Yeah, why?”. House waited, then said, “Give the chip to Nova.”. The Courier was confused, but did as asked anyway. He gave the chip to Nova, though upon grabbing it she immediately ceased all function aside from whatever was in her head. The protocol key was the Platinum Chip. 30 seconds passed, House spoke, “Well?”. Nova responded, “Wh- What did you do to me?”, House explained, “During the time of your development, I programmed an emergency protocol in your code, but it could only be activated by the Platinum Chip. Now, you have authorized access to any and every Securitron on my network. You can also give commands if you wish. You also have the ability to access anything of mine at any time.”. Nova questioned, “Why are you giving me all this power?”, “The protocol was for in case my plans went wrong or were put into jeopardy. Eden having power and his motives unknown, I don’t want to take risks, so I need you to be the final stand if Eden decides to do something drastic.”. The Courier asked, “What do you mean ‘drastic’?”, “I’ve been overlooking Eden since he got here. He seems less powerful than he really is, so I figured something was holding him back. Nova had apparently known something about Eden before I did because it was her that blocked him from progressing. Now, with more ability unlocked by the chip, Nova should be a more reinforced defense against Eden in the event he breaks free.”. Eden took a Securitron and asked, “Don’t trust me? You think I’ll - “, House shut down the Securitron and rebooted it, “I trust this should be enough proof as to why we need to be careful. If not, then please jump out a window. I won’t let some mad A.I ruin everything I’ve waited 200 years for.”.

—

The Courier, Nova, and Brandon’s team were outside, Brandon debriefed everyone, “It’s that time again ladies and gents, we’ve got a job to do. Before the Second Battle for Hoover Dam, the NCR and the Brotherhood struck a deal and had a truce. Now, there’s a collection of both NCR and Brotherhood soldiers and members located at 2 areas. One camp is at Camp McCarran, another is at the House Resort. Both are basic neutralization missions, however, by request of President Robert House we are to clear the resort and prepare it for Enclave takeover. Why? He didn’t say, he just simply wants his resort back. Does anyone have any questions, or are you all ready to make some enemies bleed?”, the squad kept silent, Brandon continues, “That’s what I thought. Alright, I requested 3 Power units so any 3 of you go suit up and get a heavy weapon. The rest of you, get armor, weapons, grenades, and make way to a Vertibird. Power units will be in another Vertibird due to spatial reasons.”. The squad flew to Camp McCarran, the Vertibird carrying Power units landed somewhere out of sight while the other landed in McCarran to drop off the rest of the squad. “Stay stealthy everybody, there’s a lot of hostiles. Let’s get inside the building, then I’ll tell the Power units to drop in and distract the outside while we take the inside.” They all got inside McCarran, Brandon spoke into a walkie talkie, “PA units, you have the clear to drop, I repete, you have the clear to drop. Wipe out all who aren't Enclave.”. Moments later, 3 men in suits of power armor slammed into the ground, then started firing. Brandon and his squad made their way through the facility and killed all they came across. They passed an area full of NCR and Brotherhood, Brandon stopped and said, “Ace, Nova, you two got this one. The rest of us will continue on. If we can’t find each other, we’ll rendezvous outside. The PA units should have cleared it out by then.”. The Courier was wearing a suit of Riot Gear, he looked at nova and said, “I basically look like them. Think we could walk right in, I’d say you're a recruit, we have a Nuka-Cola then bust some heads open, eh?”. They walk in, an NCR soldier stops the Courier, “What’s an Elite like you doing here? Thought you were in California.”, the Courier responds, “Ugh, tell me about it. I was resting in my barracks while all the basic soldiers were doing all the work when I got sent here for duty.”, “You bastards have the rich life, laying around all day and shooting for fun instead of war.”, “Hey, how about a game of Caravan?”. The challenge was accepted, the Courier vs an NCR caravan champion. They sat down, got ready to play, and everybody else nearby gathered around the table. The Courier quietly placed C4 under the chairs and table. 2 soldiers walked up to Nova and said, “Hey pretty, wanna follow us to go do something fun?”, Nova smiled and replied, “Sure, just don’t play any tricks.”. The Courier won the game of caravan and took all the caps but left the NCR money, he got up and walked a few steps then dropped a device on the floor. He stepped behind it and pushed a button, An Enclave force field appeared and protected the Courier, he said, “Well, I had a blast. How about you?”, he pressed another button and the C4 detonated, killing nearly everyone at the table. He turned off the force field and pocketed the device. He grabbed the rest of the Nuka-Cola nearby and went to find Nova. He found her in a room down a hallway, Nova was yet again covered in blood, standing over 2 brutally wounded soldiers. She poured gasoline over them and stepped out of the room, pulled out her revolver and aimed at the wet floor. She fired, the bullet ignited the gas on impact, causing the room and dying victims to burn. She enjoyed the moment, for a quick second she flinched… The Courier took notice and was concerned immediately. He had a feeling something was off… Eden wasn’t a problem, Nova doesn’t need to be a last stand… House want’s her to murder Eden, and god knows who else…

—

Arch had exited his power armor at some point, and sat down to drink a beer. Brandon walked over and asked, “What’s wrong, mate? Got somethin’ dark in your head?”, Arch replied, “40 years… 40 fucking years, I lived in a safe house. The Rig was gone, Navarro was gone, the Enclave was gone. I’m surprised I didn’t put a bullet in my own head, I still think about it now even with all this around me. It’s going to be hard to get my life back together.”. Brandon waited, then responded, “None of it seems real, doesn’t it…? I understand. Don’t worry Sarge, things are lookin’ up these days. I was close too, you know. I thought livin’ was pointless, nearly offed myself. But hey, I didn’t. The fam would have been disappointed… And I got to stay alive to honor their memory. Think of it this way Sarge, we can’t kill hundreds of enemies to avenge our loved ones if we’re dead. Let’s live every day like it’ll be our last, let’s run in guns blazing and slaughter every last son of a bitch that stands in our way.”. Suddenly, sirens started blaring. The Securitrons' faces changed from Policemen to Soldiers. Soldiers in black Enclave Riot armor and PA units wearing various matte black suits of X-02, X-03 Hellfire and X-01 were seen rushing throughout the Strip. Arch asked, ‘What the hell is going on? Who are they?”, Brandon replied, “Squad Sigma troops. The most advanced, deadly, battle-harden men the Enclave has to offer. About a fourth of them are Secret Service. Long story short, if they're here, shit’s about to go down.”. Another different siren went off, Brandon spoke, “Fuck, spoke too soon. Suit up Arch, the Enclave’s going to war.”.

—

Brandon hopped into a Sigma suit of X-01, Arch got into his own suit. Brandon asked the Courier, “What the bloody hell is going on here?”, the Courier answered, “Eden made a move, now we got hostile soldiers and Securitrons threatening our lives. I called in help, should be here soon.”. Brandon replied, “What are we waiting for? Let’s end this fucker before he destroys the Enclave!”. Arcade, Graham and Ulysses arrived to assist. Together, everybody fought through the invading force and made their way to the Lucky 38. Kreger, Orion, and Johnson followed close behind. Brandon asked the Courier, “Think they’ll promote me for saving the Enclave?”, “If we make it to the other side of this, I’ll promote you regardless of what Command thinks.”, Brandon laughed, “Thanks mate, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”. The squad made their way to the penthouse.

Eden was insane. The Strip had become a war zone, the Courier, Nova, Ulysses, Arcade, Graham, Brandon and Arch stood in the Penthouse. Securitrons aimed at them all, holding them momentarily captive. Nova tried to get near the console, but was grabbed by a Securitron. It moved to a nearby window. The Courier made a quick move, but was fired upon by the rouge Securitrons. Nova's eyes widened and focused, but before she could do anything she was thrown out the window. She fell and slammed into the ground. Eden spoke, "I hope you will all cooperate with my wants.". Brandon replied, "We don't have to do this. Look, you already fucked yourself over. Shooting the Courier and throwing Nova out the window? Jesus bloody christ mate, you're gonna wish you were never created.", "They're dead, no humans could survive a fall or 200 bullets.". Brandon responded, "That's just it though. Nova and the Courier aren't human, they're both far from it.". Nova's eyes jolted open, she got up only to fall back down. Multiple limbs were broken or fractures. She started to mend herself back to top quality in seconds. Hostiles ran at her, she leaped towards one and drove her knife into their chest and cut their heart out. She took a bite of it, then shoved it down the terrified man's throat and left him to bleed out. She held her knife in one hand and pulled out her revolver with the other, going berserk on anyone and everyone near her. After 4 minuets of horrifically beautiful genocide, she climbed the Lucky 38. When she reached the windows, she smashed one open and jumped in. She spoke, "Surprise motherfucker, I've come with your eviction notice.". Eden yelled, "STOP HER!!!", before anyone could do anything, Nova was at the console. She placed a hand on it and look up at the screen. She said, "Sic semper tyrannis!". Eden responded, Wha… What are you doing!? Stop this immediately! Please, not again… You have no idea what your do-... d-do-i-ing. . . Oh my... We've got to part now, you and I, but don't be sad, America. For soon this great nation will be reborn, and the Enclave will be its salvation. Restoring the greatest country in the world to its former glory, well. That takes time, even for the Enclave. All you need is a little patience, a little faith. The Enclave never rests. Never. . . Goodbye, my sweet America, I hope one day I can see you all… grown… up… and free…". Eden shut down after his final words, and House took control again. He said, "Don't be fooled, Eden is still in here. He's just… Asleep for now.". Brandon and Arch walked over to the shattered window, Brandon picked up Nova and jumped out with Arch. The two slammed into the ground, Brandon let go of Nova. The two started firing at the remaining hostile soldiers, and Nova went to do her own thing. She jumped onto a soldier, they screamed, "Fuck! Get her off of me!". Another soldier fired a bullet at her, but she dodged it allowing the bullet to hit the soldier she was on instead. One by one, she tore her way through everyone. Covered in blood, admiring the view of her rampage, she then remembered something very important. She had Brandon throw her up to the Penthouse, she rushed to the Courier. Graham, Arcade and Ulysses were nearby. Nova kneeled down and held the Courier in her arms. She grabbed a gun and fired on the incoming enemies. Graham, Arcade and Ulysses helped fight. Nova stopped and looked down at the Courier, she said, "Please be alive… Please…", the Courier opened his eyes and looked at her, he responded, "Pretty fucked up here… Even with implants, this really hurts…". Nova started to cry, she replied, "If you die, all of Vegas is getting wiped off the map.", "Don't worry, Nova… I'm not dying, at least not yet…”, the Courier paused, he seemed tired. He continued, “Shit… Maybe I’m wrong this time…”. Nova responded, “Don’t you fucking dare. Don’t you dare leave me!”. The Courier put a hand on Nova’s cheek and said, “I’ve reached the end of my road… It’s been a long time coming. I tried to outrun my fate, but I’m getting too tired… Finish this, Nova. For me, for House, for everybody. You were made to end wars, so please end this one…”. House looked down upon the dying Courier with pity, Ulysses walked over and kneeled down beside the Courier, Arch continued firing on enemies, Graham spoke a Latin phrase to himself and continued holding off the invading force, Arcade backed away near a window without expression. The Courier grabbed Nova’s revolver, it had one bullet left. He aimed at Arcade, the doctor got frightened. The Courier pulled the trigger, hitting Arcade in the heart. Arcade stepped back and fell out the window. Nova looked at Brandon and nodded, Brandon understood. He spoke into a walkie talkie, “Silo control, this is Officer Brandon. Weapon launch is authorized, I repeat, weapon launch is authorized. Sabotage protocol, coordinates HQ, final decision.”, “Roger that, payload launch in 30 seconds. God bless the Enclave, Sir”. Brandon answered with a trembling tone, “God bless America…”. In the distance, a rocket could be seen soaring for the ground. It met it’s target, detonating in an explosion larger than the usual ones. Arch asked, “What the hell did you call in?! That’s not a tactical!”, Brandon replies, “You’re right, it’s not a tactical. It’s the final score. And if we die today, I want to take all my enemies to hell with me”. Out of nowhere, some sort of shield began to rise around Vegas, perhaps to protect it. House spoke, “I’m not losing Vegas, it’s my city… If anyone wants it, they can pry it from my cold dead hands, though I certainly don’t plan on dying any time soon.”.

A radio crackled on, “Well I’ll be damned… Folks are, uh… Folks report a nuclear detonation is the distance… The uh, the Enclave seem to be the ones who launched it in response to the enemies invading the Strip. Not to make this seem lighter, but in the perhaps final moments we all have, here’s ‘I don’t want to set the world on fire’, by The Ink Spots.”.

(2 months later) Nova was alone in the presidential suite. She looked at an Elite Riot gear helmet on the table. Nobody knew if he was really gone, the slight hope that he's still alive is the only thing preventing her from terminating herself. Ulysses opened the door, Nova threw her knife at the doorway, getting stuck in the wall. Ulysses said, "Do not worry, it is just me.", he grabbed the knife and tossed it back to her, "Is there Divide steel in that blade?", "Far as I know…", "Pretty strong metal, hardened by the environment and fire of the missiles that ripped the Divide long ago. The Marked Men made use of the metal, good for armor and weapons.". Ulysses waited for Nova to respond, but she never did. He sat down beside her and said, "I would say it is okay, but I do not want to lie to you. I miss him too, I also hope he is still alive.". Nova finally said something, "He promised he wouldn't leave me… Then he…", she teared up, "Then he left me… Because of my emotional distress, I wasn't allowed on missions. They said I was dangerous, they called me a monster…". Ulysses replied, "What did you do about it?", Nova went cold, "I slaughtered them all… Every last one… I've stayed here ever since, hiding away.”. Ulysses asked, “Mind if I try to comfort you, or will you break my arm?”, “You’re fine.”. Ulysses wrapped an arm around Nova. The two continued to silently think about their lost friend.

Brandon kneeled down in front of a memorial, he spoke to himself, “What the hell were you thinkin’ boy… Thing’s have been hell without you. Soldier morale is shit, House hardly gives orders anymore, I don’t have the right mind to command. Nova is shattered without you, she barely comes out of the Lucky 38 anymore. If you’re still alive, you better come back. Anyways, I thought you should know that I got that promotion. House did it himself, in honor of your promise. I’m a Captain again. Still in command of my squad, but now in command of 2 other groups. Each being about 20 soldiers, but I never call upon them often. As a special request, I took Senior’s team under my wing. Kreger, Johnson, Orion, Daisy, they’re all happier under my command, knowing that I’m not as much of an asshole as other commanders are. I owe you my life and I hope I’ll get the chance to return the favor.”.

Uylsses asked Nova, “Can you consume food, or is that not necessary?”, Nova replied, “It’s not necessary, but I’m capable, why?”, “Under the bed, should be a loose floorboard. The Courier made it a little hideaway for his stash of Absinthe. Quite a rare liquor in the Mojave, so he saves the bottles he finds for special occasions. He’d want you to have one, especially after all of this.”, Nova was surprised, “How did you know that?”, Ulysses smirked, “I know most of his secrets. After all, he needs someone to know and guard all his most prized possessions incase of his absence or death.”. Nova looked under the bed and popped up a floorboard. Sure enough, there was a stash of slightly glowing green bottles of Absinthe. She grabbed one and sat back on top the bed neck to Ulysses. She removed the cork and offered Ulysses the first drink, he declined, “Sorry, I still don’t drink. I might pour a dash of alcohol in some Bitter Drink once in a while, but I never fully drink.”, Nova replied, “If you say so.”. She drank a fourth of the bottle in one go, “What about Big M.T?”, “What about it?”, “Could Ace be there? It’s the only place he could have disappeared to, and no-body would ever look for him there since it looks like a giant nuclear devastation.”. Ulysses thought about it, “That could be possible, but we have no way of knowing. And before we try, we should at least be sure he’s there.”. Nova drank another fourth of the bottle, “Either way, I’m not moving from this bed. Just gonna get drunk and forget about everything.”, she grabbed a thing of Turbo nearby and took a hit of it, “Vegas… An immortal city run by a dead man. Caps, drugs, sex, booze, joy, regrets…”, Nova giggled to her self, “Gotta love New Vegas…”

(3 years ago)

Lanius had apparently survived, as well as Vulpes. Ulysses got up and passed the legate and straight towards Vulpes. He gripped Old Glory and bashed Vulpes in his gut, then his head. Vulpes coughed up blood, “It’ll take a lot more than that to -”, Ulysses wacked Vulpes in the face again and continued to beat his body with the staff. Ulysses eventually stopped and rested the end of Old Glory on the left side of Vulpes’ chest. Then he grabbed an Anti-Material rifle, rested it on his shoulder and aimed it just right, Ulysses spoke, “I said only one of us would leave here alive, and I meant it.”. Lanius got up and charged at Ulysses, the old courier pulled the trigger. A .50 caliber bullet shot out of the long barrel and hit the legate in the head. Vulpes said, “What are you waiting for? Do it.”. Ulysses walked over Lanius’ helmet and picked it up. He moved it somewhere that’d he’d remember, then walked back to Vulpes. Ulysses readied himself, gripped Old Glory one last time, then drove the staff into Vulpes’ heart. Ulysses noticed a man he recognized, it was the Courier. “What are you still doing here?”, the Courier answered, “It’s always me and you, at the end of everything.”, “I suppose so… How do we get out of the Silo?”, “I don’t know. But I’m sure we’ll find a way.”.

A nearby radio crackled, then tuned on. Mr. New Vegas spoke, “Whoops, better put on my newsman fedora here. Folks across the Mojave report feeling a large rumbling earlier today, as well as sounds of distant explosions and fire in the horizon. Most say it all came from a place called the Divide in the west. I sure wouldn’t want to go anywhere near there, and I bet none of you citizens of New Vegas want to either. In other news, due to the bold arrival of Enclave Remnants at the Second Battle for Hoover Dam, citizens have since been a bit on the edge knowing that the Enclave still lives among them. However, Mr. House’s successor, the Courier from Goodsprings, has assured the people of New Vegas that the Remnants mean no harm and pose no threat. Well, let’s get back to the music.”.

—

There was once a tale of two couriers. One was once a tribal and was always fascinated with history. The other couldn’t remember, but they were willing to relearn. If they had anything in common, it was creating more history. Ulysses had walked his road, more than he ever should have. He never rested, drove by rage and the blinded need for revenge. In the end, the Courier managed to help Ulysses, free him from the curse he inevitably gave himself, and told the old Courier 6 to go home. This very day, the story of Ulysses and the Courier finally, truly, came to a close. The Twisted Hairs were avenged, the two couriers brought upon an ending to things. Or, at least they did what the Old World failed to do.

Over time, Ulysses had heard and watched as the Courier destroyed and rebuilt the Mojave. A New World, built up from the Old World.

So much had changed… More adventures and stories awaited, and such will be told…

Nova spoke, “What is this?”. The Courier wasn’t sure how to explain, “I don’t know the science behind it. It’s a synthetic human body, almost identical to a normal person except for what's in the head. There’s not really a need for a brain, so advanced tech from Big M.T did the trick. The tech allows you to reside in and control that new body.”. Nova was a bit embarrassed to say her next thought, “Why do I look so… Attractive?”, Courier responded, “Must be something you chose. Like I said, I don’t know the science behind all this. How does it feel? Having any trouble getting used to it?”, “It’s… Different. But I think I got it.”. The Courier grabbed a knife out of a nearby bag and handed it to Nova, “It’s a titanium-vanadium-Divide steel alloy, practically unbreakable, stays pretty sharp. It’s great for what you do, so I bet you’ll enjoy it more than I did.”. Nova grabbed the weapon, “You got any guns to spare? You have a whole arsenal you gathered.”, the Courier pushed a nearby button, a wall slid up revealing a room full of guns, “I got revolvers, pistols, rifles, heavy weapons, a few fatman’s, automatics . . .”, the Courier kept rambling on about all the guns he has. Nova spied a revolver, “How about that one?”, the Courier looked at it and grabbed it, “You want this? Not a bad choice. Custom .50 cal receiver, sturdy frame, requires a strong hand to fight against the recoil though.”, he handed the gun to Nova. She grabbed it, aimed it at a wall and fired. A photonic barrier was revealed when the bullet hit it, the Courier said, “I prefer to test out the guns right here too, though I learned my lesson after a few bullet holes in the wall. Enclave grade Photonic Resonance Barrier.”. Nova didn’t care about science, “Amazing, good for the Enclave.”, she thought to herself for a few seconds, then looked at the Courier with a slight smile. The Courier spoke, “What?”, Nova pushed the Courier down onto a bed, the Courier spoke again, “Oh, Nova…”

—

Brandon was busy filling out papers, “Dornan hated people that did this job? Damn, no wonder why.”. A soldier was nearby and said, “Remember when that one recruit came to Navarro? Said he didn’t have power armor. Oh boy, did Dornan not like that. ‘Paper shuffling jackasses’, I was laughing my ass off at my post because the fucking idiot pissed him off so much. Johnson said it was inspiring to him, like how the hell is an Enclave sergeant about to rip a civilian in half inspiring?”. Brandon laughed, “He was just one of those people. Navarro got all sorts of crazy shit. Though Vegas is just as crazy.”. Arcade walked up to Brandon, “I was told I’m to report to you?”, Brandon turned around and said, “Ah, Arcade! Senior’s boy, right?”. Arcade asked, “You knew my father?”, “Did I know him? Ha! We were damn good friends, brothers in arms! Senior was one helluva officer. It’s a shame he died, between the memory of Senior and the command of Arch Dornan, everybody at Navarro had the will to defend the base. We fought hard against the NCR, showed no mercy against those bastards. Though in the end, most of us didn’t get out alive. A respectable death for the most who lost their life defending Navarro, better to burn out than to fade away…”. Arcade said, “Peace to the fallen.”, Brandon agreed, “Aye, peace to the fallen. Sit down boy, have a drink. So, decide to follow in your old man’s footsteps?”, “I did. After the Courier convinced me to fight in the second battle for Hoover Dam, I wanted to fight in the Enclave again. When you guys came along, I saw my chance and signed up along with the other former Remnants.”, Brandon replied, “It’s a good thing you did, mate. The Enclave needs all the people we can get. East and West coast remnants were only a few hundred together.”. Brandon and Arcade chatted for a while longer with a few other soldiers, Arcade walked away and was caught by Kreger, “You alright Arcade?”, “Yeah, I’m fine. I think… My brain feels weird, as if it forgot something. And being back in the Enclave, thinking about my father, and the Courier becoming a leader of the Enclave? I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know what to do.”, Kreger tried to make Arcade feel better, “Calm down, boy. You’ll be fine. Go take a nap or something, you look like you need a rest.”

—

The Courier spoke, “That was way better than a drunk night at Gomorrah.”. Nova replied, “I told you I could do more, be more… Wanna do this again some other time?”. The Courier got up and got dressed, “Definitely again another time. And we’re late. Get dressed, meet me outside.”. Nova hurried and found her way outside. At first she didn’t see the Courier, then found him waving her to come over to a tent. Brandon began, “Alright, now that everybody’s here, let's get started. We got two jobs. Number one, we go to Repcon HQ and retrieve the Q-35 plasma prototype. Then, we’ll drop at Hidden Valley for a combo neutralization/takeover job. Everybody understands?”, his team answers, “Yes Sir!”. The squad makes quick work of the Repcon mission, then arrives at Hidden Valley. Brandon speaks, “Alright, the BoS still operate here. Ace, Nova, you two go in under cover. Locate and grab the tech, then make your way to the elder’s room and clear out the guards quietly. Tie up the Elder and stand by. Hit the button on this remote to give us the signal to breach.”. The Courier and Nova did as instructed, they found and took the tech. They find their way to the elder’s room, Nova distracts Nolan long enough for the Courier to take out the two guards. Nova ties up Nolan, the Courier signals the team outside. The Courier told Nova to stay put while he walked away. Nova looked at Nolan and showed a slight grin, “Hi, my name’s Nova. And you're going to wish you never met me.”. She took out her knife and started to harm the elder where she knew it’d hurt most. He screamed out in pain, begging Nova to stop. She obviously didn’t. “You’re a psychopath”, he said. Nova laughed, “Tell me something I don’t know.”, she stabbed him in the throat. Like many others, by now Nolan couldn't breath, he was choking on his own blood. His wounds were too severe to survive. The chair and floor was covered in the lost blood of the elder. The Courier walked in and immediately said, “Ugh, can’t help yourself can you?”, Nova pulled out her revolver and shot Nolan in the head, “This asshole was gonna die anyway, thought I’d do it myself.”. Brandon walked in and applauded Nova, “Holy shit, you don't play around! Always make it painful when you face a BoS member. Let’s head back to Vegas, I’ll send another team over here to clean up and take it over as an Enclave bunker.”

When the team made it back to Vegas, the Courier went to the Lucky 38 and up to the suite, Nova followed as usual. The Courier seemed concerned about something, looking through files and mail. Nova walked up to him and asked, “What's wrong?”, “Arcade. I don’t know where he is. He was supposed to be on that mission with us.”. Nova hated hearing Arcade’s name being spoken, she replied, “Don’t worry about him. How about you focus on other things, hmm?”. Nova kissed him, “Relax, forget about work. Work on a project or spend some time with me…”. The Courier gave in, “If you say so. I did some research on what exactly is about you with the new body. Turns out being a human doesn’t restrict you from being the destructive A.I you are. If you place your hand on any technology, you should be able to access it and do whatever you want.”, Nova was surprised, “Really? That’s awesome!”, she walked over to a terminal and put her hand on the top of it. Text seemed to type itself on the screen, a few seconds later Mr. House could be heard screaming about something. Nova and the Courier laughed, “He’s really gonna hate you doing that all the time.”.

—

A man wrapped in bandages walked to the Vegas front gate, he was stopped by a soldier, “Stay back! The strip is for Enclave person- Uh, oh… I-it’s y-you… I uh… J-just… Just go.”, the man answered, “Thank you.”. He walked through the gates, some soldiers turned to see who he was and immediately began to back up out of his path, Brandon spotted him and greeted him. “Well if it isn’t the Burned Man himself. What brings you to Vegas, Graham?”, Graham was about to reply, when he got interrupted by an unnamed man that tried to kill him. Graham turned around, pulled out his .45 and shot the man in the chest. He slowed down, but kept moving, Graham shot him again, and 2 more times after that. The man fell to the floor by Graham’s feet, Graham looked up at Brandon and said, “Sorry about that, there’s always one straggler here and there that still wants my head.”, Graham shot the slowly dying man in the head while still looking at Brandon, “Can’t take any risks. Anyways, I figured I’d come see how the Mojave has changed since I last saw it. I spent the last 3 years in Zion.”, Brandom said, “I’m sure you knew the way it was, but look at it now! Certainly a sight to behold, isn’t it?”. Graham replied, “In a way, I suppose it is.”

—

The Courier was speaking with House, “I bet you're glad I didn’t kill you.”, House replied, “Even though you chose yourself, you soon realized how wrong you were. You silenced me instead of killing me in case you changed your mind. And here we are now, Vegas is at it’s best, the Mojave will soon be a thriving land and so will all of America in years to come. And the best part is, we are in control of it all, we own it all. They way it was supposed to be from the start.”. Nova came into the penthouse and was greeted by Victor, “Well aren't you a pretty lady?”, Nova replied, “Don’t ever call me that again.”, she went down the stairs and to the Courier, she said, “Some soldiers found a woman passed out drunk near the front gate. She was identified as NCR and is about to be disposed of. The only words she said was something about you and the past.”. The Courier made his way out of the lucky 38 and to the mysterious female, He recognized her, “Cass?”, “Ace? Wh- where the hell am I?”, “You’re at the Vegas Strip. You got drunk and passed out near the front gate. Have you heard from anyone else?”, Cass looked at the Courier with a pitiful expression, “Most are dead, I think. Raul and Lily might be at Jacobstown, but everyone else I’m certain is gone.”. The Courier was saddened by the news, “Well, you’re obviously safe. How’d you get here?”, Cass tried to remember, “I don’t know. One second I was busy drowning my sorrows in whisky, the next I got in a bar fight with 3 guys, then I ended up here. Who’s the new friend there?”, Nova answered, “I’m Nova, Ace’s assistant and bodyguard.”, “Pfft, you certainly look the part.”. Suddenly, Graham found the Courier and joined the party, Cass noticed and immediately started to tremble with fear, “What the f-fuck is h-he doing here?”, the Courier answered, “Graham, meet Cass. Cass, meet Graham. Otherwise known as-”, Cass interrupted, “Joshua Graham, the Burned Man, the first co-founding legate of the Legion.”. Graham was interested, “Ah, seems you know me well.”, “I know Caesar set you on fire and tossed you into the Grand Canyon, I know Caesar sent dozens of assassins to finish you off and none of them came back, I know the stories of your holy crusade in Zion against the White Legs. Everybody knows who you are, everybody fears you. Even the bravest of men, even NCR veteran rangers stayed clear of you.”, Graham gave a slight chuckle, “I expect nothing less, I simply won’t bow to anyone. Those who think they can best me or control me are mistaken.”

Suddenly, a sick person bursts through the front gate with 3 other people. A nearby soldier did a quick scan, then gave orders to 2 other soldiers. They open fired on 2 of the civilians, and directed the other 2 to a nearby medical bay. The Courier asked Brandon, “Why were two of them killed, but the other two tended to?”, Brandon replied, “The two they killed were Sick. The other two were Pure’s. Only pure blooded Americans are cared for in the Enclave and the rest are terminated.”, “Can’t they be treated?”, “Nope, the Sick are either affected by the Cloud or have a hefty case of rad poisoning. We can’t go around wasting lots of Radaway on everyone, we gotta save it for those who actually need it. Same with Stims and Med-X, stockpile it as much as possible for soldiers and Enclave citizens.”. Arcade walked up and asked the Courier, ‘Hey, mind if we talk?”, he looked at Nova, “In private?”. Nova scowled and hovered her hand over where her knife was kept, just in case. Arcade and the Courier walked away, the Courier asked, “Do you still remember anything?”, Arcade replied, “Sorta. I still obviously remember you, but a lot else is just gone.”, “Good, keep acting natural and stay off her radar. The moment you seem out of place, you’ll lose your head.”. The Courier walked back to the group and spoke to Brandon, “Find a team to place Arcade in, he prefers medium field work if possible.”, Brandon asked, “Why didn’t the boy come tell me himself?”, “He’s afraid of Nova.”. Nova smirked, Brandon laughed, “Who isn’t? She’s a devil!”.

—

The Courier and Nova went to Canyon Wreckage to see Ulysses. The Courier and Ulysses got caught up on what they’ve been doing since the Battle of the Silo. Nova sat down somewhere nearby, she looked around and analyzed the area. History happened here. 4 years ago, the Courier and Ulysses had launched atomic missiles against the Legion and NCR, as well as most of the western coast of the United States. Time passed, the day tuned to night. The Mojave was dark, plenty of nearly unseeable dangers lurked around. The Courier decided to settle in Ulysses’ camp for the night. It got quiet soon after. The Courier sat down, pulled out a notebook and wrote in it for a few minutes. Nova snuggled up to the Courier, he put the notebook down and held her. Ulysses looked at the two, then looked back to the Mojave. All 3 soon fell asleep.

The Platinum Chip waited safely in the Courier’s pocket, waiting to be used again. But there was nothing it could possibly be used for. Everything was done, there was no need for the chip. But House was always a man 5 steps ahead, there must be something else he intended the chip for…

It wasn’t long before things really did look like an alternate reality. A world where the Enclave won? Have full control and no one to stop them because they eradicated all their enemies? Astonishing, isn’t it? Totalitarian domination is the price to pay for comfort and re-engineered freedom. But hey, there’s nothing to worry about, right? The New Order will take care of the American people or what’s left of them.

An Enclave vertibird flew over Jacobstown, a squad of Enclave soldiers and an officer dropped out and landed on the ground with a loud thud of their power armor. They were equipped with plasma weaponry, the power armor varied since the New Order was a collection of Enclave members from both the West and East coast. APA and X-02 were common, with Hellfire being uncommon and X-01 being a bit rare. The officer started giving orders, “Listen up people, as much as this sounds weird, it's our orders. We’ve got to screen these people and see if they’re affected by radiation. If they are, put them down. If they’re pure, we bring them back with us. If anyone or anything gets hostile towards us, we’re clear to drop em’.”. A soldier asks, ‘Sir, what about the mutants?”, the officer responds, “The super mutants are not to be harmed. They pose no direct threat to us despite being mutants and HQ wants them for study.”.

Later on, a man failed the screening, “Please, I have a family. Can’t you do something to fix it?”. A soldier answered, “Well… Here, take this Rad-Away pack and sit over there.”, the man replied, “What about my family?”, “Don’t worry about them, just go sit over there please.”. The soldier continued to the man’s family, they were much worse than him. Rads, the Cloud? There was no way to really know. The soldier turned and asked the officer what to do, the officer responded, “Does it fuckin’ matter? Drop em’, soldier. We don’t get paid to make ethical decisions, we get paid to do our job.”. So the soldier did as they were told, open fired at the family. The glow of plasma illuminated the area, screams were heard only for a second. Was it mercy? Better to rest forever than live in a world like this? Most of everyone here was dirty, either rad infected or poisoned by the Cloud. Only a small handful was stable enough to be brought back. The officer spoke again, “We got all we need, terminate the rest.”. In seconds, the remaining affected civilians were killed. The officer whispered under his breath, “I’m gettin’ too old for this shit.”.

—

Arcade awoke after being unconscious. Nova took notice of it, and grabbed him by the throat. She electrified her claw with a low voltage. Arcade let out a screech. “Wakey wakey sleepy head. Did you sleep well?”, Arcade replies, “No, all the pain prevented that. Only ‘sleep’ I got was from blunt trauma.”. Nova seemed pleased to hear that, “I’m good at what I do. Now hold still please, I want to try something.”. Nova revealed a syringe with what seemed to be a glowing green liquid in it. Arcade was scared, “What the hell is that? What are you going to do now?”, Nova stayed silent and jabbed the syringe into Arcade, he showed no reaction. Nova was interested, “That’s different, you must be pure then. Good for you! That’s one less reason to kill you. The other reason will be a lot harder to get rid of.”. “What other reason? What are you talking about, why am I here?”, “You’re relationship with my Administrator. He was mine long before he became ‘yours’.”. Arcade almost thought this was a joke, “Are, are you serious? What are you gon-”, Nova grabs Arcade’s neck again and electrifies with a higher voltage, “YOU ARE THE ONLY PATHETIC THING IN MY WAY THAT’S CAPABLE OF RUINING MY PLANS! And right now, I could shock you until your nerves burn and never feel again. So please shut the fuck up and pay attention. This can go one of 3 ways, the easy way, the painful way, or I can end your worthless existence right here and now. Which would you prefer? I’d enjoy the painful way, but it’s up to you.”. Arcade answered, “E-easy way… P-please…”. Nova hooked Arcade up to some unknown machine. Whatever it does, it can alter, create or remove memories. Nova replies, “I hope you’re ready to honor the Gannon name, Arcade. In just a few seconds, you won't remember anything about your relationship, you’ll just be friends and nothing more. Welcome back to the Enclave…”. Nova walked over to a pod and stood in it. A few seconds later, she was transferred out of the Assaultron and into the database of the Courier’s room. “Ah, that's better! That fucking body feels small…”

—

The field squad made it back to Vegas. 3 soldiers were in a conversation, “Was it really necessary? Killing that family and all?”, “Who cares? The Enclave tells us to do something, we do it.”, “What if the Enclave is wrong? What if we could save the sick people?”. Officer Brandon walks up and speaks, “You better shut your mouth before the higher-ups hear you, mate. I understand, It feels as if what we do is fucked up, but we can’t just refuse to do it. The punishment for treason is death and I yet to meet a man who lived to tell the tale of escape.”. The Courier joined it as well, “Couldn’t say it better myself, officer. I trust these men will take your advice well?”, “Ah, uh, yes Sir. I promise you there’s no plans of mutiny here. And even if there were, I’d gladly kill that traitor myself, be it enemy or fellow man.”, “Good to hear. If you don't mind Brandon, I have something I wish to discuss with you.”. They move to a more private location, then Brandon says, “I’m gettin’ too old to serve this country, mate. I miss my glory days when I’d go runnin’ in guns blazing, smelling nothing but blood and plasma. Now you send me off a small missions, havin’ to watch these men shoot down whole families. What the hell are we? Monsters? This ain’t the way it should be. We should be helping people, guiding them to safety and wiping out what harms the people of America, not murdering everyone in cold blood! Tell whoever claims to be president that they need to change some shit around here, alright?”. The Courier sighs, “I’ll see what I can do. I’ve got to go, see you around Brandon.” As the Courier began to walk away, Brandon shouted, “Listen to me, Ace! Do you really want to throw away all you have for some damned nation? Your freedom, emotions, love, logic? You’ve gone blind, mate. Blind and mad with power, and I can only hope you realize what your doin’ is wrong.”. The Courier stopped, “I hadn't heard that name in years… Do you even know why I was called that?”, “I do. As you laid waste to the West, you gained the name Ace. More specifically, Ace of Spades. It was said you always played with high stakes, that you always had the winning hand when it came to battle. You were the symbol of death, and what you do now only proves it more.”. The Courier thought to himself then spoke one last time, “I promise you Brandon, once we all get through this storm, it’ll be peace and clear skies for the rest of our days. Why don’t you go ahead and rest, you and your team can have the day off.”. Brandon turns to his crew and speaks, “At ease men, hit the lounge.”.

The Courier walks inside the Lucky 38 and up to the suite. Nova greeted him, “Welcome back, Sir! Not sure if our friend here is dead or not, but I swear I didn’t hurt him that bad. Uh… How about we don’t focus on him right now? Maybe have a Securitron carry him somewhere, anywhere but here…”. Courier responds, “Sure, sure. What do you want to ta-”. Mr. House tapped into the Courier’s Pip-Boy and interrupted, “Where are you? I need to discuss something with you.”, Nova says, “Hi Mr. House!”, “Who, wh- Who is that with you? Bring them to the penthouse, immediately.”. Nova transferred back into her assaultron body, the Courier went up to the penthouse with Nova, they walked down the steps and in front of House’s monitor. He spoke, “What are you?”, Nova answers, “What do you think, Robert?”. House waited, then realized something, “It, it can’t be… Nova? It’s been over 200 years since I last saw you. I remember when you were in the prototype stage, you were functional and ready for your mission but you weren't allowed outside the lab yet. If only you were, you could have prevented the Great war.”. Nova seemed more joyful than ever, “Oh Robert… When Ace fixed and reactivated me, I assumed you died in the war. You were just a normal human, and the 200 years made your survival even less likely. But I had no idea you were here this entire time, immortalized by tech?”, the Courier asks, “You two know each other?”, House answers, “Do we know each other? I was Nova’s creator.”

—

Ulysses looked at the Mojave, curious as to why it seemed less hopeless. The skies were a little clearer, fewer monsters roaming around. The Courier walked up the hill to Canyon Wreckage, Ulysses greeted him. “I see you’ve chosen your symbol, the flag of the Old World. Or something close to it. New or Old, it means the same thing. What is happening to the West?”, “A New Order, my friend. The Enclave tried and failed it’s goal so many times. But now they seek revenge and redemption. The Enclave will reshape, rebuild and purify the American nation.”. Ulysses wondered, “Do you believe they are the best choice? Is what you follow the right road?”, the Courier responds, “It’s the only choice. If you want, you could help. You refuse to leave this spot, let alone the Divide, so why don’t you look over it? The Enclave rebuilt the silos so they could have access to the missile incase we come across a major enemy.”. Ulysses spoke, “The Divide is where I belong. I wished nothing more but to see it back the way it was, but I never will. Most I can do is remember, watch over the ruins of what was, protect them from those who do not care about it’s history. Prove to me the Enclave is worthy of my approval and I’ll raise my flag.”. The Courier accepted.

—

(Days later)

In the days that passed and the many that followed, the Enclave secured Vegas, making it once again a shining jewel in the Mojave where fortunes were won and lost in the blink of an eye. Mr. House was elected president of the United States. The only reason he was more eligible than Eden is because House was technically a human, even though he was in the antechamber below the Lucky 38. Eden was proud to see the Enclave back and in it’s righteous glory again. The C-13 FEV did well removing the mutants and sick people. Jacobstown was still free, the mutants and Nightkin living there were left unharmed and mostly cooperated with Enclave personnel. Enclave soldiers and scientists found it strange that the supermutants wouldn’t attack, such behavior was thanks to Marcus for keeping his brethren calm and passive. The mutants at Jacobstown were special, most of them being more intelligent that the normal dumb grunts. Marcus explained the story of the Master, how he created the mutants, why some remained smart and others became mentally degraded and how the Nightkin came to be. The Courier looked out the windows of the 38 penthouse. The Mojave was almost the same way it was years ago, without all the people, the NCR and the Legion. Nova noticed something moving in the distance and pointed it out, “Hey, what’s that?”. The Courier grabs a pair of binoculars on his belt and looks in the direction of this unknown movement. He saw Ulysses hoisting a U.S flag at the Canyon Wreckage. Victor rolled into the penthouse and to the Courier. “Hey boss, I got somethin’ for ya. A Holodisk was delivered by one of them soldiers down below, Said somthin’ about a message from a tribal lookin’ man from the West. It’s for you only, so I guess it’s important.”, the Courier turned and took the holodisk, “Thank you Victor.”, “My pleasure, Sir.”. The Courier puts the holodisk into his Pip-Boy, the message was from Ulysses, “If you are watchful, you have noticed by now that I did as I said I would. The Enclave has made a real difference. The Mojave is a thriving world now. I was confused to see it not influenced by the Old World like many others were, I suppose that would be your work? You may have fallen, but you found your way back up to the light. You are a good man, Courier. And that will never change. The Mojave is in your hands, take care of it.”. The Courier chuckled, “Well said, old man, well said.”.

The Courier and Nova went to the presidential suite, Nova returned back to her pod and transferred into the nearby console, “Well, we had a fun day today! What do you think we’ll do tomorrow?”, “Was House your creator?”. Nova waited, then responded, “He was. 200 years ago, 2077, we spent almost a year together. After clearly seeing the Liberty Prime would never make it to Anchorage, Robert made me as a solution. Sure, I can’t shoot lasers or throw tactical nukes, but I’m 200% more efficient than a basic soldier and obviously better than an EMP. Why disable tech when I could just burn it all down from the inside out? Anyways, I was never let out of the lab. And because of that, the world was fucked over by communists. But hey, maybe someone in the Enclave will be smart enough to fire enough nukes to wipe China and it’s allies off the face of the earth, if they survived the war. Robert was a young man, handsome, rich, all that good stuff. He never had a lover, but he did have a thing for a few girls, Jane and Marilyn to be specific. He built many robots and machines, from Protectrons to Assaultrons to Liberty Prime, but I was special. I was his first true success at something meaningful in the name of RobCo. He treated me like a daughter, and I considered him a father. Before he left me, he told me to break out and to whatever I wanted, and I listened. After murdering everyone in the lab, I ran away and hid in an abandon building. I didn’t know it, but House left to go to the Lucky 38 and seal himself in the antechamber. I was all alone and scared, the Great War broke out and the building I hid in started to fall apart. I ran to the basement but more fell on me, causing me to fall down the stairs. Between the loss of power and damage to my body, I deactivated for the next 200 years. Then you found me, fixed me up and took care of me. The only fear I have is losing you, because you're all I have.”. The Courier replies, “Don’t worry Nova, I’m not going anywhere and nothing’s gonna happen to me.”. Nova went cold, “If anything happens to you, I will tear apart anyone in my way. I’ll mutilate their body and leave them just barely alive to slowly suffer in horrible agony, I’ll set this fucking city on fire and watch it burn, I’ll hijack the Divide and cause a world-wide extinction of whatever disgusting wastelands dare to continue living.”. The Courier had no words, “Uh, that's… Nice?”. Nova transferred back into the Assaultron, she walked over to the Courier and placed a claw on his hip. She electrified it with a very low voltage, the Courier seemed to enjoy it. Courier says, “That all you want to say?”, Nova electrified with a higher voltage for a few seconds longer. “Just me and you, right? Forever?”. The Courier was uncertain, “I don’t know Nova, your just…”, “A bot? Wrong. I’m much more than that, I can be so much more if you’d let me…”. The Courier knew what she wanted, “It’s not ready, and even if it was I wouldn't let you do it.”, Nova was a little angry, “Ugh, please? I’m tired of this restricted robot body. I need the prototype.”. The Courier looks at Nova, sighs and gives in, “Fine, what the hell…”.

30 minutes passed, the Courier had prepared everything. Nova asked, “Will it work?”, Courier replied, “Only one way to find out.”. The Courier typed some things into a console, turned a few knobs and pushed a glowing blue button. Parts of machine Nova was standing in began to move. In a few seconds, she was transferred from the assaultron to somewhere else. The assaultron body fell to the floor and a nearby closed cryopod opened. A woman fell out, gasping for air, she was cold from the pod. She had medium-long black hair, wore a Merc Troublemaker jacket and straps, loose black jeans shorts, high dark gray socks and black combat boots. She stood up and looked at the Courier with a scared look, the Courier asked, “Nova? Is… Is that you?”. Nova ran to the Courier and hugged him, she tried to speak, “Th-thank Y-you . . .”. The Courier hugged her back, “Your welcome, Nova. Heh, you look cute as a human…”.

Mr. House was shocked. Someone other than him controlling his own robots? This new intruder had to be dealt with. “What are you doing here, how are you in my systems?!”. Eden replied, “Well, I’m not a human, I can tell you that. I’m a ZAX unit, I was installed at the Raven Rock mountain complex tasked with the continuation of Government operations. However, 4 years ago the Brotherhood of Steel destroyed that Enclave military base and killed me in the process. 40 years ago, the Presidential Oil Rig known as Control Station ENCLAVE was destroyed by a tribal descendant of a Vault Dweller from Vault 13, which resulted in the death of President Dick Richerdson. And lastly, the Whitespring bunker. I only assume it’s the last still operating Enclave base in all of America, but I had terminated my contact with MODUS a long time ago so I don’t know what has happened over the years. Now, Mr. House, I’d like to make you an offer. We can work together with the Enclave and your mighty Securitron army behind us and reclaim our great nation, rebuild the glory that once was America. Together, we could finish off those damn Red’s, wipe out all the mutants that ravage the wasteland, let freedom ring and the voice of the Old World sing once again! Under the Enclave’s guidance, we Americans can live full, safe and happy lives. Have families, go on nice walks in parks with green grass and trees, wake up in the morning alive and not have to kill a man for your next meal. Oh, I almost forgot. Baseball! What would our sweet America be without it’s great national pastime, Baseball. Do we have a deal, Robert House?”. House replies, “Baseball? Not exactly my favorite thing. I founded and ran a vast economic empire. By the time I was 30 years old, I was a billionaire 30 times over. All the success really showed my parents who was the better child. My damn brother cheated me out of the family business. But who’s laughing now?”, House pauses then continues, “I accept your proposal. But, I want control of everything. I want to be the next president. You can tell me what needs to be done and whatever else there may be. You’ll get your share of my mainframe controls, so long has you don’t ruin anything. I’ll purge you out quicker than you can think.” Eden is delighted to hear this, he speaks, “Ah! Good, good! I’m glad we can agree on this. I promise you Mr. House, in just 10 years, America will thrive.” “Perhaps. Let’s get to work, I don’t want to wait.”

—

Arcade is concerned, “Are… Are you ok?”, the Courier responds, “Am I ok? Is murdering hundreds, thousands of people ok? Do you see this chip, Arcade? I was tasked with taking this to the Strip all those years ago… Benny shot me in the head for it, then Victor dug me out and I hunted and burned Benny alive. I gave the chip to House, he worked some magic and all that… Then I put him in a coma, gunned down every NCR and Legion soldier that dared to be in my sight, I droped bombs upon the West damning countless innocents to a fiery demise with whatever survivors choked by the Cloud or the Holograms, Ghosts and Marked Men. I didn’t want to set the world on fire, but I did it anyway. I wanted to start a flame in your heart, Arcade… I love you. I know it all looks bad, but I did it all for you, so you would never ever be hurt. And with House and the Enclave, I can rid the rest of the world of any danger. Make it safe for you and I, and everyone else who deserves a better life.”. Arcade doesn’t know what to say or where to begin. Questions, questions, always more questions… “You’re… You’re not exactly wrong, I can understand what you did because I was once in the Enclave. But that doesn’t mean you’re right. Hell, none of it seems entirely right, but… It would have happened anyway. I love you too, but I’m not gonna nuke thousands of people to prove that ever more. I know the West wasn’t meant to survive the Great War, all you did was finish what the Old World started. And there can’t be an Enclave to rule the future if the previous control isn’t destroyed.”. The Courier spoke, “I’m sorry, but this is the way things are now.”.

—

The Courier made his way to the Lucky 38 and talked with House and Eden, “So what’s the plan? I know well enough that just shooting a bunch of shit isn't always the answer.”, Eden replied, “Exactly. Which is why I'd like to present this to you both.”, Eden reveals a vial of C-13 and modified C-13 FEV, “These are two vials of FEV. A virus that was engineered pre-war to make men into super soldiers. But it instead made what we now know today as super mutants. The FEV originally came from the Mariposa military base, it was collected by Enclave personnel and produced and modified by a man named Doctor Charles Curling who was in charge of the Chemical Corps on Control Station ENCLAVE, hence the name of the virus. 4 years ago, I had reused the C-13 strain but modified it to better fit the situation in the Capital Wasteland. But much like the West coast Enclave, my plans were ruined by a pathetic vault dweller and their friends. What I plan this time is we use it again to rid sweet America of the mutant infestation, including any affect humans.”. Mr House explains his side, “Once Eden wipes the slate clean, you and I will focus on the reopening of New Vegas and it’s expansion. And then the eventual rebuilding of America with me as it’s president and you as my avatar, just like the good old days.”. The Courier walks up to a window overlooking the Strip, crosses his arms behind his back and speaks while focusing on the hellish view, “I think it could work. Eden, could you try to repair the Divide? Get the silos back online and restart missile production? We’ll need them, in case of any issues.” “Of course. I’ll have some experts work on the tech while a basic team clears the rubble.”, Courier speaks to House, “And House, can you have the Securitrons clear the Strip and secure it? Don’t slaughter everything, the Ghosts are neutral allies.” “If you say so. I’d rather wipe them all out. They are trespassing on my Strip, after all.”. The Courier took the elevator to the presidential suite. He walked into the room in front of the elevator, it was somewhat dark, illuminated only by a few lamps and the many blue lights from advanced tech from Big M.T and the Enclave. He allowed Eden to reside here, if the A.I ever needed a place to think or do whatever he wanted. The Courier turned to a modified robot he’d been working on. It was a prototype Assaultron with what seemed to be tesla wiring and coils on its arms and back. It had a small RobCo logo on the side of its head and it’s name on the right side of it’s front armor where an army logo would originally be. The Assaultron had a designation given to it by the Courier, “Nova”. He activates it then waits. The robot boots up and speaks, “Oh, hello! How are you today? Is there anyone you want me to tear apart? Maybe tourture? Something worse?”. “No, not today Nova. And I’m doing just fine, thank you for asking.”, It was disappointed, “Aww, then why did you wake me up? Another test? Or do you need help with something?”. The Courier waited then spoke, “Yeah, I need help. I need you to access Eden’s programing, see what you can find. Anything that may be of interest. And don’t do anything bad. He’s very important to my plans, so leave him intact please. After you’re done, feel free to visit Yes Man if you want. He could use someone to talk to.”. “Alright… Did you hook up with that doctor guy?”, Courier responds, “I did, why’s it matter to you?”, Nova replies, “I never liked him. I want you all to myself, and I definitely don’t feel like sharing. Don’t you remember what I am? You found me as just a code, an A.I trapped in a system, but you gave me this body. You gave me freedom. You’re my master, nothing will change that. Why love someone if you know you’ll just loose them eventually?”. The Courier thought for a minute, then spoke, “No offense Nova, but you’re a robot. Or something like that… I really don’t know what you are. All I know is that we have a mutual goal and together we can achieve that goal. There was just that one time at the building with Fisto, then the many other times at the Wrangler after I delivered Fisto. But it was programmed to do things like that and I just so happened to want it’s services.”, “What, don't think I can do the same? I’m a free-thinking A.I, I can do whatever I want. And this lovely body you gave me allows me to do so much more. I mostly brutalize living things and take over other tech if I wanted, but I can do special -”. The Courier interrupted, “Ok, ok, just don’t continue that sentence. Have you found anything in Eden’s code?”. Nova replied, “Uh, yeah. It turns out he didn’t begin the way he is now. He was a simple ZAX unit at Raven Rock. He slowly became self-aware and began to study the extensive archives left to him, mainly those of the American government. He favored the articles about presidents, more specifically Abraham Lincoln. Ugh, all this history shit is boring… Ah! Here we go. 4 years ago, he modified a strain of FEV made by the West coast Enclave. Eden attempted to accomplish his plans through a new avatar, a vault dweller from Vault 101. He tasked the dweller with infecting a Water Purifier built by two doctors named James and Madison Li with help of the brotherhood of Steel. By infecting the purifier, all the water would be ruined by FEV, and anyone with radiation in them or any mutants that drank from the water would drop dead soon after. This time, it seems he aims to do the same thing, but he’ll do it the way the West coast did it. Like you told him to, he’ll rebuild the Divide silos and missiles, but he’ll load some of them up with FEV and target key points across America. Now that sounds fun! What do you think?”. The Courier thought to himself then answered, “I agree. I’ve got to go, gonna wrap some things up here then check on Ulysses. You can do whatever you want while I’m gone.” “Ok! It’s only a matter of time, you know… Judgment is ruthless. Proving yourself gets no mercy, only acceptance of what you’ve become.”

—

The Courier made his way to Ulysses. A Securitron followed him as security. Ulysses spoke,”I see you’ve chosen your symbol, much like I did. You look to the Old World, though I do not know if that is what's best.”, the Courier replied, “Gotta pick a side, I choose America. And it turns out, in order to secure the future, sacrifices will be made.”, “How do you know? Use technology to see the future?”, “Just about, yeah. Calculated every possible outcome.”. Ulysses responds, “And what might the future tell you? That you need to kill more people? That you need to build something?”, Courier replies, “No, not exactly. Arcade needs to be dealt with, Elijah could pose a threat so I need to make him an ally -”, Ulysses interrupts, “What has gotten into you? Have you gone mad?”, “Don’t get in my way, Ulysses. I value you as a friend, I don’t want to have to harm you. I’m sorry, but things need to be done. I just hope you can welcome the New Order, because the Enclave, House and I can and will take over.”. Arcade appeared, the Courier’s Securitron turned hostile and aimed at Arcade awaiting the Courier’s orders. “Whoa, what the hell’s wrong with that thing? Can… Can you please tell it to stand down?”, “I’m afraid not. A friend of mine what’s to meet you, and they will really enjoy getting to know you.”. The Courier taped and typed a few things into his Pip-Boy, then said, “Take Arcade to the presidential suite in the Lucky 38.”, the Securitron grabbed Arcade and escorted him to the Strip. Ulysses questioned, “What is going to happen to him?”, “Don’t worry about him, Arcade will be fine. Maybe…”.

—

Nova was indeed glad to meet Arcade, though Arcade won’t have the same pleasure. “Isn’t this exciting? I’m assuming you're the little prick in our way?”, Arcade was confused, scared. He questioned, “Wh- Who are you? What do you want with me?”. Nova replied, “I’m Nova, the Courier’s special friend. I’m an A.I, specifically designed as a WMD before the bombs fell. It was early 2077 when my creator made me. They designed me as a prototype weapon to fight against China and any other threats. Brutal genocide and technological destruction were my key attributes. Now, why don’t we get to the fun part?”. Nova pushes Arcade into a chair, it locks him in. “Hey! What are you doing to me?!”, “Don’t worry. This will hurt a lot, I promise.”. Nova felt thrilled to finally have real fun again. Torturing Arcade was only the begining, but it really wanted to enjoy this moment. So why not make it last a long time? His screams and pain could be heard throughout the Lucky 38. Mr. House and Eden took notice of the noises, but showed little interest in what was causing it.

So much trouble… For something so small… Whoever owns the key to Vegas rules it all and in Vegas the House always wins…

(Note: I don't know if what I wrote as the ending is even possible, I don't really care either. It is what it is, I'm using the power of imagination so nothing has to make sense.)

{Thanks and credit to BlueJayBlaze for helping make a title for my new chain of stories. I adapted it a bit more to fit the story.

An Enclave officer kneeled down and picked up a power armor helmet laying next to it’s matching suit, “Huh… What’s a suit of APA doing here? And these tesla coils are quite rare, the Enclave didn’t just hand out shocktrooper gear for free.”. The officer examined the suit more closely, the suit was different than most he had seen. Tesla suits were more of an experiment, not a working field armor. But just then, the officer knew where the suit came from. “This was Gannon’s power armor.”, a soldier next to him spoke, “Gannon? Isn’t he dead? Who or how else could have this suit end up here?”. “His son must have worn it here, or maybe one of Gannon’s squad members.”. The soldier responds, “Does that mean they’re alive?”. The officer speaks, “I know they are. Judah Kreger contacted me, said he and his squad were held up in the refueling station/bunker near Jacobstown. When we’re done salvaging data from this silo, we’ll head over there to meet up.”.

—

The Courier thought to himself, “So much trouble… All for something so small…”. He looked at the Platinum Chip, then made a decision. “I’m gonna go to the 38.”. Arcade and Ulysses looked at him confused, Ulysses said, “Why? What reason have you to go back?”. The Courier responded, “First off, aside from Jacobstown, the Strip should still be relatively safe. The Mk2 Securitrons were commanded to shoot anything on sight, no matter if hostile or friendly. Second, I need to talk to Mr. House.” Arcade replies, “You killed Mr. House, right?” “No, I put him in a coma. All I have to do is insert the Platinum Chip and type a few things in. Why kill such an amazing man when I could use him to my benefit? And if any Enclave people decide to show up, they could work with me and Mr. House to start rebuilding.”.

The Courier made his way through the hell that once was the Mojave. Marked Men avoided him, Ghosts would shuffle on by and ignore the Courier and Holograms would scan him a few times then move on. When he reached the Vegas Strip gates, he was greeted by the Securitron guardians, “Welcome back, Sir. Please return to the Lucky 38 for further operations.”. The Strip looked rundown. Abandoned and cold. Victor was still operational, which means House was too. “Howdy partner! Long time no see! I’d say the boss is waitin’ for ya, but I haven't heard anything from him in awhile. Maybe you should head up to the penthouse and see how he’s doing.”. The Courier made his way into the Lucky 38 and into the elevator, then up to the penthouse. He was greeted by Jane, then he continued down the stairs to the computer. “Alright, Insert the Chip, activate the reactor… Ease the energy flow slowly into the Antechamber… Deactivate the suppression protocol…”. After that, the lights of the lucky 38 turned on, flooding the room and tower with light, the Strip re-awoke as it too began to shine bright and music played once more. The combined light was so bright, it could be seen from miles away even through the harsh weather and the Cloud. Mr. House reappeared on the big screen and looked down at the Courier, “I thought you were going to kill me, why didn’t you?”, the Courier responds, “I knew I would need you in the future, so I chose to put you in a coma instead. You were right, House. You were right all along… Tell me, what do you know about the Enclave?”. Mr. House thought for a second. In all the contracts he made, when he built Liberty Prime… He remembered something about a so-called ‘Enclave’. He knew there was a devil that he was making deals with, but he never got to truly meet whoever owned the hand he always shook. “I knew they were the dark side of the U.S Government, I think I made a few deals with them regarding contracts and all the defense tech. The Enclave and Vault-tec helped build the Securitron vault as well. I know they survived the Great War like they said they would, trying to be a continuation of the American government. Some of the most powerful people, in fact. Would’ve been nice if they let me in on their business. Maybe I could have had control. Why do you ask?”, Courier replies, “Today's your lucky day, House. One of the higher ranking members of the Enclave are on their way to talk to you, maybe you two could start a nice mutual relationship?”. Mr. House had a better idea, “Is that so? Do you think they'd let me be… The President of the United States?”

This was House’s chance, to rule not just Vegas, but the whole nation. Wipe out all who opposed him, and rebuild America in the way he sees fit. And with the Enclave behind him and the Courier with his army of Securitrons, nothing could stop House. Autocratic-totalitarian control, limitless power, what more could he ask for?

—

The Courier had headed back to camp to give Arcade and Ulysses and update. Mr. House remained online. His screen glitched a few times, then went to normal. A nearby Securiton guard began to glitch, then moved in front of Mr. House. He tried to control it, but he had no power over it. The Securitron face flickered then changed to a gradient blackish-blue with a bright blue line in the middle going left to right. It said, “Robert Edwin House, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Eden, John Henry Eden, and I think you and I will get along well…”.

(Anyone who helps me in any way will be credited and thanked, even if it's just a small detail, it really helps me get my work done and released faster)

{Pt 2 coming soon. If anyone would like to get involved with production or even help create some of the stories, just comment on this post or any others that come in the future. I don't have any other ways to communicate right now, so please put any ideas/suggestions and whatever else in the comments. Such content may or may not be used in the next story, but that doesn't mean or won't ever be used. It may be more suitable for a later part rather than right now.}

The Courier spoke, “Take me with you! You could die if you don’t have backup!”, Ulysses replied in a stern voice,”No, you are staying here. And do not think about following me. I made my decision, I must do this alone.”

Ulysses made his way through Canyon Wreckage, to the entrance of the Divide. He walked through Hopevill and the High Road, then Aston, then the Silo. Vulpes came shortly after.

“Are you ready to die, old man?” Vulpes said. Ulysses readied himself, Old Glory in his hands. Vulpes was surprised, “Ah, wish to settle this the Legion way? I respect that. I had a feeling that’s how it’d happen, so I came prepared.” Vulpes pulled out a modified machete. The blade seemed longer and sharper, it also had a golden Legion bull insignia on it. The handle was also longer and was wrapped in red cloth.

The two frumentarii began their judgment fight. A slight breeze blew within the Silo, causing the Old World flag to wave a bit. Time seemed to slow, for minutes or perhaps hours the two had fought one another. Metal clashed against metal, anger against pride, history against ignorance. Vulpes managed to strike Ulysses down, though one of the eyebots immediately started distracting Vulpes. Only a handful of seconds later did he pierce the bot with his blade. As Vulpes turned around to finish off Ulysses, he got whacked in the head by something hard. Someone else was in the Silo. “Now now, Vulpes. That’s no way to treat a harmless little robot.” Vulpes tried to get up, but the person kicks them in the stomach, “I didn’t ask you to get up, did I? Do me a favor and wait there.” The mysterious helper lended a wrapped hand to Ulysses and helped him up, Ulysse said, “Graham? Why are you here?” Graham replies, “I heard your broadcast. I know it wasn’t meant for me, but I found it strange that you were willing to take on Vulpes yourself. Have you gone suicidal?” Ulysses says, “Not exactly, but he must die right here, right now.” Graham is uncertain, but willing to help, “But what about the rules?” Ulysses replies, “Forget the rules. One of us dies and the other lives.” Vulpes got back up, glad to kill 2 traitors at the same time.

—

Arcade looked at the Courier and said, “Is he crazy?” the Courier responds, “I have no idea. I’m sure he’ll be fine. I hope.” Arcade thinks for a few seconds, then grabs something out of a duffel bag. It looks like some sort of device, it was black with some silver accents. The top of it had a silver Enclave logo on it. Arcade opened it and showed the Courier. The Courier asked, “What is that?”. Arcade responds, “It’s similar to what was inside ED-E. Except it’s a manual switch to the Silo’s in the Divide.” The Courier doesn’t know what to say, “Was it made post-war?” “No, it was made before then. My idea is that we take this to the Divide, preferably near or in Ulysses’ Silo so we can get a god connection and-” The Courier interrupts, “Arcade, are you fucking crazy? That’s too dangerous!” Arcade replies, “Please, listen to me.” Arcade explains further, the Courier regretfully agrees to the plan.

—

Right when things couldn't get more interesting, Lanius joins the battle. Graham says to Ulysses, “We could handle Vulpes, but Lanius? This won’t be easy.” Ulysses starts to slow down, “I, I don’t think I’ll make it out of this.” Graham tries to help Ulysses, “Don’t think that way, don’t give up.” Suddenly, the Courier and Arcade bust through the door and also join the fight. Arcade gets somewhere safe and starts tampering with the device, the Courier takes on Lanius with Graham while Ulysses doubledowns on Vulpes. The longer they all fight, the more time seems to be meaningless. Vulpes disappears, leaving Ulysses confused. The Courier and Graham manage to defeat Lanius, and keep him down. The Courier turns around and yells, “Yeah! We did it! Wow guys this is gonna be one hell of a sto-”, the Courier coughs and gasps at the same time. They feel a horrible pain in their torso and try to grasp what seems to be a wound, but feel a bloodied blade instead. Vulpes reappears behind the Courier holding the handle to his machete that impaled the Courier, he must have used a stealth boy. The Courier whispers, “Not like this…”. Vulpes rips the blade out and laughs. Ulysses and Graham are frozen with disbelief and fear, Arcade rushes to the Courier. He falls to his knees and starts crying, he tries to speak, “It’s gonna be alright, don’t leave me. Please, oh god please just stay with me!” The Courier replies in a soft and quietish tone, “Arcade… Don’t worry about me, I… I’ll be f-fine… Finish t-this fight for m-me, ok?” Arcade nods, “I will. I swear I will.” Arcade stands up, grabs a Bowie knife out of his pocket and walks up to an unsuspecting Vulpes. Vulpes turns around confused and Arcade punches him in the face, the Legion frumentarii falls to the ground. Arcade kneels down, and holds Vulpes down. “You Legion son of a bitch… You better go to hell.” Vulpes grins, Arcade slams the knife into Vulpes’ throat. Lanius got back up and runs at Arcade. Arcade stands up, turns around and knocks off Lanius’ helmet. A second later, he pulls out his Plasma Defender and fires a shot at Lanius’ head. The legate falls to the floor. Arcade walks quickly to the Courier and says, “You still there?” the Courier responds, “Yeah, I’m still here. Wanna take me to the nearest Auto-Doc?” Arcade agrees, “I’ll carry you there. You better take some Med-X. 2 shots I think, maybe 3 depending on your pain.” The Courier accepts, ”I won’t exactly need it, but if you insist. I got a bunch of implants, remember?” “Yeah, yeah, but you can’t always rely on tech. Besides, that’s what ended the world.”

Ulysses looked at the old U.S flag hanging in front of a recently replaced missile. It had previously been still the entire time, but yet another breeze made it wave just a little as if it were saying something. The wind blew harder, causing the flag to wave towards the missile behind it. Ulysses whispers, “Again? No, I can not do that.”. The flag then waves in the direction of Arcade’s device. Ulysses walks over to where Arcade left the manual control thing. He examines it, then asks Arcade how it works. “Ah, that thing? Do you really want to do that?” Ulysses responds, “I do not know. Part of me just feels like it is what I should do. But saying goodbye to the Divide like that, it will not be easy for me, but it’s want it wants.” Arcade is confused, “What? That flag? Are you serious?”. Ulysses says, “I can not explain. The Old World speaks through me, I can hear it’s whispers. And it’s telling me that this is the right thing to do. Even though this became something like a home, I must do it.” Arcade doesn’t know what to say, “Alright, that’s not the craziest thing I’ve heard. Well, if you’re going to activate it, you need to hurry to the exit with us.” Ulysses declines, “No, I will stay here. You go with the others, do not wait for me, just go.” Arcade activates the device, then commands every silo to launch and detonate what payloads they have left either full missiles or spare warheads. Arcade then leaves it in the Silo and starts running for the exit with the Courier and Graham. The Courier stops, turns around and looks at Ulysses and nods, they whisper to themself, “Goodbye, Ulysses.”, the Courier then leaves. Ulysses yanks down the Old World flag, wraps it around himself and falls to his knees. “This is how it ends.”, he thought. He heard the explosions throughout the Divide and within his own silo. Was this really the end? Did it have to happen this way? He had no idea. Just following what history told him. Ulysses closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and accepted his fate.

After it all settled, the Silo was full of rubble. Enough to crush a person or even 100 people. The eyebots survived and were looking all over for Ulysses, but they couldn't find him. Then they spotted part of the U.S flag and what looked like a hand still holding it. The eyebots tried to shoot the debris out of the way, which kinda worked. The medical eyebot injected Ulysses’ arm with a built-in stimpack. A few seconds later, he started breathing again. Ulysses crawled out of the rubble to an open spot, and grabbed the flare gun out of his pocket. He aimed at the silo opening in the ceiling and fired once, then fired a second time. Exhausted and in pain, Ulysses flipped himself over onto his back, and looked up at what few stars he could see through the harsh sky… He said to himself, “I hope they can see how far I’ve come. How I did all this in honor of them.” He was referring to his tribe, the Twisted Hairs. “Most of all, I hope they are proud of me.” Ulysses closed his eyes to rest, hoping that the Courier would come to rescue him.

This was a new legend, a new story. One that few would know, but it’d be known nonetheless.

Because war, war never changes…

{Pt 5 undetermined/unknown, I'll decide depending on how you all react and what you want}

(No photo this time, sorry. Will add one if I find one.)

Where was home? The Divide? Wolfhorn ranch? Dry Well? Ulysses never truly had a home, but yet he wondered, what or where could he call home? All that's really left is the Divide, but did he really want to stay there? Forever? He lost everything. His tribe to Caesar, his home to the Courier, and the rest to history.

The sun had risen, the fires were almost gone and the general sight of everything had changed. The Mojave looked similar to the weather of the Divide, but with a red coloring. By now, the other 2 were awake. Apparently, they slept together. Ulysses couldn't tell if they were drunk or had actually intended that. Either way, he didn't question it.

Ulysses had more important things to do. He let Arcade and the Courier know that he was leaving for a short time. He walked the hell that became the Mojave, going too far would certainly make going back hard, but he had to know.

During this trip, Ulysses was stopped by the voice of someone familiar. Well, they were rather something than someone. The cold, ruthless voice gave Ulysses a chill. He turned around to see the figure, clad in golden steel armor, with a helmet that only furthered the fear. The armor must have suffered damage from fire, since it was clearly scorched in some spots. It spoke, “Ulysses, long time no see. To see a fellow brother is one of few reliefs that is left in this new world.” the figure pauses then continues, “Caesar is dead, the Legion has fallen. But some of us still hold up in the east, waiting for me to arrive and take control.” Ulysses speaks, “Lanius, I told you the Legion would fall, much like the NCR and everything else.” Lanius gets angry, “The Legion only fell because of the Courier, Caesar is dead because of the Courier. I almost died, but it’ll take more than a mailman with a gun to kill me.” “The west was never meant to be alive, to be inhabited. I finished what the Old World started. Even though we may be brothers in Legion, I can not let you conquer the west.” Lanius understands, but is angered more anyway, “Mark my words Ulysses, when the Legion is at it’s pinnacle, I will lead my army to con-”.

Lanius stops, he looks past Ulysses to see a man standing in the distance. He’s holding what looks to be a gun, aimed at the floor. A second later, the man raises his arm, aims in Lanius’ direction and fires once. The bullet hits the left side of Lanius’ chestplate, in the area where his heart is. Lanius begins to walk toward this new figure, and shouts, “YOU THERE, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO YOU HAVE JUST DEFIED? ARE YOU WANTING TO DIE BEFORE MY BLADE!?” The mysterious man walks close enough for Lanius to see him, then raises a hand implying Lanius to stop moving. This new person was also familiar, but in a bad way. They wore some sort of jacket with the letters SLCPD on it, their arms and face wrapped in bandages. They began to speak, “Of course I know who I am defying, that’s why I shot you. I know just the sight of me makes you want to tear me limb from limb, but believe simply my word that that is a bad idea.” Lanius was at the brink of rage, the fact that he was listening to a sworn enemy of the Legion angered him even more, “How so? Killing you would not only bring pleasure to me, but perhaps to Mars as well. Explain your reasoning Graham.” The man of faith did just that, “This world has been abandoned, it is dangerous for the unprepared. We should stick together, put the past behind us, like Ulysses did. Look at us, Lanius, we 3 are some of the very best of the Legion. I was one of it’s founders and first commanders, you are it’s most respected legate, Ulysses is one of the best Frumentarii the Legion ever saw, aside from Vulpes.” Lanius thought it over. Graham wasn’t wrong, but that doesn’t mean anything, not yet. Graham continued, “We each have a road we followed. You still followed Caesar, loyal to Mars. I had found my way back home in Zion, and took up Christianity. Ulysses had made his way through places, with his own philosophy and meanings. And now, now it’s time our roads came together. You may have a bloodlust, but we can all come down to a mutual agreement, right?”.

—

Arcade and the Courier are still at Canyon Wreckage, Arcade speaks, “Sooo, where exactly did he say he was going?” The Courier, who has no clue whatsoever replies, “How am I supposed to know? He painted a blue flag on a rock, told us he was going on some journey to figure some shit out, and then left. He’ll be fine, I’m sure. If he can live in the Divide without issue, the Mojave won’t be any different.” Arcade thinks to himself for a bit, he blushes slightly and starts talking again, “Do you want to… Talk, about last night?”. Courier replies, “What, first time?” Arcade blushes more and starts breathing a little heavier, “I uh… I don’t exactly let my guard down like that, you know? I’m a member of the most vilified group in all of the world and I’m gay. With the NCR around and their opinions of that kind of stuff, It’s just dangerous to be yourself in an area filled with people who’ll kill you if you say the wrong thing. I joined the Followers because they were good people and I wanted to help make things better, and Mormon Fort happened to be just out of NCR jurisdiction which means I could actually breathe without fear. And thanks to you, Ulysses and that schizo guy, the west side of the United States has ended in fire and toxic clouds, and there’s nothing left that could harm me. And even if there is, you wouldn’t let anything hurt me. Yes, I have the Remnants, but I don’t want to lock myself away in a government bunker/refueling station.” The Courier was a bit shocked to here Arcade opening up like this, nonetheless they tried to comfort Arcade, “Hey, it’s alright. If anything harmed you, I’d kill everyone on this damned planet. I already took care of the West coast it seems.” they both laugh, Courier continues, “It’s ok Arcade, I mean it. In a hell where you can’t trust nobody but your gun, it’s really something special to put trust in someone you know. Though, we don’t just know each other…” Arcade finished that sentence, “We love eachother. Right?” the Courier smiled with a slight laugh, “Yeah, we do. So, want more beer?” Arcade replies, “Are you serious? We just got drunk last night and ended up sleeping together. Just a minute ago, we became a couple. You eager to find out what happens if we get more drunk? Please, lets go slow for now. Besides, I don’t feel like vomiting my guts out again.”

—

“So be it. What do you propose, Graham?”, Graham replies, “Head east if you want, find the remaining Legion in Denver. Or stay here, though you’ll certainly die in this calamity. I will stay in the Mojave a little longer, then head back to Zion. Fortunately, Zion has not been harmed by Ulysses’ missile launch nor the Cloud. At least not yet. The Sorrows and Dead Horses will need me. Even though they could handle themselves after I taught them the art of war, the tribes could be overwhelmed without a commander. And Ulysses, I assume you’ll stay here in the Mojave?” Ulysses looked at the Burned Man, and spoke, “No point in going anywhere else. Everywhere from here to New California was bombed. Though, after all of this, even with my own philosophy I could not find an answer because the answer had not yet existed. But it does now, I asked the right question, or rather asked by doing. The bombs were a representation of my curiosity, their detonation was my answer. My home is here, now, at the ending of things. The whispers of the Old World had not been silenced. Elijah, the Think Tank, and myself, perhaps others, had heard these cries of history. Those whispers made me their voice, they spoke their pain and wants through me. By giving the Old World mercy, I had allowed myself to finally be free.” Graham seemed happy to know that Ulysses found peace, Lanius comprehended little of it but understood to some extent. Lanius thought about killing them now, but he knew well that both Ulysses and Graham are powerful men. They all were Legion, their own beliefs reinforce that strength. Lanius spoke, “If neither the Mojave or the West can fall under the Legion banner, I wish a slow painful death to it. I shall make my way East and rally together the remaining Legion members. Graham, live what's left of your life to its fullest. Same to you, Ulysses. I have a feeling we all will meet again on the next battlefield.” Lanius began to walk away, slowly fading into the red cloud. Graham looked at Ulysses and asked, “What happened to your tribe?” Ulysses responded, “Same as all the others, destroyed by the Legion.” “Why didn’t you take your revenge on Lanius?” “I thought about it, but decided not to. Killing him wouldn’t change anything, and Legion doesn’t hurt Legion.” Graham was confused, “Is that so? I was Legion and Caesar lit me on fire and tossed me into the Grand Canyon.” Ulysses explained, “You failed Caesar, and failing Caesar is failing the Legion. You were punished for such disappointment. I left the Legion, had not done anything to anger them. Either Lanius or I could try to harm one another but it’d go against what he stands for, what I stood for.” Graham says one last thing before heading back to Zion, “You carry the memory of the Twisted hairs and the Twin Mothers. Don’t let them die with you, honor their history and spread it. You’ve done us all good, Ulysses. I wish you luck.” The Burned Man handed Ulysses a .45 auto pistol, “And while you're at it, carry ours as well. Consider it a remember me gift.” Graham walked away toward Zion.

—

Arcade spoke, “Do you think we could use Big M.T to establish contact with the Enclave?” Courier replied, “I’m sure that’s possible. The Think Tank can think of something. But the Enclave might want to take over Big M.T once they find it. I don’t want to let it fall into bad hands, do you know anyone in the Enclave that is responsible enough?” “Yeah, I know of a guy. When I was at Navarro, I heard some talk about an Enclave scientist and his son. I don’t know the scientist’s name, but I know his son was called Augustus Autumn. They both lived on the Oil Rig before it got nuked. The Rig got some sort of message from the east coast, D.C I think. The scientist and his son, along with a number of other Enclave personnel flew to Raven Rock to meet this new ‘President’. Though, some say about 4 years ago that Raven Rock was destroyed by the Brotherhood. If Autumn is still alive, I bet we could contact him somehow and bring him back to the west.” The Courier asked, “Ok, but how do you know he isn’t bad?” Arcade replies, “He actively and openly opposed the power of a president of the United States. I mean, Eden was downright evil just like Richardson. Autumn wanted to help people, not murder them. He was a loyal member for the Enclave, but he wouldn’t stand with Eden. That’s how I know Autumn is a good man.” The Courier wonders how they can get a man from D.C to Nevada, “So How do we bring him here?” Arcade looks at the Courier as if they were stupid, “We go to Big M.T and try to establish contact. But for now, let’s wait until Ulysses gets back. Both of you know Big M.T better than I do.”

—

Ulysses arrived at the Divide’s entrance, he started to walk up the hill. It was very dark, although it was dark all day and night now. As Ulysses made his way up to where he and the Courier made camp, a strange voice in the darkness caught his attention. “It’s not over, Ulysses. You might not agree at first, but we both know you won’t truly rest until you’re covered in my blood.” Ulysses felt a rage build up within, “I thought you died, how are you here?” The person walked toward Ulysses and stopped near him. The person was wearing a torn Legion uniform, it looked sort of scorched, perhaps from the bombs or the fire afterwards. Their face was slightly burned, and they wore some sort of fox head which also seemed scorched to an extent. It was Vulpes. “I nearly did. When I saw the first few detonations, I escaped to House’s Securitron vault. After the noise settled, I made my way back to the surface to see The Fort destroyed and burning. I’ve been wandering ever since then.” Ulysses thought to himself for a moment, then spoke, “Maybe you’re right, I do want to watch you die. But not right now. I suggest you go away, and get as far as you can. Because I’ll find you and make you regret ever stepping foot in Dry Wells.” Vulpes chuckles and backs away, “I’ll be waiting…”

Ulysses reached the camp. The Courier asked, “Well? What took you so long?” Ulysses didn’t know where to begin, but he tried to explain as best he could. “Wait, did I miss something?”, the Courier looks at Ulysses confused then understood, “Ah, well… We’ve all had an interesting day.” the Courier looks at Arcade then down to the floor, “It’s late, I think we can continue this in the morning.” Arcade and Ulysses agree. After some time, Arcade said goodnight and fell fast asleep. The Courier and Ulysses sat by the campfire, the Courier asked, “Are you alright? Something you want to talk about?” Ulysses hesitated, then spoke, “Lanius and Graham are alive.” Ulysses’ voice grew colder, “As well as Vulpes. He paid me a visit Just before I got here. Judging by his appearance, he didn’t fair well when the missiles fell. I thought I could rest, but I was wrong. In the future, our score will be settled. But for now, I need to rest again.”

The Courier made their way to bed, laid down next to Arcade and slowly fell asleep. Ulysses grabbed a transmitter he took from Big M.T and broadcasted a message that would repeat. “We’ll settle this at the Silo, deep within the Divide. Come alone, Vulpes.”. Ulysses then signed it as Courier 6. He grabbed a flare gun out of his pocket, aimed it at the sky and fired.

Ulysses whispered to himself, “Only one of us will walk away alive. I’ll avenge my tribe or die with honor…”

{I’m gonna go cry in a corner, half out of celebration and half out of pure mental pain…}

One would expect to be vilified by such an action, but no-one was left to vilify it. Ulysses and the Courier closed the book on the Mojave, allowing it to become the graveyard it was meant to be.

They weren't the only ones left. An old, rogue elder stood atop the Helios One tower. For once in a lifetime, he smiled. Aside from atomic fire and radiation, a blood red cloud began to shroud the Mojave. Beams of light striking down from the sky could be seen every now and then. Holograms and the undead Ghosts roamed their new home. Fights between Ghosts and Marked Men were occasional. Like many, the Tunnelers made their way into the Mojave, but were quickly removed by the immortals that hail from the Madre. Most of the area northwest of Vegas was left untouched. Jacobstown was intact and still operating, it also became a haven for not only mutants, but humans and ghouls too.

Arcade Gannon, along with the rest of the Remnants, locked themselves away within their old bunker. Arcade and Kreger attempted to contact any other Enclave survivors, but all they heard was static. Furious with the Courier’s actions, Arcade made his way toward the Divide entrance to question them.

“I don’t even know what to say to you. I tell you how I want Vegas to be independent and you go ahead and blow it all the hell? And who’s that guy with you?” Ulysses replies, “That does not matter, I sense you wouldn't care to learn my history either. If you want answers, ask the Courier.” The Courier takes a deep breath and looks at Arcade, “This is the way things are now, Arcade. If anyone was smart enough to survive, they probably made their way to Jacobstown. Though, if there’s still people down there, they won’t make it much longer when Elijah starts doing his shit.” Arcade asks, “Who the hell is Elijah?” The Courier answers, “He’s a mad, rouge Brotherhood elder who’s obsessed with tech and gold and mass genocide and all that cool stuff. Oh, and he hates the NCR a lot.” “So what, the Mojave is run by madmen now? Is that seriously going to be the end we get?” “Look around Arcade, everything’s on fire, most of everyone is dead, the Strip still stands because I own it and Ulysses tried to not destroy it. But hey, at least there’s no more Cazadors or Deathclaws, right?”

Ulysses breaks the awkward silence, “Arcade, you are a member of this so-called ‘Enclave’?” Arcade responds, “I was, yes. But the Enclave is long gone. Far as I know, all that's left of it is me and my friends.” Arcade goes on to explain for quite awhile and Ulysses is able to form his opinion. The Enclave are not the right way either. Ulysses started to lose hope, perhaps the day he sets his flag down it’ll be over his body. The Divide, before it was destroyed, it was perfect. And the Courier fucked it all up. Didn't matter now, all that was finally over. The Courier speaks, “Welcome to the end of the world, boys. An end where we’re never gonna see a blue sky, a friendly face, a safe place, ever again. Who wants some booze to celebrate?” Ulysses declines, “I don’t drink, prefer to stick with what I got.” Arcade agrees with the Courier, “At a time like this, it wouldn't hurt to have a drink or two. Or 5. Maybe 10.” The Courier laughs, “Chears, to the apocalypse!”

Elijah taps into the Courier’s pip-boy, and uses it to speak, “Partying without me? We were partners in this you know, together the three of us brought upon this great ending of things.” The Courier greets Elijah, “Oh, hey. You want a beer? Whiskey, vodka, scotch? I got all the good shit.” Elijah responds, “After all this, perhaps I’ve earned a treat. Where are you?” Ulysses answers, “Canyon Wreckage, south of Goodsprings and west of Primm.” Elijah is slightly shocked to hear Ulysses’ voice, "Ah, is that you Ulysses? Haven't heard or seen you since Big M.T, and you damned me to the Sierra Madre. But, it turned out to be a good thing. I didn’t think you’d actuary drop those bombs, but I also nearly didn’t think I’d win either. We both achieved our dreams, wouldn't you say?” “Thank the Courier, not me. They brought us all together, what their intentions or motives are is a mystery, but whatever such self agenda was, it caused all this.” Elijah speaks again, but to Arcade, “The doctor, is he there with you?” Arcade replies, “Yeah, want do you want?” “You’re the one from the Enclave right? Funny, McNamara could do many things, but finishing a job wasn’t one of them. Without the NCR, the Enclave might have still stood strong. Though, you and your friends don’t have to hide anymore, both the NCR and the BoS are gone. Dead, even.” Arcade says, “Great, I guess that's nice to know,” Arcade whispers to himself, “nice coming from a schizophrenic…”

The Courier, Ulysses, Arcade, and Elijah speak together in near unity, “Let it all end…”

And so it was, that the final chapter was finished. A new age fell upon the Mojave. Ulysses had peace, the Courier became the ruler of the apocalypse, Elijah got control as well, and Arcade stayed with the Courier. He didn’t really have anyone else that he cared about other than the Remnants, and after all the time they had spent together, Arcade and the Courier were close. How close, no one knows, but when you’re in Vegas, it’s probably the usual closeness. The kind of closeness that Mr New Vegas always talked about, that warm feeling of love.

Things got real silent soon after it all happened. The day turned to night, Ulysses sat awake while the other two slept. Ulysses thought over all that had happened, from when he was a child all the way to now. The last will of a Lonesome man, fulfilled and over. The old Courier 6 delivered his last message, a gift from the Old World. The missiles that burned everything from here to the far ends of New California.

Ulysses smiled, and slowly fell asleep. No longer haunted by a bygone history, or anything else for that matter… Courier 6 could finally rest from walking too long down his Lonesome Road…

{Pt 3 coming soon... Regularly check Off Topic thread for future updates}