Courier Six was not having a good day. It started out fairly normally, waking up in the Lucky 38 to gaze out over New Vegas, scanning the streets below for anything that caught her eye, and talking with Yes Man to deal with some issues that cropped up during the early hours of the morning, while stressing over the precarious international situation.
"The Securitrons broke up a fight between some NCR tourists and the locals in Westside! It would have been easier to disintegrate them, but you know best!" Yes Man chirped, overly enthusiastic, as the robot always was.
Six let out a sigh, frustrated. It had been nearly three years since she had won the Hoover Dam for Vegas and secured the independence of the Mojave Wasteland. The New California Republic wasn't too happy with the outcome of the second battle of the dam, and while on paper they were on friendly terms, promoting trade and tourism, the NCR kept trying to cause incidents to justify another war for the desert jewel, now that their army has started to recover from the first bloody campaign and a new outpost to the west had been established. So far, the Courier has managed to maintain peace by working with Ambassador Crocker, seemingly the only member of the NCR's government that knew they would lose another war in a one-sided massacre, but she didn't know how much longer she can delay her people from doing something drastic.
"You know we have to hedge our bets with the NCR. Can you send a message to Boone's squad to let them know about the sightings of a Legionary squad moving across the river?"
"You bet! Those suckers will have their heads blown off before you can say 'Sniper!'"
Despite the fact that Caesar's Legion had lost Caesar himself, Dry Wells, and Legate Lanius three years ago, they still managed to be a thorn in Six's side. Thankfully, a friend she made in her adventures across the Mojave was more than eager to continue hunting the Legionnaires, and started training more snipers to supplement the new and growing Mojave Wasteland Militia.
At least most of the problems that plagued the collection of communities making up the Mojave region were handled by each community, with her skills and regional authority only required for something they couldn't solve alone or to settle disputes between them. Times were prosperous across the desert, trade coming in all across from the irradiated North American continent, some even claiming to be from the eastern coast. Freeside was cleaned up, the community around Vegas had started building up, and the strip was opened to the public, so long as they behaved. The people of the Mojave were quite content with the leadership of the Courier, even though her bloody history terrified them. While they were thankful that the Fiends had been dealt with, knowing someone with the power to singlehandedly slaughter one of the most tenacious gangs of Raiders in the wastes to the last man looked upon them from atop the shining tower of the high walled city was still unnerving to most citizens.
It wasn't too long before the work that piled on the desk in the penthouse was dealt with, and Six was getting excited while pondering the potential free time she might have. Running the city was a lot of work, and she was about ready for a break.
"Thanks for the help, Yes Man. You're a life saver." She said as she slumped into a tattered office chair.
"No problem! I'll help you administrate, whether I want to or not! And thanks for calling me a life saver, even though I arranged your death! I love irony!"
The glare that she sent her robot assistant could have made a cazadore run, but the ever-cheerful robot didn't so much as flinch at her terrifying presence, causing her to groan and slump further.
"Maybe I'll spend the rest of the day with Raul, fixing up that old Highwayman he found…" Six grumbled, before the elevator door opened, letting out a spherical, floating robot that happily trilled as it approached her.
"Hey, Ed-E! What's up, bud?" Fixing Ed-E was her first project after she woke up with no memories in Goodsprings, and her first friend.
[*Explanatory beeping*], the robot replied. [*Happy beeping, followed by a series of nervous whistles*]
"Really? The Think Tank want to talk to me again? We just spoke two days ago, after they 'discovered' the nightstalkers can breed." Six could feel her good mood slip away from her. The Think Tank was always tiring to deal with, even on their lucid days. Still, the amoral, insane scientists were quite intelligent, and actually wanted to help people and advance scientific knowledge ever since she joined them to give a firm push in the right direction. It was worth dealing with their fractured sanity if they actually find something important. "Alright, then. Ed-E, accept incoming transmission and broadcast response."
"HELLO LOBOTOMITE." The booming voice of Dr. Klein poured out of Ed-E's speakers. "WE HAVE WONDEROUS NEWS!"
"Dr. Klein, we talked about this. You can't just keep calling our teddy bear 'Lobotomite'." Next came the soothing voice of Dr. Dala.
"Dala's right, Klein. She's a respectable peer now, even if she is squishy and covered in *shudders* skin," Dr. 0 chimed in.
"We come bearing GRAVE NEWS," the baritone of Dr. Borous dramatized. "Wait, no… We come bearing NEWS! Not bad news."
" [$((*#%] . *...] ... [$((*#%] ." Dr. 8 was transmitting in RobCo. terminal link, yet was still the voice of reason.
"FINE, FINE. DOCTOR LOBOTOMITE, WE HAVE WONDEROUS NEWS!" Klein started again.
Sensing that Klein was about to start a long monologue, Six interrupted, "Klein, get to the point or let Mobius tell me the news."
"WHAT ILLOGIC IS THIS?! YOU WOULD RATHER SPEAK TO DOCTOR MOBIUS THAN HEAR MY PREPARED SPEECH?!"
"Klein."
"ALRIGHT, FINE. WE HAVE MADE A BREAKTHROUGH WITH THE TRANSPORTALPONDER. WE CAN UPGRADE IT QUITE A BIT. RETURN TO BIG MOUNTAIN AT ONCE."
Six was actually pretty impressed. The Transportalponder allowed her to teleport to the Think Tank from almost anywhere, and was an incredibly useful tool. If it could return her to other places in the Mojave rather than a crashed Big MT satellite, she could do so much more without worrying about travel times. "I'll be there in 30 minutes. Ed-E, terminate transmission. Yes Man, while I'm away, Cass is in charge of trade decisions, Boone is in charge of military operations, Raul on maintenance, and Arcade as administration." Six heads to the presidential suite with Ed-E to get ready for an adventure, while Yes Man sends some securitrons to inform the New Vegas council of the situation.
Ed-E excitedly bobs up and down by the elevator as Six finished getting her gear prepped for an outing.
"Too much energy," She grumbles, slipping the armored coat over her elite riot gear. She strolls out to meet Ed-E, fixing her helmet over her head and pulling the Transportalponder from her hip. After the short ride to the ground floor, Six tucks the bubbly sphere under her arm and steps outside the Lucky 38, squeezing the trigger, and disappears in a flash of blue light, as the onlookers watch on, dumbstruck.
Arriving at the Sink, the Courier wastes no time entering the Think Tank, leaving Ed-E to converse with the sentient appliances inhabiting the odd apartment. As per usual, the scientists of the Think Tank were discussing matters of grave importance.
"I DON'T SEE WHY I HAVE TO REFER TO HER AS DOCTOR LOBOTOMITE. SHE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A DEGREE!"
" *...] ... [#-!-#] !"
"IRRELEVANT! JUST BECAUSE SHE IS PART OF THE BOARD DOES NOT MEAN I GRANT HER THE RANK OF DOCTOR!"
Six sighed, annoyed that this discussion was still dominating the room. "It's fine. Klein, you don't have to call me Doctor. Now that I'm here, what was the breakthrough y'all had?"
"AH, LOBOTOMITE! WE HAVE FOUND A WAY TO INCREASE THE RANGE OF THE TRANSPORTALPONDER, AND NOW YOU MAY INPUT COORDINATES TO ARRIVE AT."
"I… I'm actually impressed. How'd you actually do it?"
"WE DISCOVERED THAT IF THE SATELLITE WAS IN ORBIT, WE COULD HAVE MUCH BETTER COVERAGE!"
"I thought that the Big MT lost the capacity to put a satellite in orbit after the war." Six's excitement was quickly quelled. The plan they had was the same plan they had when they first launched the satellite that now resides in a desolate drive-in. "Was this a waste of time?"
"Actually, we managed to send a probe far outside of our range before we lost connection with it," 0 chimed in. "We don't even know where it ended up, but the readings we got seemed good. Clean air, no radiation, normal gravity. We can't call it back though."
"The creatures we sent through had NORMAL vitals, until their implants MYSTERIOUSLY stopped transmitting as well. But do not worry! Gabe Junior will be fine!" Borous offered.
"Gabe… Junior? You got another cyberdog? What creatures did you send through?"
"You don't remember Junior? You brought her for me to experiment with! She is such a loving creature! We also sent some cazadors and nightstalkers to make sure the less resilient creatures could survive the journey."
Six was speechless for a minute, and when she spoke, her voice dripped with venom. "Borous. The only creature I've brought you to experiment with was a deathclaw matriarch, and only because you told me you'd find a way to neutralize their population across the Mojave. If that deathclaw is Junior, and you haven't been trying to deal with their rising population, I am going to be very upset."
"W-Well… What better way to root out an apex predator, than to use ANOTHER apex predator! I've been training Junior to hunt the magnificent cazador as well as the fearsome deathclaw! By lacing its food with psycho and mentats, Junior has yet to be bested! We have also been testing some improved implants for you, and she is the perfect subject. She is a little aggressive though… and she hunts everything else too… but we are making MAJOR PROGRESS!"
"So, y'all sent a menagerie of the wasteland's most terrifying creatures to a random location, that may or may not be near civilization, with a crazed, biotic deathclaw to top it all off. On a one-way trip. Are you trying to murder people?!" Six was livid. The Think Tank not realizing their actions have consequences is nothing new, but this was the most potentially dangerous thing they've done in a long time.
"OF COURSE NOT!" Klein interjects, surprising Six with his concern for the potential people. "WE ARE MAKING A PLAN TO RESCUE JUNIOR ALREADY! WE DON'T NEED SUPERSTITIOUS LOCALS TO DESTROY THE DATA WE COULD RECOVER!" Or not.
"It had better be good."
"WE HAVE MADE A SIGNAL BOOSTER THAT WE FOUND IN STORAGE. WE USED IT TO COMMUNICATE WITH MEN ON THE MOON BEFORE. IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO ENHANCE THE TRANSPORTALPONDER'S RANGE TO ALLOW YOU TO RETURN FROM THAT DISTANCE AS WELL. WE WOULD NEED TO SEND YOU, LOBOTOMITE. NO ONE ELSE HAS BOTH THE HAND PENISES AND SKILL TO OBTAIN OUR SUBJECTS AND SET UP THE DEVICE."
"Fingers, Klein. They're called fingers." Six was deep in thought. If the booster was used in the lunar missions like he claimed, she should be able to hunt down the creatures before they did too much damage or settled into their new environment. At least it'd be a short break from the monotony and stress of running New Vegas. "Get ready to send me through. We are all going to have a nice, long chat once I get back from cleaning up y'all's mess. Don't do anything stupid until I get back."
The Think Tank was a whirlwind of activity, finishing preparations for the Courier.
"Be careful, little teddy bear. Did you pack your medicine? Chems? Did the auto-doc check your implants? Or can I cut you up a little to check?"
"Yes, Dala. My implants are operating at optimal capacity. And I never leave without enough medicine to supply a town. I might have to if that deathclaw found people already."
" [$((*#%] . *...] ... [$((*#%] ." 8 warns.
"Yeah, I know what frequency to set the signal booster to. It's in good condition, so I'll make sure to set it up somewhere safe so we can use it later."
Across the room, Klein's voice bellowed out, "THE DEVICE HAS BEEN RE-TUNED, LOBOTOMITE. YOU MAY PROCEED WHEN READY."
Sighing, Courier Six picked up the pack of survival essentials she kept separate from her Pip-boy's inventory, and walked over to the console the Transportalponder was connected to. She tucked the device into her coat and began the trek to the Forbidden Zone's dome before leaving, to make sure that at least Mobius would remember the rescue protocol they established should she take too long to come back.
A week ago, forests east of Orario...
.
In a flash of blue light, a hulking figure appeared. It was covered in deep black scales, with a wicked pair of horns twisting above its malice-filled eyes. It rose onto its hind legs, and closed its eyes as it flared its nostrils. The air reeked of humans to the west, but its immediate surroundings were laden with the stench of ripe prey and ash. A growl echoed around the small clearing, and the deathclaw began stalking its prey.
A squeal pierced the quiet night at 5 blades slashed through the goblin, disemboweling it with no resistance. A small pack of the foul creatures were exterminated in mere moments at the hands of the deathclaw. The massive creature rose roared in frustration once it realized these creatures faded to ash upon death as well. The whole night spent hunting with no meat to show for it. The deathclaw sniffed the air again, and caught the scents of two kinds of prey familiar to her, and spilt blood. A feral snarl spread across the reptilian visage, and the deathclaw sank into the shadows silently, and swiftly set out to ambush the raging battle between a group of goblins and a pack of cazadors.