POV...The Private

“So what are we planning to do in the east Deus?” Fervus asked our de facto squad leader.

“Hook up with the chapter set up there, after we help Velvet.” He answered with a shrug. “If they don’t take us for deserters.”

“The Brotherhood of Steel probably thinks we’re all dead.” She said with a sigh.

“We did almost all die in that fight. And The Legion is using advanced tech.” I snarled. “What are we going to do about them? We were tasked to stomp them out by the Brotherhood and the NCR.”

“Well we’re gonna have to tell them what happened out there. I don’t think anyone was suspecting them to be packing that much firepower.” Deus said with a sigh.

“I know, but we can’t just let them have it either. What about the Prydwen they’re making? Shouldn’t that work to whittle them down?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t know.” He said with a shrug.

“Anything else we should look into then?” Fervus asked.

“What about whatever left this town so untouched?” I suggested.

“That does raise some questions,” Deus said with a nod.

“Should we look into it?” I asked.

“Might as well, there could be something worth looking into.” He answered.

“Check the houses for Raiders first?” Fervus asked.

“Yep.” He nodded.

We walked out minding the three standing guard. The bot and the Nevermore were a shock till Velvet explained they were from Butterfly. I did notice her walk in and fall asleep.

At any rate, we walked through the houses finding nothing but shed skin of lizards and snakes. Each one bigger than the last.

“Okay, this doesn’t look too good,” Fervus said as we followed the remains to a cave dug in the middle of town.

“Okay let's see what’s going on. No need to let people keep dying.” Deus said, walking in with his weapon at the ready.

“What do you think is down here? Deathclaws?” I asked.

“They don’t shed, do they?” Fervus said, looking around.

“I don’t know. Do all lizards shed their skin?” Deus questioned.

“Not frogs...I think.” Fervus said.

“That’s an amphibian,” Deus told her.

“I really don’t know anymore.” I sighed.

“Can we just check this out?” Deus sighed as we moved in, noticing the tracks looked more and more like snakes. “Doesn’t seem like Deathclaws.”

“So, big snakes, maybe?” I asked.

“Okay, let's just kill them. They seem to be the problem.” Fervus said, cocking her gun.

“Alright.” I nodded as we moved deeper, checking every corner so we don’t get pounced on.

“And here’s the bodies,” Fervus said as Deus revved the Minigun. “How many are down here?” She asked as we found the den...and a single snake...the size of a passenger plane. “Fuck us.”

“Aw, shit,” I stated.

“Okay, open fire! This thing really can’t live!” Deus snarled, firing his minigun on the snake as it works and it hissed.

“Got it!” We said as we started shooting at it as well.

*HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!* It sounded out as it tried to kill us. It swallowed Deus at the moment our rounds started making damage.

Fervus snarled as she moved behind cover with me. As we fought the reptile, the Snake barfed blood, Deus wrecking its insides.

“Okay, let’s keep at it!” I barked out, continuing to put rounds on this gigantic fucker. “Just be sure we don’t hit Deus,” I added.

“I know,” Fervus said as the Snake spit Venom at us.

“Oh fuck!” I shouted as we got out of the way. “I hope Deus is doing fine in there!”

“Worked with him for years, this is the least of the crazy shit the Wasteland has thrown at us,” Fervus told me.

“I’m not sure if I want to know or not,” I said as we dodged the snake’s venom spitting.

“You really don’t.” She said as the Snake dropped dead.

Within the snake, Deus made his way out through its mouth, grunting as he got out.

“Okay, I’m going to need a shower, first chance I get.” He huffed, wiping the saliva off his armor. “Any signs of more?”

“None that I can see or hear,” I said, looking around the cave.

“Looks clear,” Fervus said. “Head back? Or check more of the town?”

“Honestly, I think I hear Butterfly’s bots, so the town’s guarded. Let's go get some sleep.” Deus sighed. “I never want to do that again.”

“Alright.” I sighed as we left the cave.

“I think I hear...a Deathclaw. Sounds like it’s on the other side of town so it just wandered in.” Fervus said.

“The bots will get it.” Deus sighed as we marched back.

“I just want to turn in. That was one fucked up fight.” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. “Right now, I feel like going with Velvet through that mirror.”

“Still have a duty to the Brotherhood Private. Don’t forget what we were trained for.” Fervus scolded me.

“Yeah, I know. I can only hope what she finds on the other side, is worth all the trouble.” I told her, making it back to the jeep.

“I know. And I do see the appeal, but this world is worth saving in my opinion. And one day we’ll reach the moon again.” Deus chuckled. “What Vermillion said...about us actually reaching there...it’s got me thinking about the stars.”

“Yeah,” I muttered as we got into the jeep and drove off.

We reached the house and slowly walked in. Velvet sighed at Deus’s smell but we ignored it and laid down, still in armor and prepared for combat.

POV...Velvet

I whined as I got up, feeling a need to relieve myself. Thankfully, going ‘Number 2’ hadn’t been a problem for me ever since I gained my Cybernetics. I still needed to go for Number one though.

I walked out and found Vermillion sleeping on the stoop. I sighed before I walked to the side and pulled my panties down, crouching down to pee as I emptied my bladder.

“Greaouah.” I heard Vermillion as he got up, but he didn’t look normal.

“Huh?” I whined, pulling up my panties as unease set in, not caring that I was still peeing. “Vermillion? Pops?” I asked nervously.

“Graraaah….Graaah?” He said, looking around aimlessly. He stumbled forward looking around confused.

“Vermillion?” I whined, stepping up to him carefully, my instincts screaming at me to run.

“Grr,grrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” He snarled, charging me with the intent to kill. I panicked, pulling out my gun as I started firing Haphazardly.

“Vermillion! Stop!” I screamed, wanting the perverted Zebra back as the bullets struck him.

“Graaaaahhaa!!!” He screamed, getting closer as the others rushed out, but it was a set of claws that ended him.

“Damn ferals.” A Female Deathclaw said after jump down from the roof of another building.

“Vermillion?” I whined, staring at his body. “Pops?” I whined when he said nothing.

“Velvet?” Butterfly asked, walking up.

“Ah, he just went feral, sorry for your loss.” The Deathclaw said, bowing. I whined, hugging his body as I broke down.

A chattering of something hitting the floor hit my ears. I looked to see it was a holotape. I picked it up, then inserted it into my arm to find out what it was.

“Damnit.” I heard Vermillion said. “Not going to make it, come on, turn on you fucking recorder!” He snarled. “Okay, it’s on. Velvet, sweetie...I...I hope I’ve wandered off by now, or someone else killed me before you...see what I’m turning into. Dammit, I wish I had more blasted time. I’ve lived over two hundred years and this blasted tumor from my forties is finally doing me in!”

For a bit, his speech was nothing but feral growls, before he seemed to calm. “Dammit, Look, I know you can do anything baby. Hell, you helped me stay sane for another twenty years.” He chuckled in sadness. “And I tried teaching you all I knew, and you just soaked it all up. I do wish I had found you sooner, before those….monsters...I never thought I would be a father, even a bad one after his daughter’s ass.”

I squeaked, my ears drooping as it hit me… he was my biological father!? The message was still playing though.

“Dammit, fuck a wolf once and she sends me a message two years later, and one year before she gets killed. You did always look like her.” He chuckled. “Never thought that singing gal would go for a wrinkly mutant like me.” He sighed. “Anyway, I need you to be strong and don’t blame anyone for...killing me. They’re doing me a favor.”

I started to cry as he showed signs of losing his battle with his feral state.

“I...look….please don’t mourn me. I’ve lived a long, crazy...happy life. I’ve seen space, I’ve traveled this land from coast to coast, and Laid with a lot of girls along the way. Some other pre-war ghouls might live longer, but I knew from the tumor in my head that I wouldn’t. I accepted that and fought it for as long as I could...so please, don’t let the past hold you back.” He huffed before hearing the click of whatever recording device he was using.

I whined, blinking The tears away, though I was still crying. I lost my father, and I was forced to end it. I needed to mourn.

I didn't know how long I cried for, but I eventually was able to push myself up. “Goodbye, daddy,” I whispered, hugging his corpse before I stood up. “Is… Anyone ready to go?” I asked.

“We are,” Deus said with a respectful nod. I sighed, before grabbing the Raider’s wagon and pulling the surprisingly silent raider along.

“You are not going to bury him?” The Deathclaw, a black scaled one with one broken horn, asked.

“I would.” I sighed. “But it would mean taking his corpse with us. There was this… A place he mentioned… Where my Mom was buried.” I sighed.

“Where is it?” She asked.

“Four kilometers that way,” I said, pointing north-west.

“I will look for it.” She said picking up his body and walking off in the direction I mentioned. I sighed, watching her go and wanting to follow. Hopefully, she’ll mark the location so I can say my goodbyes.

“We good?” Deus asked climbing into the driver’s seat.

“I think so,” I said as I loaded up the Raider. “So who’s taking the buggy?” I asked, looking at the vehicle Vermillion… Daddy used.

“I will.” The Private told me jogging over to it. I nodded in thanks as I sat in the main vehicle… Wonder what would be a good name?

“When are we going? Till she returns?” I asked.

“There’s an old Army Base. light, no bot.” Deus told me. “We could use more gas.”

“Good.” I sighed, looking at my priced Rifle. May as well keep using it.

“How are you feeling?” Fervus asked.

“Sad. Having to kill the one you consider a father does that to you.” I sighed. “And upset he never told me he was my real father until he turned,” I whined.

“I’m sorry.” She sighed as we drove slowly up the road.

“Don’t. It’s not your fault.” I sighed as I watched the landscape pass by, idly passing the Raider another Box for her to drink from.

“So are her limbs broken? Or…”

“All four of them,” I confirmed. “And I know It’ll take a long time to heal. Why do you think I bound her arms And legs?” I asked her. “And as for feeding, I may hate Raiders for what they did, but I won’t stoop to their level. I may humiliate her, but I won’t starve her or Violate her.”

“Ah.” She said as we moved along. I sighed as I leaned back, watching as we drove out of town and into the open wasteland. The countryside was still rocky from the local mountains but we still were entering the great plains.

“Hmm, I hope we don’t run into Legion.” I sighed.

“Do you know dee way?” We heard from the roof and saw a strange bug-eyed creature.

“No?” I said. “What way do you mean?”

“Do you know dee way to the homeland?” It asked as more showed up.

“No?” I said. “And what Homeland? Where is it?”

“Across the sea.” They told us...this is getting creepy.

“Where the fuck where they hiding?” Deus asked.

“No idea,” I whined, my hand on my Wolven Combat Rifle.

“Hmmmm, They do not know dee way.” One said before they JUMPED OFF OUR MOVING JEEP, and started walking off.

“Okay...that was weird. This is so weird.” Fervus sighed.

“That was disturbing,” I whined, before looking at the Raider, who was sitting in a puddle. “Hope the next place has fresh clothes, my pet has peed herself.” I sighed.

“And we can clean the seat.” Dues sighed as we sped up.

“Yeah.” I huffed as the Raider whined in discomfort. Guess she hated feeling like a Foal in her nappies.

“Well, we’re coming up to the base.” He said as we parked. “I see the gas lines. I’ll fuel both cars up.” He said as Private and Fervus took the watch, leaving me to explore. I started by digging through what the base had in their lockers. Mostly crap, but I did find ammo and clothes.

When I walked down a hallway, I heard a cracking sound, making me trigger Smart Vision, finding the floor was crumbling! Reacting Quickly, I launched myself away from the weakened floor with an Icarus Charge, catapulting myself out of the hazard! I looked at where the floor had broken, finding an open vat of FEV. I shivered at the sight, That was fucking close!

I opened my radio, hoping one of the Ex-Brotherhood members had a radio on them.

“Yeah?” Dues asked.

“Deus, I found a Vat of FEV, almost landed in That guck,” I told him. “It’s under the second corridor, within the base. The corridor is unstable.” I told him.

“I..what! Great, guys, we have a resource and a torch and burn!” He told the others. “No accidents!”

“Thanks,” I said, Icarus leaping across again.

“Hey, you alright?” The Private asked as he walked carefully.

“Y-yeah. Barely avoided the floor. Had I been any slower, I would have fallen through.” I said, grimacing at the thought. If I can get affected, my mutating Body would have reacted badly to my own cybernetics… The same things that gave me my motor functions back… That gave me sight…

I shuddered, that was disturbing to imagine.

“Okay, well it’s best to torch the place now anyway. Only Species to be able to breed after interacting with that crap was Deathclaws.” The private snarled pulling out a Grenade.

“Can’t agree more.” I huffed, taking out some Det Packs and sticking it to the walls.

“Okay, on three, we run.” He told me, pulling the pin. I nodded, charging my systems as I prepared to grab him and run.

“Okay, one two three!” He said tossing the Grenade. I grabbed him the moment the grenade left his hand, running towards the exit as I detonated the Det Packs afterwards, racing the explosion out.

“You okay?” Fervus asked as we landed outside.

“Yeah.” I huffed, dropping the Private. “Hopefully, that dealt with the FEV.” I sighed.

“So, you have gotten you needed?” Deus asked.

“Only Ammo, and an old jumpsuit.” I sighed, before checking the pockets. “Hey, it's got a pair of clean panties. Neat!” I grinned.

“Why would someone have that in their pocket?” Fervus asked as I spotted Butterfly riding Bubbles down the road.

“Well, these are clean… And rather Ranchy.” I said, holding up the silk panties.

“Okay.” She said, getting into the jeep. I nodded, before stripping the Raider’s stained panties, making her squirm as I cleaned her up, then slipped her new panties onto her.

“Can you just kill me?” The raider asked.

“No,” I said, tossing her old panties away. Kinda rare to see a Raider wear underwear not made from skinned victims. Those were cotton.

She whined as her limbs were still broken. “Oh don’t give me that!” I grumbled, putting her back on her Wagon. “You’re lucky I won’t put a shock collar on you.”

“You done?” Deus asked. “Really don’t get why you have that raider.”

“Pet,” I said. “Kinda as Catharsis factor.”

“Okay.” He said as I walked over.

“So, guess we’re off on the road again?” I asked.

“Yes. not much else with the FEV here.” He told us as we started on. “About a week now at this rate. So what are you going to do for this? We’re most likely not stopping.”

“Well, more likely than not, we would have to stop every now and again, if not to use the Loo.” I shrugged, using old world language.

“I know.” He chuckled as we drove down the road. I leaned back, idly scratching the Raider behind the ears as I did so.

“Okay,” Fervus said as old jets passed overhead. “That’s rare to see. Someone got those jets up and running. Where are they coming from though?”

“What I’m more concerned about, is if they are friendly.” I sighed. “Location comes after confirmation.”

“Right, well they don’t seem to have noticed us. Wonder if they have b-” Deus started before a 747 went low overhead before landing at an airport nearby. It had the flag of the Wolven Commonwealth, but there was a Gryphon as well.

“Okay… So they’re of the Wolven commonwealth. Huh, never thought they got through the bombs okay.” I remarked.

“Judging by the damage to the plane, they just got that working. So I think they’re remnants.” Fervus said as we drove by, the guards walking out looking lightly armed. Seemed they didn’t know of the dangers here.

“Well, if they get attacked while we’re here, you think we can assist them?” I asked.

“Yeah, but we should keep moving.” He said as we watched the group seemingly setting up a base.

“Yeah. I did say if we were in the relative area.” I shrugged.

We kept on driving through the area slowly leaving the Airport and moving on to mining town down the way. I leaned back as I watched the view pass us by. I inhaled, then exhaled.

“Well, we still good for food and drink?” I asked.

“A bit. We got a huge supply.” Fervus said handing me some cake.

“Good,” I remarked. “Well, at least we’ll last a Good while.” I chuckled.

“Yeah, good thing we found the market. Even killed the massive snake that's eating the travelers while you slept.” Deus chuckled.

“Yeah,” I said as I fiddled with my Wolven Combat rifle, idly noting the ones the remnants used seemed to be lower caliber and of poorer quality.

“So you think they’re expanding or escaping something?” Fervus asked.

“With how those soldiers were using poor quality weapons, possibly… Unless this is merely a scouting phase, a way of ‘Testing the Waters’.” I said, assembling my gun.

“So we may have an invasion coming then?” Deus asked with a sigh.

“Possibly, but it could be them just checking it out, then coming back.” I shrugged. “I mean, an invasion force would be better armed than that, and have a few decent soldiers there.”

“So exploration then?” Fervus suggested.

“Likely,” I said.

We sat back as Gryphons took off and flew around. Deus watched them carefully as we left the Mining town in fairly comfortable silence.

“So, think the Brotherhood is doing okay?” I asked.

“About...as good as you can get...when chapters were squabbling and unable to eat.” Deus sighed. “With the reforms from the East, we’ve been recovering.”

“Oh,” I said, idly wondering what we may encounter later as I gave the Raider mare another juice box.

“So how is your relationship with the NCR and the Brotherhood?” Fervus asked.

“Mine? Well, I don’t have much issue with the Brotherhood, but the NCR? Well, I don’t like them. There are decent people there, but the ones in power have a stick up their asses much of the time.” I huffed.

“I do agree to that.” Deus huffed. I nodded, fiddling with my guns as I did.

“Yeah,” I said. “As for the Church of Sarif, they are iffy with the Brotherhood, mostly from some of their expectations of being given what the Church protect and use to help people.”

“Well, the tech they use was of debate back before the bombs,” Deus told me. “Though our behavior is not excused.”

“The tech was of debate, but only because of greedy people. From what I got from the texts, Sarif were the ones being legit, trying to better themselves rather than control.” I sighed. “Hugh Darrow was condemned by the Church for a reason. His way of dealing with the problem just made it easier for greedy people to take advantage, as well as falling to jealousy for being unable to have cybernetics implemented into himself.”

“Ah, I’ll report it when we make contact,” Fervus told us. I nodded in thanks as I checked my weapons, before putting them away. “At least we can get the one throffing at the mouth to back off.”

“Huh?” I asked her.

“There’s a group that is just adamant as taking Augs away,” Fervus told me. “But they are not as bad as the Enclave if the rumors were true.”

“So basically, ‘Purity First’ survived the bombs?” I said.

“Pretty much.” Dues sighed. “Not all see it that way, trust me.”

“I know, but just so you know, Purity First was one of those branches of that greedy group I mentioned. They called themselves, the Illuminati.”

“Give me proof and I’m sure the others will crack down on this Illuminati.” He told me.

“Good,” I said, taking out a holotape. “I have several copies of those,” I told him. “If they survived this long, they must have a cryo vault somewhere.”

“Thanks.” He said as we passed a few farms. “You got anything else about the past?” He chuckled.

“Yeah. Did you know there was an undersea research base right under the noses of the Wolven Commonwealth?” I asked.

“Really?” Fervus asked, looking skeptical.

“Yeah. It was more of a ‘City’, though.” I said. “The place was created by this Bloke called Andrew Taurus, who wanted to create a Utopia, where he said, ‘The Artist will not Fear the Censor, where the Scientist will not be bound by Morality, where the weak will not be constrained by the small’.”

“By Faust that’s just...crazy.” Deus sighed.

“David Sarif was said to have called him delusional after getting an invitation into his city. After that, contact was lost, and many search parties went missing afterward. They gave up after the tenth.” I said.

“Ah, must have been crushed by the sea.” Fervus sighed.

“Doubt It. The parties never returned, and the last one sent a final message that sounded like it came out of a pre-war horror thriller.” I sighed. “Only real.”

“Okay, so not a place to look into.” Dues sighed.

“There may be a chance, the nukes would have affected their equipment.” I shrugged. “Not to mention that the wildlife will make it hard for them to detect a new search party since they’ve been hiding long before the bombs fell.”

“So maybe then,” Fervus said. “Pointless though as we can’t exactly go there.”

“Good Point. I’ll put in the general co-ordinates anyway, should anyone be interested.” I said, giving her a holotape.

“Okay.” She said as we fell into silence.

“Okay, we’re about in the Iowa area of the Commonwealth,” Deus said. “We need a map, old or new, that could help us out.”

“Well, we may get lucky in the next area. They may have an old map.” I shrugged.

“Isn’t there supposed to be another park around here?” The Raider spoke up.

“Point taken… But finding a map helps too. Never know if a bunch of Suiciders had decided to gang up on a target. I’m rather certain a lot of them can actually change a landscape if they did.” I shrugged, making a collective shudder fill the Vehicle. That was a morbid thought.

“Right,” Deus said as we passed an abandoned settlement that had been made out of a ranger post, gift shop, several trees, and an underground garage. “Guess we’re in the park, looks like Raiders took these poor bastards out.”

“Hmm. Either the Raiders used Siege tactics, or the Rangers were poorly trained.” I remarked. “I’ll be rather surprised if it’s Siege tactics. Sun Tzu’s the Art of War was banned when the Great War started. Called it ‘Communist Propaganda’, those idiots.”

“Well, at any rate, they may have had a map. Let's take a look.” Deus said, stopping and hopping out.

“Yeah. Hopefully, they have a decent one.” I said as I got out and followed.

“I’ll guard the cars,” Fervus said as Private walked out of the buggy.

“Why does that thing smell so bad.” He asked me.

“The Buggy? Vermil- Dad made it after getting his hands on some old Raider Racers… And we never could get them clean.” I sighed.

“Ah. Smells like piss.” He sighed as he walked. “Damn, this place looks like a truck was rammed into it.”

“I think it was,” I said, kicking a bumper that looked like it had been attached to a battering ram.

“So not siege tactics,” Deus said as we passed skeletons.

“I think we’re good on loot right now,” Private said as he looked at a smaller one. “They didn’t let the kids live.”

“Hmm, well, at least they weren’t used.” I sighed. “I know how much I wanted to die after I was their toy.”

“Morbid.” Deus sighed as he checked a door. “Locked.” He huffed before bashing it in.

“You know I could have picked the lock,” I remarked as I pushed it open. “Let me do it if it’s a Safe. Those things can destroy their contents on a forced lock.”

“Got it.” He said as we looked finding more small remains around a large one. Looked like a school room.

“Looks like they starved to death,” I said, prodding the Small skeletons.

“Someone must have meant to unlock the room from the outside. Looks like the kids eat the adult at some point.” the Private said.

“I think the Adult made them,” I said, picking up a ruler. “Look, It’s got rust on one end, yet is clean on the other. The Adult killed them self to feed the kids.”

“Got a map, old USE,” Deus said, pointing to a map still hanging up. “This station mustn’t have updated it. Alaska and Haywhiny are not part of the map too.”

“Guess not,” I said, Looking it over.

“This is all, just morbid.” The Private said, looking a little sick.

“Suck it up, you’ve seen worst on expeditions as a kid,” Deus told him sternly.

“And besides, I’ve heard the Legion are even worse. It’s like they took a look at a textbook on Roman history, then made use of it without understanding it.” I sighed.

“More like their leader wasn’t very good in long-term planning. He expanded much too fast, and didn’t consolidate his power.” Deus chuckled. “Same’s going on with the NCR.”

“Yeah, though the NCR don’t treat females like breeding stock or pack mules, And at least they’re better organized than the Legion.” I snickered.

“Yeah, that’s pretty sure a good thing. The Legion is falling apart.” The Private said as he grabbed the map. “Anything else?”

“No,” I said.

“Alright, let's get out of here.” Dues said as we walked out. I nodded, putting the ruler back as I followed.

We got back without issue, mostly since there wasn’t any Raiders around.

“Okay, yeah, we’re in Iowa,” Private said looking at the map. “The Ranger post is marked by a star, we’ve got...about a thousand miles between us and Boston.”

“Great, we have a long road ahead, maybe a day more. If our gas holds up.” Deus sighed.

“Yeah,” I said as I sat in the chair and petted the Raider’s head.

“Well, let’s hope it’s calmer in the east than the politics and war in the west.” Deus sighed as we started driving again.

Author's Note

and here's chapter three. hope you all like