Act 1: They Went That-a-Way: Prologue
New Vegas…oh New Vegas…is there anything better to name that place?
People say that New Vegas is the true paradise. It is the place where you can just throw all your wasteland troubles away in the garbage can and get on with having a good time, earn some caps…or maybe lose all your caps. But whatever, New Vegas is just something I would call heaven.
That shining oasis in the middle of the dry Mojave Wasteland, is there anything more beautiful than that? Getting closer to see it is even more beautiful then at least being a 1000 km away. But don’t get me started when getting into the New Vegas Strip, it gets even better.
When entering the New Vegas Strip, that’s when the full experience of paradise begins. The beautiful women or handsome men (if you were a woman) that you meet and have some little “fun” with them, swimming in a pile of your own caps, and all the booze you can drink. What can be more fun than that?
Well, either then the drunken soldiers, the hookers performing on the street, and the Securitrons patrolling the streets, things seem pretty normal. Well how about seeing an NCR Ranger Veteran just outside New Vegas, turning on his night vision on his mask and arming his anti-material rifle, firing at an unsuspected intruder near New Vegas? And how about just far and outside from New Vegas, a few Legionaries are out scouting? Seems normal doesn’t it? Nah, that’s not really normal. That’s just war.
War…war is a conflict that can never change. Around 200 year ago when atomic fire rained down and consumed the entire earth, those who survived dug in and lived in underground vaults. When the inhabitants of the vaults left, they spread out across the ruins of the old world to build new societies, establish new villages, and form tribes. As decades past, what had been the old American southwest was united beneath the flag of the New California Republic, dedicated to old world values of democracy and the rule of law back in the old world.
As the NCR grew, so did its needs. Scouts spread East, seeking territory and wealth in the dry, merciless desert of the Mojave Wasteland. They return with tales of the city that was untouched by the nuclear warheads that burned the earth and the great wall that expanded across the Colorado River. The NCR mobilized its army and sent it East to occupy Hoover Dam and restore the dam back to working conditions. But across the Colorado, another society had risen up from a different flag. A vast army of slaves, forged from the conquest of 86 tribes, Caesar’s Legion.
It had been four years since the NCR held Hoover Dam against the Legion’s onslaught. Many lives were lost in the battle of Hoover Dam, but even after being defeated, the Legion did not retreat. Across the Colorado River, they gathered strength. NCR troops would see the smoke of campfires burning and hear the sound of training drums beat, a reminder to know that the Legion was ready to fight back against the NCR.
Overall, the New Vegas Strip still stayed open in business under the control of the mysterious overseer, Mister House and his army of rehabilitated and tribal police robots.
My name is Desmond. I am courier that is hired by the Mojave Express to deliver a very important package to the New Vegas Strip. What seemed like a simple and easy delivery job has turned out to be the worst one…and my last.
******
“We’ve got what you were after, so pay up!” a voice barked.
I stirred up from the voice. My vision was a bit blurred, but when my vision started returning, I found my hands bound tightly together. I tried to free myself, but it seems impossible to free yourself in a situation like this.
“You’re crying in the rain pally.” said another voice.
As I tried to struggle my way out, I heard another voice.
“Heh, guess who’s waking up over here?”
I looked up to find myself facing a man in a checkered suit with two other guys standing beside him. The man in the checkered suit meanwhile put out his cigarette by throwing it on the ground and stomping it out.
He sighed, “Time to cash out.”
The checkered suit man slowly approached me. One of the men spoke.
“Would you get it over with?” the man said impatiently.
The man with the checkered suit raised a hand of disagreement in the air.
“Maybe Khan’s killed people without looking them in the face.” the checkered suit man said. “But I ain’t a fink, dig?”
The checkered suit man pulled something out of his suit. It was a shiny poker chip. It was the package I was supposed to deliver to New Vegas.
“You made your last delivery kid.” the man in the checkered suit said to me.
As he placed the chip back into his suit, he fidgeted around his suit to pull something out.
“Sorry you got twisted up in this scene.” he said sympathetically, but it was more of a taunt.
But then I saw what he had now just pulled out from his suit, a handgun.
“From where you’re kneeling, must seems like an 18 karat run of bad luck.”
He then aimed the handgun at my face. I could have basically yelled for help before he shot me since I was near a town, but all I could do was stare at him with a face that said, “Why?”
“The truth is…the game was rigged from the start.”
With that, the last thing I saw was the checkered suit man fired a bullet into my head. Before I blacked out, I heard one more shot being fired before I really died for good.
******
It had been two hours since the Courier had been shot by the checkered suit man. By now, the checkered suit man and his Great Khan buddies had left the Goodsprings Cemetery before they can attract any more attention.
With the grave quiet and empty, a PDQ-88b Securitron by the name of Victor arrived on the scene, knowing that it was all clear. At first, the face of Victor changed from the face of an angry, tough cowboy to a smiling, kind cowboy.
Victor adjusted his claw and started slowly digging the Courier out of his grave with his claw. Every dig he made, his claw grabbed at least three inches of sand. It would have been a lot faster if he would have just picked up a shovel with his claws, but unfortunately, Securitrons do not really know how to pick up most objects, so Victor had to dig at least three hours to get the Courier out off the grave.
But while Victor was digging out the Courier, what he didn’t know was that he was being watched.
******
For the whole time, Princess Celestia had been watching the entire thing in shock. A while ago she had just traveled from Equestria to earth to do an investigation on the species known as humans. What she didn’t know of how much the world was screwed over. She had no idea that the world was destroyed by nuclear warheads and she also didn’t know that because it was the apocalypse in this world, everyone was fighting for their lives, killing to survive.
After witnessing the checkered suit man kill the Courier, she was just about to leave after seeing the horror she witnessed. That’s when she thought about something else. Maybe if she can bring back the Courier to her world and revive him, maybe she can get to know more of the story of why the human race has gone downhill. Besides, it might be good for the research they’re doing on humans.
With that, she stood there from a far distance, watched, and waited for hours for Victor to dig out the Courier.
******
After at least three hours of digging, Victor had finally dug the Courier out of his grave. Victor lifted up the Courier’s body onto his arms and he started to roll back to Goodsprings so that Doc Mitchell can help patch the Courier up. As he was about to leave the cemetery, it happened.
Something flew in front of him. It hover just right in front of his screen. Victor had no idea what it was and he couldn’t really see what it looked liked because it was so dark at night. It was a creature that was definitely able to walk on 4 legs. It had wings on its sides and a horn on its forehead.
Before Victor could react, the creature sent out a blinding flash of light, blinding Victor. All he could see right now was nothing but white on his screen. Victor was blinded for a full 10 seconds when he was finally able to see again.
The creature was gone…and so was the Courier! Victor looked down to see what used to be the Courier in his arms was now nothing. The Courier was gone. Confused of what had just happened, Victor quickly headed back to Goodsprings to let Doc Mitchell know what had just happened.
******
Back at a Canterlot, six mares were anxiously waiting for Princess Celestia to return. Suddenly, they saw a portal open up in the middle of the room. Princess Celestia was seen stepping out of the portal. She was carrying the body of the Courier on her back.
“Princess Celestia!” a purple unicorn mare exclaimed.
All six of them bowed in front of Princess Celestia. Princess signaled them to get back up.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia smiled at the purple unicorn. “I appreciate for you and your friends to wait for me to come back, but there really is no need to be afraid. I’m always going to be alright.”
“Well we can’t help it Princess.” Twilight replied. “We wanted to make sure you’re alright and-”
Twilight stopped in mid-sentence as she looked at what was on the Princesses back.
“Pardon me Princess, but who and what is that on your back?” Twilight asked.
“I have no idea what his name is, but I can tell you what he is. He is a human. The creature that I mentioned on a book you asked me about.” Princess Celestia explained.
Twilight walked up to take a look at the so called “human”.
“This is what a human looks like?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy, one of the other mares trotted up to take a look at the human. She realized that the human had two bloody holes in his head and she realized she was not even breathing. Fluttershy gasped in horror and Twilight backed away, fully realizing what had happened.
“Oh…my…is he…dead?” Fluttershy asked.
Princess Celestia nodded solemnly. Twilight cupped her face with her hooves. Fluttershy’s eyes welled up with tears and she started crying. The rest of them just hung their heads in sadness.
“But there is a chance to still save him.” Princess Celestia spoke up. “I can still feel a bit of life in his body. If we can work fast, we might be able to save him and get information we need from him.”
Fluttershy looked up at the Princess, her eyes red from the tears she shed.
“He’s…he’s still alive?” she asked all hopefully.
Princess Celestia nodded with a comforting smile. With that, she turned to one of her guards.
“Guard, get a doctor in here. We need to save this being’s life.” Princess Celestia ordered.
“I don’t know your highness. That “thing” looks scary and dangerous to save. I’m not sure if we should risk doing that.” the guard replied.
“Well he could be a very great importance to his species that we are researching. Now do as I say.”
“Yes your highness.”
With that, the guard galloped off to get the doctor. Princess Celestia turned to face the six mares.
“Well everything should be fine now. You may all return to your rooms.” said Princess Celestia.
“Are you sure we don’t need to help you out Princess?” Twilight asked.
“I’m quite alright.” Princess Celestia smiled. “You all had a very long day. Now get some rest. You all deserve it.”
Twilight nodded and she and her friends turned out of the room, leaving Princess Celestia alone.
