FALLOUT: War for Vegas {WattyAwards 2013 Contender (Did not make Finalist) }

Chapter 12

Jackie knew raiders were bad enough, but the Fiends were psychotic. In two hours he had killed almost 10 that were running at him . . . with rolling pins! Even when he dismembered a limb they still ran towards him. Gob and Officer Gomez were set up at the top of one of the buildings to give Jackie sniper support, but even they had troubles. Somehow the Fiends acquired Laser RCW’s and gave enough fire to cause parts of the building to collapse.

“Fuck! I swear if we had these guys in D.C. we wouldn’t last three days in Megaton!” said Gob as he reloaded his .357 Magnum.

Gomez checked the sights on his hunting rifle. “Definitely not like the Enclave or the raiders back home.”

Jackie sighed as he reloaded his assault rifle. “There’s probably more on their way too. This is going to take forever.”

Without warning, there were several loud thumping noises. Everyone looked up and saw several Vertibirds flying overhead.

“Is that Enclave?” Gob said.

Jackie smiled as he recognized the symbol on the side. “They’re friendly.” One of the Vertibirds landed a few meters away and several Brotherhood of Steel soldiers climbed out. Most of them had helmets on, but there was one man in Elder robes and a thick white beard.

“Jackie Escado! It’s good to finally see your face again.” Said Elder Lyons.

Jackie saluted his superior. “Sir, what are you doing here?”

Elder Lyons laughed. “Stand down, soldier. We received reports from our fellow members in the area. Apparently the Enclave is making an assault in the area. We found this to be a great opportunity to crush them once and for all.”

Another member of the Lyons Pride climbed out of the Vertibird. She had blonde hair tied into a pony tail and her armor was dented and crushed in places. She had scars on her face, but didn’t make her any less attracting to any man. “Surprised to see me?” she asked.

Jackie hugged his good friend and fellow sister-in-arms, Sarah Lyons. “Not as surprised to see you alive. You look like hell.”

Sarah chuckled. “That’s what happens when you take a squad out to take care of death claws near an irradiated metro station. Oh, and to make this reunion even better, I have two other people here that I think you might love to see.”

“Who?” Jackie asked. Sarah pointed over at the second Vertibird that landed not far from them. Out popped two figures that looked nothing like Brotherhood members. One wore a white shirt with a black vest and jeans with combat boots. On his head was a bandanna wrapped around him and a pair of shades covering his eyes. His dark skin looked strangely clean for someone living in the D.C. ruins. The second figure was a bright yellow Super mutant with the ruins of a Vault 87 Jumpsuit and a Gatling laser.

“Fawkes! Three Dog!” Jackie was surprised to see those two here.

“Hey! Is that the old Lone Wanderer from Vault 101? You don’t look a day over 25, kid.” Three Dog said as he shook Jackie’s hand.

 Two large forearms wrapped around Jackie’s back and lifted him up into the air, causing several vertebrae to crack. “My friend! It is . . . good to see you!” Fawkes said in his broken yet understandable English.”

“It’s good to see you too, Fawkes.” Jackie chuckled. “Now could let me down please?” Jackie was suddenly and immediately dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He got up and dusted himself off. He looked at Three Dog. “What are you doing here? Who’s broadcasting at GNR if you’re not there?”

“Ah what good questions you have my buddy, my pal.” Three Dog replied. “See, when I heard about the Enclave joining up with these Legion psychos, I told Elder Lyons what was going on. As I suspected, the old coot decided to bring his best forces over to New Vegas to help the President with the ongoing siege. And what better way to broadcast the fall of the scummiest shit heads in all of the wastes once and for all in person is there huh? Oh, and I was instructed to give you this.” Three Dog reached into his pocket and pulled out a small disk with two notes on it. He handed them to Jackie. He read the first note:

Jackie,

            If you are reading this, then I am dead. Mostly. And if you are reading this, then I am very disappointed that you did not stay in the Vault when I left. But If we were to meet in the wasteland on chance, then I would be happy to have you along, my son. When I say Mostly dead form the top line, I mean that I might be able to come back from the dead IF Project Purity were to fail or IF the Enclave become an immediate threat. If you have not yet encountered the Enclave, do not trust them. They spread lies as quickly as water spreads through the rivers. If you are reading this and if any of the two obscurities occur, talk to Doctor Li, she should know what to do.

            Dad.

Jackie read the note several times, but it didn’t make sense. His father was dead, but he talked about a way to come back from the dead. He said to talk to Doctor Li from Rivet City, but as far as he could tell, she was nowhere in sight. He decided to read the second note:

Jackie Escado,

            I read your fathers note and I understand that it wouldn’t make much sense to you, this technology is not what they taught you back in the Vault. If done right, a person can be able to upload their consciousness into a computer system like data. We speculate that Eden did this before the war, but we are not sure. If done wrong, however, you could go insane and you consciousness uploaded into the system could be as well. Knowing your father he did it right. We learned from Three Dog that the Enclave teamed with the Legion, and that you and the people of Megaton moved there. So I am sending this note, your fathers note, and the disk with his consciousness on it with Three Dog if he is going to Vegas with Elder Lyons. Take the disk to a doctor named Usanagi near New Vegas, she specializes in anything involving the mind.

            Li

Even though Jackie read this note and it clarified a few things, it still was confusing to him. He felt a hand on his should and saw it was Amata, tears in her eyes. Jackie understood why too. His father could come back from the dead, but her’s, he had to kill because he went mad with power and threatened to destroy Vault 101, with everyone in it. He hugged his wife and smelled her perfume.

“Where’s James at?” He asked her.

“Nova is looking after him.” Amata replied, wiping her eyes.

Jackie turned over to Gob. “Do you know where this Usangi is?” he asked the ghoul.

Gob shrugged. “No, but I’m sure Bannano would know.”

“What would I know?” said Bannano’s voice. He walked over to Elder Lyons and shook his hand. “Joe Bannnano at your service, may I ask who you are?”

As Elder Lyons explained to Bannano who he was, there was the sound of another Vertibird flying overhead. Jackie looked up and saw it fly over and land behind one of the Brotherhood’s Vertibirds. Then several more flew by, past where they were into the distance of the Mojave. The Vertibird opened its doors and a man in a white and black checkered suit walked out with a lady in leather armor at his arm. A beret wearing man with a scowl soon followed, along with a cyborg and a man in Scientist clothing and pale white skin. The man in the checkered suit walked up to Jackie and stretched out his hand.

“I’m Henry Rameriz, President of New Vegas. Are you Jackie Escado?”

“Yes.” Jackie said as he shook Henry’s hand.

“Pleasure to meet you; I had the ‘pleasure’ of speaking with your old friend Colonel Autumn.” Henry said. “Trust me when I say this, we need all the help you can get, and you seem fit enough to serve in the New Vegas Army.” He noticed Jackie’s metal covered arm. “Infection?”

“How did you know?” Jackie asked, stunned.

Henry grimaced. “You might have to go to Doctor Usanagi, that power armor cover you have isn’t going to stop it permenatly.”

Jackie laughed. “It’s funny, I need to go to her anyways.”

Henry smiled. “Then this will benefit us both.”