Chapter 7: The Bright Brotherhood

Chapter 7: The Bright Brotherhood

Welcome back to the program. This is Mr. New Vegas, and I hope I'm not coming on too strong. More news is coming at you right now. Rumors persist about a super mutant refuge nestled high in the ski lodge at the peak of Mount Charleston to the northwest. If you should find it, do not, repeat, DO NOT belittle a super mutant for taking the bunny slope. Also, the Black Mountain radio signal is back after a long absence. Listeners say the new programming is, quote, less for outcasts, more for weirdoes. This section of the program was brought to you by Gomorrah: It'll be our secret. Got some more Sinatra coming up, asking you to Come Fly With Me.

"Well, let's try this again." I said to myself, as I climbed up the stairs to the dinosaur-mouth sniper perch. I knocked on the door, and heard an unfamiliar voice from inside tell me to come in.

The first thing I noticed was the red beret for half a second, I thought Boone was still here, and my ears were playing tricks on me. When he turned to look at me, the thing that caught my attention was his facial hair; the last time I saw a handlebar moustache that impressive was when I'd been shot. This wasn't the same man though this guy looked more hispanic than anything else. Plus, while it was similar, he wasn't wearing Great Khan colors; just a sleeveless leather vest over a red long sleeved shirt, and an ammo belt bandolier draped across his chest.

"What's goin' on man?" he said.

"You Manny?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "What can I do for ya?"

"I'm looking for a man in a checkered coat. I was told you could help me find him. Know him?"

"Sure, I know him," he said after pausing for a minute, as if he wasn't sure if he should answer. "What do you want with him?"

"Let's just say he has something of mine, and I want it back" I said. Manny raised an eyebrow.

"You talkin' about that chip?" I nodded, and he continued, shaking his head. "Man, I don't think he's giving it up."

"Maybe not. But do you know where I can find him, anyway?"

"Yeah I think I can help," he said with a smile. "But I got problems of my own. You do something for me, and I can tell you where you can find him."

I rubbed my temples, massaging the scar on the side of my head. Great, I thought to myself, just what I need another diversion. At this rate, I'll never catch up to him. But this was my only really solid lead. With any luck, whatever he had in mind wouldn't take too long or be too out of the way.

"Fine," I sighed, resignation in my voice. "What do you need?"

"This town, Novac? It's home for me now. I want that to be for good. I really like it here and I've left too many homes behind. But the only resource the people around here have is junk. Without that, there wouldn't be anything people could trade. They'd all have to leave."

"Not to interrupt, but I assume there's a point to all this?" I wasn't really all that interested in the why just tell me what you want done so I can go and get it done, I thought to myself.

"I'm getting to it. See, most of the junk comes from the old rocket test site up the road. It's sort of hidden in the Black Mountain foothills just west of here. But a few days ago, a bunch of ghouls showed up and took it over. Nobody wants to even get close anymore."

"If it's so important," I said with a shrug "why don't you just go up there and deal with it?"

"Trust me, if I could, I would." He said almost defensively. He pointed at his beret. "See this? Means I was in 1st Recon, same as Boone. It's shorthand for badass. I could clear out the place myself, but it would still take me the better part of a day, and I can't do that because I have to watch the road. As annoying as the ghouls are, they're not wandering, but Caesars Legion? They've been taking territory just east of here. Last I heard, they took Nelson. If we if I let our guard down, even for a minute, they might attack. All it takes for the Legion is for them to sense weakness."

"Ok. So you want me to get rid of the ghouls. What kind of ghouls are we talking about?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, sounding confused.

"Well, are these a pack of feral ghouls that have wandered in, thinking there might be meat, or are these just ghouls who are squatting in an abandoned building, and I can maybe talk to and convince them to leave the place?"

"I don't know. I haven't actually been up there. I think its just ferals though, since everyone keeps talkin' about zombies. Personally, it doesn't matter to me what you do. As long as the ghouls are out of there, and people can go back to scavenging, that's good enough for me."

"Alright. I'll think about it," I said, despite having already made up my mind. "But if I do this, I expect you to tell me what I want to know."

"Thanks man," he said as I started to walk out the door. "It'd mean a lot to me."

"Ok, explain t'me again why we're doin' this?" Cass said as she walked beside me. ED-E was floating next to me on the other side as the three of us made our way up the road towards the rocket site.

"Well, I'm going up there to clear out some ghouls. I do this favor for Manny, he tells me what I need to know. Simple enough trade, just with a verbal contract and no caps involved."

"Well yeah, that's what I mean - why are we goin' through all this trouble? If he knows who yer lookin' for an' where he is, why don' ya just beat it out of him?" I had to stifle a snicker.

"I think maybe you've seen too many Pre-War holotapes. For one, beating a confession out of someone doesn't actually work. For two, he's ex 1st recon; he'd probably beat the shit out of me, rather than the other way around if I tried anything like that. And for three, I don't actually know why you keep saying 'we' about all this. When I knocked on your door to tell you where I was going, I didn't think you'd want to follow."

"I'm bored, an' got nothin' else better t'do," she said with a shrug. "B'sides, y'said th' people in Novac come up here to scavenge stuff. It's been a couple years, but I figure, couldn't hurt t'do a bit of honest 'prospecting.' With all that's happened, I could use th' money."

"So that's what the duffel bag is for," I said, pointing to the empty sack she had slung across her shoulder. She nodded with a grin.

"Gotta carry th'haul back somehow."

At that moment, ED-E started to beep excitedly. I was about to ask what was up, when the beeping was replaced by the familiar bugle music. I took a look at my Pip Boy's compass and immediately pulled Roscoe out of its holster.

"What's goin' on?" Cass asked. I showed her the compass: there was a mass of red pips on the compass, pointing to a place up the road and behind some rocks. She pulled out her shotgun, and the three of us carefully made our way to the bend in the road. The closer we got, the more I became aware of a shuffling sound, like bare feet scraping against pavement, accompanied by the occasional sounds of low growls and mutterings. ED-E hovered as low to the ground as he could; Cass and I moved behind an abandoned Chryslus Highwayman to get a look.

"You know," I whispered to Cass, "I asked Manny earlier if it was regular ghouls or if it was ferals. I guess I got my answer." All along the road ahead of us were 6 maybe 7 feral ghouls. The stench of death hung heavily in the air. They looked like walking corpses they were emaciated, and most of them had skin just hanging loose off their bones. Though, walking was probably giving them too much credit. Most of them were squatting on the road, but the ones that were up and about were shuffling along, dragging their feet as they moved.

ED-E beeped quizzically. The one closest to where we were hiding perked his head up at the noise. He motioned like he was sniffing the air except he had no nose. And then he looked directly at us with dead eyes.

"Shit."

The ghoul stopped shuffling, and let out a screech. I hated it when ferals screamed. The scream was raw, loud, and horrifically inhuman, like his vocal cords had been burned away to such an extent that this was the only sound they could even make anymore. But the real reason I hated it when ferals screamed was what happened next: every single feral on the street stopped what they were doing and turned as one to look at us. There were more screams, and they all got up and charged at us with a speed and ferocity that didn't seem possible from a pack of walking corpses.

I slipped into V.A.T.S., and instantly became aware that there was a lot more of them charging at us than just half a dozen. I squeezed off a few shots, trying to make every one count. I buried two slugs in the chest of the nearest one, but it didn't even seem fazed. I landed a third shot in its head and it went down with a sickening wet crunch. A few more went down to V.A.T.S. powered Roscoe, with help from Cass with her shotgun and ED-E with his laser. But just as I was reloading, a ghoul managed to slip by the three of us, and leap over the car right at me. To make matters worse, I heard that same mechanical female voice in my ear that I'd heard when I first discovered V.A.T.S.:

"We at Vault-Tec apologize for the inconvenience, but your Action Points have been depleted. Please allow them to recharge before using V.A.T.S. again." I could feel my eye twitch.

"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF -" the ghoul tackled me, sending me to the ground. I felt rather than saw Roscoe fly out of my hands and clatter to the ground somewhere behind me. I brought the arm with my Pip Boy up to shield my face, just as the ghoul lunged at me, as if to bite my face off. The ghoul scrambled and clawed at me, forcing me against the ground. Seeing it up close was not a pleasant experience, let me tell you. The flesh on its face was either hanging loose off the bones, or it was completely rotted away. One of its eyes, milky white like it had a massive cataract obscuring everything, was hanging loose in the socket and bulging out. It didn't have a nose, just an empty hole. Every orifice was dripping a black slimy ichor, and the smell made me want to vomit. I struggled against it, as it gnawed hungrily on my Pip Boy. I punched it in the side of the head, and it faltered enough for me to get my feet under it, and kick it solidly in the chest away from me.

The feral stood over me, readying itself to attack again. I started to get up and crawl away, to find where Roscoe had fallen, when its head exploded in a shower of gore.

" what."

All around me, ferals started falling from headshots. I looked around Cass (who had backed up considerably) looked just as confused as me, and even ED-E didn't seem to know what was going on. And that's when I saw him.

Taking careful aim from a vantage point above us was Boone, firing with an accuracy and speed I didn't think was possible. With every muzzle flash, another feral dropped dead from lead poisoning. In less than a minute, every feral had fallen. The road fell quiet as quickly as the violence had started. By the time I got up, wiped the gore off me, and found where Roscoe had fallen, Boone had come down from his perch and was making his way towards me, his scoped and silenced sniper rifle in hand.

"Thanks for the save, Boone. I didn't think I'd ever see you again." He nodded, saying nothing.

"Yeah, thanks" Cass said, walking up toward us with a confused look on her face. "Hey Sheason, who is this guy?"

"Cass, this is Boone," I said, gesturing to him. His face remained impassive, like a stone statue carved out of granite. "Boone, Cassidy. I uh, I helped him out with something last night." I turned back to him. "Like I said, I didn't think I'd ever see you again. Not to sound ungrateful, but what are you doing here?"

"Thought about what you said," he replied, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. "And you're right. Snipers should never operate without support. I've been down that path once before. Paid the price for it. Besides. I figured I owed you."

"Really?" I was genuinely confused. When he said 'I think our dealings are done here' last night, I figured we were square.

"Yeah. If you want, I'll help you out. Hang around till you find the man who shot you." He said, wasting no breath on unneeded words. I shrugged.

"Hey, having a 1st Recon sniper around is absolutely fine by me. Cass? Any objections?" I said, turning to Cass. She just looked around at all the ferals littering the ground with holes in their heads, slowly leaking black fluid onto the pavement.

"I think I'll be okay with it," she said with a smirk.

The road up to the rocket test site was much less eventful with Boone around. We didn't meet another large pack of ghouls after the first one. Boone was picking them off with his sniper rifle before they could even get close to us.

On the way there, though, we came across what looked like a makeshift bunker. It wasn't a proper bunker, since there was no roof; it was more like a dugout, since it didn't appear to be anything more than a few sandbags under a pedestrian overpass. ED-E beeped, I thought I heard Cass mutter something like "The fuck is this?" under her breath, and Boone continued to say nothing. When we got closer I could see a couple of chairs, a few bedrolls, and some ammo boxes. This most certainly didn't look like the work of ferals. The really strange thing though, was the pile of ash nearby.

"Energy weapons," Boone spoke up. I shot him a quizzical look.

"Are you sure?" I knelt down next to the pile of ash, to give it a better look.

"Yeah."

"How can you tell?" I asked. To be honest, it looked like it was probably the work of some kind of energy weapon, but I couldn't be absolutely sure. He pointed at a spot in the makeshift dugout.

"That ghoul has a laser rifle."

I got up and took a look. There was, indeed, a dead ghoul where he was pointing, but it didn't look like any of the ferals we'd run into on the way here. Quite aside from the boxy laser rifle still clutched in his dead hands, this ghoul seemed much more intact well, more intact for a ghoul, anyway. His skin was mostly see-through, but it wasn't falling off, and he even still had a bit of hair left. The really odd thing was the fact that this ghoul wore a dark green robe with brown trim. It almost made him look like a monk, or a scribe in the Brotherhood of Steel.

"This guy isn't a feral," I gave voice to my thoughts. Cass nodded.

"There's a difference?" Boone asked.

"Well sure," Cass chimed in, as she went around the dugout-bunker, looking through the ammo cans and metal boxes, finding stuff to put in her duffle bag. "Y'ever been ta Necropolis? Whole city fulla ghouls. Lot's o' them'r really nice, an' willin' ta trade. Regular ghouls'r just like people, y'know? S'th' ferals that'r all crazy flesh-hungry zombies."

"Hey Cass, think this'll fetch a good price?" I'd grabbed the laser rifle from the dead ghoul, and held it in the air for her to see.

"Looks good, toss it 'ere!" she said.

"Sure thing but if you find any microfusion cells, I call dibs. I'll need them for the car."

"Car?" Boone raised an eyebrow.

The first image we had of the rocket test site was a massive dome. It was set into the side of the mountain, and looked remarkably intact, despite being at least 200 years old. Nearby, also set into the mountain, was a mostly square four-story building, which looked much worse for wear than the dome. As we walked closer, we saw a sign by the side of the road. It looked made out of stone, and the "O" had fallen out of "REPCONN." Behind the sign and in front of the stairs leading to the building was a roundabout, with a rusted statue of a rocket ship with a yellow tip and five fins sticking out of the dirt.

Four cracks from Boone's sniper rifle later, and four more ghouls had fallen. I wanted to think that using my Pip Boys friend/foe compass was helping me be a good spotter for Boone, but frankly it didn't really seem like he needed my help all that much. ED-E zoomed ahead of us, flying up to get a good look at the rocket, and we made our way towards the dilapidated office building. All around us, we saw more sandbag barricades, more dead ghouls, and more smoking ash piles. Suddenly, Boone stopped, and held up his hand to get our attention.

"Hold up." He made his way towards one of the barricades, and knelt down to get a look at something behind the sandbag wall. I followed him cautiously, checking my Pip Boys compass again to make sure we were clear of any more hostiles. When I saw the figure lying on the ground that had caught Boone's attention, I stopped in my tracks.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked Boone.

"Yeah."

Sprawled on the ground was a body, which had to be at least 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide. It was a mass of veiny, solid muscle, with dark blue skin stretched taught. There literally wasn't a single ounce of fat on this creature. Its eyes were wide open, like it didn't even have eyelids; the eyes were set deep in its skull underneath a heavy brow. Its mouth was held open and pulled up in a permanent sneer by two leather straps attached to its lips on both sides, showing a mouth full of large, perfectly straight (and strangely white) teeth. It wore a brown cloth hood covering an incredibly thick and wide head, a brown tunic around its waist, brown leather boots, and there was a stop sign wrapped around its right arm, like a shield held in place by twisted metal rods bent around its arm. In the center of its chest was a gaping, cauterized hole the killing blow from an energy weapon that didn't turn it to a pile of ash.

"What is it?" Cass said, poking it in the arm with the barrel of her shotgun.

"It's a super mutant," I said simply. That's the only thing it could be. This one looked different from the other super mutants I'd seen in the past, however.

"Wait, this is a super mutant? Never seen one up close, 'fore" Cass knelt down to get a better look at it. "Ugly fucker, ain't he?"

"Hang on," I said. "You've never seen a super mutant up close before? Didn't you say you've been to Necropolis?" Cass nodded.

"I have, but Necropolis is pretty fuckin' big nowadays, an' I never went too deep into th' city. Only ever saw ghouls there. No mutants."

"Commando," Boone chimed in. "Different kind of mutant. Regular mutants have green skin."

"A commando?" Cass and I exchanged glances. I'd never heard of a super mutant commando before. Boone continued.

"They specialize in hit and run tactics. They're the only kind of mutants I've seen that use Stealth Boys. A normal mutant will run at you with a sledgehammer; a commando will sneak up behind you and bash your skull in."

"An' how do you know all this, anyway?" Cass asked, raising an eyebrow.

"1st Recon," was his only response. He walked up the stairs away from us, towards the building.

When we opened the front door to the Repconn building, we were greeted by a scene of erupted chaos. Smears of dried blood painted the walls, broken up by bullet holes and burn marks. Robed ghouls with energy weapons lay on the ground all around; a dead super mutant lay sprawled on the floor in front of the door, and I nearly tripped over it upon entering. There was a curved front desk behind the dead mutant, and above the desk was a model of a rocket, hanging from the ceiling. There were five doors two on the far left and far right contained stairs which presumably led to the balcony above, two doors behind the front desk that led to bathrooms, and a door directly behind the desk that was unlabeled.

"Hey!" I heard an unfamiliar voice cry out. It sounded filtered, but it was rough and raspy, like a ghoul that hadn't yet turned feral but who still had ruined vocal cords. I couldn't quite tell where the voice was coming from.

"Over here!" the voice sounded again. I looked around, and eventually found the source: an intercom speaker mounted on the wall to my left. I carefully stepped over the mutant and walked over to the intercom.

"Are you even listening?" he said again, sounding agitated. I reached the intercom, and pressed the talk button.

"Yeah, I'm here," I said into the metal box. "Who's this?"

"Go to the big room on the east side of this building and take the metal staircase all the way up. And hurry," the raspy voice said, ignoring my question.

"That'll depend on who I'm talking to. Who are you?" I asked again.

"Who I am doesn't matter, smoothskin," he replied. "Stop wasting time and get up here! Find the metal staircase in the big room on the east side of the building, where they used to make rockets." With an audible click, the voice cut out.

"Ominous little fucker, ain't he?" Cass said, adjusting the strap on the duffel bag still slung across her back. ED-E beeped. Boone said nothing.

"Well?" I asked, turning to my companions. "What do you think? Should we find out what's upstairs?"

Before anyone could answer, a raw, loud, and horrifically inhuman screech filled the air. More ferals had arrived. I had just pulled out Roscoe when Boone leveled his rifle at a point up on the balcony and fired. A moment later, I saw a feral tumbling over the balcony railing, falling to the ground with a sickening wet crunch. ED-E floated up above the rocket and I heard a mixture of marching music and discharging laser blasts.

"Follow me!" I said to Cass, and we rushed to the stairs on the right towards the east side of the building. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Boone backing up, covering the rear. Suddenly, a feral rounded the corner and was about to charge but there was a metal snapping sound, and the feral's foot was caught in a bear trap. It howled in pain for only a moment; Cass put it out of its misery with a shotgun blast to the face.

"Keep an eye out somebody's set up traps," I said, cautiously peering around the corner and up the stairs. There was another feral at the top of the stairs, who had been snarling over the railing, but had turned and spotted me. I slipped into V.A.T.S. hoping my action points (or whatever they were called) had recharged and fired at the ghoul. The bullet went straight through its open mouth and out the back of its skull.

There were only a few more ferals between us and the metal staircase we'd been instructed to find. The building seemed like a maze; I kept us on track, thanks to the map making feature of my Pip Boy though in truth, I probably didn't need it: it only seemed like a maze because of the damage to the walls and the lights, not to mention all the dead ghouls and piles of ash everywhere. I had confidence enough in my own sense of direction, but better to be safe than sorry, I suppose.

When we got to the east side of the building, there was a fork. One way was a staircase leading down. The other way was into a large factory floor. The door looked like it had been blown off its hinges, and was lying on top of a dead super mutant that no longer had a head. In the back of the room, just like the ominous voice had said, was a metal staircase leading upward. ED-E flew past me, and up into the rafters, past a half-finished rocket. He returned a moment later, and beeped cheerfully at me.

"What d'ya suppose that means?" Cass asked. I shrugged.

"With any luck, he's saying the way is clear." As if to reassure me, the little robot bobbed in the air, almost like someone shaking their head. So, the four of us made our way up the twisting metal staircase until finally we came to a door with another intercom speaker next to it. I went up to the door, and tried to turn the handle; it wouldn't budge. The intercom turned on with an audible click.

"All right, smoothskin," the same voice as before said. "I'm letting you in. You better watch yourself. I'll sure as hell be watching you." The intercom turned off, and I heard a bolt in the door unlatched. I swung the door open, and was face to face with a human. He was a balding man with thick eyebrows and moustache that looked interchangeable with one another; he looked to be in his forties, and he wore a white lab coat over a shirt and tie.

"God, but are you ugly!" he said, revealing himself as the unmistakable voice from behind the intercom. "All of you yeesh! Get upstairs and talk to Jason before I throw up just from looking at you." I was confused, and looked to my companions, but was met with similar uncomprehending faces.

"Hang on," I finally said to him. "You don't look like a ghoul." He just raised an eyebrow at me.

"Your pranks won't work on me, smoothskin," he practically snarled, crossing his arms over his chest. "They won't work on Jason, either."

I nodded, grimacing. "I'm sorry," I said up to him. He was silent for a few moments.

"I see. Well spare me the details," he spat on the catwalk again. Then, he said under his breath "Damnit, I'm gonna miss that crooked, yellow smile" he turned back to me and continued, grabbing a few boxes of rifle ammo off the floor and shoving them into the pockets on his jacket.. "Alright. You did your part. Look around up here if you want. I'm gonna make a break for topside." He disappeared from view, and a few seconds later a door on the far wall opened, revealing a staircase to the upper level. Rifle in hand, he made his way past the traps and towards the exit. I held up a hand to stop him.

"Hey, before you go," I said, pulling the small necklace out of one of my jacket pockets. "She was holding this. I thought you might want it."

He took it in his hands, and looked at it. Ghouls are really hard to read sometimes. I think part of that could be because they no longer have any skin to speak of. He let a breath out of the hole on his face where his nose used to be, and looked up at me while placing it in one of the pockets on his jacket. He nodded at me.

"Thanks," he said in a whisper that just ended up sounding more like a growl. And with that, he rushed out of the room towards the surface.

"Alright," I said to my companions. "Let's check to see if this room has any Stealth Boys." We spread out ED-E and I took the upstairs, while Boone and Cass checked the downstairs. I was halfway up the stairs when I heard a rifle shot, followed by a lot of loud bangs.

"Boone got ridda' th' mines!" I heard Cass yell up at me. I just smiled and shook my head, continuing up.

I searched without success through a lot of crates in the upstairs of this room that looked like they hadn't been opened in 200 years. Eventually, I found a computer terminal sitting on a desk. It was plugged into the wall, and amazingly was still powered up. I set my rifle on the desk, and took a look, hoping it would give me any information about the Stealth Boys. At first, it didn't want to cooperate, but I gave a strong whack on the side; the screen flickered and then (with a little more prodding) divulged its secrets.

Mostly, the terminal just had messages between people working in the offices upstairs from before the bombs fell. Then I found three messages that looked promising. The first, labeled as "RE: Shipment Mistake?" looked like the message the super mutant with Antler was talking about. It was mostly talking about things that had lost all relevance over 200 years ago, but it did eventually make mention of "a bunch of crates containing two gross of devices called 'StealthBoys'."

The next message I saw was labeled "RE: Workplace Misbehavior" and was apparently sent to all Repconn staff, informing them that they needed to "give a thorough reading to Repconn's sexual harassment and workplace behavior policies," and that "while it is not explicitly stated in the Employee Handbook, unauthorized use of military hardware against fellow employees is grounds for immediate termination." I couldn't help but chuckle at the implications.

The last one, however, seemed the most relevant:

REPCONN Inter-office Correspondence #3486289

To: RobCo HQ Supply Department

From: Sanjeev Rajan, REPCONN Custodian

RE: Shipment Sent Back

Hi RobCo Supply:

We are sending two (2) crates of devices labeled "StealthBoys" back to you. According to the manifest, each crate contained one gross (144) of the devices. As a result of employee misbehavior (not mine!), one crate was opened and is missing five (5) Stealthboys. Sorry about that.

Sincerely,

Sanjeev Rajan, Custodian

I checked the side of the computer: I'd seen this kind of RobCo terminal model out in the wasteland before (when RobCo built something, they built it to last), and most of them had a built in printer. With any luck, it still had paper. If nothing else, I could try downloading it to my Pip Boy and showing it to the super mutant that way

With a button press, the printer activated with a metallic whir, and a printout of the message slid out of the side of the computer.

I knocked on the door to the mutant's room before opening it. It slid open with a hiss of hydraulics, and the mutant turned to look at me.

"Antler sings for Stealth Boys! Have you found them?" the mutant said to me.

"The manifest you found had bad information. There isn't a stockpile of Stealth Boys here," I said simply, the printout in my hand.

"LIAR!" he yelled, pointing a thick finger at me. "The invoice said Stealth Boys here! Antler read it out loud to me!"

"The Stealth Boys were sent here by mistake," I said, handing him the printout. "They were sent back, take a look. Seriously, just look at the timestamp." The mutant grabbed the piece of paper violently, and stared at it with bulging eyes. He then turned to a filing cabinet behind him, and pulled out another, much dirtier, piece of paper, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two.

"But invoice note said Stealth Boys were here! Why can't this note be true?" he said, holding up the dirty paper. He turned to the brahmin skull next to him. "What, Antler? But human could be lying! Stealing the Stealth Boys for himself!" There was a pause, and then the mutant continued. "Oh, Antler! You trust so easy" He turned to look at me, tossing the dirty paper aside. "Your lucky day, human. Antler believe you. Nightkin will follow the new note to find Stealth Boys. Better be there."

With a crackle of lightning and belch of ozone, the mutant grabbed the brahmin skull and disappeared, his shimmering outline walking past me, Cass, Boone, and ED-E, and exited out the door. His footfalls resonated against the metal grates as he left. For some reason, my mind had latched onto something he'd said that confused me.

"Nightkin?"

"Hello, wanderers," Jason Bright said in that odd, echoing voice of his. "Is the way clear?"

"Yup," Cass said before I could respond. "Th' 'demons' downstairs'r gone."

"Praise the creator! And bless you, wanderers!" he said, reaching out with a smile to shake our hands. I put on my best poker face as he shook mine; his skin was both disturbingly cold and clammy and uncomfortably warm at the same time. I heard the Geiger counter on my Pip Boy click twice. "Really, bless you all. The way is finally clear. I will lead my flock through the basement to the sacred site!"

"Sacred site?" I heard Boone ask. Jason nodded.

"I hope you will all come and find us there. There is still much work to be done." And with that, he bowed, walking past us and saying in a loud voice so all the ghouls could hear: "Come, my brothers and sisters! Our Great Journey into the Far Beyond is imminent! Let us make our way to the sacred site!" As one, all the ghouls stopped what they were doing, and followed him down the stairs and out the door.

We ended up following them back down to the basement. Thankfully, the super mutant had made good on his promise to clear out and the only mutants we saw on the way down were already dead. We followed them through the basement, into the same room where we'd talked with the crazy mutant that had the brahmin skull; turns out, there was a hidden door behind him in that room that led to a separate part of the basement. We followed the ghouls as they made their way through the tunnels (this part of the basement looked more like a disused sewer of some kind, as opposed to an actual basement), and finally, we found Jason who was standing at a glass window, looking out into another room. Most of the ghouls had descended into a hatch on the far right of the room, which shut just as we entered. Jason turned to greet us with a smile.

"I wanted to speak with you one last time before I descended to the launch pad, wanderers," he said.

Launch pad? A sense of dawning comprehension was looming over my head.

"I want you to know that we will remember for all eternity how you delivered us to the threshold of the Great Journey. Our preparations are nearly complete, but the rockets that will carry us to salvation are yet missing a vital component." I walked further into the room, and I got a look at what was on the other side of the window: there were three decently sized rockets, pointed up and with ladders leading up to hatches on the side. He continued. "If you would still help us, wanderers, speak to Chris. He can tell you what is missing. There is no way that we can thank you enough. Your arrival here was a blessing we will remember you always!" Looking at the rockets, I was dumbstruck.

"Are you seriously going to make your great journey on those rockets?" I said, voicing my disbelief. He merely nodded, as Cass and Boone came up to the windows to look at the rockets as well.

"Yes. The rockets will convey us to our promised land in the Far Beyond. Vision upon vision has confirmed it."

"Those rockets'll convey you'n yer flock straight into th' fuckin' ground!" Cass said, her own disbelief matching my own. Jason merely smiled again.

"I understand your concerns, friend. And I thank you for voicing them. But The Creator's will for us has been made manifest."

I rubbed the scar on my temple. I couldn't believe that this was what we'd been building up to. I just hoped that if the rockets even left the launch pad, they wouldn't come down in a populated area, like Novac for instance. In any case, the ghouls would at least leave, and I could get what I needed from Manny. But first, I wanted to ask him a question.

"Alright. Before we help you get whatever it is you need to leave, I have to ask: what's the deal with Chris?" Jason nodded solemnly.

"After all that you have done for us, I suppose you deserve to know everything. When Chris came to us, we tried to convince him that he was human. But this only angered him. He seemed" Jason seemed to struggle for the words. "lost. We decided to let him stay with us for a few days, over the course of which we learned that his technical skills far surpassed our own. It became clear that The Creator had sent him to us, to ensure the success of the Great Journey. Equally clear was that Chris should labor in blessed ignorance of his humanity, and his inability to make the journey himself."

"Inability" I repeated, a new piece falling into place. "You're just going to leave him here, aren't you?" Might not be a bad thing, I thought to myself, if these rockets were going to end up plummeting to the ground.

"Such is The Creators will. Vision upon vision has shown me that, were Chris to accompany us, he would surely die. The radiation around the launch pad alone would kill Chris in minutes. The radioactivity of the Far Beyond is much stronger. It is my belief that The Creator sent you and Chris to expiate the sins of your kind against mine. You are all redeemers, and Chris shall be declared the Saint of the Great Journey before we depart. I hope this will ease his sadness" Jason turned from us, making his way towards the hatch on the far right of the room.

"There is no way that we can thank you enough, wanderers. Your arrival here was a blessing, and we will remember you always." And with that, he descended through the hatch into the launch pad. I just stared at the rockets on the other side of the glass for a minute, before I heard a hacking cough from behind me.

"Alright smoothskins, here's the deal," Chris said entering the room, looking annoyed as ever. "Jason says that I am to cooperate with you on the final task necessary to launch the Great Journey. Its taken months, but I've nearly gotten the rockets in working order. I was close to finishing before we were driven into hiding on the top floor. Luckily, I'm only missing one thing: a set of Repconn thrust control modules. They were custom built for the rockets, and they won't even launch without them."

"Ok," I said, shrugging. "So do you know where I can find them?" Chris just continued to look annoyed.

"Feh. Repconn has been ransacked so many times by scavengers, I have no idea where the components might turn up. But, when you find them, bring them back here, so I can install them into the launch panel." He paused, staring at me with a raised eyebrow. "Well? What are you waiting for, smoothskin?"

"Fine," I said sighing and rubbing my eyes. "Whatever." I turned and walked out, Cass, Boone and ED-E following me. I turned to my companions, and said in a mocking, incredulous tone "Well, does anyone know where I can find a set of Repconn thrust control modules at this hour?"

"Gibson's scrap yard," Boone replied immediately. I stopped dead in my tracks, bringing everyone to a halt. The three of us even ED-E just stared at him, and he looked back at us from behind his sunglasses with a blank expression.

"What?"

I checked the clock on my Pip Boy as we made our way through the north part of Novac. It wasn't even noon yet. For some reason, it felt like it should've been much, much later.

"Ok Boone," I said as we got close to the scrap yard at the north end of town. "Why are you so sure we'll find it here?"

"Novac's been scavenging Repconn for years," he said as we made our way to the garage. "Everything ends up here sooner or later."

The entrance was two cars holding each other up in the shape of an upside-down "V" with a wooden sign that had "Gibson's Scrap Yard" scrawled on it in crude white paint. There were rusted hulks of cars inside the fence, most of them stacked on top of one another. The concrete building in the center of the yard, surrounded by piles of scrap metal and barrels and boxes looked like it used to be a garage where people would get their cars fixed before the war. There were at least three dogs in the yard. I'm not really a dog person, so I couldn't really tell you what breed they were, except that they were big grey and brown mutts. One of the dogs was sleeping near the front door of the garage, another was sleeping on top of one of the rusted cars, and the third was sitting on the roof, staring down at all of us.

I pushed open the door, a rusted bell tinkling above me, and was instantly greeted by two more massive dogs. They barked, bounding out of nowhere towards me, and looked up expectantly, panting heavily at me.

"Reina! Colmillo! Heel, girls!" I heard a female voice yell at the dogs. The dogs ran to the owner of the voice an elderly woman with short grey hair and a grey-brown dress who was standing behind a counter inside the room. Behind her stood a fridge and a Nuka-Cola machine that flickered occasionally. She smiled at me, and waved.

"Hi there! I'm Old Lady Gibson or, at least, that's what the townies call me." She smirked, and continued. "I've got odds and ends for sale, and I'm fair handy with a wrench on occasion. What can I do ya for?"

"I'm looking for a specific piece of tech. I was hoping I could take a look at what you've got for sale," I said. She looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"You're not thinking of trying your luck at HELIOS One, up to the north, are you?" She asked. From behind me, I heard a few odd beeps that sounded like it came from ED-E. "The last couple yahoos that came in had just come from there, looking for medical supplies, of all things. NCR's taken that place over, so it's off limits to prospectors or people who value their limbs."

"No, nothing like that," I said, shaking my head. "Repconn tech is what I'm looking for. Thrust control modules have any?"

"That's a real specialized piece of kit you're asking for. And, as it just so happens, I think I do have some thrust modules in back. Some prospectors brought them in a few months ago, before the ghouls moved into the test site but they're expensive. 500 caps worth of expensive."

Oh boy, I thought to myself. Here we go time for some haggling.

"Hmm I don't know 500 seems a little steep. I'd be willing to give you 150 for them."

"150 is absolutely out of the question," she said, firmly. "For that price, I might as well just give them away. But, if 500 is too rich, I think I might be able to drop the price to 350."

"How about this," I said, placing the plasma rifle on the counter. "250 caps unless you think you'll find another buyer soon for such a specialized part? and I'll give you this plasma rifle to help offset any losses. It's used, sure, but it should be worth at least 200, maybe 250 caps. Deal?" Honestly, I wasn't losing much. The damn plasma rifle fired so slow, I figured it was broken, but hey, she didn't need to know that. Plus, I figured we could more than make up the difference by selling even more of the crap Cass had collected after we got the rocket part. She regarded the plasma rifle on her counter, and then shrugged.

"Eh, fair enough. It's not like anyone's ever wanted to buy them before. 250 caps and a plasma rifle it is then. Just give me a minute it's in the back somewhere and I need to find it." And with that, she left the room.

When I turned to my other companions behind me, ED-E hovered up to me, beeping incredibly loud right in my face. Before I could ask what was wrong, I heard a series of four shrill beeps, and then a voice came from the speaker like someone was talking through it.

"Subject E: Diagnosis complete. Begin recording. My name is Whitley. I'm a researcher at Adams Air Force base. Until recently, I was in charge of the Duraframe reinforcement project for the combat model Eyebots. Eyebot Duraframe Subject E is both the prototype, and the last functional model in this test group. I was prepared to make several significant upgrades to the machines however, as the project was cancelled and all Duraframe assets are being diverted to mass production of the Hellfire Armor project, I am sending this model to the Navarro outpost. If you are listening to this log from one of our Enclave Outposts in Chicago, give this unit whatever repairs it needs so it can continue to Navarro."

And just as suddenly as it began, the voice ended. An uneasy silence fell over the room, as the three of us just stood and stared at the floating spherical robot. A storm of questions flooded into my head, the most prominent being "What the fuck did I just listen to?" There were unfamiliar names in that speech that I felt like I should've recognized why they seemed significant, but I couldn't remember why: Navarro and Enclave. I was able to infer that ED-E was, appropriately enough, an "Eyebot" and noted with a wry sense of amusement that "Eyebot Duraframe subject E" would end up being abbreviated to ED-E just like on the license plate. My thoughts, however, were cut short by Cass voicing one of hers:

"What's a Chicago?"

It only took Chris a few minutes to install the modules once we got back.

"So," I asked, "The rockets are all set to go now, right?"

"Yes!" he growled, sounding pleased for the first time since I'd met him "I'll tell Jason that the Great Journey can begin!" He rushed off towards the intercom, and I turned to Cass and Boone. I whispered to them, so Chris couldn't hear.

"Think we should tell him?"

"I think he's gonna find out anyway" Cass replied, as I heard Jason begin to speak over the intercom. I made my way to the window, standing next to Chris and looking down on the launch pad. All the ghouls even Jason were wearing what looked like radiation suits, with clear domed helmets. Jason's helmet was off, and he was holding it in his hands as he spoke, his words coming through the speaker.

"Gather all! May The Creator guide my words and help me speak true! The almighty Creator has seen fit to answer our prayers. The time has come for us to board the rockets and begin the Great Journey! Though it may seem that all humans despise us, The Creator has seen fit to instruct us differently. The journey ahead would have been impossible, if not for the intercession of Human friends some new the other, a long abiding companion. To our new friends, we say thanks and promise never to forget how you cleared from our path the Demons who sought to stay our journey. And to Chris we owe more than thanks. Chris? You have made this Great Journey a reality. From this moment forward, you will be remembered as the Saint of The Great Journey! We shall never forget you I ask that you forgive us, Chris, and give us your blessing. We bestow ours upon you."

I looked at Chris as Jason spoke. His expression had turned from elation to horror, and finally to sorrow. His mouth hung open as he pressed his hands against the glass, almost like he was trying to will himself down to the launch pad.

"Seekers! Board the rockets!" Jason continued. "Take your seats! The Great Journey awaits! To the promised land we go to the Far Beyond!" And with that, he put on his clear domed helmets, and the ghouls did as they were told. Chris backed away from the glass pane, merely staring at his now shaking hands that he held in front of his face. He looked on the verge of tears.

"D did you hear him?" He said, his voice still just as gravelly as ever. "My god you were right all along! I'm no ghoul! Look at me! I'm no ghoul they were just using me" I was really not the best person to comfort someone when they were going through an identity crisis, but I tried in any case.

"Look, Chris," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder in what I hoped he'd take as a comforting gesture. "They'd take you if they could. But you'd die from the radiation in minutes. They're just trying to protect you." He waved my hand away.

"And dying would be worse than this? Used up, and thrown away like garbage?!" He pounded his fist on a nearby control panel.

"Hey, look on the bright side," I said, cringing as I realized that probably wasn't the best choice of words only after I spoke. "They're going to revere you as a Saint! How many people can claim Saint as a title, eh?"

"Oh, so I've 'redeemed the human race,' is that it?" he said snidely. "What a crock! The human race can't stand me why do you think I left Vault 34?"

"Hey, c'mon Chris. Give yourself a little credit. You're an ok guy. I'm sure if you give civilization another chance, they'll give you a chance in turn. In fact, there's this little town called Novac just east of here. If nothing else, I'm sure the folks there will help you get back on your feet."

"Life among humans again," he said, bitterly. "That's what you're suggesting?" I nodded. "I guess I guess it's the only chance I've got, now. Maybe it'll be different this time. I mean, hell, I was never a Saint in the vault. I was just a Vault-Tec Reactor Technician." He shook his head, and sighed. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this, but I'll give it a try. You go launch the rockets the control panel is in the observation booth up on the roof. I'm gonna head to Novac. And if I never see another ghoul again, it'll be too soon."

Chris sighed, and walked away, hanging his head. Cass broke the silence after he left.

"Y'know, if he's from a vault, why doesn't he have a pip boy?"

"I dunno," I said shrugging. "I didn't come from a vault, but I have one. So who knows what happened to his."

"Wait," Boone spoke up. "You're not from a vault?" He looked confused.

The observation booth on the roof was essentially just a box with a large panoramic window. The vista offered an excellent view of the dome set into the mountain. On the wall on one side was another intercom, with a note stuck to it that read "launch pad."

"Jason?" I asked, pressing the intercom button. "Are you there?"

"Wanderer?" Jason sounded confused. "Where's Chris?"

"He's, er it's complicated. He told me to launch the rockets how do I do that?"

"If I remember correctly, it should be the red lever in the middle of the control panel." He said. "And, again, wanderer, I want to th-" I cut him off before he could finish another one of his speeches.

"Yeah, got it, thanks." I said, clicking off the intercom. "Prat. Ok, you ready for this?" I said, turning to my friends.

"No time like th' present," Cass said. ED-E beeped happily. Boone just nodded.

"Well here goes nothing." And with that, I pulled the red lever in the center of the console.

Klaxons began to sound over the PA system. There was a giant rumble, as the dome began to open, giant metal doors sliding into themselves; the three rockets from the launch pad began to slowly rise, pointing towards the sky. Suddenly, I became aware of strange music playing from my Pip Boy's speaker. I took a look at the screen, flipping through the settings to find out what was playing. Apparently, it had picked up a radio transmission labeled "Launch Music" and started playing it automatically. Along with the name of the station, it also told me the name of the song apparently, it was "Ride of the Valkyries" by someone called Wagner.

There was a massive bellow like a nuclear detonation, and a giant cloud of smoke billowed out of the now fully opened dome. There was a bright flash, and two of the rockets shot up immediately, trails of smoke following them; the third rocket lifted off, but the boosters seemed to be delayed. It came perilously close to the observation deck, making me reflexively duck (not that it would've done any good had it crashed, honestly) before the boosters kicked in with a roar, and the rocket flew off and up in a completely different direction from the other two. I looked up as far as I could, and I could see the smoke trails of all three rockets keep going up towards space, quickly becoming nothing more than specks in the sky.

As I stood there, watching the rockets disappear, the full weight of just how absurd this day had already been finally took hold. It wasn't even 1 pm, and I'd already almost gotten eaten, talked to a super mutant that thought a brahmin skull was God, learned that there was much more to ED-E than I initially suspected, and to cap it all, I'd helped a cult of religious ghouls travel into space on a trio of space ships.

"When the fuck did my life become so weird?" I asked, not really to anyone but myself.