-I've been really into Fallout lately so finding this Courrier 6 isekai was really cool! I don't wanna spoil it but there will a major character death, can you guess who?
Sypnosis: So what happens when you take Courier Six, the deadliest man to ever walk Mojave Wasteland and drop him in a world full of magic, gods and monsters? A lot of bodies, mayhem, general disdain to everything related to deities and weapons, lots of weapons. Join me as Courier tries to stay away from yandere Freya, all the Familias and the general trouble that keeps coming his way.
Rated: M
Words: 111K
Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13358818/1/No-Gods-No-Masters (Ediros)
PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)
-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)
Chapter 1-3 (exceptional)
"Behold, Courier Six! The genius of Big Mountain research facility!" Doctor Borous yelled at the top of his lungs, his green brain jar shaking from the excitement as he gestured at the object standing behind him.
It was a massive space shuttle, based on the Hermes-13 rocket meant for the Mars Mission. Unlike its predecessor, it was further upgraded with a newer version of saturnite alloy and equipped with advanced ion engines based on the propulsion system, which utilized robots such as ED-E and Mister Handy. It was also outfitted with newest sensors, alongside an experimental jump drive technology based on the Big Mountain transportalponder.
The result, a massive space shuttle similar to that, which first carried people to the moon. However, compared to old rockets, which burnt fuel to reach the Earth's orbit. It used rails based on Gauss rifles to accelerate and reach the vacuum of space. The rails itself were located away from the facility to prevent collateral damage and keep the Big Mountain facility hidden from prying eyes.
"It's impressive, I will admit, but what do you expect me to do with it?" Courier Six admitted as he looked over the structure. The man in question was fully dressed in a suit of Pre-War Elite Riot Gear armour, further improved with technologies from the Big Mountain.
The armour itself was upgraded with a newer version of saturnite alloy. It was known for its durability, sharpness, and ability to retain heat for long periods of time. Good heat retention was a boon in certain circ.u.mstances, such as blades and other weapons acting on the same principle. However, infusing it with human bones or tissue would lead to the user cooking himself from the inside out and the space shuttle turning into a giant oven upon the entrance into the atmosphere.
That's why a new version of it had to be developed, specifically designed to be used with a human body. Following a year of research, the alloy was adapted to be more usable as armour and promptly named Saturnite 2.0. It was just as resilient as its predecessor, but this time it was even capable of surviving the cloud, without decaying anymore or letting it inside the armour and with the bonus of being hard to heat up.
On the man's back were two weapons, a flagpole known as Old Glory, given to him by Ulysses and further improved with saturnite alloy. The other one, a hunting rifle, known as Paciencia. The latter of which, he upgraded with a scope, extended magazine, and custom action. On the right side of his waist was a custom auto pistol, he received from Joshua Graham, previously a Legate of Caesar's Legion. The weapon was called a Light Shining in the Darkness, which was also upgraded with an extended magazine, silencer, and an HD slide. Last but not least, was a bowie knife called Blood-nap, which rested in a holster on his right thigh.
"Well, my little teddy bear, we were hoping that you would test it out and see if it works," Doctor Dala explained, paying close attention to her favourite lobotomite's movements.
"You want me to test it out? Seriously? Why not send some kind of robot instead?" He argued, crossing his arms in response.
"There is a risk of their internal systems being fried during launch or something. Not to mention, unless you put a true AI on it, their programming will limit them and prevent them from acting in case of emergency," Doctor Zero explained, his newfound confidence shining through.
"And it still doesn't prevent them from being fried," The Courier said, while the scientist nodded. "That makes sense. Having said that, what do you expect me to do? Fly to the other side of the galaxy?" He asked, his voice modulated by the helmet.
"Nothing so extreme. We only want you to take it into space, make a jump from Earth to Mars and that's it," Doctor Zero explained.
"And what if it doesn't work?" He questioned.
"^#!#($%^$^&!$^$," Doctor Eight butted in, gaining the attention of the group.
"You are not filling me with confidence, Eight. Suffocation is not a pleasant death, the same with burning up in the atmosphere," Courier deadpanned, before resting a hand on his temple and sighing with resignation. "Fine, I'll do it, but at least tell me, will I be the only passenger on the shuttle?"
"WE, THE GREAT SCIENTISTS OF BIG MOUNTAIN, INTENDED TO PUT SOME OF OUR FINEST EXPERIMENTS INSIDE, FOR SCIENCE!" Doctor Klein yelled, his volume knob turned up too much, again.
"Of f.u.c.k.i.n.g course, but… did you?" He groaned, before glancing over the scientists.
"Klein wanted to, but we managed to prevent it, Mobius helped with his roboscorpions. So, to answer your question, you should be the only one inside the shuttle," Zero responded.
"Should be?" He inquired, his eyes narrowed behind his helmet.
"We ran multiple scans, my little teddy bear, which came out negative," Dala answered, while the Courier sighed.
"At least that's something…fine, let me put on the spacesuit and I will be on my way," He finally admitted, while the scientists cheered.
With a shake of his head and a small smile on his lips, he got down to work. Ever since he had dealt with Think Tank, he began clearing out the Big Mountain, fixing the broken facilities, uncovering new technologies and improving the ones already existing. While he was harsh towards them, it was not without basis. If Doctor Mobius hadn't trapped them in Big Mountain using a reclusive loop to trap their programming all those years ago, the Think Tank would have wreaked havoc upon the world. Still, once they were on his side, their expertise proved to be invaluable in helping the world recover.
They had improved the holograms from the Sierra Madre, making them more aware of their surroundings, deadlier than before, with a bigger range and reinforced saturnite casing that protected the fragile electronics located inside. Then there was his grappling gun as well as bomb collars, not to mention the ability to store Cloud. Furthermore, they improved his pipboy, copying the schematics of all kinds of weapons and armour, even those from before the War as well as those manufactured by Gun Runners. He could easily produce almost anything, including chems and drugs, as well as even the holograms themselves.
There were also the implants, like Kinetic Accelerators, Nanobionic Weave, Bionic Eyes, Nemean subdermal armour and many more. They even managed to scale down the forcefields from Big Mountain, allowing them to be used in actual combat, one of which he had installed in the left arm of his armour. They also managed to replicate ED-E, with all the appropriate upgrades he acquired back at the Divide. Unfortunately, some of the discoveries and technologies came at a price. An unpleasant memory began to surface, but he forced it down and focused on the task at hand.
"I'm in Earth's orbit, do you copy?" Courier asked, fully suited up in a red spacesuit, that he found at the RepCon HQ.
He was sitting in a single chair out of three, located inside the main c.o.c.kpit. The c.o.c.kpit itself was fairly unremarkable, Spartan even. Outside of huge console with more buttons, levers and pilot lights than he had ever seen before, it was bare of any human amenities. Metal panels, screwed to the hull, some handles for easier manoeuvrability and one huge glass window with a clear view on the vacuum of space.
"This is Zero, Think Tank copy. How are your vitals, was the acceleration too much?" Zero inquired, relieved that everything went well so far.
"Compared to being shot in the head, it's bearable. You could boost it a bit more, I had to use the engines sooner than I expected. Outside of that, smooth sailing, copy," He replied.
"Glad to hear it, now set up the coordinates and we should hear from you soon enough. The communication will be cut, due to the distance, do you copy?" Zero asked, his voice tinged with excitement.
"Copy, setting the coordinates now, stand by for jump in ten seconds," Courier replied, before shutting the communication down. Preparing mentally for the experience, he began the countdown. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six," He said, the shuttle humming, a small bubble-like barrier forming around it. "Five, four, three, two, one."
It happened in an instant, one second, he was prepared for the upcoming jump, next he felt like he was put through a keyhole, head first, the agony he felt lasting for a moment, before it disappeared just as quickly as it came.
However, before he could get his bearings, the console in front of him began sparking uncontrollably, the lights in the shuttle dying down, before everything went silent. He blinked, feeling dizzy from the experience. With a groan, he forced his brain to focus on the current situation.
"What the f.u.c.k just happened?" He muttered to nobody in particular. Taking a look around, he materialized the pipboy out of thin air and turned on the light. 'At least that one seems to be working just fine…' It was yet another of Big Mountain's inventions, which allowed him to store almost anything without being over-enc.u.mbered. This along with his own capacity limit, allowed him to house hundreds of stimpaks, drugs, ammo, special rounds and weapons just to name a few.
Thanks to that, he no longer had to leave anything behind. It was probably one of the most useful things he possessed in the entire history of Big Mountain research facility, their Magnum Opus so to speak. Normally the pipboy was bound to his arm and locked, but the Think Tank managed to take care of that. It also used to look bulky, while the new version easily rested in the palm of his head.
Standing up, he could feel himself float, as the magnetic shoes failed to work. The Courier frowned, brought the left shoe close to his face and gave it a quick glance. It seemed to look fine, but for whatever reason, it didn't work. 'That's worrisome.' Biting his lip, he materialized two pieces of scrap electronics, alongside all the appropriate tools, and began unscrewing the panel. Once all the screws were gone, he looked inside and scowled. 'Everything just melted or straight out fried, it's nothing more but a scrap metal, if it can even be called that, to begin with. Only the wires survived. Wait, what about the rest of the ship?'
Panic began to rise, as he finally realized how deathly silent everything was. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down and got back to his magnetic shoes. It only took a few minutes at best, before they were back in working condition. Standing up straight, he made his way to the control panel and looked through the window, his jaw-dropping to the ground. In front of him was a planet, similar to the Earth, with oceans, continents, and forests. However, that's where the similarities ended. The shape was all wrong, instead of multiple continents, there was a single supercontinent with a few smaller ones spread out over the planet.
"… At times like this, I wish I never agreed to this whole idea," He muttered. 'One thing is certain, this isn't Earth. Heck, I wasn't supposed to leave our solar system, yet here I am. I swear, at times like this I wish I had vivisected all of those idiots.'
Shaking his head, he investigated the control panel and frowned immediately. No matter what he did, nothing seemed to work. 'Okay, everything is either fried or melted, just like the boots. The reactor most likely shut down and all life support systems along with it. Which means, unless I turn them back on, I will die due to a lack of oxygen if the ship doesn't crash into the planet before that happens. F.u.c.k my life…' The Courier groaned as he realized just how bad things currently were.
He turned around and made his way to the back of the c.o.c.kpit, where a single hermetic door was located, similar to that of a plane. Under normal circ.u.mstances, it could easily be operated by a small control panel next to it. Fortunately enough, one didn't design a spaceship or a plane without a manual override of some description. He pulled a lever located on the door, then began rotating the sluice, until it opened with a small hiss and he made his way to the storage compartment. It was meant to house all kinds of stuff but was left empty on purpose to give the space shuttle clean run so to say. Not to mention, with the Pipboy being far better at storing items and supplies, it was deemed unnecessary.
The only problem was the fact, that the Think Tank did not supply all of the parts in case of an emergency. They calculated that under no circ.u.mstances everything in the ship would fail, and only provided back up parts for the engines, reactor, and life support systems, alongside all the necessary blueprints for the space shuttle. 'And that's why you should never trust a bunch of insane scientists in brain jars. I knew I should have taken more spare parts. The only good thing about this whole situation is the fact that I still have got my smarts and skills, so making some makeshift repairs should be doable.'
After that, he made his way to the reactor located in the back. It was a giant cube with some tubes, similar to the transportalponder. And currently, the entirety of it was fried. While he could technically fix it right here and now, he didn't want to waste the only working reactor he had left, in case the shuttle decided to crash on the planet in the nearest future. With his mind made up, he used two fission batteries, some scrap metal and some scrap electronics to jury-rig the reactor into working condition.
Once it turned on, he could see some of the panels sparking, but nothing else seemed to have happened. Turning around he made his way to the life support systems, similar in design to the reactor. And just like the last time, he jury-rigged the whole thing, before it turned back on. A green light told him everything he needed to know, his body releasing a breath he hadn't known he held.
Only after making sure the two systems were working fine, he made his way back to the c.o.c.kpit and looked at the control panel. He had to manually fix all the components to get this ship back into working condition. He looked up and gazed at the planet below. It wasn't the only thing he was worried about, he couldn't tell how close he was to the planet or how much time he had left before the whole thing came crashing down. Worst case scenario, he would crash on the planet and be forced to create a new space shuttle from scratch. Just as he was pondering his options, something collided with the back of the ship, making him crash into the console with a thud. 'Oh, come on! This ain't fair anymore!'
The planet that he considered far enough to be in stable orbit was coming closer, as the speed of the shuttle increased. One thing was certain, hitting the ground would result in catastrophic damage – for both the shuttle and himself.
He was tough, one of the toughest and deadliest men in Mojave Wasteland, but that didn't make him invulnerable. And the impact of this size could kill almost everyone he knew. He had only one chance of survival. Using his pipboy, he put on Remnants power armour, before making himself comfortable in the seat as he awaited the inevitable. The armour itself was black with an insect-like design of the helmet, black paint and a reactor located in the back. He could see a corona of flame forming around the c.o.c.kpit as the speed of the shuttle increased, the ship entering the atmosphere. The surface of the shuttle slowly gaining a red hue as the air friction caused an immense strain on the surface.
The entirety of the vehicle was now shaking, as it dived at a sixty-degree angle towards the surface. As he drew closer to the surface, he could see clouds going past him and decided it was as good time as any to do so. Bringing his pipboy close to his face, he selected one drug that would decide whether he would survive or not, Battle Brew. He preferred not to use it unless things were going real south, but at this point, he had no other choice. He could feel as his body became tougher to external damage, the miraculous substance flowing through his veins as the surface of the planet became visible. 'Here goes nothing…'
In the meantime, the citizens of the city of Orario were casually strolling through the city at night, drinking beer, dancing or just going to the Dungeon to grind some more. Those that looked in the sky, could see what looked like a falling star, heading towards someplace on the planet. Many looked into the sky, pointing at it, making wishes and enjoying the show. One particular goddess, sitting at the top of Babel tower found herself smiling, sipping wine from her glass.
"It looks beautiful, doesn't it, Ottar?" She asked her strongest adventurer, a level 7 Boaz person and the only one to ever reach that level.
"Indeed it does, lady Freya," He answered, nodding in response.
"Is there something you wish for?" She asked, gently swirling the wine in her glass.
"I only wish for your wishes to be granted, lady Freya," He answered, while the goddess smiled and sipped some of her drink.
She wasn't the only one to look at the light show, as certain red-headed trickster goddess, by the name of Loki also enjoyed the spectacle alongside the rest of her Familia.
"Look, Ais, a falling star!" Lefiya, an elf with auburn hair, exclaimed. "Quick, make a wish!"
Ais, a beautiful blond swordswoman of Loki Familia nodded at the suggestion and put her hand on her chest and made her wish. 'I wish to become even stronger.'
"I wish for Ais to take me on a date!" Loki yelled, grinning from ear to ear, before a fist smacked her in the forehead, causing tears to appear in the corners of her eyes. The owner of the said fist was from the same blond, she wished for.
"We should make an expedition and see if it brings some good valis towards us," Garreth, a dwarf with a long beard suggested, his Axe resting on his back.
"Possibly, though with the Guild having a rather restrictive policy, it might take some time," Finn, a blonde Pallum responded.
"Even then, it's worth investigating. It could even possess some unique materials not seen anywhere in the Dungeon," Riveria added, her green hair and pointy ears, reminding spectators she was one of the high elves – nobility amongst an elven kind.
"Hah, now you're talking!" Gareth said and laughed, along with the rest of the group, while Riveria rolled her eyes, before permitting herself a bit of smile.
At the same time, a lonely Renart with blond hair and green eyes, looked at the sky, her expression unreadable, while in the slums of the Orario, a young female Pallum also shared the night, her attention focused on the falling object.
The only person to not enjoy the spectacle was the Courier, who was freaking out as everything around him burned. The glass of the shuttle shattered shortly after it entered the atmosphere, the inside of the vehicle set ablaze, while the human held for his dear life to the door in the back, bracing himself for the impact. Just moments before he hit the ground, he cursed his luck, before there was intense pain and darkness consumed him.
When he awoke, he could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. His ears were ringing, his body felt like it was used as a punching bag for a legendary deathclaw and his head felt like it was about to burst. With a groan, he opened his bionic eyes, which were linked to the pipboy, allowing him to see his current status. A quick look at his health bar told him everything he needed to know. It was around twenty per cent, meaning he was one foot in the grave. Thankfully, the Monocyte Breeder and Rad Child were already healing the damage and he could see it slowly replenish in front of his very eyes.
From what he could gather, he was still very much alive and the darkness all around his vision was the result of him being pinned down by debris or something along those lines. Turning on the night vision in his eyes, he took a glance at his own body. His left arm was stuck under a pile of metal, alongside both of his legs. The only thing that was not trapped was his right arm. He pushed on with his left arm and the metal barely budged, but just slightly. He began pushing harder, using the hydraulics of the power armour and his kinetic implants to push away the debris, freeing it his arm in the process.
Once that was out of the way, he pushed away a metal plate, located less than twenty centimetres away from his face. The light of the fire and rancid smoke greeted him immediately. The c.o.c.kpit was gone, leaving almost nothing remotely similar behind. Small fires were burning all over the place, while the air was dark from the sheer amount of smoke. If it wasn't for the filters in his helmet, he would have a hard time leaving the shuttle without suffocating to death. Pushing off the rubble on his legs, he stood up and made his way out of the shuttle through the broken window, falling on top of the burnt-out ground, breathing heavily. Only after calming down a bit, his breathing slowing down, he looked around.
From what he could gather, he landed in the middle of some kind of forest or near one at very least. A massive crater easily over one hundred meters in a radius was devoid of all plant life. On the edges of it, he could see green trees and grass all over the place, very reminiscent to that of the Earth. However, that didn't mean air composition wasn't poisonous or there wasn't some kind of parasite that infected human brains floating in it. Luckily for him, the pipboy could analyze all kinds of substances and inform him about its effects. Same thing with air. Running a quick analysis, he noticed that the air composition was almost identical to earth, with the exception of less pollution than in his world. 'This is getting weirder and weirder, what are the odds of the same kind of atmosphere?'
Turning around, he despaired as he took in what remained of the shuttle. It was a burning wreck of bent metal, loose wiring, leaking fluids and the saturnite frame which took the general shape of the shuttle. The material was too expensive to create the whole shuttle from, so it was settled upon to only make the frame, which was the only thing that was still in one piece. He could feel his heartache at the destruction of the invention before he managed to get his bearings together. 'Let's see, I am stranded on some kind of alien world with possibly hostile fauna and flora. My spacecraft is worthless, the best I can do is try to salvage as much as I can and take the rest with me so that nobody does anything with it. And on top of that, I could come across aliens, which won't hesitate to put a probe in my ass. Klein, f.u.c.k you, sincerely, Courier Six.'
After calming down a bit, he pulled out his Cryo Revolver, a custom energy weapon that froze anything it hit and was deadly against unarmored targets. In this case, though, it would serve well at putting out all the fires. He got down to work, a single bullet was all it took to put out one of the fires and fifty shoots later, the shuttle was no longer releasing rancid smoke into the air. With that out of the way, he could finally start disassembling the whole thing in order to make sure nobody finds it. However, before that, he had to secure the perimeter. He wasn't going to let some kind of alien eat his brains, while he was busy. So, he set down six holographic emitters on the ground in a hexagon shape around the ship, turning them on and setting them to shoot on sight, if something came within the ten-meter radius of the ship. They used the same Sierra Madre security hologram, but far more advanced and deadly, all thanks to Big Mountain for their assistance on improving it.
With the basics secured, he materialized one of his most powerful weapons, Industrial Hand. It was a tool in the Divide consisting of a mechanical glove with a circular saw blade mounted on the back, used in industrial work for cutting materials such as metal or plastics, now repurposed for use as a powerful unarmed weapon. It was just as good at cutting through power armour as it was through ordinary metals. Now with a saturnite blade, it was basically unstoppable, able to completely ignore any and all kinds of armour. Now though, it would help in cutting the ship apart and leaving nothing behind. 'I hope, that I can make it before someone gets here...'
The rest of the day was spent in relative silence, as the Courier slowly but surely took the ship apart, leaving only the frame intact to keep it for the future endeavours. But even then, the ship was massive. It took him about eight hours with the sun even beginning to set and even then, the ship was still only around twenty per cent done at this point. He couldn't finish it in one night, no matter how hard he tried. And he was slowly getting sleepy, his current sleep deprivation hovering at around one hundred fifty of one thousand. 'I should call it a day, for now, being exhausted won't help me in the long run.' With his mind made up, he made his way back to what remained of the c.o.c.kpit, setting up a Roughin'it bedroll kit on the metal floor and laid on his back, allowing his body to relax and falling asleep almost immediately.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
So, here is my take on Danmachi crossover. I liked the premise, the lore, the characters of the franchise and the sheer amount of detail. However, I will admit without beating around the bush, I couldn't and still can't stomach Bell's storyline.
Don't get me wrong, he is a good kid and with a personality I can get behind. However, he has got one of the most bullshit deus plot machina in recent memory, Liaris Freese. In Danmachi setting, levelling up is really bloody hard, as in half of the adventurers are still level one despite going through shit on a regular basis. You either need to be suicidal or spend a lot of time practising. Then the author basically said 'f.u.c.k it' and gave him ability that makes him level up twelve times faster than the record breaker. Why? In order for him to stay relevant, to be a hero.
I am not saying protagonist can't have broken abilities or be overpowered, just look at the likes of Bleach, One Piece, Fairy Tail. All these have got issues of their own, but there are other bullshit characters with bullshit powers and it's more or less balanced.
In Danmachi, Bell gets unfair advantage, that the author insists is fair. It's not. The reason for Bell getting it is also stupid: love. Why just that? What about the likes of Finn, Ais, Bete, literally any adventurer in Orario? They risk their lives, they have got goals, feelings, emotions, why didn't they get the skill? It's so unnecessary.
So, here is how this is going play out. The story will diverge. Maybe not immediately, but it will. Bell WILL NOT get his broken skill, which is where the Courier comes in. And I think, you will appreciate him being there. Nothing shakes the balance of power more than a guy who can destroy an entire city or murder everyone in it by himself, without Falna.
Also, no pairing in the description. I find it insulting, when the authors tell the ending of the story, before it happens. The journey is far more important than the end goal.
Chapter 2
A bang of gunfire shattered the silence of Mojave Wasteland, a single headless body falling in front of the dino bite store. Blood, guts and gore falling on top of a man wearing reinforced combat armour. His expression hidden behind a reinforced combat helmet and a surgical mask. Walking up to the corpse of a Jeanne May Crawford, the Courier took everything that seemed valuable, outside of the clothes he had no use for. Standing up, he made his way back to the Dinky the t-rex shop in the middle of the night, walking upstairs to the mouth of the structure.
"That's it then, how did you know?" Boone, a former NCR sniper asked, his expression grim.
"I found this bill of sale in her safe, you should have it," The Courier answered and handed over a sheet of paper. The man in front of him holstered his trusty hunting rifle to his back, before taking the note and reading it. From Courier's point of view, he could see his eyes narrow, the paper crumbling slightly under the pressure before the man released a deep sigh and put the note in the back of his pocket.
"I guess, I shouldn't be surprised. It's like them to keep all the paperwork," He said, before handing over the Courier a bunch of caps. "I think our dealings are done, then."
"I believe so, what do you intend to do now?" He inquired before taking the caps and making them disappear thanks to his pipboy, which made Boone raise his eyebrow slightly.
"I am not sure just yet, maybe I will wander just like you?" He suggested while the Courier smiled slightly in response.
"You will figure it out, I am sure. And if not, who knows we might go against the Legion together?" He countered and the two shared a small chuckle, before saying their goodbyes and going their own way.
"I haven't had that one in a while," The Courier muttered to himself, before standing up and stretching himself to get all the aches out of the way, his bones popping as he did so.
Sleeping on a hard surface, compared to a bed was something he was used to, especially with his armour on and his weapons ready to be drawn, even though it wasn't the most pleasant experience. Checking his vitals, he was relieved to see that his dehydration level was still rather low, thanks to power armour's recycling system that could turn human waste into water and reduce the amount he needed on a regular basis, which was incredibly useful in all kinds of climates, especially the scorching heat of the Mojave Wasteland. Although, he still needed to bath on a regular basis to prevent infections and diseases, not to mention, to not smell like a brahmin waste when talking to other people.
Now that he thought about it, the last time he had bathed was before he left the Earth's surface. He sniffed the inside of his power armour and winced as the smell of sweat entered his nostrils. To make things worse, he still had to get rid of the biological waste left during the recycling, which is to say his faeces. Going out of the spaceship, he noticed it was still dark, the current time on his pipboy reading 3 AM. It meant that he had slept around three hours, as usual, the result of all the implants and tech in his body. He wasn't sure, how long did the night or day last in this world, but he really hoped it was similar to Earth's day and night cycle. On the upside, the holograms were in the same spots he left them at, so there was that.
So, without wasting any more time, he crouched and began sneaking towards the edge of the crater, Old Glory in both of his hands, ready to strike. However, it seemed this time lady luck was on his side, as nothing jumped at him ready to rip his head off. With a sigh of relief, he materialized a shovel, dug out a hole and took care of all the waste from the recycling system. Once that was done, he took off his armour – standing only in a pair of pants and a ton of bandages that covered every inch of his body, leaving only his green eyes visible. It was something he learnt from Joshua Graham, but instead of wounds that wouldn't heal, he had his own personal reasons for that.
To put simply, he hated his face being seen by other people, it was one of the reasons he hid behind bandages. The second one, the scars he acquired over the years, which he wasn't keen on showing to anyone. One could see his pale complexion, being a proof of using armour on a regular basis to prevent sunburns, stray bullets, and lasers from hurting him. It used to be different, but one did not go through the same crap he went through, without having serious emotional baggage and making enough corpses to fill a small graveyard.
Shaking his head, he took off the used bandages, placed them in a metal pot he had set up, before adding Abraxo and washing them thoroughly – the water turning brown from the sheer amount of dirt and sweat inside them. After that, he pulled out a piece of handmade soap made from brahmin fat and Abraxo cleaner, as well as a bottle of purified water and began to clean himself, making sure to not use more than half of the bottle. Once he was done, he smelt himself and smiled. Hygiene was one of the most important parts of medicine after all.
After that was taken care of, he put the, now clean, bandages back on, before making his way back to the shuttle. He was about to get down to work once again, when he felt his stomach rumble, stopping him in his tracks. He hadn't eaten since yesterday now that he thought of it. Taking off his helmet and putting it upside down, to keep it from getting dirty, he materialized a coyote steak, from his Pipboy, which he bit into like an animal and devoured it with the grace of one. Once he was done with the steak, his belly now satisfied, he put the helmet back on and resumed the process.
The next day and a half were spent disassembling the ship, until there was nothing left, except the crater itself and the skid marks it made on contact. He had to make them disappear, but considering the amount of dirt he would have to shovel to get through, it could take an additional day or more. He weighed his options before he remembered about demolition charges, he found at the Sierra Madre. Putting them along the lines of skid marks, he pulled out MF Hyperbreeder Alpha and fired once, resulting in a chain reaction that destroyed whatever remained of the shape of the impact.
With everything important taken care of, including the holograms, he began his trek across this new alien world, a part of him excited at the prospect. He was the Courier, after all.
"So, did you find anything?" Hermes, a god with blonde hair and orange eyes asked.
"Not a single thing," Asfi replied, her aqua blue hair blowing in the wind, while her cyan coloured eyes focused on the leader of her Familia.
"Not a single thing, huh? Any idea what it could have been?" He inquired, while the woman shook her head.
"No clue, the only thing we have noticed is that multiple explosions were triggered here quite recently too. Possibly with the use of Kaenseki, dropped by Flame rock. Outside of that, we haven't been able to find a single thing. Whoever came here first, left nothing behind. To top it off, we were the only group sent here from Orario, which means, an outside third party had to come here before us and carried the meteor or whatever it was with them," She explained.
Hermes bit his lip, as he thought of any other Familia that could have made their way here, before them. "Don't suppose they were aliens?"
The glare Asfi gave him told him everything he needed to know. "Very unlikely, considering the knowledge we have got. In any event, it seems this whole expedition was a waste of resources."
That lead to Hermes laughing before he managed to calm down. "You know it was a joke, right, Asfi?" She just glared at him. "Fine, call everyone off. There is nothing left for us, but just in case report it to the guild, could you?" The woman nodded at the order and began to gather the rest of the Familia. Hermes though, was hell-bent on figuring out what really happened and he would not stop until he got the answer.
Somewhere, far away from the group, the Courier sneezed. "Somebody must be talking about me," He muttered, followed swiftly by a chuckle.
Currently, he was heading South, or at least that's what his pipboy told him and so far, he had yet to see another human being or anything outside of some animals like deers, squirrels, birds and so on and so forth. That in itself only reinforced what he suspected, this wasn't Earth, the animals looked normal, without an ounce of mutation on them. He considered hunting them down for food but he decided against it. He had plenty of supplies to spare and didn't want to hunt without knowing it was safe.
For all he knew, there could be aliens, similar to elves, that would gladly murder him for killing an animal. It took another hour or two, before he found himself at a dirt road, the sun at noon. On the right side of it, a single road sign stood written in a language he could not understand for the life of him. It seemed similar to runic at best, but he wasn't certain of that. Definitely not Chinese or English.
Seeing that he had nothing better to do than follow the signs he set off towards the direction it pointed, still suited in Remnants power armour. One thing that he was worried about was the fact, that he didn't know a thing about the technological level of this world. For all he could know they could be somewhere between Renaissance and Neolithic level, considering the lack of lights he saw from the shuttle. Biting his lip, he stopped in the middle of the road, brought up his pipboy and began browsing it in search of three particular items.
Once he found them, he smiled under his helmet and materialized them on himself, while his previous armour and weapons were stored inside the pipboy. The first one was known as Armour of the 87th Tribe, based on the design of Legate Lanius. The second one was the helmet of said Legate, which he took from his corpse after he killed him with the Old Glory. And last but not least, was the Blade of the West, carried by Marked Men from the Divide. Courier Six, Butcher of the West, that has got a nice ring to it.
With his new outfit equipped, he assumed he seemed far less suspicious as he continued his trek towards his destination. The reason he preferred to wear power armour over his current one was simple. Not only did power armour increase his strength, but it also provided waste recycling, which helped conserve his supplies, despite the fact that he had enough water to fill a small well by himself. As he moved forward, he noticed the road descending into a small rocky valley, a perfect place for an ambush. That stopped him in his tracks, as he decided upon the course of action.
The last time, he came across this kind of ambush was close to Nipton. He was lucky back then and decided to go around the hills and managed to get a drop on the bandits, reducing the damage he received. Crouching once again, he began to go around the valley, climbing the rocks surrounding it.
Reaching the peak, he noticed something that caused his jaw to drop a bit. Around the valley, he could see around thirty small green and plump humanoid monsters, dressed in a patchwork fur and wielding rusty daggers and primitive bows. 'Are these supposed to be goblins? Like in those fairy tales?' He had no clue how to react. A small part of him wanted to go to the nearest doctor and see if he was still sane. However, the augmentations in his body prevented fake images, signals, and effects such as frenzy from affecting him. He had no clue what to do, obviously, they were bandits or something along those lines, judging by their position.
However, that didn't mean he could kill them without repercussions. Just as he considered his options, he could see a small caravan heading towards the valley, compromised of what he could see humans. It had a single merchant riding a cart with two horses pulling it, followed by four guards, dressed in what looked like leather medieval armour, stationed at the corners of the vehicle. It seemed like for once, the world decided to throw him a bone. Good thing he had an internal stealth field implant, which was yet another one of Big Mountains many useful inventions.
It allowed him to turn invisible for short periods of time. Unlike the traditional stealthboy, the duration was shorter and it also drained energy from an outside source. Luckily for him, Microfusion Breeder, which he adapted from a recharger pistol served well at keeping it active. One major downside of the implant was stability, which became worse with time, so he only had four minutes at most, before it had to recharge for the next half a minute.
Sneaking up on the goblins, making no sound in the process, he drew his weapon and waited. One minute later, they tensed, drawing their weapons, ready to ambush the caravan. It was time, turning the stealth field off, he swung the oversized sword, hitting three goblins at the same time. The monsters exploded into a pile of guts, blood and gore, their remains falling on the road below, startling the horses and stopping the caravan.
The rest of the twelve goblins on his side panicked, giving him plenty of time to chop them up, one by one. One of the goblins decided to lunge at him, but to the Courier, their movement was as slow as that of a snail. The monsters could not compare to guns and bullets back in his world, which he could dodge to an extent. So, with a practised movement, he stepped back, before delivering a vicious kick to the goblin's torso, blowing its body into pieces and sending its remains to the other side.
Seeing what happened to their brethren, the monsters did the only sensible thing they knew. They took their weapons and run away with a screech. With a smirk on his face, the Courier holstered the sword to his back, which clung to it, despite the lack of the holster itself. One thing he noticed after the fight, was the fact that each of the monsters possessed some kind of gemstones, which upon extraction turned the rest of the body into ash. Whenever he tried to remove a piece of meat, it would turn into ash as soon as it separated from the rest of the body. He really didn't know what to think of it. He considered putting the gemstones back in his pipboy, but using it in front of the people of this world could lead to some uncomfortable questions. So instead, he pulled out a duffel bag, put everything inside it, except all the blood sausages and thin red paste the monsters dropped, before throwing it over his back and sliding down the slope.
The guards had their weapons drawn, mostly spears and swords with shields for additional protection, their attention focused on the man in front of them. Showing he was unarmed, he emptied the contents of the duffel bag on the road in front of him, before pointing towards the slope he came from. That got attention from the group, who turned towards each other and began talking among themselves in an unknown language, before putting their weapons away. The merchant was a fairly old man in his fifties, judging by the greying out hair and a beard of decent size.
"Thank you for helping with the goblins, stranger. They can be a pretty nasty bunch, especially in a group. Is there something I can do to repay you?" He asked while the Courier tried his hardest to figure out what the man just said. Judging by the tone, he didn't seem hostile, but it could mean anything. So instead of making a fool of himself, he pointed at his own throat and shook his head. "...You can't speak?" The Courier shrugged, before turning around and leaving the merchant behind him, waving his hand in the process.
The merchant himself wanted to repay the stranger, especially since he left all the drops of the monster behind, but seeing that the man couldn't speak and his lack of skill in non-verbal communication, there was only one thing he could do. He ordered the guards to gather the drops of the monsters, before spurring the horses and catching up to the Courier, gaining his attention. After that, the merchant took a handful of valis and threw it to the stranger, who caught them in one hand, before nodding towards him and hiding the payment in his duffel bag. With his debt regulated, the merchant let the Courier be and waited for the guards to catch up with him.
The Courier, satisfied with his good deed well done, returned to the task at hand, leaving the merchant to his own problems. This whole encounter taught him a few things. One, the goblins were a threat, two the currency was different from his world and three, the technological level of this world was centuries behind his own. Nobody even had the basic black powder gun, which meant he had a massive advantage when it came to range and firepower. Also, VATS analysed both the goblins and the humans, which he found to be weaker than in his own world.
The armour they possessed wasn't even strong enough to stop the weakest of rounds such as the .22 and their durability was weaker than that of a Radroach. Jogging down the road, he thought of all the possibilities, the things that he could introduce to this world and uproar it would cause if anyone found out. It would be better if he stayed low profile for as long as he could. Still, the technology was not that outdated, they had some basic understanding of metallurgy and the knowledge he possessed would allow him to rebuild the space shuttle given enough time and materials. All he needed to do was to find some major city, start his own business, gain enough money to pay for the materials, a patch of land to build the whole thing at and he would be set.
The next few hours were spent in silence, as the Courier sneaked past all the obvious attempts at the ambush, the Caravan left behind. The monsters certainly didn't possess much in terms of intelligence and hunting them was a bit pointless, since he had no clue what to with materials they dropped. He could probably trade them away, but without the ability to speak or even write, he would be ripped off, taken advantage of or worse. He didn't want to risk it. As the sun began to set, he found himself on a huge plain filled with grass, one major city located behind tall stone walls that could be easily seen from the distance. While on his right, what he presumed was some sort of lake or even sea, with a smaller village located on the coast.
"Sea..." He muttered, as he gazed upon the massive pool of water in the distance. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen the sea, outside of photographs perhaps. Maybe during his travels, but even then, he was not certain. While going and taking a dip into the sea was tempting, he first wanted to get inside the city, learn to speak and then think about some leisure time. Letting out a sigh of pure undiluted disappointment, he began his trek towards the city.
As he got closer, he could see more and more details, most importantly, a giant tower standing in the middle of the city, taller than anything he had ever seen, even taller than Lucky 38, which could be seen from miles away. It was made of stone and somehow was able to stand straight, despite it being physically impossible last he checked. He wasn't an architect, but the strain the floor and the lowest bricks would have to endure meant it couldn't be ordinary stone.
Then there was the fact it was standing perfectly straight, despite all the winds that could cause some serious damage. It seemed like he underestimated the inhabitants of this world if they were able to create a structure of this size. Outside of that, the walls itself were standing at impressive fifty meters tall, making a sneaky entrance to the city very unlikely. Outside of that, he could see multiple gates leading to the city, people pouring through the gates in swarms.
On top of that, many more caravans were heading in and out of the city, the traffic far more intensive than it was a few hours ago. Some even glanced at him, as he moved towards the gates, whispering between each other. It was problematic, but nothing he couldn't handle. As he got closer, one thing became painfully obvious, the gates were checking each of the individuals that passed through them. The person would get into the booth for a short period of time and then enter without a hitch. The ones trying to leave the city took at least twice as long before they were allowed to leave.
He wasn't sure what happened inside the booth, but with his lack of ability to speak, write or even understand their language, getting through official means would probably cause a lot of trouble, assuming they even let him in the first place. So that option was out, but that didn't mean he couldn't enter with the help of the skills and perks he possessed. Finding some way off the main road, he made sure nobody was watching him, before crouching down and turning his stealth field on. With his mind made up, he carefully manoeuvred around the caravans, the guards and all the people in the line, avoiding contact with everyone until he found two guards with halberds blocking the entrance. Fortunately enough, there was a pretty big gap between their weapons, making it easy to get past the guards. Once he was inside, he immediately dove into a side alley, making sure there was nobody in the vicinity.
Only then, he let go off the breath he held, turned off the stealth field before he headed in the opposite direction to the gate. Now that he was inside, he had plenty of things to do, including but not limited to exploring the entirety of the city, finding some kind of book store to steal from, learn the native language of this world and figure out how things worked in this crazy world. For whatever reason, it filled him with excitement, as the last time he went on such a journey was before the second battle for Hoover Dam.
"Some things never change…" The Courier muttered to himself and chuckled.
Author's notes:
Man, I am pumping these chapters one by one. I am on a roll it seems, at least till summer ends. So, now that we are done with the initial boring crap, we can finally get to the meat of the story. Well, almost, I still have to teach the Courier how to speak their language. It's really odd, when someone comes to a different world and everyone speaks English.
Anyway, shout out to dereturd, who wrote Fallout NV/Danmachi crossover before me. I initially wanted to skip writing a crossover of my own, but I have decided to go for it after reading the start of his. To be perfectly honest, I kind of did it out of spite. I can't bear any and all crossovers with bugthesda's Fallout, so I avoid them on purpose and treat them as they don't exist. So I used it as my motivation to write my own crossover.
What else, ah yes. Comment, review, share your thoughts, etc. Also, regarding 10 charisma (dereturd), my Courier doesn't have it. It's a dump stat, plus a character without any faults is a Mary Sue. The Courier with 10 across all SPECIAL stats and 100 skills, who everyone falls for by simply looking at him/her is boring as crap. That's not what is going to happen here.
Also, regarding Freya and her charm, remember how Courier is immune to poison? Well I took it up to 11 and I think you can see what I am getting at. Of course, that doesn't mean, he is immune to everything. Being set on fire still hurts (even though you can kill everyone without any side effects – the legend of a flaming torch man). However, between half of his organs removed, metal skeleton, skin tough enough to completely ignore .22 things are not going to be easy for her.
So there you have it, I hope you are enjoying this fiction and have a nice day. Adios!
Chapter 3
Courier Six wasn't an ordinary person, he had been through things that would have left weaker minds mentally broken and scarred for life. Braving Sierra Madre, Big Mountain, the Divide, seeing things that made him question his sanity. But nothing could prepare him for the city of Orario. Walking along one of the streets at night, he could hardly believe his own eyes.
People with animal features like tails and ears on top of their heads, dwarfs, elves, tiny humans that which were too numerous to be a single occurrence of genetic mistake, just to name a few. And hairs, hairs of colours that defied his entire biological and genetic knowledge. The fact that the colours of the irises were just as varied didn't help.
"And here I thought I have seen everything. It's like someone took a fantasy city and made it real," He muttered to himself.
He had no clue how it was possible, to begin with. Back in his world, Supermutans and ghouls were often looked down upon, despite being former humans and less alien than the creatures surrounding him. Heck, the ghouls were often referred to as zombies, while the former suffered attacks from NCR mercenaries. Here though everyone was fine with each other, or at least it seemed that way. No obvious racism could be seen, which was too good to be true, as far as the Courier was concerned.
That wasn't even the oddest thing he had seen so far. The buildings in the city looked new, yet outdated. They looked similar to the ones built at the beginning of eighteen or perhaps nineteen-century brick houses back on Earth. The streets were clean, free of faeces, trash and anything of that sort, which implied active plumbing and some kind of public service. Not to mention street lights very similar to those back on Earth. There were also many different types of buildings, based on different cultures, remarkably similar to the likes of Chinese, Japanese, Western and others, he saw photographs of at old database.
One thing became painfully obvious the more time he spent walking the streets of Orario. The sheer difference between certain individuals was staggering. While most of the ordinary people he saw were weaker than back on Earth, thanks to VATS and Living Anatomy, not even able to take a bullet to the head and not die. There were individuals here and there that could pose a threat. However, most of them still didn't compare to Earth and the things he fought on regular basis like Yao Guais, Deathclaws or just plain old raiders who could take several bullets to the head, before finally going down.
Shaking his head, he focused on his surroundings and noticed that he found himself in more 'fun' part of the city. Everywhere he looked, he could see all kinds of scantily dressed women, with clothing that could barely be called one. The most prominent of the women, being those of tanned carnation, with a simple bra-like loin and pants of similar design, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Most of the customers and tourists were male, with few exceptions, just like in New Vegas. One thing that really stuck out in the district was a huge number of different kinds of buildings, some of which looked like they were taken from many different cultures, which confused him. Then again, this whole city had been nothing but confusing this entire time.
He rolled his eyes at the sheer amount of p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es in the area, as he manoeuvred his way through the district, acting confident and uninterested, which worked wonders in Mojave, preventing most of the shady dealers from approaching him. As he walked around the district, he found himself in one of the eastern types of brothels, that made him stop in his tracks.
In front of the facility, a lone female with fox-like ears and tail sat in seiza position. What really stood out among her blonde hair and animal features, were her green eyes and a collar around her neck. The look inside of them was something he had seen before, it was a look of someone who lost all hope and accepted his or her fate. The same kind Joanna had, back in Mojave. Just that made him want to do something, anything, find out what happened. But…, he couldn't, no matter how much he wanted to help, he couldn't simply walk up to the girl and ask her a question or two.
Many soldiers would often suffer post-traumatic stress disorder after facing the horrors of war and being subjected to the death of their comrades. And that's not taking into account things such as pain, suffering, ****, just to name a few. Corporal Betsy had never asked for being r.a.p.ed by Cook Cook, which made her unstable and she had to go to Doctor Usanagi to get proper treatment. However, the worst feeling, the one that caused the biggest number of PTSD was possessing a gun, yet still not being able to do anything. The feeling of helplessness.
While he was lost in his thoughts, something bumped into him gaining his attention. It was a female of the same tanned complexion he had seen around the district. Her long blue hair reached down her waist, with a single yellow eye being visible. The clothing she wore could barely be called one, as it more resembled underwear, with only transparent like loose fabric around her legs.
Her eyes spread wide open before a small smile appeared on her lips. "Well, what do we have here?" The Courier didn't respond as the female in front of him began eyeing him up, before she took a step forward and wrapped her fingers around his elbow, pulling his body against her and wrapping her other hand around his waist. He knew that tactic, her eyes gazing into the depths of the helmet, trying to appear as attractive as possible.
Unfortunately for the woman, her allure was lost to him, something she couldn't know about. Trying to not hurt the woman, he tried to pull away only to find himself in an iron-like grip, causing him to frown under his helmet. "Easy there," She said, tightening her arms around the Courier. This is not how I imagined things to go. How strong is she anyway?
"The crop was pitiful tonight," Another amazon said, as she walked up to the duo.
"Do I smell the blood of a v.i.r.g.i.n man?" Yet another one added.
"Who's that, Aisha?" The Courier heard and sweatdropped at all the Amazons surrounding him. There were at least ten of them here, each of them scantily clad women coming their way.
"Found him right here, pretty impressive frame, not much of a talker," The woman said.
"Never seen armour like this, but it looks expensive, probably level three adventurer, perhaps higher," One of them said.
At this rate, he was surrounded, like a part of fresh meat, thrown into the den of hungry wolves. He had no clue what was the woman trying to do, but seeing she had no intention of letting go, he began weighing his options. The looks that were sent his way were more than enough to make him wary of the women around him. This wasn't normal, no p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e back in his world would force him into position like this. He had a nasty suspicion that if he didn't do something, they were going to either **** him or do something worse.
Apologizing silently to the woman latched on to him, he turned towards her, grabbed her with his free arm, gaining the attention of the rest of the group. "Oh, it seems like you want it after all," She teased, smiling at him. He ignored her words and with one swift movement hurled the woman over his shoulder, breaking the embrace and sending her ten feet into the air with a yelp.
To her credit, after being tossed, she managed to land gracefully on her legs, without any injuries. That seemed to have caused a jolt around the group, as they looked at him like he just murdered a puppy or something along those lines.
"Did he just… toss Aisha into the air?" One of them asked while the rest nodded.
"That means he is strong, at least level three, it would be a waste to let him go," Another one said, the group surrounding him.
"And I haven't heard of anyone with an armour like this, which means, he is not related either to Loki or Freya," As yet another one added.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the rest of the street was doing it's best to evacuate, leaving him surrounded by the women, which gaze sent shivers down his spine. It's not like he couldn't fight them off or even kill them, but looking around told him a few things. One, this was considered normal enough as no guards came to his help, two the people leaving the streets and three, the women were working together judging by their coordination. So, he was f.u.c.k.i.e.d, again.
Back on Earth, he could easily go toe to toe with legendary Deathclaw and win, barehanded. Not to mention destroying Deathclaw Promontory, legendary Bloatfly or just straight out one-hit killing X-42 Giant Robo Scorpion with Old Glory. In fact, he got so strong, it was hard to even find a proper challenge. Most of the time he used MF Hyperbreeder Alpha to save ammo, as it was more than enough to deal with the vast majority of the things he came across. Not that he minded, overkill never hurt him back on Earth.
So in a way, it was a good thing, that it wasn't the first time, he found himself in a situation like this or he might have panicked a bit more. Instead, before any of the women had time to react, he crouched and with the strength of his muscles jumped high into the air, landing on the roof of a three-story building, earning shouts of surprise and shock from below. He began running, intent on getting away from the women. The Courier glanced behind himself, not able to believe his own eyes, as the women easily cleared the height of the building and were running far faster than he had expected.
In fact, judging by their movement and his own, the women had to run at least sixty miles per hour, probably faster as he was low balling the number. When he first came to this world, he expected people to be weaker, slower and less dangerous, not the opposite. Heck, the people in his world were ridiculous, but this was just insane. It's like some deity in the sky decided to make his life miserable at every opportunity.
Biting his lip, he focused on his survival, jumping onto another building, doing his best to stay ahead of the group, holding back his full strength in case things got even worse. And just as he expected, things quickly began spinning out of control, as more Amazons joined the chase, often getting ahead and forcing him to change direction, jump past, roll or dodge their attempts to either grab him or hit him. The cries from below sounding like encouragement and even instructions. Don't tell me! His gaze switched to the streets below and his blood froze as the p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es in windows pointed in his direction, while shouting.
The whole district was against him and unless he managed to get away from them, they wouldn't let him go. Glancing behind, he noticed the one who started it all was slowly catching up to him. Then he saw two Amazons jumping towards him and he activated VATS.
Time stopped in its tracks, allowing him to take in everything happening around him. It was a miraculous technology but came at a price and with its own set of limitations. However, when it came to choosing the best target or the body part of his enemy, it helped more than once. Behind him, he could see Aisha and other ten Amazons high on his tail, on the streets below he could see more waiting for him, while the ones in front were getting into position to strike him into two separate spots at the same time, both legs and head to force him into choosing one of the injuries.
He looked further and could see a small valley just behind the Amazons, between the buildings. It wasn't much, but it should be enough, all he had to do is break the line of sight for a second. Preparing himself mentally, he turned off the VATS and activated bullet time. Time slowed down, everything appearing two times slower than before, while his speed remained the same, thanks to kinetic implants installed in his body. The downside, it used his action points that VATS also used. The Courier jumped between their attacks, diving deep into the valley right into the crouching position, breaking the line of sight and making him hidden from their eyes.
That's when he turned the stealth field on, before booking it out of the valley as fast as he could. He wasn't safe, nowhere near that, but unless the enemy bumped into him, they wouldn't be able to find him. He only managed to move ten meters away, before one of the Amazons from the streets stood at the entrance of the alley, searching for him. Shortly after the rest of the group joined, landing into the valley, their eyes scanning the environment, while the Courier hugged the wall, not daring to move an inch.
"What happened? Where did he go?" One of the Amazons asked, her expression furious.
"I don't know, I saw him jumping into the alley, but he wasn't there when I got there," The one from the entrance explained, searching for any kind of movement in the valley.
The one who was taking it the worst was his captor, her fists clenched and her only visible eyes narrowed in what he presumed was a fury.
"Then where did he go? He couldn't have disappeared," Aisha asked, her eyes searching the valley, glancing over the Courier but not seeing him. Please, go away, go away, go away… The Courier was sweating as the Amazons looked around furiously.
"I don't know, but the longer we stay here, the smaller our chances are of finding him. You have seen his speed and acrobatic ability. There's no way, he is less than level three and that's an understatement. That last burst of speed was a proof of that," Samira, one of the Amazons explained, while the Amazons nodded grudgingly.
"Fine, everyone split up, he couldn't have gone far, we will find him one way or another," Aisha said before every Amazon nodded and left the valley, leaving the Courier alone with his thoughts.
"What the f.u.c.k just happened…?" He muttered to himself, the stealth field no longer active, it's stability orbiting around eighty per cent.
He wanted to leave, but they wouldn't let him and when he forced her off himself, it's like he triggered a hornet's nest. Whatever the reason was, he was not coming here anytime soon, it was simply too dangerous. Also, he was going to avoid every single one of them, if possible, never bumping into one, talking to one or getting anywhere near one. Pulling up his pipboy, which had no satellite access, but the automapping feature still worked, he put a marker on the map and named it 'Stay away, crazy women here', before putting it away.
"That's enough of excitement for one day," He said to nobody in particular before turning invisible and making his way out of the district.
As he moved through the streets of Orario at night, he realized he hadn't slept since he left the space shuttle. From what he could gather, this world had the same time scale as the Earth, which meant, it was almost three in the morning. He could go on without sleep for longer periods of time, but he preferred not to since it affected his performance in the long run. As he looked around, he noticed a church that looked like it had seen better days.
It was made completely out of stone, with several windows, filled with broken mosaic and a statue of some kind of goddess in the back. However, the building itself looked abandoned, the roof partially collapsed, that statue missing fairly big chunks of it and a small pile of rubble on the floor. It wasn't much of a hotel, but he had seen worse or just straight out sleep in the middle of the desert with a gun under his pillow.
Deciding that it was more than enough, he made his way inside, before looking for way upstairs. That way, he could watch the entrance and not be trapped in some kind of bas.e.m.e.nt, if it had one. Luckily, lady luck was on his side, as a small wooden ladder led upstairs to partially collapsed attic.
It was devoid of furniture, with holes in the floor and the roof itself, but it seemed stable enough for a temporary base of operations. So, without wasting any more time, he set up his sleeping kit on the floor then made his way downstairs, before setting up a very simple alarm system consisting of wire and several tin cans connected with each other. That way, if someone decided to ambush him, they would alert him of his presence. The number of times he fell for similar things, but far more deadly was too great for his liking. With his camp set up, he made his way into the sleeping bag, before closing his eyes and falling asleep in an instant.
Rays of sunlight greeted him, each of them falling through the cracks in the rooftop. A quick look at his HUD told him it was already six am, which meant he once again slept for three hours, enough to get rid of all the sleep deprivation he acc.u.mulated yesterday. With a groan, he made his way out of the bed, stretching himself in the process.
He still had trouble believing what transpired yesterday, with him easily getting inside the city only to be chased around by barely modest women across the district, yet it wasn't even top ten of the weirdest things that he had ever seen or been a part of. Shaking his head, he dematerialized the sleeping kit and descended the ladder, the traps untouched.
Now that he was inside the city, his number one priority was to find a book store and learn to read and hopefully not get chased again. With his mind made up, he walked out of the church right into the crowded streets of the city. Unlike yesterday, when the traffic was fairly reduced due to the time of his arrival, today it seemed like every single living thing in existence decided to say hello.
The streets were crowded to the brim, with people and other beings going their own way, chatting, selling merchandise on wooden carts or heading towards the giant tower in the middle of a city, fully dressed up in armour. And just like the last time, his armour brought the attention of quite a few, but thankfully enough, most of them simply looked at him, gave him a quick glance before returning back to their business.
As he walked around, he listened to the chatter and became even more confused as a result. Their language was so much different, it made talking with tribes at Zion look easy. If there was any consolation in this whole situation was the fact that his armour didn't bring nearly as much attention as he thought it might.
Then suddenly on his right, he noticed what looked like a book store. It had a simple one-way door, with glass on the upper side, big windows with books neatly arranged behind them and a sign of a book hanging at the top. The Courier's lips turned into a smile before he remembered he had no money, outside of what that merchant threw him, which he didn't know the value of.
Appearing uninterested, he walked up to the front and took a look at the merchandise. Underneath each of them, he could see the price tag, but the writing was so alien, he couldn't as much as guess how much it meant. With a sigh, he used his HUD and connection to the pipboy to add a waypoint, before turning around and leaving towards the tower in the middle of the city.
That's where the majority of the armoured people headed for anyway. He was curious, did that tower lead to Heaven or something? That wouldn't explain why they needed all that armour though. The plaza surrounding the tower was quite a sight, easily capable of letting hundreds of beings move around freely. People and other creatures were talking between each other, discussing, laughing or going and out of the tower.
As he moved towards the entrance, he noticed a small group of four men followed by a single tiny female with an oversized backpack, her auburn hair poking out of beneath her hood. They passed each other and he could have sworn the woman glanced at him, before following the men in front of her. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this whole situation but decided not to get involved, not without good reason that is, like money or puppies.
He might have been a mercenary and stuck to the rules of ones, but that didn't mean he never broke them. He still had to keep his appearances though, otherwise, people would beg for him to do their chores for free or just not pay him, because that's what 'heroes' could. He almost spat at the notion of being called one. He was no hero, never was and probably never will.
Sighing, he entered the tower and could feel his jaw drop, his eyes spread wide open. There was a massive hole with a set of a staircase on the edge that led down below to what he presumed was some kind of cave. Those 'prospectors' in armour, he decided to call them that way, entered the cave with fairly small backpacks while leaving seemingly full of loot.
It reminded him of the mines back in Mojave where the deeper you went, the better the loot was. However, that didn't explain the sheer number of beings going inside and out, nor their equipment meant for a fight. In fact, to him, it didn't make any sense. If it was a mine, there would be miners going in, not prospectors. And then there was this whole city, build around the damn thing. What is this thing anyway?
He wanted to go downstairs, to see what was waiting below, but he decided against it. As much as he wanted to do so, he had certain priorities and rushing in without any kind of plan or knowledge could spell his doom. For all he knew, there could be monsters, traps and things more deadly than back on Earth. His modus operandi in these kinds of circ.u.mstances was simple: Never underestimate your opponent.
He had plenty of time left, not to mention, he still had to earn enough money to rebuild the space shuttle or the time needed to recreate almost every single component from scratch. Turning away, he began walking around the city, making notes of buildings that caught his attention, like a castle from medieval fantasy, pharmacies, markets, etc. He avoided the district where the crazy women were and stayed clear of the Amazons he saw on the streets, he decided to call them like this, considering their sheer strength and the way the acted towards him.
During the walk, he also drank some water and ate some of his supplies, while avoiding anyone seeing it appear from thin air, using his duffel bag as a way to pull it out without drawing anyone's attention. He also found out there were public toilets strewn around the city, free of charge, a boon unlike any other. There was nothing worse than running out of paper and water in the middle of the desert.
It was only when the sun began to set he decided to go for the goal he set up. The bookshop had still some lights on, but nothing prevented him from looking for an alternate way in. Navigating his way around the shop, he found the back entrance, in the street behind it. Making sure there was nobody left in the valley, he crouched, turned the stealth field on and walked up to the door, before pulling one of his many lockpicks and a screwdriver. With a practised movement, the door clicked open, before he gently pulled it open, making sure it didn't creak before he closed the door behind himself and locked it behind
The room he was located in looked like some kind of storage, with spare books hidden in boxes and such. The scent of books and ink-filled the air. There were no traps in the back, so he moved forward and peeked around the corner. There he noticed what he presumed had to be the owner pulling the shutters down. The owner was an older woman, past her prime, but not obese and one could see remnants of her past in her frame. Only when he saw the woman walk up the stairs to what he presumed was a bedroom, he turned off the stealth field.
Waiting a few more minutes to make sure she wouldn't come down, he began silently sneaking through the store, looking for books meant for kids, hopefully with lots of pictures and such. Looking at the cover was not enough though, so he had to manually pull one out, check it out then put it back. The whole process was pretty simple, but the sheer number of books meant that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
Only after what seemed like two hours, he finally found three books that looked specifically designed for the children. They were pretty long, with pictures of objects, animals and with written words beneath them. As compensation he put the money he received on the table, making sure to not leave any of the fingerprints on them. Who knew, maybe this world also had magic, that could find someone with a strand of their hair, but so far, he had yet to see it. It didn't sit well with him to steal from others, especially if it was an honest merchant, not a powder ganger, but if he didn't do that, he never would have gotten his hands on things like Big Boomer or La Longue Carbine.
Leaving through the same way he entered, he made his way back to the church, acting normal on his way back. Only when he was back at the camp, he materialized one of the books from thin air, sat against one of the walls, bringing up a clipboard, a pencil and some blank books for notes, before he got down to work.
The next three hours were spent in complete silence, as the Courier made notes, forming a few ideas on their language. While it was true the writing here was different from his world, he found certain similarities. For instance, the words were made out of a set of around twenty-something signs, similar to English. He also found out how to spell things like a cat, food, water, ocean, etc. The basics of it.
It wasn't much, but it was a start. It definitely beat going around blindly and bashing his head against the wall, hoping the enlightenment would come. Still, even if he learned how to read, he had to learn how to speak, before he would be able to make any real progress. It was hard to eavesdrop when you couldn't understand anything.
Those three books were a good starting point, but sooner or later, he would be forced to steal some of the books with more advanced words and grammar in order to progress. He definitely wasn't looking forward to sneaking in the same place twice or more. As he progressed through the book, he found himself scratching his eyes and blinking to make the feeling go away.
Only then he realized the sun was slowly rising, the first rays coming through the rooftop. A glance at his current status told him everything he needed to know. He was getting tired, this entire day was spent exploring the city and learning to write their language. In fact, he hadn't done anything pleasant or relaxing.
It was one of the many faults he had, he was a workaholic, going around the Mojave desert, talking to people, taking on quests, exploring, fighting, running for his life and such. Heck, even when he managed to take over New Vegas, he spent most of his time running the damn thing, dealing with nuisances and helping Think Tank develop technologies beneficial to mankind.
It also meant, that making friends or just straight out enjoying himself he considered an utter waste of time, not that his past experiences helped in the matter. He had issues, didn't he? With a sigh, he dematerialized the books, before he set up his sleeping bag once again, climbed right into and let his body fall asleep.
Waking up alone once again, he groaned, while stretching himself up. A small part of him wanted to explore the city, but he still had to learn how to read and write. Once he could do that, things would become much easier, simply due to the fact, he could write his questions and answers, instead of trying to guess what other means with hand signs or something along those lines.
This, in turn, became a pattern, he would read all the day, making notes, practising writing and reading, only making short breaks for a meal and to take care of his biological needs. This lasted until he finally read through all the books, which took him almost a week. At this point, he decided to pay a visit to the book store once again, return the books he stole and get new ones in their place.
The sun was slowly setting down, giving him plenty of time to reach the nearby book store, but then he remembered a certain market he saw when he first explored the city. It would be a good test run for his newfound knowledge. The walk only took a couple of minutes, before he found himself surrounded by the merchandise. There were dozens of stands, each one selling something a little bit different.
He could see glass bottles, filled with some kind of liquid of different colours, throwing knives, some kind of bombs, different kinds of bags, ready to eat rations, like dried meat and fruits. Things that were meant for an expedition. While he couldn't recognize most of the things on display, he was able to read the names of food and drinks like water, lemonade, tea, jerky, etc.
It wasn't much, but it left him feeling far happier than five minutes ago. He made some decent progress and was slowly gaining an understanding of this world. He wished, he could just learn some translation spell or maybe a book that would do it for him, not that it would happen.
Leaving the market behind him, he made his way back to the book store and once again sneaked in from behind. However, the door was locked, luckily the owner didn't change the locks, making it easy to pick once again. Finding himself in the familiar shop, he made sure the owner was once again absent, before gently putting the books he stole back on the counter.
He considered attaching a short note with an apology, but decided against it and spent the next hour searching for more advanced books. Fortunately, last time he was here he recalled there being books like this not far from the ones he stole. Only after finding them, he once again left, making sure to not leave anything that could be traced back to him.
Once he found himself back in the attic, he settled down, before getting down to work. The books were more advanced than the previous ones, going more into depth and with a lot more grammar and proper punctuation being the highlights, not to mention vastly expanded vocabulary. Still, he could slowly see the pattern and with enough time, he shouldn't have any more trouble reading and writing in the damn thing.
The same pattern as the last time was established, but this time, he needed over three weeks to get through the books, which despite his high intelligence, proved to be a problem more than once. He struggled to understand what was the task the book required him to do, often forcing him to check the back of it for the answers.
During that time, a small girl with b.r.e.a.s.ts that were too big for her small frame moved into a small bas.e.m.e.nt, not far from the attic. Luckily for him, she wasn't interested in exploring it. She would go into the city at dawn and come back just as the sun was about to set. She wasn't a threat though, as the VATS showed her to be weak as most of the people in the city.
Two weeks after he began his current books, a boy with white hair and red eyes moved in with her and for some reason, the first thing he thought when he saw the young man was a rabbit. After that, the boy, would go out on his own to the city and come back late, with pouches filled with money called Valis, as he found out. Avoiding them was easy enough, as they completely ignored the attic, probably thinking there was nothing of value in it.
The most important thing he got out of the books, was the general understanding of the world. The city he was located in was called Orario and it was built over a massive dungeon, that spanned dozens of floors below the surface, each one bigger than the previous one. The tower that was built over the entrance was called Babel, while the people who went inside were called adventurers, that went there to fight monsters and earn money, by extracting the same purple gemstones he first found on the monsters, he now knew were called goblins.
That wasn't even the most important thing though, the gods were real in this world, that's what shook him the most. The gods came down to this planet's surface and offered their blessing, called Falna to the adventurers, which allowed them to become stronger, learn new skills and level up. That, in turn, explained the massive disproportion between ordinary people and so-called adventurers that he saw before when he was being chased by the woman, known as Amazons.
The idea of a god or a goddess being someone he had to rely on, work with, be good for to become stronger was disgusting to put mildly. The very idea of it was abhorrent to the Courier. The gods didn't care when the Great War happened, they didn't care when seven billion people died in a war that lasted a total of two hours and now they were here?!
He wanted to crush the book in his hands, making small imprints, before he managed to calm down and put it away. He didn't know how did the gods act, nor did he care. All he knew was that he wanted nothing to do with them. Everything he accomplished was the result of his own blood, sweat, and tears. He was shot, stabbed, blasted with lasers, plasma, missiles, grenades among many others. Not to mention lobotomized against his own will, filled with multiple powerful implants and his body enchanted with powerful perks like Rad Child, Solar Powered and such.
These adventurers might have risked their lives when going to the Dungeon, but they didn't have to survive Deathclaws, Cazadors, Nightstalker or bandits on a regular basis. Their world wasn't destroyed and filled with radiation, invaded by a bunch of slaving marauders or harassed by a bunch of stuck up assholes in power armour. He wanted to be angry, wanted to lash out at something, anything, but… he couldn't.
There was no point in doing so anyway. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he let his mind calm down as he considered his circ.u.mstances. The gods created groups known as Familia, which made the Courier snort in response. Familia? More like willing slavery, if you ask me. These groups would try to look for powerful members to add to their groups, which made him a potential target. So, to avoid that, he had to brave the Dungeon by himself and the monsters contained within.
To do so, he had to register at the guild, because otherwise it would be deemed illegal and cause negative consequences. Bringing up his pipboy, he noticed the clock was about to reach eight AM, which was quite late honestly. Still, it would be more than enough, so he stood up, packed up his entire gear and left, avoiding the other inhabitants of the church and setting out for the Guild, which he found the last time he explored the city. That's where many adventurers went anyway.
The goddess Freya was bored as she gazed upon on the city of Orario from the top of the Babel, a small glass of wine located in her left hand. She was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world, even in Heaven. Her charm leaving men and women speechless, not able to respond. Her long silver hair, reaching down to her waist, along with her silver eyes, skin white as fresh snow and a perfect golden ratio, so much so, one would think it originated from her.
While most of the time she spent in the Babel gazing upon the city of Orario, even she liked to have fun every now and then. At times like this, she enjoyed putting on a cloak, sneaking out of the Babel and going around the Orario, sitting in a cafe and watching the adventures go past her, watching the adventures and their souls. It was an ability unique to her, which allowed her to see the colour and brilliance of souls, allowing her to estimate the strength of an adventurer.
With a small smile on her lips, she put on the cloak, letting the Ottar know she was leaving for a bit, before making it down into the crowds of Orario. As she walked down the streets, heading in the direction of Hostess of Fertility, navigating through the crowd with practised ease, avoiding bumping into anyone.
That's how it usually went, before a man with a soul that she had never seen before distracted her, which in turn lead to her bumping into him and falling onto her rump. The hood fell backwards, her face exposed. Every single person in their tracks as the gazed upon the goddess, the silence almost thick enough to cut through with a knife. The only exception was the man himself, who knelt in front of her and offered his hand. She gracefully took it and let herself be pulled up, putting on the hood once again.
She didn't expect that, as most people would be charmed, not able to do anything but blink in front of her beauty. This man, however, was unaffected, making sure she wasn't injured, his gaze looking over her. Unfortunately, the people were still staring and she had to disappear, otherwise, it could cause a commotion, which she didn't want. Before she could do that though, the man turned towards the rest of the crowd and growled.
What happened next, made her yelp as a figure of dark and powerful beast manifested itself behind his back, a pair of razor-sharp claws and blood-red eyes, covered in thick scales. The crowd jumped back, some even drawing their weapons, before it disappeared just as quickly as it came, the crowd shaken and doing it's best to leave as soon as they could.
The image itself shook the very being of the goddess, her heart racing, turning hot from the inside. It was engraved in her mind, along with the beauty of his soul. It was different, with two different colours inside it. The first one was red, like blood, covering most of his soul, like a scent that could never be washed away. The second one was grey, the purest form of grey she had ever seen in her entire life.
She blinked her eyes, as the man turned towards her, nodded and started walking away. It felt like her heart was about to jump out from her chest. If she let him go, she would lose her only chance, that's what she felt. Almost losing her composure, she grabbed the man by his arm and asked, "Name… what is your name?"
It came out sounding like a desperate plea, the man turning his attention towards her. She was waiting, her heart beating against her chest before the man turned towards her and put his bag on the ground, forcing her to let go. He then pulled out a clipboard and a pencil, before writing down a single sentence.
"I can't understand you, please, write it down," He wrote, before handing over the utensils. Her hand shook before she managed to calm down enough to write her question down.
Once he saw the question, he responded and wrote, "I am known as Courier Six. Are you all right? Do you need any help?"
She almost spoke out, before reminding herself, he wouldn't understand her. Taking in the clipboard again, her hand brushing against his armour, she wrote, "No, I am fine. Thank you for your concern, mister Six." Before she had corrected her posture and smiled at him.
Satisfied, the man put away the utensils, before nodding, turning away and leaving the goddess alone in the streets. She had fallen many times in love with her children and adventurers, yet for the first time in her life, the goddess of love and beauty had been charmed.
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