(Written by Ringmaster. Can also be found here.)
Chapter One
Monday
The Wasteland ain't no place for heroes. Everyone who grows up on this world knows this fact for certain, what with everything out there trying to kill you. To say nothing of how the greatest danger comes not from the monsters, but rather the people. Selfishness kills, strong eat the weak and frankly its not a hard choice to make for many. If you had a choice to save your family or some random stranger? No brainer. I know I'd do anything to save my sister or my new adopted sister. But heroes do exist, even out here in the Wasteland. I close my eyes as I write this and can still sees the fires of Mercy rise and the stranger, not so strange anymore in my minds eye. But Lucifer is gone now, him and Elizabeth. Left this world in search of home, wherever that may be. Heh.
I really do hope he finds it. He could use something going his way for once. But I digress.
My name is Piper Wright and this is the record I keep of the real happenings of the events of New Vegas, before the death of its long-running warlord. All the events I have had opportunity to eyewitness is true, on my honor as a journalist. Though to be frank, I can scarcely believe it myself even upon review. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
It began at least a week before the final end....
-------
Like the triumphant cry of some great beast, the Iron Dragon once more crossed the frontier of the American West. The railroad that was the dream of the united Brotherhood of Steel and their allies, despite setbacks was finally open for wider business. Travel meant trade. Trade meant more opportunities, colonists and towns could have a greater chance of survival without waiting on the caravans of old. And faster! So much more faster! Piper Wright laughed aloud, realizing she was seeing history in the making once more on their world. No longer reduced to clans or gangs in the desert, scraping by and attacking to live another day. Now? Civilization of a sort, was coming back and it all came back to her.
"You seem to be in a good mood."
Despite herself, Piper's stomach still did flip-flops as she smiled to her traveling partner in the booth. A blond, smiling woman dressed in a Minuteman-styled outfit, no rankings to be seen but with a hat that framed her eyes just right as she peered out from beneath the brim, a smile on her dimpled face that made Piper flushed. Like Lucifer, she too was one of those rare gems in the Wasteland....A hero. Someone who unselfishly did all they could, to make the world around them better then what they saw coming in. To everyone, she was Gwen. A general, a charmer and unbeknownst to all but her circle of friends, a complete dork.
Piper simply called her 'Blue'.
Nervously, she began to tap her fingers on her thigh, looking out the window before smiling broadly.
"Well...Its hard not to. Look at that! Look how fast we're going! Not much I guess, compared to memories of cars that worked and planes....But still faster then anything yet! We're rebuilding history right now and despite everything we lost, this is the first real progress we made. Not some big weapon to smash everything, not some new gun or what have you....The Railroad is a symbol of everything we could be. How could I not? Er-"
She flushed again as she waved her hand.
"-Sorry, kinda...Going off on a tangent there!"
Gwen laughed quietly. Piper listened, loving that tinkle every time.
Yeah, she had it bad.
Shaking her head, Gwen spoke on.
"Don't apologize. I rather like seeing you go on about stuff you're passionate about. I think its cute actually."
"...Saaay, is it getting hot in here or is it just me?"
Piper chuckled falsely, waving her hand like a joke though against that thrice-damned expression of content, she was fast losing against-
The shrill whistle of the train roared once more, the shock killing the mood as Piper sighed out inwardly. Disappointment? Relief? She didn't know. Dropping her pen, she sighed out and leaned forward to pick it up.
Just as a bullet hole appeared where her head once was, prompting Gwen to tackle her as she cried out.
"GET DOWN!"
------
Blue.... She was one-of-a-kind. She was a Vault inhabitant and with a particularly sad story as well. Her kid was stolen, her husband shot...She showed me the body once, to reveal why she fought so hard. And in that moment, I realized just how strong she was. How many other mothers would have kept their cool, remained as they were? If it was my sister, I think I might have ripped down the world for her. I couldn't even begin to imagine if it was my kid.
But what she had most was charisma. She solved her problems with words, revealing a better way then the one we tended to use for a while. Shoot first, ask questions later? But she was never afraid to pick up a weapon in defense of those who needed it.
What I found amazing though was everyone she befriended, regardless of who they were. Strong, that big lump was an absolute adorable bundle of psychotic tendencies around her. Cait? Gwen went out of her way, giving the ex-cage fighter a hand, up to and including cleaning her of her old addiction. To those who preyed on others without remorse, she served to them the same as what they gave out but to us? Her friends, her followers? She was kind without expecting a damn thing. She showed us that life was more then survival, then a hand-to-mouth basis.
Was it any wonder I fell hard?
Seems strange to write these down in this record, but I suppose its as good a tribute as any to the greatest woman I love. Anyway, yeah- The train...
-------
"What the Hell?!"
Much as Piper was enjoying this particular posture, the bullets and the whole almost-dying tended to kill the mood. Gwen for her part would be scrutinizing Piper, sighing in audible relief before smiling.
"Looks like raiders. Now it feels like an old Western."
Gunfire and the smashing of windows mingled with screams filled the air further down the car line. Giving Piper a look, her hand went for the briefcase at her side. Piper groaned and rolled her eyes as she rose and began to check her weapon with the ease of someone whose done this more times then she cared to think.
"Tell me you didn't bring it."
Gwen smiled brightly and opened the briefcase, revealing its contents.
"Ok. I won't."
"Is this really the best-Aaaaaand you are. Ok. You know, you are waaay too into that for your own good, you know?"
Clothing flew, as Gwen began to adorn the uniform she brought with her, kept in the briefcase for moments like this.
A fedora in place of her general's hat.
A scarf, neatly wrapped.
And over her clothing, an armored, silver trenchcoat as the Sole Survivor, the Railroad Charmer and the Minutemen General put away all such things.
And the Silver Shroud walked the earth once more as she bellowed heroically.
"Come Piper! Let us teach these scum, the FOLLY of train robbery, whilst in the presence of the SILVER SHROUD!"
The flat look of Piper was only slightly mitigated by the very real tommy gun that came with the costume, Gwen's favorite weapon as she loaded up and rushed away down the direction of the screams.
With an imploring look to the Heavens, Piper ran after her, muttering under her breath.
"I bet Elizabeth doesn't have to worry about this sort of thing..."
-------
Yes, Gwen is the Silver Shroud.
.....Who could have seen that coming?
I asked her once, a while back why she got into it so much. She told me her and her husband used to listen to the radio drama all the time. It was cheesy, but heroic and in the Wasteland, people needed that sometimes. They needed symbols, heroes that set the example and paved the way. I could get that, I really could.
But did she have to talk like that all the time, while in costume?
-------
Despite the costume and the speech, the tommy gun was very real.
Moreover, its user knew how to use it well and as it roared, there a bandit would drop to the ground. Gwen would be yelling as she charged, declaring her intent to smite everyone down for their CRIMES.
Piper in a rare, support position for once had little to do. Gwen was a one-woman army, who could take everyone on her own. So as Piper followed, she was able to pay more attention to the little details. Details such as the attackers, who she recognized off the bat.
"The Great Khans? I thought they were all wiped out."
A sudden click told her that the gun ran dry and the few remaining bandits still alive whooped and charged, machetes in hand.
Piper could have told them that was a bad idea.
For them.
Gwen met the oncoming thug with a bashing blow with the stock of her gun, actually charging forward to get inside his guard. He dropped like a light, just in time for the second to bring his machete down.
It never even pierced the trench coat, Gwen raising her arm and using the armor woven into the sleeve to defend herself, before jabbing a quick blow for the throat, followed by a flip to the floor and a stomp on the collarbone with a sickening crack.
That one she learned from Cait.
The last one would be finished with a single bullet, Piper's gun smoking as she watched the bandit drop. Well. So much for a peaceful train ride. And ignoring all else, she looked at Gwen in concern.
"You alright?"
Gwen inhaled deeply...Before putting her hands on her hip and laughing.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! JUSTICE is a shield in which CRIMINALS cannot pierce!"
-------
I was going to kill Kent.
Even as I watched my friend play the part with no small degree of agony on my side, little did I know that what had seemed like a routine bandit raid was actually the precusor to something more.
A war between Blue and the Monster of New Vegas, that would only end with one of them dead.
Chapter One
Monday
The Wasteland ain't no place for heroes. Everyone who grows up on this world knows this fact for certain, what with everything out there trying to kill you. To say nothing of how the greatest danger comes not from the monsters, but rather the people. Selfishness kills, strong eat the weak and frankly its not a hard choice to make for many. If you had a choice to save your family or some random stranger? No brainer. I know I'd do anything to save my sister or my new adopted sister. But heroes do exist, even out here in the Wasteland. I close my eyes as I write this and can still sees the fires of Mercy rise and the stranger, not so strange anymore in my minds eye. But Lucifer is gone now, him and Elizabeth. Left this world in search of home, wherever that may be. Heh.
I really do hope he finds it. He could use something going his way for once. But I digress.
My name is Piper Wright and this is the record I keep of the real happenings of the events of New Vegas, before the death of its long-running warlord. All the events I have had opportunity to eyewitness is true, on my honor as a journalist. Though to be frank, I can scarcely believe it myself even upon review. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
It began at least a week before the final end....
-------
Like the triumphant cry of some great beast, the Iron Dragon once more crossed the frontier of the American West. The railroad that was the dream of the united Brotherhood of Steel and their allies, despite setbacks was finally open for wider business. Travel meant trade. Trade meant more opportunities, colonists and towns could have a greater chance of survival without waiting on the caravans of old. And faster! So much more faster! Piper Wright laughed aloud, realizing she was seeing history in the making once more on their world. No longer reduced to clans or gangs in the desert, scraping by and attacking to live another day. Now? Civilization of a sort, was coming back and it all came back to her.
"You seem to be in a good mood."
Despite herself, Piper's stomach still did flip-flops as she smiled to her traveling partner in the booth. A blond, smiling woman dressed in a Minuteman-styled outfit, no rankings to be seen but with a hat that framed her eyes just right as she peered out from beneath the brim, a smile on her dimpled face that made Piper flushed. Like Lucifer, she too was one of those rare gems in the Wasteland....A hero. Someone who unselfishly did all they could, to make the world around them better then what they saw coming in. To everyone, she was Gwen. A general, a charmer and unbeknownst to all but her circle of friends, a complete dork.
Piper simply called her 'Blue'.
Nervously, she began to tap her fingers on her thigh, looking out the window before smiling broadly.
"Well...Its hard not to. Look at that! Look how fast we're going! Not much I guess, compared to memories of cars that worked and planes....But still faster then anything yet! We're rebuilding history right now and despite everything we lost, this is the first real progress we made. Not some big weapon to smash everything, not some new gun or what have you....The Railroad is a symbol of everything we could be. How could I not? Er-"
She flushed again as she waved her hand.
"-Sorry, kinda...Going off on a tangent there!"
Gwen laughed quietly. Piper listened, loving that tinkle every time.
Yeah, she had it bad.
Shaking her head, Gwen spoke on.
"Don't apologize. I rather like seeing you go on about stuff you're passionate about. I think its cute actually."
"...Saaay, is it getting hot in here or is it just me?"
Piper chuckled falsely, waving her hand like a joke though against that thrice-damned expression of content, she was fast losing against-
The shrill whistle of the train roared once more, the shock killing the mood as Piper sighed out inwardly. Disappointment? Relief? She didn't know. Dropping her pen, she sighed out and leaned forward to pick it up.
Just as a bullet hole appeared where her head once was, prompting Gwen to tackle her as she cried out.
"GET DOWN!"
------
Blue.... She was one-of-a-kind. She was a Vault inhabitant and with a particularly sad story as well. Her kid was stolen, her husband shot...She showed me the body once, to reveal why she fought so hard. And in that moment, I realized just how strong she was. How many other mothers would have kept their cool, remained as they were? If it was my sister, I think I might have ripped down the world for her. I couldn't even begin to imagine if it was my kid.
But what she had most was charisma. She solved her problems with words, revealing a better way then the one we tended to use for a while. Shoot first, ask questions later? But she was never afraid to pick up a weapon in defense of those who needed it.
What I found amazing though was everyone she befriended, regardless of who they were. Strong, that big lump was an absolute adorable bundle of psychotic tendencies around her. Cait? Gwen went out of her way, giving the ex-cage fighter a hand, up to and including cleaning her of her old addiction. To those who preyed on others without remorse, she served to them the same as what they gave out but to us? Her friends, her followers? She was kind without expecting a damn thing. She showed us that life was more then survival, then a hand-to-mouth basis.
Was it any wonder I fell hard?
Seems strange to write these down in this record, but I suppose its as good a tribute as any to the greatest woman I love. Anyway, yeah- The train...
-------
"What the Hell?!"
Much as Piper was enjoying this particular posture, the bullets and the whole almost-dying tended to kill the mood. Gwen for her part would be scrutinizing Piper, sighing in audible relief before smiling.
"Looks like raiders. Now it feels like an old Western."
Gunfire and the smashing of windows mingled with screams filled the air further down the car line. Giving Piper a look, her hand went for the briefcase at her side. Piper groaned and rolled her eyes as she rose and began to check her weapon with the ease of someone whose done this more times then she cared to think.
"Tell me you didn't bring it."
Gwen smiled brightly and opened the briefcase, revealing its contents.
"Ok. I won't."
"Is this really the best-Aaaaaand you are. Ok. You know, you are waaay too into that for your own good, you know?"
Clothing flew, as Gwen began to adorn the uniform she brought with her, kept in the briefcase for moments like this.
A fedora in place of her general's hat.
A scarf, neatly wrapped.
And over her clothing, an armored, silver trenchcoat as the Sole Survivor, the Railroad Charmer and the Minutemen General put away all such things.
And the Silver Shroud walked the earth once more as she bellowed heroically.
"Come Piper! Let us teach these scum, the FOLLY of train robbery, whilst in the presence of the SILVER SHROUD!"
The flat look of Piper was only slightly mitigated by the very real tommy gun that came with the costume, Gwen's favorite weapon as she loaded up and rushed away down the direction of the screams.
With an imploring look to the Heavens, Piper ran after her, muttering under her breath.
"I bet Elizabeth doesn't have to worry about this sort of thing..."
-------
Yes, Gwen is the Silver Shroud.
.....Who could have seen that coming?
I asked her once, a while back why she got into it so much. She told me her and her husband used to listen to the radio drama all the time. It was cheesy, but heroic and in the Wasteland, people needed that sometimes. They needed symbols, heroes that set the example and paved the way. I could get that, I really could.
But did she have to talk like that all the time, while in costume?
-------
Despite the costume and the speech, the tommy gun was very real.
Moreover, its user knew how to use it well and as it roared, there a bandit would drop to the ground. Gwen would be yelling as she charged, declaring her intent to smite everyone down for their CRIMES.
Piper in a rare, support position for once had little to do. Gwen was a one-woman army, who could take everyone on her own. So as Piper followed, she was able to pay more attention to the little details. Details such as the attackers, who she recognized off the bat.
"The Great Khans? I thought they were all wiped out."
A sudden click told her that the gun ran dry and the few remaining bandits still alive whooped and charged, machetes in hand.
Piper could have told them that was a bad idea.
For them.
Gwen met the oncoming thug with a bashing blow with the stock of her gun, actually charging forward to get inside his guard. He dropped like a light, just in time for the second to bring his machete down.
It never even pierced the trench coat, Gwen raising her arm and using the armor woven into the sleeve to defend herself, before jabbing a quick blow for the throat, followed by a flip to the floor and a stomp on the collarbone with a sickening crack.
That one she learned from Cait.
The last one would be finished with a single bullet, Piper's gun smoking as she watched the bandit drop. Well. So much for a peaceful train ride. And ignoring all else, she looked at Gwen in concern.
"You alright?"
Gwen inhaled deeply...Before putting her hands on her hip and laughing.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! JUSTICE is a shield in which CRIMINALS cannot pierce!"
-------
I was going to kill Kent.
Even as I watched my friend play the part with no small degree of agony on my side, little did I know that what had seemed like a routine bandit raid was actually the precusor to something more.
A war between Blue and the Monster of New Vegas, that would only end with one of them dead.
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