Chapter Text
Depths of space
In the depths of space, the broken half of a star frigate was drifting to god knows where. Its destination is unknown and the chances of it being found are slim to none. A shame as its occupants were part of the group that saved humanity and all life in the galaxy. Within this derelict's hold, an artificial intelligence was monitoring the sole organic occupant left in the ship. The organic occupant was in a cryopod. Sighing, or at least something that resembled sighing, the artificial intelligence had her physical avatar appear near the cryopod in which the sole organic occupant resided in. The avatar for the artificial intelligence was female in design, resembling a woman in her twenties. Due to her synthetical nature, she was light blue in most of her body except for her short hair and some sections of her body that acted as clothing for her, these sections were dark blue. Looking at the inhabitant of the cryopod, the A.I. thought back to how they got into this mess.
Two years ago, the A.I. and the sole organic occupant were involved in a desperate attempt to save the Milky Way galaxy from a parasitic race called the Flood. The two, along with two others, went to a massive superweapon of titanic proportions in an effort to destroy the Flood. Despite the Flood attempting to stop them with everything it had, they succeeded in activating the weapon and destroyed the Flood. It did came at the cost though. One of their companions, a human soldier called Avery Johnson died, betrayed by another A.I. that shot him in the back when he attempted to activate the super weapon. Along with his death, the two of them were left stranded in space when their spaceship tried to escape. The ship had been cut in half when it entered a Slipspace portal that can take people to Earth, the home world of humans. The only one of their party went back to Earth, at least the A.I. believed so, was an alien called the Arbiter. Though the A.I. prayed for the alien, she was kind of angry with their predicament. She activated the ship's distress beacon, but she knew that rescue was slim to none. The portal, aside transporting people to Earth, also led to beyond the galaxy's rim, far away from any human colony world. While their ship was drifting back to the galaxy, it would take decades, perhaps even centuries, before they were discovered. While the organic occupant was fine with this, the A.I. wasn't.
The reason for this was an innate problem that all A.I.'s had. After a set period of time, an A.I. goes into a terminal state where they behave psychotic and deranged. A state that most civilized people called rampancy. The time varied between various A.I.s, along with other factors such as the quality of the technology used to build them and how much data they store or use up. For this A.I., she was built at around six years ago, still in the time frame for A.I.'s of her kind before she succumbed to rampancy. Despite that though, she was afraid. If she didn't get help soon, she'll become rampart. And if that happened, she may hurt her only friend. Looking at the sleeping man in the cryopod, the A.I. shook her head, praying that someone will come rescue them to both save them and to save her friend before she could hurt him.
Fortunately for her, that seemed to be the case as alarms began to blare all around the ship. Snapping at attention, the A.I. immediately went to work. Using what power is left on the ship, the A.I. transferred power to the ship's various cameras to find out what was going on. Before she could determine what was going on, however, a massive portal opened in front of the ship as it drifted to said portal that was mere feet away from the ship. Before the A.I. could process this development in time to do something, the ship actually was sucked through the portal, which closed as soon as the ship entered, leaving nothing but the emptiness of space in its wake.
Earth
Big Empty
In a massive crater that was far from any kind of civilization, lie a massive research facility complex. The complex was huge. It contained over a dozen and a half facilities of various sizes that all served a different function. One facility, in particular, was testing stealth technology in the from of armored suits. Another was testing agriculture and ways to improve plant growth. And another was dedicated to the research of genesplicing. All in all, the complex was the wet dream of any scientist and researcher. And at the top balcony of the largest building in the complex, lies a single person with a sniper rifle.
This person was wearing quite an advanced piece of armor. The user had a green chest plate that protected the entire torso. Across that chest plate were a bandolier with various bullets along with a strap of pouches. On the man's hip was a canteen along with more pouches, likely for ammo. Aside from the chest plate and its various attachments, the person also had a duster that had heavy reinforced shoulder plates and arm guards that were green in color. Along with those, there were armored knee guards of the same color over the dark pants that the user wore. To top this all off, the user wore a helmet that completely hid the face of the person. The helmet also doubled as a gas mask, protecting the user from gas or other chemical attacks. To be frank, it was a very intimidating suit of armor that scared many that saw it and its red glowing optics. Which suited the user just fine as they usually faced scumbags that deserved a bullet to the head.
Looking down at their optics, the wearer of the suit saw a person with a fading jumpsuit and goggled walking aimlessly to god knows where. Sighing, the wearer of the armor aimed at the jumpsuit wearing person and fired. Watching as the bullet blew their head in tiny chunks of flesh, armored being slumped on the ground and removed their helmet, revealing them as a young human male with brown hair that was shaved to a fuzz, likely to allow the helmet to not itch whenever he used it, with similarly colored eyes. Though this man didn't look much, he was responsible for single-handily changing the course of a war and saving a government from nuclear fire. This man had saved more lives than most would have done in their lifetime and has earned the respect of many within the communities that he helped preserve. This man was called by many as…Courier. A title that the man took. For what reason, only his closest friends knew. Some assumed it was because it represented what he enjoyed most, exploring and delivering messages to communities, giving them life. And that was partly true. The main reason was because he didn't remember his name. It was taken from him when he got shot in the head and left for dead. How he survived was anyone's guess, but many say that it was because he was just too stubborn to die. Whatever it was that allowed him to survive the gunshot to the head, it didn't matter to the people he helped and saved for without him, many of them would be dead or worse as he helped many in need.
He saved the Strip, a gambling center for the rich, from a cannibal that wanted his family to go back to their tribal roots. He helped preserve the sovereignty of the Followers of the Apocalypse, a humanitarian group that made it their life's goal to help those in need. But the most important thing he did was helping the NCR, a government that was trying to spread democracy to the scattered remains of human kind, in claiming Hoover Dam, a source of great power, for their own, thus giving them their seventh state as well as a source of renewable electricity. For many, the Courier was a man of legend, something that man couldn't help but chuckle at. All this, all of his achievements, after all, came from a need of revenge to get back at the man that shot him in the head.
Grabbing the canteen on his person, the Courier unscrewed the cap, took a large drink, before placing the cap back and placing the canteen back to where it belonged.
"Damn. Should have taken that offer from Julie. Could use the break from all this." Thinking of the lady that took his heart, the man got up before putting his helmet back on. He was about to go back to sniping when he heard a door opening. Turning around, he saw a ball-shaped robot that had several antennas all over its back, floating all the way to him.
"What is it, ED-E?" Asked the Courier as he stopped what he was doing to look at the robot. Speaking to the man via a various of beeps and metallic noises, the robot gave the man some troubling news. "Hmm…strange readings on the outskirts? And Lobotomites are investigating? Well, that is strange. Alright, want to come with me to check this out? Could use the extra fire power." The robot gave a nod before sending out some fighting music, causing the man to chuckle. "Alright you, rascal. Just let me get some more guns and supplies. These Lobotomites are tough." With that, the two went inside, eager to get out there and fight some more.
Few hours later
"Whoa!" Yelled the Courier as he ducked to avoid some fire from an anti-material rifle. "God damnit. Why the hell did the Think Tank thought it was a good idea to give the Lobotomites anti-material rifles!?" Giving a snarky remark, ED-E fired his blaster, which was mounted below his chassis, firing small bolts of blue energy at the Lobotomites, killing two, which disintegrated into piles of ashes. "Oh shut-up!" Aiming his large laser gatling gun, the man let loose, firing lasers at the enemy at astounding speeds, disintegrating three Lobotomites before the rest took cover. The remaining two, then took out grenades and tossed them over at the Courier and robot, forcing them to move away from their cover. Just as he was running away, the Courier looked at the supercomputer on his wrist. Turning it on, the Courier quickly turned the dial on the left of the computer, causing the screen to switch to various pictures of certain items. Finding the item that he desired, the Courier pressed a button near the screen and suddenly time began to slow down for him. Looking at the slowed down Lobotomites, the Courier aimed his gatling laser and opened fire at them, turning them all into dust.
"Hell yeah!" Yelled the Courier as he pumped his fist in the air. Looking at his robot companion, he saw it slowly making its way to him. It was when it was halfway to him that time resumed its normal course. Beeping in annoyance, ED-E gave a scathing remark. "Oh, grow up, using the implant GRX is not cheating. Besides, since when was fighting with guns and laser every about being fair?" The robot gave several beeps. "Whatever, you're must jealous that I got the most kills. Again." With that, the Courier and robot made their way to the anomaly that ED-E picked up. Eventually, they found it in the form of a purple portal. "The fuck is this?" Going over to the portal, the two walked to it carefully. "Got anything on your scanners, ED-E?" Giving several beeps, the robot told the Courier that nothing in its databanks could help them with figuring out what this thing was. "Well it's a good thing that we got several brains in cases that can help out with this stuff. I'll give them a call and see if they can send some robots down here to help us." Just as the Courier was about to radio his helpers, he suddenly got some strange feelings. At first, he ignored it, but then they grew stronger. Strong enough that it caused him to look at the portal with a sense of curiosity. Going closer to the portal, the Courier was about to touch the portal when ED-E went right in front of him, preventing him from touching the portal.
Giving several beeps and screeched, the robot scolded its friend for trying to touch something that was probably dangerous. Shaking his head, the Courier looked at the robot.
"Yeah, I know. Its just that. Something about this thing gave told me to touch it." Looking at the portal, the Courier had a feeling that this thing was trouble, for everyone that went near it. He was about to step back when one of ED-E antennas touched the portal by accident. With that touch, the portal began to suck the robot it, causing it to give a shriek of alarm. Shocked to see this, the Courier grabbed on to his friend and tried to pull him back. Unfortunately for them, he wasn't strong enough and the two were pulled into the portal, which soon closed as soon as they entered.
Frontier space
Typhon system
"God damn." Said a man in a full bodysuit that was vacuum-rated as he examined the destroyed world of Typhon. A world that he, unfortunately, had to destroy in order to save many lives. Scanning the ruined remains of a dropship, the man began to pack up and walk. As he walked, he couldn't help but remember how it all went down for this planet.
Back then he was just a regular grunt with some minor pilot training given to him by a pilot, an elite special forces trooper that was considered the most dangerous asset in the arsenal of the militia, the organization that he was fighting for. He, along with his whole unit, was sent to Typhon to investigate what the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, or IMC, the enemy that the Militia was fighting against, was up to. Expecting light defenses, the militia battlegroup went in with only carriers, which turned out to be a bad idea as Typhon had a robust ground to space defense grid that shredded their fleet. The man was one of the few that made it to the ground alive and even then he would have died if it wasn't for the pilot that trained him, captain Tai Lastimosa. Unfortunately for him, he suffered a fatal injury after coming across the Apex predators, an elite group of mercenaries under the employ of the IMC. Prior to dying, Lastimosa had given him his gear and allowed him to take his most valuable item, his Titan, a 25 foot tall mech that he used to defend the man from another Titan, as well as imploring him to continue the mission. Honoring the Lastimosa's last request, the man took his equipment, his titan, and continued the mission, saving the Militia from a weapon that the IMC hoped to use to destroy their main headquarters. Because of this, the man was promoted to be a pilot in the Militia's SRS, an elite unit of the Militia. Though he was honored, the man lost someone important to him. A partner.
You see, he had grown attached to the AI within the Titan of his mentor, BT-7274. The two had a good working relationship since the start of their adventure, but by the time they fought in the final battle of Typhon, the two were inseparable. They refused to let one another die by the enemy, even if it meant compromising the mission. Such was the case when the leader of the Apex predators, Kuben Blisk, threatened to kill the man if BT didn't give him the power source for the IMC's weapon, which was called the Fold weapon. The power source was locked within BT's chassis and though Blisk wanted to just crack it open, the power source was unstable and any attempt to forcibly remove it might have caused some severe radiation leakage or worse, blow them all up. So, with the life of his pilot in danger and despite the fact it would compromise the mission, BT opened up his chassis, sparing his pilot's life. Some people would have ridiculed the AI for doing this, but the pilot didn't care. It just showed the dedication and friendship that he had with BT. A friendship that was tragically ended short when BT sacrificed itself to destroy the Fold weapon, saving millions of lives, as well as destroying Typhon for the Fold weapon had blown a hole that went deep to the planet's core, making it uninhabitable. The sacrifice hit the pilot hard and he thought it would be the end of BT. Fortunately, he was not meant to be as BT, surprisingly, made a copy of his personality and memories within Jack's helmet when he had to be inserted into it in order for Jack to communicate with the AI when he went back in time in order to continue the mission. With this copy, BT-7274 had returned to the fold and was reassigned to the pilot as his AI and friend. Speaking of BT, the pilot saw the Titan examining the body of another Titan, a wreckage from the battle that took place at Typhon before it got destroyed.
"Got anything, BT?" Asked the man as he approached his Titan. Looking at the pilot, the Titan stopped its investigation and knelt down.
"Negative, I have found nothing that can help us determine the strange energy surge coming from Typhon. This has lead me to believe that what our scanners have detected was a mere flare of energy from the fold weapon." Said BT. Nodding in agreement, the man wondered on how to report this to his CO.
"Let's just continue searching, buddy." Said the man as he motioned for his Titan to open up, which it did, opening up its torso to allow the pilot to get inside. Once he was inside, the Titan closed the hatch. "Let's check the last location before going back home, alright?"
"Understood, Jack." Said BT before marching towards the last location. The pilot, now known as Jack, sighed as he wondered on what was going on. Just a week ago, a Militia patrol had detected some strange readings from the ruined remains of Typhon. At first, they assumed it was some left over energy from the weapon that destroyed Typhon, but it kept showing up on scanners over and over again until the militia sent Jack and his Titan to examine it. As they were the ones that destroyed Typhon as well as having the most knowledge of the Fold weapon, they thought they knew more about the energies of the Fold weapon than they did. And to be fair, they were correct. BT had scanned the Fold weapon's power core before it was used, so they knew what they were looking for. However, aside from traces remnants that were scattered all over the wrecked remains of the planet, there was literally nothing of note on the planet aside from the massive hole that Jack made when he sabotaged the Fold weapon. Wondering what this energy source was, Jack thought that something was off. Eventually, the two made it to the last location that they were assigned to investigate. And what the found, surprised them.
Out in a small patch of floating rock, were large amounts of purple crystals that seemed to be pulsating with power. Stunned to see this, Jack talked to BT.
"Anything in your databanks about this, BT?" Asked Jack as the Titan cautiously walked closer to the anomaly.
"Negative. There are no natural minerals within Frontier space that are purple in color and glow this brightly."
"Could it be a result of the Fold weapon going off?" Asked Jack as they were now just meters from the crystals.
"Possibility, but the color does not match with the Fold weapon's energy. Something is amiss, Jack." Agreeing with BT, he was about to tell him to back off when suddenly the ground beneath them shook, sending BT crashing to the ground. As the Titan and pilot were recovering, the ground beneath them suddenly began forming cracks. Before the could do anything, the ground broke apart, sending them falling to a massive chasm. Seeing that they were falling to their deaths, BT was about to eject his Pilot when a massive portal, of the same color as the crystals, came out of nowhere and saved them. With its cargo, the portal closed, its purpose fulfilled.