SDVT-1
2312:
A lone vertibird flies through the ruins of Washington State.
"Alright boys" Ellie said "We don't know of Vault-Tec's combat capabilities. Keep your intervals wide and your eyes peeled"
"Ellie" Polonsky said over the radio "You're too excited! At least wait for the Rufus' team!"
"No time! After what happened to Dallas, Vault-Tec knows we're on to them! We have to move fast!"
"Ellie!"
"Come on! Have faith in me… and my wolves!"
Polonsky sighs. "…Fine. Don't get killed out there"
"Don't worry I won't"
Elsewhere:
"Yeah right…" Polonsky said as he sits back on his chair and sighs.
"So?" Alexander asked, approaching the man
"Stubborn as always…"
"Some things never change, I guess"
"That's true"
"Also. I didn't know she has a new squad"
"Yep… They call themselves Wolf Pack. Some of the Templars we gathered turned out to be decent fighters and Ellie decided to organize them into a fighting force"
"Interesting... Mind if I can get the names of these guys?"
"Why? Is the NCR still hunting Enclave remnants?"
"Nah… Just to sate my curiosity"
"Alright"
Polonsky then hands over a file to the general.
Jonas - Demolition. Ex-mechanic and scavenger from the Boneyard. Good with explosives and even helped make and maintain a few of the NCR's weapons. Participated in the NCR expansion to the east but remained in the Carolina wasteland until 2308.
Vivian – Recon. Formerly a trader from the Crimson Caravans. Known for her high perception, she was mostly used to scout out potential threats and ensure that the caravans avoid as much as possible. Her caravan mostly traded in New Vegas.
Owen – CQC Specialist. Ex-Ranger and Drill instructor. Known for his strict training regiments and almost inhuman exercises. Participated in the NCR invasion of D.C. in 2300. Acted mostly as a drill instructor, he also participated in several key engagements such as the rescue of General Alexander.
Marta – Support Gunner. Scavenger and former Sons of Liberty rebel. Survivor of the Brotherhood-Enclave War of 2277. Became a mercenary-for-hire between 2277 and 2305. Participated in many major engagements during the war with her service record going as early as the Battle of Canterbury Commons.
"And Ellie's the squad leader. Interesting…" Alexander said, putting the file down "But there's isn't much info here. Not even an age range"
"That's the point" Polonsky answered "These guys, as Ellie claimed, are one of the best soldiers or related to the best soldiers of the Enclave's old army"
"…Fine. You people and your secret battles and secret societies…"
"Guilty as charged"
"Anyway. Ellie's a tad bit too excited. She's never been this reckless before"
"It's Vault-Tec. She's been itching to pick a fight with em for a while now"
"Right… I just hope she doesn't do anything stupid while she's at it..."
Back in the destroyed remains of Washington State, Ellie's team nears their destination.
Down below, several men, wearing advanced armor along with gas masks & helmets, position themselves around the ruined city.
One raises his missile launcher and locks onto Ellie's vertibird.
"Missile lock!" one of the pilots said
Ellie quickly looks through the windshield and notices the lone individual on top of the remains of a roof
"Evasive maneuvers!" she shouted as the individual launches the missile
"FLARES!" Ellie shouted again as the vertibird releases its flares.
The missile hits one of the flares, saving the vertibird.
However, more individuals emerge from the ruins and fire their respective rocket launchers.
The pilots struggle to evade the ever increasing number of rockets and missiles.
It didn't take long for one rocket to hit one of the vertibird's engines, causing it to spin out of control.
"Fuck!" Ellie shouted "Brace!"
Seconds later, the vertibird crashes in the middle of the city.
Alexander continues his conversation with Polonsky.
"I get that these guys were former Enclave" the NCR general said "But what of their combat abilities? How well can these guys handle a firefight?"
"Don't worry" Polonsky answered "When push comes to shove, they deliver pain. Hot and on time"
"That's a weird way to put it"
The hostile group surrounds the vertibird crash site.
Inside, Ellie and her squad scour the vertibird for usable items and a way out
"Is everyone alright?" Ellie said
"Both pilots are dead" Jonas, armed with an AK-74 with a GP-25 grenade launcher, reported
"I'm spotting around 20 tangos" Vivian said as she continues to scan the area, through a small dent on the vertibird, with her analyzer goggles "4 on the 2nd floor of a building on our 2 o'clock, probably snipers. About 10 right in front and 3 on each side"
"Alright people" Ellie said as she cocks her AK-74u "Let's make these bastards regret picking a fight with us"
She then breaks open the top part of the vertibird.
As the remains of the vertibird's door land on the ground, Ellie and Owen emerge from the crash site and dash towards their targets.
The enemy soldiers open fire as the duo uses the ruins as cover and closes the distance on the 3 soldiers on each side.
The snipers had a clear shot of the duo but quickly retreat behind cover as one of them gets shot by a barrage from Marta's M249 SAW.
The middle squad also takes cover as Vivian delivers precise headshots with her Barret .50 cal while Jonas uses his GP-25 to smoke the enemies behind cover.
Meanwhile, the 3-man teams on the sides suddenly find themselves in close combat with Ellie and Owen.
On Owen's side, one of the individuals attempts to attack the man with his Ripper. Owen quickly uses his left hand to spin and redirect the man's right arm elsewhere, completely avoiding the mini saw's blades.
Owen then stabs his adversary in the stomach with his karambit and uses his body as shield from the bullets coming from the other 2 hostiles.
He then lunges at another hapless individual as the fight continues.
On Ellie's side, she does a backflip, evading a swipe from one of the soldiers.
She then brings out her M1911 and dodges another strike as she lunges at the man and rams her shoulder on his stomach but her adversary did not flinch.
Ellie then aims her pistol directly at the man's stomach and furiously unloads her magazine upon the individual, using the final bullet to shoot the man from under his mask.
As the other 2 individuals lunge at her, Ellie quickly grabs one of the men by their arm and throws them to the ground. She then does a backflip, evading the other man's attack.
Ellie then flicks both her wrists, unleashing her hidden blades, and furiously stabs one of the men in the chest.
As the other man gets back up, Ellie quickly grabs his shoulder and stabs him through the throat.
Meanwhile, the snipers struggle to return fire as Marta continues to hammer their position.
Suddenly, the barrage stops.
For a short while, the area was silent as both parties waited for one to make the first move.
One of the hostile individuals, then, breaks cover.
Vivian quickly aims her Barret but retreats behind cover as the other 2 snipers fire their respective rifles at her
Marta takes cover as well as the snipers displace from their location.
"Not letting you guys escape…" Vivian muttered as she breaks cover and aims at the path ahead of the snipers
She fires a shot and the bullet lands on one of the sniper's heads. As the other 2 snipers raise their rifles, Marta and Jonas break cover and fire their respective weapons at the two, killing them before they even pulled their triggers.
A few minutes later:
Ellie and her team gather by the vertibird crash site.
"Well" Jonas said looking at one of the corpses "That was an interesting landing and yep, these guys are from Vault-Tec alright"
"Quite a welcome party" Marta remarked "If this is all what Vault-Tec has to offer, I'm kinda surprised that they managed to end the world"
"Let's not pat each other on the back just yet" Ellie said "We've underestimated our foes before and it led to our defeat, TWICE. We MUST NOT do that again"
"Right. Right." Owen responded
"The Vault Dallas found should be just a few meters away" Ellie said looking at her Pip-Boy "Let's move"
Later that night:
As Wolf Pack scours the ruins of an old suburb, they stop by a house to spend the night.
The inside was no different than any other ruined house.
Furniture was either overturned or scattered everywhere, metallic parts rusting in a corner
It seemed the house was no different than any other abandoned structure.
As the squad sits down and rest, Ellie moves deeper into the house, entering a room.
Inside, she finds an old picture frame. In it was a black and white image of a middle-aged man with a young woman next to him and a little girl in front of the two.
"Funny…" the squad leader muttered "…This middle-aged man is familiar… But I can't put my finger on it…"
As she notices the man's pendant in the picture, she hears a faint sound coming from inside the frame.
"Curious…" Ellie muttered as she tries to open the frame but fails
She then flicks her wrist and uses her hidden blade to pry open the backside of the frame.
She succeeds and finds a holotape hidden inside
Before she could play the contents of the tape, Vivian calls to her.
"Ellie!" she said "We got hostiles!"
Putting the holotape in her inventory, the squad leader readies her gun and moves towards her squad.
Wolf pack positions by the living room
"What do we have?" Ellie asked
"4 tangos" Owen reported "All armed with unknown firearms but they seem to be ballistic in nature"
"…And a Chimera Tank" Jonas added
"Chimera Tank?" Ellie remarked "Vault-Tec managed to procure Chinese tanks?"
"So what's the plan, boss?" Owen asked
Ellie smiles as she begins briefing her squad
A few minutes later, Wolf Pack splits into 2 groups, with Owen, Vivian, and Ellie using stealthboys to get close to the tank while the rest of the squad positions themselves inside the house
As the enemy squad gets close to the house, Jonas fires his GP-25
The grenade detonates close to the tank, sending 2 enemy soldiers flying while the rest respond accordingly.
The tank quickly turns its turret and aims for the house
Owen quickly deactivates his stealthboy and lunges at the remaining soldiers.
He plunges his knife onto one of the soldiers' throats and parries a strike from the other
He then grabs the hapless soldier and pins him to the ground
"Oh shit…" Jonas uttered as the tank fires a shot "Get down!"
The tank shell punches a hole in the house as Ellie jumps on top of the tank
Using her superhuman strength, Ellie opens the hatch slightly, just enough for the muzzle of her AK-74u to fit
She pulls down on the trigger, hard, emptying her whole mag as the tank crew screamed in terror
With the threat neutralized, Wolf Pack gathers around the last surviving Vault-Tec soldier
"I kept him alive, boss" Owen reported as he exerts force onto the pinned soldier
"Vivian" Ellie said as Vivian connects her Pip-Boy with the soldier's Pip-Boy
"So much encrypted files…" Vivian uttered "This may take a while…"
"What do we do with this guy?" Owen asked
"We 'interview' him about Vault-Tec" Ellie replied as Owen prepares to interrogate the prisoner
As Owen takes off the prisoner's mask, he notices the enemy soldier grinning
"Well. Well" Owen uttered "I wonder how long you can maintain that demeanor"
"You won't get anything from me!" the Vault-Tec soldier uttered as foam begins to form around his mouth
"Suicide pill?!" Ellie uttered in surprise "Damn it!"
The soldier convulses and shakes before finally going silent.
"Well…" Owen said "He's dead…"
"So much for that info…" Marta remarked
"Fuck…" Ellie uttered "Vivian. How's the decryption?"
"I managed to decrypt a marker pointing north but the other files are so well encrypted that if I make one mistake, everything inside my Pip-Boy will be encrypted too"
"Wow" Jonas uttered "These Vault-Tec guys are good…"
"At least we have a lead" Ellie said "Alright. We rest up for a few minutes and-"
But before Ellie could finish her sentence, she notices a figure in the corner of another house
She quickly raises her rifle and fires a burst. "We got a straggler!" she shouted
Wolf Pack quickly converges on the corner
From there, Ellie increases her speed to catch up with the figure
She lunges at him and pins him to the ground
Holding down the figure's right arm, Ellie flicks her left wrist and proceeds to stab the figure's left shoulder but the blade breaks upon contact
"What the fuck?!" she uttered as the man struggles free
Ellie jumps back and sees a young man, wearing leather armor and an American flag as a cloak
The two stare off before the man quickly draws his Python
Ellie lunges, dodging several shots and gets within melee range
Before Ellie could attack, the man unleashes his mutated left claw upon the squad leader.
Ellie blocks the attack with her arms, leaving a deep gash on both
"That explains my blade breaking…" she muttered as her arms regenerate
Clenching her fists, Ellie lunges once more. This time, she dodges or parries all of the man's strikes and lands several punches, ending with a knee to the stomach.
The man collapses onto the ground as Ellie gets on top of him
Grabbing the man's jaw, she utters "Now. You're going to tell me everything you know"