Authors Note

Desertstar87: I'll explore more detail into it later, lol. The story is wrapping up however, all it needs is a few more chapters to put things in place.

Dark Flygon Naxi: It's a play off of "Mustang and Sally" and "Calamity and Jane" from Call of Duty Black Ops. Unfortunately, it will be removed. I had ideas about implementing a new Chinese Stealth Suit, but my mind is already set on finishing this story, and continuing Sam's journey in another story. I have ideas for that story, but I don't want to spoil anything.

Lord Kain: I have some text here in this chapter with Sam and Arcade investigating the eyebot.

ScarletChakra: Thank you, I hope you enjoy this one as well.

Ovall Aocrog: That's a great idea, I included a little snippit of it in this chapter. Nothing major though.

ZOMBEHSRKEWL: Thank you, I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

CyberJordan: There was a time when I was going to expand the story, and have the battle for Hoover Dam play out very different, but midterms are coming up for me, and I must study more than I have time for myself.

colortheskyred: I understand what you're saying, but I can't change previous chapters. Newer chapters are longer, and better.

Everyone:

I want to thank everyone who reads this story, as well as reviews it. You're all awesome people. I am going to try and end this story before my midterms come, but I will start a new one when it comes back, with Sam as the main character once again. No spoilers, but I plan to write an Oblivion crossover, as I'm quite excited for the Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.

"Let's trash it." Sam said, picking up a hammer lying near the eyebot.

"I agree." Arcade said.

Sam brought the hammer high up, but his arm was jerked back by Beth.

"No. It's not harming anyone by being broken. Besides, I think it looks kind of cute." Beth said. Sam wrenched his arm away, but set down the hammer regardless.

"Whatever you say." He said, still eyeing the little eyebot.

"We're low on caps." Boone said. "Not that we can't just live in this sweet place for the rest of our lives, but we need caps for repairs, guns, and ammo."

"Alright. We'll look around for jobs." Sam said.

Beth picked up the eyebot, marveling at how it was mostly intact, except for a large hole in its side that revealed burned wires and circuits inside. Maybe with some more parts and some scrap metal she could patch it up. But for now, she set it back down.

They all cramped into the elevator, and went to their respective floors.

A group of Legion soldiers marched in perfect rows behind their leader. He was not a patient man, nor a kind one. They knew of the tortures he did on soldiers who didn't follow orders. The man raised a hand, signaling for the group to stop. They immediately followed his silent order, dropping their things and beginning to set up tents.

Unluckily, a wandering Wastelander was walking close by to the camp. The man instantly spotted him, and moved with ridiculous speed, sprinting to the man and tackling him to the ground. His eyes were black holes staring into the Wastelanders eyes. His armor was as black as his eyes, if not blacker.

"P-P-Please. Let me go." The Wastelander begged. The man in black armor simply laughed. His laugh alerted his soldiers, who instantly came to his side.

"Tie him up, and let him starve. When the sun falls, we'll have a meal tonight." The man said licking his lips.

The Wastelander saw his canine teeth were filed to the point that they were sharp fangs. It was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

House had called Beth to come up again. He seemed less patient then the last time she had spoken to him.

"As I said before, there is no rush to use the Platinum chip. You still have it though, am I correct?" House said. His last question sounded threatening.

Beth quickly pulled the chip from her pocket and held it up.

"I have to find a way in there first. It's hard enough with all the Legion popping up and attacking us every time we go out." Beth told him.

"Hm…I believe it must be. I will look in the matter for you. But until then, stay safe." House said back. Beth started to turn and leave, but House called out again. "Wait."

"Yes?"

"I cross checked the backgrounds of all your companions. Excluding the cyber dog."

"I didn't ask you to." Beth said, confused.

"I know. I did it for safety purposes. All of them check out, except for a small detail." House said. "It concerns your friend with the sword.""

Beth listened with interest.

"I ran his name, and found files connecting him to the Brotherhood of Steel, as well as a book."

"Book?"

"I believe there's a copy somewhere in this place. Ask Victor to find it for you."

"Thanks." Beth said before leaving.

The next day, Arcade was tinkering with the eyebot. There were speakers on the machine, so it must obviously have audio files, or at least the ability to project sound.

"Messing with the eyebot?" said a voice from behind him. He jumped, startled by the voice and turned around.

It was Sam. Even without his Chinese Stealth suit he was good at sneaking around. Arcade made a mental note to himself.

"Uh yeah. I thought it might have some audio banks or something useful."

"Heh, sure." Sam said walking over.

Arcade began tinkering with a wire, connected to a large circuit. He accidentally moved another wire in the process, which gave him a nasty shock.

"Ow!" he said stepping back, grasping his own hand in pain. Sam laughed.

"Don't the Enclave teach you guys anything?" Sam asked. Arcade frowned angrily.

"I wasn't taught. I'm not even Enclave really. My dad was. And not all of them are bad." He said.

Sam just shrugged and took a look at the eyebot. He examined the intact sides. Dang, was this thing in rough shape. A license plate was stuck to it, with numbers worn out so all that could be read was ED-E. He turned the eyebot so that the side with the hole was facing towards him. From what he could see, the damage wasn't enough to shut this thing down for good. With a few parts, he could probably fix it. Not that he wanted to.

Sam noticed the wire that Arcade had been fiddling with originally. He carefully moved it so that it now touched the circuit board. A voice came out from the speakers. The voice was a deep, man's voice.

"Diagnosis completed. Begin recording. My name is Whitley. I'm a researcher at Adams Air Force Base. Until recently I was in charge of the Duraframe reinforcement project for the combat model eyebots. Eyebot Duraframe Subject E is both the prototype, and the last functional model in this test group. I was prepared to make several significant upgrades to the machines. However, as the project was canceled and all Duraframe assets are being diverted to Hellfire Armor, I am sending this model to the Navarro Outpost."

Arcade's eyes perked up at the mention of Navarro.

"Other than eyebot, Adams Air Force Base, and Hellfire Armor, I'm lost. You?" Sam asked.

"Navarro was an NCR outpost. I don't know if it's still there, or if the NCR just blew it up. How do you know about that other stuff?"

"I've been to Adams Air Force Base. It was the Enclave's main base of operations in the Capital Wasteland. We blew them to hell. This eyebot must've been sent before we attacked."

"This is incredible! Look at it!" Arcade said, finally noticing the hard work that 'Whitley' had put into the eybot. Sam had to admit, it was formidable.

A pipe, which was undoubtedly a laser was attached the bottom of the bottom of the eyebot. A little speaker was on top of it. The eyebot also seemed to be made out of a stronger metal than regular eyebots as well. Sam shook his head when he realized if the Enclave had had these more advance eyebots ready for a fight, then the Brotherhood would have surely lost.

"What should we do with it?" Sam asked.

"We'll ask Beth. She'll know what to do." Arcade told him.

To Boone, a sniper wasn't just a weapon to shoot someone with. It was like a woman. You treat it with respect and take care of it, and it'll take care of you. He finished cleaning his rifle, and tossed the now dirty rag aside. He refitted a new scope onto the rifle, as well as loaded in more rounds of .308. He stepped back and marveled at his work.

The .308 hunting rifle that used to be weathered and a duct taped barrel now looked brand new. The wood shone in the light, and the barrel was no longer covered with duct tape. A longer-range optic scope was mounted on it with screws. He had even gone to the trouble of making extended magazines. A knock at his door made him turn.

It was Cass. She was wearing her usual clothing, leaning against the doorway.

"What?" Boone said gruffly.

"Chill your nuts. Princess wants everybody to come downstairs." Cass said. Boone guessed 'Princess' was Beth. He almost chuckled. Almost.

"I'll be right there." Boone said gruffly again, stowing his rifle away in a trunk.

"Okay. So I guess you're all wondering why I called you down." Beth said. Cass made a face. Beth ignored it and continued. "We still have the issue of this eyebot. Sam and Arcade say it can be repaired, but they don't know if they should or not. So I wanted to ask everyone's opinion."

"No." Cass declared quickly. Maybe it was a little too quick.

"I don't care." Boone said.

"I say we should." Arcade said. "Might have some important information."

"I don't care either." Sam said. "So I guess that means we're repairing it. Only one problem though."

"What?" Beth asked.

"The parts we need are extremely rare. Only people I know of who might have it are the Followers of Apocalypse, but they would never give any parts for some random person to fix a robot." Arcade explained.

"The Brotherhood might have the parts. I could check in there if you want." Sam offered.

"Okay then. Arcade, go to the Followers. See if they want anything in return. Sam, check in with the Brotherhood."

"Alright. Cass, Boone? Any of you want to tag along?" Sam asked. Boone shook his head.

"Hell, it's better than sitting on my ass here. Let's go." Cass said. The two went to the elevator together. Arcade reached for the eyebot, but Beth stopped him.

"You're not going there with it." She said protectively. Arcade shrugged and left, leaving her and Boone alone. "So,"

Boone didn't let her continue. He left as well. She sighed before plopping down in a chair.

Sam pulled on the clothes he had gotten from Doctor Mitchell, a pair of black jeans and a dirty white T-shirt. He slipped a belt around his waist with two holsters for Romeo and Juliet. He also strapped his trench knife to his belt as well. He picked up his katana, contemplating on whether or not to bring it. It couldn't hurt. He belted the sheath and sword as well. His G36 rested against the wall, but he didn't bother to pick it up. He stuffed his backpack with a bedroll, as well as ammo and a few bottle of water. He was set.

Cass was waiting for him in the lobby. Her ratty hat was gone, but her fiery red hair was still tied up. She had a backpack on as well, with her shotgun in her hands.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Always." She said grinning.

"Alright. It's still early. Let's try to get there before it gets dark."

The death of War was a terrible loss for the Legion. Caesar hadn't spoken to anyone for almost an entire day. Eventually, he sent a messenger to bring the three other Horsemen to his tent. One of them was absent, already hunting for the Black Ghost. If he didn't manage to kill him, then he doubted anyone but Lanius could. He shrugged the thought aside however. There was no way Famine would fail him. Caesar clapped his hands together.

"My Horsemen. Only three of you remain, and one of you is already hunting that fiend, the Black Ghost. Already he has slain two of our strongest warriors. He must be stopped. I hear he is quite good at fighting with blades and his fists. Try to avoid close encounters. If Famine fails, you two will be my last resort. Do not fail me."

"Yes Caesar." Both the Horsemen replied.

One of them wore white armor, splattered with blood. The other wore a long black robe, with some kind of strange armor. He said it had come from before the time period before the Great War. It was a strange type of armor, with many links of chains. But no matter how oddly he dressed, Caesar knew that Death was the most fearsome of the Horsemen. He was not as battle hungry as War, as cruel as Famine, or as psychotic as Pestilence. He was calmer, more reserved, and a strong thinker. His combat capabilities were more than excellent, but what gave him the edge over his opponents was his ability to outsmart them.

With two bows, both of the Horsemen left, leaving Caesar to himself in the tent.

"Are we there yet?" complained Cass. They had been walking for a while, and both of them were exhausted. Sam looked into the distance. It was almost a quarter of a mile away.

"Yeah we got a little bit more to go. Come on." He said pressing on. Cass groaned loudly.

They didn't receive a warm welcome. Ramos looked stressed, probably from the work he was doing. He waved them away to someone called Lorenzo. Lorenzo turned out to be a senior knight. Sam was "officially" a higher rank then him. But Lorenzo seemed like a nice person.

"Eh? Parts for a robot? I'd have to take a look at it, but I'm pretty sure I could fix it up for you." Lorenzo said wearily. "The Brotherhood will probably want to study it a little though. You don't mind do you?"

"Uh…I'll have to see about it." Sam said unsure. Cass and him turned to leave, when another voice called out. It was a woman's. Sam turned around to see Veronica running towards him. He couldn't suppress a grin.

"Hey! I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you before you guys left. I…uh…wanted to ask if you wanted another person tagging along. Someone who's good at punching people's faces in." Veronica asked. Sam looked to Cass, who was eyeing Veronica. Surprisingly, Cass just nodded.

"Alright then. We'll have to see what Beth says, but she'll probably say yes. Welcome to the team." Sam said. Veronica seemed to beam with excitement.

"Awesome. When do we set out?"

"I guess it'll be better to leave in the morning. Who knows what can happen at night?"

"Yeah, the Lucky 38 is pretty far away. We might as well crash here." Cass said. Veronica nodded.

"They're a few empty rooms in the bunker. I'm sure I can find you guys rooms."

"Parts Arcade? You know I can't just give you these. They're expensive." Julie Farkas told him. Arcade nodded.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"What we need is supplies. What do you need these parts for anyways?"

"An eyebot. My…boss wants me to fix it up." Arcade said uneasily. Julie shook her head.

"Enclave business Arcade? You know how we feel about the Brotherhood and them."

"We're not helping the Enclave. We're just fixing it up."

"Well…" Julie said. "I guess I could give you the parts free. Under one condition."

"What?"

"I'm going to want to borrow it for awhile, give it to April to study it or something. It could have interesting tech."

"I'm going to have to ask, but if my friend says yes, then we have a deal."

Veronica was up earlier than Sam and Cass. She wore her ratty robes, hood down revealing her raven black hair tied up in a ponytail. She had a backpack slung over her shoulders, with a 10mm pistol at her hip, and a Power Fist on her hand. She had even gone to the liberty of bringing them toothbrushes, something they only had at the Lucky 38.

"The Elder just let's you leave as you please?" Sam asked her.

"They send me out for scouting parties. Hell, I think he'd be glad if he knew I was leaving." She said laughing.

No one stopped the trio on their way out. Maybe because the bunker was in such a hectic state, or maybe because they didn't care. None the less, they left without any trouble.

"You ever use that pea shooter?" Cass asked Veronica. She was pointing to the 10mm pistol at her hip.

"Not really. I'm more of a punching type of girl." Veronica told her. Cass grinned. "So you guys live at that big tower?" Veronica said pointing in the distance.

"Yeah. Though you can't really say we live there. I like going out a lot. Mixing things up a bit." Sam replied. He squinted and saw something out of place in the distance. "What is that?"

"What?" Cass and Veronica said. They looked into the distance as well. Cass cursed when she saw the sight.

"Legion." She said. "Shit."

"Who's the prick wearing that fancy black armor?" Veronica asked. She had pulled out a pair of binoculars from her backpack.

"Can I see that?" Sam asked. She handed it to him.

He looked through the binoculars, only to see a man wearing pitch-black armor. There was something about him though, that gave Sam chills down his spine. A small band of Legion followed him, wearing classical Legion armor. Sam looked away from the binoculars only to see Cass drawing her shotgun, moving closer to the Legion party. He tossed away the binoculars and tackled her down.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed. She shoved him off of her and stood.

"What are we going to do? Run?" she shot back angrily.

"Yeah, maybe!" he said angrily as well. "We're not throwing away our lives to kill a few Legion."

"Uh, not to interrupt, but they're getting closer." Veronica said worriedly. She had reclaimed the fallen binoculars and held them in her hand not wearing the Power Fist.

Sam squinted and could make out the bare outlines of men. He turned to Cass.

"You want to stay here and die? Fine." He told her. "Come on Veronica. Let's see if we can get around these guys."

Veronica followed him as he started to jog away. Cass reluctantly followed. Unfortunately for them, one of the Legion soldiers spotted them. Sam heard him yell something about a sword before the party of Legion began chasing after them.

Famine, the second Horsemen felt a warm feeling rising in his stomach as he realized the man he was chasing was no other than the Black Ghost. He was no wearing his armor however, which was confusing. Of course it might've been broken beyond repair by War. He felt a pang of disappointment. He had been hoping for a challenge. He barked orders to a Legion soldier by his side. Only a few moments later, Sam heard the sounds of dogs barking, hungry for blood.

"Shit!" Veronica cursed loudly as a vicious dog bit her leg. She punched it with her Power Fisted hand, caving in its skull.

Sam had pulled out one of the pistols from his belt, Juliet. The .45 ACP round killed the dog on his trail instantly. He heard the sound of Cass firing her shotgun, also killing another dog. Sam looked around; gun raised looking for more enemies. He saw the Legion party was getting closer. Shit, he thought.

"Come on, let's keep moving!" he yelled. He started to sprint. He didn't care where he was going; it was better than facing a large group of Legion with 3 people.

"There! Look!" Veronica said. Sam looked to where she was pointing, at a large valley. Maybe, if they could lose the Legion in there, they could escape. They continued sprinting.

The Legion never seemed to slow. Even though Sam, Cass, and Veroncia were near the point of collapsing, the Legion soldiers just continued to push forward. Eventually, Cass pointed out a cave, which they immediately dove into. They were all panting heavily.

"Fuck…Shit. How are we going to get out of this?" Sam said more to himself than anyone. He peeked outside the cave. The Legion soldiers were close. They'd be where they were in a few minutes. They had to act fast.

Sam desperately looked for a means of escape. Then he saw it. The valley broke into two at a fork in front of them. He could see one of them forks led to a dead end, with another cave. He shook his head when he realized the plan would never work. Someone would have to go the other way and make sure no one followed. He made his decision, and stood up.

"See that fork over there?" Sam asked the two women. They looked over and nodded. "We can hide in that cave over there. It's a dead end; they won't expect us to go there. We can make it before they see us if we run."

"Shit, more running?" Cass said groaning. Even though her muscles protested, she stood.

"Okay, let's hit it then."

The three sprinted from the cave quickly. Sam glanced to see if a Legion soldier had spotted them. He could barely make the outlines of the soldiers while squinting. That meant if he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him. He purposely started to slow, but Veronica and Cass didn't seem to notice. Eventually, he stopped suddenly, and began sprinting in the opposite direction. Cass and Veronica didn't notice until they reached the mouth of the cave.

By then, the Legion had spotted Sam going down the fork that wasn't a dead end. Cass tried to run after him, but Veronica stopped her.

"You think he tricked us here on purpose? He wouldn't have wanted it any other way." Veronica told her.

The valley led out onto a cliff overlooking a large river. Sharp jagged rocks that jutted from the earth, pointing upwards, which surrounded the river. Sam realized he had led himself into his deathbed. He turned around, only to face the small Legion army that had been following him. The group parted, revealing the man in black armor he had seen before. He was smiling, revealing sharp pointed teeth. His skin was unnaturally pale, his eyes black holes.

"Well, well. If it isn't the infamous Black Ghost?" said the man laughing. "I hear you're quite the escape artist. Tell me though, where is that dashing suit of yours?"

Sam didn't answer. He took a step back as the man took a step forward.

"A mute as well? Now that's just silly. How about I tell you my name, and then you'll come with us to see Caesar."

"I'd rather die." Sam said bravely, though he didn't draw his guns, or his sword.

"Really then? Well I suppose that can be arranged. Soldier! Hand me your spear!"

The soldier beside the man in black armor took out his spear and handed it to him. The man grinned.

"I suppose I should tell you my name before I die. I am the Second Horsemen, Fam-"

Famine was interrupted by Sam quickly taking off his backpack and throwing it at him. It prolonged the inevitable for a second. Sam tried to pull out a pistol from his side, but instantly fell back as Famine recovered and lunged forward with the spear, stabbing him in the center of his chest.

"Normally I would save your corpse for a meal, but I'm feeling charitable." He said smiling.

He pushed the spear deeper before shoving Sam off the cliff, into the rocks and the water. Sam didn't close his eyes until he felt the cool rush of water enclose him.