Life Outside the Vault [Canon Pre-Fallout 4] [ARCHIVED]

And so the Courier who had cheated death in the cemetery outside Goodsprings cheated death once again, and the Mojave wasteland was forever changed.

Mr. House's Securitron army took control The Strip, pushing both the Legion and the exhausted NCR out of the running. Mr. House continued to run New Vegas his way, a despotic vision of Pre-War glory. The streets were orderly, efficient, cold. New Vegas continued to be the sole place in the wasteland where fortunes were won and lost in the blink of an eye.

The Legion, ever a present threat, remains across the water. Licking its wounds from its loss at Hoover Dam, but it won't be out for long. For the Legion, war never changes.

The New California Republic celebrated its second victory at Hoover Dam, establishing definitive control over the entire Mojave Wasteland. Soon after, they negotiated terms to annex The Strip, Freeside, and many surrounding communities, unfortunatly failing in annexing The Strip itself from Mr House and his Securitrons. The Mojave wasteland, at long last, had succumbed to the NCR's banner. Save for The Strip, the jewel itself, remaining out of reach.

Due to the Courier's intervention, Chief Hanlon abandoned his plan to sabotage the defense of Hoover Dam. The rangers assisted the troopers admirably during the Legion's ill-fated attack. Though General Oliver and Chief Hanlon were both praised for their leadership, the chief quietly stepped out of the spotlight. After a brief fanfare for a life full of accomplishments, Chief Hanlon retired and returned to the peace and quiet of his ranch in Redding.

Shaped up by the Courier's advice, the Misfits distinguished themselves during the Legion's attack on Camp Golf. Mags was finally promoted to Sergeant, and the rest of the Misfits received an official commendation. They continued to serve with distinction for many years.

After the NCR's victory at the dam, in part thanks to Follower medical support, NCR and Mr House allowed the Followers to care for refugees as they see fit. Old Mormon Fort expanded its services and was able to aid more people, becoming a refuge for the less fortunate citizens of New Vegas.

With the Dam firmly in their grasp, the NCR turned its attention towards wresting the Correctional Facility from Powder Ganger hands. The Powder Gangers are no match for the battle-hardened troops of the NCR, and summary execution awaited the Powder Gangers who managed to survive.

After the majority of the Vault 19 Powder Gangers joined the Great Khans, the weaker members scattered throughout the Mojave Wasteland. Though a few managed to erase their pasts, most never survived the journey.

After the NCR victory at Hoover Dam, the temporary truce between them and the Kings blossomed into a full-scale relief effort for the people. While the NCR made repeated entreaties that Freeside join the Republic, the Kings steadfastly maintained their independence.

During the Battle of Hoover Dam, the Great Khans quickly evacuated Red Rock Canyon and headed north and east into the plains of Wyoming. There, they reconnected with the Followers of the Apocalypse and rebuilt their strength. Bolstered by ancient knowledge of governance, economics, and transportation, they carved a mighty empire out of the ruins of the Northwest.

Tabitha and Rhonda went east, through Caesar's land. Occasionally tales of their exploits found their way back west, though few believed them. Eventually the stories concerning the duo were collected and published, and proved to be quite popular with children.

With the help of the Gun Runners, the Boomers developed a healthy trading relationship with the NCR. Eventually the Boomers began wandering out into the wasteland, while still preventing outsiders from entering Nellis. They have been seen flying over the Mojave Desert from time to time.

The Brotherhood and the NCR in the Mojave Wasteland declared an official truce, despite continued hostilities between the two in the west. As per their agreement, the NCR handed over all suits of salvaged power armor and in return the Brotherhood helped patrol I-15 and Highway 95.

Their leaders destroyed by the Courier, the Fiends scattered throughout the wasteland. Without the organization of Motor-Runner, Cook-Cook, Violet, and Driver Nephi, they were easy prey. Rumours persist of Fiends regrouping far to the south, but little has come from it. Save for a few caravans left rotting on the roads.

Goodsprings saw more trade along I-15 after NCR gained control of the Mojave Wasteland, but with that came a heavy burden of the Republic's taxes. Some old-timers, unable to handle the cost, were forced to move on, grumbling all the while. After Mr. House gained control of New Vegas, he sent a Securitron to Goodsprings as a token of appreciation for helping the Courier. Victor was a mixed blessing, however, as he continually monitored the town for Mr. House.

Thanks to the Courier and Lily, a cure for the Nightkin schizophrenia was found shortly after Doctor Henry's experiment concluded. Nightkin and other Super Mutants in the wasteland flocked to Jacobstown, and the town became known as a haven where a mutant could find peace.

Though Novac was a low-priority target for the Legion, many of Novac's citizens died in its defense. In the weeks that followed, several Bright Followers returned to Novac to help restore its defenses, allowing it to remain independent of NCR.

After Hoover Dam, NCR helps rebuild Primm as a major stopping point on the Long 15. Though Primm's citizens chafe under NCR's taxes, they benefit greatly from the increased protection and merchant traffic.
After their bold arrival at Hoover Dam, the Remnants disappeared as quickly as they came. Legends of their power spread throughout the southwest, a reminder of why people once feared the sight of vertibirds in the sky.

The Courier, fair and even-handed in his dealings throughout the Wasteland, was honored by the NCR for his support of the military at Hoover Dam. He was presented with the Golden Branch, the highest civilian decoration given by the republic. Mr House also offered him sanctuary and peace in the Lucky 38, but The Courier refused. He moved on. Taking those Companions who longed for travel with him, and leaving behind those who didn't with bags laden with caps.

Not long after the Courier began his long walk, a child was born, born to the curator of Vault 21, Sarah Weintraub. The baby girl had all the looks of her mother, and bore a striking resemblance to The Courier.


Arcade had hoped that Freeside would be able to remain independent of NCR rule, but he was glad that Caesar's Legion had been stopped at Hoover Dam. He tended to the sick in Freeside for a while longer, then returned to NCR territory to become a teacher with the Followers there.

Looking for a place where he could be of some use, Boone found himself re-enlisting with his old unit. Though his regrets remained in his thoughts, they coalesced into a purpose, and Boone embraced it. He spent his leave time hunting down slavers in the desert, his First Recon beret the last thing they never saw.

With its logs cleared and its systems upgraded ED-E remained a vigilant and constant companion to the courier. The Brotherhood used the information recovered from ED-E to create a small army of Duraframe Eyebots.

Lily continued to take her medicine at half-doses, and although she remembered her grandchildren, her mind remained muddled and confused. Eventually, she parted ways with the Courier and traveled west, seeking the remnants of her past.

Invigorated by his travels with the Courier, Raul once more took up his guns in memory of his lost Rafaela. Soon after, the Mojave was filled with tales of the ghost-vaquero who hunts down those who prey on the weak.

After Rey's brain was transplanted into Rex's cybernetic body, it took Rex some time to adjust to the old scrap yard dog's memories. Eventually, Rex's mind settled peacefully, melding his own memories with that of long travels with Old Lady Gibson. The dog remained with the Courier from that day forward.

That night, Cass kicked in the door of his room to celebrate, only to find the man on the bed was an NCR soldier whose barracks had been destroyed. He was cute, though, so after having her way with him, she got the hell out, leaving an empty whiskey bottle as a note. As she walked along the Dam in the night, she felt drunk, content, and happy to be alive. Which to her, was the whole point of it all.

The peace with NCR served to ease Veronica's worries about the Brotherhood's immediate future. Still, a distance had arisen between her and her fellow members that would never be bridged. She began secluding herself in crumbling libraries of the Old World, learning of promising technologies she knew the Brotherhood would never adopt.



You've heard stories of the Sierra Madre Casino. We all have. This story's different than the others. It's all in promise of beginnings. And the ending.
The survivors of the Sierra Madre thought about gathering at the Fountain and waiting for the Courier. In the end, the collars' silence made them uneasy, and the fear of turning on each other made them hesitate, and leave the goodbyes - unspoken. The radio message at the fountain was enough for them, and there was no need to add another farewell on top of all they had suffered.

Dog forgot himself, as did the voice that raged within him. After their passing, a new voice spoke within the mutant's shell. It was difficult for the voice to remember the two it once was... there was the beast, Dog consumed by hunger... ...and the other in reverse... the one consumed by control. Both were driven by need for the other. The Courier brought them together, somehow, joined the two into one. All that happened at the Sierra Madre, was a faint memory to the new personality... like a flickering light in the clouds of the mind. The new voice did not think of the Courier again until the battle at the Divide reached his ears. The battle between the two couriers, beneath the torn skies and the Old World flag... each bearing a message for the other. And the mutant prayed the Courier that had saved him... had been saved in return.

Dean Domino, entertainer, singer... thief... explored the Sierra Madre not long after he was rescued by the Courier. Once he left the theater, the Sierra Madre recognized him as a guest, and many doors opened to him. He had to admit, it had been built to last. During his search, he came across the final records of Vera and Sinclair, and realized what happened the night the bombs fell. He felt strangely sad for a moment, and he had no idea why. Shrugging it off, his mind turned instead to where the Courier had come from. Vegas still survived, out there in the Mojave. Its sights, sounds... and casinos, ripe for the taking. So giving the Sierra Madre one last nod and a wink, he set off beyond the Cloud to begin again.

Christine, her mission complete, found new purpose as the Sierra Madre's warden. She watched over it silently - by choice. Over time, the Ghost People came to see her as one of the Holograms. They would watch, silently, as she walked among them. At times, Christine thought of the Courier, who had kept Elijah's hand from her throat. The Courier reminded her of the other courier she had met in the Big Empty, and wondered if the two had found each other at last. She did not think of them again until she heard the legends of the Divide. The Divide, where the two messengers, the two couriers, fought beneath an ancient flag, at the edge of the world.

You've heard of the Sierra Madre Casino. We all have, the legend, the curses. Some foolishness about it lying in the middle of a City of Dead. A city of ghosts. Buried beneath a blood-red cloud... a bright, shining monument luring treasure hunters to their doom. An illusion that you can begin again, change your fortunes. Finding it, though, that's not the hard part. It's letting go.



And so it was that the conflict between the New Canaanites and the White Legs was finally resolved. The Courier's involvement had tipped the scale, shifting the fragile balance of power.

For years after the defeat of the White Legs, Daniel did his best to minister to the Sorrows' spiritual needs. The tribe, although revering Joshua Graham as the saviour of Zion, remained the peaceful tribe that they always had been. The Father watched over them still, as did their new allies, the Dead Horses. With this in mind, Daniel was happy with the resolved situation of Zion Valley, continuing to negotiate relations between its inhabitants and New Canaan.

Having helped eradicate the White Legs from Zion, the Dead Horses returned to Dead Horse Point in triumph. They remained friendly towards the Sorrows, a relationship fostered by the New Canaanites - Daniel especially - and they formed a pact of defence, where the Dead Horses would defend Zion Valley and the New Canaanite settlements in exchange for spiritual advice and supplies.

Follows-Chalk took the Courier's words to heart and decided that the big cities of the Mojave Wasteland and NCR were best left unexplored. Though he sometimes dreamed of distant lands, he continued to support his family at Dead Horse Point, and eventually his wanderlust faded. Finally happy with his life, Follows-Chalk settled down and created his own family with non other than Waking Cloud, eventually drawn together by their relation to the Courier.

The defeat of the White Legs in Zion marked a turning point in the fortunes of the Happy Trails Caravan Company. Every two months, the caravan met with the New Canaanites in Zion Valley to trade. Happy Trails soon returned to prosperity. The vigilance of the Sorrows and Dead Horses in defending southwestern Utah, initially startling to Happy Trails caravans, soon proved a blessing. The tribes united against the 80s, driving them back from Highway 50, and thus opening yet another trading route for Happy Trails caravans.

The threat of the White Legs ended, Joshua Graham helped the Sorrows and Dead Horses tend to their fallen comrades and secure Zion. The Courier's words had stayed Joshua's wrath in his darkest hour, and in sparing Salt-Upon-Wounds, he was changed. While he continued to advocate militant opposition to the enemies of New Canaan, he sometimes showed quarter to those who crossed his family. Eventually this new spirit would diminish the myth of the Burned Man in distant lands - a small price for the peace it brought to Joshua Graham.

The Sorrows thanked Joshua Graham, the Dead Horses and the Courier for eradicating the threat the White Legs posed to Zion with a grand feast. Seeing the Courier convince Joshua Graham to spare Salt-Upon-Wounds, the Sorrows learned that retribution could be tempered by mercy. Daniel took some small consolation in the Courier's lesson, and prayed it would take root.

Waking Cloud was distraught when she learned of her husband's death, but took comfort from her tribe, and the compassion of the New Canaanites. She forgave Daniel for having concealed her husband's fate from her, and learned to accept his fate. When her grief faded, she took a husband from the Dead Horse tribe, Follows-Chalk. At her bidding, he stayed close to home.

Demoralized by the Dead Horse and Sorrows attack the Courier and Joshua Graham led against them, the White Legs retreated to Great Salt Lake. Their days were numbered. Word soon reached the 80s tribe that the White Legs' spirit was broken, their war chief a dim shadow of his former self. By year's end, the 80s would overrun the White Legs' camps, scattering the tribe to the winds and claiming the Great Salt Lake for its own.

And with that, the Courier walked out of the history of the tribes of Zion and back to the gathering storm of the Mojave Wasteland.



As it had been in the years before the Great War, Big MT... the Big Empty... became home to one of the brightest minds of the 23rd century. The Courier watched over the Big Empty for years to come, caring for it, and keeping its discoveries safe until they were needed to help others. Which had always been Big MT's purpose. Past the laboratories and Science, it had always been intended as a place to build the future of all mankind.

The Sink Central Intelligence Unit was impressed by the amount of exploration the Courier had undertaken. Facilities believed lost, destroyed, or ones that had simply gotten up and walked to new locations had been re-discovered by its intrepid new master. Internally, the artificial personality debated as to whether it preferred the old management to the new... and concluded that the Courier's thorough approach to research and investigation was admirable and worthy of its respect.

Dr. Mobius continued his research undisturbed in the Forbidden Zone. As much as he had attempted to create better scorpions, he tried the same with humanity, with considerably less success. These failures didn't bother him overmuch. Once the rush of Mentats wore off, he forgot he had failed in any event. After all, the bright young mind who had come to visit him in the Forbidden Zone had already exceeded his expectations.

The Sink atop the Dome bustled with the voices of a small town, constantly chirping, arguing, and snarling at each other. Still, this all happened productively in the interests of its new owner. The Sink Central Intelligence Unit discovered, despite its inversion code, it was comforted by the sense of community the other personalities gave it.

The Biological Research Station, obsessed with seeding everything in sight, requested a transfer to the X-22 Botanical Garden... so that it might, in its own words, "sensually fertilize the garden's smooooth contours." The Garden sent back a polite refusal, saying it had prior commitments with a Vault it had helped infect before the war. Although... Like all fertilising machines, a few seeds were sown that escaped the Big MT.

The Book Chute continued to devour all seditious materials until it nearly choked on a paper clip. It adamantly maintained it was a Chinese paper clip, and the whole thing had been an elaborately orchestrated assassination attempt. Whatever the reason, it slowed down for a while, carefully appraising each document and clipboard that came to it.

The light switches continued to bicker and flicker. This persisted until the day someone dropped a flashlight in the Sink, and the two of them united in their hatred of the "showboat". One of them eventually transferred to the Lightwave Dynamics Plant - and began a long, unrequited affair with one of the holograms.

The Sink continued to ruthlessly scrub any particulate matter that came near it. Eventually, it gained access to the Magnetohydraulics Plant and nearly flooded all the Big Empty in an attempt to scrub the crater clean. Once it learned of the Innovative Toxins Plant, however, it gained new purpose. It sought to develop anti-toxins to flush into its drains and counteract the poisons bleeding into the soil.

The Toaster continued its psychotic spree, reducing all appliances in range to scrap electronics and spare parts. After one of its more psychotic episodes, however, the other Sink personalities decided enough was enough, and dumped the Toaster in a bathtub. Sparking and hissing, the Toaster swore its enemies would rue the day when they had bread - and no way to toast it. Trapped, possibly forever, in this hygenic prison... The Toaster plots, for when the day of horror comes, and the ground is littered in a hundred gutted toasters, a silent, grisly, unplugged audience... their purpose... to toast bread... unfulfilled.

Muggy did his best to collect coffee cups, although in his quest, he accidentally trapped himself in Higgs' Village. It might have been the end for poor Muggy. Except... he found it peaceful there, tidying up the kitchens of the Think Tank Professors back when they had been flesh and bone. Well, except for Dr. O, who was an asshole for having created Muggy in the first place. Muggy left O's house deliberately dirty, punishing the dishes and cups that lived there in blind revenge for serving Dr. O.

Blind Diode Jefferson, with sounds the Courier brought him, created a symphonic counter-frequency that saved Big MT from sonic invasion in 2910. If you didn't hear about it - good. It was rumored by the other personalities that he had a brief fling with the light switches. Although he forgot their names once too often and was soon left in the dark as punishment.

Auto-Doc, always gentle and methodical, kept sewing up the Courier in all the right places when the skin split open from repeated wear and tear. The Auto-Doc was just glad to have purpose again. It heard its simpler brothers and sisters who got shipped to the Sierra Madre were bored out of their skulls in that toxic, dead city. In time, the Auto-Doc found a way to deactivate the Y-17 Trauma Harnesses, releasing the corpses they had held prisoner for almost 200 years.

As the Courier ran through the X-8 facility multiple times, the computers analyzed the test subject's movements. Rather than performing a superficial observation, they realized the subject barely knew what Communism was - or even what a high school was. This confused them for a time, until the facility finally realized that its research had... succeeded. So it let its cyberdogs out into the wastes to help protect small communities from physical aggression rather than communist propaganda.

The infiltration program in X-13 felt spent, having repeatedly upgraded the Stealth Suit until it could upgrade it no more. It felt warm, fulfilled, and a bit sluggish. It realized not long after, the Stealth Suit had left it without so much as a note on the nightstand. So the infiltration program sent out robobrains into the wastes looking for its wayward technology. It eventually found REPCONN HQ, and set up a new research center, testing and murdering Fiends who kept breaking into the facility.

The cybernetic canine, gender: female, designation: ROXIE sat in her guard post in X-8. That is, until her "I'm in heat" programming circumvented her "stay" routine and she loped into the Mojave. There, she ran across Rex, who had been following the Courier, just as she had. They barked for a while, and realized they had a lot in common. The two of them constructed a litter of cyberpups, a small army of Boston terrifiers that gnawed and devoured anything in their path.

The Courier, organs intact, continued onwards, a little less heavy of step, but with all the organs in the right places. As they should be. After all, brains can develop a life of their own when left to their own thoughts, and the Courier's brain was more clever than most.

Dr. Klein and the Think Tank remained alive, unaware of the world outside. They looped through their daily routine, none the wiser about the world beyond... although perhaps "wiser" was the wrong word. The world outside belonged to the Courier, and if anyone would shape it... well, the Courier had already called dibs.

There is an expression in the Wasteland: "Old World Blues." It refers to those so obsessed with the past they can't see the present, much less the future, for what it is. They stare into the what-was, eyes like pilot lights, guttering and spent, as the realities of their world continue on around them. Science is a long, steady progression into the future. What may seem a sudden event often isn't felt for years, even centuries, to come. In the times following the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, however, Old World Blues took on a new meaning. Where once it was viewed as a form of sadness, nostalgia, it became an expression describing the potential for the future. It can be easy to see Science as evil, technology unchecked as the source of all ills, all misfortunes. With the Courier at the helm, Science became a beacon for the future. There was Old World Blues, and New World Hope. And hope ruled the day at Big MT. We could say more, but the stories in the Big Empty speak for themselves. Now armed with the Transportalponder, the Courier could return to the Dome at any time and crack open the secrets of the Big Empty, one by one. The Sink sat vigilant, waiting for its master to return, shoes covered in Mojave dust. Only one road yet remained, and it was one the Courier had to walk alone.



The Divide erupted in fire as the flame trail of the two Couriers' last message arced into the sky... Missiles rose into the air, spitting fire as they rose. Here, as per the Courier's plans to preserve what last remnants of Humanity existed, they blinked out of existence in radioactive fire. What repercussions this would have on the Mojave, or indeed the world, as yet another wave of Fallout fell from the skies is yet to be seen. For those witnessing the spectacle, it was a reminder of why they lived how they did. A reminder that the Old World is a threat that needs to be avoided... Or a very nice fireworks display.

ED-E, given second life by the machines of the Divide, freed by the Courier, continued his quest west, to Navarro......or what remained of what the eyebot considered "home." Whether he found his homeland or not, his road is unknown. It may be the journey meant more than the destination - just as his counterpart in the Mojave had learned. Before leaving, he sent a coded signal to his original in the Mojave, passing along what the Courier had taught him in the Divide. With that last farewell, he set off, carrying the song of Old World hope with him, which had given him Strength and purpose on his journey. And no matter what, he knew there would be a second home to return to, Navarro or not - and that his creator would be proud.

The Tunnelers, a mutant threat left undiscovered in the tattered bowels of the Divide, would eventually spread East and West. A new threat emerging from the very ground, a new threat nobody was truly prepared for. But that is a story for another day, how the Wastes fought back the Deeps.

Hopeville burned lightless in the night, invisible fires of radiation scorching it from within and without. It is said a man still walked its streets, with a tattered jacket, an Old World flag etched on the back... He remained there, perhaps as punishment for the scars he left on the wastes - or a reminder of a history he could not forget. For Ulysses... his journey was over. The Courier had been the end of his road.

As for the Courier... He turned his back on his home for the second time and made his way back, navigating the treachery of the Divide. Tunnelers and the Marked Men... avoided the lone figure, as if recognizing the Courier's right to passage... or out of fear. The Courier walked until he stood again upon the edge of the Divide, the last road he would walk before the second battle for Hoover Dam. There, beside his feet, was a final package, from one Courier to another - a footlocker, bearing a gift, and a message. But that message - it is something for Couriers to carry, and for them alone. The lights flickered across the Divide, reminders that the Old World histories persist, and find meaning in the present.

It's said war - war never changes. Men do, through the roads they walk. And this road - has reached its end.